Forbidden Jungle, a little earlier tonight.

Night has long enveloped the land. The runaway changeling was having her peaceful sleep. Events of the past day were too stressful and bizarre for her, but she was still happy with how things ended up. Something disturbed her in the middle of the night, so she woke up.

I was slowly waking up from my deep sleep. Perhaps it was the most peaceful sleep I had during the last week, or maybe two. I slowly opened my eyes and made several deep breaths. Soft moonlight coming from the square window in the ceiling created a slightly visible silver column in the dusty air of the room. The air itself was still warm, like always in this jungle.

Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I felt myself better than now, albeit I’m a little thirsty and tired of all my misfortune-filled adventures in the jungle I had for the last few days. The grip of my sleepiness receded, and I had a look around the room. My changeling sight allowed me to see clearly, even with the minimal lighting. The air of this ancient abode smelled of stone dust and moss. Nothing has changed during the night; a rotten box in the corner had a few helmets filled with clean water placed inside. “Well, it’s better than nothing!” I wanted to use telekinesis to take one out of the box, but remembering my appalling control of this magic, I’ve changed my mind. I need to get up.

“Ray…” I just realized my back was tightly pressed against his side. He is sleeping soundly, his breathing even and emotions tranquil. I smiled and my cheeks became hot. Some strange thoughts appeared in my mind. “Oh… am I blushing? Why is that?” I touched my blushing cheek with my right hoof. “I’m a changeling and changelings often do lewd things with other species, much less have some skinship. Well, not my hive. My hive? Wait! The connection was severed! My connection to the hive mind was severed somehow, without me knowing! But how is that possible?” I’m flustered, but happy at the same time after realizing this incredible fact! I slipped to the edge of the bed, trying not to disturb Ray.

“I’ve tried so many times to do that, but failed every single time. Now, they won’t be looking for me through the jungle. I’m no longer one of them, and from now on, they will see me as a stranger, a competitor and even a traitor, so walking around the territory of the hive is out of question, not that I’m planning to. On the other side, I can say goodbye to the hive memories, but over the years I’ve already learned a bigger part of those which were allowed for true changelings. Considering I’m just a drone, this is quite an achievement, I think, but if not for the queen’s will, suppressing me, and my malnourished state, I’d have long become a true changeling!” I was still lying on the bed thinking about these strange happenings.

I carefully got up from this makeshift bed. It was crudely made, but still offered a decent level of comfort, for me at least. My hooves touched a cool and coarse surface of the stone slabs of the floor. Having sated my thirst, my body reminded me of my other needs… but this room had no door. How did we get here? There was only a square-cut window in the ceiling. “I know my wings are too damaged to get there, but maybe… if I get on this platform in the middle and help myself a bit with telekinesis…” I jumped on the platform rather easily, now I was basking in a moonlight coming through the window above me. “I might look quite mysterious now from outside, if not for the poor state of my body… Was I always a good jumper? Hardly so… Maybe my evening meal of those concentrated emotions strengthened me?”

I flapped my wings carefully to produce less buzz and directed my stored power of emotions, now unusually potent, into my horn. To my surprise, I’ve seen a rather bright deep blue light coming from my horn, instead of dim blue flickering I’m used to. I raised my sight upwards only to see something like a deep blue flame swaying around my horn. “What? Just what is it?”

I long stopped flapping my wings and was staring at my horn in disbelief for several minutes straight already. It seems my horn was restored to some extent; its form is no longer so warped and its ability to manipulate magic and conduct emotions is on the other level completely now. I felt immense joy at this moment, but was abruptly reminded by my body that it’s time to get out. After a long time I spent being unconscious and sleeping, it was getting very uncomfortable! I’ve started flapping with my wings again, carefully enveloped myself with telekinetic aura, jumped and…

I barely held my scream as I was thrown upward into the air through the ceiling window. I landed clumsily on the roof with my front hooves spread apart, my flanks raised up, and I almost hit my chin on the stone roof. “That was… unexpected.” I sighed and got up. I looked around from my vantage point. This building appeared to be built on top of the hill, devoid of trees in the close vicinity. Endless dark jungle surrounded the location of this old structure and only a lake nearby, shimmering in the moonlight, brought in some diversity to the surrounding landscape. The stars above my head were mesmerizing, you can rarely see them while living inside the hive and under a dense vegetation of a tropical forest.

I turned my head back and carefully examined my wings. No less than half of the holes disappeared and their surface was even and glossy. “No way! That’s a miracle! No amount of emotions could restore my wings to this extent, not in a few hours’ time!” My legs and hooves somewhat improved too. I’ll need to think about it later. I can’t clearly understand the reason behind my rapid recovery. I carefully tried to use my renewed wings, and after some time I could hover around the place, albeit slowly. That will suffice.

Having done my business outside, I’ve returned to the building’s roof. Deep in my thoughts, I was staring at the rolling waves of the lake shimmering in the soft moonlight. “My whole life made a sharp turn today, and now, all the bridges behind me are burned to ashes, leaving nothing of my old life but memories. But I have no regrets. I regret nothing at all. I’m happy to leave that parody of life behind and trade it for this adventurous and dangerous uncertainty.” The feeling of relief was the most prominent of the complicated emotions I was experiencing now. I stood at the edge of the roof, a light breeze was caressing my face, my tail fin slightly waved as breeze flowed past me.

“What will I do now? Where shall I go? I need to get out of this jungle first. But among this uncertainty, there is someone I can rely on, at least for now. Ray! He wants to get out too, and I will help him. I must help him! He saved my life, after all! Oh… my thoughts are just so not changeling-like, but why should I care? Now I’m on my own and nobody orders me what to think and what to do!” I was a little discontent with myself for having such thoughts. The principles of my hive should not affect my judgement, they’ll stay in my past, forever. “I will forge my way ahead by my will, not by my instincts, but I will not throw them away, for they are useful at times.” I sat down at the edge of the roof, calmly observing the ever waving surface of the lake, thinking about my situation.

My thoughts returned to Ray.“Will we part ways afterwards? I don’t want us to separate, but I don’t yet understand exactly why. Of course, I want to keep my food source around, as my changeling instincts tell me, but this is not the only cause. I know myself too well; I was fighting those instincts for too long already to know what’s what, to know for sure how much those affect my thinking and decisions.” That’s so confusing, but does it matter if it is what I want?

My sleepiness returned to me slowly as time passed, so I’ve hovered back into the room. My actions did not disturb Ray, still sound asleep. He must be tired after that crazy day. I lay beside him carefully and closed my eyes. The bed made a few creaking noises as I did so. I was listening to Ray’s emotions, as changelings often do, while I tried to fall asleep. Suddenly, I felt something through my drowsiness. Ray’s emotions were fluctuating and changing rapidly, and those were not the emotions I like! Fear, aggression and then, finally, despair has emerged. “Is he having a nightmare? I should wake him up right now!” I abruptly rose to my hooves. His body twitched slightly, and I could see a frown on his face.

I was already pressing my hoof on his shoulder when his whole body flashed with a green light, slightly illuminating a room for a moment, and then soft yellow waves rolled across his whole body. His expression turned serene gradually. His nightmare seems to have ended. I tried touching one of those waves, which moved up my hoof and spread across my body, too. They left a pleasant and refreshing sensation after seeping inside my body. At least it felt like that. “Is this his magic? I never thought the magic could be so pleasurable.” My limited knowledge and lack of experience of life outside the jungle did not allow me to understand what it was, but I was curious about it.

Ray’s emotions finally came back, those which I like. Seems he’s having a pleasant dream now. My body began to absorb these emotions unconsciously again. I was feeling dizzy from my tired state and the amount of yummy emotions I was receiving after a long period of starvation. “Do ponies call this state… drunk? Ha-ha! Maybe! I’ve never tried real alcohol, but experienced changelings say it is similar, to some extent, especially if you were hungry for emotions for a long time. The more you get, the more will the effect be, but no changeling will ever refuse a wonderful feast of emotions!”

Powerful emotions clouded my sleepy mind even more now, as I pressed my body against Ray’s, this time hugging him from the side. Yellow waves made this even more pleasurable! “M-m-m!” I gave out a quiet purr. “Whoops! What am I doing? I need to stay quiet.” I was lying like that for some time, but despite my drowsiness, I could not fall to sleep completely. Ray’s emotions and magic continued to pour into me. I listened to my surroundings, a quiet sound of the wind and occasional cries of night birds were coming from the outside. I could hear Ray’s steady breathing, his heartbeat and my own, too. Constant inflow of Ray’s emotions and his magic compelled me to move even closer to him.

I must have finally lost my mind, as I quietly got up and shamelessly lay on top of Ray’s chest. He did not wake up from my brazen actions, surprisingly. My hooves were hugging his body by the sides, and now my face must have a silly smile. “But I can’t resist this temptation! This magic… my body craves it as much as it craves emotions! And his skin is soft and warm, and hairless, just like my kind! Will he become angry with me and scold me in the morning? Will he hate me for this? No, no, no, you silly drone! Ray does not hate! But I’m not getting off his chest, not now...” With this stubborn thought, induced by overflowing emotions, I’ve finally fallen asleep, lulled by the gentle yellow magic waves.

Endless grey fog was swirling around in the space with no apparent directions. There were neither top, nor bottom, nor sides. It slowly dissipated as time passed, and, gradually, my mind woke up from this weird slumber. I could detect a weak light through my closed eyelids, and there was a strange sensation coming from my chest, but I still did not want to wake up completely yet. The last day was stressful, and it’s too early to get up, anyway. A myriad of thoughts rushed through my head about my experiences of this night.

“Oh, this strange dream, which is not truly a dream, was so out of my wildest expectations… seriously!” I recollected all the details about my dream with great mental effort, without opening my eyes, afraid to forget something important, shutting out any external disturbances. “Luna! What a mysterious and pleasant girl! Ha-ha, I forgot to ask her to show her wings. Those must be gorgeous! Can she fly?” She left a strong impression on me.

I put my thoughts back in order, as I should think about another matter. Luna was obviously investigating the event of my arrival. No ordinary inhabitant of this world should be able to sense it, as I know, but she or, most likely, them, does not know what happened here exactly. Her ability to traverse dreamland tells volumes about her extraordinary person. It may not be this bad, but I am still not very excited with a possibility of meeting some group of magic scientists or local military. I want to keep my fate in my own hand, not throwing everything to chance. I should explore this world by myself, as I planned before. My unusual look will certainly draw some attention, but there must be a lot of other species with a much more intimidating appearance than mine going around. If everything goes fine, I’ll just have to keep the connection between this event and me minimal. Then I’ll have no problems keeping my origins a secret, I suppose.

Nobody here should be able to perceive or sense my “Essence of Life” with the help of magic, at least in theory. It must be completely invisible to their magic senses. The only way they can detect it is with their own eyes when my essence is active or by direct contact with it. This fact will probably lead them to a dead end or some wrong conclusions, and I’ll remain a mere passerby in this story. I can’t think of a better way, as I won’t be able to erase the traces of my presence here. The fact of me visiting this place is a given, but I better get my ass out of these ruins tomorrow at the latest. After all this ends, I’d gladly meet with her again, but I don’t know if I will ever have this chance.

“I... no. We. We’ll need to pack up some supplies. Should not be a big problem except for water. Hopefully, Blue knows a safe way out of here.” I stopped concentrating on my thoughts and memories, a good technique Falda’ar taught me, but risky, as it shuts me from outside world by a great deal.

The sun just started its rise; its rays appeared on the walls and were slowly sliding down, illuminating tiny particles of dust dancing in the air. Loud noises of jungle birds resounded from outside. “Hmm? What’s that on my forehead?” As I felt something, I opened my eyes, only to find Blue lying on my chest with her upper body. Her rear side was lying across a bed to the left. Blue laid on me on her left side, hugging my neck with her left foreleg and my head with her right, her hoof on my forehead. I didn’t feel uncomfortable from the weight of her body on my chest. “Seems my recuperation is going better than I thought. I can’t call it recuperation anymore, it’s straight strengthening now. It will be finished by the next day, I suppose.”

I took a good look at Blue. “Hah! Alright, that’s cute, even despite her appearance being a little alienish. Her pose does not look to be a comfortable one to sleep.” I smiled and carefully put her hoof down on my shoulder and stroked her neck with my free hand lightly. Her tail fin twitched a little from side to side. Her ears gradually drooped. “She definitely had a hard time in her life, and yesterday, she almost died. My twisted fate brought me to this place, and her own grim fate has changed to something better. I’ve already made something meaningful in this strange place, at least for me, and for her. Perhaps it all has happened by chance, but I’m still happy it turned out this way.”

“M-m-mh…” I heard her slight murmur.

Did I wake her up? She just buried her face deeper under my chin and continued to snooze. I got to be careful about her horn. Oh! Her rather short horn no longer looks corroded. It’s perfectly smooth and slightly bent to the back and has a simple fang-like shape. I moved my sight to her hooves. The holes there have completely disappeared, replaced by mild dents in some places. Her wings were glossy and slightly pearlescent, with almost no holes there. “That’s quite a drastic change. I’m happy she is feeling better now.”

I switched to inspecting my body. Now, it’s a fact I’ve got taller, I can judge it by comparing my size to the bed! I can feel latent strength in my relaxed body, a long forgotten feeling for me. I smiled contently at these findings. “Huh? Wait a minute! Oooh… Damn, yeah… Seems I have a minor problem. A man’s problem, a morning one. It’s better if Blue doesn’t see it. Holy crap! Then it was actually my hormones starting up, back there in the dream. That explains a lot, and now I’ll be affected by such things much more than I was before!” I moved Blue back to her place as carefully as I could. The bed creaked, and I heard Blue’s mild murmurs of disagreement, though she still kept dozing off. I turned to my right side, away from Blue, in hope of just waiting it out. I turned my attention to the ‘tent’ made of my boxers. After a brief examination, I had a mix of joy and anger in my mind.

“That old pervert! It seems it was not only my height and muscles that got bigger, hah! Perhaps I should thank him instead?” But this trail of my thoughts quickly slid down to the sad fact of total absence of women in the vicinity of this entire planet. After some time of fruitless waiting for my problem resolving itself, my thoughts inevitably shifted to the local ‘girls’. My mind started producing some improper ideas about Luna and even Blue. “Argh! Did he mess with my head too, or it’s just my recovered body and my impulsiveness forcing my mind? It can be those factors altogether. The longer I try to not think about it, the harder getting those thoughts out of my head becomes, and now my problem will not be resolved until I slip away from this room to do something else, distract myself and cool my head down.” My current state of mind and body irritated me.

A bit earlier.

I woke up from the slight movements of Ray beneath me. “Oh no! I was not controlling myself at night, and now… how will I explain being on top of him?” I had this hectic thought immediately as I remembered what I was doing at night, but what I feared did not happen. He stroked my neck gently, and I received the strongest blast of affection I’ve ever felt. It was not a simple emotion spread out around the surrounding space, not a fake affection a changeling can receive when pretending to be someone else, and not even Ray’s regular strong aura. It was genuine affection and sympathy, directed at me, at me in my true form, and it was coming from Ray with his insane emotional power. I was shocked for a moment.

“Is this for real? Someone actually can have those feelings toward a changeling? I know it’s not love, of course, the most desired emotion of other hives, but I’ve never tasted it, anyway.” A drop of tears appeared in the corners of my eyes. I just buried my face under his chin and stayed still, flooded by my own emotions inside and a sheer torrent of them outside.

I was no longer feeling intoxicated in the presence of his aura now, but I was not prepared for this! My dizzy state returned, and I just continued to lie there. Suddenly, he carefully moved me down back onto the bed and turned away from me. His emotions had strange fluctuations I could not discern clearly, and as I was trying to understand what was happening with Ray, it happened! A thin, but so desirable streak of my favorite emotion reached my senses. This thin stream of a certain emotion gradually intensified, getting me high again. My eyelids became half-closed, and I breathed deeply, trying to absorb every smallest bit of it.

“Lust! This is lust! My most beloved food I was so rarely able to find!” My already shaky mind was instantly overloaded! It just happened that this kind of emotion was most beneficial for me across the entire spectrum of them! After a short while, I breathing grew heavy, and my changeling instincts kicked in as my self-control weakened. I moved closer to Ray and hugged him with my hooves. My ears were twitching on their own from time to time, as well as my tail fin was wagging with no control.

“Blue?” he asked with his head still turned away.

“Yes-s-s?” I replied with a hiss, typical of changelings.

“Blue, we know each other for less than a day. Do you think it’s fine to hug me in bed like that?” he asked again without looking at me.

“M-m-m…” I purred with a slight chirring noise, “Yes!” My voice was funny. I pressed my muzzle to the back of his head, greedily inhaling his scent while trying not to scratch him with my horn. The flow of emotions intensified, making me thrilled.

“Oh, damn it! That’s too cute, but what’s with her voice? It sounds really strange and exotic with all that hissing and chirring parts. Why do I find this manner of her speech alluring? And her behavior is strange, too.”

“Well, I don’t mind, but is everything alright, Blue? You sound strange.” She was puffing and panting to the back of my head rather heavily. “Blue?” I asked in concern, turning my head to look at her.

She giggled in a silly manner and finally answered in a strange manner. Her speech was rather slow and with a lot of hissing and chirring sounds when she spelled hissing consonants, and she stretched some vowels, with alluring intonations. It sounded really exotic and enticing.

“Everything is fine, Ray! Everything is fine. I think I’m a little too full of emotions. You gave me so much of them. Especially the last ones.” She told the last word in a whisper, leaning closer to my ear. “The tastiest ones.” I felt her tongue lick the edge of my ear lightly.

It dawned on me it must be the effect of overeating of emotions. Her legs embraced me even tighter, and her hind leg slid between mine for a moment, causing me to flinch. “Damn! It’s only worsening my situation!”

“Oh, yes! So tasty!” I heard her raspy voice.

I have got some ideas about which emotion she just mentioned. “She gets very assertive in this weird state! She was quite shy yesterday.” Suddenly, I felt something wet and sticky on my neck. “This… will drive me crazy soon...” I had no time to finish my thought. Her long and agile tongue slowly glided up my neck to my chin, leaving behind a glistening trail, eventually reaching my left cheek. She unhurriedly ran her long forked tongue across my cheek before pulling her head back, looking me in the eye. It felt like a bomb exploded inside my head, but she had obviously lost control in her abnormal state.

“Ahem, alright Blue! I understand you like me, but is it necessary to lick my neck now?” I could not restrain my chuckle as I smiled at her. Her actions were quite pleasant to me, honestly, but I had to calm her down somehow and get her into a more sober state. Her face suddenly closed in to mine.

“Yes! Because you are tasty!” She giggled again.

Her answer did not leave any possibility of arguing. I noticed her gaze slowly trailed to my ‘tent’, her half-closed eyes now wide open. Great, just great! Now I’m having a real catastrophe down there and why must she say such things with this voice? My willpower is not infinite! Well, fuck it! After all, I’m not a kid to be too embarrassed by such situations. It’s time for us to take a break, lest we’ll melt each other’s brains, and mine is almost a wreck already. Hers should be no better, albeit for different reasons. I got up from the bed, took a deep breath, then turned my head to Blue.

“Blue, you are a lovely girl, really.” I had to calm her down somehow, but it felt wrong to me to leave her alone at the same time. “You are in a strange state, and I am the reason for that.” I crouched before her and stroked her cheek gently. Her breathing was still uneven, her eyes were looking at me. “Sorry, but for now, it will be for the best if I leave you for some time, so we both can calm down. I’ll be waiting for you outside at the lake. Come when you get better. I’ll leave the doors open.” She just nodded, and I stroked her neck softly before getting up.

I left the room unhurriedly. Stale, dusty and cool air of the dim hallway brushed against my skin, which was a little humid from my unstable emotions, slowly cooling my mind down. I seemed calm from the outside, but I was a freaking cauldron of boiling emotions inside. That’s not how I usually behave. I have changed. Where is my cold logic? Yes, the logic is still there, but now it is eclipsed by my flaming emotions. Well, I guess it’s what ‘Life’ means, being alive, following your passion and desires. It took me a great effort to leave her there alone, but it had to be done.

Walking down the hill under the unforgiving tropical sun, looking at the surrounding green landscape, I sighed deeply, “I’m not ready to do this with another species…” I spoke to myself in a confused state, “yet,” I added to my thoughts. “She wasn’t in her right mind this time. Her hunger may have compelled her to do this; I doubt she can have some sort of romantic interest towards me. But, theoretically, what if she’ll do something like that being in a clear mind? Will I resist? Will I be able to resist? Or, rather, whether should I even try to resist it at all? Yes, that’s the right question! And I already guess what the answer is…” I finally reached the lake. “Bah! That’s complicated!” After mulling over these silly ideas, I decided to get this matter out of my head for a while and just enjoy the cool, clean water of the lake. I’ve fixed my bloodstained clothes with a stone under the water so the blood will get soaked and partially dissolved, and after some time and then gone swimming in the lake. It should clear my head.

“Eh… I’m thirsty and I’m not keen to go back or walk to the stream. Whatever, I can no longer get ill from mere muddy water anymore, and this lake is almost crystal clear!” So, I just went to the part of the lake with the sandy bottom and sated my thirst right there, washed up my face and rinsed my mouth. The water of the lake was refreshingly cool, just what I need now. I started with my clothes first.

I’ve gathered some dry grass to use it as a brush replacement. After some physical efforts, I washed the blood off, mostly. There will be stains left on my jeans, though. As the color was rather dark, those traces of blood will not stand out too much, but the rips are too conspicuous. I shook my head in dejection, looking at the state of my clothes. I need to get to civilization! This thought was a bit frightening, but I had no choice. It was fine with Blue, but not with other changelings. Luna, as a member of pony-folk, seemed benevolent, but I can’t tell for sure how other ponies will react to me.

The sun was already high on the rise, gifting the land with incinerating heat. Yes, that heat. I can feel it in the air. With such a high rise in temperature, the weather can turn into a tropical storm any hour now. If not for these rainstorms, this region would long have become a desert, that’s a guarantee.

I jumped into the lake from the boulder and started swimming towards the center. I’ve already checked this lake for predators, and there were none. Eventually, I reached the side of the pyramid.

“Fuck!” I shouted as a sharp stone pricked my foot. “Damn rock!” I grumbled and then found myself a shade near the top of the pyramid under some sort of collapsed balcony to rest there. To rest and to think. Last time I’ve got a part of my memories back. No less than several years actually, and if my combat training is still somewhere inside of my muscular memory and habitual reflexes, then my knowledge of my ‘Life Essence’ should be revised and internalized again. I never had enough time before, but now I feel I must spend some on it, even if I’m in a hurry to leave.

I sat there and got comfortable. The breeze blowing from the lake was pleasant and cool, mild rustle of waves calmed my mind. I closed my eyes to indulge in this moment of tranquility. Only sounds of jungle disturbed this peaceful atmosphere.

Thinking about it… just how old am I now? Mentally, I mean. Time in that place could not be clearly perceived, and I haven’t slept there even once, for there was no need to sleep, since there was no need to sustain a body at all. It was just a projection. I’ve spent years without things like sleeping or eating, albeit we had different sorts of entertainment with Falda’ar to keep our minds free of stress. The multiverse sure can provide that. The actual time spent learning and training is at least twice as long compared to what a normal living human can possibly manage, but that’s just learning and conversations with Falda’ar. I didn’t gain any actual life experience there.

I looked at the lake shore, trying to see if Blue has come out, but it seems she was still inside. Maybe she needs more time to clear her mind. My thoughts returned to my time in that strange place.

I should stop blaming Falda’ar for my shift in logic and perception of different things. When you spend a lot of time with a person, you’ll inevitably adopt some of their traits, habits and ways of thinking; and my power is influencing me even more. It’s wrong to call it my ‘power’ now. It’s my nature; I’ll just die without it on the spot. I became more impulsive, despite all my ‘extra’ time of life I’ve spent there, because now, it’s in my nature and can create some problems for me, no doubt! Actually, it almost did so just now.

I started to shuffle and organize through my knowledge of ‘Life Essence’. The most basic and crude method of its application is just using it as it is, in its raw form. I can also transfer it to other living beings in the same form. It bolsters all biological processes, quickening restoration and regeneration on a cellular level, including even materialization of lacking nutrients and speeding up all processes inside the cells, but it cannot interfere or change the way the organism works. Some may call it time acceleration, but they will be wrong. Also, raw essence kills pathogenic organisms it comes in contact with, so I can cure simple infections with some effort, or even purify food and water, but the energy efficiency of this method is rather appalling. I should use specific ways of control to do things better. Expelling toxins, for example: doing it with raw essence will just dry my energy reserves, while using a proper method will require just a part and will do it faster.

However, what I need the most for now is methods of analysis. The simplest ones. I’m going to use local fruits and other plant food around these parts, and I need to know if those are edible. Well, I’ll have to taste them once to know for sure. While I might be able to deal with poison, I have no desire to experience all the spectrum of suffering from it and then spend my energy to neutralise it

What else? Yeah, simple diagnostics via essence, then ‘life vision’. The former will guide me in finding out problematic areas of the body, and the latter will augment my sight, so I can see living tissues from inside, but I doubt I can handle it well with my current strength. “Heh, am I turning into a doctor? But this can’t be helped; it’s the most basic part of my nature. Well, it might cover my future living expenses, at least. Locals have a vast repertoire of healing magic too, and some of them certainly can put my meager abilities to shame if what I heard is true!” I remarked.

Time flew by. Jungle was living its own life, with occasional howls coming from the forest depths. The sun continued to incinerate the land mercilessly, evaporating even more water into the atmosphere. The waves on the surface of the lake intensified as the wind got stronger. I was immersed in my mental work for a long time already, one of my newly acquired bad habits. “How much time has elapsed and where is Blue?” As I snapped back to reality and shook my head, I checked the shore and the hill with my now almost perfect sight, but found nothing. “It was no less than an hour already since I left her. I should go back. She could not fall asleep, right? I must make sure she is alright.” I got down to the lake and sighed. “Damn! I had to check on her earlier!” I jumped into the lake again and swam back to the shore.

When I was getting out of the water, my sight caught a wavering reflection of my face. Looking more closely at it, I could not help but smile. “Good! My face is no longer looking like some old uncle!” I exclaimed to myself. “I’d say I’m quite content with my face by now! It still looks older than I used to see in the mirror, as much as I can remember, but I like it this way, too. More dignified and imposing. This kind of face may have made my life back in my old society easier.” With this irrelevant thought, I finally stepped on the sandy shore.

I put on my jeans and boots and moved back uphill. It will rain today for sure, judging by the strong winds on top of the hill. “Oh, and my hair… I’ve checked it with my ‘life essence’. It turned out to be just a trivial matter of sleeping hair follicles. I’ll stimulate those later; perhaps, doing it just for my hair, brows and eyelashes will suffice for now. At least I’ll have a look of a normal human being. As for the rest of my face, I don’t like the idea of having to shave almost every day in the jungle with no razor! Now, where is Blue?” I entered the building; the cool, albeit dusty, air seemed so pleasant in contrast with the scorching sun outside. I slowly reached the altar room’s entrance, throwing my other clothes into the box in the storage, only to stop in my tracks at the entrance to the altar room.

What I saw on the bed was an elliptical glowing pearlescent object, right where I left Blue. Blue was nowhere to be found. I slowly reached my bed with this strange object on top of it. I circled the bed several times, but have found no clues about what it may be or how it got here.

“This can’t be… Blue?” I said to myself when I felt oh so familiar energy fluctuating within this object. Yes, my own ‘Life Essence’. “There is no doubt, only she can have it inside her body, excluding me, of course.” I felt relieved at this moment, but still had some worries about her. As I no longer had any suspicions about this situation, I closed in and put my right hand on this object to check her condition. It took some time to get used to controlling my essence again, but in the end I found out that she was alright. Her body was undergoing substantial changes right at this moment. “Was it the evolution she mentioned? She had all requirements for it, except for her malnourished state, if I understood her correctly.”

I was inspecting her for quite a long time already. “Damn! She started her transformation with just her emotional deficit covered, but her body is too malnourished, she should have eaten more regular food! This is bad!” I worried about her as I found out about her perilous situation.

“I must help her! This is getting dangerous for her life!” I said nervously to myself. My mind was chaotically searching for the suitable action. I didn’t understand her complex biology, nor did I have enough knowledge or time to do it, even if I wanted to. It was useless trying to apply any of my knowledge or techniques here. “So be it! The dumb brute force method I’m so good at comes to the spotlight!” These sarcasm-filled words escaped my mouth while I frowned, concentrating and gathering my ‘Life Essence’ in my hands. I was angry at my uselessness. “I hope it will be enough…” I said quietly and my face expression became tenser, as I put my hands on her… cocoon? No. Energy shell? Maybe. No matter what it is, I need to act fast!

I started concentrating and gathering every bit of essence around my hands, drops of perspiration appeared on my forehead. In reality, this appeared actually much harder to pull off than I thought it would. I directed this power into her shell. The surrounding walls became intermittently illuminated by flashes of yellow light coming from my hands. I felt my energy being drained away like water from a broken dam. My eyes became flooded by green light.

“What the hell?! Are my eyes glowing?” I was surprised by this event. It brought a bit of discomfort and was distracting, but then I unexpectedly saw Blue’s figure inside the shining shell. She seemed fine. “My ‘Life Vision’ has activated on its own. What a blunder! It will be a waste of energy.” I grumbled to myself. As I had these fleeting thoughts, I realized I no longer have time and strength to say or even think about anything. Bright yellow streaks of energy were leaving my hands, wrapping and circling around Blue rapidly, before being absorbed inside her body. I could see this process clearly. At the third minute, I felt dizzy. My sight was losing focus and my special vision turned off. It felt like I returned to the day one, with this heavy feel of total exhaustion. My legs became wobbly, and I was still standing only by my sheer effort of will, but my energy reserves are not infinite and finally ran dry.

My consciousness was slipping away as my knees hit the stone floor first, then I fell onto the bed face-first, bouncing once on the springy water bamboo stems, landing beside Blue. “What a fool I am to drain almost all of my ‘life essence’, but even if I am, I won’t forgive myself if I didn’t do it! I’m so drained...” I said quietly before I blacked out.

The room stayed completely quiet for several hours already, rarely interrupted only by slight noises made by sleeping Ray. It was already the middle of the day, but something has finally changed. Quiet noises, reminiscent of sounds of cracking glass, appeared from the glowing shell on the bed. A few minutes later, it had collapsed with a ringing sound and disappeared in a white flash. What was left behind is no other than Blue, who was slowly regaining her senses.

“Ohhh! I’m still alive! And even in good health? How? Why? Didn’t I spontaneously start my evolution in my strange state? I did not have what it takes to do it properly!” I quietly said and shook my head energetically to clear my dizzy state. As I did so, an unfamiliar strand of vivid blue hair fell on my face. “Is it mine? My mane! I have mane!” I turned my head back to look at my tail. “And my tail too! I’m true changeling now! Hooray!” I got up from the bed.

The sensations from my new body were somewhat unfamiliar. My sight improved slightly. I felt my body became stronger and more flexible and also a bit taller. But the most important part was that overwhelming sense of freedom and unrestrained magic power, charged with powerful emotions. What magical powers I had as a drone before were not even close to my new level.

“Emotional power? I must’ve gotten a lot of it from Ray, but where is he?” I turned around and found him lying on the other side of the bed face down and ran up to him in panic. His breath was ragged, his skin pale, his emotions absent. My eyes widened with worry. He was not looking good. I tried turning him to his back.

“U-u-ugh! Heavy-y-y!” I couldn’t do it without telekinesis. I should be careful. My horn lit up with my magic, the deep blue flame was even more intense than before, and I’ve noticed my horn no longer had a simple fang form, like all drones had. But my efforts did not pay off; it was like trying to move empty air with my magic. “Why is that?” I was confused, but I’m not some young drone to stand still, so I quickly started to think of alternatives.

Soon I’ve thought of something. “Let’s try this!” I enveloped his clothes with my magic this time and it actually worked! “Have to be careful with that… unless I want to destroy his already damaged clothes, yes, just like that!” I finally managed to turn Ray on his back. His face was pale. I examined him for injuries, but found none. “What happened to him?” I thought about the plausible reasons.

Then I realized. I was not fully unconscious during the transformation. I was already familiar with Ray’s magic before, and when my transformation was about to fail, what saved me was exactly this magic, but the feeling was very different. This magic was no longer subtle and gentle. It came down on me like a landslide and carried me away from the abyss of despair. My evolution continued without a hitch then. Should I have failed and survived, I don’t know if I could ever recover, and I still don’t know why I even had strength to evolve, but it still happened!

“Now I know what it is… Magical exhaustion! It can be dangerous, but everything went well this time for him. You saved me again, Ray…” I said quietly, gently caressing his face. I felt tears welling up in my eyes. “Your magic is so unusual…” I made some more efforts to lay him comfortably on the bed. Unfamiliar, but so pleasant feelings appeared inside me.

“For so many years, no one ever cared for me. This was the norm for changelings of my hive, but I never liked it. Only survival was on their mind, efficiency, practicality. It was not what my heart was striving for!” I whispered what was on my mind to the sleeping Ray. I really needed it, it felt like the weight I carried on my shoulder all these years vanishing slowly. No one has listened to me in the hive, treating me like a nuisance. “And here are you, brought to me by the fate itself! And you are not some petty hypocrite who will run away the moment he sees my true form. You accepted me, a changeling, for who I am! Emotions do not lie, I can feel it! You saved me, healed me, fed me… without ulterior motives. I will not let you go, and I don’t even care that you look strange, for I look strange too!” My tears wetted his skin as I hugged his bare chest. “Please don’t chase me away!” I whispered.

Ray was lying motionless on his back, but his eyes started twitching some time ago, and his breath quickened. His mouth twitched, but Blue could not see it! He coughed twice huskily as his lips parted.

“Blue.” He said in a weak, hoarse voice. “I…” He made a small cough again. “I’ll be the greatest bastard if I ever chase you away!” He finally said with a weak smile, and I realized his emotional aura was back for some time already, albeit it was still a bit weak, but was getting stronger gradually. “Never say things like that again!” he added, his lips managed to produce another smile.

“Oh! He heard me!” I blushed heavily. My cheeks turned dark black with a slight red tint. I raised my head to look into his eyes. “Alright, I won’t!” I told him with a smile. His eyes grew large at this moment, even his pupils, mouth agape, and the words he wanted to say could not come out. His eyes running around my face chaotically in obvious shock, his emotion plunged into a weird mix of positive and contradicting feelings.

“Ray!” I exclaimed. “Ray, what’s wrong?” I asked again after receiving no answer. “Tell me.” I whispered, moving closer to his face, looking him in the eyes.

He raised his right hand and slowly wove his fingers through my mane on the side. It was a very pleasant sensation. “You are so… beautiful…” He finally said in a hoarse voice. My blush intensified to the limits, and I immediately received a whole river of his emotions, but I did not feel strange because of them anymore.

It’s true, he cannot lie to me! Not with this torrent of true feelings towards me! To say I felt happy was a serious understatement. His torrent of emotions is incredible! And those emotions are all meant for me and for me alone! Do other changelings feel the same way when they try to steal emotions? They must not be even close! What I’m experiencing now is something else entirely! Oh, I feel a weird airy feeling inside my head… but I’m not intoxicated like the last time. We were looking at each other in silence, and then I had an idea to ask a brazen question. I’m a true changeling now and should follow my desires and be less shy. The time I’ve spent in the hive under suppression has come to an end.

But first, I need to bring him some water. I picked two helmets with my magic from the box with little thinking and brought them to us. At first, I didn’t realize what I actually did! Before, I was struggling with levitating even small objects, and now I did it with two helmets without spilling even a drop! He looked at my horn, blazing with deep sapphire flame, entranced.

“Here, take it, Ray! You should drink some water!” He took a helmet from my magic field, the other one I carefully left on the floor. I did not let him get up, and just held his head up so he could drink. After sating his thirst, I did so myself. The whole time he was looking at me with this strange look, I could not quite discern the emotions he projected at me, something between appreciation and adoration, much unexpected! And there is a bit of something else… something incredibly tasty… “Don’t tell me this is… love? It can’t be! But maybe it is?” I returned to his chest and hugged him again. I’m getting used to it, and I like it!

“Thanks, Blue, my throat was dry like if I was drinking for a whole day…” He inhaled deeply. “Yeah, I already feel slightly better!” But when he looked into my eyes again, he started to lose contact with reality again and I was struck by even purer emotions from him.

“There is no doubt it had to be love! I… What should I do now? Couldn’t even dream of this before, and now… Why? I’m so happy!” Overwhelming feelings flooded me from inside, throwing my mind into a mess. We were frozen in place just like that, looking into each other eyes, while our minds were in chaos. I was first to snap back to reality. I should not waste this chance! But how should I put it for him, the fact I know about his feelings?

“Oh, Ray, you know I can read your emotions like an open book! You’ve said so much to me just now!” I said softly, reminding him about who I am. “It may be difficult for me to read others, as their weak and muddy emotions can be hard to understand, but you… I can sense everything so clearly! You should be wary of other changelings, Ray, or they will steal you from me!” I said in a mild voice while stroking his cheek gently. “A changeling in love? But here I am! I want to be with him, hug him, kiss him, do everything with him! Like some silly pony mare! Then maybe they are not so silly, after all?” I tried to get myself together from my chaotic thoughts.

“Of course I know… You should have guessed everything by now, I suppose.” He said with a bit of surrender in his voice.

Then I asked the thing which was on my mind since morning: “Then why did you run away from me, Ray? I really don’t understand. I know you like me!” His face changed expressions several times at my question, his emotions fluctuated. He then seemingly came to some hard decision. I was intrigued and waited for his answer in anticipation.

“Yes, I do like you, a lot!” His hand continued to stroke and caress my mane and cheek gently; he seemed to do it almost unconsciously in his tired state. “Alright, do you want to know… everything? You may not like some of that. Nevertheless, I will tell you, if you want.” He had a wry smile on his face. I’ve pressed his hand to my face with my hoof as I looked into his eyes intently.

“Yes, I want to know everything about you!” I became more assertive after my transformation, or maybe it’s because of Ray? He made a deep sigh.

“Then listen.” He began his somewhat chaotic explanations.

Eventually, he told me, well, everything in details, about his physiology in the mornings. “Very peculiar and piquant, I’d say! And yes, I’ve seen his tool there; under that cloth he wears to cover it, a very decent tool indeed!” My face blushed again at this thought, but I had a smile on my face. My reaction made him blush a little for a moment too, but, surprisingly, he was not too nervous about our little talk. And I was still lying with my chest on top of his, our faces close to each other. I’m already getting used to it, and he does not mind. Oh, and I’m having a real feast right now! I hope I’m not too heavy for him.

“Then I guess it was not the reason you walked away, right?” It was easy to understand by his emotions. “By the way, don’t I discomfort you with my weight?” I asked, in concern.

“Of course not! My body is quite sturdy. You lay like that the whole night and I’m still fine, ha-ha!” He smiled and continued. “As for the reason I walked away… Well, I have never tried it with another species before, so I was hesitant, you know. And your state of mind concerned me. What if it was not by your will? So, I had to retreat quickly, before I lost control over myself. Yes, exactly, a bit more and you would have seduced me right there! It’s a little shameful for me to lack control like that… And it seemed to me, as I became more and more excited, the same could be said about your reaction to it, so I had to stop this endless cycle.”

I was a little puzzled by his answer and became immersed in my thoughts for a moment. “It’s very strange he never did it with other species, considering the number of different sapient species around; many of them have free views on the subject. And of course, I was not in a right mind, but now I think I would not be against such an activity in the morning, honestly, but my way of thinking has changed, and my feelings for Ray too. I doubt I’d do that earlier in the morning if not for my instincts kicking in, and indeed, I was becoming more intoxicated the more lust I received. I guess it really was an endless cycle that would end predictably.” My sight was trailing the surface of the ceiling as I pondered, then it returned to Ray.

“I understand, Ray. It’s all good, but you know… if you’d ever want to do it with me, then… I will not be against it… Or rather, I’d like to do it with you; and not because of my hunger for emotions!” I finally spoke my mind about this. My cheeks were burning, but I had to say it!

I woke up when I heard Blue’s voice. She was hugging my chest again, and I felt her tears on my skin, as she cried silently. The things she said to me, thinking I was still asleep… How could I not understand what she meant? And how could I reject this girl? I vowed recently not to deceive myself with twisted logic or morals anymore.

So what if she is of different specie than me? I’m sure my DNA is no longer ‘human’ per se. She may be a little eccentric and exotic for a girl, but her soul is pure and honest. She likes me and cares for me, so my doubts can go to straight to hell!

I like her, period! Do I love her? Perhaps. I can already feel a trace of this long-forgotten feeling inside my heart. So I’ve attempted to open my dried mouth and try speaking to her, but I produced only weak coughs. Then the words finally came out of my mouth.

“Blue.” I’ve finally started speaking at last. “I…” The cough rocked me again. “I’ll be the greatest bastard if I ever chase you away. Never say things like that again.” Then her smiling face appeared in my sight.

“Alright, I won’t!” she said cheerfully, with a smile.

This was the grand finale of my pathetic drama of hesitations! My thinking process just halted as I observed her transformed face. Two big azure cat-like eyes with flexible vertical slit gazed at me. Her pupils were enlarged to a wide spindle shape because of the shade in the room. Her fin on the head was replaced by a magnificent and rather long mane with heavy, straight locks streaming down along the sides of her head. The color was the same as her eyes, both having a gradient starting with sky azure, going through shades of electric blue and descending into the deepest sapphire colors at the ends of her mane and edges of her irises. (example palette)

This alone was enough to shake my mind, but now her entire form was more subtle, devoid of her previous sharp angles. Her face had softer lines and got more feminine, but still kept her predatory vibe. She now had a mature allure to her. Her ears lost its thin fin-like form and enlarged; its shape was close to what Luna had, just without a coat. Her fangs became a little shorter and only added to her exotic beauty. Her horn became bigger and changed shape, but I could not discern it properly, as her deficit of emotions seems to have returned, making it look corroded and jagged. The transformation took its toll on her. I’ll have to feed her again, but it should not be a problem!

She had no other apparent changes. Besides, her tail fin now was replaced by a proper tail with impressive long hair, the same as her mane. Her skin has become a bit darker, its ashen tint shifted visibly to deeper black. The plates on her back changed their color to something like chameleon metallic, shifting into dark sapphire and back to sky azure shades, depending on the angle of view. I’ve definitely seen this type of color on some exotic bugs from earth, and I really like it. Her size was seemingly unchanged. If anything else has changed, I could not see it from my current position.

I was just staring at her like this as she tried to ask me if I was fine. “Well, I can’t say I’m totally fine right now, especially in the head. Ha-ha! If she asks to marry her right now, I might just agree without much thinking! What a silly thoughts going through my head…” I didn’t notice how my hand began to stroke her mane, her silky locks were weaving through my fingers.

“You are so… beautiful…” That’s all I’ve managed to say at the moment, my voice still hoarse. Her cheeks got darker and, perhaps, redder? “Is she blushing? Hell, I’m getting an overdose of cuteness!”

After she gave me some water, we’ve had our rather intimate conversation. The thing is, she was reading all my feelings clearly. I literally confessed to her with my torrent of emotions… I can’t deny I was experiencing the feelings of love towards her right now. She did not need words for that… what peculiar species she is! So, I spilled the beans about everything that happened in the morning. There was no point in concealing anything, really. And… uh… yes, she wants to have sex with me… Later. Now I have neither reason nor desire to refuse, but I’ll need to recover from my power exhaustion before we do anything like that, otherwise I might just fail miserably. Also, I should not be content with just my emotions which relayed my feelings to her; I should express my feelings directly. Am I a man or not? I’ve decided.

“Blue…” But I was interrupted by her rather soft hoof placed on my mouth. “Wait, why is the hoof soft? Well, not that soft, but maybe on par with the softness a hand could have. I’m sure her hooves were hard before! Well, I’ll ask her later about it.”

“Ray! It is time you stop calling me just ‘Blue’ already!” She said sternly in a demanding voice. “I need a new name after my transformation. I had some names in mind before, like ‘Indigo’, but that just not it… Something is not right with those. Can you come up with something emphasizing my new look?” She had a thoughtful expression on her face, her hoof touching her lower lip, her eyes looking up.

I scratched my head and started brainstorming, but most of those names which came up were strange and nonsensical. And I didn’t even consider those names ponies use, which I heard from Falda’ar, that’s just weird to me.

She has ruled out ‘Indigo’, and I agree, what else? Azure? It fits. Turquoise, cyan and teal are out of the question. Those are not her colors. Hmmm! Cobalt… no, too masculine, and probably no one here knows what it is. Cerulean, lapis, sapphire… maybe I can make something of those somehow. I thought about other colors, but many of those included ‘blue’ in their names, ultramarine… nope! I was recounting my thoughts to her; she was a bit surprised to hear some of the blue color names.

“Ray, let’s try some of those associated with gemstones, maybe?” She finally told me her thoughts, still deep in contemplations.

“Alright!” I’ve started trying to create something decent out of it. “Azula… no, Azura, Azuria? Lapis… Sapphire… Sapphira?” I was running out of ideas.

“That’s it! I like it!” she exclaimed. I looked at her.

“Which one?” I raised my brow slightly.

“Sapphira!” she smiled at me.

“It suits your new look, to be honest! Your eyes, mane and tail have a lot of this color, and the color of your magic is the same too.” She returned to her thoughtful state again. I looked at her from the side. Her legs became slightly longer, making her form more elegant; her gait now reminded me of Luna. “I have to do something with those holes soon!” I thought as I noticed the holes in her legs and wings have returned, and those were present even in her mane and tail! “How the hell there can be holes in locks of hair?” As I examined this phenomenon more closely, I saw the hair strands were not damaged or cut; they avoided the places where the holes were, somehow, like something was pushing and bending them to the sides. It must be something in her energy structure, then.

“Ray!” I heard her energetic voice. “Call me by my new name!” She looks at me in anticipation.

I cleared my throat to make my voice more clear and said in a grand voice. “Sapphira!”

“Ha-ha, Ray, you don’t have to be this loud!” Her clear laugh and voice had some deep and mature tone to it after she transformed, adding to her allure.

“My bad, Sapphira!” I replied with a smile with my regular voice.

“Yes! I like how this sounds! Thank you, Ray!” she was very content with her new name. Sly and subtle smile suddenly appeared on her face. “And now… You can tell me the thing you wanted to tell me before!” She told me in a seductive voice.

“Ahem!” She caught me! She totally caught me! She knew I wanted to say something important, but she wanted me to address her by her new name, not by her nickname. Now, there is no going back! I slowly walked closer, stood in front of her and got on my knees, as I looked her in the eyes. Standing in this way, I was a bit taller than her. I moved my face closer to hers; my hand caressed her cheek gently. My heart started to beat faster.

“Sapphira…” At this moment, I leaned closer to her, and our lips touched. Finally, we kissed each other. She closed her eyes as she savored our kiss, slowly moving her front hooves to hug me, trying not to break it. I held her to make her more comfortable.

“Mmmmmm…” As she reached her desired pose, I heard her mild purr through our kiss.

Then, her long forked tongue slowly reached inside my mouth, wrapping around my own. I found her taste pleasant and unusual while I was immersed in our little game with our tongues. I had no chance of winning this match against her agile movements, as she investigated even my teeth thoroughly. We separated after some time, looking each other in the eyes, our breathing rugged. Her glistening, blue tongue seductively licked one of her fangs before sliding back. Her eyelids were half-closed, and she had the most content smile I’ve seen on her face so far.

“Sapphira, I love you!” I said to her gently, looking into her eyes, shining with different shades of azure and sapphire colors. She was looking back at me, and instead of giving me any answer, she just leaned forward and placed another kiss on my lips. Our kissing session continued for a good while, before she got tired from standing in this pose. We have moved to our bed and sat there, our bodies pressed against each other; I was hugging her back with one hand.

“Oh Ray, you didn’t even have to tell me, but I value you did.” She had her head pressed against my side, her eyes looking upwards at me. “You know, most of the folks think that we, changelings, can’t feel emotions, especially love, but it’s not true. We just can’t emanate those emotions as others do. This is the reason changelings can’t sustain even their own bodies by themselves, much less provide anything for other changelings, but the feelings we can experience are the same as other species, including love. I know it’s hard to believe…”

“Don’t, Sapphi. I know what it’s like very well. I was living like that for the most part of my life, really. My ability to emanate emotions is actually very new to me.” I said to her, my eyes were unfocused with a somewhat nostalgic expression.

“Really?” She was visibly surprised at this unexpected information. “What I wanted to say to you… I love you too, Ray!” Her pupils dilated to a round form; I realized she was feeling very nervous about it. “I’ve never felt like this before, but I think it must be love! I was just afraid you won’t believe changeling’s words about love, like everyone else.” A glint of tears appeared in her eyes. I turned to her and carefully took her into my arms.

“Sapphi, I’m not ‘everyone’. I will believe you no matter what, and I don’t care about what others say either. Such trivial things as stereotypes, rumors and superstitions are not worth your precious tears.” I said calmly, looking into her azure eyes. She just closed them and hugged me.

I can’t rationally explain my skyrocketing affection and love for Sapphira, as well as trust in her, but my senses tell me it may very well be connected to the vast amounts of my ‘Life Essence’ in her body, she even gone through evolution using it. But my feelings are true, I’m sure of that. It created some unique connection between us, and our whole situation is just pushing us closer to each other.

Honestly, I was a distrusting person for the most of my life, the lesson life in modern society will teach you, eventually. I never made friends easily, acquaintances — yes, but not genuine friends, and I never believed the love could spark so abruptly, but look at me now… I’d laugh at my current behavior, though I will never do so from now on. I’ve changed, perhaps for the better, and I’m not going back.

Our intimate moment was interrupted by rumbling inside Sapphira’s stomach. Of course we ate nothing since yesterday evening, and she needs nutrients more than anything now. She is too thin even for a changeling, and I’m going to fix that! We better not delay our meal any longer.

“Sapphi, we are both hungry. We better get outside. I think I already have restored some of my power to get us some food.” She had her unique blush on her face. I carefully put her on her hooves and got up.

“You want to use your magic in this state again? Don’t! And how are you planning to find us food?” She said in a concerned tone, obviously not content with my idea to expend more power in my exhausted state. “Maybe it’s better if I go to find some?” She was obviously being protective of me, but I’m not going to risk our lives in our weakened state.

“No, Sapphi, nobody is going. You’ll see what I’m about to do and don’t worry about my exhaustion. I have good control if I’m not trying to save someone’s life.” I smiled wryly at her.

“Good, I’ll believe you then!” she said with squinted eyes, like she doesn’t trust me, but I can tell she’s just playing around.

“Alright, let’s go then!” I said as I walked out of the room, hearing the clopping of her hooves from behind. “They are hard again?” I was puzzled by this again. “Sapphi, why were your hooves soft before, but now they don’t seem so?” I couldn’t restrain myself from asking.

“Oh, that’s simple! All races with hooves have this kind of innate magic ability, as well as simple contact telekinesis which help us to move and handle things with our hooves. The hooves and their undersides become hard when we walk or fight. By the way, my armor plates on the back are the same! As well as my skin can get harder while in combat. Changelings are inherently good fighters because of this and we can take more beating than average pony or griffon. Of course, we can’t compare us with those brutes like buffalos or minotaurs! They are scary, but I never saw them, to be honest.” I listened to her explanations while we were walking downhill.

“Interesting!” I said, looking at the skies. Heavy clouds could be seen on the horizon, but the wind was not strong yet. I should have enough time to do my work with the magic tree. “It seems the rain will start soon.” I said.

Sapphira nodded her head, looking at the skies. We arrived before the tree. Her gorgeous mane and tail fluttered in the wind. I was a little spaced out at this sight.

“So, what are we going to do?” She noticed my look and shook her mane slightly to show off before me.

“Ah! Right!” I snapped back from my reverie. “Come here and place your hoof on this tree.” I wanted to be sure the tree will work properly for her. She did as I said with an incredulous look. “Now hold your hoof like this for some time.” I easily started the procedure. My control over my power got obviously better after what I did for Sapphira today. She was looking with interest at this process. Her eyes grew wide when the flowers appeared. This time it was four. “Good, at least we won’t be hungry for some time. But this rain ruins my plans again, damn it!” Sapphira had a bit saddened look when the flowers wilted, and looked at me.

“What is this magic, Ray? Rather, what is your magic? I’ve never heard about anything like that, that’s not a pony magic for sure!” She asked with great interest. “I think I can tell her more than I will ever tell to general inhabitants of this world.” I thought for a bit before answering.

“It’s Life magic, Sapphi. But please, don’t mention it to anyone else.” I said, looking at her with a serious face.

“I won’t, Ray. Don’t make this scary face!” She giggled and smiled at me. “I guess that fruit yesterday was from this tree?” She guessed it.

“Precisely, Sapphi! Let me try to speed up things a bit.” I tried to provide additional ‘life essence’ to the growing fruits, and it worked to some extent, but we’ll still have to wait for some time. My thoughts inevitably returned to Sapphira, as my eyes already did. As I thought about it, she seems to like how I shorten her name.

After some time, we were already sitting before the tree close to each other. Sapphira was leaning on my side from the left as I held her with one hand. She told me a little about her life in the hive. Her main responsibility was gathering the food in the hive's vicinity; she was not allowed to travel too far because of her frailty and queen’s suspicion about her waning control over her. When she was not working outside, she had to clean food storage. We talked about many things. I had a lot of questions about this world. Sapphira was surprised I lacked knowledge about some simple things which folks around would call a common sense. Like some facts about magic, geography and many others.

Talking about geography, we didn’t have many choices about how we could get out of the jungle. We were somewhere inside western parts of this jungle. To the north was an immense mountain range called ‘Big Macintosh Mountain Range’, very hard and dangerous to traverse, with a small valley passage to the so-called ‘Badlands’, an arid, withered land with low precipitation and food sources. We can rule out this direction with our almost zero level of preparedness. Further to the north were the lands of Equestria, a country of ponies, the biggest and the only decent center of civilization on this continent. But we could not pick that direction.

To the south were unsettled lands, with some local tribes, at best, as their inhabitants. The exit from jungle on this side is not complicated, but there is a territory of shadow hounds on the way south. Thanks, but no thanks. We are not going there.

As for the east direction, I was already expecting that. Jungle there gradually transforms into an endless swamp, full of dangerous predators. The only direction left was west. Jungle on the west side is elevated and located atop a plateau, separated from the plains and forests on the west by a rather low chain of mountains. We’ll have to find a way to descend from the plateau across those mountains. Sapphira ensured me she could easily scout a way by flying. A common deciduous forest was located across the plateau, with much more safe wildlife than here, except for strange species called ‘timberwolves’. Those are literally made of… timber! Sounds more like magic golems to me, but that can be serious. My weapons won’t do much harm to something made of hard wood. Those wolves are not some common trees, which will stay still while I hack them with an axe.

Also, there must be a railroad somewhere in the west direction. We can go along the rails to find some settlements. Sapphira is not sure about where it leads, but the most logical decision would be to travel north along the ways, as it should go to Equestria.

The fruits were eventually ready for picking. The day was slowly progressing towards the evening, but we still have a lot of time until sunset. We were having our meal, strong wind negated some of the tropical heat, and my body developed some degree of resistance to it too, otherwise I’d have sunburns all over my body by now. Sapphira’s body is adapted to such conditions too, more or less.

“Ray, how old are you?” She asked suddenly. It was not an easy question for me.

“It’s a bit complicated, Sapphi.” I’ve thought about how I should put it. “My body should be around thirty-four years old, but, because of my power and certain… unfortunate magic accident, it was forcefully aged to a venerable age, then restored back, almost, and a bit changed to the form you can see now… Pretty complicated, isn’t it?” Her eyes grew wide at my statement. She felt through my emotions that I believe in what I’m telling her.

“Seems you had a rough life, Ray!” she said thoughtfully.

For a while, I contemplated. “I don’t really want to go into details about my past right now… My life was not that bad, Sapphi, but sometimes, fate can throw you into some much unexpected or downright cruel situations and events you can’t avoid, where you have no choice, but to go through to the very end. Or perish, trying. I can say my old life is no more and I have no choice but to leave it behind and move forward. On the brighter side, I’ve found you, Sapphi! I no longer care about my past and I have no regrets about anything from my old life. Only memories are left. I’ll tell you my story on some other occasion. It can be very long and confusing, like with my age, you get it, right? I don’t want to make up some fake fairy tale for you.”

Sapphira stayed silent for a long while, deep in her own thoughts, then nodded her head.

“Its fine. You can tell me when you are ready. You know, Ray, my story seems very similar to yours. I can say my old life ended yesterday. This morning, I found my connection to my hive is no more. The queen has no power over me now, but my old hive will be hostile towards me, most likely. I’m thirty years old, very close to your age! I was dreaming of this transformation for ten long years, but it would be impossible if not for you, Ray! And I regret nothing, too!” A smile appeared on her face, which only grew wider as she spoke.

“Then we’ll have to build our new life somehow. I guess it won’t be a walk in the park on this continent. I’m too unusual for ponies and almost everyone else, and your kind has a poor reputation, if I understood you correctly.”

“Certainly, Ray, but I can take on a look of a pony. This will make things easier for both of us. They will not be so suspicious of you if you will be in a company of a mare.” She offered her solution. “But we better avoid strong magic users or other changelings. The former can sense my disguise, as for the latter, they will certainly sense me, and I don’t want to go into contact with my species anytime soon! Almost every one of them is a part of their hives, and I don’t want to have any business with hives! I’m a rogue now, changelings frown upon us.”

“I see. So this disguise magic is the talent of changelings? Do you have any other abilities?” I asked with interest.

She sighed lightly before speaking again. “Yes, we were even named like this because of our talent. Common changelings take on the appearance of some pony, usually, but it can be other species too, and then… they try to enter into some intimacy with the other ponies which have feelings for the one they are disguised as. They feast on the emotions directed at them, sometimes sucking those emotions by force, leaving the victim temporary weakened and devoid of feelings for the ones they loved. That’s why changelings are hated and feared by many.” I was listening with great interest. This is really fascinating, albeit wrong in so many ways!

“Oh, now I see the reason you were so uncomfortable about your own species, but I won’t let anyone accuse you of anything like that! They can go screw themselves if they want to have some opinion about it!”

“Oh, Ray…” She blushed again and smiled. “Honestly, this disguise magic… I’m just bad at it and I don’t know why! No changeling in my hive was that bad at it as I was. It must be better now after my transformation. I just hope I won’t fail us. Telekinesis was better, but my poor diet meant I had very small magic reserves and a lack of practice. However, back there when I gave you water, it came naturally to me, even with two objects in my magic grip!” Her mood dropped at the mention of her difficulties, but went back up when she remembered her improvements.

“I’m happy you are getting better at this, and about your disguise, we’ll figure something out, even if it fails!” I assured her. “Oh, is there any special reason you were disguised as a fanged deer, back there in the jungle?” This question was on my mind for some time already.

“Oh, that…” She looked a bit lost at my question, her eyes downcast. “It all comes from the fact I’m unskilled in disguise magic. Deer’s size is close to mine, so it’s easier to maintain it, but fangs were my mistake.” She smiled wryly. “And you’ve seen my wings. I could not fly, and the deer is quite agile when traversing the jungle. But I was still easily detected by my hive when they found me; my disguise was lacking to prevent them from doing so. And then the hounds came…” She explained her situation in detail.

“I see. That makes sense! Do changelings have any other sort of magic?” I asked her as it was a very interesting topic for me.

“Queens can have their own spell arsenals, which they keep a secret from everyone. But our hive has one special spell specific to our hive: hypnosis, a weaker variant which can be used even by drones. It can disable the victim for a short time, or even force it to do something against their will, and rumors have it that our queen can even make you forget some things with this spell! I had an average success with this spell, but I should use it very carefully. It is a crime to use this spell in Equestria and many other countries and kingdoms.” She said sternly.

“Oh, I see. But it can be very useful sometimes!” I praised the spell.

“I think so too. Those ponies are just too afraid of everything, but I’m a changeling. After all, my kind is considered cruel and dangerous.” She said in a playful voice, turned her head a little to the side, showing me her teeth and slowly sliding her tongue along them, all while staring at me with her eyes. Her pupil became a thin slit under the bright sun. She was very content with her actions, seeing my reaction through the flow of my emotions. Well, I can do nothing about it; I just like her predatory side.

“You are playing with fire, Sapphi! You don’t want me to try doing it while I’m exhausted, do you?” I said, copying her with a toothy smile.

“Fine! I won’t tease you just yet!” She laughed. “Oh, by the way, once I stumbled upon one memory. It was a memory of a pony magic book. I don’t know why a changeling would want to learn a pony magic book, as our magic work differently, but I was curious about it and tried to study some simple spells from there.” she reminisced.

“Did any spell work?” I inquired and looked at the sky again. The din of the jungle birds subsided; they must have gone to their shelters to hide from incoming rain already.

“Most have failed, or had some strange effects. When I tried to use a spell that should provide a light from the unicorn’s horn, it was giving out sparks instead, but as it gave some light, I can say it was working, more or less!” She giggled. “If not for that hissing noise it created and somewhat high magic consumption, it could work as intended!”

“Funny! Can you show it to me?” I asked in my curiosity.

“Oh! Of course! Look!” She moved away from me and got up. She made a few steps to the side and prepared to cast a spell. Her horn was enveloped by the beautiful, deep sapphire aura billowing outside like a dark flame. The aura suddenly got bigger, then my eyes were blinded by a bright flash, and immediately my ears gone almost deaf as a powerful sound of explosion bombarded my eardrums. At this moment I detected a thick, bright and forking azure lightning bolt struck my poor tree, burning splinters flying all around, leaving only charred stump with some smoldering embers in its place. There were also two small craters nearby with the traces of burns on the ground where other bolts which forked struck.

My jaw dropped, and my brow twitched. I was staring at this scene of chaos around me as the wind swirled the ashes in the air, and then looked at Sapphira with a questioning look.

“Who-o-ops!” she said with a shocked countenance.

We had an awkward pause between us. I finally understood what happened, more or less.

I boomed in laughter, stopping only after a short while. “That. Was. Awesome!” I shouted, raising up my arms grandly.

“But your tree?” She looked upset. “You aren’t mad at me?” She was surprised at my reaction no less than by this event. I noticed she was panting.

I chuckled “Why would I? I can make another one... but only when I restore my magic reserves. We just found ourselves a weapon! Not just a weapon, it’s a magical cannon, no less! I bet you could knock out a manticore with it!” I was really excited about this newfound spell of hers!

“I… I never thought this spell could do that, but I doubt I can do it again anytime soon. This spell has drained too much of my magic! Maybe, if I train to control it, I can make this spell less… lethal and use it more frequently.” She thought about it seriously.

“It will be for the best! At least you will have an excellent tool for self-defense.” I approved her way of thinking. “Seems the rain will start in less than an hour, and we have nothing to eat for supper.”

“Let me fly around the edge of this jungle! You said it should be safe. I know many edible fruits and plants around here; I must find at least something before the rain starts.” She obviously felt bad about the tree and tried to offer her help, but what she say make sense!

“Fine, but you must promise me to stay on the outskirts of the jungle. I’ll go to take another spear, just in case. Shout if anything happens!” As much as I wanted to go with her, I’ll be slowing her down as she will fly around. “Oh, yes, take the box from the room if you need it.”

“I promise not to get in trouble!” She smiled at me and darted uphill to take the box. I, too, started walking up. Then I saw her fly out through the roof and disappear behind the building. “She is quite fast!” I remarked.

The storage room was dark, as always. I put on my t-shirt and grabbed that strange crystal spear. Its shaft was very sturdy, but I better be careful with the blade and not hit something like stones unnecessarily. I made a simple strap from the vines which I stored before. We are running out of clear water, but I have an idea. I’ve laid out the contents of the wooden box I used for storing my clothes and other small items onto one of the shelves.

I laughed mirthlessly, spotting my phone.“This useless brick…” It was dead for good. “And these worthless papers…” I looked at my passport and driver license before throwing them back into the corner. The images in the photos have disappeared without a trace, along with any information about me, leaving only blanks in its place. I grabbed the empty box, put several helmets inside, crudely fixed them in place with vines and headed for the lake.

As I was walking, I could see Sapphira’s figure flying from one spot to another in the distance. She was putting something in the box here and there. “Seriously? She must be a real pro at procuring food in the forests! I doubt I could find something this fast, if I could find anything at all!”

I chose the sandy side of the lake and filled my improvised water container. I was going to try one of my little tricks and purify the water for Sapphira. Slowly saturating the water inside the box with my energy, I held it there for some time. When I thought it was enough, instead of dissipating my energy, I tried to absorb it back, and it actually worked. I restored my reserves partially, but I should never try to do it with living beings above the level of primitive life forms, especially with sentient ones.

‘Life’ treats such acts as a crime against itself. If I rip ‘life essence’ from living organisms, I’ll get a serious backlash from my own power, and the poor victim will slowly, but inevitably die in great sufferings somewhere between several hours to several days, systems of its body will fail one after another; a very gruesome and inhuman death. This is one of my ‘taboos’, and only in the face of death I can consider doing it.

I tasted the water to check it. “Hmmm… seems fine! The taste is also not bad. This will suffice.” I slowly returned with the box and got back outside. The sky was already overcast, and the wind was very strong. Some raindrops were already hitting the ground here and there. “Where is Sapphi?” It’s dangerous to fly when the wind is so strong.

I filled my lungs with air and shouted her name as loud as I can, but she did not answer. A minute later, I heard her voice from the side.

“I’m back. The wind is too strong to fly, so I walked.” She appeared from behind a corner of the building, carrying the box in her magic grip. I took the box and looked inside.

“Whoa! That’s a lot! How did you do it?” I was surprised.

“You said there are no beasts around this place, so there are a lot of untouched edible plants and mushrooms around. This place is really abundant, I’d say!” My hand hit my face in a well-known gesture while I held the box with another. “I’m a frigging genius! I should have investigated surrounding area more thoroughly for plant food, instead of trying to hunt, but then… Sapphi would have died, so no, to hell with such thoughts!” This possibility of events irked me greatly.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, obviously having felt my thoughts through my emotional state.

“Forget it, Sapphi, everything is good. Let’s go inside.” I said while gently stroking the mane on top of her head. We got inside and I closed the doors behind us.

Sapphira explained what she found in the nearest jungle. There were several fragrant red and yellow fruits, a pair of green vegetable-like things with an elongated form, which could be eaten raw if we peel those, some amount of large nuts, which could be cooked in embers in our campfire, several stems of something like sugarcane, and some sort of tree mushrooms, which I can grill if I place those above the red embers. I checked everything, cutting small bits with a knife and tasting them. Everything was safe and edible. I sighed again at the lack of salt and spices. Those mushrooms would be so good if I had any… The storm outside was already raging. Torrential rain poured down in the center of a room, making the air inside humid again.

“You are so good at finding food, Sapphi! I’d have stayed hungry today if not for you! Thanks!” I praised her for her efforts, but the really deserves it!

“Ha-ha-ha! Ray, you must be joking! I’d be hungry without you too, you know what I mean!” She just laughed it off. She came up to me while I was examining the contents of the box and whisked my face with her tail as she walked by, slowly swinging her flanks seductively. This little antic of hers instantly ignited the fire inside me.

“Aha! Just like this! Mmm… tasty!” She walked back to me and sat down, leaning against my side. I chuckled and leaned closer to her, placing a kiss on her nose.

“We need to start a fire. I’ll be right back.” I stood up and started my preparations, as the tropical storm raged outside with constant flashes of lightning and deafening thunder. It will be a long evening for us.

Canterlot Royal Palace, current time.

Luna was pacing around the throne room; she was obviously in an impatient mood and could not sit still. She woke up from her day's rest some time ago. Finally, the doors of the throne room opened with a slight noise, and her sister walked in.

“Is everything ready, Celly? I’m ready to head out any time!” Luna said in a rather hasty speech.

“Oh calm down, Luna. Why are you so excited about this trip? There is no need to be in such a hurry! The magic trace is not going anywhere for the next week at the least, and I’m confident in your abilities to find it. Or, maybe, you worry about that… stallion you’ve mentioned? Of course, it’s our duty to help those in danger, but it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack, unless you can track him again through the dreamland.” She sighed, shaking her head, with a sad look in her eyes.

“But I’ll still try while I’m there, sister.” Luna said with determination in her voice.

“Ha-ha, like I said, you never surrender, Luna. And why do I feel you have greater interest in him than in the expedition itself?” Celestia asked with a raised brow and a smirk on her lips.

“Because the expedition is boring! Well, not the expedition itself, but the monotone work of monitoring magical field for the whole day!” Luna complained a bit to her sister with a wry smile, looking down, drawing circles on the floor with her hoof. “Twilight and Starlight will not be of much help until I find the location. Then I’ll have some rest and let them work freely. By the way, are they here already?”

“So, my little Luna is really having some interest in a stallion at last! About time, I’d say!” Celestia could not resist making a joke on Luna. Luna had an indignant look, but before she could get back at Celestia with anything, she continued, “They are in flight to Canterlot at this moment. I’ve sent a sky chariot to bring them here. You are heading out tomorrow, early in the morning. If everything goes well, you’ll be able to get there by the evening. Your escort of pegasi elites is already on standby. You will move faster with only one high-speed flying carriage. All the supplies are ready too. Oh, and don’t worry about the changelings, they are too far from our borders, but I’ll notify our academy and military about this fact, so they will investigate it by themselves when they are ready.”

Luna made a small sigh in surrender before her sister’s skill in changing topics. “Alright, Celly, then we’ll head out early in the morning. I still have not had a meal; let’s head to the dining room!”

Celestia nodded her head, and they soon left the throne room, talking about something. Their preparations for the expedition were complete.

Author's Note

Edited 30 March 2022