(@MorphinBrony ) Spoiler: Theme for RP Canterlot, USA. In the depths of the night, strange occurrences had been taking places across the city. After a string of homicides had been taking place, many were convinced not to go about at night. Originally, it appeared to be the work of a serial killer. The victims with holes in their chests the size of volleyballs, and their internal organs messed up beyond recognition. The truth was much worse.....
---- Canterlot High School Monday, September 8, 2014 7:41 AM ---- It was Circuit Breaker's first day of junior year. He wasn't expecting a whole lot, especially after the incident with a friend of his, Crimson Lionheart, which involved a psychotic man claiming to be Crim's adoptive father. But he wasn't expecting what was about to happen... He was meeting his friends at the soccer field, as usual. Applejack was snacking on an apple. Rainbow Dash, Circuit's boyfriend, was practicing her moves. Sunset Shimmer was reading a book. Fluttershy was petting her pet rabbit. Crim was eating breakfast. And Pinkie Pie... was, well, Pinkie Pie. Only one was missing... "Circuit, darling!" said Rarity as she approached the others, rather excitedly, as she ran up and hugged him. "And a hello to the rest of you as well," she added, just before letting go of the now confused Circuit. "Uh... hello," was his confused reply.
The others looked at the display of affection that Rarity had suddenly given Circuit. Normally, this wouldn't have been a deal, but her excited mannerisms along with the amount of time it took to hug Circuit raised more then a few eye-brows for those to notice. One of whom was Crimson Lionheart, a boy of many things. Student, Friend, and a kid with a troubled past. Fortunately for him, he happened to put all of that behind him now. Especially with what had been happening since he arrived this year. He just sat on the bench drinking a smoothie, having been stuck in a habit of missing breakfast recently while his adoptive mother was at work. He was quick to pick up some of the behavior that Rarity did when he hugged Circuit, something that was almost out of character. Maybe she was just affectionate this morning? Maybe something good happened last night to her? Nobody knew except maybe her, or possibly her family. He kept an eye on her, before the others started to engage in conversation again.
"I hope I'm not late..." said Rarity nervously. "Class ain't even started yet, hun," replied Applejack. "Yer fine." "Oh... good..." said Rarity, relieved. Rainbow Dash watched Rarity closely, suspicious of the purple-haired fashionista's motives. She didn't want her relationship with Circuit to be compromised by her in any way. She had every reason to be suspicious, though for a different reason...
Rarity seemed to be really jittery on being early, and it was typical of her to arrive roughly around twenty minutes later. Crim decided to speak up on it. "It's only 8:13 am, your bus doesn't arrive from where you live til at least 8:35am." Crim told her. "You never arrive to school early, but you've never been late either. What gives?" Rarity looked almost surprised at the answer. "What do you mean? I caught the early bus for once. I really just wanted to see you guys, is that so much to ask?" Some eyes darted towards Crimson, but he just shrugged it off. Didn't mean that he wasn't suspicious of her. "Whatever..."
Their conversation would have to wait, however, for at that moment, Principal Celestia herself came running outisde. "You eight should come take a look at this..." she said nervously, sweat covering her body. ---- "Another murder," said Celestia as she laid out a body on the cafeteria table. The body was that of the janitor. "Uncle Braeburn... no..." Applejack gasped as her hand rose to her mouth. "Same wounds as the others. Whoever's doing this is a particularly persistent psychopath..." Sunset Shimmer, however, was more concerned about the nature of wounds themselves. Being a native of Equestria, she knew this type of wound as the mark of a victim of a species of shape-shifting insectoid creature, whose young hatch in groups, either in coccoons or inside the bodies of their victims, the latter method leaving the exact type of wound that she saw before her. These creatures metabolized on affection and lust, making it easier to get their victims. But these creatures were only native to Equestria, as far as she knew. Or so she hoped... "No... it can't be..." she whispered in fear. "What's wrong, dear?" asked Rarity in concern, "Did you know him personally or something?" "No," replied Sunset, "but he wasn't killed by anything human, by the looks of it." "Now just what on Earth are you talking about, dear?!" Rarity seemed almost defensive at this notion. "What else could it possibly be?!" "Look, I recognize the kind of damage he's taken. No man or woman could destroy the internal organs like that." "Y'know..." said Pinkie Pie curiously, "It does look a little fishy. It's almost as if he gave birth to a chestburster!" Everyone looked at Pinkie Pie like she was crazy. Rarity's expression in particular seemed utterly befuddled. "What, you guys never saw Alien?!" she said in shock. "I know Crim has at least once, being a film buff and all!" "Yes, but..." Fluttershy began, in her usual nervous tone, "I think the point is that those aliens were... um, fictional..." She shivered upon looking back at Braeburn's corpse. "But, whatever makes sense to you..." she added, in a hoarse whisper, being utterly appalled by the gruesome display. "Well, one thing's for sure," said Rainbow Dash, "I don't think whatever it is plans on stopping." Circuit simply said to himself, "I think I need a new pair of pants..."
Meanwhile, Sunset was just thinking about what this could have meant. Back in Equestria, she knew the Changelings have the ability to be able to feed off love and take the shape of other lifeforms. As a functioning species, she knew it would be ridiculous biologically speaking for the entire race to subsist on such a diet, believing that they functioned on different biological principles as other sentient species, if not the same as ponies. But it was widely-accepted that the Changelings resemble insects hives, and that due to the lack of research by Equestrian scholars, very little is known about them. However, she had been raised believing in many different stories and myths as a little filly about the race. Stories about a curse befalling an entire population of Ponies long ago, and finding a cure is their motivation. Other more outlandish stories often have them compared to Earth's Vampires. She shook her head, trying not to believe that Earth had Changelings. And unlike Equestria, Earth would have no magic to stop them... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crim tried his best to keep his head cool, trying to throw out the negative thoughts that a monster like the Xenomorph may or may not exist. He was, naturally, distressed about something like this. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to stop something like this. Celestia shook her head. "I'm sorry to bring this news to all of you. As a result, school activities will be suspended until further notice, please go home and relax while the authorizes look into this." Sunset looked towards the others, looking like she might know what might be happening. Once Celestia left the room, the eight of them stood surrounded next to a dead body.
Suddenly, Pinkie had a horrifying realization. "Guys..." she said nervously, "Remember when I said this reminded me of Alien?" "Yeah, why?" replied Applejack. "Well... then the baby has to be around here somewhere..." "Not baby," said Sunset, in visible fear. "Babies..."
Crimson looked about the room. "It couldn't have gone far. The corpse looks fresh, the last thing we need is this spreading to the outside world." Sunset now looked incredibly afraid now. "The babies are incredibly weak in their current state, so they tend to hide until they start to evolve. But they have razor sharp teeth..." Rainbow looked in shock. "What the hell even are these?"
As if to answer Rainbow Dash's question, a loud screeching noise could be heard from under a nearby table. They turned towards the source, finding a small, infantile creature, about the size of a human infant, with holes like Swiss cheese in its arms and legs, covered in a disgusting mass of almost transparent, slimy, off-beige flesh. Its face was notably insectoid in nature, looking something like a type of bee, except with blue compound eyes, and the two lower mandibles converging in a way that seemed to resemble a human jaw. And then there were the teeth, which were a haphazard arrangement of fangs and incisors. Sunset's worst fears were confirmed as the creature leapt towards them, so she knew she had to act quickly. She caught the creature, threw it on the ground, picked it up, and broke its back. "What... what was that...?" asked Fluttershy in an almost traumatized tone. "A Changeling... I didn't want to believe it... But apparently, they exist here, too..." she replied. "Fortunately, that one was in the larval stage, so it wasn't much of a threat..." "Yeah, give or take a few... hundred..." noted Applejack sardonically. Sure enough, it seemed hundreds more began crawling out from under the tables or any other opening they could find, where they weren't before. It was almost as if... "THEY CAN CAMOUFLAGE!!!!!" screamed Pinkie in terror.
Crim quickly reacted, reaching behind the group and picking up a Fire Extinguisher. As most of the girls screamed in terror, he suddenly made his way ahead to the front and broke the nozzle, as a sudden powerful cloud of white foam began to cover the bug-like infants and suffocate all of them due to the properties of the foam. Sure enough, without the oxygen needed, more then half of them died. With an opening made, Crim kicked open the exit door for the others. While the rest of the Changelings prepared to rush in a wave formation, he blocked the door from them. "RUN!" He almost ordered. "Get to safety, I'm gonna take care of this..."
"No..." said Rainbow Dash, defiantly, as she approached the remaining horde. "If we die today, we die in GLORY... we die heroes' deaths!!" She quickly put her kicking skills to good use, kicking a larva in such a way that it ricocheted off of the walls, killing it and all but one of the others remaining, which she then approached, kicked into the air, and headbutted. It died upon impact with the ground. Rarity suddenly began shaking somewhat. "I... I think I'm going to be sick..." she said as she excused herself.
Soon, all the larva was killed and the entire room was soaked in green blood. Sunset looked at the blood soaked friends, without Fluttershy who seemed to not have a spot on her due to her pacifist nature. "Strange. I thought a Changelings blood was highly acidic?" She scratched her head. "That might develop with age, so I guess it's lucky we fought larva" "So it let me get this straight? These bug monsters can not only camouflage, but produce a high amount of spawn in a single birth ? And now they have acid blood!" Crim said shocked. "Is there anything they can't do?" Sunset scratched her head. "Well. I'm sure that th-" "Nono, don't tell me. Better if you don't..." Crim interrupted before shivering.
----- The next day Cutie Mark Crusaders Meeting ----- "Girls... have you seen Rarity?" asked Sweetie Belle, a look of slight concern on her face. "No, why?" asked Scootaloo in reply. "Well... she's been acting a bit... off lately." Apple Bloom thought to herself for a moment. "Well, ah know if mah sister was actin' funny, ah'd know sumthin was up," she said. "Have you asked Applejack about her, Apple Bloom?" asked Scootaloo. "Well... yes," said Apple Bloom, "She says Rarity's been suddenly all lovey-dovey over this one guy named... what was it... Circle Buster..." "CIRCUIT BREAKER?!" said Scootaloo in shock, "You mean Rainbow Dash's boyfriend?" "Um... yeah..." "Which is weird," continued Sweetie Belle. "She's never expressed interest in him before, aside from being friends..."
After the ordeal yesterday, Crimson had to relax. He was currently driving home from getting groceries, the old muscle car cruising down the streets of the suburbia on the way back to his 2-story home. As he was driving back, the news on the radio kept mentioning more faint disappearances and murders, but it never mentioned the Changelings that Sunset was talking about. Which led him to think; did they already know something was up? As the car pulled into the driveway, Crim got out the and started to take the shopping in. His adoptive mother, Winter Rush, should have already been home. But as he knocked on the door, there was no answer. Nothing. No footsteps from inside, no sound from music playing or the television being on. Not even the sound of a pin-drop. Crim tried to open the door, now worried. He got the keys open and soon the door swung open, but still no sound. "Mum!" He cried out. "I'm back! Are you home?" No reply came back, to which he slowly made his way down the hallway towards the Kitchen. His heartbeat suddenly quickened as a bead of sweat went down his head. Just as he was about to turn his head around into the kitchen, he heard the footsteps. Turning around, his found his mother dressed in a light blue apron coated in batter. Winter's lightly-colored eyes looked at her son with worry, holding a wooden spoon in one hand. If the apron didn't fit around her already unbelievable figure, who knows what she could have been wearing... "Crimson? Is something wrong?" Winter looked at him worried. The young man just shook his head as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. "No, it's fine. Just been worried about school." Winter's eyes rolled. "Better relax then. Might be good to get some homework done for tonight, don't want to be behind"
Rainbow Dash wanted to get to the bottom of this. She had no idea why Rarity would be into Circuit all of a sudden. Granted, Circuit wasn't too bad looking, but Rarity seemed to have incredibly high expectations of men, so her behavior towards Circuit seemed uncharacteristic of her. Suddenly, she heard Queen's "Princes of the Universe" playing. She quickly realized it was her ringtone. She made a mad dash for her phone, and the caller ID said "Scootaloo." Not hesitating for a second to hear from her young friend and biggest fan, she answered. "Hey Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo said nervously, "Heard about Rarity from Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. She seems to have developed a thing for your bae all of a sudden. So unlike her." "Yeah, really," said Rainbow Dash in reply. "I'm just as lost on the matter as you are, Scoots. I'm trying to get some answers." "What do you mean?" "Look... I know Rarity... and THAT... that's not Rarity."
Not long after getting changed into some lazy home clothes, Crim sat at his desk and prepared to get straight into homework. With music playing from a nearby radio, he was unaware of the terror heading his way... Soon, there was a knock on the door as Winter opened it up. She looked at him with a sweet smile, still covered in batter on her apron before she took a step in. "Hey, sweetie? What you working on?~" Meanwhile, there was an extremely faint sound of banging in the wardrobe...
After Rainbow Dash finished the phone call with Scootaloo, which aside from the introductory conversation was pretty normal, she decided that she needed to go looking around the neighborhood to look for more evidence of what was going on with Rarity. Soon, she got in the car and was off. As she passed by Crimson's house, however, she heard screaming, and decided to investigate there first. Though she wasn't able to know what she was about to find, she was prepared for anything. Well, almost anything...
At the sound of the screaming, a woman flew herself out of the wardrobe completely restrained in rope minus duct-tape. She loudly got the attention of the entire room before she looked at Crimson. "Crimson! That's not me!" Winter cried out. Suddenly, the false Winter's expression changed into anger and drew her fist towards Crimson. He only barely dodged the sudden attack that traveled at a nightmarish speed, as the fist slammed into the table and snapped it and the laptop on it into two. "What!" Crim said before suddenly being tossed into the wardrobe by a nightmarishly strong yet fake Winter.
The fiendish doppleganger changed its shape slowly, revealing itself to be a creature similar to the ones Crim and the others had encountered at school the other day, except it was the size of an adult human, and was covered in a charcoal grey insect-like exoskeleton. Its teeth were also much less misaligned, and were much longer and sharper. It hissed loudly at Crim and Winter, but just before it could attempt another strike at the poor, trapped woman and adopted son, footsteps could be heard, rapidly approaching. "GET AWAY FROM THEM, YOU B*yay*!" a female voice shouted angrily. The creature turned around and focused on Rainbow Dash. Caught slightly off guard by the creature's appearance, she nonetheless decked it swiftly in the gut before knocking it to the ground. "CRIM, WINTER, GET OUT OF THERE AND RUN!!" she ordered them, "I'LL HANDLE THIS THING!! JUST GO!!"
