I leaned in closer, my fanged mouth inches away from his eyes, and smiled. His eyes widened to an impossible width. I struck, my fangs sinking in to the skin of his neck. Chrysalis said the next part was instinctive. I hope so, because I have no idea what I’m doing. I began to drink his life, rapidly pulling it in. Yet, at the same time, I pumped the energy I extracted back into him, now tainted with my essence. His eyes rolled back in his head as my venom started its work. Within a minute, I had fully ‘filtered’ his life force and let go. His body slumped down, suspended only by the binding goo attaching his hands to the walls. The taste of his blood felt like it was burning itself onto my tongue.

I sighed. [Chrysalis, I just had to change one of my friends. He found out what I am.]

[A shame,] Chrysalis thought, her tone laced with sarcasm. [It’s not my problem. Though I suppose congratulations are in order. You have the first member of your hive.]

[Nick’s going to kill me when he wakes up. How long is this going to take, anyway?]

[He won’t kill you. He won’t even be able to attempt to hurt you unless you let him. Forced converts are always troublesome. He should take twenty hours to convert if you don’t cocoon him. Eight if you do.]

[And the cocoon, what do I do with it when he emerges?]

[Why, you eat it, of course. No sense in wasting valuable nutrients.]

‘Joy. Let’s see… What to do. What to do…’ I thought to myself. I dissolved the goo holding Nick up and stuck it in my mouth. There was no real flavor to it. Then I transformed into Nick . ‘You know, this is the first time I’ve taken the form of someone else.’ I compared our reflections, and seeing no difference beyond the bite marks, I peeked out into the hall. Not seeing any of his family, I quickly teleported him into his room. Our little scuffle had knocked over some of the items in his bathroom, so I picked up the objects and set them back in their places. I started walking over to Nick’s room, but was caught by Nick’s father. ‘Shoot… Time to see how good of an actor I am.’

“Hey, dad.”

“Nick, Will’s mother called. She hasn’t heard from him, and this storm is making her worried,” Nick’s father said.

‘Dang, I forgot to call mom,’ I thought, then said, “He’s crashing here for the night. Will’s in my room right now. I’ll go tell him to call.” I dashed off to Nick’s room before he could even respond. I slammed the door and locked it behind me, then as an afterthought cast a sealing charm on the door.

I turned my attention to the comatose original Nick on the floor. I sighed and dragged him over to the corner and curled him up into the fetal position. Within a minute, I had totally encased him in hardened goo. This whole situation was surreal, like something out of a cheap horror movie. The evil clone standing over his cocooned victim as the clock strikes midnight… ‘yeah… fun.’

I changed back to my own voice and called my mom to “explain” the situation. Once she was satisfied that I was safe and sound, I restored Nick’s voice and settled down on his bed. ‘It’s going to be a long night. I’ve got to be awake when he hatches… what a pain.’

In the corner, the cocoon twitched as it restrained the movement of its prisoner.

The clock read 8:37 AM. I could hear the early risers in Nick’s family up and about already. Nick, the lazy bastard, was still sleeping in his cocoon. ‘Wake up already, damn it!’ As if to answer my thought, the figure in the cocoon began to stir. I jumped up and rushed over to it. I quickly checked that the sealing charm was still on the door and, satisfied that it was, kneeled down by my friend. The cocoon cracked and a black, holed claw burst out. ‘This totally reaffirms my belief that this is a horror movie plot.’ His body began working its way out of the cocoon. Inch by inch more of him was exposed.

As soon as his head broke free, he took in a huge breath of air. “Fuck…You… Bastard,” he said in his raspy double voice between breaths.

'Of course.' I noticed the distinctive aura that signifies emotion was missing from around his body. Pulling his arm, I helped him get completely free of the goo that had not hardened over night. I sat him on his bed, which he lay down on while panting heavily. I took a good look at his body. His arms were the same thickness as mine were undisguised, but shorter. His height had remained the same. Where his hair should have been, there was only a fin like membrane. His eyes were the same solid teal as Chrysalis’s changelings. In fact, he looked like I had rearranged the bones in one of those changelings and given it hands.

I remembered what Chrysalis had said about the hive mind, so I began exploring with my own mind. After a minute, I found the parts that were not there before. I pushed my awareness into it. In an instant, I was seeing out of Nick’s eyes. I could see his human face on me and feel his entire body. I gave it an experimental movement, finding it as easy to control as my own body. Nick panicked, feeling his body move without his consent, yet he could not regain control. I held his mouth shut and restrained his limbs so that he would not make any noise.

“Nick, I’m sorry. I really am. You left me no choice,” I said to him.

<<Why? Why did you do this to me?>> He thought. I heard him through the newly established hive mind connection.

<<I have to keep my nature secret. I told you what changelings were before there was any changeling presence on Earth. Then I changed. Now, Catherine is the only human that even knows of what a changeling is. I had planned for you to remain human, but you found me out. The nature and presence of changelings must be kept secret at all costs,>> I explained. The ponies and zebras of Chrysalis’s world already know of changelings, which makes it that much harder for them. I will keep our presence a secret as long as possible.

<<So you turn me into a monster?!>> He stopped for a moment. <<And get out of my fucking head!>> Nick raged in his mind. He continued to fight against my control over his body, but to no avail. I would not let him go until he was going to stay quiet. <<You say you are my friend, but what kind of friend does that? I don’t even know if you are the real Will.>>

To answer that, I opened up my memories to him, pouring in everything I could remember about the two of us, dating back all the way to elementary school. I also showed him my transformation and explained that this was the real me. Then, I ordered his silence. <<You will do nothing to expose your nature as a changeling. No hints, no telling, no showing anybody,>> I commanded the subconscious of the hive mind. I felt the confirmation come from Nick, indicating that my order had been embedded within the depths of his unconscious mind.

<<Okay, I believe that you’re who you say you are. Now can you get out of my head?>> he thought.

I gladly obliged, pulling back my influence. I could still feel him, but felt that he could no longer feel me. What a weird feeling.

“Please, don’t ever do that again.” Nick shuddered and then glared at me.

“No promises,” I said, much to his visible dismay.

“So, can I have my sexy body back? As great as it looks on you, it suits me better,” he joked.

“Sure, man.” I reverted to my original human skin. Then I info-dumped on the hive mind, filling it with useful information about being a changeling. This way, I would not have to re explain it to any new changelings. ‘New changelings… that makes it sound like I really will be the king of a new specie.’

Having gotten my information, Nick reverted to his original form. “Ugghh… why did you have to make me a herm. That’s just plain weird.”

I chuckled at my friend, who was still grumbling over his misfortune. “Well, look at it this way,” I said. “There is a couple Chrysalis told me about. One is a pony, the other is a changeling. The mare knows that her partner is a changeling. Let’s just say that they have quite the sex life.”

Bon Bon was standing by her bedroom window, looking out at Ponyville in the early morning sunlight. Lyra was still asleep in bed. Suddenly, a shiver traveled down the changeling’s spine. Lyra murmured in her sleep, “Mmmm… the humans are talking about us… hehehe,” but did not wake. For once, Bon Bon feared her marefriend was right.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a pulse of powerful magic passing over the town. She looked out of the window and saw the light emanating from the library windows. “Twilight…”

Author's Notes:

*Ding* Have a chapter!

The episode this time is___________(guess).

So yeah, changeling!Nick.

I forgot what I wanted to say about this chapter....

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Let me clear something up.

"Speech"
'Personal Thought'
<<Hive Mind Thought>>
<<Hive Mind Command>>
[William's Thoughts to Chrysalis]
[Crysalis's Thoughts to William]

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(edited 3/2/2014)