Every night, the small changeling mare would look to the beautifully painted canvas that was the sky, and hope for shooting stars so that she could wish with all her heart that things had gone differently. Always she would see the elegantly plotted constellations, and watch them almost dance across Luna's ebony sky. Always would she see the splotches of indego and violet she threw onto the sky to mingle and complement the dark black or dark blue of the night. Always would she silently weep...so hurt and so longing for a shooting star so that she could wish that she, her Queen, and her hive would never have to starve again, so that she could wish that no one would die, and so that she could wish that maybe, just maybe, that both the ponies and the changelings could live together in harmony one day
Poor little MoonBeam only wanted some peace from all the pain and hurt around her, and to just keep everychangeling alive without hurting anyone... But why she wept was because she knew that was such an impossible dream; that to have everychangeling healthy and kicking would involve someone getting hurt. The nutrition they needed-- it had a price. She cried especially hard tonight, a few soft, choked back sobs escaping her. She'd been daring enough to try and shed her disguise in an attempt to get more attention drawn to her, and of course it had worked, but she'd been totally unprepared for the rush of anger, hate, and fear.
She'd had some idea of what to expect, but it'd been far from what she'd geared herself up for. It was as though the ponies had been going to war with any and all changelings-- and for quite a few years at that. Every day she'd go out into the streets of Canterlot and do the most abstract things to get the ponies' attention, and then feed off of it. She would take any care, concern, and/or fascination directed towards her and store it in her near hollow changeling heart so that she could later give most of it to her fellow changelings. Nine others shared her job, and it wore on all of them heavily. Because they had sworn to give almost all of the emotion they gathered to the others of the hive, the ten changelings who held the job were small, thin, and somewhat skittish.
Only after the harsh sun's set did they have rest, and so this made the night all the more special to little MoonBeam. Every evening she would retire to the one lonely branch of the gaint, ancient oak that harboured all of the changelings, and just wait for shooting stars to wish on almost all night before having to shut her eyes and rest so she'd be refreshed when she would have to go to work.She would go undisturbed nights, and be left to her silent weeping and thought. Tonight, however, she had a visitor.
"Moonbeam..?" a soft voice called from behind her, accompanied by the sound of rustling leaves.
Instantly her sobs stopped with a hiccup, she wiping her eyes and getting to her hooves. "Who-who is it...?" she asked shyly, her ears pressing flat against her head.
"It's just me, H-Heartbreak," replied a changeling mare. As the skeletal changeling stepped into view, Moonbeam felt her worry vanish with a sigh, but almost immediately after it was replaced by dread. Heartbreak was barely much more than a skeleton, and her eyes had sunk somewhat drearily into their sockets. Her reddish green mane, tail and wings had seemed to fade, which only added to MoonBeam's worry.
"Heart, you look terrible..." she said with concern.
The other mare scuffed her hoof on the branch of the oak, looking off to the side. "I haven't been up to feeding much as of late... Moon, I'm afraid to go to sleep... I've been having nightmares."
She frowned, sitting down and encouraging her friend to do so as well. "What are they about?"
Heart rubbed the back of her head, still shyly looking off to the side. "Well... Its... Its about me starving... I keep seeing myself stumble and be hardly able to walk my limbs are so weak, and slowly I go blind...then my hair starts turning white, then falls out...I-I crumble into dust, at the end, it just f-feels so real..."
MoonBeam put a comforting hoof on her shoulder, but as she saw her friend starting to shake, she pulled her in for a hug. "It's okay... It's okay.... It was only a dream..." she consolled, running her hoof through her mane, patting her back gently.
Heart sniffed, burying her muzzle in Moon's mane. She could see that the stress was getting to her, but as time glided by, she saw her friend start to relax, comforted by her words and her caring hooves.
Almost an hour passed, and Heart closed her eyes, drifting to sleep in Moon's hooves.
Sunlight streamed in through the leaves of the oak the sleeping Heartbreak and Moonbeam lay on, MoonBeam's eyes fluttering open as somewhere a rooster crowed to welcome the rising of the sun. She sighed, nudging her friend. "Come on, we've got to go soon..."
Heartbreak just groaned and rolled over, putting her hooves over her head. "Five more munutes..." she pleaded groggily, making her friend chuckled as she got up. Again she nudged her, and with another groan Heart soon rose to her hooves alongside her. Both mares raked their hooves through their manes and their tails quickly before stretching their wings, yawning as they fluttered to the ground. Instantly bird song was drowned out by growling and hissing from the creatures of the Ever Free, but as normal the pair ignored them and headed for the center of the clearing where the Queen would soon be giving directions and orders for the day.
Soon, they were joined by a handful of other changelings, all headed in the same direction. It was a daily habit for everychangeling to gather, as they all had a rank or job for which Chrysalis had a specific job or task. There were gaurds to kept the clearing, well, clear of the Ever Free's monsters, healer who tended to the wounded, gatherers with special gaurds who protected them while they went out in search of food for the hive, and then, last, but not least, the Emotion Scavengers.
The Emotion Scavengers had the most important job, as they kept what was left of the entire hive fed, and were given the most respect of all the changelings.
As the pair approached the center of the clearing, they found that most of the hive had already gathered, and Chrysalis had started to give directions early. "...which is why we're having three gaurd rotations today instead of two. Now, off with you!" they heard their Queen's voice order, and the fifty or so gaurds assigned to keeping the clearing safe scampered off to get to their positions. "Gatherers, we're getting short on food, so I expect a big haul in by the end of today. Keep your eyes sharp, we don't want any more accidents!" Thirty changelings scampered off after this, twenty gaurds and ten gatherers. "The healers may relax today, all the wounded and sick have recovered, so there is nothing to do at the present moment." Ten more changelings walked off, most going up into the branches of the oak to take their well deserved rest. Now, just stood the ten Scavengers.
"Everyone is to go to their normal towns they've been assigned, but I encourage you to take more than you give today. You brought in a big dose of emotion yesterday, and we should be fine. You're doing extremely well, and I want to keep everyone alive for as long as I can."
Just as everychangeling was about to leave, Chrysalis walked over to Heartbreak, and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Please, Heartbreak..." she said softly, "I want you to keep all of the emotion you gather today... You're deadly thin."
Heartbreak dipped her head, her wings ruffling. "As you wish Queen..." she replied, then galloped off to get where she was supposed to be.
~~
Moonbeam walked the streets of Canterlot without disguise, taking in all the hate and fear without the crippling shock she'd felt the day before. Her mind was on Heart, deeply concerned about her health. She'd had a sickening feeling in her stomach ever since d told her of her dreams, and she hoped to all the gods and goddesses she could think of that they were not foreshadowing the future.
Rubbing her temples she tried to calm her nerves. It'd felt odd, at first, doing what she did, but eventually it became nothing but routine. Sighing, she decided she'd head into the donut shop for a spell. She went in, greeted by the emotions of shock, hate and fear once more. Still, even though the emotions kept flowing, all the ponies carried on as usual, like she wasn't there at all. She took an empty stool at the counter and stole someone's donut, munching on it and relaxing.
"The princesses are overworking us, I tell you..." she heard a royal gaurd say, who happened to be the pony whom she'd stolen the donut from. She turned her attention to him, listening his conversation with the stallion behind the counter.
"How so?"
The gaurd rubbed his forehead. "They've got us working triple shifts looking through the country for changelings that had been left behind, but we've found nothing so far, and they're threatening to send us into the Ever Free to search."
MoonBeam leaned in, now intregued. "Into the Ever Free you say? That's insane! Nothing could survive a day, much less an entire six months in that forest!"
He sighed. "Exactly my thinking. Still, I'm not in a position to be challenging orders. What the Princesses say, goes."
~~
Outside, MoonBeam paced, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself. It was going to be fine, all she had to do was get the news to Chrysalis, and she would get everything ready for when the search parties came. Her worry started to fade as she realized that all they had to do was use the trick all the Emotion Scavengers had been using for months, and everyhing would go just fine. Her doubts put to rest, and she spread her wings to start heading for the hive.
