When I awakened, I could already hear the girls fussing over something… something about alien bugs? They must have been up already... I groaned as I sat up. “Yeah… definitely not looking forward to the next time we use these things…” I muttered as I held my horn.

“Oh, you’re up…” Twilight started, but I held up a hoof to stop her.

“Look, I know I have a lot of explaining to do. A lot has happened…” I said waiting a moment for my headache and hornache to clear up. Then my Menu popped up automatically with a notification, as well as a couple “quest complete” popups. I blinked in surprise at the first notification.

Level Up!

Scout Form Unlocked!

Magic Capacity Increased!

Emotional Resistance Increased!

F̸̧̀͝p̨̛̀͘g̢͜k͘͏̶̸̕h̛͟í̶̕ ͏̨͜͞F҉̷̶̢͟f̷̵͟͝v̸͘͘z̴̛͠ Unlocked! Ability unrecognisable until conditions are met!

D͢͜x̢̡v̸̶͜͝҉e̛̕҉̶q̨̀́ ̷̢́̕͝W̢͜͠͝g̶̀͝͠c҉҉̷o̕͜m҉̶̀ń̛͏̵̛m̸̨͜͡ Unlocked! Ability unrecognisable until conditions are met!

Illusion Affinity Perk Gained!

Dark Magic Vulnerability Weakened!

Shapeshifting: Intermediate Unlocked! Small Non-pony forms now available!

Element of Hope Bonded! Would you like a tutorial? Y/N

“Well, that’s new.” I muttered as I looked at the notification. I also noticed a new tab blinking at the top of my vision titled Allies, so saying no to the Tutorial for now, I checked it quickly to find that the Mane 6 and Nightmare were listed there. Batman was too, though he was listed with quotation marks to show it was just a temporary nickname.

“”What? What’s going on, Summer?” Pinkie asked, not knowing what I was seeing.

“Uh… Well, ever since I woke up in this body, I’ve had this sort of video game styled menu in my head. It’s uh… got a new tab, and it’s saying I just unlocked a bunch of stuff. It’s also saying… I got a new form or something?”

“You what?” Twilight asked, struggling with what I just told her. Dash however, seemed enthusiastic.

“Lemme see!” she said, sounding hyped to see what it was. Pinkie was right by her side. The others didn’t seem to know what to make of anything.

“Uh… alright, just let me see if I can figure out how to make the menu show up for you girls…” I replied, before delving into my effects menu to check the details on the Illusion affinity. I frowned as I noticed it didn’t take away the mimic limiter. “Crap, I still gotta mimic to learn spells… You wouldn’t happen to have some kind of… I dunno, projector spell or something Twilight?”

“Can we focus on other more important matters first, please?” Twilight said with a sigh. “You still have to explain yourself.”

“Right… Hehe, got carried away there. Anyway, as Dash probably heard, and told you girls, I’m from another universe. I chose to leave because my world has become nothing but a cesspool of idiots, where the people that are actually worth something are too far and few in between to count for anything. My world is a loathsome place, where you hear of murders and crimes just about every other day. This world is known of, though in all honesty, noone really believes it to be real, they only think it’s a world of myths and stories. I made… some kind of deal to get here, choosing specifically to become a changeling because I always considered shapeshifting to be one of the best powers to have.”

“That certainly explains a lot… but why shapeshifting? Why that?” Twilight asked. In answer, I transformed into a fluffy little fox.

“Because then I can do this.” I said in a really high pitched voice similar to the chipmunks, crouching down with my tail curled around in front of my face. Fluttershy recoiled in shock, before suddenly bolting forth to snuggle the fuck out of me.

“Oh my gosh you’re so adorable!” she squealed. And because Fluttershy is so huggable and cute when she does this kind of thing, I hugged back.

“You too!” I replied with a squee. I looked off to the side to see the others giving us weird looks.

“What? You can’t deny she’s cute when she does this. There’s a lot of people back home that would say this scene would cause diabetes.” I said, still with my chipmunky voice.

“Yeah, it probably would, if I weren’t immortal.” I heard a divine voice as a light shined through the window, butting off Rainbow’s sudden laughter. Twilight gasped as Princess Celestia took her entrance. I meanwhile just chuckled and leaned back all laxly.

“Took you long enough. I was wondering when you were finally gonna pop in. I’m guessing you heard enough to know I’m an alien?” I greeted casually, much to the shock and horror of all the ponies but Twilight. Especially Rarity. Celestia just giggled.

“Yes, I did. I even caught the part where you oh so subtly alluded to knowing the future. Honestly I’m not too sure I would have caught it, if I didn’t have a thousand years of experience. You’re good.” she said with a smile. I chuckled nervously.

“Yeah, well… it’s only the big events like Discord’s Escape, King Sombra’s return, and some other minor trivia.” I replied.

“Wait… did you know all of this would happen too?” Twilight asked. I shrugged.

“I only knew for certain Nighty was supposed to come back and you girls were supposed to beat her. My existence here kinda fucked with the accuracy of how it was all supposed to play out. All I knew was that I’d appeared in Fluttershy’s back yard, so the timeline was already altered to some degree, simply because she found me. Butterfly effect and all.”

“I completely understand… but you realize what you did here today jeopardized the fate of Equestria, don’t you? You should have taken time to think this out, rather than run headfirst into it with no idea what you’re doing like an idiot.” Celestia chastised me.

“Hehe…. I am a little knucklehead, aren’t I?” I replied sheepishly, still a chipmunk voiced fox.

“Yeah, but you’re no ninja. So next time, think it through.” She shot back. After a moment, she turned to Luna who appeared to be waking up. “Speaking of what just happened… Luna!”

The lunar Princess jumped in fear, turning to her sister with pin pricked eyes. Celestia continued but in a calmer tone. “You know… Summer’s offer still stands. At least from me. We used to be closer, the best of sisters! Can’t we go back to that? To put all this fear and sorrow behind us? We don’t need any more heartache…”

Integrating Nightmare…

New power analyzed.

Nightmare at 5% completion. New Quest added!

...Contact Established.

What the fuck? I thought as I stared. Wait… I remember in the battle, Nightmare’s body only got part way into me before… something happened…

Ugh… my head… why does it feel like I got my horn chopped off and the rest of my body doesn’t exist anymore? I heard a pained voice in my head.

“Now I’m worried on a number of levels.” I muttered out loud. Everyone turned to me.

“Huh? What wrong?” Dash asked. “Luna just reunited with her sister, we won, everything’s fine!”

“I uh… I can hear the Nightmare in my head. And apparently, she isn’t in one piece. I only have 5% of her.” I explained. The princesses paled.

...Well fuck. That explains why I feel like shit. Nightmare muttered. Under my Allies tab, Nightmare was changed into Nightmare Remnant. I sighed as it changed, adding a 5% next to it. Best to keep track of it.

“You mean… she’s still free?” Luna asked, tears of guilt and pain staining her cheeks.

“Don’t worry, Luna. We’ll hunt her down. If Nightmare isn’t complete within me, then you know I’ll be looking for what’s left. I’m not about to let anypony else suffer if I can help it.”

“The keywords there are “if you can help it.” Can you?” Celestia asked. I hesitated.

“Probably not… but I’ll be damned if I don’t try. Princess, I think it would be best if the Elements stay with their bearers, in case we need to gather again to deal with a Nightmare Fragment.”

“Yes, that would be a good idea. All of you, keep the elements close at all times. You might never be able to tell when a fragment’s influence will strike. Also, Summer? Could you please drop the squeaky fox disguise? It’s very hard to take anything you say seriously sounding like that.” Celestia requested. I blinked and looked down at myself. Hehe… I managed to let myself forget that. With a sheepish smile, I changed back into my first disguise, much to the disappointment of the second cutest pony present (Sorry, Shy. Luna’s cuter than you when she’s like this) though I did contemplate becoming a bunny for her when I spotted her adorable pouting.

“Oh yeah, by the way Princess… you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that-” Rainbow started, gesturing to where Batman was last time we saw him, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Uh… The Batman dude that helped us out, would you?”

“Yes, he’s one of my most prized agents. Though it’s hilarious you call him Batman…” she giggled a bit, though she tried to hide the laughter slightly. “You may learn more about him eventually. He’ll be getting very busy with this Nightmare Fragment business very soon.”

I really hope she means she’s sending him out to just FIND my fragments. I’d rather not have any part of me destroyed. Nightmare protested.

I doubt anything but the elements or a REALLY determined psycho could destroy you. I replied, referencing Chara. I could feel Nightmare pale at the memories.

Gee, thanks. It’s not like I needed to sleep or anything. She snarked.

Do you? I asked, bewildered.

...You get my point. She pouted. I giggled.

“I just gave the Nightmare nightmares.” I told everyone. That got a few hearty chuckles, a vengeful smile from Luna, and worried looks from others.

Look… I’ll try and help you however I can. I want to rule the world, not destroy it. And those fragments will be trying to destroy what they can without my mind to guide them. Nightmare tried to change the subject.

Prerequisite achieved! Dream Walking ability Acquired!

Ignoring the notification entirely, for now, I continued the conversation. I’m sensing a But. Potentially one you might not be able to stick with, because I will be rigorously working on your personality for the duration of your stay in my body. I replied.

Don’t count on it. She deadpanned at me. OH DEAR GOD WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?! she screamed when I showed her my memory of a necromorph.

Your motivation. I replied with an evil chuckle. Don’t worry, you’ll eventually desensitize to the shit like I have.

...You’re still scared of them. I can tell. She deadpanned at me.

Yeah, but I’m more of the OH SHIT, KILLITKILLITWITHFIRE kind of jumpscare reactors than the RUN FOR YOUR LIFE kind. Then again, living around Pinkie might train that out of me… I need video games.

Nightmare just huffed, before going silent. Able to focus on the others now, I turned my attention to them. I only just caught the end of Celestia saying something about Luna looking cuter with a cat outfit on. I had to strain my face to keep from smiling or laughing at Luna’s expense.

“Oh, but if Luna wears a cat outfit, then you gotta undo all that magic mumbo jumbo that makes your mane ethereal, your size bigger, all that jazz… and you gotta wear a bunny outfit.” I said to cover for Luna.

“Ooh! Good idea!” Celestia replied, wiping the smirk of my face, and preventing Luna from finishing her giggle. The girls were looking at us in horror.

“Oh dear… I do hope those outfits don’t look too demeaning…” Rarity muttered.

“Oh! And we’ll wear them to a party!” Celestia said with a wide grin.

“Okay, now you’re pushing it.” Pinkie said with an unamused look. Celestia… no, this couldn’t be the original Celestia… I’ma call her Celly. She just grinned at us with a shit eating grin.

“I’m just messing with you.” she said with a giggle. Then she turned and started heading towards Ponyville. “Though I would be very willing to do it…” Groaning I just followed her out.

“Let’s just get to Ponyville and throw a party for Luna.”

As we exited the forest, we found the the ponies of Ponyville had already repaired the damage they’d made in their earlier panic, and the celebration’s decorations were back in place. However, I spotted one pony in the crowd who was radiating anger, and glaring right at me. I could even see her grinding her teeth.

“SUMMER!” she shouted when I saw her.

You’re fucked, aren’t you? Nightmare asked as I started repeating ohshit to myself.

Not helping! I replied as I tried to think my way out of this one. I couldn’t just run… By the time I’d thought even that far, Bonbon had already marched up to me and started dragging me off to somewhere else. When we got there, I noticed it was the same building I came out of when I got done with that training room. Then she pulled me into the elevator, and punched me in the head.

“YOU’RE A FUCKING IDIOT!” she shouted when my face slammed into the ground. “DO YOU EVEN REALIZE HOW MANY LIVES YOU JUST PUT AT RISK?! I SHOULD HAVE YOU LOCKED AWAY FOR THAT FUCKING STUNT!”

Getting myself off the ground, I wobbled a little from the daze of my face meeting metal. “Unfortunately, I’m wielder of the Element of Hope.” I said, making a slight spin off of the Unfortunately, I am High King of Skyrim meme.

“Oh, don’t give me that bullshit! We both know that little trinket was never meant to pop up out of nowhere. You just got fucking lucky. The Elements would have been just fine if you’d just sat back and let Twilight and her friends go by themselves.”

“Why are you getting so pissed now, anyway? You already knew I was going to do this.” I asked, legitimately curious.

“I was going on the hope that you’d either die before you got the chance, or chickened out. So I guess it’s partly my fault, but still. The point still stands, you should NOT have done that!”

She seems like a bitch. Nightmare interrupted my response. I growled at her.

No offhand comments like that, please. I need to deal with my conversation. I shot back. Turning back to Bonbon, I started on my reply again. “Look, what’s done is done, and as far as I know, only Starlight Glimmer can go back to change it. And I doubt she would.”

“Ugh… fine. But next time you do something stupid, you probably won’t be able to count on my partner saving your ass. You are lucky I told him about you.”

“Yes, I do seem to be made of luck. I just hope Lady Luck won’t demand a lethal refund.” I muttered sourly. “But, look at the bright side. I did end up turning out like a certain knuckleheaded ninja.” And then I got my face launched into wall by a megaton hoof just as I remembered Celly mentioning said ninja.

“YOU’RE NOT NARUTO!!”she shouted.I groaned, but I was at least able to reply.

“Maybe not, but I do know shinobi culture… Somewhat… How’d you even know about that guy anyway?” I spoke, shaking my daze off.

“My partner.” she replied curtly, before the elevator finally opened back up, revealing the training hall once more. The second that door opened, she marched forth and powered up the systems, turning one of the switches to maximum difficulty, and another to “Returning fire.” I gaped as I looked at those settings, but then she went out into the room herself and shed her disguise.

What followed was a jaw dropping display of absolute destruction I could only compare to something out of an anime.

“...How the fuck did you just blow it all up without damaging the training hall?!” I nearly shouted. Nightmare was internally freaking out too.

...Holy fucking shit, I picked the wrong ponies to mess with. She muttered amidst her freak out.

“Precise demolition. Or in terms an idiot like you would understand, very carefully.” Bonbon hissed at me. Okay, it seems she’s still angry. I should probably leave, before she remembers she still has a drone to kick the snot out of. I’ll buy more spells from her later.

Thankfully, I made it out without anything happening, but when I made it to the street, I ran into Lyra. For a moment, I froze, wondering if Lyra would freak out about humans… but all that happened was a calm greeting.

“Oh hey there. You’re one of BonBon’s friends, right?” she asked. “I haven’t seen her since some weird pony showed up to talk to her. I got this weird Dark Knight vigilante vibe from him…”

“...Uh, Oh! Yeah, she’s uh… Well, I’m not allowed to say. Very secret agent-y stuff going on.” I replied, figuring if Lyra didn’t know yet, Bonbon didn’t want her to. “She got pretty pissed at me for screwing with the timeline and nearly getting myself killed. But you never heard that from me, okay?” I requested.

“Got it. If she asks, I’ll just tell her I figured it out myself.” she said, though I sensed a bit of doubt. Something told me she had other plans.

“Liar. Whatever… I just hope I can take what she’ll dish out later…”I said with a sigh before turning away and leaving. I still had a party to get to.

Once I got back, I was quick to rejoin the girls. They were glad to see me, though understandably, they were curious about what Bonbon dragged me off for.

“Basically, she wanted to kick my ass.” I replied casually. They all blinked when I said it like that.

“Well… you look fine, so I guess you got out of it okay?” Rainbow carefully guessed. I nodded.

“I managed to talk her out of it for now.” I explained. “Though I wouldn’t be surprised if I found some of my chitin was bruised. She’s got a punch that could knock down a building…” I said, rubbing the spots on my head that she’d hit. I was still sore there.

You said it… Nightmare agreed.

“Uh… why?” Twilight asked, sounding like she may have been afraid of the answer. “And how?”

“For the first one, it’s because I actually went and faced off with Nightmare Moon. For the second, I’m obligated to remain silent, even if I have no clue.” I said. I noticed Celly out of the corner of my eye, giving a slow nod with an exaggerated squint.

“Wait, I thought you said you knew a lot of things you shouldn’t?” Rainbow protested.

“Ture, but I was referencing my foreknowledge, not forbidden knowledge. I don’t know everything, just mainly bits of the future that involve you girls.”

“Oh. Well what all should we be watching for?” Dash asked. I chuckled.

“Let’s just focus on one bad guy at a time, alright? Discord’s up next, and he should be breaking free some time after the next Grand Galloping Galla. Not sure when exactly, my timeline knowledge isn’t exactly the best.

“Oh, that’s good. Guess we won’t be worrying about anything big for at least the better part of a year then.” Twilight sad with a sigh. “And that gives us plenty of time to prepare!”

“Bad idea. You can’t plan anything for a master of chaos. He can turn any plan into whatever works in his favor. I say we just deal with him when he comes.” I said dismissively. “Honestly, I’m not all that sure how we’re gonna beat him in this timeline. In the one where I didn’t exist here, you beat him by catching him when he was cocky.”

“Well we’ll need at least tips to help deal with him. There has to be something we can do to gain an advantage.” Twilight insisted.

“Fine, there are some things to watch out for. For one, he’ll try to reverse our personalities. That may be inevitable though, because he got frustrated and forced it on Fluttershy when she couldn’t be tricked.”

“Oh… my… that… that sounded kind of lewd…” I heard Shy mutter. I blushed in response.

“Um… I didn’t mean it to come out like that…” I assured her. “A-anyway, he might also pull out a riddle or two. Now I’m normally pretty good at riddles, so it probably won’t be too big of an issue, but we’ll need to stop and think about every part of it.”

“Anything else?” Dash asked.

“Yeah. He really knows how to dangle our desires in front of us, so he’ll be tempting us with things that could potentially sacrifice our virtues.” I said. “That being said, I could turn out incredibly dangerous if he messes with my head. I maybe be forced to sit this one out for your safety.”

“But what about your Element? We need all of the Elements to use them.” Twilight protested.

“I’m not even sure you need mine. This one never existed in the original timeline.” I replied with a carefree shrug.

“Oh hey, by the way, Twilight…” Celly said. “You don’t have to come back to Canterlot with me. In fact, I think it’d be better if you stayed here with your friends!” Twilight’s eyes suddenly turned into black holes as she stared at her mentor.

“REALLY!? YESYESYESYESYESYES!” Twilight cheered as she hopped excitedly. Pinkie joined her in the excited hopping for a very clear reason.

“And what about me? I don’t think staying in Fluttershy’s back yard would be healthy.” I asked. “No offense Flutters, you’re cute and all, but your animals didn’t like me.” As much as that comment was targeted at Angel, I wasn’t kidding. Some of them really didn’t like me. I remember feeling some fear and hatred as I was leaving when I first woke up. It was really salty.

“How ‘bout mah farm? We got spare room for ya, and like ya told me b’fore, our food’s really healthy for ya.”

“But I would be expected to do certain chores to stay there, wouldn’t I? I don’t think I’m up to par to work on a farm. It takes a degree of endurance and patience I don’t have.”

“How about I just give you your own house?” Celly suggested. “That way you can live by your own rules.”

“That sounds awesome. Heh, thanks Celly.” I replied. Celly only raised an eyebrow at the nickname. “However… Can I get house with two bedrooms? I don’t want to live alone. I’m too used to living with a family of five.”

“Really?” Pinkie piped up. “I actually know somepony who's looking for a roommate after her last one moved out. And I could probably help you guys find a way to earn some money too, if you’d like.”

“Oh! Heh, wow. Thanks, Pinkie. You’re the best, when it comes to convenience.” I said, glad we’d sorted that out. “So where do they live? I wanna go introduce myself, and see who they are.”

“Sure! Come on, I know a shortcut.” she said, before bouncing off in a seemingly random direction. I just followed her. And then, seemingly in the blink of an eye to me, we were there. Pinkie was already knocking on the door by the time I got my bearings. That was some shortcut…

“Coooming!” a voice sing-songed out, before an aquamarine unicorn mare opened the door, smiling. “Oh, hello Pinkie! Are you having another party?”

“Yeah, but I came to introduce you to someone. Summer here wants to live with you!” Pinkie said, shoving me forward. “Okay have fun! Bye!” and then she was gone. Well, I guess she’s planning a Congratulations on finding a home” party or something. I wouldn’t put it past her.

“That pony. Good friend, but would make a horrible roommate.” the mare before me said.

“Pfehh… No kidding. Least she’s good if you need contacts though.Anyway, I’m Summer Dash. Nice to meet you.” I said, turning to hold out my hoof to her. She reached out and gripped it with a surprisingly tight grasp.

“Mirage…” she trailed off “nice to finally meet you in person, Switchlock.” Mirage replied. My eyes widened as she used my changeling OC’s name. Her horn glowed as the air around us shimmered, some kind of illusion barrier if I had to guess.

“H-how do you know that name? And who are you? I’ve never said it here… and I didn’t even think it could have been my changeling name.” I muttered that last part, but I was still shocked. Please, please whatever deity may be listening, don’t tell me I just stole some changeling’s body…

You uh… probably did. This body… it shows signs of age. Biologically, it’s 20 years old. Nightmare informed me, causing me to feel like throwing up. Great, not only did I steal some poor sap’s body, but it came with an extra two years.

“Dear, how do you think a queen tells all those drones apart? And my actual name is Shinkiro. And before you ask, its Neighponies.” And with that, Mirage went up in sapphire flames, revealing a alicron sized changeling, that look quite different from the only example of a queen I knew of, Chrysalis. For one, she didn't have a long mane, as a matter of fact, it looked almost identical to Vinyls, in both shape and its neon blue color, two, she had beetle like wings, and when she split them open, a long, scorpion tail unfurled from beneath them. And three, instead of the tiny little fangs most changelings had, she had the real deal, along with teeth that reminded me of a moray eel.

“...Holy shit, you look like you went through half of a Necromorph transformation. I’d shit my pants if I had shit, or pants.”

...I honestly have to agree.

“Is that some kind of undead?” she asked, confused by my outburst.

“Kinda, but it is constantly evolving and is deadlier than any vampire, werewolf, or zombie could ever be.” I replied, a little embarrassed I’d referenced a video game out loud.

“I’ll be sure to make note of that. Considering the weirdness this place attracts, it actually sounds like something that could happen.”

“Oh, uh… Not so much. It’s just something my world made up for a good horror series. Though if such a thing does make it here, then even assholes like Sombra and Queen Chrysalis would have a good reason to stop being evil long enough to fight alongside ponies.”

And then something soft and chitin covered landed on my face. Immediately, I tried to reach up and pull it off, but it didn’t budge. At first, I thought of headcrabs, but they didn't have chiten, so a facehugger?

“...OHFUCKINGHELLGETTHISFACEHUGGEROFFOFME!” I freaked out, flailing like my life depended on it.

Calm down, you idiot. It’s just a baby changeling. Facehuggers don’t exist here. Nightmare scolded me.

“Peeko! Stop it, can't you see you're scaring him!?” Shinkiro said scoldingly

“Sowwy…” I felt whatever had ambushed me removing itself from my face, revealing itself to be a changeling the size of house cat, giving shinkiro big wide eyes in an attempt to look as cute as possible.

“That is so adorable, I might have to put Fluttershy in Second Place…” I muttered as I stared. “Oh, uh… what was that about Neighpone? It sounds similar to some place in my world.”

“Basically, everything in Nieghpone is either giant or venomous.”

“Wow… That sounds more like Australia in my world. Everything has a way to kill you there.” I said, dreading the thought of ever going to this Neighpone place.

“That sounds about right. Even the changelings, if you couldn't already tell.” Shinkiro said as she picked up peeko and put her on her back. I chuckled nervously, though I assumed that due to her having a child with her, she wasn’t very violent minded. “And Bonbons said some things about you…” she said fixing me with a glare. Welp. I’m dead.

“Uh… yeah, I don’t suppose we could skip all that fuss? I’ve been over it many times now. I know I was stupid.” I said sincerely. “But honestly, I had to take risks. Even existing in this world for me is a risk in itself, because it changes things from the timeline I know. And there have been changes to parts of Equestrian history. Things have happened that are different already than the timeline I know, like Bonbon being a changeling, and Celestia being far more carefree than I knew her to be.”

“...Are you saying time travel was involved?” Shinkiro said, holding a forehoof to her head like she was trying to fight off a migraine.

“Um… Well, that’s close enough.” I said, deciding for once not to be an ass about little details.

“I’m just going to save myself the headache and pretend i didn't hear that.”

Me too. You can’t feel it, but my head’s pounding trying to process those details. Nightmare agreed. As I absentmindedly nodded my head, I became aware of a tugging on my mane and a weight on my neck, as well as a high pitched infantile giggling.

“The kid’s on my back, isn’t she?” I asked with amusement. Though the fact that she was practically invisible to my senses, that brought up a good question. “Hey, why are the two of you practically invisible to my other senses?”

“One of the perks of being a Queen. Drones can’t sense you unless you let them. Its how i've been able to find other changelings in ponyville without them finding me.” she said with a dangerous tone and grin. It sent a shiver down my spine.

I get the feeling she could kill us faster than you could blink, even if I was at full power. Let’s not piss her off, yeah? I had to agree.

“I uh… Yeah, I see. And what… happened to the ones you found?” I asked, hoping I wouldn’t regret asking.

“Oh, grill them on their intentions here, let them stay if there peaceful, or else drive them out of town.” she said, going back to a calm, friendly tone of voice.

“Oh good… I was worried you’d say something like you ripped them apart or something.” I said, greatly relieved. “Well, since I might be living here for the foreseeable future, mind if I come in, take a look around?”

“By all means” she said, stepping aside to let me go in first. As she threw her disguise back on, I noticed a perception filter falling. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to copy it.

The first thing I noticed when I walked in was a kitchen to the right. I suppose it’s because I was the cook in my family, but it brought back a lot of guilt and nostalgia. I was gonna miss cooking such big meals. The kitchen sat mostly unused, though that didn’t mean there was nothing to cook. It was clean, too, I noticed. Way cleaner than I could ever keep my own (though that was typically not my fault, I swear.)

The second thing I noticed was what was sitting in the storage closet just between me and the kitchen. A changeling in a pod. “Oh. Is he one of...?” I trailed off as I realized I may be assuming things. Something my parents have repeatedly told me to watch. Maybe it was the nostalgia and guilt that let me remember to catch myself this time.

“One of…?”

“Yours? I just… I caught myself assuming again.” I said, finishing a question and dismissing the need for an answer.

“No… Its just someone i had to use more invasive interrogation methods on. No, not torture.” She said, reading me like a book. “Forceful access of the hivemind.”

“Hivemind… heh, yet another part of being a changeling I have yet to experience.” I said with a small roll of my eyes. “I probably better get some practice exerting my control over it. I wouldn’t want someone like Chrysalis getting easy access to my head.”

“No you wouldn't. Someone like her would probably subvert you free will and turn you into a mindless drone.” she said, showing a clear hate for that name. I sighed.

“I know. I’ve seen how she acts, and she’s definitely the kind of person that would do anything to get her way. I hope I can convince her to be a better person when I do meet her. It’s possible my memories could get her to turn her shit around.”

“Well… I could assist you in that. Nothing like experience to make learning something easy.” she said with that “i’ve got an idea” smirk.

“Heh, I’d be up for some lessons, if you’re offering.” I almost immediately regretted saying that when her grin widened further.

“Then we start now.” The instant she said that, I started finding thought hard to make, and my hooves felt unsteady under me. Slowly, I felt my consciousness being dragged deeper into me, like some western guy just roped me. Despite my shock, I tried to struggle against it. A headache, soon followed by a migraine shot through my skull as I made attempts to fight back, but inevitably, I failed. It felt like my mind was in chains, and every thought of resisting Shinkiro brought back that pain I felt. Maybe… maybe I should just give up? I never really was made of determination… “so, do you understand what it feels like now?”

The question, I noted, brought about an even stronger urgency to answer than I normally felt for anyone. Still I answered, despite wanting to question exactly what it was she’d done to my mind. “Yeah… it’s devastating. No… worse. I never stood a chance…”

“You actually put up more of a fight then nearly any drone or scout I've had to do this to.” she pointed out. The statement however, didn’t fill me with pride like I’d have expected it to. Though I suppose it was the subjugation that did it, I was still confused by my emotions.

“I… I don’t know what to say to that…” I managed through my little slurry of emotion. Wait, what did I want to question?

“Are you even still trying to fight it? I’m not feeling any resistance.” I shook my head to that.

“No. The pain is too much. I can’t win, so why torture myself like that?”

“Because how else would you break free?”

A small pain began in my head when my rebellious answer came to me. “Well, I’m hardly ever alone.” That’s your cue, Nightmare. Hit it hard.

Heh. She won’t know what hit her. In the next instant, I felt the chains on my mind start to corrode, as if bathed in pure acid. As the dark magic consumed the chains, I felt my mind free itself up, and my pride blossomed once more.

“Holy shit… I was not expecting that.” Shinkiro muttered. “You don't happen to have multiple personalities do you?”

“Personalities? No. Souls though… That right there was the work of just a fragment of the original.” I said with a slight chuckle. “Still, I doubt it’s enough to hold off Chrysalis’s full power or yours.” I added with a serious tone.

“Okay, im not even going to question the souls bit. But do you want to test that theory?” she said with a grin. I nodded solemnly.

“I should. The other soul needs to get stronger as much as I do.” I answered. The feeling returned, much stronger this time. Even Nightmare was shocked by the strength of it. It was so constricting, like a Boa seizing my every breath and thought. Right away though, Nightmare started her work, and it did destroy some chains, but more came before she could finish the job. I joined her, helping her with the titanic TF2 match going on in my head. We managed to hold the fort for about… I don’t know, maybe a minute? But then my shoddy support fell off and we got dominated.

I tried breathing hard from the surprising exertion of that struggle, but I found I couldn’t do a thing. No control… I found I couldn’t even leave my mindscape, though I could still feel everything my physical body was doing.

“Now, that's about as far under as I can put you with you still being aware of what's happening. Can you nod your head if you understand?” she asked. I found that with that command, I could nod at least. I wanted to try and answer with my voice… but that was still locked up. She stared at me for a moment before realizing something. “Go ahead and speak freely.”

“Thank you. Geeze, it’s so freaking… restricting. Not sure I’d like going any deeper. It’s already claustrophobic enough up in here… though it’s not bad if you ever wanna use it for sex.”

I get the feeling she didn’t mean that freely…

“Is that an offer?” she said with an amused expression.

“Uh… Well, I’m not against it…” I said sheepishly. My dirty mind was already started on scenarios, ones I wondered if she could see. Particularly a memory of a story I ready in the past that involved a queen dominating and breeding a certain star caped magician.

“Oh my, such naughty thoughts.” she said tauntingly.

“Um… Eeep?” I said, though I couldn’t turn into fluttershy for effect. It was pretty crappy though.Of course that reminded me of a fic where Flutters um… “made friends” with timberwolves. Oh boy… I can feel myself getting wet from all these thoughts…

“Well then, let's go to my room, shall we, it seems Peeko already ran off to bed.” I was forced to obey, my body following her on its own and my nether lips getting ready. God, tonight was bound to be good...

Author's Notes:

So uh... yeah. You can probably tell what's cumming up in the next chapter. I'll be optional so you can skip it if you want though.