Welcome to Distopia

John sat on the edge of the pond, sticking his hooves in it as Thorax swam around in it. The bigger bug had returned to his normal quadrupedal for, saying that being on two legs was weird but it could be useful. John was a little sore, his arms and fists were tired. He'd probably have to invest in some padded gear if he was actually going to start sparring regularly. Solaire stood a few feet away, watching Thorax swim around in the pond.

"I've never known changelings to have an affinity to water. Once they left Mem's embrace they rarely, if ever returned to it." Solaire commented. "Then again, there are worse things in the depths then them, and food was easier to find on dry land."

"So, you saw what proto-changelings were like?" John looked back at the god-dog.

The helmet turned towards John "It isn't something you need to worry about John." He shook his head. "They were nothing more than mindless beasts."

"Solaire, buddy, I love you but I think having more information is significantly better than having less." The smol bug frowned a bit. "Especially because I'd rather not be surprised by some instinctual thing popping up at the worst time. Also, I'd like to know ahead of time because I don't want something like Lorraine being incompatible with her form to happen again."

Solaire sighed. "You... You have a point." He shook his head and looked back to the bug. "What do you want to know?"

"What exactly is a Primordial?" John asked bluntly. "Why were the changelings so wary of me, and why did Pharynx think he had the balls to take on something that supposedly could eat hives?"

"Last question first. Probably arrogance, hubris, stupidity, or a mixture of the three." Solaire said with a chuckle. "As to the second..." He paused. "Few Primordials still exist, to my knowledge. Those that still do stay in hiding I would assume. Primordials.... I guess you could call them hunger incarnate." He paused against, noticed John's raised brow and continued. "A history, I suppose. Primordial is just the name we gave to the original changelings. They could change shape into whatever form fit their current habitat. Mmmmm... Perhaps there's a better term." He looking into the water of the pond. "Adapt. Consume. Evolve. Primordials initially ran on a Survival of the Fittest existence. They consumed everything to gain an advantage over their kin. Mortal races were the biggest boon to those beasts, thus they needed to be protected. Some Primordials grew to great sizes and did not die easily. They were a part of the reason why I created the Giants of Flame."

"So, insectoid things that consumed everything like a locust swarm?" John asked.

"Swarm would imply a hive mind." Solaire shook his head. "No, at first each monster was only concerned with its own survival. Thus that made dealing with them easier, so to speak."

"Did something change?" Thorax asked as he swam up to the edge of the pond.

"Yes. The Serpent." Solaire nodded. He saw John's deadpan and Thorax's confusion. "I dare not say his name. We bound him outside of our Plane eons ago. Though that does remind me that I need to check on the durability of his warding stones."

"Ancient evil, not like we haven't heard of that before." John snarked with a snort.

"True." Solaire nodded. "The Serpent... took the Primordials under his wing so to speak. He altered them. They could feed on magic as well as flesh. They worked together to take down prey. A few... A few he gave a fiendish intelligence. These kings and queens could enhance their allies. Worse, they could breed. Kings and queens could make hives, spawn more of the beasts. Though their spawn were nowhere near the might of their parents. The divine spark within the Primordials slowly filtered out with each generation. The changelings fed off magic, they transformed via magic and not physical change, they were connected to the hive's Hive Mind controlled by the King and queen."

"And what happened to the originals once their spawn started reproducing?" John asked, slightly worried about the answer.

"Mmmmm, like the tales of Greek Myth that you told me of, the spawn slayed and consumed their parents. For as mighty as they were, their offspring were numerous. The smartest of the Primordials sired a hive then separated to continue their own evolution individually, perhaps even one would slay the other at a later time, perhaps not." Solaire explained as Thorax propped himself up on the side of the pond.

"Do you know what happened to them?" Thorax asked. "Like how'd so many die out, well not counting being... ugh... eaten." He stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"I swore most, if not all Primordials died with the Winter Queen when she tried to cover the world in ice. As Thorax may know, changelings do not handle the cold well. Frost, Ice, Cold, these are the bane of Primordials and Changelings alike." Solaire gestured between the two bugs. "Perhaps, when certain conditions are met, I could provide a boon or two to aid with that." He chuckled.

"So Primordials were ancient insectoid monstrosities that just ate, and ate, and got stronger with each consumption. They could shape-shift...." John blinked. "How?"

"Do you remember telling me about that movie The Thing?" Solaire asked.

John recoiled. "Jesus! Nope! Nope! Fuck that!" He vigorously shook his head. "Ugh, body horror shapeshifting." He shook himself. "So they just morphed and melted into a different shape, probably to get close to prey."

Solaire nodded again. "Even bestial, they were not stupid, unless their speed or strength greatly dwarfed their prey."

"Makes sense." Thorax nodded. "Stealth would only be needed so much. Honestly Queen Chrysalis's hive only focused on Stealth so much. She's a bit of a warmonger."

"Why haven't I heard this before?" John raised a brow at the other bug.

"Because she focuses her attention mostly to the south of Equestria. I remember one of the Warrior 'lings saying that she's scared of Celestia." Thorax said, tapping his chin in thought.

"That I can believe. I hope I never run into another of your hive." John shook his head then looked back to Solaire. "So, why were you so worried to tell me about... myself." He gestured a hand to himself.

"I feared that you'd use your inherent nature too much. That, if you did, your instinct would override your mind, or even corrupt you mind in a sense." Solaire said with a sigh. "Worse... I feared that, should The Serpent return, he would have influence over you, as he was the one who altered the first Primordials."

"But if he returned and John didn't know any of this, he'd probably have more influence over him because he wouldn't know how to combat it." Thorax pointed out.

"You... you have a point, Thorax." Solaire nodded at the bug.

"And now I know." John nodded. "So, just in case. What was The Serpent like?"

"He was... manipulative. He strove to drown the world in chaos. He repeatedly tried to pit the Gods against one another. On more than one occasion, he was successful. There are... so many Gods that are merely forgotten now." Solaire seemed to slump a little. "He could get inside your head. He would prey on your strengths as well as your weaknesses. Say... Say you wanted to protect someone. He would make it so that was the only thing that mattered. You would do anything, slaughter anyone, just to keep them safe." The god actually shuddered. "There was a time... where Primordials were pitted against my Sons. However... he'd turned many of my children. No father should have to witness his sons slaughter one another."

John got up, sat next to the god, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you." Solaire looked at him. He cleared his throat. "That... ahem. That's probably enough rest. Should we get back to sparring."

"I think you mean turning me into a punching bag, but sure." John smiled as he got up.

Thorax pulled himself from the water and shook himself like a dog before he started for the middle of the yard. Solaire slowly stood, nodded at John, then started after Thorax.

John stood up, but paused. He looked down as his hand. He clenched his hand into a fist. His jaw set as he narrowed his eyes. Slowly the fist... shifted. Carapace grew between the fingers as a strange itching feeling, like pins and needles, filled his arm. He shook it, only to see that his forearm forward had turned into a foreleg. He blinked as a cold, chill ran down his spine.

"John?" Solaire asked.

John jumped. "One sec!"

He looked at his hoof and felt the itching again. Seems grew in his hoof as he watch the chitin shift. His hand unfurled like a flower as the chitin shifted back to merge into his forearm.

"C-coming." John said as he stared at his hand. It looked like nothing had changed at all. He shook his hand and tried to settle himself. He now had an inkling of what Solaire was talking about and he intended to not give into whatever twisted nature was inside him. For everyone's sake.