Sleepless in the Hive

“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.