My Little MoonBeam...

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.