I hunted my prey— friend, I mean, in the ways of old.
Skirting from bush to bush as a squirrel, I stalked the orange filly with a mane the same delicious fuschia of the Hearth’s Warming Fire.
My fur was silky smooth – the perfect texture for cuddling anypony – and my tail was extra large from sheer fluffiness. I was cute enough to give anypony else a heart attack, but my prey had proven herself to be made of sterner stuff time and time again.
Today, however, I would prove victorious!
She continued deeper into Whitetail Woods, humming to herself. Occasionally, she would buzz her wings with a quickness beyond any pegasus I had seen and dash forward with a burst of speed. I had to scramble in those moments to keep up with her, but I was determined to catch her today.
She glanced around every now and then, but I made sure to act natural whenever her gaze came across me. Looking for nuts. Handling nuts. Eating nuts. There was certainly no reason for her to suspect I’d soon be eating her.
Finally, she rounded a corner of the path to what I knew to be a relaxing little glade that was perfect for resting mid-hike. It was the ideal spot to make my move, so I rounded the trees with a burst of speed, and—
“Sup, Tibia?” Scoots wasn’t even looking towards me as she pulled an energy bar from her saddle bags. Her ears just flicked and she knew; she always knew.
“Wha— Huh? How could you tell it was me?!” I pouted as I burst from my perfectly crafted squirrel guise.
I’d been secretly practicing for days, too….
She snorted and the sweet taste of cotton candy wafted through the air. “The same squirrel following me my entire hike through the woods? What was I supposed to think?”
“They could have been different squirrels, though!” My wings chirped discordantly as I gave a high pitched whistling whine. “How did you know?! You always know when it’s me!”
She smirked, the taste of sugar in the air growing stronger. “You try way too hard when it comes to handling nuts.”
“Hssss!” I stomped my hooves. “One of these days I’ll get you! Mark my words: you shall be snuggled! Ceaselessly.”
Scootaloo snorted again. “Yeah, no. Just because everypony else is going cuddle crazy doesn’t mean I will. You’re better off just going to one of Pinkie’s patent-pending snuggle siestas.”
She narrowed her gaze at me. “I thought I made it clear to you that I don’t do sappy stuff. I’m too cool for cuddles.”
“King Thorax’s Cuddlebug Initiative!” I chirped back dutifully. “Section three, subsection c, paragraph two, the Rainbow Dash clause: nopony is too cool for cuddling.”
“Well, I am!” Scootaloo huffed, angrily taking a bite of her energy bar and sitting down on her haunches. “And so is Rainbow Dash!” She crossed her forelegs and frowned at me.
“Really?” I grinned. “Then how do you explain Rainbow Dash showing up at most of Pinkie’s snuggle siestas?”
Scoots glared for a few moments, taking another violent bite of her snack. “It could be a changeling….”
Now it was my turn to frown. “That’s rude and you know it.”
Scoots rolled her eyes. “So is pestering me for snuggles. Don’t you get that no means no?”
“Of course!” I smiled. “That’s why I didn’t jump you the minute you saw through my disguise! You still haven’t answered my question on Rainbow Dash, though.”
“Maybe she just likes the excuse to nap! I don’t know!” Scoots threw her hooves up in the air. “It doesn’t need to be about the snuggling! Why can’t you just let it go?!”
“Because you look like you need a proper snuggle.” I shrugged.
She also looked delicious, but King Thorax said ponies didn’t like to hear that until they were older for some reason. No idea why. I took great pride in the fact that my brood siblings all thought I was the tastiest of us.
“Grrrglmrglmfff!” My stomach decided to signal that far too much time had passed since breakfast.
Scootaloo arched an eyebrow at me before digging in her bag to toss me another energy bar. “Here. I’ve got a spare today. Don’t expect anything more, though.”
The hollow feeling in my heart spiked momentarily at the spicy sensation of Scoot’s annoyance, painfully reminding me of the party I was missing. The sting of my failure was starting to become far too apparent, and I couldn’t help but sniffle.
“Oh, no. None of that.” Scoots snorted, standing up to stretch. “You should have known better before you chased after me. Now, are you going to finish my jog with me, or are you going to just sit here and cry?”
“Maybe I should have known better…” I muttered to myself before standing to likewise stretch. My many plates cracked and popped as I bent and twisted, and I hissed at the sensation.
“You alright?” Scoots looked up at me with a frown.
“Yeah…” I sighed. “I’ve just never been something that small for that long.”
“Does it take more magic or something?” Her wings buzzed impatiently. “I… I guess I can wait a while if you need more rest.”
“No, it just—” I stopped as a wonderfully evil idea hit me. I would have cackled like Queen Chrysalis if I could have. It was just that good.
“I mean, yes!” I stumbled slightly for added effect, making it look like I’d started in denial. “Yes, it does and I need a bit of you know what to get me back to town!”
Scootaloo squinted at me. “Yeah… you know, for a changeling, your acting skills are really bad….”
I pouted. “It’s not my fault! King Thorax got rid of all the acting classes! He doesn’t want us replacing ponies.”
She snorted before turning to canter down the path. “That doesn’t stop the other nymphs, now come on! We’re wasting time!”
I had to gallop after her to keep up, and was soon gasping for breath. It was so tempting to just fly, but I held back as much as I could. I knew Scoots would better appreciate the effort if I stuck to running. I only broke into flight when she buzzed her wings to dash ahead of me, and even then I kept low to the ground, following her closely.
Then she decided to break into a gallop, and I had no choice but to fly.
“Catch me if you can!” She gave a mocking laugh and burst even farther ahead with a buzz of her wings. All I had to go on was the trail of dust she left behind and the sound of her giggling.
We went deeper into the forest for about half an hour before she turned around so suddenly I almost crashed into her. Another half an hour back, and she finally stopped for another rest. While she settled down on her haunches, I stumbled into the clearing and collapsed onto the ground with a wheezy whistle.
“Not so easy to catch me when I really get going, is it?” She grinned.
I managed a feeble shake of my head before having to drop it to the ground again. My heart was so empty that my entire body felt numb, and the edge of my vision had gone dark.
“Hey… are you alright?” Scootaloo shuffled from hoof to hoof. “I tried not to go too fast for you.”
“Need—” I gave a raspy, wracking cough that sounded like somepony kicked a hornet’s nest, “—food.”
“Well, grab an energy bar then! You’re kind of freaking me out!” She tossed her bags at me, wings buzzing.
“Need—” another cough, “—love.”
“Oh, geeze… you’re not acting, ether….” She looked about, hopping from hoof to hoof. “Can you wait for me to go grab somepony?”
I groaned. Why did I ever think skipping the snuggle siesta for this was a good idea? Scootaloo wouldn’t even snuggle if my life—
A tiny wing struggled to wrap its way around me in a hug as a warm body pressed against me. The taste of metal, rainbows and honey flooded my heart, and Scoots glared at me as I raised my head to look at her.
“Not. One. Word.”
I blinked, soaking in the delicious honey and letting fill the hole in my heart. She was just as sweet as I imagined – like honey buns spun from hopes and dreams. Her friendship was so light and fluffy and pure that it mixed with the sharp, metal tang of her resolve and the spicy flare of her annoyance to make an indescribably unique taste.
“Mmm…” I drooled a little, and she slugged me.
“None of that either!” she squawked. “This is bad enough as it is.”
I licked my chops clean and looked at her. “Thank—”
“Not. One. Word.” Her glare deepened, and the spicy undertones to her feelings strengthened. “This never happened, neither of us is going to ever speak of it again, and if you ever do bring it up, I will deny everything.”
Alright, then. No talking. That didn’t mean no thanking her.
I thrummed from deep in my chest, pushing my head into the crook of her neck. It was hard to properly chirp as I leaned into her side, but I managed to make a few – my right wing scraping my side.
“Tibia, stop….” Scootaloo blushed and her emotions took on a rubbery texture. “You’re making this really weird….”
I thrummed even louder, chittering as I tried to snuggle up even closer. Scoots wiggled slightly away and I wriggled even closer than before – only for her to wiggle away again. We kept up at this for a good five minutes, scooting all over the clearing. My chittering became outright laughter, and soon even Scootaloo was giggling as our little game continued. The taste of rubber and rainbows faded to be replaced with cotton candy, and the tension eased out of her muscles.
Eventually, we flopped over on our sides, panting from all the laughter.
“Feel. Better?” Scoots gasped for breath.
“I could run a marathon.” I gave a wheezy whistle. “After I catch my breath, that is. You have fun?”
The flavor of rainbows quickly returned as Scoots realized what she’d been doing. “Yes…” she mumbled, looking down at the ground. “But it doesn’t mean anything!” Her wings buzzed as she glared at me, daring me to say otherwise.”
“Of course, it doesn’t.” I smiled. “Nopony is too cool for snuggling!”
Scoots frowned. “Yeah, yeah. Just don’t go spreading it around if you want seconds.”
“You want to do it again sometime?!” I gave a high pitched, whistling whir, and chirped a few times for good measure.
“If you keep quiet, then sure.” Scoots shrugged. “It was… fun….”
I was so ecstatic from that I even managed to beat her in the race back to town.
Soon…. Soon, I would experience Snuggaloo Two—Electric Bugguloo.
Author's Note
So, yeah... Simple. Short. Cuddly. Weird to be using the reformed changelings, though.
