Sleepless in the Hiveby Dr AtlasChaptersI SpyWhat's a Filly?What's Your Name?I Spy“Okay, okay. I spy with my little eye….Something green.” “Let me guess…..The grass.” “Yeah.” The changeling guard face hoofed. “Twig, that's the third time you chose grass” “Well Fig.” Said the changeling next to them. “I don’t see you trying to find something entertaining to do.” Fig turned toward the other changeling. “That because its stupid Sid.” He said in anger. “Its not stupid!” Twig yelled. “Its fun.” Fig turned around to face Twig again. “Twig” Said Fig “Fun isn't looking around and pointing out things so the others can find them.” “And neither is standing guard outside of a cave.” Sid sneered. “Hey Sid.” Fig said “We have a job, sure its boring, but the queen-” Sid ran up to Fig. “The queen can bite my big, black, armored fla-” Twig ran up to Sid and wrapped an arm around his mouth. “Don’t say something like that Sid! She could be hearing us.” He held Sid tight in his arms, looking terrified while his eyes darted back in forth. “Twig has a point Sid.” Fig said while crossing his hooves. Sid grumbled. He took hold of Twig’s arm and pushed it off of his mouth, then he and Twig went back to their respective position. Twig, being the big one, on the right side. Fig, being second tallest, was on the left and Sid patrolling around the entrance. Sid couldn't remember how long the three of them had been sitting outside of the cave. He remembered the moon being more to the right of where it was before, which was straight up. He sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hooves. Wishing for something interesting to happen. The silence was nerve racking. So Twig decided to liven up the mood “I spy with my little eye something....” “Twig…” Fig said. “Will you-” “Orange" Both Fig and Sid turned toward Twig. “Orange?” Sid questioned “Where do you see that?” “Now now” Twig said while patting Sid’s head. “That would be cheating.” Sid grabbed Twig’s arm. “Twig, orange isn't that common of a color in the forest. Where could you have possibly of seen it.” Twig looked down on Sid. “But if I told you then that would be cheating Fig.” “Why do you care Sid.” Fig yelled. “It’s probably just a flower.” “Nope.” Twig said. “Its not that.” “Alright, fine Twig.” Sid said. “We give up, now will you just show me where you see it, it might be important enough for us to actually scout out their.” Fig made one of his eyes taller to simulate a raise of an eyebrow. “Is that why you want to do this?” Sid ignored him. “Besides Twig.” Sid looked back and forth, then gave a look worry and whispered in his ear. “The queen might want to know about this.” Sid knew saying something like that to Twig would make him- “Over there!” Twig yelled nervously. He extended his arm, with Sid still dangling on it and pointed forward. Sid went into attention and swung from Twig’s arm to his back. He looked where he was pointing, but all he could see in the forest was trees. He pointed his ear stems forward, thinking that picking up some sort of sound would help. “What do you see Sid?” Fig questioned. “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!” Fig pulled his ear stems down as soon as he heard that scream. “Ugh. What in the hive was that" He said. "Sounded like a whining hatchling.” Sid closed his eyes was did the same, while Twig looked straight at where the yelling was coming from. Twig took a step back. Parts of his mind started talking to him, one of them saying that he should stay where he was, another telling him to get help and the last one telling him to charge straight at whatever this noise was. Then he finally came to a decision. “ATTACK!” He ran forward, leaving Sid standing in the air for a few seconds, then landing on the ground. “Twig wait!” Sid and Fig screamed, but it was too late. Twig was already out of sight. Sig and Fig looked at each other, then sighed. “Welp,” Sid said. “Lets go after him.” “What about our posts?” Fig said. Knowing full well that Sid was doing this on purpose “We’ll be right back.” Sid insisted. He knew that now was the perfect moment to get out of this boring job and do something fun. It would be like the invasion, though with less casualties. “But-” Sid put an arm around Figs back. “Do you really want leave Twig out in the forest....alone, All by himself, with no one to watch him?” Fig opened his mouth to say something else, but Sid had a point. Twig may be big and strong, but he wasn't the brightest changeling in the batch. He could really hurt himself. “Fine.” Fig said. “But if we get in trouble for this…” “We won’t” Sid patted on his back. “Now come on, big Twig ain’t gonna stop himself.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Come out come out wherever you are!” Twig yelled as he kept running in random directions. Admittedly he didn't know where he was going. he only saw the orange blob for half a second so he couldn't tell where it went. He continued running in circles. “HELP!” Twig stopped dead in his tracks and pointed his ear stems in attention, “Somebuggys in trouble.” He whispered. He ran in a random direction and listened closely, but all he could hear was the sound of water. His brain started telling him that, since both water and the cry for help made noises, then they must be the same thing. ergo, he should run toward the water. He stopped and looked around, wondering where the water was, then he realized that he was already at the stream. “Oh...nice job legs.” He said. Twig looked around. Trying to find any form of a changeling in the river. “Hello?” He listened for a response, but all that came back was coughing and cries of help. That wasn't helping. Twig glanced at the water. Trying his hardest to find whomever it was that was in danger. Then his eyes spotted something in the water. It looked like the same orange thing he had seen before, though it looked less blurrier and had a weird hat on. Now it was starting to look just like an orange…Twig froze, knowing exactly what it was. Something that the queen and his fellow brothers and sisters have warned him about. Something that could end up killing everyone he knew. Something that every changeling should know about. “PONY!” Twig yelled at the top of his lungs. He dove headfirst into the water and swam towards the creature, grabbing it by the scruff of its neck, and then flying into the air, landing on the ground with the pony at hoof. He brought the creature up to eye level. He had never seen one this close before, Its weird nose and hair started scaring him, as did its weird hat. Its eyes not opening made him even more afraid. “Um….Little pony? Hello?” Twig Poked its stomach, Making it stir in its strange state of slumber. Twig decided not to mess with it anymore, he might just end up breaking it. He hoisted the pony on his back and ran to where he thought the cave was. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “TWIG! “Hey Twig! Ya out there?” Sid and Fig looked at each other, knowing that yelling in a forest like this wouldn't work. “How could a big guy like him get lost so easily?” Fig said. “Come on Fig, its Twig were talking about.” Sid answered. “This is serious Sid, we've been wandering for Queen knows how long. What if he really hurt himself out here.” Sid chuckled “Twig’s a big bug. He can handle himself.” “Yeah, but what if-” “Will you stop ‘what if’ ing, we’ll find him soon enough.” “You’re acting like he’s just gonna come running out in the open.” As if on cue, Sid was tackled by Twig who had sprinted out of the bushes. Fig immediately went to action and pushed Twig off of Sid, though as soon as he did. he looked strait at Twig. “Ow” Sid moaned “Twig What’d ya do that .” Sid closed his eyes and tried to make the dizziness stop. “Oh...uh..Sorry Sid, I was trying to-” “Uh...Twig.” Fig interrupted. “What do you have in your hooves?" Once Sid got his vision back, he opened his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Right in front of him was a… “Its a pony!” Twig exclaimed. Both Sid and Fig looked at him in astonishment. In Twigs hooves was indeed a living, breathing, unconscious, orange colored, purple haired, little pony. It was drenched in water (as was Twig) and had a strange dome shaped hat on its head. Sid and Fig looked at each other, not knowing what to say. So Twig decided to ask. “Can we keep it?” What's a Filly?“NO!” Scootaloo started regaining her consciousness, unable to talk or move. She tried opening her eyes, but all she could see was a blur to her. “But why not Fig, we can even give him a name. How about….little Twig?” Said a voice that Scootaloo couldn’t recognize. She had never heard a pony talk like that before. It sounded two voices were talking at once, saying the same things but at different pitches. “No Twig,” Said another voice, this time with a higher pitch. “besides we can’t keep a small pony as a pet.” Small pony? What were these voices talking about? Scootaloo tried opening her eyes again, but being in that river really knocked her out. “Well...What do we do with her?” Scootaloo, still dazed, couldn’t understand what they were saying. What pony were they talking about anyway? “Well, maybe waking this hideous little orange creature up might be the first step.” Hideous? Who was this voice calling hideous…. Scootaloo’s mind was starting to understand a few things. She was surrounded by voices, they were talking about some small orange pony, and now she was starting to get a feeling that something was holding her. “How about Twig junior?” “T...tha...ttss...no..tt” Scootaloo, Still half braindead, Tried telling these voices who she was, but why tell these random voices who she was? Shouldn’t she be worried right now? Yes...Yes she should be worrying. Her brain started putting the pieces together and understood exactly what was going on. The headless horse finally got his hooves on her, and now he probably brought her to other headless horses,. “Hey look, its talking.” Scootaloo, now able to come to her senses, started opening her eyes. When she did, she came face to face with a large shadowy figure with bright blue eyes that felt like they were looking into her soul. “Hello, my name is Twig.” It said, while showing it white sharp teeth. Upon seeing this Scootaloo started to scream at the top of her lungs. The figure seemed to have reacted and backed its eyes and fangs away from her. “GAh...Shut it up Twig!” “Gotcha Fig.” Scootaloo felt something clamp her mouth shut. Since she couldn’t moved her mouth, and for some reason her entire body, she moved her eyes around. Her pupils were the size of dinnerplates as she gazed on what was next to her. There were two dark figures. Each with eyes and fangs like the previous one she had seen before, but the moonlight made it clearer on what these things were. They were worse than a headless horse, or a horse looking for its missing horseshoe. They were creatures that could kill in one bite, suck everything that was inside of you, and leave your body to rot in a cocoon. Changelings. “Ya know, its times like this that make me glad I wasn’t picked for the nursery section of the hive.” One of these horrid creature said to the other. “Why’s that?” Said the other. Scootaloo looked back up at the horrible beast that was holding her. He looked twice as big as the other ones. She just thanked Celestia that he was looking at the other beasts rather than her. His blue eyes were very unsettling to her. “Because Ya don’t have to deal with screaming, whining hatchlings.” It pointed at her. Making her heart skip a beat. “She’s practically the perfect example of one.” Scootaloo spit whatever was covering her mouth and said. “I’m not a whiny hatchling!” Then she covered her own mouth with her hooves. Why did she just say that!? The Changeling that was slightly taller came toward her. Scootaloo thought about running, but with no scooter, wings that can’t fly, small legs, and a changeling with a tight grip around her torso made her think twice about that. Then the creature towered over her. Its blue eyes giving her more fear than it should. “Then what are you exactly?” It asked. “Uh…” Scootaloo stuttered. She didn’t want to answer this, one wrong word could end making these changelings have her as their next meal. “She’s a pony, silly Fig.” The changeling holding her answered, heavily patting on Scootaloo’s head. The taller one facehoofed. “Twig” Fig said. “What I mean is what a pony like her is called. Ya know how we call our little brothers and sisters hatchlings?” Twig noded. “Well, maybe ponies call their smaller ones a different name to.” Fig looked at the terrified little pony again. “So what do they call you?” “I-I’m a f-filly.” Scootaloo managed to stutter. Hoping that answering the question would help her in getting out of this. “PppfffHAAAHHAHAHA...What?!” The smaller one behind them laughed. “A fhhhahahahahhaa...a Fhhhhaaahhily? Seriously? What kind of creature calls their baby’s that?” Scootaloo felt her entire body start to vibrate as the big changeling laughed too. “Hehehe...Sid’s right...Filly is a silly name...Hey that rhymed.” Fig just looked back and forth at the two changelings as they continued laughing, then he looked at the filly. He was starting to get a weird vibe from this little creature. It might be his twitching wing acting up again, but he knew this so called filly was trouble. “Quiet!” Fig yelled, causing both Twig and Sid to stop laughing, though Sid was trying his hardest to hold it in. “Twig, let the f- actually, how about you tell me your name.” Fig knew if he said that F word again, Sid would just fall into a state of laughter. Scootaloo panicked. She thought about begging. These creatures don’t hurt you if you beg right? “L-look...C-can you j-j-j..” Fig closed the gap between his and her face. Making Scootaloo stare deep into the angry looking blue eyes. “Just answer the question.” He said. “What. Is. Your-” “Its Scootaloo!” She yelled, making Fig back up a bit. “There! Now please don’t don’t eat me.” Sid, Twig, and even Fig went into a state of pure hysteria. Not one of them couldn’t stop laughing. Making Scootaloo more nervous than ever. “I-I don’t haahhaa, I don’t kaaahha know what to laugh ahhahha at more,” Sid said. “Her name, or what she just ssaaidhhhahahhahahaha!” “What makes you think we eat ponies?” Twig managed to ask through all the snickers. Scootaloo felt a little embarrassed at this point. Here she was, becoming a laughing stock for three changelings, and all she could do was watch. Fig was the first to regain his composure. He cleared his throat and said. “Listen..Uh..Scootaloo, was it.” She nodded. “I don’t know what other ponies say we do, but I’m telling you right now that we don’t do something like that. We feed off of you, but we don’t actually eat you.” “I-I’m confused.” Scootaloo said. How is feeding and eating not the same thing? “Twig. Drop.” Fig said bluntly. Twig obeyed and Let her go. Scootaloo landed on her flank and looked up at Fig, he looked even taller now that she was at ground level. “So how about you tell us why you were- actually..Twig?” Twig looked up in attention. “Where did you find this filly?” “Find her” Twig said, scratching his forehead. “….uh….Oh yeah. I found her in the river. She was trying to swim.” “You mean she was drowning” Fig stated. “Yup,” Twig said, raising his head up high. “Then I brought the silly filly here.” He gave Scootaloo a quick nogie, messing up her hair. Scootaloo pushed Twigs hoof off of her and looked up at Fig. “I-I was just riding my scooter.” “Where to?” Fig questioned. Scootaloo gulped “ Y-ya know….around…” Scootaloo didn’t want to give any information to these guys. They could straight away tell it to- “Well.” Fig said “If you won’t answer to us, then maybe you can answer to.” He paused and looked straight at Scootaloo. “The queen.” “Q-q-q-queen?” Scootaloo quivered in fear. “Yeah” Twig said with a smile. “She needs to know when we find suspicious things in the woods, like a pony.” Scootaloo panicked. She darted her eyes back and forth, starting to think running wasn’t that bad of an idea. “W-what is she g-gonna do?” Sids ear stems went into attention. Then a wicked smile came across his face. “Time to have some fun.” He said to himself. “She’ll probably just tamhhff” Fig tried to finish that sentence, but was interrupted by Sids hoof. “Oh.” Sid said in astonishment. “They..never told you?” Scootaloo looked at him in fear. “T-told me what?” Fig grabbed Sid’s arm and pulled it out of his mouth. “Sid what are you-?” Sid then grabbed Fig’s ear stem and pulled it toward him. “Just play along Fig.” He whispered. Then he looked back and the shaking filly. “Well, Surely you’re friends and family have told you about our queen and her. Ahem…..Diet” He said with a grin. Fig facehoofed, Twig stared at him in bewilderment, and Scootaloo started shaking even more. “Wh-w-what diet?” She said. Didn’t they say that changelings only eat love, or does that not apply for their queen? “You know.” Sid said, coming face to face with the terrified filly. “Diet, a regular meal she needs to eat on a day to day basis.” “Sid..” Fig said. “will you not-” Still keeping his eyes on her, Sid slowly backed away. “Well, probably not day to day, but enough to make it seem day to day.” Twig scratched his head “I don’t get it, since when does the queen-” “Sure, she eats love and all that,” Sid interrupted. “but sometimes.” Sid looked back and forth dramatically. Then he leaned down and whispered in Scootaloo’s ear. “She needs more.” “M-m-more what?” Scootaloo said, she was starting to get an idea about what he was talking about, but she didn’t want it to be the answer. Sid backed away from her again. “Well,” He said, looking away innocently. “I don’t know how else to put it kid.” He looked back at her. “You.” Scootaloo looked back at him confused. “w-what about me?” “Sid,” Fig said “Thats enough.” Fig had had enough of this. “You…” Sid said to the filly again, this time with a darker tone. “w-w-wha...me what?” Scootaloo wanted to know. It was becoming nerve racking for her. “What I mean is.” He stood on his legs and towered over Scootaloo. “She.” “S-she what?” “Eats.” “E-eats what, w-what does she!” Sid came down on the ground, causing Scootaloo to land on her back “You!” He yelled. Scootaloo stared back in horror while Twig and Fig looked at Sid. “She eats fillies?” Twig said. “Since when.” Sid ignored him and slowly crept towards Scootaloo. “Oh yes.” He said with a creepy smile “She loves it when she comes across one, I can’t even remember the last time she ate one.” “Sid” Fig said again. “Stop..” “And I’ll tell you right now Scoots. the process ain’t pretty.” Scootaloo’s mind could wrap around it, why would she eat fillies? “W-why would she” She gulped. “Eat fillies?” “Yeah Sid.” Twig said, starting to think that this story was true. “Why?” “Why?” Sid said. “Well, some ponies may have love deep inside them, but its just too deep for the queen to find. So she finds smaller ones. And since their young, they have so much love that it could feed twenty changelings.” Fig rolled his eyes. Nothing, not even a pony, could feen twenty changelings. “S-so how d-does she…” Scootaloo wanted to ask but she was too afraid of the answer. “How does she eat them?” Sid said. “Simple, First, she makes sure that the filly is the right size for her, you don’t want to choke on it now.” “H-how small does the filly need to be.” Scootaloo was thinking that maybe she was too big for the queen to eat. “Mmmhhhh.” Sid thought “Roughly your size, if I can remember.” Scootaloo’s hopes of freedom were crushed right there. “Second” Sid said. “She gives it a quick lick” Sid simulated that by licking the air. “Making sure its the right taste.” “Sid.” Fig said, this time more demanding “Cut it out.” Sid continued to ignore him and looked straight at the now petrified filly. “And ya know what she does next.” “s...s...sh...she...e….ea….” Scootaloo didn’t want to say, or believe it. She just wanted to go home. Sid gave a grin. “Then.” Sid grabbed Scootaloo and hoisted her into the air. “She takes the filly by her hooves and bites her head clean off.” Scootaloo gasped, but Sid continued. “She ripped every bone, tears every skin, pulls apart every limb…” Sid continued ranting while Scootaloo began to imagined her entire body be torn to shreds by the queen. Twig was starting to shake, believing that what his friend was saying is true, while Fig was starting to lose his patience, he walked up to Sid, took hold of his ear and screamed “SID!” “Gorge out every….OWW...What is it Fig! Can’t you see I’m-” “You’re scaring an already terrified kid.” “So.” Sid said, dropping the pony. “What do you care.” Fig crossed his arms. “Look Sid, I may hate ponies just as much as the next bug, but for queens sake, its just a kid” He looked and pointed at her. Now seeing that it had fainted, he looked back at Sid. “Now look what you did.” He ran up to the filly and held it in his arms. Twig, now coming back from his fearful state said “I-is she dead?” “No.” Fig said. “Just unconscious, but she could of had a heart attack.” He stared at Sid, who gave an innocent look to him. “She could of died ya know.” “Ah heart attack, shmart ah pack. I just wanted to see how long she could last anyway.” Fig just shook his head and sighed. He looked at Twig and held up the filly. “Twig. Carry.” Twig took hold of the filly and hoisted it on his back. “Now come on. Lets get back to the cave.” He glanced over at Sid. “We wasted enough time as it is.” He finished angrily. Sid just stuck his tongue out. “Um...Sid” Twig asked as they started walking. “Is all that stuff you said about the queen true?” “Well,” Sid began. “I-” Sid felt the back of a hoof smack the back of his head. He yelped in pain. “Shut it.” Fig said. Sid just rolled his eyes and kept walking. It was gonna be and even longer night now. What's Your Name?“Are we there yet?” “No Twig, We’re not there yet.” “Oh….Well what about now? Are we there now?” Fig just continued walking and said. “Twig, if you would just be patient, then maybe we will be there faster than you know it.” Sid rolled his eyes. “Why don’t we just take the kid off of Twig, maybe that will speed things up.” Fig glared at Sid. “What is it with you and that filly Sid? Why do you just want to ruin her night.” Sid got into Fig’s face. “Well Fig, seeing as how ponies have been ruining our lives-” Fig pushed back. “Its not there fault that we’re-” “Yes it is!” Sid yelled. “No its not! Don’t start this up again Sid.” Fig screamed back. “Oh. I’m gonna do more than start it.” Twig looked back and forth at his arguing brethren, he never liked it when his siblings argued. Their loud noises always hurt his ears. He slowed down his pace just to get a few feet away from all the yelling. As soon as his ears could get use to the noise he looked over his shoulder at the little orange pony. Luckily, It was still sound asleep, either it got really scared at Sids story, or it was really tired. Twig yawned, he was feeling the same way for her. “YES. IT. IS.” Sid yelled “NO ITS...you know what Sid?” “What Fig!?” *SMACK* Sid felt the sting of a hoof across his face. The force of the hit made him tumble to the ground. “Why do you act like this?” Fig said. Towering over his brother. “Hu? Why do you have to be such a-” Sid kicked his legs under Fig’s legs, causing him to fall to the ground. Sid used this moment to get on top of Fig and hold him down. “Why do you have to be such a pony lover!” Fig struggled, he won many fights with Sid, and this was gonna be another. “I never said I was one!” Fig used all his momentum in his feet and flung Sid in the air and made him crash right in front of Twig, who was currently sitting in place and holding the orange filly in his hooves, cowering in fear. Sid got up on all fours and smiled at Fig. “You really think you’re gonna win this one.” Fig went into a military stance and smiled back. “Come and find out.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scootaloo was starting to regain consciousness, her eyes were beginning to open and she started becoming aware of her surroundings. She could feel a strong grip around her, and she could hear noises of grunting and yelling. “W-what's happening?” She grumbled. Twig looked down to see that the filly finally woke up from her nap. “Oh, hi little pony.” He said, craning his neck low enough to meet eye to upside down eye with Scootaloo. “You doing okay?” He asked. Scootaloo didn’t know how to answer that. She wasn’t sure if she should be terrified or concerned. She didn't know why, but she felt a little bit safe with this big bug’s hooves wrapped around her. “Y-yeah.” The big changeling gave a dopey grin and looked back up at the fight. “That's good.” He said. Once Scootaloo looked at the scene and she dropped her jaw at the sight. “Why are they fighting?” She asked Twig. “Oh...they do this sometimes, it usually happens when they don’t agree on something.” “Really? Do changelings do this all the time?” Twig shrugged. “Sometimes, but then again, it happens when they don’t agree on something, or they're board, or they hate each other. Scootaloo shuttered. “You guys hurt each other over that?” Twig Nodded. “Yup, but not me. I don’t really like fighting.” Scootaloo started to become curious. “You’ve never been in a fight?” Twig looked up at the sky a tilted his neck, thinking on how to answer that. “I never fought anyone,” He looked back down. “but they did fight me.” “Really? Did you ever get hurt?” Scootaloo didn’t know why she was so concerned about this guy. Shouldn’t she be trying to run away right now? Twig closed his eyes and held his head up proudly. “Nah, I don’t get hurt that easily. It takes a lot for me to go down, or at least, thats what the commander said.” “Commander?” “Yeah, He’s the guy who commands swarms and shows them where to attack certain areas in Canterlot. They stared at each other for a few seconds, with Twig smiling and Scootaloo giving him a look of confusion. After that Twig came to his senses and said. “Wait, I don't think I was supposed to tell you that.” Scootaloo started thinking. Maybe she could get some answers from these guys for once. “What was your job in the attack?” “Huh? Oh!” Twig held his hoof to his chest. “My job was to provide cover for my brothers and sisters while they attacked the royal guard and captured the ponies inside the city.” Then he facehoofed “OH! I wasn’t supposed to tell you that either.” “Well, why did you guys attack?” Twig lowered his hoof and wrapped it around her again. “I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you that little filly. The Queen might be mad at me.” Scootaloo looked down sighed. She only asked questions because they did it to her, it was only fair. She looked back up at the fight that was still going on. “How long does this usually last.” Twig shook his head. “I don’t know, fights like this can take a while until they're over. Scootaloo looked up at Twig again. “What are they fighting over?” Twig looked back at her. He didn’t like her eyes, with them being white and black and purple, why can't ponies have single colored eyes? “I dunno, they fight over the silliest of things. One time they fought over who had more holes in their arm.” “Can’t they just look at their arms.” “Sid said that that would require eye movement, and he wanted to save that for surveillance.” Scootaloo laughed. “That's silly.” Twig laughed back. “Yeah. Now that I think about it, it kinda is” This was becoming a pretty nice conversation, Twig couldn’t remember that last time he talked to someone like this. “Hey, what was your name again?” Scootaloo asked. “Its Twig.” He said with a smile. “Well...Uh...Twig. Can I ask you something?” Twig stared at the filly. He wasn’t sure if he could answer that question. He had answered a lot of questions he shouldn’t have, but maybe this one was okay. It probably won’t get him in trouble anyway. “What is it?” He said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *WHAM* Sid hit the side of a tree hard, hard enough to make him feel like his ribs were broken, when in reality they were just bruised. Sid spit a mixture of spit and blood and said. “Had enough brother!” Fig rolled his eyes. “Will you just give up Sid, can’t you see you’re losing.” Over the course of the fight, Fig had kicked and punched Sid more times then Sid, and Sid only got about three hits on his brother, who got about twenty. “You were never that good of a fighter Sid, so I suggest that you-” Sid immediately got up and ran towards Fig, eyes filled with rage and ready to tackle his sibling, but Fig merely steeped to the side and Sid went head first into another tree. “You can't stop...The Sid, Fig! You're just gonna have to...Kill me!” Sid yelled, he then passed out from the amount of pain he had taken and laid on the side of the tree. Fig facehoofed and grumbled. “Great, now he’s unconscious. Well Twig looks like you gonna have to carry....a...no...ther…Twig?” Fig looked around but couldn’t find any trace of Twig, and more importantly, the filly. Fig rushed over to Sid. “Sid. Sid! Wake up!” “.....Come on queen….it’s Saturday….Hu?” Sid looked up and Fig. “Oh...You wanna go...another round brother?” Fig pulled Sid up. “Now's not the time Sid. We need to find Twig and the filly.” “What?” Sid said in his still dazed state. “What happened to them, did they get...lost or somethin’” Fig looked around worriedly. “He must of walked away while we were fighting, I should of known he would do something like this, he hates it when he see's fighting going on.” Sid wrapped his arm around Fig and said. “Kinda like how you hate me...and vise verso....hehe.” Fig glared at him and nudged him off of his body. “This is serious Sid, if we can't find them, then the queen will have our heads for, not only losing a sibling, but also a pony!” “Well the queen can bite my-” Fig grabbed Sig and pulled him closer, faces mere inches away from each other “We already heard it Sid, now come on! We have a big and little problem to find.” He then pulled on of Sid’s arms over his neck and started walking to where he thought Twig might of gone. “I’ll go...But only if I can drive…”
I Spy“Okay, okay. I spy with my little eye….Something green.” “Let me guess…..The grass.” “Yeah.” The changeling guard face hoofed. “Twig, that's the third time you chose grass” “Well Fig.” Said the changeling next to them. “I don’t see you trying to find something entertaining to do.” Fig turned toward the other changeling. “That because its stupid Sid.” He said in anger. “Its not stupid!” Twig yelled. “Its fun.” Fig turned around to face Twig again. “Twig” Said Fig “Fun isn't looking around and pointing out things so the others can find them.” “And neither is standing guard outside of a cave.” Sid sneered. “Hey Sid.” Fig said “We have a job, sure its boring, but the queen-” Sid ran up to Fig. “The queen can bite my big, black, armored fla-” Twig ran up to Sid and wrapped an arm around his mouth. “Don’t say something like that Sid! She could be hearing us.” He held Sid tight in his arms, looking terrified while his eyes darted back in forth. “Twig has a point Sid.” Fig said while crossing his hooves. Sid grumbled. He took hold of Twig’s arm and pushed it off of his mouth, then he and Twig went back to their respective position. Twig, being the big one, on the right side. Fig, being second tallest, was on the left and Sid patrolling around the entrance. Sid couldn't remember how long the three of them had been sitting outside of the cave. He remembered the moon being more to the right of where it was before, which was straight up. He sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hooves. Wishing for something interesting to happen. The silence was nerve racking. So Twig decided to liven up the mood “I spy with my little eye something....” “Twig…” Fig said. “Will you-” “Orange" Both Fig and Sid turned toward Twig. “Orange?” Sid questioned “Where do you see that?” “Now now” Twig said while patting Sid’s head. “That would be cheating.” Sid grabbed Twig’s arm. “Twig, orange isn't that common of a color in the forest. Where could you have possibly of seen it.” Twig looked down on Sid. “But if I told you then that would be cheating Fig.” “Why do you care Sid.” Fig yelled. “It’s probably just a flower.” “Nope.” Twig said. “Its not that.” “Alright, fine Twig.” Sid said. “We give up, now will you just show me where you see it, it might be important enough for us to actually scout out their.” Fig made one of his eyes taller to simulate a raise of an eyebrow. “Is that why you want to do this?” Sid ignored him. “Besides Twig.” Sid looked back and forth, then gave a look worry and whispered in his ear. “The queen might want to know about this.” Sid knew saying something like that to Twig would make him- “Over there!” Twig yelled nervously. He extended his arm, with Sid still dangling on it and pointed forward. Sid went into attention and swung from Twig’s arm to his back. He looked where he was pointing, but all he could see in the forest was trees. He pointed his ear stems forward, thinking that picking up some sort of sound would help. “What do you see Sid?” Fig questioned. “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!” Fig pulled his ear stems down as soon as he heard that scream. “Ugh. What in the hive was that" He said. "Sounded like a whining hatchling.” Sid closed his eyes was did the same, while Twig looked straight at where the yelling was coming from. Twig took a step back. Parts of his mind started talking to him, one of them saying that he should stay where he was, another telling him to get help and the last one telling him to charge straight at whatever this noise was. Then he finally came to a decision. “ATTACK!” He ran forward, leaving Sid standing in the air for a few seconds, then landing on the ground. “Twig wait!” Sid and Fig screamed, but it was too late. Twig was already out of sight. Sig and Fig looked at each other, then sighed. “Welp,” Sid said. “Lets go after him.” “What about our posts?” Fig said. Knowing full well that Sid was doing this on purpose “We’ll be right back.” Sid insisted. He knew that now was the perfect moment to get out of this boring job and do something fun. It would be like the invasion, though with less casualties. “But-” Sid put an arm around Figs back. “Do you really want leave Twig out in the forest....alone, All by himself, with no one to watch him?” Fig opened his mouth to say something else, but Sid had a point. Twig may be big and strong, but he wasn't the brightest changeling in the batch. He could really hurt himself. “Fine.” Fig said. “But if we get in trouble for this…” “We won’t” Sid patted on his back. “Now come on, big Twig ain’t gonna stop himself.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Come out come out wherever you are!” Twig yelled as he kept running in random directions. Admittedly he didn't know where he was going. he only saw the orange blob for half a second so he couldn't tell where it went. He continued running in circles. “HELP!” Twig stopped dead in his tracks and pointed his ear stems in attention, “Somebuggys in trouble.” He whispered. He ran in a random direction and listened closely, but all he could hear was the sound of water. His brain started telling him that, since both water and the cry for help made noises, then they must be the same thing. ergo, he should run toward the water. He stopped and looked around, wondering where the water was, then he realized that he was already at the stream. “Oh...nice job legs.” He said. Twig looked around. Trying to find any form of a changeling in the river. “Hello?” He listened for a response, but all that came back was coughing and cries of help. That wasn't helping. Twig glanced at the water. Trying his hardest to find whomever it was that was in danger. Then his eyes spotted something in the water. It looked like the same orange thing he had seen before, though it looked less blurrier and had a weird hat on. Now it was starting to look just like an orange…Twig froze, knowing exactly what it was. Something that the queen and his fellow brothers and sisters have warned him about. Something that could end up killing everyone he knew. Something that every changeling should know about. “PONY!” Twig yelled at the top of his lungs. He dove headfirst into the water and swam towards the creature, grabbing it by the scruff of its neck, and then flying into the air, landing on the ground with the pony at hoof. He brought the creature up to eye level. He had never seen one this close before, Its weird nose and hair started scaring him, as did its weird hat. Its eyes not opening made him even more afraid. “Um….Little pony? Hello?” Twig Poked its stomach, Making it stir in its strange state of slumber. Twig decided not to mess with it anymore, he might just end up breaking it. He hoisted the pony on his back and ran to where he thought the cave was. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “TWIG! “Hey Twig! Ya out there?” Sid and Fig looked at each other, knowing that yelling in a forest like this wouldn't work. “How could a big guy like him get lost so easily?” Fig said. “Come on Fig, its Twig were talking about.” Sid answered. “This is serious Sid, we've been wandering for Queen knows how long. What if he really hurt himself out here.” Sid chuckled “Twig’s a big bug. He can handle himself.” “Yeah, but what if-” “Will you stop ‘what if’ ing, we’ll find him soon enough.” “You’re acting like he’s just gonna come running out in the open.” As if on cue, Sid was tackled by Twig who had sprinted out of the bushes. Fig immediately went to action and pushed Twig off of Sid, though as soon as he did. he looked strait at Twig. “Ow” Sid moaned “Twig What’d ya do that .” Sid closed his eyes and tried to make the dizziness stop. “Oh...uh..Sorry Sid, I was trying to-” “Uh...Twig.” Fig interrupted. “What do you have in your hooves?" Once Sid got his vision back, he opened his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Right in front of him was a… “Its a pony!” Twig exclaimed. Both Sid and Fig looked at him in astonishment. In Twigs hooves was indeed a living, breathing, unconscious, orange colored, purple haired, little pony. It was drenched in water (as was Twig) and had a strange dome shaped hat on its head. Sid and Fig looked at each other, not knowing what to say. So Twig decided to ask. “Can we keep it?”
What's a Filly?“NO!” Scootaloo started regaining her consciousness, unable to talk or move. She tried opening her eyes, but all she could see was a blur to her. “But why not Fig, we can even give him a name. How about….little Twig?” Said a voice that Scootaloo couldn’t recognize. She had never heard a pony talk like that before. It sounded two voices were talking at once, saying the same things but at different pitches. “No Twig,” Said another voice, this time with a higher pitch. “besides we can’t keep a small pony as a pet.” Small pony? What were these voices talking about? Scootaloo tried opening her eyes again, but being in that river really knocked her out. “Well...What do we do with her?” Scootaloo, still dazed, couldn’t understand what they were saying. What pony were they talking about anyway? “Well, maybe waking this hideous little orange creature up might be the first step.” Hideous? Who was this voice calling hideous…. Scootaloo’s mind was starting to understand a few things. She was surrounded by voices, they were talking about some small orange pony, and now she was starting to get a feeling that something was holding her. “How about Twig junior?” “T...tha...ttss...no..tt” Scootaloo, Still half braindead, Tried telling these voices who she was, but why tell these random voices who she was? Shouldn’t she be worried right now? Yes...Yes she should be worrying. Her brain started putting the pieces together and understood exactly what was going on. The headless horse finally got his hooves on her, and now he probably brought her to other headless horses,. “Hey look, its talking.” Scootaloo, now able to come to her senses, started opening her eyes. When she did, she came face to face with a large shadowy figure with bright blue eyes that felt like they were looking into her soul. “Hello, my name is Twig.” It said, while showing it white sharp teeth. Upon seeing this Scootaloo started to scream at the top of her lungs. The figure seemed to have reacted and backed its eyes and fangs away from her. “GAh...Shut it up Twig!” “Gotcha Fig.” Scootaloo felt something clamp her mouth shut. Since she couldn’t moved her mouth, and for some reason her entire body, she moved her eyes around. Her pupils were the size of dinnerplates as she gazed on what was next to her. There were two dark figures. Each with eyes and fangs like the previous one she had seen before, but the moonlight made it clearer on what these things were. They were worse than a headless horse, or a horse looking for its missing horseshoe. They were creatures that could kill in one bite, suck everything that was inside of you, and leave your body to rot in a cocoon. Changelings. “Ya know, its times like this that make me glad I wasn’t picked for the nursery section of the hive.” One of these horrid creature said to the other. “Why’s that?” Said the other. Scootaloo looked back up at the horrible beast that was holding her. He looked twice as big as the other ones. She just thanked Celestia that he was looking at the other beasts rather than her. His blue eyes were very unsettling to her. “Because Ya don’t have to deal with screaming, whining hatchlings.” It pointed at her. Making her heart skip a beat. “She’s practically the perfect example of one.” Scootaloo spit whatever was covering her mouth and said. “I’m not a whiny hatchling!” Then she covered her own mouth with her hooves. Why did she just say that!? The Changeling that was slightly taller came toward her. Scootaloo thought about running, but with no scooter, wings that can’t fly, small legs, and a changeling with a tight grip around her torso made her think twice about that. Then the creature towered over her. Its blue eyes giving her more fear than it should. “Then what are you exactly?” It asked. “Uh…” Scootaloo stuttered. She didn’t want to answer this, one wrong word could end making these changelings have her as their next meal. “She’s a pony, silly Fig.” The changeling holding her answered, heavily patting on Scootaloo’s head. The taller one facehoofed. “Twig” Fig said. “What I mean is what a pony like her is called. Ya know how we call our little brothers and sisters hatchlings?” Twig noded. “Well, maybe ponies call their smaller ones a different name to.” Fig looked at the terrified little pony again. “So what do they call you?” “I-I’m a f-filly.” Scootaloo managed to stutter. Hoping that answering the question would help her in getting out of this. “PppfffHAAAHHAHAHA...What?!” The smaller one behind them laughed. “A fhhhahahahahhaa...a Fhhhhaaahhily? Seriously? What kind of creature calls their baby’s that?” Scootaloo felt her entire body start to vibrate as the big changeling laughed too. “Hehehe...Sid’s right...Filly is a silly name...Hey that rhymed.” Fig just looked back and forth at the two changelings as they continued laughing, then he looked at the filly. He was starting to get a weird vibe from this little creature. It might be his twitching wing acting up again, but he knew this so called filly was trouble. “Quiet!” Fig yelled, causing both Twig and Sid to stop laughing, though Sid was trying his hardest to hold it in. “Twig, let the f- actually, how about you tell me your name.” Fig knew if he said that F word again, Sid would just fall into a state of laughter. Scootaloo panicked. She thought about begging. These creatures don’t hurt you if you beg right? “L-look...C-can you j-j-j..” Fig closed the gap between his and her face. Making Scootaloo stare deep into the angry looking blue eyes. “Just answer the question.” He said. “What. Is. Your-” “Its Scootaloo!” She yelled, making Fig back up a bit. “There! Now please don’t don’t eat me.” Sid, Twig, and even Fig went into a state of pure hysteria. Not one of them couldn’t stop laughing. Making Scootaloo more nervous than ever. “I-I don’t haahhaa, I don’t kaaahha know what to laugh ahhahha at more,” Sid said. “Her name, or what she just ssaaidhhhahahhahahaha!” “What makes you think we eat ponies?” Twig managed to ask through all the snickers. Scootaloo felt a little embarrassed at this point. Here she was, becoming a laughing stock for three changelings, and all she could do was watch. Fig was the first to regain his composure. He cleared his throat and said. “Listen..Uh..Scootaloo, was it.” She nodded. “I don’t know what other ponies say we do, but I’m telling you right now that we don’t do something like that. We feed off of you, but we don’t actually eat you.” “I-I’m confused.” Scootaloo said. How is feeding and eating not the same thing? “Twig. Drop.” Fig said bluntly. Twig obeyed and Let her go. Scootaloo landed on her flank and looked up at Fig, he looked even taller now that she was at ground level. “So how about you tell us why you were- actually..Twig?” Twig looked up in attention. “Where did you find this filly?” “Find her” Twig said, scratching his forehead. “….uh….Oh yeah. I found her in the river. She was trying to swim.” “You mean she was drowning” Fig stated. “Yup,” Twig said, raising his head up high. “Then I brought the silly filly here.” He gave Scootaloo a quick nogie, messing up her hair. Scootaloo pushed Twigs hoof off of her and looked up at Fig. “I-I was just riding my scooter.” “Where to?” Fig questioned. Scootaloo gulped “ Y-ya know….around…” Scootaloo didn’t want to give any information to these guys. They could straight away tell it to- “Well.” Fig said “If you won’t answer to us, then maybe you can answer to.” He paused and looked straight at Scootaloo. “The queen.” “Q-q-q-queen?” Scootaloo quivered in fear. “Yeah” Twig said with a smile. “She needs to know when we find suspicious things in the woods, like a pony.” Scootaloo panicked. She darted her eyes back and forth, starting to think running wasn’t that bad of an idea. “W-what is she g-gonna do?” Sids ear stems went into attention. Then a wicked smile came across his face. “Time to have some fun.” He said to himself. “She’ll probably just tamhhff” Fig tried to finish that sentence, but was interrupted by Sids hoof. “Oh.” Sid said in astonishment. “They..never told you?” Scootaloo looked at him in fear. “T-told me what?” Fig grabbed Sid’s arm and pulled it out of his mouth. “Sid what are you-?” Sid then grabbed Fig’s ear stem and pulled it toward him. “Just play along Fig.” He whispered. Then he looked back and the shaking filly. “Well, Surely you’re friends and family have told you about our queen and her. Ahem…..Diet” He said with a grin. Fig facehoofed, Twig stared at him in bewilderment, and Scootaloo started shaking even more. “Wh-w-what diet?” She said. Didn’t they say that changelings only eat love, or does that not apply for their queen? “You know.” Sid said, coming face to face with the terrified filly. “Diet, a regular meal she needs to eat on a day to day basis.” “Sid..” Fig said. “will you not-” Still keeping his eyes on her, Sid slowly backed away. “Well, probably not day to day, but enough to make it seem day to day.” Twig scratched his head “I don’t get it, since when does the queen-” “Sure, she eats love and all that,” Sid interrupted. “but sometimes.” Sid looked back and forth dramatically. Then he leaned down and whispered in Scootaloo’s ear. “She needs more.” “M-m-more what?” Scootaloo said, she was starting to get an idea about what he was talking about, but she didn’t want it to be the answer. Sid backed away from her again. “Well,” He said, looking away innocently. “I don’t know how else to put it kid.” He looked back at her. “You.” Scootaloo looked back at him confused. “w-what about me?” “Sid,” Fig said “Thats enough.” Fig had had enough of this. “You…” Sid said to the filly again, this time with a darker tone. “w-w-wha...me what?” Scootaloo wanted to know. It was becoming nerve racking for her. “What I mean is.” He stood on his legs and towered over Scootaloo. “She.” “S-she what?” “Eats.” “E-eats what, w-what does she!” Sid came down on the ground, causing Scootaloo to land on her back “You!” He yelled. Scootaloo stared back in horror while Twig and Fig looked at Sid. “She eats fillies?” Twig said. “Since when.” Sid ignored him and slowly crept towards Scootaloo. “Oh yes.” He said with a creepy smile “She loves it when she comes across one, I can’t even remember the last time she ate one.” “Sid” Fig said again. “Stop..” “And I’ll tell you right now Scoots. the process ain’t pretty.” Scootaloo’s mind could wrap around it, why would she eat fillies? “W-why would she” She gulped. “Eat fillies?” “Yeah Sid.” Twig said, starting to think that this story was true. “Why?” “Why?” Sid said. “Well, some ponies may have love deep inside them, but its just too deep for the queen to find. So she finds smaller ones. And since their young, they have so much love that it could feed twenty changelings.” Fig rolled his eyes. Nothing, not even a pony, could feen twenty changelings. “S-so how d-does she…” Scootaloo wanted to ask but she was too afraid of the answer. “How does she eat them?” Sid said. “Simple, First, she makes sure that the filly is the right size for her, you don’t want to choke on it now.” “H-how small does the filly need to be.” Scootaloo was thinking that maybe she was too big for the queen to eat. “Mmmhhhh.” Sid thought “Roughly your size, if I can remember.” Scootaloo’s hopes of freedom were crushed right there. “Second” Sid said. “She gives it a quick lick” Sid simulated that by licking the air. “Making sure its the right taste.” “Sid.” Fig said, this time more demanding “Cut it out.” Sid continued to ignore him and looked straight at the now petrified filly. “And ya know what she does next.” “s...s...sh...she...e….ea….” Scootaloo didn’t want to say, or believe it. She just wanted to go home. Sid gave a grin. “Then.” Sid grabbed Scootaloo and hoisted her into the air. “She takes the filly by her hooves and bites her head clean off.” Scootaloo gasped, but Sid continued. “She ripped every bone, tears every skin, pulls apart every limb…” Sid continued ranting while Scootaloo began to imagined her entire body be torn to shreds by the queen. Twig was starting to shake, believing that what his friend was saying is true, while Fig was starting to lose his patience, he walked up to Sid, took hold of his ear and screamed “SID!” “Gorge out every….OWW...What is it Fig! Can’t you see I’m-” “You’re scaring an already terrified kid.” “So.” Sid said, dropping the pony. “What do you care.” Fig crossed his arms. “Look Sid, I may hate ponies just as much as the next bug, but for queens sake, its just a kid” He looked and pointed at her. Now seeing that it had fainted, he looked back at Sid. “Now look what you did.” He ran up to the filly and held it in his arms. Twig, now coming back from his fearful state said “I-is she dead?” “No.” Fig said. “Just unconscious, but she could of had a heart attack.” He stared at Sid, who gave an innocent look to him. “She could of died ya know.” “Ah heart attack, shmart ah pack. I just wanted to see how long she could last anyway.” Fig just shook his head and sighed. He looked at Twig and held up the filly. “Twig. Carry.” Twig took hold of the filly and hoisted it on his back. “Now come on. Lets get back to the cave.” He glanced over at Sid. “We wasted enough time as it is.” He finished angrily. Sid just stuck his tongue out. “Um...Sid” Twig asked as they started walking. “Is all that stuff you said about the queen true?” “Well,” Sid began. “I-” Sid felt the back of a hoof smack the back of his head. He yelped in pain. “Shut it.” Fig said. Sid just rolled his eyes and kept walking. It was gonna be and even longer night now.
What's Your Name?“Are we there yet?” “No Twig, We’re not there yet.” “Oh….Well what about now? Are we there now?” Fig just continued walking and said. “Twig, if you would just be patient, then maybe we will be there faster than you know it.” Sid rolled his eyes. “Why don’t we just take the kid off of Twig, maybe that will speed things up.” Fig glared at Sid. “What is it with you and that filly Sid? Why do you just want to ruin her night.” Sid got into Fig’s face. “Well Fig, seeing as how ponies have been ruining our lives-” Fig pushed back. “Its not there fault that we’re-” “Yes it is!” Sid yelled. “No its not! Don’t start this up again Sid.” Fig screamed back. “Oh. I’m gonna do more than start it.” Twig looked back and forth at his arguing brethren, he never liked it when his siblings argued. Their loud noises always hurt his ears. He slowed down his pace just to get a few feet away from all the yelling. As soon as his ears could get use to the noise he looked over his shoulder at the little orange pony. Luckily, It was still sound asleep, either it got really scared at Sids story, or it was really tired. Twig yawned, he was feeling the same way for her. “YES. IT. IS.” Sid yelled “NO ITS...you know what Sid?” “What Fig!?” *SMACK* Sid felt the sting of a hoof across his face. The force of the hit made him tumble to the ground. “Why do you act like this?” Fig said. Towering over his brother. “Hu? Why do you have to be such a-” Sid kicked his legs under Fig’s legs, causing him to fall to the ground. Sid used this moment to get on top of Fig and hold him down. “Why do you have to be such a pony lover!” Fig struggled, he won many fights with Sid, and this was gonna be another. “I never said I was one!” Fig used all his momentum in his feet and flung Sid in the air and made him crash right in front of Twig, who was currently sitting in place and holding the orange filly in his hooves, cowering in fear. Sid got up on all fours and smiled at Fig. “You really think you’re gonna win this one.” Fig went into a military stance and smiled back. “Come and find out.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scootaloo was starting to regain consciousness, her eyes were beginning to open and she started becoming aware of her surroundings. She could feel a strong grip around her, and she could hear noises of grunting and yelling. “W-what's happening?” She grumbled. Twig looked down to see that the filly finally woke up from her nap. “Oh, hi little pony.” He said, craning his neck low enough to meet eye to upside down eye with Scootaloo. “You doing okay?” He asked. Scootaloo didn’t know how to answer that. She wasn’t sure if she should be terrified or concerned. She didn't know why, but she felt a little bit safe with this big bug’s hooves wrapped around her. “Y-yeah.” The big changeling gave a dopey grin and looked back up at the fight. “That's good.” He said. Once Scootaloo looked at the scene and she dropped her jaw at the sight. “Why are they fighting?” She asked Twig. “Oh...they do this sometimes, it usually happens when they don’t agree on something.” “Really? Do changelings do this all the time?” Twig shrugged. “Sometimes, but then again, it happens when they don’t agree on something, or they're board, or they hate each other. Scootaloo shuttered. “You guys hurt each other over that?” Twig Nodded. “Yup, but not me. I don’t really like fighting.” Scootaloo started to become curious. “You’ve never been in a fight?” Twig looked up at the sky a tilted his neck, thinking on how to answer that. “I never fought anyone,” He looked back down. “but they did fight me.” “Really? Did you ever get hurt?” Scootaloo didn’t know why she was so concerned about this guy. Shouldn’t she be trying to run away right now? Twig closed his eyes and held his head up proudly. “Nah, I don’t get hurt that easily. It takes a lot for me to go down, or at least, thats what the commander said.” “Commander?” “Yeah, He’s the guy who commands swarms and shows them where to attack certain areas in Canterlot. They stared at each other for a few seconds, with Twig smiling and Scootaloo giving him a look of confusion. After that Twig came to his senses and said. “Wait, I don't think I was supposed to tell you that.” Scootaloo started thinking. Maybe she could get some answers from these guys for once. “What was your job in the attack?” “Huh? Oh!” Twig held his hoof to his chest. “My job was to provide cover for my brothers and sisters while they attacked the royal guard and captured the ponies inside the city.” Then he facehoofed “OH! I wasn’t supposed to tell you that either.” “Well, why did you guys attack?” Twig lowered his hoof and wrapped it around her again. “I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you that little filly. The Queen might be mad at me.” Scootaloo looked down sighed. She only asked questions because they did it to her, it was only fair. She looked back up at the fight that was still going on. “How long does this usually last.” Twig shook his head. “I don’t know, fights like this can take a while until they're over. Scootaloo looked up at Twig again. “What are they fighting over?” Twig looked back at her. He didn’t like her eyes, with them being white and black and purple, why can't ponies have single colored eyes? “I dunno, they fight over the silliest of things. One time they fought over who had more holes in their arm.” “Can’t they just look at their arms.” “Sid said that that would require eye movement, and he wanted to save that for surveillance.” Scootaloo laughed. “That's silly.” Twig laughed back. “Yeah. Now that I think about it, it kinda is” This was becoming a pretty nice conversation, Twig couldn’t remember that last time he talked to someone like this. “Hey, what was your name again?” Scootaloo asked. “Its Twig.” He said with a smile. “Well...Uh...Twig. Can I ask you something?” Twig stared at the filly. He wasn’t sure if he could answer that question. He had answered a lot of questions he shouldn’t have, but maybe this one was okay. It probably won’t get him in trouble anyway. “What is it?” He said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *WHAM* Sid hit the side of a tree hard, hard enough to make him feel like his ribs were broken, when in reality they were just bruised. Sid spit a mixture of spit and blood and said. “Had enough brother!” Fig rolled his eyes. “Will you just give up Sid, can’t you see you’re losing.” Over the course of the fight, Fig had kicked and punched Sid more times then Sid, and Sid only got about three hits on his brother, who got about twenty. “You were never that good of a fighter Sid, so I suggest that you-” Sid immediately got up and ran towards Fig, eyes filled with rage and ready to tackle his sibling, but Fig merely steeped to the side and Sid went head first into another tree. “You can't stop...The Sid, Fig! You're just gonna have to...Kill me!” Sid yelled, he then passed out from the amount of pain he had taken and laid on the side of the tree. Fig facehoofed and grumbled. “Great, now he’s unconscious. Well Twig looks like you gonna have to carry....a...no...ther…Twig?” Fig looked around but couldn’t find any trace of Twig, and more importantly, the filly. Fig rushed over to Sid. “Sid. Sid! Wake up!” “.....Come on queen….it’s Saturday….Hu?” Sid looked up and Fig. “Oh...You wanna go...another round brother?” Fig pulled Sid up. “Now's not the time Sid. We need to find Twig and the filly.” “What?” Sid said in his still dazed state. “What happened to them, did they get...lost or somethin’” Fig looked around worriedly. “He must of walked away while we were fighting, I should of known he would do something like this, he hates it when he see's fighting going on.” Sid wrapped his arm around Fig and said. “Kinda like how you hate me...and vise verso....hehe.” Fig glared at him and nudged him off of his body. “This is serious Sid, if we can't find them, then the queen will have our heads for, not only losing a sibling, but also a pony!” “Well the queen can bite my-” Fig grabbed Sig and pulled him closer, faces mere inches away from each other “We already heard it Sid, now come on! We have a big and little problem to find.” He then pulled on of Sid’s arms over his neck and started walking to where he thought Twig might of gone. “I’ll go...But only if I can drive…”
