The Hybridby LucidTechChaptersPrologueThe First ChapterThe Second ChapterThe Third ChapterPrologue“Your Highness, we are prepared to infiltrate the hive on your go ahead.” Celestia turned to see a guard, his metallic armor practically shining in the dim sunlight. It was clear he had taken care of his equipment and had gone through a rigorous process to prepare it all for the coming battle. His eyes were set on the princess, hard and sure. But the princess had been around long enough to see under his charade. He was aware that today may be the day he died. She shared a moment with him. No words, merely an understanding. Slowly, her gaze moved to the large structure that had brought them away from Canterlot: a large black blot on her kingdom. The surface glittered like obsidian while the putrid stench of the living quarters wafted towards the group on the wind. The changelings had been laying low until the day of the attack, but Celestia had noticed them. They hadn’t been a threat, merely setting up hives and nests so that they might live. But now, after what had happened at her capital, now they needed to be removed. She glanced back to the soldiers. Each of them bore a symbol of their families so they might be recognized should they fall in the coming battle, a constant reminder of what might await them. After a pause, she nodded and the guards began to ready, checking their gear one final time. Her gaze moved back to the hive. It was situated in a valley between two rather tall mountains. Nearby was a small lake that had formed from the runoff of melting snow, giving enough water for the grass and nearby vegetation to flourish. The hive had been found by a group of ponies who had come out to examine some of the odd plants. They had been attacked when the changelings had spotted them, but one of them, an earth pony, had given his life so that the others might escape. “On my command, soldiers,” the princess said, looking back to the stallions as her voice, quiet and harsh, reached their ears. “Three...” The sound of rattling metal informed her that they were eager to move. “Two...” The princess turned to face the hive once more, a glare of anger upon her normally passive face. “On-” An explosion of magical energy tore through the air and a series of cracks shattered across the surface of the hive. The building slowly began to crumble towards the ground. Black dots erupted from the building’s various entryways. Instinctively, the guards moved in front of their princess to protect her from this surprise retaliation. As the changelings got closer and closer however, it became clear that they weren’t going to attack. They were running from something. The buzzing creatures flew past the contingent of guards without an altercation and took off into the distance as fast as their wings could carry them. The building continued to crumble as gravity brought the monolith to the ground. Celestia returned her attention to her original target, deciding to track the changelings later, and crouched low to the ground. “At the ready, guards.” They turned their attention once more the black stone, waiting to see what would have scared away a whole changeling hive. A scream tore through the air, causing the guards to flinch. “That didn’t sound like a pony,” the lead guard said, his keen ears picking up on the unusual shout. Celestia lowered her gaze to the entrance, where movement had caught her eye. “It didn’t sound like a changeling either...” Her tone was low and quiet, not wanting to give away their position to this new creature. It stumbled out of the entrance, it’s gait unsure and erratic. Slowly, the creature approached the nearby pool and looked into the surface. It stared at the waters for a moment before letting out another ungodly screech and the guards flinched once more. “Something’s wrong,” Celestia said as her instincts informed her of the oddity. Determined to find out what the creature was, she started moving past the guards to approach it. She began to pick up speed until she was no more than a few steps away from it, the screeching still filling the air. The noise came to a stop as Celestia stopped walking, her steps freezing as she saw what stood before her. The creature turned to face her, blood dripping down its face. The muzzle of a pony smiled slightly though the new adornments, making it seem malevolent. Jutting from its head was a black horn, identical to that of changelings, and decorated in the crimson life blood of its bearer. The fluid dripped and flowed down its face, as if the black pillar had shoved its way up past his flesh. It was such a horrid sight that Celestia found herself unable to look away, a pair of solid blue eyes gazing back. The smile widened slightly, revealing the sharp canine-esque teeth that had replaced the flat dentals the pony had had before. A pair of blood soaked wings began to flap on his back, though apparently against his will. A small gust filled the air, but the pony remained grounded, to heavy to be lifted by the wet wings. “Oh, Celestia, you have no idea how happy I am to see you.” His voice sounded like a hiss as he spoke. He opened his mouth to speak once again, but was interrupted as he fell to the ground, the blood loss causing him to faint. Celestia remained silent, unable to force her body to move as she watched the monstrosity bleed out in front of her. “Orders, Your Highness?” Luckily, a voice shocked her from her stasis. “Get it medical attention, and arrange for its transport back to Canterlot with the rest of us. We’ll need it alive if we want to find out what the changelings were up to in there.” “Yes, Your Highness.” Celestia nodded, but kept her gaze on the creature before her. The red coat of a pony, four solid legs, and a pony’s face. Then, her eyes moved to the outstanding features of the black horn, the iridescent wings, and the eyelids that hid its blue eyes. Glancing back to the rubble remains of the changeling hive that had been flourishing only moments before, she couldn’t help but ask, “What happened here?” The First ChapterTwilight leaned forward in the chair, her pen busily scribbling on the paper floating next to her. In front of her was a creature that had been brought back from one of Celestia’s raiding parties, a unique pony/changeling hybrid. The examiner slowly brought a small knife to the skin of the being and cut a small incision in the flesh. The other ponies in the room, all of them scholars or professors in some field, leaned forward in their chairs to get a better look at the action. After another small cut, perpendicular to the first, the examiner carefully pulled the flaps away. What lay under the skin caused all the ponies in the room to hurriedly begin taking notes: a layer of black carapace covering the vitals. After pausing for the ponies to take their notes, the examiner proceeded to take out a larger knife and cut into carapace as well. As he pressed the metal to the exposed shell, the front legs of the creature twitched. A few ponies gasped, but the doctor was quick to put their fears to rest. “It is merely a muscle spasm. I assure you that the anesthesia has put it completely asleep.” As all the ponies in the room murmured amongst themselves, Twilight took the opportunity to let her gaze roam over them. It wasn’t concern that they had felt. They feared what capabilities this creature had. As her gaze moved across their faces, intrigued by their reaction, her eyes fell on the creature on the table. For a moment, she thought she saw the creature looking back at her. As she narrowed her vision to examine it though, she realized it was merely the second lens of the eye that she had heard about, camouflaged with their eye color so that their prey wouldn’t know when they blinked. The doctor let loose an exhale to calm himself, then continued. This was the reason he had been called specifically; it was time he used his talent. With deft manipulation of the knife, he cut small niches into the carapace that would allow him to remove the hard material and reveal the insides of the hybrid, while still allowing him to replace it when the examination was complete. Grasping the now free piece of exoskeleton, he revealed the inner organs of the creature and began to describe what he saw to the audience. Twilight emerged from the building, flipping through her notes as she walked. Despite the multitude of pages describing what she had seen and what she had been told, she still felt like she was coming away with less knowledge than she should have. There were several questions still stirring and dancing across her mind about what she saw and what it meant. As she walked, she realized that her legs had switched to an automated gait and found herself around the back of the hospital where a contingent of guards were walking the creature out of the building. As they herded the creature down the streets Twilight followed, tracking their every step, until they arrived at the palace. Twilight waited a few moments for them to go inside completely before following after them, nodding to the guard at the gates as she passed. With a steady pace, she moved through the castle, following in the wake of the guard patrol. As the guards round the final corner, Twilight cast an invisibility spell on herself and waited. After a short time, the guards meandered past her and left, leaving the path to the room clear. Glancing either which way, Twilight dropped the shroud and moved forward, approaching the door. She paused briefly at the threshold to examine the marks that cut deep into the wood, undoubtedly made by the hybrid that now was behind it. Another nervous glance around and Twilight pressed the door open. Cringing as the wood creaked. As she closed the door behind her with magic, she looked around the room, a horrified expression clear upon her muzzle. The fabric that had been used for window curtains had been torn away, teeth marks clear on what little shreds remained. Her gaze moved around again, searching for the hybrid that was somewhere in the room. Her sight fell to a sword that lay on the ground, the immaculate weapon striking an amazing difference with the rest of the shredded room. Her gaze moved once again, but was met by a sudden pressure. She looked down and saw the hybrid, his horn held against her throat as his unemotive blue eyes glared at her. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you right now,” his voice hissed through sharp teeth, and Twilight’s eyes widened in fear. “I- I just- I just wanted to ask you some questions.” Her nerves were aflame with panic as the creature began to force her back, towards the wall, his horn threatening to pierce her any moment. “Why? Didn’t you get enough information watching me be dissssssected like a lab experiment?” He had her to a wall now, the sharpened tip of his horn starting to dig into her neck with a small trickle of blood coming from the miniscule cut that the pressure had created. “How- How did you know I was there?” “Because I was awake for the WHOLE THING!” He lunged forward, Twilight’s reflexes saving her as she dove to the side on instinct. The horn impacted with the stone and shattered to pieces, the black shards falling to the ground. With a cry of pain from the hybrid and a flash of what was left, a new black pillar rose out of the stump. Following this, small rivulets of blood started running down his face. “B-but the anaesthetic was strong enough to have knocked you out completely.” “Oh, my mistake, I must have dreamt about being cut open like some little toy!” He ran towards her again, but now that Twilight knew what to look for, she managed to move to the side in time. “They tested that! I tested that! You should have been knocked out completely,” she said, repeating herself in her panic. “And you’ve tried it on Changeling and Pony hybrids, have you? That’s good news. All it managed to do for me was KEEP ME QUIET!” The creature grabbed a metal rod in its teeth and threw it the length of the room. Twilight caught it in her magic and rested it on the ground next to her. “I- I’m sorry.” “No you aren’t.” “Why do you said that?” “Because I’m just a thing for you to test and examine. I’m not a pony, not any more.” “Who were you before?” Twilight had moved to the side of the room, the hybrid walking past her and climbing into the bed where Twilight noticed the various cloth from around the room had been gathered. “Fighting Spirit. Ex-palace guard. But that doesn’t matter, because I’ll be dying soon anyway.” “What do you mean, ‘dying soon’?” “I have two stomachs, if I remember that stallion who cut me open right. Both of which need to be full. It’s not like I can gather love as the static abomination I am now, unable to change form. I’m kind of looking forward to dying, to be honest. Then, I’ll be done with this living hell.” “I- I’m sure that everything will work out-” “DON’T YOU DARE LIE TO ME!” A surge of uncontrolled raw magic shot forth from the horn of the creature, and Twilight found herself tumbling out of the room as she fell through the doorway. She peered upwards from her prone position, seeing the door closed once again, and rose shakily to her hooves. As she walked away, she would glance toward the door and reflect on what had been said. “A living hell...” That night, as Twilight tossed and turned in her bed, she was unable to get the thoughts and ideas she had discussed with Fighting Spirit out of her head. And the thoughts manifested themselves in nightmares and terrors. Standing over her bound body, Chrysalis leaned forward, a knife clasped in her magic. “Oh, just a few changes and I think you’ll be fine. You’ll love me so much more than Celestia, I promise you that. You won’t have a choice, you see.” The changeling queen smiled evilly as the blade descended and began to cut into her stomach. The dream then skipped a beat and the next thing that Twilight knew, she had a black carapace in place of her lavender coat. She was slowly walking along, unsure of her destination. A pair of doors on the right swung open and she turned to see Chrysalis standing over Celestia, the same knife clenched in her magic as she had had before. The queen turned to see the new arrival and smiled darkly. “Oh, Celestia. I want you to meet my new servant, Twilight Sparkle. She does whatever I want. Isn’t that right, O’ Bearer of the Element of Magic?” Though she fought the words, they forced their way past her mouth and Twilight nodded. “Indeed, Your Highness.” “Ah, what a relief. Would you mind coming over here and finishing this job for me? I have issues elsewhere.” The knife was in her possession and she approached the downed alicorn. She tried to fight, but she did little to hinder the control Chrysalis held over her. The knife was placed against the white equine’s throat, her eyes pleading as Twilight brought the sharp blade up to prepare for her strike. The blade plunged toward the exposed throat. Twilight jolted awake, her blood pumping fiercely as the all-too-vivid nightmares raced through her mind. “I... I need to do something for it. No, for him. But, what can I do?” (A/N: If you're looking for something more dark... there's always Benevolence. -N64Fan) The Second ChapterFighting Spirit curled deeper underneath the layers of heavy blankets that rested over top of him. They were stained red with blood, giving them a slick feeling as they rested against the ever shifting skin of the hybrid. He shivered and pulled himself tighter. It was like that moment when you get out of a hot shower and step into a gust of wind. The blankets gave him the only semblance of warmth. Yet even they were quickly becoming pointless. The preposterous amounts of blood that had leaked over them had made them less and less effective at trapping heat. The castle had refused to send in a maid to collect and clean them, if only out of fear of traumatizing whoever they assigned to the job. They were red as blood could be, and even the changeling’s escorts would avert their eyes when he climbed out of them. Fighting Spirit took a breath that was a little too deep and the skin around his underbelly broke apart again. The stallion flinched and rolled over, breathing as shallowly as he could. He could feel the blood leaking from all his joints, yet his body refused to die. He wasn’t sure why, but it seemed he had a surplus of blood flowing through him. The noise of a rumbling stomach filled the thick air beneath the sheets and a crooked smile crossed his muzzle, revealing a mouth full of odd sores that had only recently formed. Eventually he would die, at least. Then this torment would be over. The door to the room creaked open slowly, and the smile quickly fell from his face. Daring a moment he glanced out from underneath his crimson refuge and clenched his teeth at the sight of the pony who entered. Her white coat practically glowed in the low-light of the room. Her hair wafted this way and that on non-existant winds. He pulled his head back under the covers and began to curse the being under his breath. He had hoped that Celestia would save him when he had spotted her after his escape, now he realized he was nothing but a play thing to her. “Fighting Spirit.” The voice said, in it’s painfully kind tone. “My student has informed me of your interaction with her.” There seemed to be a touch of pain in her voice, but it didn’t matter to the stallion, he had learned the hard way she could fake whatever tone she wanted. He brought himself into a ball again, feeling the cracks open across his back as he did so. A silent moment passed slowly, but was broken by a gasp from the goddess-like being. Immediately afterwards the the hybrid felt a wave of heat wash over him. Additionally, the blankets no longer felt stained with his blood. Surprised by the act, Fighting Spirit snaked his head out from under the clean sheets to look towards Celestia. A shocked look had devoured her face. “I must apologize.” She sounded shaken. “I-I had no idea that-” Her voice dropped off. Already Fighting Spirit could feel his blood staining the blankets anew. “Then what, exactly, did you expect?” The ever-present rage was lingering in his words and he had started to sound very reptilianne. “Did your thousand years of rule not prepare you for this? Did you believe that your precious little ponies would accept the freak?! Did you decide the being you had promised REPRIEVE, would be safe in the hooves of another, Celestia?!” Another silence as the princess watched the recently cleaned sheets turn red once again, the being beneath them practically hissing at her with anger. Which, she figured, she deserved given the circumstances. “I had no idea.” She said humbly. “I will do anything in my power to help you, now that I know the horrors that have befallen you.” She had been distracted tracking down the rest of the changelings, out of fear for a counterattack against Canterlot. Slowly, the being pulled itself out from under the bed sheets. Small rivulets of blood ran across the entire body and began to pool on the floor of the room. “Anything in your power?” Anger was the only emotion in the words. “Then kill me and free me from this eternal hell.” It shifted suddenly to a calm tone, like it was having a normal chat with a friend. Celestia couldn’t say that the request caught her by surprise, but she shook her head. “I can’t do that.” She said to the being. The sad words quickly filled the room. “Then there is nothing you can do for me.” Fighting Spirit said, his eyes unreadable beneath the solid blue that gazed up at the princess of the sun. He slowly crawled back under his blankets and choked back a few gasps of pain. “It doesn’t matter anyway.” His voice was barely audible past the heavy fabric. “I’ll be dead by the end of the week regardless, whether through blood loss or through starvation. Then you won’t have to worry about me ever again.” Fighting Spirit curled tighter into a ball on his self-proclaimed death bed, leaving Celestia to her thoughts. Her eyes roamed over the room, until she spotted a single thing that had been left unaffected by the rampant chaos around the living quarters. A sword was leaning peacefully against an overturned table and something about it sparked a memory. She was reminded of an old guard. An old, old guard. From many, many years prior, who had served Luna. He had vanished after Luna had turned into Nightmare Moon, leaving behind only a note that detailed his wife and child’s death at the lunar princesses rampant magic, but that stallion’s name had not been Fighting Spirit. She slowly turned back towards the bed, and to the stallion she knew lay beneath the sheets that were slowly turning muddy red. “What’s your name?” She asked, slowly. His mind was shattered, she was sure, but she was also sure that he still knew his name. If only because he had kept his sword in such pristine condition. “Steel Swirl.” Rage and heavy grudge leaked through the words as they pierced through the thick coverings that stopped them dead. “And I would appreciate it if you didn’t let Luna in here while I can’t control my temper.” “But, how did you survive this long?” “The world really sucks, your highness.” The Third ChapterCelestia gave a moment of silence to the stallion beneath the bed sheets. Her insides twisted themselves into knots as she watched the blood stain the cloth crimson again, undoing the magic she had cast mere moments ago. Eventually Celestia found herself with a growing urge to continue the questions to the victim who had wrapped himself in anything available. A vain attempt to keep the heat from bleeding out of his body. Steel Swirl had been the earth pony brother of the infamous unicorn mage with the same last name. He had remained mostly unnoticed by the populace, but he had done as much, if not more, than his brother in protection of the kingdom. Star Swirl was the creative of the two, but Steel received the muscles and miltaritarian quick wit. He had stood against a dragon once and had come out alive, if barely. After several weeks in the hands of the best medicial ponies he had eventually been brought out of his coma, Star Swirl had been a wreck the whole time, His life had come to an early end when Luna had turned into Nightmare Moon. He had fought valiantly, giving Celestia enough time to prepare the elements, but had died before the spell could be cast. Or so it had been thought. Celestia’s eyes looked towards the sword again and any doubt she may have had about the stallion’s identity was gone. It seemed to brighten the room from it’s position in the middle. She had enchanted the steel herself. It reflected the stallion’s current life force, it had been known to light up an entire room by itself, back before the corruption of Luna. The dwindling light it now shown seeded worry in the princess of the sun. She turned once more to the mass in the bed and asked the question in her mind. “How did you live?” It was a curious, yet determined tone. An odd mix of emotion that Celestia had become known for recently, her campaign against the changelings had changed much. “Luna saved me.” He stated. “Her Nightmare magic is a lot stronger than you know, stronger even than the limit that my brother hypothesised all those years ago, where the magic would destroy it’s wielder.” A loud crack echoed from underneath the blankets followed by a pained gasp. The sheets became a visible shade darker. “When the Nightmare cast the spell to kill me, Luna used extra magic to add something else to it. Immortality. Nightmare’s spell dropped me into a volcano full of lava. It burned like all the heavens but it didn’t kill me. Eventually I escaped that torment.” Celestia’s heart went out to the stallion, she wouldn’t wish that on her worst enemy. “Then why do you not want to talk to Luna?” She asked. The blankets scattered in a sudden burst of rage. The hybrid stared her down, the first time she had seen him completely since she entered the room. Slits of broken carapace were marked with red, many dripping blood. “Because she had no right to save me!” The words were filled with loathing. “I don’t know about you princess, but I felt the PAIN of being in the middle of lava, but I didn’t get to enjoy the sweet release of death!” A heavy exhale exited his nose. “I would much rather have died.” A soft laugh followed. “And now that I have a body that doesn’t hold all of her spell, I probably can.” Celestia decided not to comment on that. It was true, she could feel. But she had long ago removed her ability to feel too much pain. Thus, she believed, the insanity that she saw in his deep blue eyes was... acceptable. After what he had done, for the country, for her sister, for her.... he had the right to whatever he wanted. Deciding to get directly back to business she opted to ask the stallion questions. If he was intent on death, then she needed her answers sooner, rather than later. “What were the changelings planning?” She jumped straight to it. A laugh echoed from Steel’s throat. He had climbed back into bed, dragging several red blankets with him. “Nothing, your highness.” Despite his previous jovial chuckle his voice held the same dignified tone that he had used whenever he had spoken with her prior. “Nothing? Then how do you explain your... current state?” “They we’re just trying to make me into a changeling, Celestia. I broke out early.” His words weezed out of his muzzle and Celestia delayed her shock for a moment. A look of worry crossed her face as she looked at the stallion who had protected her for the ten most hectic years of her reign. He had kept his head outside of the tomb-like collection of blankets that he had piled on top of himself. He coughed up a collection of blood and green changeling ooze then looked to her out of the corner of his eye. The gaze snapped her from her moment of indecision and she spoke up again. “You broke out? But that’s...” Celestia’s mind drifted back to her time in one of the changeling cocoons. Her magic was nullified by the liquid inside it, and she had been too weak to break out. Her mind drifted back to Steel’s victory over a dragon and she realized that he had always been much stronger than her. He didn’t make a move to finish her sentence, and let the silence hang as it was. Then, as Celestia made to leave, he spoke up. “You were always so much stronger then I was, Celestia.” Shocked, the princess of the sun turned to face the hybrid but discovered he had pulled his head beneath his blankets once again. As a parting gift Celestia cast the cleaning spell on the sheets once again. The least she could do was make his last moments as peaceful as possible. Then, without another word, she left the tortured soul to his fitful sleep.
Prologue“Your Highness, we are prepared to infiltrate the hive on your go ahead.” Celestia turned to see a guard, his metallic armor practically shining in the dim sunlight. It was clear he had taken care of his equipment and had gone through a rigorous process to prepare it all for the coming battle. His eyes were set on the princess, hard and sure. But the princess had been around long enough to see under his charade. He was aware that today may be the day he died. She shared a moment with him. No words, merely an understanding. Slowly, her gaze moved to the large structure that had brought them away from Canterlot: a large black blot on her kingdom. The surface glittered like obsidian while the putrid stench of the living quarters wafted towards the group on the wind. The changelings had been laying low until the day of the attack, but Celestia had noticed them. They hadn’t been a threat, merely setting up hives and nests so that they might live. But now, after what had happened at her capital, now they needed to be removed. She glanced back to the soldiers. Each of them bore a symbol of their families so they might be recognized should they fall in the coming battle, a constant reminder of what might await them. After a pause, she nodded and the guards began to ready, checking their gear one final time. Her gaze moved back to the hive. It was situated in a valley between two rather tall mountains. Nearby was a small lake that had formed from the runoff of melting snow, giving enough water for the grass and nearby vegetation to flourish. The hive had been found by a group of ponies who had come out to examine some of the odd plants. They had been attacked when the changelings had spotted them, but one of them, an earth pony, had given his life so that the others might escape. “On my command, soldiers,” the princess said, looking back to the stallions as her voice, quiet and harsh, reached their ears. “Three...” The sound of rattling metal informed her that they were eager to move. “Two...” The princess turned to face the hive once more, a glare of anger upon her normally passive face. “On-” An explosion of magical energy tore through the air and a series of cracks shattered across the surface of the hive. The building slowly began to crumble towards the ground. Black dots erupted from the building’s various entryways. Instinctively, the guards moved in front of their princess to protect her from this surprise retaliation. As the changelings got closer and closer however, it became clear that they weren’t going to attack. They were running from something. The buzzing creatures flew past the contingent of guards without an altercation and took off into the distance as fast as their wings could carry them. The building continued to crumble as gravity brought the monolith to the ground. Celestia returned her attention to her original target, deciding to track the changelings later, and crouched low to the ground. “At the ready, guards.” They turned their attention once more the black stone, waiting to see what would have scared away a whole changeling hive. A scream tore through the air, causing the guards to flinch. “That didn’t sound like a pony,” the lead guard said, his keen ears picking up on the unusual shout. Celestia lowered her gaze to the entrance, where movement had caught her eye. “It didn’t sound like a changeling either...” Her tone was low and quiet, not wanting to give away their position to this new creature. It stumbled out of the entrance, it’s gait unsure and erratic. Slowly, the creature approached the nearby pool and looked into the surface. It stared at the waters for a moment before letting out another ungodly screech and the guards flinched once more. “Something’s wrong,” Celestia said as her instincts informed her of the oddity. Determined to find out what the creature was, she started moving past the guards to approach it. She began to pick up speed until she was no more than a few steps away from it, the screeching still filling the air. The noise came to a stop as Celestia stopped walking, her steps freezing as she saw what stood before her. The creature turned to face her, blood dripping down its face. The muzzle of a pony smiled slightly though the new adornments, making it seem malevolent. Jutting from its head was a black horn, identical to that of changelings, and decorated in the crimson life blood of its bearer. The fluid dripped and flowed down its face, as if the black pillar had shoved its way up past his flesh. It was such a horrid sight that Celestia found herself unable to look away, a pair of solid blue eyes gazing back. The smile widened slightly, revealing the sharp canine-esque teeth that had replaced the flat dentals the pony had had before. A pair of blood soaked wings began to flap on his back, though apparently against his will. A small gust filled the air, but the pony remained grounded, to heavy to be lifted by the wet wings. “Oh, Celestia, you have no idea how happy I am to see you.” His voice sounded like a hiss as he spoke. He opened his mouth to speak once again, but was interrupted as he fell to the ground, the blood loss causing him to faint. Celestia remained silent, unable to force her body to move as she watched the monstrosity bleed out in front of her. “Orders, Your Highness?” Luckily, a voice shocked her from her stasis. “Get it medical attention, and arrange for its transport back to Canterlot with the rest of us. We’ll need it alive if we want to find out what the changelings were up to in there.” “Yes, Your Highness.” Celestia nodded, but kept her gaze on the creature before her. The red coat of a pony, four solid legs, and a pony’s face. Then, her eyes moved to the outstanding features of the black horn, the iridescent wings, and the eyelids that hid its blue eyes. Glancing back to the rubble remains of the changeling hive that had been flourishing only moments before, she couldn’t help but ask, “What happened here?”
The First ChapterTwilight leaned forward in the chair, her pen busily scribbling on the paper floating next to her. In front of her was a creature that had been brought back from one of Celestia’s raiding parties, a unique pony/changeling hybrid. The examiner slowly brought a small knife to the skin of the being and cut a small incision in the flesh. The other ponies in the room, all of them scholars or professors in some field, leaned forward in their chairs to get a better look at the action. After another small cut, perpendicular to the first, the examiner carefully pulled the flaps away. What lay under the skin caused all the ponies in the room to hurriedly begin taking notes: a layer of black carapace covering the vitals. After pausing for the ponies to take their notes, the examiner proceeded to take out a larger knife and cut into carapace as well. As he pressed the metal to the exposed shell, the front legs of the creature twitched. A few ponies gasped, but the doctor was quick to put their fears to rest. “It is merely a muscle spasm. I assure you that the anesthesia has put it completely asleep.” As all the ponies in the room murmured amongst themselves, Twilight took the opportunity to let her gaze roam over them. It wasn’t concern that they had felt. They feared what capabilities this creature had. As her gaze moved across their faces, intrigued by their reaction, her eyes fell on the creature on the table. For a moment, she thought she saw the creature looking back at her. As she narrowed her vision to examine it though, she realized it was merely the second lens of the eye that she had heard about, camouflaged with their eye color so that their prey wouldn’t know when they blinked. The doctor let loose an exhale to calm himself, then continued. This was the reason he had been called specifically; it was time he used his talent. With deft manipulation of the knife, he cut small niches into the carapace that would allow him to remove the hard material and reveal the insides of the hybrid, while still allowing him to replace it when the examination was complete. Grasping the now free piece of exoskeleton, he revealed the inner organs of the creature and began to describe what he saw to the audience. Twilight emerged from the building, flipping through her notes as she walked. Despite the multitude of pages describing what she had seen and what she had been told, she still felt like she was coming away with less knowledge than she should have. There were several questions still stirring and dancing across her mind about what she saw and what it meant. As she walked, she realized that her legs had switched to an automated gait and found herself around the back of the hospital where a contingent of guards were walking the creature out of the building. As they herded the creature down the streets Twilight followed, tracking their every step, until they arrived at the palace. Twilight waited a few moments for them to go inside completely before following after them, nodding to the guard at the gates as she passed. With a steady pace, she moved through the castle, following in the wake of the guard patrol. As the guards round the final corner, Twilight cast an invisibility spell on herself and waited. After a short time, the guards meandered past her and left, leaving the path to the room clear. Glancing either which way, Twilight dropped the shroud and moved forward, approaching the door. She paused briefly at the threshold to examine the marks that cut deep into the wood, undoubtedly made by the hybrid that now was behind it. Another nervous glance around and Twilight pressed the door open. Cringing as the wood creaked. As she closed the door behind her with magic, she looked around the room, a horrified expression clear upon her muzzle. The fabric that had been used for window curtains had been torn away, teeth marks clear on what little shreds remained. Her gaze moved around again, searching for the hybrid that was somewhere in the room. Her sight fell to a sword that lay on the ground, the immaculate weapon striking an amazing difference with the rest of the shredded room. Her gaze moved once again, but was met by a sudden pressure. She looked down and saw the hybrid, his horn held against her throat as his unemotive blue eyes glared at her. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you right now,” his voice hissed through sharp teeth, and Twilight’s eyes widened in fear. “I- I just- I just wanted to ask you some questions.” Her nerves were aflame with panic as the creature began to force her back, towards the wall, his horn threatening to pierce her any moment. “Why? Didn’t you get enough information watching me be dissssssected like a lab experiment?” He had her to a wall now, the sharpened tip of his horn starting to dig into her neck with a small trickle of blood coming from the miniscule cut that the pressure had created. “How- How did you know I was there?” “Because I was awake for the WHOLE THING!” He lunged forward, Twilight’s reflexes saving her as she dove to the side on instinct. The horn impacted with the stone and shattered to pieces, the black shards falling to the ground. With a cry of pain from the hybrid and a flash of what was left, a new black pillar rose out of the stump. Following this, small rivulets of blood started running down his face. “B-but the anaesthetic was strong enough to have knocked you out completely.” “Oh, my mistake, I must have dreamt about being cut open like some little toy!” He ran towards her again, but now that Twilight knew what to look for, she managed to move to the side in time. “They tested that! I tested that! You should have been knocked out completely,” she said, repeating herself in her panic. “And you’ve tried it on Changeling and Pony hybrids, have you? That’s good news. All it managed to do for me was KEEP ME QUIET!” The creature grabbed a metal rod in its teeth and threw it the length of the room. Twilight caught it in her magic and rested it on the ground next to her. “I- I’m sorry.” “No you aren’t.” “Why do you said that?” “Because I’m just a thing for you to test and examine. I’m not a pony, not any more.” “Who were you before?” Twilight had moved to the side of the room, the hybrid walking past her and climbing into the bed where Twilight noticed the various cloth from around the room had been gathered. “Fighting Spirit. Ex-palace guard. But that doesn’t matter, because I’ll be dying soon anyway.” “What do you mean, ‘dying soon’?” “I have two stomachs, if I remember that stallion who cut me open right. Both of which need to be full. It’s not like I can gather love as the static abomination I am now, unable to change form. I’m kind of looking forward to dying, to be honest. Then, I’ll be done with this living hell.” “I- I’m sure that everything will work out-” “DON’T YOU DARE LIE TO ME!” A surge of uncontrolled raw magic shot forth from the horn of the creature, and Twilight found herself tumbling out of the room as she fell through the doorway. She peered upwards from her prone position, seeing the door closed once again, and rose shakily to her hooves. As she walked away, she would glance toward the door and reflect on what had been said. “A living hell...” That night, as Twilight tossed and turned in her bed, she was unable to get the thoughts and ideas she had discussed with Fighting Spirit out of her head. And the thoughts manifested themselves in nightmares and terrors. Standing over her bound body, Chrysalis leaned forward, a knife clasped in her magic. “Oh, just a few changes and I think you’ll be fine. You’ll love me so much more than Celestia, I promise you that. You won’t have a choice, you see.” The changeling queen smiled evilly as the blade descended and began to cut into her stomach. The dream then skipped a beat and the next thing that Twilight knew, she had a black carapace in place of her lavender coat. She was slowly walking along, unsure of her destination. A pair of doors on the right swung open and she turned to see Chrysalis standing over Celestia, the same knife clenched in her magic as she had had before. The queen turned to see the new arrival and smiled darkly. “Oh, Celestia. I want you to meet my new servant, Twilight Sparkle. She does whatever I want. Isn’t that right, O’ Bearer of the Element of Magic?” Though she fought the words, they forced their way past her mouth and Twilight nodded. “Indeed, Your Highness.” “Ah, what a relief. Would you mind coming over here and finishing this job for me? I have issues elsewhere.” The knife was in her possession and she approached the downed alicorn. She tried to fight, but she did little to hinder the control Chrysalis held over her. The knife was placed against the white equine’s throat, her eyes pleading as Twilight brought the sharp blade up to prepare for her strike. The blade plunged toward the exposed throat. Twilight jolted awake, her blood pumping fiercely as the all-too-vivid nightmares raced through her mind. “I... I need to do something for it. No, for him. But, what can I do?” (A/N: If you're looking for something more dark... there's always Benevolence. -N64Fan)
The Second ChapterFighting Spirit curled deeper underneath the layers of heavy blankets that rested over top of him. They were stained red with blood, giving them a slick feeling as they rested against the ever shifting skin of the hybrid. He shivered and pulled himself tighter. It was like that moment when you get out of a hot shower and step into a gust of wind. The blankets gave him the only semblance of warmth. Yet even they were quickly becoming pointless. The preposterous amounts of blood that had leaked over them had made them less and less effective at trapping heat. The castle had refused to send in a maid to collect and clean them, if only out of fear of traumatizing whoever they assigned to the job. They were red as blood could be, and even the changeling’s escorts would avert their eyes when he climbed out of them. Fighting Spirit took a breath that was a little too deep and the skin around his underbelly broke apart again. The stallion flinched and rolled over, breathing as shallowly as he could. He could feel the blood leaking from all his joints, yet his body refused to die. He wasn’t sure why, but it seemed he had a surplus of blood flowing through him. The noise of a rumbling stomach filled the thick air beneath the sheets and a crooked smile crossed his muzzle, revealing a mouth full of odd sores that had only recently formed. Eventually he would die, at least. Then this torment would be over. The door to the room creaked open slowly, and the smile quickly fell from his face. Daring a moment he glanced out from underneath his crimson refuge and clenched his teeth at the sight of the pony who entered. Her white coat practically glowed in the low-light of the room. Her hair wafted this way and that on non-existant winds. He pulled his head back under the covers and began to curse the being under his breath. He had hoped that Celestia would save him when he had spotted her after his escape, now he realized he was nothing but a play thing to her. “Fighting Spirit.” The voice said, in it’s painfully kind tone. “My student has informed me of your interaction with her.” There seemed to be a touch of pain in her voice, but it didn’t matter to the stallion, he had learned the hard way she could fake whatever tone she wanted. He brought himself into a ball again, feeling the cracks open across his back as he did so. A silent moment passed slowly, but was broken by a gasp from the goddess-like being. Immediately afterwards the the hybrid felt a wave of heat wash over him. Additionally, the blankets no longer felt stained with his blood. Surprised by the act, Fighting Spirit snaked his head out from under the clean sheets to look towards Celestia. A shocked look had devoured her face. “I must apologize.” She sounded shaken. “I-I had no idea that-” Her voice dropped off. Already Fighting Spirit could feel his blood staining the blankets anew. “Then what, exactly, did you expect?” The ever-present rage was lingering in his words and he had started to sound very reptilianne. “Did your thousand years of rule not prepare you for this? Did you believe that your precious little ponies would accept the freak?! Did you decide the being you had promised REPRIEVE, would be safe in the hooves of another, Celestia?!” Another silence as the princess watched the recently cleaned sheets turn red once again, the being beneath them practically hissing at her with anger. Which, she figured, she deserved given the circumstances. “I had no idea.” She said humbly. “I will do anything in my power to help you, now that I know the horrors that have befallen you.” She had been distracted tracking down the rest of the changelings, out of fear for a counterattack against Canterlot. Slowly, the being pulled itself out from under the bed sheets. Small rivulets of blood ran across the entire body and began to pool on the floor of the room. “Anything in your power?” Anger was the only emotion in the words. “Then kill me and free me from this eternal hell.” It shifted suddenly to a calm tone, like it was having a normal chat with a friend. Celestia couldn’t say that the request caught her by surprise, but she shook her head. “I can’t do that.” She said to the being. The sad words quickly filled the room. “Then there is nothing you can do for me.” Fighting Spirit said, his eyes unreadable beneath the solid blue that gazed up at the princess of the sun. He slowly crawled back under his blankets and choked back a few gasps of pain. “It doesn’t matter anyway.” His voice was barely audible past the heavy fabric. “I’ll be dead by the end of the week regardless, whether through blood loss or through starvation. Then you won’t have to worry about me ever again.” Fighting Spirit curled tighter into a ball on his self-proclaimed death bed, leaving Celestia to her thoughts. Her eyes roamed over the room, until she spotted a single thing that had been left unaffected by the rampant chaos around the living quarters. A sword was leaning peacefully against an overturned table and something about it sparked a memory. She was reminded of an old guard. An old, old guard. From many, many years prior, who had served Luna. He had vanished after Luna had turned into Nightmare Moon, leaving behind only a note that detailed his wife and child’s death at the lunar princesses rampant magic, but that stallion’s name had not been Fighting Spirit. She slowly turned back towards the bed, and to the stallion she knew lay beneath the sheets that were slowly turning muddy red. “What’s your name?” She asked, slowly. His mind was shattered, she was sure, but she was also sure that he still knew his name. If only because he had kept his sword in such pristine condition. “Steel Swirl.” Rage and heavy grudge leaked through the words as they pierced through the thick coverings that stopped them dead. “And I would appreciate it if you didn’t let Luna in here while I can’t control my temper.” “But, how did you survive this long?” “The world really sucks, your highness.”
The Third ChapterCelestia gave a moment of silence to the stallion beneath the bed sheets. Her insides twisted themselves into knots as she watched the blood stain the cloth crimson again, undoing the magic she had cast mere moments ago. Eventually Celestia found herself with a growing urge to continue the questions to the victim who had wrapped himself in anything available. A vain attempt to keep the heat from bleeding out of his body. Steel Swirl had been the earth pony brother of the infamous unicorn mage with the same last name. He had remained mostly unnoticed by the populace, but he had done as much, if not more, than his brother in protection of the kingdom. Star Swirl was the creative of the two, but Steel received the muscles and miltaritarian quick wit. He had stood against a dragon once and had come out alive, if barely. After several weeks in the hands of the best medicial ponies he had eventually been brought out of his coma, Star Swirl had been a wreck the whole time, His life had come to an early end when Luna had turned into Nightmare Moon. He had fought valiantly, giving Celestia enough time to prepare the elements, but had died before the spell could be cast. Or so it had been thought. Celestia’s eyes looked towards the sword again and any doubt she may have had about the stallion’s identity was gone. It seemed to brighten the room from it’s position in the middle. She had enchanted the steel herself. It reflected the stallion’s current life force, it had been known to light up an entire room by itself, back before the corruption of Luna. The dwindling light it now shown seeded worry in the princess of the sun. She turned once more to the mass in the bed and asked the question in her mind. “How did you live?” It was a curious, yet determined tone. An odd mix of emotion that Celestia had become known for recently, her campaign against the changelings had changed much. “Luna saved me.” He stated. “Her Nightmare magic is a lot stronger than you know, stronger even than the limit that my brother hypothesised all those years ago, where the magic would destroy it’s wielder.” A loud crack echoed from underneath the blankets followed by a pained gasp. The sheets became a visible shade darker. “When the Nightmare cast the spell to kill me, Luna used extra magic to add something else to it. Immortality. Nightmare’s spell dropped me into a volcano full of lava. It burned like all the heavens but it didn’t kill me. Eventually I escaped that torment.” Celestia’s heart went out to the stallion, she wouldn’t wish that on her worst enemy. “Then why do you not want to talk to Luna?” She asked. The blankets scattered in a sudden burst of rage. The hybrid stared her down, the first time she had seen him completely since she entered the room. Slits of broken carapace were marked with red, many dripping blood. “Because she had no right to save me!” The words were filled with loathing. “I don’t know about you princess, but I felt the PAIN of being in the middle of lava, but I didn’t get to enjoy the sweet release of death!” A heavy exhale exited his nose. “I would much rather have died.” A soft laugh followed. “And now that I have a body that doesn’t hold all of her spell, I probably can.” Celestia decided not to comment on that. It was true, she could feel. But she had long ago removed her ability to feel too much pain. Thus, she believed, the insanity that she saw in his deep blue eyes was... acceptable. After what he had done, for the country, for her sister, for her.... he had the right to whatever he wanted. Deciding to get directly back to business she opted to ask the stallion questions. If he was intent on death, then she needed her answers sooner, rather than later. “What were the changelings planning?” She jumped straight to it. A laugh echoed from Steel’s throat. He had climbed back into bed, dragging several red blankets with him. “Nothing, your highness.” Despite his previous jovial chuckle his voice held the same dignified tone that he had used whenever he had spoken with her prior. “Nothing? Then how do you explain your... current state?” “They we’re just trying to make me into a changeling, Celestia. I broke out early.” His words weezed out of his muzzle and Celestia delayed her shock for a moment. A look of worry crossed her face as she looked at the stallion who had protected her for the ten most hectic years of her reign. He had kept his head outside of the tomb-like collection of blankets that he had piled on top of himself. He coughed up a collection of blood and green changeling ooze then looked to her out of the corner of his eye. The gaze snapped her from her moment of indecision and she spoke up again. “You broke out? But that’s...” Celestia’s mind drifted back to her time in one of the changeling cocoons. Her magic was nullified by the liquid inside it, and she had been too weak to break out. Her mind drifted back to Steel’s victory over a dragon and she realized that he had always been much stronger than her. He didn’t make a move to finish her sentence, and let the silence hang as it was. Then, as Celestia made to leave, he spoke up. “You were always so much stronger then I was, Celestia.” Shocked, the princess of the sun turned to face the hybrid but discovered he had pulled his head beneath his blankets once again. As a parting gift Celestia cast the cleaning spell on the sheets once again. The least she could do was make his last moments as peaceful as possible. Then, without another word, she left the tortured soul to his fitful sleep.
