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What I Am

by Knight Breeze

Chapter 12: Chapter XII

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Chapter XII

Yavaar grunted in frustration, the sound echoing in the areas of the base that still had working life support and intercom systems. It had been half a solar year on the local planet, and the long-distance communications array was no closer to being repaired, as was most of the base. The only things he really had at the moment was one of the backup electricity converter runes, the spare spirit cells, and the life support systems.

Oh, and the local communications runes were still active, but that was only because those were a part of The Core. How they had missed The Core was beyond him, but he was eternally grateful for it.

It meant that he could still contact the outside world, however limited that communication was.

He had hit a bit of a problem, though: there were no friendly ships within signaling range. Sure, the wizards at the University of the Lidless Eye would eventually figure out that something was wrong, but he was supposed to transmit his findings every year, according to the solar rotation of his host planet.

This was supposedly set in place to help him avoid notice by Krin forces, though the argument for that was feeling pretty flimsy at the moment, since they had found him anyway. At any rate, it would still be another half solar year (six months, according to the local calendar) before the wizards noticed anything was wrong.

Unless the Creator alerted the Speaker of his current predicament, there would be no help coming; no mages to rescue him, no ships to protect this planet, and no warriors to stop the horror that he knew had already befallen his hapless charges.

His only eyes, now, were the few remaining reconnaissance and recovery drones that hadn’t been destroyed in the attack, as well as the Humans’ own dataweb. The drones had been logged inside the auxiliary shuttle bay for repairs, with only two having been finished before the Krin Warcruiser dropped its cloak and opened fire. The auxiliary bay had been on the other side of the base, so thankfully it had been spared from the onslaught. Unfortunately, his fabrication bays had been destroyed in the attack, so even though the rock his base was embedded in had spirit stone, he couldn’t form any of it into the parts or runes he needed to make any repairs.

This had left Yavaar with a bit of a dilemma. The only beings within range to help him were the very charges he was tasked to watch over. Contacting them, though, would have been an extremely serious breach of the non-interference law set down by the Speaker herself-a decree that under absolutely no circumstances should the Quzin people ever break first.

His mission here was to protect these people at all costs, though, even if his part in that mission was merely to provide reconnaissance for the larger Quzin forces. Yavaar wasn’t some stupid machine; he was capable of seeing that his orders conflicted with the law.

He had been debating with himself for the past six months over what he should do. The fact that the Krin vessels seemed to have left had not escaped him, and the feed of his charges’ dataweb had yielded no significant change, meaning that even if the Krin had done something nefarious, they hadn’t alerted the local populace about it. That meant that the non-interference law had yet to be broken, and his claws were, figuratively, tied.

That was, at least, until the human dataweb just about exploded a little under an hour ago. Apparently, several local law enforcement individuals were seen escorting a young female away from a building that had suffered damages that looked exactly like plasma fire. On top of that, there were several videos on the site ‘Youtube’ showing law enforcement carrying out bodies under tarps that were far, far too large for a normal human.

Yavaar was not an idiot. The Krin must have done something, left, and come back. Either that, or they had been cloaked this whole time, doing unknown things to the local populace, and had only just been discovered. His lack of information, coupled with his inability to signal home, was really starting to frustrate him.

Now was the time to rectify this situation. With a simple datasearch, he found the location of the local law enforcement department that the bodies would have been taken to. He couldn’t alert his superiors... at least, not yet. But he would be able to get information and, hopefully, help. The Krin’s ineptitude had seen to that.

* * *

“So, Miss Jordan, what can you tell me about the aliens you fought?”

Valerie looked up from her hands, not really caring about the federal agent sitting in the seat across from her. The van they were riding in was an odd one, its rear seats set in such a way that they were facing each other. Valerie was sitting between two rather heavy set agents in the row whose back was to the driver, while Agent Vale was sitting in the row across from her, a laptop in her lap, and an inquisitive look on her face. How she could type while the car was moving was anyone’s guess, though.

Valerie let her hands fall into her lap as she listlessly stared at the agent in front of her. “They’ve got four arms, four legs, and-”

“No, no, no. I’ve already seen them, Miss Jordan,” Agent Vale interrupted her. “I wanted you to tell me a bit more. How did they move? What did you see of their technology? Tell me about the encounter.

Valerie nodded in understanding, but didn’t say anything. How could she? She was still struggling to believe that what she experienced had actually happened, and now they wanted a play-by-play? It was really too much. “I… I don’t think I can…” she said, rubbing one of her arms uncertainly. “I… it just kind of… My friend was kidnapped, and… and…”

Agent Vale closed the laptop gently and gave her an understanding look. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push you that hard. If you want, we can hold off until-sonuva-!”

With a sudden lurch, the whole van pitched sideways, as if the driver had made a really, really sharp left turn. Valerie cried out in surprise, but luckily her seatbelt and the two large men she was sitting between kept her from moving.

Agent Vale looked towards the driver behind Valerie, worry filling her eyes. “Gamble! What’s going on out there!?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am. Cherry said he spotted something hovering over us, and told me to make a hard left. I- holy-"

There was a brilliant flash outside, the window’s tint being the only reason Valerie didn’t instantly go blind. Despite that, it was still pretty bright, and she instinctively closed her eyes and put up her hands to block it out.

Luckily for her, this put her hands right in the right position to stop something large and heavy from impacting her face. Or, at least, to stop it from hitting her face with its full force. Instead, it merely caused her own hands to smack her in the forehead as whatever it was fell into her lap, then slid off and hit the carpeted floor of the van with a dull thud.

“Ow! What in the…?” Valerie asked, rubbing her forehead in pain as she shook her other hand vigorously, trying desperately to get feeling to return to the abused appendage. While she was doing this, she looked down to see what had hit her, quickly spotting the laptop that Agent Vale had been typing in lying on the floor. “Jeez, what was that all about?”

She didn’t get an answer. She didn’t need one. All she needed was a quick look outside the window to know that something had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

The lamp-lit streets of Portland that had been outside the car were gone; in their place was a dimly lit room, its metal walls absolutely covered in glowing green lines, giving it an eerie, unreal feel. Directly in front of them was a huge pair of metal, reinforced doors, its jagged, horizontal seam making it look like some kind of maw. To the right of the car was a large, car-sized silver egg, and to their left was what appeared to be a similar, yet much smaller version of the door she had noticed earlier.

Valerie felt like she was going to give herself whiplash with how quickly she was looking around, but she couldn’t help it; panic was rising in her chest with every passing moment, and it felt like the world around her was about to give way. “Where… where are we!?”

Without hesitation, Agent Vale unbuckled her seatbelt, pulled out her sidearm, and wrenched the van door open. The two agents flanking Valerie, as well as the driver, quickly followed suit. When Valerie tried to follow, though, one of the heavy-set agents held out a hand to stop her. “Please wait here, ma’am. It’s not safe.”

“And I’m safe in here!?” Valerie asked in disbelief.

“More than standing out in the open,” the agent said quickly. He then muttered something under his breath that Valerie barely caught. “Probably won’t protect against whatever they have in store, but…”

"What was that?” Valerie asked, panic rising in her voice.

Instead of answering her, the agent turned and started scanning the room for threats, leaving Valerie with nothing to do but stare out the car windows as the other three agents slowly began to spread out and investigate the new room. Without much to do, Valerie decided to do the same. She was hindered by the fact that she was stuck inside the car, but she didn’t let that stop her.

The ceiling seemed to be pretty high-enough to the point that she couldn’t see the top from inside the vehicle. The silver egg and their car weren’t the only things in here, either. Lining the walls was a number of crates, as well as a few odds and ends like cables, some oddly shaped tools, and some small, cylindrical objects. There were also a few other egg-things, which Valerie quickly realized were some kind of transports, based on how they had been disassembled to reveal a number of alien seats inside.

There was something… off about this place, though-apart from the obvious, anyway. The air had a musty kind of scent, and Valerie noticed little puffs of dust rise from the floor with each step the F.B.I. agents took, giving the whole place a crypt-like feel that only served to make her more nervous.

While all of this was truly weird and disturbing, it did not compare to the other weird fact about this room: Besides the agents and Valerie herself, there was no one else in the room.

“It looks like some kind of… shuttle bay.” Valerie heard the other heavyset agent say in amazement. “But… if this is an alien shuttle bay, where is the-”

“Welcoming committee?” Agent Vale finished for him. “No idea, but keep your wits about you. I really don't like this…”

The one called Gamble tapped Agent Vale on her shoulder to get her attention. “Maybe this is the start of some sort of twisted maze? Like some kind of behavior test, designed to figure out our weaknesses?”

“No, nothing like that, my friends.”

Despite the fact that the voice was fairly quiet, and spoken in a mild, almost friendly tone, it seemed to come from everywhere. Instantly, all the agents twisted and turned, pointing their weapons at where they thought the sound was coming from. They also started to group together, staying back to back as they searched for the unknown threat.

"Calm down, I mean you no harm. I merely require some information, and your group seemed the most likely to have the data I require.”

“Who are you? Why have you brought us here!?” Agent Vale shouted at the unseen entity.

“Ah, both of those are excellent questions. But despite their simplicity, they are not easily answered. First, I need information. If I find your answers satisfactory, I will be quite willing to answer yours.”

“Like hell we’ll-” Gamble started to say, but was interrupted as Agent Vale lightly placed a hand on his shoulder.

“What happens if you don’t find our answers ‘satisfactory’?” she asked. Valerie felt her heart leap in fear.

“You will be returned exactly where I found you,” the voice said candidly, “though I would ask that you keep this meeting to yourselves. I have no intention of harming you, so you needn’t worry about that. It is against my primary purpose to see any of your species brought to harm.”

While the words were meant to be comforting, Valerie didn’t relax in the slightest. This creature had still kidnapped them, and could kill them in any number of nasty ways if they angered it. The fact that there was no welcoming committee and they weren’t restrained upon arrival did little to ease this fear.

Agent Vale was apparently a bit more level headed, though. “...Fine, what are your questions?”

“Splendid! Thank you deeply for being such accommodating creatures.” The monster seemed to be… Valerie wasn’t quite sure how to put it. He sounded happy; excited, even. But at the same time his voice was… flat. Unemotional, like he had only heard about the concept of emotion from books. “I understand that it can be quite disorienting to be taken from your current activity without warning or apparent cause, and I want you to know that I find your compliance quite agreeable.”

The outpouring of gratitude took the agents by surprise. “Uh… don’t… mention it?” Gamble said as he slowly lowered his weapon.

Valerie could see Agent Vale’s eyes roll from here. It was practically a whole body gesture. “Just… what do you want to know?”

“Ah, yes, quite. About two hours ago, there was a crime committed in a home in the population center I extracted you from. I believe the female still in the van was involved, but more importantly, I would like to know the identity of the beings underneath the sheets that your local law enforcement removed from the scene, which you later moved into the other three transport vehicles for relocation.”

The three agents near the center of the room started whispering to each other, so quietly that Valerie found it impossible to overhear. Finally, they broke from their huddle and looked towards the walls again. “They were… creatures not from Earth. They had four legs and four arms, and carried-”

“Ah, thank you, that is quite enough,” the creature hummed over the intercom, apparently pleased with itself. “Yes, yes. They cannot become angry at me now, the law has already been broken. Anything else after this falls under damage control and fulfillment of my primary mission…”

“Excuse me, but just what are you? Why did you need to hear that, and what law?” Vale asked the mysterious voice.

The creature seemed surprised that they were still here. “Oh! My dear, I’m quite sorry about that, I was just… thinking? I think that’s the phrase your kind uses. I was thinking about my next action. Since you have confirmed for me that the law has, indeed, been broken, I need not hide from you or your species.” There was a whirring sound, followed by a faint hissing. Valerie looked around and quickly located some kind of small black ball attached to a black tube that slid up out of the floor near the far end of the room. It stopped extending once it reached about three feet in height, and with a faint hum, it began to glow.

Valerie had to commend the agents on their discipline. Had it been her, she probably would have already started firing.

After a few seconds of tense waiting, a white, glowing being seemed to materialize out of thin air. It was long and sinuous, its tail stretching about eight to nine feet behind it. It had no legs, instead supporting itself on its tail in a way that made Valerie feel uncomfortable just watching. It had four arms, each ending in a hand that had three spindly, claw-like fingers and one thumb. Its head had a faintly human look to it, though the four eyes were a bit disturbing, as was its scaly skin. All in all, it looked like some kind of snake-man, though it didn’t quite look real, seeing as how it was completely white, glowing, and transparent, as if it was made of light, rather than flesh and blood. “My name is Yavaar, and at this moment, I am your only hope in defending yourselves against the beings who have recently violated your home,” it said, holding its glowing arms outstretched to the stunned humans, a serene, peaceful look on its face.

That look was quickly replaced with confusion, however, when Gamble raised his weapon and opened fire on the glowing being.

* * *

As we moved through the hive-like structure, I marveled at the fluid nature of the whole thing. The whole place looked to be made of some kind of stone, but the passages would open and close seemingly at random, the very walls flowing as if made of water. On top of that, the whole place had a very vertical feel to it, with ledges and entrances far above us, out of my reach, but not out of reach of a shapechanger. The design choices of a flying, morphing race, I assume, I thought to myself as one of the passages closed behind us, nearly catching my rump.

The new room that she led me through seemed to be some kind of nursery; everywhere I looked I could see small larva-like shapeshifters, bits of eggshell, as well as eggs about the size of pumpkins. There were adult shapeshifters here, too. They were busy, though; collecting eggs, putting larvae into dark purple goo sacks on their backs, and generally looking like they were getting ready to move the whole adorable (if somewhat gross) collection somewhere else.

As we passed through this new room, though, I couldn't help but notice the stares of fear from the adults as we passed. Some looked at me with a slight amount of hope, but for the most part I saw resignation. As if they already knew what was going to happen to them. “What’s going on? Why is everyone so scared?”

“They expect worst,” she said simply as another passage opened for us. This one led up a flight of stairs, which I thought odd to have in a place like this. “Ponies don't like us, for good reason. Only real contact be attack by rival, who try to take their land, freedom and love.”

This frankly confused me. The land and freedom things I could understand, since they were the cause of about ninety-nine percent of the armed conflicts on my home planet. What I didn’t get was what love had to do with this. “Um… sorry, but how can you take love?”

The Queen didn’t even look back as she began mounting those stairs. “When pony love other pony, they give other magic. Small amount, not too much of natural magic, but still give each other. We… not strong. Our souls, not strong. In fact, our souls quite weak. We need this small bit of magic like you need water.”

This stopped me in my tracks. “Wait… you’re telling me you feed on ponies!?” I asked, completely disgusted with her.

She stopped as well to turn around and give me a level stare, unflinching and unapologetic. “We need this to survive. Our race die, if not feed on ponies. It make them weaker, yes, but if done right, if done proper, no one die, and pony not even know we there.”

“So, what? You take the place of ponies for a bit, feed on their love, then swap the real ones back in with no one the wiser?” I asked, somewhat horrified at the thought. “Couldn’t you, I don’t know, freaking ask!? If this is a thing you need in order to keep living, why don’t you find willing people!?

The Queen gave a short, negligent toss of her head. “You think we not try that? We have many legend, many history, of exact thing. Why you think my children there so afraid?” she asked, pointing towards the room we had just left.

I turned around and looked back at the room we left. Or at least, the wall where the opening once was. Even though I couldn’t see them anymore, I knew she was right; that wasn’t the fear of someone who was on the receiving end of a diplomatic misunderstanding.

No, that was the fear of someone who knew that the boogy man was coming to get them.

But I also knew that that fear was unfounded. My halfway normal face and the clothes on my back were ample evidence of that. “But… I know these people, if you just talk to them, you’d find that they aren’t the monsters that your people believe them to be! You’d-”

She held up her hoof as I turned back to her, a look of wary hope in her eyes. “I know… we actually were get ready to step out of shadows… take first step towards working with ponies, rather than parasite them. But…”

Like a light bulb flooded a room with light, understanding flooded my brain with certainty. “Your rival’s coup changed all that… You don’t go to them with a diplomat because you think they might kill him outright.” And with that, another thought occurred to me. “And you called your subjects your children… which would be like asking your baby to walk into the lion’s den…”

She nodded, then turned back towards the wall behind her. Almost as if it were expecting her, the wall opened to reveal a large, spacious room. Stalagmites and stalactites hung from the ceiling or grew from the ground, while in the center was a raised dais. On this pedestal was a stone throne, made of some sort of unknown purple material, and covered in gems. It was quite impressive, though the colors and gems felt kind of out of place with the general look of the room.

Instead of making her way towards the chair as I assumed, the shapeshifter queen instead led me around it, towards the back of the room. There was a flat, featureless wall there, but I figured this one would probably open for us as well. “Yes. And if go myself, may be killed. Don’t know what happen then. My children may die off, or be taken or conquered by hive that like or hate my hive,” she said as she turned back to look at me, her eyes burning with hope. “But not have to be like this. You, Promethean, know pony, friend with pony, can convince not their enemy. You can bridge gap, can help us not be hunted like animals in griffon chase.”

I scratched under my chin and thought carefully. Everything she just told me could have been a lie, but I didn’t think so. After all, she had let me walk without an armed escort, and had led me right through where she kept her babies. If I had wanted to take a hostage, there would have been very little she could have done to stop me. I’ve seen how fast these guys move, and they would have had no chance to stop me from wreaking some irreversible havoc.

That’s not to say I’d actually have done that. I’m not a monster... at least, not anymore. It had crossed my mind, but one look at those wide-eyed adorable faces made me throw out that decision immediately.

However, before I agreed to anything, I needed to know something first. “Before I even think about this, please, tell me: Why did you call me Promethean?”

The Queen didn't say anything. Instead, she just gave me a sorrowful look, then moved to the side as she gestured towards the blank wall behind her. As she did this, the blank wall behind her opened to reveal a long, narrow room. This place wasn't lit like the rest of the hive, but that changed as I took a hesitant step forward. Torches, honest-to-goodness torches, lit themselves two at a time, creating a path in between some ancient, yet well-kept pillars. The path eventually led to a raised dais, upon which lay a long, stone box. As I approached, I noticed little niches in the walls behind the pillars, each one with another stone sarcophagus hidden within. Underneath each of those coffins was a metal plaque, written in a language that was unknown, but oddly familiar.

My eyes were locked on the coffin at the end, though, and as I approached, I noticed another plaque underneath, written in that strange yet familiar script. Slowly, I mounted the stairs and looked down at the beautifully carved lid.

On it was something I never would have believed possible, yet had somehow expected ever since I had come here.

It was the image of a man, his arms crossed on his armored chest, with his sword nestled under his hands. He looked like he might have been sleeping, though I already knew that wasn't the case.

“Inscription reads: here lay Markos, Leader Fifty, Emissary of Oracle, and felled by Gelatin Sea,” the queen said behind me. “I call you Promethean because you not the first of your kind come to this world.”

Author's Notes:

While I did use the changeling hive design (I really liked that part of the season finale), I will not be using the "love giving" changeling design from the season finale. Giving love instead of eating it really doesn't fit with the lore I had already come up with these guys before seeing the season finale, so I apologize ahead of time to any of you that had fallen in love with said design.

That being said, these guys will be some of the more notable examples of how this Equestria is an alternate universe to the one you guys know and love.

Also, I apologize for my prolonged silence, I've really had a rough time at work lately, and it has been sapping away my creativity. I hope to change that, though.

At any rate, thank you so much for following along with my story and sticking with it for so long! You guys are the best!

Next Chapter: Chapter XIII Estimated time remaining: 12 Hours, 3 Minutes
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