Chapters (Prologue) World and Accidents
World
Changelings, the most secretive race of the world, and the most advanced. One of the many things that are unknown to the world is that all the world leaders are changelings, all except one. Celestia.
The newest Queen of the royal line tried to change this. For two hundred years she attempted assassinations, political sabotage, setting countries against each other in wars, and using the Changelings own highly advanced technologies to replace her and control the sun. But none of it worked, and so the arrogant royal attempted one last thing... something that goes against the Changelings very nature and everything that they have ever been taught... A direct assault, an invasion...
Only to fail again, and this time the world knew of her goals. The Changelings were thrust upon the world stage in the worst way possible. The countries of the world were now on the hunt for any Changelings that might be hidden among them, the leaders of the world found out and killed or imprisoned.
The war had begun...
Accidents
Prince Thorax, the younger of the two children of the queen, was in the Robotic Replacement and Organic Management Facility. He was meant to meet the head of The R.R.O.M.F. in order to get training in leadership and to know how the systems of the hive work. The problem was that Termite was late, or at least that was what he thought until he looked at the clock and saw that he was more than an hour early. Prince Pharynx decided to mess with him it seemed.
*sigh*"Come on it's been an hour already." Thorax complained to himself, looking at the computer and robotics systems a thought came to him, he could start looking things over himself. He was rather good at self training after all.
Thorax glanced between the computer and the clock and saw that he still had around an hour left before Termite would be here. So he went up to the computer and started to look through it.
Active Artificial ReplacementsInactive Artificial ReplacementsProcessing Artificial ReplacementsIn Process Artificial Replacements
Thorax cast one last glance at the clock and blindly opened one of the files and began to scroll through it.
Choosing a name that stuck out to him most he clicked on Sweetie Belle and opened the file.
Replacement in progress/ Overview required/
Soul Meld... 100% Stable/
Disguise... 0% Progress/
Organic Age... Birth In Progress/
Artificial Age... 12 Months
There was a number of other code overviews but Thorax ignored them and went to the one he knew the least about to try and learn from it, the Soul Meld. He once again opened a file and searched it.
All he saw was an endless amount of ever shifting green zeros, ones, and twos. Not knowing what to do with this he began typing in random commands. This continued until the twos shifted from green to red and an alarm went off over head. Thorax began to panic and try to undo what ever it was that caused the alarm.
"Oh no no no, uh. Undo, ctrl z, ctrl alt delete, YES!" Thorax cheered as the alarm turned off and he rebooted the system to see what damage was done.
Active Artificial ReplacementsInactive Artificial ReplacementsProcessing Artificial ReplacementsIn Process Artificial Replacements
"Come on come on..." Thorax whispered
How ever before the last file and set of codes could load Termite and a number of other systems managers and guards burst into the over sized work area and Thorax was forced to close the system and face them before he could read it.
Replacement in progress/ Overview required/
Soul Meld... 65% Unstable/
Disguise... 80% Progress Unfinished/
Organic Age... 1min
"Prince Thorax what's going on in here?" Termite asked when he saw him.
"O-oh, i-it was nothing. I j-just accidentally pushed a wrong button." Thorax quickly explained, an attempt at a wining smile on his face. "But I-I was able to fix it. N-no problems."
Termite gave him a skeptical look but decided that if it was Pharynx he would have something to worry about, but Thorax was the good child so he simply dismissed it. "Alright then." Termite's gruff voice rang out. "Everyone to your stations, we got a prince to train."
AccidentsWhen Thorax entered the Replacement Overview System
"AHHharg"
"Alright Mrs Crumbles, push. And there is the beautiful little girl." The Changeling disguised as a doctor said as he lifted up the foal for the parents to see. "Now just let us get her cleaned up and check her health and we will bring her right back to you."
Both the doctor and one of the nurses took the foal out of the room and down the hall. They looked around to make sure that no one was watching them and ducked into an employ only elevator and punched in a code that took them to a secret basement.
In the secret basement they passed the actual doctor and nurse stuck in temporary cocoons and met with two undisguised Changelings that were holding a small foal sized android. The 'nurse' and the undisguised changeling not holding the android walked up to each other touched horns and began a well rehearsed, complicated, and permanent spell meant to finish the Soul Meld. They pulled apart from each other and brought their magic connected horns to there respective foal sized objects casting a disguise far more complicated than any normal disguise, Changeling or otherwise, on the android and connecting its computing system and the foals mind.
The two pairs then proceeded to switch payloads, the undisguised using a portal spell to go back to the hive and the false doctor and nurse making their way back to their 'patient'.
Back in Mrs. Crumbles room they hoofed the 'foal' back to her parents and told them that her health was perfect.
As Cookie Crumbles held her newborn in her fore hooves her husband, Hondo Flanks, walked in with their older daughter, Rarity.
"She's so pretty." Said young Rarity.
"Just like her older sister." Hondo said.
As the three of them were looking at the foal the newest family member decided to wake up, and shock every one. The irises of her eyes looked like green segmented triangles with a polygonal pupil. They all sat there staring at each other until the foal began to cry in want of a meal revealing that her voice had an unplaceable (to the ponies in the room) undertone to it that would be best described as mechanical.
The two disguised Changelings in the room recognized both the eyes and the undertone as an improper Soul Meld and shared a glance full of worry. The nurse left in order to get help from the hive as the doctor went to the parents to try and control the situation.
"Mr. Flanks, Mrs. Crumbles, as you can see and hear there are some things that are... different about your daughter. With the systems we have here they do not read as a problem to her over all health." Said the 'doctor'. "However there are a number of ways to... correct these... anomalies."
"What are you saying?" Hondo asked with a narrowed gaze.
"Well, what I mean is that we can fix the probl-" The Changeling doctor cut off as Hondo got in his face.
"There is nothing wrong with our daughter. It doesn't matter if she is a little different, it makes her unique."
"Well th-that is true," Began the now flustered false pony "however there could be uh, unknown side affects to her.. uniquatie . So while we won't do anything without your consent, there is a specialist that I can point you to that often handles similar situations."
"Alright then, you make a good point." Hondo said looking at his wife and seeing a little worry. Turning back to the doctor he calmly added. "We will take you up on the offer to see this specialist."
Nine and a Half Years Later
Sweetie Belle sat in the waiting room with her mother, boredly waiting for the nurse to call her for her bimonthly checkup with Dr. Pins'n'Needles, wishing that she could just skip this and go to school instead with how boring it was here.
*sigh*"Maybe next time." She said under her breath, the slight maniacal wir to her voice barely noticeable.
(Chapter 1) Appointments and 'Friends'
Sweetie Belle sat in the waiting room with her mother, boredly waiting for the nurse to call her for her biweekly checkup with Dr. Pins'n'Needles. She wished that she could just skip this and go to school instead, that's how boring it was here.
*sigh*"Maybe next time." She said under her breath, the slight maniacal wir to her voice barely noticeable.
"Sweetie Belle." Came the call of the nurse and Sweetie got up and made her way to the door she was at while her mother stayed seated. The specialist she goes to claims that she has to work alone with her patients because of possible contamination, or something like that, and she hasn't done anything weird...
Yet.
The nurse took Sweetie to one of the open rooms in the very back, where all the nice equipment was, and had her sit down and wait for the Doctor. When Dr. Pins'n'Needles got there she greeted Sweetie as usual and went about the normal test, stethoscope on the back breath in breath out, heart rate, ears, eyes, and throat. Lingering on all of them far longer than a normal doctor would, especially the eyes.
But then Dr. Pins'n'Needles said, "Chi'chink krra zow." and Sweetie Belle's eyes faded to life less black cameras, and the Changeling Engineer Bolt Dial dropped her disguise and began her routine maintenance on her unique project that she haden't been able to do for the last month. She pressed a button hidden under 5-337-B-311's disguise on the base of its neck and the disguise dropped allowing her to work with out handicap.
She did a number of measurements and test on the android and compared them to the measurements that were sent to her on the organic she replaced. Noticing that a number of the androids measurements don't line up with the organics she let out a groan, annoyed that its automatic adjustment systems weren't working again. "Arrug, what the point of having a self adjusting system if it never works?" Bolt Dial said as she began to adjust the measurements to match.
"Searching systems. Answer not found." The bot responded in a highly robotic voice that had almost no life in it causing Bolt to jump as she had temporarily forgotten about this one unusual (and slightly erratic) behavior.
"By the almighty acorn, what is wrong with this thing?" Bolt said getting her heart rate back under control.
"Searching, error err-ch-er errchhhhh" 5-337-B-311 said while cutting off into static.
"Ok, they seriously need to get a systems manager out here for you. I'm good at keeping you running physically, but the programming is out of my league."
"Affirmative. This unit agrees."
Bolt just gave the machine a deadpan look while looking into its eyes, feeling like it just meant to insult her. While she looked into its eyes she saw a small green spark deep inside the optic cameras. A spark that shouldn't be there as she had shut it down.
Pulling back and sighing she asked herself "Why do they keep ignoring my request for a programmer to come here? They'd be able to fix all of the problems with this thing."
"Answer. Your request have been ignored, deleted, and placed in a 'look into later file'."
Choosing that she was better off ignoring the android Bolt finished up her maintenance on it and put her disguise back on locked the androids back on and powered it back up. "Alright Sweetie Belle, all good as normal." Dr. Pins'n'Needles said as she guided Sweetie Belle out. "Have a nice day and here's a lollipop." The faux pegasus said handing her said lollipop with a smile.
After Sweetie and her mom left 'nurse' Red Heart walked up to the 'Dr.' "So?" She asked
"Nothing out of the ordinary Red Heart, aside from the fact that, as I've said before, I need someone to come down here and take a look at my computer systems. I'm a doctor, not a programmer after all" The counterfeit Dr. said with a joking tone and a smile.
Now that Sweetie was out of the doctors office she was thankful that it was a Saturday as that meant that she didn't have to go to school after her early morning doctors appointment and went to look for her friend Scootaloo. Sweetie and her family, excluding her older sister Rarity, had recently come back from a vacation so she was excited to see her friend.
Unfortunately she had unluck on her side and she ran into Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon first, quite literally as she ran around a corner.
"OW! Watch where your going. Don't you know who I am?" The pink blank flank getting up from the ground asked incredulously. "Oh, it's you." Diamond added with disdain. Sweetie just stood there her face blank as she felt her emotions turn off in an automatic reaction as they usually did around those who tried to get a rise out of her.
"Well? Aren't you going to apologize?" Silver Spoon said with a slight edge to her voice that went unnoticed by Diamond but Sweetie picked up on it and imminently her 'brain' classified it as fear. Why she did and how she could tell was lost on her, as well as the reason Silver would be scared of her.
"Yeah, you need to apologize to me freak." Diamond sounded unsure of herself as she said that. Knowing a Unicorn, even while running, should have trouble knocking over a Earth Pony without magic.
"Understood. This unit apologizes for knocking you over." Sweetie said her voice having a more electronic sound than usual but not to the point it was at the doctors earlier. She idly wondered if she should tell some one about her doctor being a Changeling that made sure she couldn't move with a sentence before doing her usual physical exam, however that train of thought was interrupted.
"Yeah, whatever. Let's go Silver." Diamond said while walking away, Silver standing there a few seconds longer looking at Sweetie before she followed.
With them gone Sweetie turned her emotions back on and felt that she was less excited then earlier to meet up with her friend and began to walk to her house.
The rest of the trip to Scootaloo's house was uneventful and Sweetie Belle's happiness had grown to the levels it was at before her run in with Diamond on the way there.
She knocked on the door and waited around a minute before Scootaloo's mom, Mayor Mare, answered the door. "Hello Sweetie Belle, I take it you and your parents are back from vacation." Said the highly stressed Mayor. Why Sweetie found that important it be of note was, once again, unknown and ignored as she had done for the past nine years. She tried to do things in the first half year but she was always stopped or put somewhere she couldn't help so she just began to catalog and ignore it unless it was something she knew she could help with.
"Let me guess, you'r hear to see Scoot. Right?" Mayor Mare asked.
"Yes I am Miss Mare." Sweetie responded, intent on going out and trying to get her cutie mark with her friend.
"Alright come on in, she's in her room." Before she had even finished talking Sweetie had dashed past her and up the stairs to Scootaloo's room.
Luck Scroll chuckled at the filly and her antics. "Oh I don't know who came up with Mayor Mare but I have to force myself not to laugh every time I hear it, especially when the little ones think that it's my real name." The mayor said to herself.
(Side Chapter) Silver Spoon and The Secret
Three Years Before Ch. 2
Silver Spoon was walking around town looking for other foals to try and make friends with. Most of the other foals that she saw around town were busily playing with their friends and didn't seem to notice her when she tried to talk to them.
She wasn't used to this but it was better than when she lived in Canterlot, there all the foals either hated her cause their family's had more money or only tried to make friends with her because her family had more money than their's did. Here the foals didn't even seem to notice her, aside from the daughter of the local rich family, Diamond Tiara. It could be because she was the only one with a cutie mark in her grade.
Silver was about to give up on finding somepony to try and make friends with when she saw a white unicorn foal walking through down the street and turn down an alley. 'A short cut maybe?' Silver thought to herself. Still trying to find a friend she chose to speed up and try to catch up to her.
As Silver turned down the alley she saw the other foal go around a corned in the alley and swiftly made her way down the alley to try and talk to her. However as Silver turned the corner she dived back around it and slowly peeked around it, disappointed.
The Unicorn foal seemed to meeting with another foal, an orange pegasus. "Alright Sweetie lets see if we can get our cutie marks in wall climbing." The Orange foal said.
"Wall climbing? Seriously Scoot?" The now named Sweetie said.
"Yeah! Maybe we can become master thieves, or spies!" Said Scoot gesturing to a poorly made wall climbing contraption. "Come on, I already got it all set up, see?"
"Alright, fine." Sweetie unenthusiastically let out.
"SCOOT! SCOOTALOO!" The voice of an adult yelled with anger. "SCOOTALOO! WHERE ARE YOU? YOU WHERE SUPPOSED TO COME HOME AFTER SCHOOL!"
"Ah ponyfeathers, alright you do this and let me know if it works for you. I gotta go before mom gets mad." Scootaloo said. "Well, madder." And she ran towards the other end of the alley.
Sweetie just sat there for a minute or two, as Silver was to nervous to approach her in a dark alley, before she began to hook herself up to the cruddy climbing equipment with a sigh.
Silver Spoon saw her chance to make a friend and was about to walk out and talk to her when she began to put some of her weight on the apparatus and it came crashing down on top of Sweetie.
Silver shook herself out of her shock and was about to run up to her when she heard the grinding sound of metal on metal and Sweetie pushed her self out of the rubble.
How ever something was... wrong. Sweetie seemed to be almost completely fine, nothing more than a couple of scratches. But then something even stranger happened. Sweetie began to flicker with some kind of green light and then was consumed in green fire.
What now stood in the place of the foal was.. some kind of... machine? It seemed to have armor over a skeletal frame, its eyes glowing a bright green. On its sides appeared to be some kind of... folded wings and a horn on its head sharp enough to put the Canterlot Royal Guard to shame with their spears. The thing also seemed to have something hidden under its wings, inside its barrel. And lastly it had no mane but it had a tail that seemed to be like a metal cat tail with a hook at the end of it.
"AH, COME ON!" The thing shouted in a heavily distorted voice that barely sounded like the foal she had heard talk before, and the green light began to flicker around it again. But that was the last Silver Spoon saw of it as her fear consumed her and she took of running as fast as she could back the way she came.
"I think I'll just be friends with Diamond after all." Silver said to herself as she ran straight home.
Sweetie looked down the alley from the way she had come from. She had felt a sudden spike of fear from that direction, but it was quickly growing faint so she just shrugged it off and continued to try and put her image back on. It would be rude to walk around town with her inside on display, nopony else dose it after all.
She knew Dr. Pins'n'Needles was going to be unhappy when she went in to see her again, a cracked eye lens is no fun to replace for either of them.
(Chapter 2) Scootaloo and The Bad Idea
Sweetie burst into Scootaloo's room scaring the little pegasus enough that many might have belied that she had started flying.
"AAHHH! MOM KNOCK FIR-oh, it's just you Sweets." Scootaloo said. "Wait no, it doesn't matter if it's you. You still should knock first!" She finished with a hrumf, folded hooves, and red cheeks as she sat on a soaked towel, hints of embarrassment and shame in the air.
"Hi Scootaloo, why is that towel wet?"
"I-I would rather not t-talk about it. Uhmm, c-can you wai-it out s-side the door pleas? I-uh I need to, um, CLEAN, ahem, yes I need to clean real fast." Scootaloo said seeming unsure, until she said clean and nearly jumped in the air in possible excitement. Her eyes were wide and pleading and unfocused along with a smile that was highly forced.
"Are... Are you sure you don't want me to help you?" Questioned Sweetie. "We could get to trying to get our cutie marks faster if I did."
"Oh,nonononono." Scootaloo let out her face even redder. "I-I got it. I'llll kee-eep that in mind thoug~" She trailed off, a highly pleased look on her face.
"Ok, if you say so." Sweetie reassured herself as she stepped out and closed the door.
If Sweetie's internal clock was right, and it always was, she spent exactly ten minuets twenty-two seconds and five milliseconds outside Scootaloo's door, and she just barely heard a number of sounds. Most of which didn't sound like cleaning until three minuets ten seconds and two milliseconds ago.
Most of the sounds were of Scootaloo saying something or other indecipherable, though she was pretty sure she picked up her name here and there especially around the time the talking and strange wet sound stopped.
She also didn't feel as hungry as she did earlier.
It was thirteen minuets fifty- seven seconds and five-hundred-thirty-two milliseconds total before Scootaloo opened the door looking thoroughly soaked in sweat and still a little embarrassed. "Sorry about that. Now I had an idea for what we could do to get our marks." She said, making sure to have the cutie mark ideas going before Sweetie could ask any questions.
"Ok, whats your idea?"
At that Scootaloo ran into her room and picked up a poster from her night stand unrolled it and nearly shouted, "Roller Derby!" A bright and devilish smile on her face.
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"Most fun things are dangerous."
"I... guess that's true."
"Now come on." Scootaloo said as she barreled past Sweetie. "The derby isn't for another week and a half but the sign up ends today!"
One and a half boring Weeks later
Except for the eternal night thing, that was scary
It was now the day of the Derby and as it required teams of five it looked like they were not going to be able to participate as they had only managed to get a team of four.
"Sorry Blade Runner, I know you were looking forward to this." Scootaloo said sadly as she had been looking forward to this as well.
"Oh, it's not all bad." Lemon Daze announced. "We still get to watch for free and can use the rink after the competition is done."
"Hey, are y'all need'n another member?" A distinct country twang asked them.
"Yes we are." Scootaloo said turning to the yellow, red maned filly. "Hi, my name's Scootaloo, this is Sweetie Belle, Blade Runner, and Lemon Daze."
"Rainbow! Ah' found a group still looking fer somepony. Now we don hav'ta wait." The mystery filly said waving another pony over. One with a rainbow mane and tail and a cyan color.
"Oh. My. Gosh. You know rainbow dash?" Scootaloo whispered just loud enough to hear.
"Yeah, she's a friend of ma sister."
"So you have a full team then Apple Bloom?" Rainbow asked as she approached.
"Uh, yeah... Ah' think."
"Definitely! Come on, let's win this thing." Scootaloo said more pumped up then ever, excitement clearly leaking off of her, Sweetie noted.
One lost Roller Derby later
"Ow, ow, ow." Scootaloo repeated under her breath over and over as they walked away form the rink. "Well, that sucked."
"It was not that bad." Sweetie said. "We got fifth place and both Blade and Lemon got their cutie marks."
"Yeah but we didn get ours." Apple Bloom shot back, slightly venomously. "Diamonds Cutieceanera is tomarra and I don 'ave a cutie mark."
"Why is that a problem?" Questioned 5w337ie.
"Why is that a problem? What kinda question is that?!" Apple Bloom seethed. "It's a problem cause if'n 'ah show up wit-out one their all gonna make fun of me!"
"Uh, so? Our parents are going to make us go and we don't have marks. You don't see us complaining, do ya." Scootaloo tried to reason.
"Ya just don't get it. 'Ah... know what, fuck it. 'Ah see ya at teh party, probly." Apple bloom said dejectedly.
"Well.. that was... a thing." Sweetie said. "I'll see you later Scoots, I'm going to go home and look at my leg. Something doesn't feel right." And with that she limped off.
Scootaloo turned to talk to one of the other two but they were both half way down the street away from her happily chatting with each other. "Well now what am I supposed to do?" She asked her self. "Know what, Apple was right, fuck it. I'm gonna go masturbate to how hot Sweetie was today."
"Also, what dose fuck mean?"
Author's Note
No OC's in this one
