"For the last time Sunny, I have no idea what we are looking for exactly, but we'll know it when we see it." Hitch grits his teeth before sighing at his stakeout partner. "Just keep an eye out for anypony either being suspicious or disappearing," Sunny nods before looking around. The two sit in Sunny's smoothie shack in the middle of the night as the few ponies around walk past them.
Hitch squints and looks around to see if he can spot anypony out of place. Ponies going missing isn't out of the normal, but ones disappearing, appearing, then disappearing before turning back up with no memories of the past week was really weird. It was almost like something was body snatching for a few days, then returning the ponies back.
"Why take ponies then return them?" Sunny asks as she lays her head down on the counter.
"I don't know why," Hitch says, turning to Sunny. "That's why we are here. To catch this thing and see what it's doing." Hitch turns back to the streets. Sunny places her head onto her now crossed arms on the counter. She watches as a mare walks before stopping in front of an alley. The mare looks around before walking into the alleyway. Sunny sits up as she sees a green light flash before quickly dying.
"Hitch! I think we found it!" Sunny yells before jumping threw the window of the food stand.
"Sunny!" Hitch yells before running after her. Sunny passes the few ponies late at night before running down the alleyway. Hitch quickly follows her as the two run down the alleyway. Sunny slides to a stop with a look of surprise and confusion. Hitch almost hits her as he tries to stop.
"What the?" Is all that slips out of her mouth. Standing a few feet away looking back at her like a dear in headlights is a tall black, slightly scaly figure with thin, long legs with holes in them. His wings on his back are bug-like in appearance, and so do his green mane and tail. Standing long and tall on his head with holes in it is its horn. On his chest is a light gray marking of fire. His bright blue eyes reflect the beautiful moonlight off of them. He looks back in fear at the pair. The creature turns away and runs down the alleyway.
"Wait!" Sunny yells after it as she takes off after it.
"Sunny!" Hitch yells as he runs after her. Sunny fallows the creature as Hitch fallows Sunny. The creature slowly gained distance between the two. The group runs out into a forest at the back of the town.
"There's a forest back here?" Hitch whispers in slight interest. The creature spreads its bug-like wings. Its wings were almost bigger than he was tall. The creature jumped into the air as it flaps its wings. It was unable to get enough lift to get out of the tree line, but it was now quickly jumping from tree to tree. Sunny and Hitch lose sight of the creature. The two slow down to a stop as the two try and catch their breath.
"What was that thing?" Hitch asks between deep breaths.
"I think it's a changeling," Sunny says, scratching her chin as she tries to dig deep into her memories. "My dad used to talk about these bug-like creatures that could change their appearances. He called them changelings," Sunny says, turning to face Hitch.
"So this thing has been stealing ponies and pretending to be them,... and then returning them?.." Hitch asks, now really confused.
"I don't know," Sunny says, turning to look where the changeling disappeared to. "Only one way to find out," Sunny says before running deeper into the forest.
"I'll go get help!" Hitch yells before turning and running back towards town.
Sunny walks through the dark forest, the trees creaking and groaning as the wind blows past. Sunny shivered from the cold wind crossing her body. The deathly quiet almost hurts her ears only to be broken by the occasional hoot of an owl or a small animal running into the bushes. Each time it causes her to flinch and stop for a second before she continues her match into the forest.
She looks around the dark forest for the creature. Trying to find a dark-colored creature was like finding a needle in a haystack the size of a small house. Improbably, but not impossible to find. Her ears purk up and swivel around as she hears something strange. Sunny stops and stands there as she tries hard to listen. Her face turns into worry as she starts walking in the direction of the sound.
"It's.. crying?" Sunny thinks as she continues to walk. The sound of crying becomes more audible as she gets closer. She finally sees an opening in the thick trees to reveal a cave. The sound coming from inside.
Sunny slows down and makes her way to the wall. She leans over to see into the cave with one eye. Sitting next to a dying fire is the tall, black creature. The creature had its head in its arms. Its bright blue eyes gleam with tears as they roll down his cheek. Its crying had stopped, but the tears are still visible.
Sunny's heart breaks in two at seeing this creature crying alone. She debates for a few seconds over if she should walk in or not. After a few seconds of arguing with herself, she decided to go all in and walks into the cave. The moment her hoofs hit the stone ground, making a loud thud, the creature quickly wipes its tears and looks over at Sunny. Sunny's face turns into fear as the creature stands up.
It bears its sharp teeth as it hisses at her. Its tongue slips out like a snake as it takes a step towards her. It opens its wings fully. The creature towers above Sunny, causing her to back up slightly as her ears flop against her head. "I-i'm not h-here t-t-to hurt y-you," She stutters out as she slowly backs away as the creature slowly walks forward.
The creature stops hissing and stops walking forward. The thing stares down at Sunny with a neutral expression. The two look at each other. The creature's face slowly softens as it folds its wings in. "What's your name?" The creature says with a deep voice.
"M-my name is S-sunny," Sunny replies, still slightly scared at her situation. The creature sighs, its ears flapping against its head. It turns away and starts walking back to the fire. Sunny's ears raise back up as she takes a step into the cave again.
"Come on in," The creature says, sitting down by the fire. "It's been a while since I talked to any pony without having to also knock them out," The creature says with a slight laugh.
Sunny slowly makes her way to the other side of the fire as the creature places more wood on it with its magic. "What are you?" Sunny asks, sitting down.
"I'm what is left of my changeling race." He says with a slight hurt in his voice. "My name is Dox Chai Flask, but you can call me Dox," Sunny nods as the two watch the fire grow bigger. The light from the fire brings the cave some much-needed light.
"Why do you take ponies and then return them?" Sunny asks, looking up at Dox. The changeling sighs as he looks away from her.
"I need love to keep me alive. Meaning I've had to sustain off of the animal around me," Dox starts explaining. "But I started to starve, forcing me to start to replace ponies." Dox looks down at the fire with slight shame forming on his face. "I don't mean anyone harm,"
"Why not just come into town as you?" Sunny asks.
"I did once," Dox says. "But they chased me out, they called me a monster. Only one pony understood me, he use to live in the lighthouse," Sunny takes a surprising breath in as she smiles.
"You knew my dad!?" She exclaims. Dox smiles at the remark.
"I thought so, I can sense your energy. Yours is a lot like his." Dox says.
"Wierd question, but how old are you?" Sunny asks.
"Five hundred twenty-two thousand three hundred and five," Dox replies.
"Dang," Sunny says in slight shock. "You look good for your age,"
Dox laugh before responding, "Thanks? I guess?" The two sit there as they look into the now blazing fire.
"What was Equestria like during the friendship area?" Sunny asks.
Dox smiles as a few small tears form in his eyes. "It was amazing," Sunny looks up at Dox who is taking a few deep shaky breaths before wiping the tears from his eyes. "It was a peaceful place for one and all to live. The new princess Twilight made sure of that. She also didn't rule alone either. She had her friends, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash," Dox starts talking like he has told this a thousand times.
Sunny looks up and listens intently as Dox's smile grows on his face. "She also had her advisers. Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, Fire Brand, Bl.." Dox's voice caches in his throat as the tears return to his eyes. Sunny's smile falls as Dox looks at the ground. Sunny stands up and walks to his side of the fire. She sits down next to him, still a good distance from him. He shifts slightly away from her.
"Friend?"
"Family," Dox responds. Sunny looks down at the ground in a knowing nod. "Blood Moon was a bat pony who was the leader of the night guard. She was my mother." Dox sits there as his eyes fill with tears as Sunny just sits there and looks at the fire. Tears roll down his face and fall to the ground. Sunny looks up at Dox to see him blankly staring at the wall as his blue eyes shimmer from the fire light reflecting off his tears. His eyes seemed to reflect the memories flooding his head.
Sunny looks away awkwardly as she tries to think of a way to comfort the gentle giant. She turns back and slowly and gently places a hoof around his back. Dox flinches so valiantly that it causes Sunny to flinch back. Sunny looks up at Dox as he looks away.
"Sorry, not used to being touched,"
"Do you want a hug?" Sunny asks. Without a word, Dox wraps one of his long arms around her small body. Sunny scoots closer to him and hugs his lower body. His skin was smooth against her fur. Dox smiles a bit as he gently glides his hoof through her furry back.
He wraps his other arm around her and lowers his head on top of hears. Tears roll down his cheeks as a smile forms on his face. "You're a lot like my dad,"
"How so?" Sunny asks, pulling back her head to look up at him.
"Your unwavering kindness," Dox says, sitting back up but still holding her in his hoofs. "My father was Acid Flask. He was the science adviser to Twilight." Dox looks to the fire as a warm smile forms on his face. His eyes almost turn smoky as he starts to remember. "We meet back at Cantorlot when I was just hatched. I disguised myself as a messenger stallion." Dox chuckles, getting a weird look from Sunny as she listens. "He saw right through that but never told on me. He even defended me to Celestia when I was finally revealed. He then adopted me without question."
Dox looks down at Sunny, who was now looking up at him with a big smile and her eyes sparkling like a child. "Wow, he sounds amazing," Sunny replies.
"He was," Dox agrees.
"Sunny!" a group of ponies yells from the forest. The two let go from the hug as they turn to look at the cave entrance.
"Looks like your friends are looking for you," Dox says as Sunny stands up. She turns to him with a smile.
"Please, come back into town with me. We can explain everything, and you can live with us in the bright house. You could help us fix it up!" Sunny says with joy only a kid could produce. Dox sighs before gently combing his hoof through her main. She looks at his hoof before touching it with her own.
"I wish it could be that easy," Sunny looks down as her eyes dart around the ground. She lowers her hoof as Dox does the same. "Got an idea?"
"We could keep you a secret, slowly bring you back," Sunny looks back up at Dox. "You could change into a pony that doesn't exist?" Sunny asks more than says.
"I could do that," Dox says, bringing hope back into Sunny's eyes.
"Tomorrow morning, I will bring my friends over to see you," Sunny says as she slowly backs out of the cave.
"How many?"
"4,"
"I think I can handle that," Sunny smiles before turning to leave. Dox watches her run out of the cave and back into the forest. He smiles as something dawns on him.
"I'm not hungry,"
