Author's Note

So turns out I didn't have as much time as I thought.

I'll be making more with more content.

If you've come back to this story and seeing no new chapters, but still pings, that's because I'm working on the story again. I've fixed a few things in the chapter as well as just making it more coherent to the characters.

(old) Getting a grasp

A black and green mass lay on a small patch of muddy ground. A small number of snowflakes fall upon the mass, and if one were to look closely, they would see that the mass was shivering. Around this creature, the grass was pushed into the dirt. No longer edible to those growing few who would stoop low enough to actually eat grass. Around the creature on the ground, the scene was serene. No wind, no swaying of the trees. Just the calm snowflakes building a small blanket on the creature.

Thump

Immediately after the sound, her head shot up and her body crouched to either pounce or run. Her eyes scanned in front of her while her ears swivelled all around in a frenzy, trying to identify where the sound came from. She berated herself for falling asleep in such a terrible position. She could be ambushed from behind... Slowly she turned around, only to see orange. Her head tilted slightly, obviously confused. Then she looked up, not quite knowing what she would see. Still not fully awake yet, she was utterly confused. When she saw a pair of blue eyes, she froze.

She stared at the two splotches of blue. The two tilted to the side, and she slowly followed the tilt. Then the other way.

Thump

That broke the cobwebs off her brain. The stallion moved one of his forehooves back into position as the mare backed up frantically. She briefly looked down on herself and froze. She was shaking, but it wasn't because of the cold. She didn't have a disguise on. She was going to be killed if she couldn't run away. And with how big this stallion was, she doubted she could even do that, especially in her withered state.

As her mind was coming back together to focus on running, she noticed with surprise the stallion had no major reaction. He just stood there, staring. He wasn't giving off any aggressive emotions. Only a mix of curiosity, cautiousness, and a slight bit of annoyance. He hadn't said anything either. Normally they would chase her while screaming. For now, she was glad she didn't have to run. She was too weak to be able to run any useful distance. However, it was very weird that the stallion hadn't even moved other than to stomp once to snap her back to reality. Inspecting a little further, his legs were shaking. It was almost as if he too young to even stand properly, but that theory was thrown away almost immediately. She could easily see the muscles under his coat.

While staring, she noted that she was no longer on the brink of starving to death, but still hungry beyond measure. She could have drained him dry. But she didn't have the energy at the time. She got less food than she would from a harvest. 'Why shouldn't I?' She couldn't bring herself to think about the prospect of restraining and draining him of emotion. Something was different, but she just couldn't place it. Other than the strangeness of the stallion in front of her. She had been alone for a long time. Maybe she had a misled hope of that changing? Based on the lack of aggressive reaction, maybe it wasn't a mistake. Just a botched success. Cautiously, she took a step forward, then two, then three.

A double-toned "Who are you?" broke the silence. The stallion's head flinched back with shock written over his face leaving a huge burst of surprise curiosity and surprise in the air. Still, she stared, and after a moment of no more response, the stallion slowly put a hoof to his neck. Confused, the mare tilted her head slightly. Once again, he put his hoof to his throat, but this time shook his head left and right slowly. Staring back at her, she was left with one idea.

"A-are you mute?" She sputtered out slowly. In result, the stallion slowly nodded with a wave of sadness. 'Not many become mute and of those who do, they tend to die quickly.' On the stallion's neck was a long and deep scar that aroused awe simply at how one could survive that kind severe of an injury. "Do you know what I am?" came out of her mouth in a hopeful tone.
A simple and short shake of the head. Her eyebrows shot up. Most groups knew of changelings at this point, actively trying to force them out of their camps with even the slightest of suspicions, and that was if they were merciful.

The much smaller mare walked forward a few paces, closing most of the distance between them. He attempted to match her movement but stumbled and fell onto his face with a painful-sounding thump. Not expecting that, a small grin split her face as a short giggle came from her. The stallion snorted loudly in light annoyance, face still in the ground. She idly noted that there were a few more large head-shaped dimples in the ground. More giggles flowed from her followed by a muffled snort. Time stretched onto the stage of awkwardness with no movement from his prone form.

"D-do you need help?" Once again, a short snort with a slight nod was the response. She moved closer to help the large stallion to his hooves.