The Gateway

Waking up, I'm met with a blinding ray of golden sunlight. Huh, Why am I not in the tent? Feeling a familiar ground under me, and seeing the dead ashes of a campfire in front of me, I realize I must have fell asleep by the fire. Odd, I usually haven't lost myself like that in a while. Looking up at the cloudless sky, the sun is just peeking over the horizon, bathing the land in a rich purple and Crimson, and conveniently positioned to shine right in my face.

Standing up to my hooves, I set up to prepare breakfast. While waiting for my food to cook, I realize something. If I'm a changeling now, why haven't I eaten any emotions? Surely I would have noticed something. Deciding to ask the Overmind about this later, I get back to preparing my food.

Half an hour later, I was cleaning up my campsite, when I heard a familiar voice.

Greetings Hunter. I see that you were successful in obtaining those rocks. To be honest, I was surprised you thought of a way to bring them across. It seems I have underestimated your creativity, and for that I am sorry. Other than that, I think it's time you start working on your flight and magic. You can hardly be a changeling if you can only use your hooves, now can you? Trust me on this though, it will be much different than learning to walk, as it will be a new experience. You won't be able to do much with flight before you spend some time getting used to your new muscles and exercising them, so while we strengthen your flight muscles, we will work on your connection with magic. Once that connection is established, I will teach you how to shape your magic into spells, and how to shape shift, as your ability to do so is directly tied to your magic reserve.

First however, you must learn how to use your feeding. Feeding will grant you the energy to make more magical energy to store in your reserve, which will allow you to use all your abilities that come with it. Without a source of emotion to feed on, you will not be able to use any of your abilities except your wings. Another thing is that since your digestive system cant get enough energy out of the food you can eat to maintain your body, some of that magical power will also be converted to energy your body can use.

Ok, one problem; there isn't a single person here besides me. Feeding directly implies I am taking away the energy of other creatures.

I am not sure if I should be offended by your comment. Unless you haven't noticed, I'm here, and while I don't have a real form, I still have thoughts, and therefore, emotion. I'm powerful enough that all you need will be it to survive, although you will need to feed off more people when you actually arrive in Equestria.

Now, the act of feeding is relatively simple. It is more of an instinctual thing than a conscious effort like magic, and after your first time, you will also be able to tell the emotions radiating off others, and be able to distinguish them eventually. This will be difficult for the first time, but it should be easy after you know how. Now, how to feed.

If you pay close enough attention, you should be able to feel parts of you where the energy is flowing through your mouth, horn, and eventually your stomach and digestive system where your magic storage and shapeshifting are located. Once you find that, I want you to practice moving the energy from your horn back into your magical storage and back again until you get the hang of it. Once you are able to do that, I will show you how to feed off of the emotions of others. It should be easy once you locate the flow of magic inside you. Try it now, and take your time. There is no rush here.

Ok, energy flow. What exactly would it feel like?

The feeling is indescribable. The best I could say is that it would feel a slight bit like hunger and energy at the same time, more hunger depending on the current energy level. Look inside yourself, and it will be clear.

I'll try, but don't get your hopes up.

Moving over to an empty part of the clearing, I sat down on all my hooves and tried finding the energy flow. Not sure what to expect, I sat until all that existed was me. The only sound was my faint breathing, the only touch the cool grass under my hooves, the only feeling the thumping of my heart and... hunger? Paying closer attention to that, I focused on it, trying to find where it was coming from, until all that there was was a slight nagging feeling of hunger and energy, of shifting currents, of a flow so silent and indistinguishable from the rest of my body I never realized it was there until now. Trying to track the movements of energy, I watched and yet didn't watch it go back and forth, from up to down, left to right, following a sloping diagonal curve from a major source, to a point where it spilt off into two smaller currents. Willing it to move out of my magical storage, I watched it move up and up, slowly, until I managed to move the tiniest sliver to the very top, barely a fraction of the massive pool of energy, before the pressure became to much to bear, and the connection crumbled like dust in the wind.

Blinking darkness and the lingering traces of unseeable things from my eyes, I did not wake up to the sunrise as I expected to, nor did I wake up to the sun shining brightly in the sky. I didn't even wake up to the sun dropping over the other horizon. Instead, I woke up to a beatiful night sky, where the stars shone brightly, and the moon gave off a pale light, bathing the land in liquid silver. Even odder, I felt a faint lingering sensation in my skull, a headache so faint it was barely noticeable. Did I really spend over 12 hours finding that connection?

Suddenly, I'm washed over by a feeling of tiredness both familiar and unfamiliar. All I could hear before my world went black was the faintest sound of a lullaby I didn't understand yet was comforting all the same.

Good night, Hunter.