Chapters Chapter 1: The Secret Project
An old unicorn walked into the room. It was dark outside, and he had used his magic to create a faint light to guide himself in the dark streets of Canterlot. As he closed the door behind him, he looked around the room to see 3 other ponies waiting for him at a table. He sat down with them and took out some papers from his saddlebag, placing them on the table for all to see. He then spoke with a voice that sounded younger than what anypony would guess from his appearance.
"This is all the research we need. Feel free to keep it, I have copies," said the unicorn as he saw his fellow ponies looking at the papers.
"How did you come across such detailed information?" an earth pony asked, his eyes fixated on the papers. "This seems like the work of years."
"I must confess, friends, I have been researching them for a long time, even before we met." The unicorn's pride was evident in his tone. "Every piece of information in those papers is a result of my research."
"Doctor Test, you truly have a brilliant mind," said a pegasus as he read the information on the papers. "When will we get started?"
"Ah, we could get started as soon as you are ready, my friends." Doctor Test looked at each of his colleagues.
"How are we going to propose this idea to the Princess?" asked a female unicorn, younger than the other ponies in the room.
"Oh, yes, the Princess." Doctor Test thought for a second. "The Princess does not need to know, my dear."
Those words made the other ponies freeze, the shock evident in their faces. Each of them started thinking about what Doctor Test just said, and looked at him, silently demanding an explanation.
"The Princess would not allow such a brilliant project." Doctor Test calmly pointed at the papers with his hoof. "This is not only a very useful project, it is also one that would never be seen as ethical by the Princess."
To a normal pony that would require more information, but these ponies already knew enough to realize that Doctor Test had a point. The pegasus and the earth pony both nodded in agreement, while the younger unicorn did so reluctantly. Doctor Test smiled with satisfaction and stood up.
"Well then, my friends, tonight marks the start of Project HIVE!" said Doctor Test, proud and triumphant.
The stallions in the room celebrated, but the mare did not. She simply looked at the papers, focusing on a page titled "Changeling Biology", her face showing a hint of fear. She knew that something about this project was not right, but there was nothing she could do now.
***
The day after Princess Cadence's wedding in Canterlot had been normal for Princess Celestia. Some royal duties and raising the sun, nothing outside the daily routine. Until a guard came running into the throne room, holding a piece of paper.
"Your Highness!" The guard stopped in front of the Princess and bowed down. "We found this on one of the changelings that invaded Canterlot, we believed it wasn't important until we noticed the name of one of the scientists that went missing years ago."
Princess Celestia used her magic to bring the paper to her. She read it, her expression being calm at first, but quickly changed to a troubled one.
"Project HIVE Subject 173-b. Placed under observation in Sector A by Dr. Test." The Princess was surprised, she had not heard from Doctor Test after he and 3 other scientists disappeared without a trace 8 years ago.
She dismissed the guard, and put the paper away. Quiet and deep in thought, she spent the next hour wondering why was that paper on a changeling, and how it related to Doctor Test. When it was time to lower the sun and let her sister raise the moon, she told her about the recent discovery, and Princess Luna could clearly see how troubling it was.
"What shall we do, sister?" Princess Luna asked.
"We need to find out what happened to Doctor Test, and what he has to do with the changelings," she answered.
Moments later, at the princesses' command, a group of guards left Canterlot and searched Equestria for any clues about Project HIVE and Doctor Test. They searched endlessly, day and night, for 3 days, and returned to Canterlot with only one clue: the location of a farm near changeling territory. This was the only lead, but Princess Celestia decided not to miss the chance.
***
The chariot pulled by a pair of pegasus guards and carrying a pair of unicorn guards and scientists came down from the sky and landed outside the farm. The crops and trees were dead and the farm seemed abandoned. Aside from the 6 ponies, the insects were the only still living beings in the farm.
"Is this seriously a place for a secret project? I say we should head back," said one of the pegasi.
"The princesses ordered us to investigate, and that is what we will do, even if we find nothing interesting," a scientist said to the pegasus.
"Hey Sparky, you done admiring the scenery?" asked one of the unicorns to his partner.
The unicorn had been silently looking at the farm until his partner talked to him. "Can we refer to each other by our names, please? You know I dislike that nickname."
"Sorry, Spark Fire, this is not the first time you just look at nothing while working." The unicorn guard's tone only served to further irritate Spark Fire, and that was precisely his intent.
"With no further delays, let us begin our work, please." The scientist started walking towards the farm, accompanied by her partner.
The guards followed and carefully opened the farmhouse's door. They could not find anyone inside, and the rooms were full of insects and dust. After searching in vain for anything useful, they walked out and towards the barn. Opening the barn's door, they were surprised to see that the inside of the barn was nothing like a normal barn. All it had was a metal platform in the center with what appeared to be a control panel on it. Not wasting time, they walked towards the platform.
None of the guards knew how to operate it, and that was to be expected. The scientists however, could figure it out with ease. Moments later the platform started descending into the ground, much to the delight of the scientists and to the satisfaction of the guards. As the platform kept descending, Spark Fire simply looked at the steel walls surrounding them. To the other ponies it seemed like if he was just staring at nothing, but Spark Fire was actually carefully observing the walls, looking for anything suspicious. He apparently was the only pony to notice that something seemed off.
When the platform reached its destination, the guards and scientists were impressed by how deep it was. To them it seemed like they had gone from the top of the highest tower in Canterlot to near the base of the mountain the city was built on. They had no time to keep thinking about comparisons, as a hallway in front of them was revealed by a path of flickering lights. The guards began to walk first, following the lights, being followed by the scientists, who were being followed themselves by Spark Fire. While being the last one walking did not serve any tactical purpose, it did help him notice something that would have scared anypony not in the military: there was green slime on some parts of the walls.
Author's Note
This is my first attempt at a REAL fanfiction. Constructive critcism welcome.
The guards and scientists stopped in front of a closed gate. The guards once again were frustrated, while Spark Fire carefully observed the triple hexagon symbol on the gate. It reminded him a lot of a changeling's colors, and this made him feel uneasy. The scientists attempted to open the gate with a nearby control panel, though it malfunctioned the second they tried to activate it. Tired of waiting, one of the pegasus guards hit the panel with his hoof with tremendous force. To the surprise of the others, the gate started to open, the guard facing the scientists with an arrogant smile that made it difficult for them to hide their anger. They walked into the next room the same way they came to it, with Spark Fire behind everyone.
It didn't take them long to realize that the room was darker than they had anticipated. The unicorn guard signaled for Spark Fire to join him in using their magic to create light, and Spark Fire quickly came to the front of the group with his partner, both using their magic to light the way. The guard knew that having Spark Fire at the front with him would mean they would need to walk slowly since he liked to take a good look at his surroundings, but he didn't mind, he was used to working with him. The scientists paid little attention to that detail as well, their job did not involve walking at a fast pace for long periods of time. With the pegasus guards, however, it was a different story, and more than once they attempted to make the unicorns walk faster.
The room was about as big as the Princess' throne room, and with the help of the light, they saw that there were a few closed doors, each with their own control panel, though the guards simply ignored them. When they were in the middle of the room, Spark Fire suddenly stopped, using his horn's light to reveal a trail of green slime that led into the darkness. He signaled the others to stay behind, and he slowly walked, following the trail and at the same time paying attention to the darkness at his sides. He eventually reached a gate similar to the one they had opened earlier, except this one was already open. Before turning around to let the group know that it was safe to proceed, he took one last look into the darkness of the next room. What he saw made him run back to the group as fast as he could.
"Changelings!" he shouted.
He barely had time to rejoin the group as the sounds of insect wings were heard from the end of the room, and seconds later a swarm of changelings came from the open gate. The four guards quickly stood in defensive position, spears and magic ready to attack. The changelings were faster than they thought, and the guards only managed to defend themselves for a couple seconds before being overwhelmed. Spark Fire managed to cast a fire spell that made the changelings attacking him drop to the floor, though he had no time to confirm if they were killed by the spell. His fellow unicorn guard saw he was, for the moment, free to move. However he noticed more changelings coming from the gate, and realized Spark Fire had only seconds before another group of changelings attacked him again.
"Sparky, go! More changelings incoming!" The guard's voice was barely audible above all the noise from the changelings' attacks. "Get somewhere safe!"
"I'm not leaving you all here!" Spark Fire was ready to attack the changelings attacking his partner.
"Just do it!" shouted the guard very loudly, this time heard clearly.
Spark Fire knew his friend's tone. Though he would have gladly stayed to help, he decided to obey and quickly ran away, avoiding changelings as he looked for a way out. The gate they had used to enter the room was blocked by more changelings, forcing him to try to open one of the doors. While he was not bad with technology, he was bad at trying to use computers under pressure, and was tempted to try to destroy the panels like the pegasus guard had done earlier, but this would close the door forever if it didn't work, and blasting the door open with a spell needed more time than he had. Luckily, when he avoided one of the changelings, it crashed into the control panel, opening the door and allowing Spark Fire to escape. The room he had entered had a platform very similar to the one from the barn, though this one was easier to activate. Before any changelings had the chance to follow him, Spark Fire was already out of their reach.
As the platform moved upwards, Spark Fire looked at the platform's controls, and saw a screen with what seemed to be a map of a hive-like complex, with a blinking red dot showing the platform's location. He saw that the room he was in earlier was the center of the complex, and that he was now headed towards an area named "Lab Sector D". He also saw that the platform that took him and the others into the complex was one of only 2 ways out, the other one located at the bottom level of the complex, in an area named "Throne". He did not like the sound of that, remembering the changeling queen from the invasion of Canterlot.
The platform reached its destination about 10 minutes after it started moving, enough time for him to observe and study the map and memorize most of it. While this may have seemed impossible for anypony, Spark Fire had developed his "habit" of observation shortly after he became a royal guard. Since crime rates in Canterlot are low and Equestria was not currently at war with another nation, guards are often limited to keeping watch and guarding the castle's doors, and this was often boring for the new recruits. Spark Fire found an interesting way to entertain himself while keeping watch, looking at the ponies walking in front of the castle. Originally he focused on the colors and races of the ponies, then on their clothes and finally on their expressions, this eventually made him able to correctly guess many things about the ponies, and with time he started doing the same with his surroundings. He was very proud of this, and often said it was his second talent, since his cutie mark already showed his real special talent which was entirely unrelated.
As he walked out of the platform, he set his priorities in order. First, he would gather information as soon as possible, then look for the others and find the way out. He started walking towards the exit, and before being able to get to the control panel of the door, he saw something on the floor right in front of him, a keycard with the same symbol the gates had. He lifted it with his magic to get a closer look, and was able to read the words "Dr. White Rose" on one side of the card, next to the picture of a female unicorn.
Author's Note
As with the first chapter, criticism is welcome.
Chapter 3: A Change of Plans
Spark Fire used the newly found card to enter the next room without needing to use magic or destroy the panel. To his delight, the place was seemingly free of any changelings, but he was surprised to see that it was well-lit and clean. He took a look at the walls, looking for any of the changelings' green slimy substance, but found none. He walked, making sure he had not overlooked any part of the lab, and stopped near a computer screen showing the words "Please insert access card.". Spark Fire looked at the card he had taken and carefully inserted it into the machine. The screen now showed a message saying "View personal log No. 001 and No. 002?", and he decided to see what information the logs had.
A unicorn appeared on screen in a recorded message. Spark Fire noticed it was the same unicorn from the picture because of the glasses, mane and heart-shaped jewel hanging from her neck. The unicorn began to speak.
"I am Dr. White Rose, Canterlot biologist and one of the scientists behind Project HIVE. The aim of this project was to study the changelings' nature and need to feed on the emotion of love. Our colleague, Dr. Test, had been studying changelings for years, and claimed he had found a way for changelings' nature to be used for the good of ponykind. I came to this place with my husband and baby daughter, thinking we would work for the good of Equestria. I was a fool to believe this was possible, and in hindsight I should have guessed the nature of the project when Dr. Test decided to make this project a complete secret, saying Princess Celestia had no need to know of the project." Dr. White Rose looked behind, seemingly making sure she was alone. "This facility was built with the help of many earth ponies and pegasi living near this location, who were tricked into helping by Dr. Test and his promises of helping the advance of science. The farm above us was made to provide food and was run by the earth ponies, while the pegasi were tasked with helping us secure changeling subjects. It wasn't long until Dr. Test decided to ask for a 'volunteer' for his first experiment. That was when we all realized something was wrong. He never showed us what he did with the volunteer, but showed us the 'results'. The volunteer had once been a pegasus, but now...he was something else. A horrible pony and changeling hybrid, like if a pony had grown a horn, fangs and insect wings and had his legs pierced with drills many times. The pony's mouth was full of a green substance, not unlike the one that is found in a changeling's cocoon, and he painfully demanded to be fed. Dr. Test said this was an 'unfortunate accident' and put him under observation in Sector A, where he would later send all of his volunteers, or 'test subjects' to be more accurate. I fear we may have made a wrong choice with this project, and my husband and fellow scientists agree with me."
The recording ended as soon as she had said the last word. Spark Fire was disturbed to say the least, just picturing the experiment that led to such a result made him want to believe this was a nightmare that his princess of the night would wake him from. However, while he was younger than most guards, he was mature enough to realize what he was thinking and calmed down. He still had one log to see, and despite he already had information, he decided to see what other secrets Dr. White Rose would share. He sat down as the next recording started.
"The captured changelings have become more violent, and the 'new changelings' are becoming more like those monstrous shapeshifters, but are now even more dangerous than the real changelings. All the ponies that ended up as hybrids due to the 'accidents' in the experiments, and that means all of them, are mutating, transforming into changelings and not looking anything like their former selves. They seem to do this by trapping themselves inside of cocoons for a period of 5 hours, later emerging as changelings. They even acquire the same shapeshifting powers, and are now even capable of feeding on love, but this is where they are worse than the real ones. Dr. Test put an innocent pony inside of one of the new changelings' containment cells, and that is when we saw that the changeling took the form of somepony else and started absorbing the love from the pony, this was expected from a changeling, but the next action wasn't. After it had fed on the pony's love for a short period of time, it still looked hungry, and looked at the pony with a look that scared even us. Then it...ATE HIM ALIVE! From the coat to the organs, until there was barely any flesh left!" Dr. White Rose's face was pale and her voice made her fear evident.
Spark Fire paused the recording right there, shocked. He thought he would be ready for another disturbing secret, but this was too much for him to handle. A royal guard, even one young like him, wasn't easy to scare, but this information would have made any guard feel, at least, disgusted. He stood there for a moment, trying to calm down. You are one of Princess Celestia's guards, damn you! he thought to himself. He repeated those words to himself a couple more times before he was finally able to calm down. He had already heard enough, but something pushed him to hear more, and decided to resume the recording.
"Other new changelings displayed the same disturbing behavior, but some of them did not eat the ponies, and instead trapped them inside cocoons. After just 1 hour, the trapped ponies became changelings. I don't know what he did, but Dr. Test's experiment made these changelings far more dangerous in every aspect. Sector A's changelings are multiplying, and against our suggestions, Dr. Test insists on leaving them alone. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a containment breach in Sector A in the near future. I need to get out of here, take my husband and daughter and go back to Canterlot to tell the Princess what happened here, this cannot be allowed to continue!" Dr. White Rose seemed to hear something and looked to her left. "Who's there?" she asked, adjusting her glasses.
The recording ended soon after. Spark Fire now had a better idea of what Dr. Test had done, and now just thinking about that name disgusted him. He took the card back from the machine and walked, planning what to do next. He then saw a door to his side with the words "Changeling Security Device", and decided to open it.
Inside was a small storage room with 2 versions of a single device, a transparent mask that could cover the entire face of a pony, one of them had what seemed to be metal around a hole in the upper part where a unicorn's horn would fit through. Spark Fire looked at them and then saw a sign on the wall that explained what they were. The mask's transparent material could see through a changeling's disguise, while the metal parts were prototype magic amplifiers. Spark Fire thought he was lucky to have found them, and was delighted to see that the mask fit quite well inside his helmet. Now with some kind of advantage, he headed towards the lab's exit. If the changelings had captured his fellow guards and the scientists and spared them, then he would need to find them quickly before it was too late.
Author's Note
And the 3rd chapter. Expect more action in future chapters.
Spark Fire was able to fend off groups of changelings in the following rooms. Thanks to the C.S.D., changelings disguised as his fellow guards weren't able to trick him, and the prototype magic amplifier worked perfectly. While he enjoyed the action, he had to find the real guards and get out of the complex. It had been at most half an hour since they were captured, and if Dr. White Rose was correct, there was still time before they turned into changelings. He tried to hurry, following only his hopes, as he had no way of knowing if the guards and scientists were spared in the first place, and interrogating a changeling was like asking Princess Celestia to raise the sun in the middle of the night.
He had to stop in front of a malfunctioning gate that could not open. He remembered it led to the area called Sector A, and remembered that this was where Dr. Test sent all the "accidents". He deduced the area would be infested with changelings, but thought it would be likely his group would be trapped here. He took a few deep breaths and focused his magic, now being able to blast the gate open.
As he had expected, a large group of changelings came out to attack him. He quickly managed to create a wall of fire between the changelings and him, and fortunately they weren't able to stop in time before being incinerated. With that group taken care of, Spark Fire proceeded to walk into Sector A. He saw with a strange mix of horror, disgust and fascination that what once had been a lab was now a large changeling nest. He quickly took a look around, trying to observe all details in the shortest time possible before more changelings attacked. Easier said than done, as he was interrupted by changelings at least twice.
When he felt he had seen enough, he began to walk through the room. There were many changelings and broken cocoons, but no traces of the guards nor the scientists. He was not going to give up, and kept going until he found one of the scientists still alive, but she was apparently in the middle of feeding a changeling with love. He was almost sure this was the case, as the changeling's horn was glowing and she was kissing the changeling's neck, though her eyes were glowing a pale green color. Spark Fire got rid of the changeling, though the scientist did not react at all. He quickly deduced what had happened.
"Doctor, snap out of it! Come on!" Spark Fire shook the scientist's head, trying to make her come back to her senses.
The scientist slowly woke up from her trance and her eyes regained their natural color. Spark Fire made sure no more changelings were nearby and turned to face the scientist.
"What happened? Where are the others?"
"I...I don't know...we were trapped and brought here by changelings, but they took the guards to another place. They kept me and my partner in here to...to..." The scientist began to cry, and Spark Fire knew what this meant.
"Stop crying, we must get out of here, I know the way out but we must--"
"Behind you!" shouted the scientist.
Spark Fire quickly turned to see a group of changelings in front of him. He didn't have enough time to react and they held him down, making him unable to move. He saw the scientist attempting to run, only to be surrounded by more changelings. He desperately tried to break free, but the next time he looked, he realized that the changelings had already begun to ate her.
Filled with anger, Spark Fire's magic caused a burst of fire that incinerated the changelings holding him down. He then incinerated the ones eating the scientist, but realized he was too late. The scientist's chest and stomach had been ripped open and most of her organs were bleeding. She was not going to survive, and they both knew this. She looked at Spark Fire one final time, tears flowing from her eyes.
"Save yourself...return to...the Princess...tell...her..." The scientist couldn't talk anymore and stopped breathing.
Spark Fire had never seen an innocent pony die in front of him, and to add to the injury he could have saved her. He stood where he was, looking down at the corpse of the scientist he failed to save. He decided he would not allow the changelings to claim more victims if he could prevent it, and ran off as fast as he could.
He reached the end of the sector after some time, incinerating every changeling in his path, and saw the corpses of changelings on the ground, along with the corpses of the pegasus guards. He was shocked at first, fearing the worst, but after taking a closer look he saw that the pegasi had fought back and died in battle. This was an honor for a guard, of course, and Spark Fire was somehow glad that they hadn't been eaten. He then remembered that there was one guard left, and took a look around, noticing one intact cocoon, and he could see the silhouette of a unicorn guard inside. He quickly ran up to it, focusing his magic to destroy the cocoon and release the guard. However, as the guard was released, Spark Fire saw in horror that he was late.
The pony that had once been a unicorn guard was now a hybrid, more changeling than pony, with the differences being clear to the naked eye. Spark Fire could not believe what he was seeing and, holding on to one last hope, he tried to talk to his fellow guard.
"Frost, is that you?"
"The White Queen...orders..." The hybrid did not seem aware of his surroundings. "...I...obey...."
"Frost? Come on...it's me, Spark Fire!"
"Feed...we must...feed!" The hybrid looked at Spark Fire, just noticing he was there.
"No...sweet Celestia..." Spark Fire quickly prepared to fight, realizing that this was the point of no return. "Frost...forgive me..."
Spark Fire and the now changed Frost began to fight, Spark Fire using his magic both defensively and offensively and Frost using an enhanced speed and reflexes, making it difficult for both to land a single hit. Frost finally managed to have an advantage and threw Spark Fire to the floor. Exhausted from the battle, Spark Fire was unable to fight back now, and it seemed everything was lost. As Frost stood next to him, seemingly ready to feed, Spark Fire tried one more time to reach out to his friend.
"Frost...it's me...Sparky..."
Frost was about to bite Spark Fire's leg when he heard that. He stopped, remembering the nickname he had given the guard who would often stand still staring at nothing. He then finally realized what he was doing and what he had become. He fell backwards, sitting on the floor and holding his head. Spark Fire was glad to see that it worked, but knew that something wasn't right.
"Frost? Are you alright?" he asked.
"The White Queen...the Hive answers to her...the changelings...obey her!" Frost said in pain.
"The White Queen?"
"She is trying to control me...to control everypony...you have to stop this...stop her!"
"What?"
"Sparky, you have to get out of here...the entrance that we used...it's blocked...the changelings are waiting for the White Queen's command to leave this place from there. If they escape, it'll be the end! You HAVE to leave and stop her!"
"Frost, I can't! I couldn't even save you...I can't do this..." Spark Fire's doubt was evident in his tone.
"Spark Fire, please...the ponies that died here...don't let them die in vain...you are a Royal Guard, damn you!" Frost held his head and started letting out sounds that sounded like a changeling's. "You are the only one who can do this...the only one who knows what has happened here...you must live to tell...you survived and came here, I know you can escape the White Queen and this place!"
Spark Fire looked uncertain, but then his duty as a Royal Guard and his friend's words made him find determination again. He looked around and saw the exit door, and remembered it led to another moving platform, which itself led to the Throne area and to his only way out. He looked at his friend.
"What about you?"
"My mind is changing...I'm too far gone...I don't know how long I have before I start acting like a changeling again...leave me here! Save yourself!"
Spark Fire obeyed and ran up to the door, opening it. He slowly walked in, then turned around to look at his friend one more time.
"Sparky...tell the princesses...tell them...that I didn't die a monster..." Frost's still mostly unchanged horn started glowing white as ice began to cover the floor beneath him.
Spark Fire knew what this would do, and saluted the fallen guard, holding back tears. As the door closed, he heard the agonizing cry of both a pony and a changeling. Frost had killed himself with his own magic. Spark Fire would have cried right there, but he decided not to until he had made sure nothing that had happened in there had been in vain. He looked in front of him and saw the platform that would take him to the Throne area, and it was different than the others one he had used. While the first ones had only a control panel and a map screen, this one had a full computer. He got on the platform and made it activate.
As the platform began to descend, the computer's screen showed a recorded message from an old unicorn. Spark Fire deduced who it was instantly. The unicorn began to talk with an arrogant tone that fueled Spark Fire's anger.
"I am the brilliant geneticist Dr.Test, the head of Project HIVE."
Author's Note
The dialogue here may seem a bit cheesy, and I apologize.
Chapter 5: One More Secret
Spark Fire had no interest in hearing anything from Dr. Test after his project caused the deaths of so many ponies, however he was stuck with hearing him while the platform continued its way. Against his better judgement, he listened to whatever the message was about.
"I started this project with the goal of giving ponies the changelings' ability to feed on love. I hired 3 of Canterlot's most brilliant scientists for this project, promising to share credit. However, I wasn't really going to. This project is all from my mind and only I will be recognized for it, they lack vision. Although, I must admit I had the same problem when we started this project. At first the goal was simple, but now it has evolved. During my first experiment, I tried to mix the genes of a pegasus who 'volunteered' for the experiment and a changeling, believing that the answer was somewhere in the changeling's genetic code. The result was a pony-changeling hybrid. At first I was shocked, but then I realized that this little 'accident' was in fact the start of something greater. The project's original goal was too basic, but I changed that. Why be a pony that can feed like a changeling when you can be both a pony AND a changeling? This was the birth of a new, superior species!"
Spark Fire was surprised to learn that the project was indeed originally intended to be beneficial to ponykind, however his suspicions about Dr. Test's insanity remained correct.
"As expected, my colleagues saw this as an abomination, so I kept performing my experiments in secret. With time, all the new hybrids displayed a changeling's behavior and even transformed into changelings, an unexpected side effect which I blamed the changelings' DNA for. It was time to see how they ate. I put a pegasus in one of the containment cells with a hybrid to see the results. The hybrid fed on the pony's love, and apparently it wasn't enough...it proceeded to eat the pony. My colleagues were shocked, but I was fascinated. It meant that these hybrids were able to feed on both love and flesh. Of course, ponies are mostly herbivorous in nature, so I believe this is another side effect. Other hybrids instead of eating their victims did something far more fascinating, they encased them inside of cocoons and after an hour the victims emerged as changelings. This was truly my best work, not only did I evolve ponies, but I also gave them the means to evolve others! Then again, my colleagues were not happy with this. I eventually thought of a way to make them see the wonder of my work themselves."
Spark Fire was now starting to see the true extent of the doctor's madness, and he knew he was not going to like what was coming next.
"I isolated different DNA strands from the changelings, each of them somewhat unique. I gave them to 2 of my colleagues, and the results were simply intriguing. One of them died, and the other one became a new kind of hybrid, one that more closely resembled a pony, but could not feed on anything. I learned my mistake afterwards, both strands I used had recessive, incompatible genes. It was time to do some new investigations, and I eventually isolated the Queen Strand, the one that undoubtedly was present in the changeling queen's genes, and would make the subject a hybrid while retaining their intelligence unlike the other hybrids, and even take control of them. Before testing it on myself, I needed another test subject, and I remembered that my colleague White Rose had been acting suspiciously. Needless to say, she was perfect for the job. However, I found her planning to leave with her husband and daughter and expose the secrets of my project to the Princess. I couldn't allow this, not when I was so close to reaching the perfect result. I did what had to be done, I kidnapped her daughter, an action that unfortunately required killing her husband, what a shame, he would have been a good test subject. When White Rose confronted me, I gave her the choice...to be the last test subject, or to leave and tell the Princess, making her daughter the last test subject. She chose to try to murder me outside of the lab, but she was not able to, and I eventually took both of them for the experiment, injecting them both with the Queen Strand. They both began to mutate, but their transformation was not what I expected. After 3 days of observation, I came to the conclusion that this mutation led to the strand becoming more powerful. I am now going to the newly made 'Throne Room' of the 'White Queen' as I called her to isolate the new strand for myself. With this, I will become the perfect specimen of this new species! I will make all of Equestria see the results of my project, and make the world change, bring the evolution of ponykind!" Dr. Test began to laugh like a mad pony as the message ended.
Spark Fire had now heard everything. Dr. Test was the worst pony he had ever known. He could only imagine what Dr. White Rose, her colleagues, her daughter, and all the ponies involved had to suffer because of Test. He now knew he had to leave the complex and tell the princesses what happened, or else nopony would know and the new changelings would get out of the complex and into Equestria, endangering the entire land.
The platform reached its destination, and Spark Fire saw something that at first shocked him but later made him feel satisfied. Dr. Test was lying beside the door, the chest and stomach ripped open and without organs. Spark Fire walked near the mad doctor's corpse, and said the first words that came to his mind.
"You brought this upon yourself, you monster..." Spark Fire looked at the dead doctor's face and wanted to spit on it, however the C.S.D. was covering his mouth and he later thought that even that was too good for the heartless doctor.
He looked at the door, and tried to open it with Dr. White Rose's card, but it did not work. He took a look at the doctor, noticing he still had his own card on him. He took it from Test's dead hooves and opened the door, then threw the card at the corpse as he walked into the Throne Room.
Author's Note
We are getting to the end of this nightmare.
Chapter 6: The White Queen
Spark Fire walked into the throne room, and the first thing he saw was a pair of glowing green eyes in the distance. He quickly saw who they belonged to: a changeling with an appearance somewhat similar to that of Princess Celestia, resembling the real Changeling Queen with some minor differences such as the mane's color and style. He was in front of the being that was once Dr. White Rose and now was the White Queen.
"Ah, welcome..." said the queen.
"The White Queen, or should I call you Dr. White Rose?" Spark Fire took advantage of the conversation to take a look around.
"No, that was my old, inferior self." The queen began walking towards him. "I am the White Queen, the ruler of the new, superior race of changelings. Did your friend not tell you that I control the changelings in this Hive now?"
"He did...before he killed himself to avoid being one of you!" Spark Fire shouted angrily.
"Such fury...I like that." The queen stopped in front of him. "Do not think you can fight me, guard. Even with that device you acquired, you stand no chance against the White Queen."
"I beg to differ." Spark Fire quickly used a teleportation spell to hide behind one of the cocoons in the room.
"You think you can run from me with simple unicorn magic?" she asked as she calmly began walking around the room. "I will find you, or you will come out of hiding yourself."
Spark Fire stood still and said nothing, trying his best to remain hidden.
"Do you still wish to go on with this, guard? If you do, there is only one of 2 ways this could end. I find you and then devour you, or you can survive...if you join us." The queen walked closer to where Spark Fire was hidden.
Spark Fire decided to try to attack her, and came out while at the same time casting a fire spell. The queen blocked it with her own magic, and not even the magic amplifier made the spell powerful enough to do any damage. In retaliation, the queen shot a bolt of magic at Spark Fire's C.S.D.. While it did not hurt him, it destroyed the transparent mask, stripping him of his advantage over changeling disguises. Before being the target of another spell, he teleported away to another hiding spot.
"Such a strong stallion...we do not need to fight, guard. Join me, and I can make you my King. Why serve a monarch when you can be a monarch yourself?" The queen's voice now had a seductive tone.
Spark Fire knew what she was trying, and tried to think of something fast before her voice could put him under the same hypnosis state the scientist he failed to save had experienced.
"We can both rule the new changelings together. You could look so much better than you do now. And I could be any mare you wish..." The queen's voice stopped at that moment.
"Whenever you wish..." said a very familiar voice. "Surely you must have felt attracted to your Princess at least once, am I right, Royal Guard?"
The voice was that of the princess, with a tone that would tempt any stallion. Spark Fire quickly looked over the cocoon he used to hide. He saw Princess Celestia walking calmly, though fortunately she was looking the other way. Spark Fire quickly looked away before he got any ideas. He was in fact somewhat attracted to the Princess, but nopony could blame him, after all Princess Celestia was truly beautiful. He shook his head, remembering his duty as a Royal Guard, and kept trying to think of something.
"Or...do you prefer a different princess? Perhaps..." The voice changed again. "...her sister?"
Spark Fire recognized that voice, it was Princess Luna's. He was tempted to look, but resisted the beautiful voice. He realized he was in a very bad situation. Since he had never fallen in love with any mare, his heart did not belong to anypony, and this meant that any mare he had ever felt attracted to could now be used by the queen to seduce him. Unfortunately, since he had spent most of the time observing ponies outside the palace, he had seen a lot of beautiful mares. This is what you get for trying to find a way to kill time during duty. IDIOT! he thought to himself. He heard the queen getting closer, and teleported away, continuing their game of cat and mouse while he kept trying to think of something.
The queen kept trying to seduce him, transforming into different mares, including Princess Cadence, the wife of the Captain of the Royal Guard and Fleur de Lis, the assistant of the most influential pony in Canterlot, to name a few. She seemed to enjoy this twisted game and made no effort to find him, believing he would not be able to resist for much longer. To her delight, Spark Fire came out of hiding after she had decided to repeat the transformation cycle starting with Princess Celestia.
"You...you win..." said Spark Fire, looking down. "I am yours, my queen..."
"Excellent...come here, my dear..." The queen stood where she was, not bothering to transform into another mare, as Spark Fire walked up to her. "Now, remove your helmet."
Spark Fire obeyed and took off his helmet, still not looking at her. The queen raised his chin up with her hoof and leaned in close, their lips inches away from touching. She closed her eyes as she decided to close the gap between them. He was now under her control.
Unfortunately for her, she did not notice that Spark Fire had not removed what remained of the C.S.D.: the magic amplifier, hidden by his hair. Spark Fire had tricked her into believing he gave up, and managed to create a burst of fire right between the moment the queen kissed him and the moment her magic had begun to take over his mind, and burned her horn. The queen broke the kiss and backed off in pain, reverting to her original form. This broke the control she had over him, and Spark Fire was glad to see that it worked so well.
"How dare you?! You fool...now you face the wrath of the White Queen!" The queen used her magic to attack him, but was quick to notice that the damage to her horn had weakened her power.
"We are equals now, 'your majesty'!" shouted Spark Fire as he attacked her.
The queen furiously attacked him while Spark Fire managed to avoid most of her attacks. Like Spark Fire had said, they were equals in terms of power now, neither of them being able to defeat the other with few attacks. Eventually, Spark Fire managed to focus most of what remained of his magic to create a powerful spell that was what earned him his cutie mark: a magic bomb. The magic bomb exploded between them with so much force that both of them were knocked back and the throne room became little more than dust and debris.
Spark Fire was the only one able to stand up, and though hurt by his own spell, managed to walk over to the queen. He was surprised by what he saw. The queen was no longer the big changeling, she was now smaller, about the size of a pony, and even more closely resembled one, though with the colors of a changeling and with some of their features. At first he thought it was another disguise, but was proven wrong quickly by the queen herself.
"Are you...happy now? Look at me...I am not a queen...I am not a changeling...I am not a pony...I am a monster..." the queen's voice was now that of Dr. White Rose's.
"No...you are not a monster, doctor...Test was...you were just his victim, like everypony else." Spark Fire sat in front of her.
"Yes...he was the monster, and then he made all of us twisted creatures..." White Rose began coughing as her mouth started to bleed.
"Doctor...I'm sorry..."
"No...this was our doing...we had to pay for it...I thank you...you..." White Rose found it difficult to talk now, and even more difficult to continue breathing.
Spark Fire placed his hoof on her mouth. "Spark Fire..."
"Spark Fire...I have one last thing to ask...before you go..." White Rose made an effort to talk. "The changelings will no longer listen to me once I'm gone. They will escape as soon as they have the chance...kill them all..."
"But how can I--"
"Use this..." White Rose lifted her heart necklace from her neck and placed it on the floor in front of Spark Fire. "Inside is a key to start the Apoptosis program...once activated, the Hive's reactor will overload and release an energy so great that it will incinerate every organic cell inside the Hive...this was my escape plan, but Test...ah, no need to keep talking about him...just...do it!" White Rose pointed at a door at the end of the room. "Your exit, and the computer to activate the program, is there....as well as my..."
"Doctor...?" Spark Fire knew what White Rose was going to say.
"Please...Spark Fire...in the name of my husband and the pony I used to be...save my daughter...she is not like us...her genes...the strand...can't mutate her completely...save her...she doesn't deserve to die here...please..." White Rose now hardly could breathe anymore.
"...I will...I promise...it is the duty of a Guard to protect the innocent..."
"Thank you...Spark...Fire..." White Rose stopped breathing almost instantly.
Spark Fire looked at her and closed her eyes. He then looked at the necklace and opened it, revealing a key and a picture of a family: White Rose, her husband, and their baby daughter. Keeping it close, he began to advance towards the door, knowing he had little time before the changelings realized their queen was gone.
Author's Note
And just one more chapter to go.
Final Chapter: A Better World
The door opened easily to Dr. White Rose's card, and Spark Fire was quick to go inside. The last room was much smaller, it only had a computer, some crates and what looked like a small escape pod. Spark Fire walked up to the computer and saw that it was connected to a machine with two keyholes. He took White Rose's key and it fit into one of them, but the other still needed its own key to activate the computer. He looked around and heard a noise coming from the crates, then walked towards them carefully, noticing that one of them was shaking. He carefully opened it and looked inside, seeing a little hybrid shaking in fear while looking at him with eyes full of tears.
"No! Go away!" said the hybrid with the voice of a young filly.
Spark Fire took a look at White Rose's family picture, and quickly realized this hybrid filly was in fact the little filly in the picture.
"Leave me! I'm a monster, and I will eat you if you come closer!" The filly was not threatening him, she was actually afraid, but not of him.
Spark Fire simply lifted her up and placed her outside the crate with magic. The filly quickly hid behind the smaller crates.
"Please, girl, I just want to help you!" Spark Fire slowly walked around the crates.
"No, you don't want to help me, you think I am a monster, like the doctor said!" The girl began to cry, not noticing how Spark Fire was getting closer to her. "He said I am a monster like my mom!"
"Listen to me," said Spark Fire. "You are not a monster, neither was your mom. The doctor was the real monster." Spark Fire gently placed his hoof on the young filly's head.
The girl looked up at him. "But look at me! Holes in my legs, these wings, this hair, these teeth!" She pointed to her tiny fangs. "When I look at me -" The girl looked at her reflection on the computer screen "- I see nothing but a monster!" She began to cry again.
Spark Fire looked at her and attempted to wipe off her tears with his hoof. "That is not what I see."
The girl looked at him, confused.
"I see a young girl who was the victim of a mad scientist who cared for no one but himself and caused the deaths of many ponies for his own goals."
"But...my mom looked like...like a monster, and I was scared of her, so much that I locked myself up here to never see her again, but then the doctor said that I would be just like her!"
"That doesn't make you a monster, and it certainly doesn't make your mother a monster either. She was a smart beautiful mare who turned into something else and died, all because of the doctor's madness." Spark Fire took the family picture and showed it to her. "The doctor was the one who wanted her to believe she was a monster, and he did the same to you. But neither of you were ever monsters."
The girl looked at the picture and held it with her hooves. After a moment she began to cry, holding it close to her chest.
"Your mom left something important to do. To save you and everypony from what the doctor did to all of you." Spark Fire pointed at the computer. "We need a key..."
The girl stopped crying and looked at him, once again shaking in fear. "But...no...what if you are trying to get away and leave me behind?!"
"I would never do that. I made a promise to your mother before she died ,and I intend to keep it. Trust me." Spark Fire walked towards the computer and stopped in front of the machine. He turned to look at the girl and put his hoof in front of him. "Come on...we can still get out of here."
The girl took another key from under a smaller crate, looking at it while still doubting Spark Fire's motives. She slowly walked towards him, holding the key with her mouth. Before getting to him she stopped, her doubts slowly getting the best of her. "No...no." She was about to cry again.
Spark Fire could have simply forced her to give him the key, considering how time was running out. Instead, he sat down, still with his hoof in front of him and smiled at her. "Don't be afraid..."
The tone in Spark Fire's voice, his smile and his attitude were enough for the girl to understand. She gave him the key and Spark Fire lifted it with his magic to finally activate the machine. The computer's screen showed the message "Apoptosis Program initiated. Please evacuate Hive Complex immediately." and the escape pod opened. Spark Fire quickly got inside then signaled the girl to get in. She obeyed and quickly jumped inside, the escape pod closing afterwards. After a few moments the ceiling above the escape pod opened and the escape pod was launched upwards.
Minutes later the escape pod came out of the ground near the farm, crash landing shortly afterwards. It opened slowly, and Spark Fire was the first one to get out. Though a bit hurt from the earlier battle and the landing, he was glad to finally be outside again. He soon heard the cries of hundreds of changelings coming from the barn, loud at first but quickly silenced. The changelings in the Hive had died.
He looked at the escape pod to see the girl, mostly unharmed, about to get out of the escape pod. "You know, little girl...I don't think I know your name yet."
The girl looked at him. "My name...is Clover." She tried to get out but the sudden realization of how different the world was than what she knew almost made her fall.
He offered her his hoof to help her out of the escape pod and she held it with hers, both smiling at each other.
***
Spark Fire returned home after work a little later than usual. He had visited the graves of the guards and scientists that died in the Hive, for it was the first anniversary of the events that had happened there. He remembered how difficult it was to explain to the princesses what happened, what the project really was and the fate of everypony involved. He also remembered how he had to convince the princesses that Clover was not like the other hybrids and to allow him to adopt her.
"Are you sure you wish to raise her, Spark Fire? "
"Yes, your Highness. I made a promise to her mother, and if you would allow me, I want to make sure Clover is always safe. "
"But will you keep her a secret from a world that is not ready for her? "
"The world may not be ready for her, Princess, but that is not her problem. Someday the world will have to accept her if we want it to be better. "
"Sister, let this guard keep the child. It is the least we can do for him and the ponies who perished because of Dr. Test. "
"Very well, Luna. Spark Fire, Clover is now your responsibility, understood? "
"Yes, your Majesty! "
Spark Fire smiled at the memories as he opened his house's door. He was greeted by Clover with a cheerful hug mere moments after he walked in. He happily hugged her back.
"So how was school?" he asked.
"I have more friends now, and look at this!" Clover turned around to show him something that made Spark Fire feel proud of her: a cutie mark had appeared on her flank.
"Clover..." Spark Fire could barely hold back his tears of joy.
"Do you think my mom would be proud?" she asked, looking at her family picture on the wall.
"Yes." Spark Fire hugged Clover and they both looked at the picture. "I'm sure she is..."
The Royal Guard and the hybrid filly sat there, not moving, both of them unwilling to end that happy moment too soon.
Author's Note
And it's over! I had a lot of fun writing this fanfic, even I got feels.
