Deus Ex: Cosplay Revolution

"P-Petina," she stutters.

I cock my head to the side. "Petina, you say?" She nods. "Well then, Petina. My next question should be simple. What are you, exactly?"

"A... A changeling."

Changeling, huh? "And what's that? What is a changeling?"

"M-My... my kind. W-we replace p-ponies a-and f-f-feed o-on-"

Oh, this was interesting. "Feed on what? Blood, life energy, souls?"

She gulps. "L-love."

All you need is love, I muse. "Love. And what were you aiming to do, breaking into this house? Replace me in my sleep and feed off my housemate's love for me? You know the relationship is strictly professional."

"I-I didn't know! I saw y-you two th-the other day a-and I th-thought that y-you'd be a-a-a-an e-easy t-target!"

"You do know I've got ties to some powerful ponies, not just the princesses and the guard. The mare you saw me with, do you know her name?"

Petina shook her head.

"Shade. Does it ring a bell?"

Another shake of the head.

Time to bluff. "Remember how I said I was tough? She could break me in half without breaking a sweat. Imagine what she could do to you, a pathetic, sorry excuse for a criminal. And guess what?"

"W-what?"

"She could do it all in the comfort and safety of her own home, because she doesn't answer to the Princesses, nor the guard or the police. What you don't know at all is the fact that I couldn't care any less about the law. We aren't individuals you want to mess with."

Another gulp. She shrinks back into her seat.

I roll my neck, feeling and hearing a satisfying pop-pop. Petina looks at me like I'd just cut my head off. "Now, tell me, how many more of there are you?"

Of course. Of course.

If this was the conspiracy that Duvet was talking about, then I'd just hit a jackpot of information. Illegally-acquired information, but it was info nonetheless. Besides, exposing a half-dozen would get the public riled up. And when the public's riled up on an issue, the police always respond.

Always.

Her... skin, chitin, whatever it was, had started to blue. The knife in her thigh was definitely taking its toll on her blood, oozing green fluid slowly spreading onto the couch. Breathing had sped up, she'd grown cold, and once or twice she'd even lost consciousness. Her answers had grown dull, slowed, and she was a lot less... responsive. Didn't help I'd kept her leg down, letting the blood flow unimpeded.

"Lay down," I grunt.

A second, and she flinches, before laying down real slow. "W-why."

"You'll see in a moment."

I take my button-up off, tearing off the sleeves. I hand the bloodied piece of cloth to Petina.

"Bite down on this. What I'm about to do is gonna hurt like the dickens but it'll save your life."

She nods, shakily as it is, slowly folding the cloth and biting down as hard as she can.

Soon as I see that, I grab her leg with the knife in it, lift it up, and elevate the wound. She's screaming into the shirt, hands digging into the bloodstained couch, but the bleeding slows down. After that, it's simple business putting a tourniquet on. I'd gotten her in the lower thigh, nowhere near a major blood vessel, and the knife wasn't that sharp either.

The bleeding stops soon after. She's breathing even faster now, skin still cold, lips starting to turn blue... eyes vacant...

Ah shit.

"Canterlot Police Department. Do you have an emergency?"

"Yes."

"What is your emergency, sir?"

"A mare broke into my house. I've subdued her but in doing so she's gone into shock."

"Where is your emergency?"

"Uh... 2084 Holly Lane. Just south of the intersection"

"Alright, sir, can you tell us your name?"

"William Darrell Mays."

"Alright, Mister Mays. Police are responding and should be there within three minutes. What are yours and the mare's condition?"

"She's-She's in, uh, she's in shock. Clammy skin, blue lips, not responding. I've got a tourniquet near the wound but she's been bleeding for the past minute now. I'm fine, bruising at most, but I've got some knackered ribs and a nasty cut on my arm that reopened."

"Sir, what did you do to cause her to bleed out?"

"Uh, she broke in. Don't know how but she turned off the lights. I grabbed a bread knife cause I was in the kitchen, eating, and when she came down I got her on the floor and, uh, put it through her thigh."

"Mister Mays, police and medical personnel are on the way. May I ask you a couple questions, in the meantime?"

"Sure."

"What does the mare look like?"

"Uh... She's young, real young. In her teens, I think. Got a weird condition, though. Makes her look like... like a bug."

"Like a bug? Can you explain further, sir?"

"Yeah, yeah- she's not got, uh, a, uh, coat, and her skin feels like the outside of an insect. Got bug eyes, and weird fangs. Wings and a horn, both, but I don't think she can use the wings."

"Alright. Police should be arriving soon. "

"Yeah, I can hear them."

An hour later, I was sitting in the police precinct. The paramedics had taken Petina to the hospital, not questioning the fact that she was obviously not a pony. Nor was I, for that matter.

Guess they didn't do racial profiling here.

Right now? I was sitting outside an office, waiting for Shade to get here. No doubt she'd heard of it, probably through some channel of information. Honestly, I half expected someone to roll in and say 'you did something illegal' and lock me up.

But, seeing as I'd already told them everything they needed or wanted to know.

Now I just needed to wait.