Sleep. That's all I really need. Just seeing the blackness in front of my eyes is all that keeps me occupied... so how long have I actually been asleep? Does it really matter? As my groggy mind starts to wake up, oftentimes I don't care enough to keep it awake. So I just let my mind drift once more...
... until I am violently picked up and yelled at. "Who are you, and how did you get in here?" a female voice asked. My groggy mind took a second to process what she said, and the jolt that woke me up to begin with. Seriously, that jolt made it harder for me to think or react.
While I was opening my eyes, I decided to respond. "... 'm Skips, 'nd I was drunk, so I... have..." My eyes fluttered open, and I got a first glance at my surroundings. Bookshelves lined the back wall, books were scattered everywhere, most of the surfaces were wood... but the thing that caught me off-guard was the purple unicorn standing in front of me, her horn aglow. Soon enough I realized that nobody was actually holding me up, and I began panicking and flailing about. "AYY! Where am I? What am I doing here, who are you?" I then noticed something peculiar about this strange unicorn. "... why do you have wings?"
That didn't go over too well with the mare. "Don't play dumb with me. Who sent you?"
"Wha...? No one sent me... What's going on?" As more questions began to surface, pain welled up in my... well, somewhere around my liver, I think. "Uhh... I think you should put me down, lady."
"Put you down? So you can run away?" she deadpanned. "I'm not dumb enough to fall for any of your tricks, you know."
This caused me to raise an eyebrow. "What tricks? I already told you I had too much to drink--" Suddenly, as if all of my past gaming experiences and failures came back to me all at once, rage began to fill my mind. The amount of rage I felt was more than I could put words into, so my tongue shot out and my head stretched out towards the mare. I then let out a hiss, showing her how much rage was flowing inside of me. A split second later, all the rage built up inside of me disappeared, replaced with the growing pain in my stomach... I think. Honestly, I can't even tell anymore.
I looked down at my hands to see what I've become... only to be greeted with two black stubs with holes in them. "OH MY CHEESE LEGS!" I screamed as I looked around the room for a mirror. I spotted one over in the corner by the bookshelves. "WHAT THE F-- Wha...? How...? Why...?" What I saw in that mirror gave me the chills. My whole body was black... a horse-like figure similar to that of the other occupant in the room, two curved fangs protruded from my mouth, a curved horn jutted out of my head, two thin wings protruded from my back... they looked sort of like fly wings to me. But what terrified me the most were the blue eyes staring at me through the mirror. I'm not just talking about the irises, either... I mean both of my eyes were one solid color. Usually, stuff like this doesn't really scare me... but I'm terrified of what I've become I tried to scurry backwards... which I realized was impossible due to me floating in mid-air.
The mare raised an eyebrow. "Do you honestly think a temper tantrum will save your skin?" Her horn stopped glowing and I fell to the floor, half-relieved, half-scared. "Well, you're lucky that Spike isn't here. Otherwise I would've reported you to--"
"Can you give me a second, please?" I interrupted. "I'm just... I'm trying to process everything that just happened in the past few minutes. Mostly the part where I'm a freaking insect horse with cheese legs."
The lavender winged unicorn tilted her head in confusion. "Wait... you really don't know who you are?"
"Uh... no," I replied slowly. "And I don't know who you are either. I really didn't mean to be rude, I just... need a minute."
The mare clearly didn't know what to make of the situation at hand. She opened and closed her mouth wordlessly for a few minutes. Then she finally spoke. "Hang on... you're telling me... that you have no clue where you are, or what you are?"
I nodded my head slowly. "You'd be correct, miss purple winged unicorn whose name eludes me."
"Um... the name's Twilight," she corrected.
"Twilight, huh?" I put a hoof on my chin. "Nice name." I then extend a hoof in greeting. "The name's Skips."
She was about to accept the hoofshake, but something within me began stirring again, and I had to withdraw, causing Twilight to back away. This... fit, I suppose it's called... is probably one of the worst kinds that I've ever experienced. All the rage that wells up inside of me just makes me feel bad for myself and everyone around me. Luckily my subconscious mind kept me from tearing Twilight to shreds in that moment. Still, it didn't stop my stomach from hurting like crazy.
I clutch my stomach and look at Twilight, who inches forward slowly, a look of concern on her face. "What's wrong with me?" I ask her weakly.
"You're hungry," she replied plainly. "Changelings survive by feeding off of love. If they don't... well, you'll undergo hunger pains like this."
I can only listen to her intently and nod. "I'm scared... I don't want to steal, but I don't want to die..."
She looked at me worriedly. "I can see it's a painful decision for you to have to make... but that's just the way it is. That's the way it's always been."
I nodded, then had an idea. "Just out of curiosity... would you be willing to feed me once, then give me a chance to find a different source of food?"
She tilted her head in confusion. "Do you think you can find another food source?"
"Let's put it this way..." I looked Twilight in the eyes, my expression becoming solemn. "If I don't, I die."
She gave me a worried look, but nodded in approval. "Alright, I'll give you a chance. Just know that you're gambling your life on a food source that may not even exist, and I'm letting you take what you need to survive."
As I stepped forward, my heart pounding, I nodded nervously. "S-so, um... how does this whole feeding thing work? Does it have to do with those fits I've been having?"
"Correct. That's how changelings feed."
I stepped forward and drew a sharp breath. "Okay... here we go..." I reached within myself and pulled out all the primal rage within me, and opened my mouth. I barely noticed over all the red filling my vision, but I saw a stream of white light flowing from Twilight straight to my mouth. Twilight looked like she was in pain, but I knew that she knew the cost. I continued, and as a minute passed, I noticed that my hunger subsided a bit. Already, Twilight's legs were getting weak, so I made a mental note to stop after two minutes had passed.
It almost felt good... taking love from ponies like this. I didn't want to stop, but I would hate to continue for much longer. I didn't even like the idea of taking love, but I knew I had to survive for just a bit longer. I noticed that Twilight began to sink into the floor. She looked like she was drained... exhausted... it hadn't even been two minutes yet, but I didn't want to continue anymore. I pulled back, and forced my mouth shut. The rage that took over dissipated, leaving behind some residual rage. I stared at Twilight, who was breathing slowly and shakily.
I approach her swiftly and place a hoof over her. "Oh my gosh, are you alright?"
She stayed silent to catch her breath, nodding her head.
I sighed in relief. "Good. For a moment there, I thought I nearly killed you trying to feed."
Her ears perked up at that. "... Kill?" she asked in between breathing.
"Yeah..." I respond. "Now we both know why I want to find a new food source..."
She nodded once, and we both sat still in the middle of the floor. Really there was no conversation to be had as we were relaxing and Twilight was catching her breath. I could only hold her and comfort her for a while.
After several minutes, she finally spoke. "What was the last thing you remember?"
"Hmm?" I turned my head to see Twilight staring at the bookshelf, lost in thought.
"It's just... you don't remember anything, so I'm curious to know..." She pulled away from my hoof and turned to face me. "... what happened before you woke up?"
I stared at Twilight, who was looking at me and listening intently. I chuckled at the sight. "Well, it's a bit of a long story... I already told you that I was drunk when I woke up."
She looked at me in confusion. "Drunk...? What does that mean?"
"Simplest term would be 'disoriented'," I responded.
She tilted her head in confusion. "Disoriented? Why would anyone ever...?"
I chuckled at that. "Y'know, that's the same question I ask myself." I sit down and lean back. "It's mostly a party thing. Me and some of my friends went to one just last night..."
Author's Note
Well, I'm updating the story as we speak. It's gonna take a while, but I have an idea in my mind that I can never really let go of.