My Sweetie

...Hero on the Inside

Four months had passed and Hearths Warming Day was approaching quickly. A lot had happened in those four months. The town had quickly come to trust him as a changeling as well as his sister. At first it was difficult but now he could walk around in full view of everypony in his changeling form. Even Rarity had warmed up to the idea of her sister dating a changeling, with a little convincing. And by convincing she had meant free labor. But it had all been worth it.

On this particular afternoon, Kuray and Sweetie Belle were lying in the snow and gazing at the clouds. It brought back memories for the both of them. For Kuray, ones of carefree days staring up at the clouds with his sister at his side. And for Sweetie Belle, days of going to the ends of the earth to discover her talent with her friends.

“So Kuray, how does it feel to be one of the luckiest changelings in the world?” Sweetie asked him in a joking tone.

“Like i’m king of the world.” He said kissing her. Over the months Sweetie and him had become increasingly close to the point of almost being inseparable. They slept together, ate together and just plain killed time together. The only time that you could catch them apart was whenever they were hanging out with their friends. Sweetie with the Cutie Mark Crusader and Kuray with Dusk and Sunburst.

“So, about Hearths Warming.” Sweetie began.

“Sweetie, you don’t have to get me anything. Being with you is the best gift I could ask for.” He said.

“I bet you got me something.” She said.

“Shhh, I can’t tell you. It’s a secret.” Kuray said. He looked over and gave her a tooth grin. His small fangs were just poking out of his mouth making him look like an amused bat. Sweetie Belle couldn’t resist the adorableness and cracked a smile.

“How do you do it?” She asked him changing the subject.

“Do what.” Kuray asked dubiously.

“How do you feed off of emotions? And how come I don’t feel drained like you’re sucking the energy out of me?” She asked him. He sent up a silent prayer of thanks.

“Well, feeding is a very, difficult, process. Most ponies give off stray emotions which is like a snack to most changelings but that’s not very sustaining. The way that I feed off of you is through your directed emotions.”

“Directed emotions?”

“Yes, those are the feelings you have towards me. The emotions you feel for me which I in turn use as food. As for you not feeling drained, emotion sucking is a very dangerous thing to do and should only be used in drastic measures. It is like forcing feeding yourself through somepony else, if that makes any sense.”

“Sounds weird, do it.” She said her emotions changing from one of curiosity to that f an anxious filly.

“Um, Sweetie. I don’t like to feed that way. I could hurt you.” Kuray said sitting up.

“C’mon, just a little. I trust you.” She said. She gave him the puppy dog face again.

“Alright, but only a little. Tell me if it’s too much.” He said. His horn started to glow as he focused on Sweetie’s mind. He closed his eyes for absolute concentration and reached into her emotions. Sweetie felt as if something was poking around inside her mind. Kuray found a small bit of stray emotional energy and focused on it. Sweetie felt herself tense up and her mind get fogg for a second. Then, just like that the probing feeling was gone, but not that feeling of exhaustion. Kuray opened his eyes and saw Sweetie panting as if she had just run a race.

“Sweetie, oh my Celestia, did I take too much?” He asked frantically. Sweetie put a hoof to his lips to stop his questions.

“I’m just a little tired all of the sudden. I think a nap would do me good.” She said. Kura nodded and stood up. He held out a hoof to Sweetie to help her stand up. “Could you carry me?” She asked giving him another puppy dog look.

“Alright.” He said picking her up and sliding her onto his back. He was a bit smaller than most changelings but his strength was that of three stallions and he carried her with ease.

He received several strange looks as he trotted down the streets of Ponyville with an unconscious Sweetie Belle on his back but he ignored them. He felt guilty for agreeing to have pulled the energy directly out of her. As the Celestia yielded and Luna’s moon took over the sky for the night, Kuray walked into the boutique and Rarity was immediately on him. Asking him questions about why Sweetie was unconscious.

“Rarity please, can I go put her in her bed and then I’ll explain everything.” He said holding up a hoof to stop the flow of questions coming from the White mare. She nodded and stepped aside letting him pass. He climbed the stairs which was challenging with another pony on his back but he managed not to drop Sweetie down the stairs. He placed her on her bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. After kissing her on the forehead and chuckling after she mumbled something about a unicorn with a cotton candy mane, he trotted back down stairs and was confronted by Rarity, Applebloom and Scootaloo’s questioning glares.

“You wanna explain yerself?” Applebloom asked, her thick southern accent making it all the more menacing.

“It’s a long story.” Kuray said.

“Talk fast then less you want me to buck you into the next town.” Kuray didn’t like the thought of Applebloom beating the junk out of him so he went to work explaining the situation about the energy sucking. After he finished, all three of the mares looked at him in shock.

“So, you sucked emotions out of my sister knowing that it would hurt her.” Kuray opened his mouth to defend himself, but he caught a whiff of something that smelled smoke.

“Rarity, I think your dinner is burning.” Kuray said taking another sniff of the air.

“I’m not cooking anything.” She said.

“Well then why do I smell smo-? Oh no.” He said as he ran up the stairs. And as he had feared, the roof of the boutique was ablaze. Kuray made a break for Sweetie’s room with Rarity and her friends hot on his tail. He heard a creaking from above him and a few burning timbers fell to the floor just behind Kuray. Cutting off the other ponies from Kuray.

“You three, get out of here. I’ll get Sweetie!” He yelled. He stood there, expecting some kind of protest but received none.

“Good luck.” Rarity said to him before running back to the stairs. Kuray nodded and galloped into Sweetie’s room. Her pristine white coat was stained black around her nose and mouth. He picked her up onto his back and looked for another way out of this place. All that he saw was the window. He grimaced at the thought of breaking his ankle, or worse. But it was the only way out. He summoned magic to his horn and blasted the window to pieces and jumped out.

He fell a few seconds before hitting the ground, surprisingly okay. He slid Sweetie off his back to check her over. The rise and fall of her chest had ceased and she was no longer breathing.

“Oh, no no no no no NO!” He said. Looking around frantically he saw that he was alone, again. There was only one option then. He brought some of his energy to his hooves and rubbed them together until the were charged. He brought them down on Sweetie’s chest and released the energy. Her body convulsed and then laid still again, she still wasn’t breathing. He brought some more energy into his hooves but could feel his strength failing him but he tried again but like last time, her body convulsed and then she laid still. He wouldn’t let her die. He put all  of the energy he had left in his body into his hooves and put them on Sweetie’s chest and released it. She sat bolt upright, panting heavily as Kuray fell to the ground. Black spots danced in his vision as he tried to move his head. He groaned one last time before he lost consciousness.