Feeding on Love

Oh. That’s not good, thought Matt as he suddenly realized that this definitely was not a regular party, and these definitely were not regular ponies. They looked like giant insects, which to him was disgusting. Matt was absolutely repulsed by these things.

“Guys, I am absolutely repulsed by these things,” Matt whispered to his friends. These things really are disgusting.

“Matt,” Sebas began, “I think we lost Jonathan.”

“We did? Ah, well. He will be missed. Let’s get out of here!”

“You aren’t even going to try to look for him?” Sebas questioned his cynical friend.

“Nah, too dangerous,” Matt reasoned. “Now let’s head back out the window from where we came!” Matt started to leave when he saw Sebas giving him a disapproving glare. Aw, not that look, Matt thought. Matt had a massive ego, and when ponies didn’t approve of him or something he did, he took it as a personal attack.

“Come on, Sebas, you can’t expect me to-“ Matt began. He couldn’t finish, however, because he knew his blue friend was right. They needed to find Jonathan, and quickly. “Alright. You’re right. I’m wrong.” I hate being wrong. “We need to find Jonathan.”

* * *

Most changelings don’t care about their natural appearance, because most changelings spend so much time pretending to be somepony else. Most changelings spend three fourths of their life disguised as somepony else. Most changelings could be your best friend, and you would be none the wiser. Juliet was not most changelings.

Most changelings don’t take names. They’re like bees. Ninety-nine percent of a changeling hive is made up of drones, who live only to take orders from the hive’s unquestioned, all powerful leader. In the case of this hive, it’s Queen Chrysalis.

Juliet was the odd one out. As one of the only females in the entire hive, she was a major contender to succeed Chrysalis. There was just one problem; she didn’t want to lead the changeling hive. She hated everything it stood for. She hated stealing the power of love from ponies just to gain sustenance. It made her feel evil. She had seen the things other changelings have done. She heard about the months of hypnotism Chrysalis had forced onto some poor stallion in Canterlot, draining love from him every second of the day. To Juliet, deception like this doesn’t feel right. To her, it’s like rape.

Juliet hated her heritage and the race she was born into. She would like nothing more than to throw on a disguise and never let it down; to change her identity completely. If she wanted to survive, however, she must draw love from somepony. She tries to take only in small amounts, and she never deceives a stallion into loving her; often, she would put on a disguise and wait around in a public place. More often than not, there was a happy young couple kissing, or hugging, or just cuddling up against each other. She would take this chance to draw a very small amount of energy from the lovers. Enough to keep her alive, but still not so much that the couple even notices anything is being taken from them.

Juliet was definitely not like most changelings, and she certainly did not want to look anything like most changelings. Using magic, she had managed to grow a mane like regular ponies do. It was moderately long and flowing. Unlike Chrysalis, Juliet actually took proper care of her hair. As a result, it wasn’t stringy and full of bugs or dirt or who knows what. She even acquired dye, and was able to dye her mane a pale pink color. She also tried her best to hide her insect-like wings, although she found no successful method of doing so without looking stupid.

She truly was the most beautiful changeling in her hive. Not that the others cared. Most changelings have a life cycle that consists of being born, draining life from ponies, mating, and dying. Deaths were not usually of natural causes. Some were beaten to death. Others were burned. Even more were executed for the entertainment of ponykind. It was very rare that a changeling lived past 20. Juliet, being 20 herself, knew this. However, she also knew that most changelings were absolute dipshits. She knew the risks and took every necessary precaution to not die in a horribly painful way.

Still, her long life ahead reminded her that when her time comes, she will be dying alone. She refused to deceive a pony into loving her, and it was common knowledge that a changeling could not love a pony and be loved in return.

Juliet sighed. She had been staring in this mirror for an hour. She heard music coming from downstairs. Based on the vague kick-snare-kick-snare pattern, she guessed the artist was TheLivingTombstone. That, of course, was his stage name. No one knew the earth pony’s real name.

“Might as well go enjoy that party,” she said aloud to herself. She got up and turned to walk out.

* * *

“Ok Sebas,” Matt began detailing his plan to find Jonathan. “We’ll both split up. I’ll head upstairs. You take this hallway over here. If one of those things spots you, just run like hell. If you find Jonathan or his corpse, meet me back here with Jonathan or his corpse. I will do the same. If you don’t find him or his corpse in half an hour, just come back here.”

“Kay,” Sebastian casually replied as he walked down the hallway. Matt walked cautiously up the stairs.

Sebastian found Jonathan almost instantly. He had apparently wandered off to see what else was in this house.

“Sebas! You’re never gonna believe this! The guys at this party aren’t normal ponies! I’m not sure what they are, but they’re like insect-pony hybrids! And they’re really disgusting!”

“Yeah, I know,” Sebastian interrupted his friend. “Matt and I saw a few of them in the other room- MATT! I need to let him know that I found you. He could be absolutely anywhere by now!”

* * *

Matt was absolutely nowhere by now. “I hope I find Jonathan soon,” he began talking to himself. He just hoped that one of those things didn’t find him. The party was downstairs, so he was fairly confident that nopony would find him. He then began to think of the word “nopony” and similar words, and how stupid that word was. Ponies still had bodies, so why did they have to replace the root “body” with “pony”?

As Jonathan went unfound and time went on, Matt became increasingly worried that he was currently searching for a body. He was also worried that this body search would turn into a search for HIS body.

But Matt realized he was being ridiculous. There’s no possible way one of those things would find him. Matt turned the corner, and paused and stared in horror.

One of those things found him.