Author's Note

Gonna call Sting Ray the Changeling(aka the one working for Chrysalis ‘Sting’. And then Sting Ray the og(aka Ray) as Ray. This should hopefully help with any confusion from here and also help me with writing from their differing perspectives without confusing myself.

Nightmare Night

I walked down into the lobby of Twilight’s Castle. As it turned out, when you don’t have a costume, you tend to get finished before everybody else. I did put a fake mustache on though; I might as well put some effort in. Luna had already left to go participate in the festivities, so I was really just waiting on Twilight, Cadence, and Shining Armor. Princess Celestia had a problem with Nightmare Night(it’s a holiday that demonized her sister. Even I could understand why she’d hate this holiday), so she likely wasn’t going to join us. That’s good because tonight will go without a hitch.

Maybe next Nightmare Night, I can buy a top hat and a cane. With some grey hair dye, I could probably dress up as the Monopoly guy.

Now, on one hand, I could sit here and wait until everybody’s done getting ready for tonight, or I can walk out on my own. I don’t know why, but everybody seems to have a strong disdain for the forest nearby. Ponies call it the Everfree, and apparently you can die if you go in there. That sounds… like something I want to check out. I mean, yeah, I could die, but I also probably won’t. What’s the worst that can happen? I opened the door and walked on outside to find Luna.

I said I could go check out the Everfree forest, but didn't say I would check it out tonight. Luna said she’d love it if I were to stick by her and be her little minion for the night, so I might as well go ahead and find Luna. Anyways, I would’ve stepped outside had there not been three foals, fillies I think, standing outside with costumes, all three were vampires(with pretty well made costumes, I might add). They had baskets held in their mouths. “Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us somethin-“ they paused as they finally realized who had answered the door. That didn’t stop me from giving them what they came for:

Candy!

Conveniently, by the door, sat a bowl full of the sugary treats in ‘Princess Size’, and I grabbed four pieces with my magic and kept one for myself. “Love your costum-“ the three fillies screamed and ran away before I could even finish. “Costumes. Welp, that’s cool. I guess I can’t pass off as a really good Changeling costume tonight. My ears flattened and I placed the candy back in the bowl. Well, I won’t be the one constantly handing out candy, so maybe none of this goes to waste.

“Did you scare those fillies off on purpose?” I froze as soon as I heard Princess Celestia’s voice. I slowly turned around to see the whole shabang of royals(excluding Luna), all in costumes. Cadence and Twilight were dressed as wizards with beards, Shining Armor was dressed up as… another wizard, but had huge glasses that made him look like Harry Potter. And lastly, Princess Celestia was wearing a giraffe costume. Tonight just got even better. Well, at least Princess Celestia was partaking in the holiday, even if she seemed to hate it. Maybe she was hoping to spend the night with me, but I wasn’t hoping for that.

“Boy do I love chasing off ponies that already don’t like me. All I did was open the door to go find Luna, and instantly scare off three kids which just brings a smile to my face. I can’t even show my face, on a night where you’re supposed to dress up as something scary, without chasing anybody off!” I ripped the fake mustache and sighed. I spun around and pulled the door open again. This time, I was actually going to leave the castle.

“I’ll be off now, happy Halloween!” I waved my hoof as I stepped out the door and quickly ran off. Great, just absolutely wonderful. Bold of me to assume that these people already accepted me after a week! I was still getting stared at tonight with… distaste? I can tell how you stupid ponies are feeling, at least try to hide that you don’t like me. I grumbled my way through town and crossed a bridge without even realizing where I was going. I was at the tail edge of town, getting closer and closer to a thick, dark treeline. The canopy of the trees was so thick that no moonlight could even breach it.

It looked spooky.

Turns out that I had found my way into the Everfree Forest. Well, I was hoping that I’d bump into Luna or even Time Turner, but I guess this works. This place was supposed to be scary, right? I trotted forward, not really caring if I got lost… actually that gave me an idea. I grabbed a stick with my magic and dragged it through the ground as I walked. I listen to rumors, and I heard that it’s pretty easy to get lost here. If I have a trail, then what will keep me from getting lost?

A twig snapped off to my right and my eyes immediately snapped in said direction. Another stick snapped in the opposite direction and I began to grin like an idiot. I will admit, this place was actually kinda scary, but not scary enough. This was what I was hoping for when I left Canterlot for the first time… adventure. Of course, I wasn’t going to go investigate what the heck was making that noise, but I am in a forest known for killing people. So proceeding with caution was a pretty sound idea to me... I won’t follow it though.

Who knows? If I die then nobody will notice. Sure, Luna might, but she’s immortal and royal; she can probably buy another Changeling to take care of. My eyes widened as a thing made out of wood stepped out of the brush. It kinda… looked like a wolf, but its entire body was made of pieces of wood and was held together by magic. Its… teeth looked reallt sharp, and its glowing eyes told me that it was hungry. To my surprise, it was actually kinda smaller than I was by a fair amount.

The movements of the… creature and its mannerisms were pretty similar to that of wolves. Well, a wolf that was about to kill and eat its prey. It stared me down and I had an idea… I could feed it candy and hope it goes away. I had one, tiny little candy, which looked like a fruity kind, and unwrapped it. “Hey buddy, if you’re hungry I got this for ya! Just… don’t bite my head off. I know a few people who’d like that, but I’m not one of them.”

The… I guess Wood Wold? Kept its fangs bared as it crept forward. A growl escaped its form as I tried not to look scared. If you look scared then you’ll get bodied by whatever’s hunting you. It snapped up the candy and its eyes widened. It eyed me for a moment before it started creeping forward and pinned me down. My life flashed before my eyes as I came crashing to the ground.

I was going to die.

(Luna’s POV)

I tapped my hoof on the ground as I waited for Ray to show up. Where was that little Changeling? I figured that he’d love to spend some time with me; nopony would be genuinely scared of him since they’ll just assume that he’s just got a good Changeling costume. Plus having a little minion for Nightmare Night would be a nice little change of pace, since fillies like to be scared, and Changelings were scary to them. It was an odd thing that I never fully understood, but I suppose it has been a millennium since I’ve been a filly.

I guess it was cool to be scared to death now.

It wasn’t long until the costume contest had started and Ray hadn’t shown up. Did Ray decide to not partake in the festivities? If that’s the case, then I’ll have to have a stern talk with him. Ponies aren’t going to get used to him if he holes up in his room most of the time. I would have even gotten on him for ignoring Cadence and Shining Armor had they not told me his reasoning for doing so. He didn’t want to ruin their visit with his poorly concealed hatred for my sister. Well, his absence in that department did help with my sister’s visit; it was nice just to chat with Celly without any politics involved.

Being a princess sucked for that aspect.

Tonight on Nightmare Night, myself, Twilight, and Cadence were the judges for the costume party. There was a fourth chair at the judge table, which I had specifically asked for if Ray had shown up… okay, something is wrong here. Cadence and Twilight happily trot up to me, with smiles on their faces. “Nightmare Moon! Are you ready to…” Twilight paused. “Where’s Ray? I thought he would go to you after he ran off.”

“I thought he was with either you or Cadence. I haven’t seen Ray since I left your castle and… he could be spending his time with Time Turner or Ditzy. But I doubt it, since I’m sure Ray would still seek me out if he could.” I scanned the crowd and saw that Time Turner and Ditzy were together, both had paper bags on their heads with holes cut into them so they could see. Ditzy had managed to fall into the apple bobbing bucket while Time Turner tried to help his wife out, while laughing. Ray wasn’t with them. In fact, he was nowhere in the crowd. “Do you think he finally forgave my sister?”

“Not a chance. We left Celestia at the castle, since she wanted to hand candy out. Ray was probably going to do just that, but the first fillies that showed up ran away while screaming.” Cadence paused. “He didn’t take it very well, and I’ve spoken to the same fillies that ran away from him; they thought it was just a really good prank that you or Celly made. In fact, some ponies mentioned something about somepony ‘having a really good Changeling costume’ on the way here.”

My eyes widened. “Do… so Ray did what I had done during my first Nightmare Night?” I asked. That wasn’t good, since I took everypony’s fear of me the wrong way, and it seemed like Ray spawned his own misery on this one. Just three fillies, just three children were scared of him, and he stormed off to Celestia knows where! Hopefully Ray just went to hide somewhere, likely under a bridge, since he did have some weird obsession with hiding under bridges when something goes wrong.

Unfortunately, the costume contest had begun, and I couldn’t get away in time. There were a lot of the same costumes as last year; clowns, zombies, vampires. A couple dressed up as goats, a few had Changeling costumes, and there was even an imitation of myself and my sister here or there. None of the costumes particularly wowed me, and it did make me sad that none of the Changeling costumes were actually Ray. Rainbow did have a really nice wonderbolt costume, and Pinkie dressed up as a deranged, hockey mask wearing, serial killer.

That, so far, was my favorite costume.

(Ray’s POV)

So, it turns out that a tongue made out of wood felt a lot like an actual tongue made of flesh and blood. I squirmed and laughed as the wood wolf I had just fed continued to lick the hell out of me. I grabbed onto the thing’s sides in protest as I laughed my lungs out. The canine wasn't even holding me down with all his weight, and I could probably still get up if he could. He? Am I assigning genders to what is a sentient pile of driftwood in the shape of a dog?

Yes. Yes I am, and said dog shaped pile of driftwood is my pet now. The wood wolf had no collar, no signs of ownership from anybody else, so what was the harm in keeping him? It was obvious that he was friendly… now that I bribed him with the only thing that I had on me, which could be considered food. Still, the wooden tongue bit was very weird. It was wet like a dog’s tongue, but a little rough. I got no splinters thanks to my exoskeleton, so I wasn’t complaining about this. I got to play with a dog, I always wanted to do this sorta thing.

The wood wolf got off of me, its tail was wagging and… it was smiling. Well, the way to a dog’s, and I guess wolves made out of wood, heart was something tasty. I carefully patted the thing on the head and smirked. It turned out wood wolves are covered in a light, to moderately thick coating of leaves, so it kinda felt like really some smooth fur(depending on which part of their body that you’re looking at). “So, wanna come into town with me? I doubt that one piece of candy’s enough to fill your belly, but I got access to a kitchen full of food!” The wood wolf took a moment to think over what I said, like it understood me, and nodded like a person…

This thing was already smarter than me.

Thankfully my trail in the dirt was still very visible, so we began to walk down the improvised trail, and quickly found ourselves on the edge of Ponyville. The streets were surprisingly empty, probably because of that costume contest… fuck. I forgot that I said I’d join Luna tonight! Well, that’s gonna be an earful later. The few ponies that saw me and my new pet ran away while screaming ‘timber wolf!’ So that’s what this little fella’s called! A ‘Timber Wolf’. I personally prefer what I was calling it, since it had a nice alliteration to it.

Also my name for these things is now law. As a prince, I can do that, right?

We stopped outside of a Hayburger and I had my wood wolf sit outside while I went inside. It wasn’t surprising that there were still ponies working tonight, and I was glad for it. I think a burger, that was probably made of beans, would be more nutritious for my wolf than whatever Twilight had in her fridge. Though… eggs would be pretty nice; dogs loved eggs so clearly my wolf would. I bought four burgers and got greeted by the timber wolf outside. The timber wolf greeted me like any bubbly puppy would greet its owner.

I should probably name this thing, huh? Redwood would be a cool name, most of his body did look like a bunch of red wood. Actually, the fella was about the size of a puppy that was a few months old… Did I find a pup? That would explain why this thing was so friendly; it probably didn’t know how to be mean yet. That, or it just really liked me for some reason. I did feed it some candy, and was about to feed it burgers.

I unwrapped the burgers with my magic and Redwood wolfed down two burgers, but refused to touch the third or forth. “Go on, bud, eat up! Trust me, I can go without one of these things for tonight.” Redwood shook his head and let out a whine with big eyes. With his… paw, he gestured to the burger and pawed my leg. God, why was that actually kinda cute and sweet? He wanted to make sure I wouldn’t go hungry while I was making sure he wouldn’t go hungry! I chuckled and took a bite of my burger.

“Y’know, you’re probably the nicest thing in Equestra. Aside from like… a dozen ponies, you haven’t cared about me being a Changeling, or a defective Changeling. It’s a nice feeling, and I dunno how smart you are, but I can tell that you at least understand me,” the wood wolf’s ears flattened as I set a hoof on the top of its head. If I had fingers, I’d probably be scratching it right now. Redwood could feel it when I patted him apparently, or pretended to at least. “So thank you for not killing me, firstly. And also thank you for at least being friendly with me.” I took another bite of my burger and paused in the silence.

“Wanna stay with me? It’d be nice to have somebody to care for, and not be somebody who’s being cared for. I mostly just don’t want to say goodbye to you, really.” I laughed. “God, not even an hour into meeting you and I don’t wanna say ‘bye’ to you! I’m goin’ soft.” The canine flopped himself beside me and laid his head on my side. “Coolest pet ever!” I hugged the wood wolf with one arm.

(Luna’s POV)

We were just about done with the festivities for tonight and Ray was still missing. How long has it been? A couple of hours? And Ray was likely still hiding under a bridge. It was a shame too, since I had a sizable pile of candy that I was going to split with Ray when I found him. That’s… assuming Ray hasn’t gone over the edge and took a train to Manehattan by now. Ray was apparently smart enough to know that ponies feared him, especially strangers, and knew how to utilize it to his advantage. And now Ray had an income; he could be long gone and I wouldn’t have known.

“Timber wolf!” My ears perked up as a couple ponies came running in from the outskirts of town. Now, if there was a timber wolf, it probably wouldn’t give chase into the center of Ponyville; they’re smart and vicious. They weren’t on pony levels of intelligence, but they knew they couldn’t take on a herd of ponies solo. Now, if there was more than one, if there were any at all, then that could be a problem. However, as a princess, it was my duty to help my subjects if they were in danger.

“A timber wolf you say?” I asked. Twilght, Cadence and Shining Armor stared down the pony that had run into us. I dropped the form of Nightmare Moon for my natural form; the festivities were on hold for now.

“Yeah, it just wandered into town… it seemed to be following something, but I couldn’t tell. It’s… kind of dark, so I couldn’t tell.”

“Where’s the timber wolf?” Shining asked. My nephew had gone into full guard mode, something I couldn’t help but respect. The pony pointed in the direction he had run from. The four of us ignited our horns for light, I believe Twilight knew a flashlight spell since her horn glowed the brightest, and walked in that general direction. For a while, we didn’t see anything, or anypony for that matter. It was getting late and most ponies were either asleep or celebrsting in the town center.

It didn’t take long until we came across a Hayburger, and then we spotted the timber wolf. Ray was sitting right next to it, eating a sandwich, while the timber wolf itself was leaning on his shoulder. Ray had a book held in his magic and a hoof resting on the torso of the timber wolf. The only reason I could see the Changeling was due to his eyes, which were giving off some light, and the light from the Hayburger outlining his figure.

“So… that’s the timber wolf? It looks kinda… small,” Twilight said.

“Ray found a pup, it seems,” I said as we began to approach. Ray looked up from his book and waved a hoof at me. “So this is where you have been all night? Eating a hayburger and petting a timber wolf?” I asked.

“Well, after scaring off some fillies, yeah. I wandered off without really paying attention and walked into the Everfree. The place isn’t so bad when you leave a trail,” Ray gestured towards his timber wolf. “Found this fella while wandering around. I gave him some candy and offered him food if he came with me. And… well, I have a pet wood wolf, or timber wolf, or wolf. I feel like any of those work with this guy.” My eye twitched.

“Ray, why did you walk into the Everfree to begin with? You could’ve died!” I yelled.

“Wasn’t thinking straight,” Ray said with a yawn. He didn’t seem mind the any implications of what could’ve happened to him... Ray, what the hay?

“And… How did you get out so fast? My friends and I struggle when we walk into the Everfree, and we know somepony that lives in there!” Twilight asked.

“Took a stick, stuck it in the ground. Then I dragged it through the ground with my magic. I made a trail and followed that as soon as I found something, that something being Redwood here,” Ray gestured towards the timber wolf. He named it already? “I’m not completely stupid. I heard about how easy it is to get lost in that forest, so there were two things I could’ve done. One involved a lot of yarn and the other took a stick and magic.”

“That… is actually ingenious. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Humans are great at problem solving, we don’t usually have fancy magic to solve most of our problems. When we got a problem, we either punch it, or we find some way to circumvent the problem.” I tapped my head. “I guess we’re… more creative when it comes to problem solving because of that. No offense to you guys, but it’s pretty hard to be creative when you can blast something with magic.” Ray then looked down at the timber wolf that was now asleep. He wasn’t wrong about that part. Even earth ponies and pegasi tended to be more creative than unicorns and alicorns due to them believing that they cannot use magic. And now Ray, somebody who is used to living without magic, has access to magic.

For all we know, Ray could be a stepping stone for creating new, interesting spells

“So, can I keep Redwood? He’s already agreed to letting me keep him.”

“You talked to it, like it’s another pony?” Shining Armor asked.

“Yeah, timber wolves understand English apparently. For example,” Ray patted Redwood on the side and the canine lifted his head. “Sorry about waking you up bud, but I just wanted to show this to some people. Can you understand me?” Ray asked. To mine, and everypony’s shock, the timber wolf nodded before it let out a growl. It wasn’t an aggressive one; it sounded more annoyed about its sleep being interrupted for a manner that it thought wasn’t important.

I didn’t even need to turn to Twilight to tell if she was shaking in anticipation. Now was a chance to study Changelings, humans, and timber wolf pups? The scholar part of Twilight was probably having a field day at all the potential information she could gather from an opportunity like this. I sighed and looked at Ray and noted something in his eyes I haven’t seen outside of short instances.

His eyes weren’t kind of dull, but now filled with more life than I have seen before. There was a smile on Ray’s face as he kept his focus on Redwood. Maybe this was one extra thing that this young stallion needed to keep pushing forward. Ray has made it clear that I helped him a fair amount with adjusting to what will be his life for the next few years, and now he had a pet timber wolf to take care of. This was a chance to keep Ray happy, and to keep him from potentially harming himself.

(Ray’s POV)

“I suppose we can let you keep that timber wolf… on one condition,” Luna started.

“He can’t eat anybody?” I asked.

“Precisely.”

“That’s fair. I think this fella woulda ate me for dinner if I didn’t bribe him with candy…” I glanced up at Luna. “Sorry about not joining you for Nightmare Night, but this guy fell asleep on my shoulder an hour and a half ago. Once he was asleep, I was scared of moving; and I could move, but I don’t want to,” I patted Redwood. “I don’t want to move if there’s a dog sleeping on my shoulder; I’d feel bad.” I chuckled when Redwood twitched in his sleep.

I then stood up, and lifted the timber wolf onto my back. I kept my magic going to ensure that he wouldn’t fall off. The walk to Twilight’s castle was filled with everybody filling me in on what happened at Nightmare Night’s celebration… and about how those three fillies from earlier were glad that I scared them. Apparently most Nightmare Night pranks were growing stale and I was believed to be one of Luna’s pranks… well, it’s better than being seen as a monster.

Oh great, Redwood can apparently drool! That’s gross, confusing, and fascinating all in one go!

(Sting’s POV)

I let out a small groan as I rolled out of my train’s seat first thing in the morning. I’ve been disguised as a blueish green, pegasus stallion during this whole train ride and I was bored. All for the glory of the Hive! This is what I was born for, doing whatever it takes to please the Queen, improve the Hive, and I even get to take care of a pesky deserter to boot! I couldn’t help but contain my excitement as the conductor announced that we were arriving in Ponyville.

It’s time to shine.