Change(ling) is Good For You
Rage seethed, as Chris bubbled over with emotions that refused to find answers. Why would you do that? No! You FOOL!
His apartment was bare, was lacking in creation. Little bits of dust rolled about on the small fireproof carpet, empty air speaking of a roomate that wouldn’t be back for quite some time. Yet at the center of it all, he churned. Far too long had he felt the frustration of trying to work in a system of humans that did not respond to his input. Apply for a job; bot response. Ask for a coffee, canned ‘have a nice day’ as if the person behind the counter desperately sought to actually be a robot, so as to be free of the humanity that got in their way.
Chris most definitely had some humanity in the way.
“There’s so much that needs to change. That needs to be changed. Me, them, everyone and everything. We’d make such a wonderful world.”
That was odd. The last part, the voice speaking through him, beyond him. Powerful and bold, yet with a hint of malice. Maybe… maybe he wanted to feel the malice, just for once. To allow his anger to find meaning, to allow his desire for happier emotions to exist with more space once the anger had left.
Then let’s get you out of this shell.
He definitely heard it that time, but rather than recoil or flail demonstratively, he felt the voice empower him. The usual placeholders of “I’m not feeling a response yet” were crushed underhoof by a mighty ego, a powerful personality that said “No, we’re doing this. We’re making it happen.”
It was the nose that cracked first. It itched, but the itch came from within, deep inside under the skin as if breaking free from an egg. A cocoon, dear. Chris rubbed at it, scratched idly. You had to. There was something on him that needed to be fidgeted with. It was hard, solid. Like skin, but… thicker, More purposeful. It wasn’t quite so soft, wasn’t quite so malleable. But unlike the skin, his idle scratching did nothing. The chitin laughed at such a feeble attack.
The face liked what it felt, and so allowed it to feel more. Skin crackling and upending, the very notion of pain melting away into sizzling fleshy fumes of smoke. He felt… impervious, at least on the black chunk of his cheek. His jaw, his mouth, the teeth pushing out, the everything pushing out. Longer, further, he felt his head pulled by the new force.
I see. There’s not enough support here. I’ve got you.
Something grabbed at Chris’ neck, the base and the top connecting powerfully, boldly. New muscles, new tendons, and a shimmering coat of black to cover it all in. Gone was the headache, gone was the strain. His neck could hold a head three times as large, and still have room for the horn.
“Horn?”
Of course you need a horn. I need a horn.
Chris braced himself, hand planted on the wall even as it felt strange and misaligned. His head, his thoughts, pushing and shoving outwards. It hit a part it couldn’t quite grasp, not on its out, and so the black spire bent. His horn, his very own way to reach out into the world and feel it with his mind… it bent. Twisted. Leaving gaps inside to be filled by the concepts of other ponies. And as it grew… he understood.
That’s right. There’s so much untapped power here.
He… laughed. A chuckle, and then a cackle most malign. It wasn’t his voice, it was too smooth and powerful. But then it was his voice, because she let it be his voice. Her voice became his voice, because he became her.
His hair slickened, slackened, loosening and flowing with the same strange holes as his horn. He could feel it; simple places to hold the most basic of ideas. Was his hair short or long? Blond or red? For now, it could be a gentle turquoise, with a hint of jade at the roots. If it was blond, he would take the blondness from another and wear it as his own. If it was long, then it would flow down the back of his neck towards the rest of his… ugg.
Pitiful, isn’t it? Don’t worry. We’re shedding all of that.
Good. Chris laughed once more, and let go of the wall. A shirt, his shirt, but not her shirt. Cast it away, it is not hot. Bare skin becoming bare chitin, muscles wrapped in plates, chest thickening and barrelling until he was quite long indeed. Pushed forward, pushed outwards, he had nowhere left to go but out… and down.
Hands crashed onto the floor, but his hips were already working on that problem. Pulling out, pulling sideways and up, lifting the back of the abdomen until it was nice and level. His rump felt open, exposed, the silly human pants sliding off and crumpling on the ground until he was quite naked.
But he didn’t feel naked. Not really. The chitin was armor enough, and if he was going to bear such power… he wanted people to see it.
Do you know what needs to be there?
Chris wavered, hesitated. He teetered over towards a mirror, staring at the… oh. A bold, powerful face, more at home on a horse or a pony. His ears twitched and trembled, then stretched out to match the rest. He licked his teeth, and let his turquoise tongue slide around the fangs. Green eyes with slits that reflected and pierced. He saw into his soul, saw another lingering at the edge… and maybe, just maybe… he wanted her to drive for now.
“You do.”
I do! It’s very true. Now what do you say?
“...Please.”
As I wish, then.
She giggled, then cackled in much the same way he had. But her laugh was confident, bold and victorious. Chris stepped away from the mirror, feeling his gaze unclench and his focus unbind. He didn’t need to worry about anything. She had many things to worry about, and they were not his things. And really… he wanted to be someone like her, didn’t he?
Shaking her mane, Chrysalis cackled to the sky. Ahahaaaaa! Yessss. Good.
Hands wobbled on silly fingers, the nails were taking too long. A forceful push of chitin from above, wrapping them in powerful hooves. There. The bones melted, the very solidity of the limbs crumpled and opened up. Holes, many holes, all the way through. But they were filled with passion and desire, and soon they could be filled with someone else’s passion and desire. She stomped, and the carpet trembled.
Something was melting in the back, something crude and tasteless. It didn’t belong on her, certainly not, and even as she trembled at the feeling of one final release, she was glad to feel it all retract away. Slimmer, slenderer, the chitin opening up to reveal a gentle cavern where the pleasure could go. It rested, absorbed into the walls of the passage, until the entire chamber was alight with the promise of fun.
Her rump curved, curled upwards and outwards. Her rear end was not something to feel exposed by, but something to flaunt and use as she pleased. If others found it attractive, then she would eat that attraction, and send it back to them twofold. And truth be told… she found it attractive. How silly it looked, the queen of changelings prancing in front of a mirror, watching the jiggly bits wiggle and bounce. Making those little bits near the hips curve, not quite breasts, not yet. She would need a reason to make them grow, and that reason was still a ways off.
Push outwards, push backwards, there you go. A tail, of much the same slick emotion-absorbing goop as the rest of her hair. Long and stringy, sticky so you don’t drop it. A swish and a flick, and she was sure that any pony she let it hit would feel themselves quite changed indeed.
“I’m back. Did you want the… the…”
Dwight was there, the roomate of the human man. But the human man was sitting at the back of Chrysalis’ mind now, munching popcorn and eagerly watching someone else take the reins.
“Chris isn’t here at the moment. But don’t worry.”
You don’t have to be here either.
Dwight giggled nervously, stepping backwards into the railing. Um… nice bug horse? Good bug horse. She wasn’t… huge. Her head was slightly below his, only her horn reaching up higher. But the way she stared… an instant understanding that SHE was the important one here. Good. Come inside.
He set the groceries down as he entered, arms slack and mind melting. She was… eating him, eating concepts about him that he didn’t want anyway. Hesitation, fear, doubt, humanity. A tail wrapped around his back, melted right through his retail shirt. “Come now. You can be so much better. Don’t you want to be?”
“I… there’s so many things I want to be.”
“Then I give you freedom. To become anything your heart desires.”
Right now? He desired more. To spend longer in her presence, to learn more of this strange magic. And so, he would have to look the part.
Jaw jutted forth as eyes rolled back in his head. He wobbled, toppling onto the floor. Limbs flailed at the ground, finding bits and pieces of the carpet. But fingers and toes wouldn’t do, he needed hooves. Powerful hooves that carried him with expert precision and force. One, two, three… four! He leapt back up, and when the ground found him again he was on all fours like he needed to be. There we go.
A horn… not the powerful dominating horn of his queen. But a receiver, a link to her will. He would always know her intention, and it was so easy to relax and let hers become his own. He could be independant, could do what he wanted. But sometimes… he needed to be her, her hand, her minion… her drone.
“Do you want to be human?”
“Of course not.”
“Then get rid of it.”
“Of course, my queen!”
A flash of light, a channeling of magics he didn’t understand. But the skin turned to ash, the ash grew holes, and everything opened up. He was a receiver, a collector of emotions and concepts. To take the world in, drink his fill, and share it with his queen. He shivered as his body shrank downwards, slighter and daintier still. How large the room felt now, how small and unprotected! But he couldn’t feel that way, not in her presence. He was safe, because she was safety incarnate. Stepping forward gently, mandibles vibrating free for the first time, he nuzzled the legs of his queen.
Slowly the holes filled. Green light, purple light, a rainbow of appreciation and love. Everything was together, everything was full. They became solid, powerful once more. Reserves of energy filled, ideas of forms to take and shapes to wield! And when it was all done…
Two ponies walked down the street. One was tall, regal, resplendent. Her wings stretched large, floating lines of green chalk that didn’t quite have substance. Her fur took on the colors of the world around her, and her eyes looked for things that needed to be changed.
Behind Chrysalis, Doomie trotted happily. He handed out flyers! Come, there’s going to be a ponification tonight. Chrysalis is taking new people into being ponies.
No no you don’t have to be a changeling, it’s just strongly suggested. Some people just want to be ponies, but others join the hive, and spread the good change.
She hummed, mandibles chittering in delight. Soon. Soon the hive would grow. It just needed some human resources.
