At the midpoint of life's journey, I found myself in a dark forest, where the clear path was lost. I plodded through the forest, my blackened, chitin-covered, holed hooves kicking up dead leaves. The leaves were moist with the gathering dew from the fog descending to the ground. The bare trees reached up to the cloudless sky above like my own twisted horn. Further up I could see the moon, the very same one that blue princess claimed dominion over. Such arrogance.
Here I had wandered for months, my only company the worms in the ground and birds in the trees. My stomach growled again, testament to the great difficulty of finding food since the failed invasion of Canterlot. I had told the Queen that her gambit was foolhardy. We didn't need the food; we had a hive that was self-sufficient; we could each find food on our own time, but she was not satisfied. She was convinced she had to guarantee her people with food, a city of ponies harvested for their love, even if it meant draining them to hollow husks.
I tripped over a branch in my pondering and slid down an embankment onto a road. My chin scraped along the ground, plowing dirt and detritus out of the way. I lay there and let a lone tear flow out of my eye. Chrysalis had poisoned her hive's feeding ground. She had polluted the minds of each pony with fear and paranoia. Just as I predicted. I was just trying to help, to point out how ludicrous her plan was. Now everywhere I went, even in disguise, ponies eyed everypony warily. A tensed leg ready to buck at the slightest provocation, lips muttering prayers to their gods, wings quivering to take flight the moment something seemed off. All these things and more I had witnessed: a husband brought in for questioning when he forgot to buy potatoes for a meal, a grandmother's mind invaded by magic when she failed to recall where she had been that afternoon.
Ponies were no longer beings of trust, faith, and love since the Queen had made our people's presence known. All of this because she was convinced that we couldn't continue to grow our hive feeding the way we had. Now that she had acted the way she did it was true. Now I was left alone to try and repair the damage, show these ponies the importance of love once more.
I picked myself off the ground and started walking to the right, not caring for what I found on the road. Small plumes of dust arose as I trekked down the small dirt road. The branches of the trees around me arched overhead like the ceiling of a church. I closed my eyes and let out a soft sigh as my stomach began growling again. I thought back to the music the ponies had played in that strange building. So hauntingly beautiful, my ears perked up as I swore I heard music in the distance. Changeling memories, so precise, perfect some might say, all part of our role, our purpose. A purpose Queen Chrysalis had forgotten, and now I alone was left to return to it.
I shook my head as the music continued, but it did not go away. I looked up to see that I was climbing a hill. The music became clear as I reached the top of the hill. In the valley below I could see a lone pony sitting by a fire. In it's hooves was a cello, and it continued to play the music. A dozen feet from the fire was a bright orange tent. I shut my eyes and let the music flow into my ears like the soft trickle of a spring time stream. It had loneliness in it, but the focus and the skill with which it was played, denoted something behind it: passion and love. As the song continued I heard a snapping branch in the distance. An irritated grunt of a mare made my eyes snap open.
Instinct guided my limbs as I slunk into the bushes beside the trail. I breathed in deeply and the sails along my back flexed. I turned my head slightly and was rewarded by all my senses homing in on the mare stumbling through the bush. She glowed with the warmth of her body, permeating from her was a cloud of pheromones. Most telling of all though was her emotional state: euphoric. I snaked through the bushes and circled around her left side as she continued to trip her way through the branches. Clumsy creature, unicorn. I could tell as I picked up the magical energies it projected around a faggot of sticks.
I was behind her now, she was blissfully unaware of my presences as she made her way back to the road. I closed my eyes and trailed behind her; I was guided by scent, her emotions, and warmth. "Tavi!" she yelled. "Keep playing! I'm almost back!" The music had stopped quite some time ago. She reached the edge of the trail and started trotting towards the camp. I moved along the trail parallel to her. Moving low to the ground, I let my hoof strike a dead log as I pressed onward. The dull thud made her stop in her tracks. The pony's white ears perked up and she set the bundle of sticks on the ground carefully.
"Tavi? That you? I found some more firewood," she called into the bushes. I remained still, well off to the side from where she was looking. She squinted her eyes into the darkness as I let the muscles in my legs coil. "Come on Tavi, I know you always want to get me back for that Nightmare Night prank, but you're not gonna get the drop on me!" Small iotas of love eked their way through the diffusion of fear building up in her. With a snap I bolted over the road to the opposite side, making the mare spin around.
Her breathing was heavier now. My fin picked up the subtle emotions of hope. This one would be fun to copy, to replace, to use to teach just as a proper changeling does. "Hehehehe!" she chuckled nervously as she started stepping along the trail. "Very funny Tavi. Okay, I'm going back to the campsite. Race ya?"
I bared my fangs and let out a bolt of magic to the tree line. It struck a large branch and if fell to the ground with a loud bang behind the mare. She turned around again. Her pupils were the size of pins and dashing about inside her head. Her tail tucked in between her legs as she backed up, right in front of where I lay.
I clicked my vocal chords and the mare stopped dead in her tracks. She was shaking oh so softly as she turned her head to face me. Her horn glowed softly as she peered into the bushes. My blue eyes flashed in the light as I leaped onto her. Before she could scream I spat over her muzzle, the mucus solidified into a resin in seconds as I knocked her face to the side with my hoof. With another wad I cemented her horn to the ground. The single eye that looked up at me began tearing up as she struggled underneath me.
Starved as I was, I still had the advantage of a perfect ambush. Her limbs quaked uselessly under mine as I lowered my muzzle to her face. Sweat broke out on her brow and I extended my tongue to lick it up. Fear, but also hope. Perfect.
Octavia stared at the crackling fire before her. Her eyes fluttered to near slits before she reached up with a hoof and rubbed them vigorously. The hot flames leached out the moisture from her eyes, making the desire to wince and keep them closed almost unbearable. The grey mare lay down in the dirt and let the grime mess her perfectly groomed fur.
"Vinyl's been away for quite some time, I hope she's alright." She looked up at the clear sky. "She couldn't have gotten lost on a night like this, all she'd have to do is walk towards the moon." Octavia returned her staring to her cello case. "Maybe she's just waiting for me to start playing again so she can try and frighten me."
Octavia stood up and walked to her cello case and opened it up again. "Best entertain the darling." With a quick motion of her hooves the case was open and the instrument within was in her grasp. She ran the bow across the strings once before she noticed a pale pony in the distance. Floating beside the blue-maned unicorn was a bundle of sticks. Octavia set her cello to the side and trotted to the edge of the camp.
"Vinyl!" she called happily, throwing her hooves open. "You finally got more wood I see."
"Come on, when have I left you hangin'?" Vinyl replied with a grin plastered on her face. She set the bundle of sticks in a pile a few feet from the fire.
Octavia returned the smile with her own. "Never, you've always kept your promise." Vinyl stepped forward into Octavia's hooves and let her drape them around her neck. The two stayed like that for minutes. Octavia breathed softly into the DJ's mane. As she continued to hold Vinyl, Octavia began rocking from side to side. "This was a wonderful idea to go camping, wasn't it?"
"Yes," the white unicorn answered simply as she moved with Octavia. Vinyl sat down and wrapped her hooves around the cellist's neck. She nuzzled the neatly combed mane with her pale muzzle. A minute late the grey mare leaned back and gazed into Vinyl's red eyes.
Octavia gulped as she looked to the side nervously.
"Is something wrong?" asked Vinyl with a concerned tone.
"Just nervous... You know what we talked about a month ago?" Vinyl nodded her head in response. "Well... I finally told my parents."
Vinyl playfully planted her head underneath Octavia's. "Aaaabooout?" she cooed.
"About us silly!" Octavia pushed Vinyl away from her lightly with her hooves. "Honestly I sometimes have trouble telling when you're being serious."
Vinyl opened her mouth and looked at the ground before closing her mouth and looking back at Octavia. She licked her lips before asking, "How did they take it?"
"At first they thought you were being a bad influence," Octavia answered. "When I told them that we had been together for over a year, mother calmed down a bit." The mare chuckled as she walked off to sit by the fire. "When I told dad I had been given a permanent position as part of the royal ensemble, he was too overjoyed to care about us being with each other." Octavia looked up at her love as she walked to the fire to sit beside Octavia.
"It's good that you trusted them enough to tell them," Vinyl stated sagely. "I'm glad they accepted it." The white mare leaned into the grey and gave a contented sigh.
Octavia's purple eyes reflected the firelight as she looked fondly down upon her companion. "It's getting late... shall we turn in for the night?"
Vinyl turned to the tent and smiled. "Sounds wonderful." She stood up and walked past Octavia, her tail brushing along her side.
Octavia soon walked into the tent after her marefriend and zipped the tent shut with her mouth. The light of the fire filtered through the orange canvas sides and cast the two mares in a hellish glow. Vinyl lay on her belly and soon Octavia joined her at her side. The night-time party mare turned to her love and began pecking the side of her face. Octavia giggled as Vinyl's soft lips mussed the fur on her muzzle. Eventually, Vinyl pressed her lips to the Octavia's as the two sat up. Octavia closed her eyes and, shifting on the ground, the cellist adjusted her position so she was facing Vinyl. The sweet taste of Vinyl's tongue pressing against her lips made Octavia sigh. Her eyes opened to see Vinyl's... green eyes, and... green horn.
Outside the tend a small squeak sounded before a flash of green pulsed from the tent.
I sat by the fire warming my hooves. It was a good meal, I'd be able to go for another month with no troubles at all. It was a wonder Chrysalis had not cut her losses after having fed on Shining Armor for a full week. She had gained so much energy from that, defeated the Princess of the Sun herself, or so they say. I fluttered my wings slightly, letting the soft humming of their rapid beating meld with the sounds of the crackling fire.
I heard a pained groan from the white unicorn plastered to the ground. I'd taken the time to drag it back to camp after I knocked her partner unconscious. The mare's eyes fluttered open as though she were awakening from a drunken slumber. It wasn't too far off from the truth really.
She tried shifting her legs but then looked back to see that her hind legs were firmly secured to the ground. She tried casting magic but she gave a pained cry as the resin around her horn glowed green at her attempt to free herself.
"Don't bother," I said, "Try too hard and you might blow it off your forehead."
She looked at me then. From where she was sitting, my body was obscured by the lapping flames of the fire. Her breath picked up the pace as I stood up. The looked around and saw her dearest 'Tavi', bound up in much the same way as she was. She reached over with a free forehoof and shook her partner, but she did not stir. I walked around the fire and she looked at me. Vinyl finally opened her mouth, but only a dry croaking sound escaped her lips.
The unicorn gulped audibly and then coughed. "What did you do to her?" she asked. Her voice tried to muster up anger, but it quivered and quailed as I sat a yard away from her.
"Fed on her love for you," I answered nonchalantly. "You've kissed before right? I'd hate to have taken that from you."
"None of your business!" Feisty, this one was.
"Now there's no reason to be rude! The grass doesn't try to choke you one the way down," I replied bemusedly. When she resumed scowling at me I stared into her eyes, unblinking. She glared back and we continues to look upon one another. I kept an expression of fascination and curiosity while she kept up a stony visage of unbridled rage, for all of twelve seconds before she looked away from me.
"Are you going to eat us now?" she asked as she kicked a small pebble into the fire.
"Now Vinyl," I said. That made her look up with frightened eyes. "Changelings feed on love, nothing else, and you ponies have that in spades! That we take advantage of such bounty shouldn't be considered surprising."
Just then the grey mare sneezed, kicking up a small plume of dust which caused her to sneeze again. Tavi's eyes snapped open and she started scrambling her hooves. "VINYL!" she screamed and she looked around in a panic. Her eyes focused on her lover and she reached over to her with her forehooves. They hugged each other as the grey mare sobbed into the other's blue mane. "Oh Vinyl I had a terrible nightmare! There was--"
"Is that what you thought it was?" I interrupted. "Higher praise is seldom heard amongst changelings!" The two mare's heads snapped to look at me.
"Oh Celestia NO!" Tavi screamed. "NO! I DON'T WANT TO BE TURNED INTO A CHANGELING!"
I smiled wickedly as I walked up to her. "Well if you insist," I said as I approached her side. Her front hooves flailed at me and I backed up. As she continued to shake and palpitate her body, no doubt making sure she still had all her fur, I frowned. "What would make you think I could even turn you into a changeling? Or that I would want to? That would just mean another mouth to feed."
Tavi gulped, "Because of how uhm... you put Celestia in that cocoon?"
I leaned down to her and she recoiled as I breathed heavily. "Oh you are clever. Figured us all out, haven't you?" Her ears pressed themselves against her head.
"Don't want to be a changeling, don't want to be a changeling, don't want to be a changeling..." she chanted as I rolled my eyes. Then an idea struck me, a grand design.
I walked over to Vinyl and licked the side of her face. "Very well," I stated as I turned to look at the cellist. "I won't turn you into a changeling, but your marefriend here, she's going to have to stay with me!"
"NO! I'll go with you, don't hurt her!" Tavi screamed.
I withdrew my tongue from Vinyl and turned to her.
"Octavia, no!" the unicorn whispered. "You've got more to live for than me."
"Yes you do! You have your career, two parents who are proud of you!" I stroked Vinyl's mane with a hoof, letting it tickle the insides of my hooves. "Give up this sod who got lost in the woods and make a name for yourself!"
"It wouldn't be worth it without Vinyl there," Octavia answered flatly.
"And it wouldn't be worth going on knowing that I had sacrificed you to some monster!" Vinyl yelled loudly in turn. The volume made me wince. That white mare had quite the set of lungs.
I stood up fully and took a few steps away from them. I reached up with a hoof to my chin and stroked it as if deep in thought. "Well neither of you want to be changelings. I suppose there could be a way for me to be convinced to let you go."
"Anything!" Octavia responded quickly before Vinyl could reach a hoof over her mouth.
With a smile and a glowing horn, I opened up the cello case and brought it out. I floated it to the grey mare and recited simply "Play."
"Play?" the mare asked incredulously. "Play what?"
"Play anything!" I answered excitedly. "But make sure that you play it for her." I slid over to Vinyl and lifted her chin with a hoof. "Not me."
Vinyl gulped audibly as Octavia did the same. Taking the bow in the crook of one hoof, and supporting the cello with the other, Octavia began to play. She drew the bow along the strings and it gave a jittery start. As she continued to play she fumbled with the bow and it fell out of her hoof. "Sorry!" she exclaimed as she scrambled to pick up the implement.
"No no," I said, "Don't apologize to me! This is for your Vinyl."
Octavia began playing again, the notes were erratic and disarrayed. A symphony for me.
"Stop," I commanded as she slid her hoof to a rest. "I've told you once already," I stated as I tickled Vinyl's ear with my tongue, "play for her." Octavia started to perform once more as I hugged Vinyl. The white mare shut her eyes tight and I felt the slight rumbling of vomit pushing up her throat. She swallowed it as I pressed my ear to her side. Her heart was hammering against her rib cage. I slid along her back to place myself to her left.
"Such a strong mare, most would be screaming be this point," I breathed against her throat. Terror was my reward. I shot a quick glance to Octavia, she was looking right at us. "Continue," I instructed, and she did. I wrapped my hooves around Vinyl once more and pressed my lips to hers. She tried to squirm away but I tightened my grip and held her to my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a tear roll down Octavia's cheek as her playing slowed.
When she saw me looking at her however, I felt a pulse of absolute hatred for me. She sat straight and began to play a suite. This was different from the previous times, it was utterly focused, determined, and destined to the single goal of saving Vinyl. Octavia's eyes shut and I began to uncoil myself from Vinyl.
"Remember that her love saved you, as yours did her," I whispered. "Hold each other close, and never forget that together you can accomplish more than you ever could alone.
Vinyl sat there with her mouth hanging open as I unfolded my wings. "What the hell are you? Why toy with us like this?" she asked as I entered into a gentle hover.
"I am what I am. I am a fly in the ointment, the whisper lost upon the winds, the devil that prods from an evening rest."
I hovered away as the music continued, leaving a thoroughly confused mare. As the distance grew the music stopped and I felt a pulse of love flow from behind me. Maybe I could show the value of companionship to these ponies once more. Maybe I could prove mother wrong, that there was enough love in this world to keep a monstrosity like me fed.
Author's Note
Written for the Feature Box Crusader' January Writing Competition. Please, all are welcome to the competition.
