My Little MoonBeam...

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.