Douglas 2: The Douggenning

-THE ROC POV

I serve the MOTHER. SHE will have what is HERS, because I will not fail. The one called DOUGLAS is my prey, and I will take…I’ve been spotted by the black alicorn.

I must devise a new strategy.

It is using the shadows to travel. The scent of its magic fills my nostrils. It will not stand in my way. There, off to the right! It emerges, lunging, charging with its horn. It gave me far too much time to react. I swatted with my multitudinous limbs, but it carved through them. This must be our captive’s counterpart. I do not know if it can kill me. It will not have the chance.

I have my new strategy.

From my severed limbs, I grew more Spawn. I had already sent plenty of Spawn to the city, but these would distract the alicorn. They did. I turned towards the target…and stopped. I could smell HIS power. He would not be taken easily. If I were to surprise HIM, I may be destroyed. I developed a third strategy.

I dove for the pink.

-CHRYSALIS POV

I knew why Douglas was in such turmoil. He had just given me the gift of empathy, now he was losing it himself. I could see Klaus in him; not literally, but emotionally. The thrill of slaughter was beginning to overtake him, and he was transforming into the monster that used to be my emperor. But I was bound to another now, and he needed me. He was now more changeling than human, and if he couldn’t hold on to his humanity, I would help anchor him with his new identity. I put a hoof on his shoulder.

“Douglas, I have something I must tell you.” He was utterly, eerily still. Changelings didn’t need to breathe, and now he had abandoned even that.

“Go ahead.” His words were dead, lifeless and heavy.

“Douglas, you don’t have to lose yourself. You’re a changeling now, but you are still a living creature capable of feeling. I can see your anguish, and I know why. You gave me a gift, and you think you’re losing it, but you have something to hold on to.”

“Listen to her, Dougie. You’re my friend, for always and forever. Auntie Pinkie is here.”

In the next moment, she wasn’t.

A gargantuan creature plummeted from the sky. It was mostly mouth, and as it dove, I could see at least three rows of teeth in its open maw. Several jointed spikes jutted from its underside, and as it came racing down, one of them slid through Pinkie while the rest wrapped around her. It carried her off on wings of gore and leather, the entire maneuver taking place within fractions of a second. Neither I nor Douglas had the speed to react in time. Oh no. Douglas. I turned towards him.

“Douglas, hold on!”

“I’m a changeling, you said?” He met my gaze, and I backed away. His words were dripping with rage, and his stare could have skinned me alive. Words eluded me. Without waiting for an answer, his body bent and stretched as he became a winged centipede made of bones. He continued to stare at me for a moment, provided a lengthy view of his “head.” At the front end of his new shape were many rings of serrated mandibles which could have sawed diamonds into powder. He tore off after Pinkie’s captor.

-THE ROC POV

HE would follow. HIS contact with the pink suggested a bond. Its screams were insignificant. I flew towards a potential ambush site. I was fast, and the outcropping would provide ample space to conceal myself, if such action proved necessary. HE might not even struggle if I free it. It may be important enough to HIM to warrant surrender. The outcome was certain either way: I would retrieve DOUGLAS and bring HIM to the MOTHER. There was no chance of failure.

Wait.

I smelled DOUGLAS. HE was far too close. This is an impossibility. How could HE be so fast? HE can’t be. I turned, and saw…DOUGLAS? There was another creature. It was bigger than me, and I could smell it. It was DOUGLAS. I came to the outcropping, hitting the stone above my intended target, accidentally dropping the pink onto a ledge below. Impossible. I do not become confused. I do not make mistakes. I do not fail. I cannot fail. I cannot…

-DOUGLAS POV

The thing met my mouth. Within seconds, it was confetti.

Pinkie had rolled inside a cave. She was still breathing, but the hole through her would fix that soon. Taking my own shape, I stepped towards her…