“Kill her!”

one of the crazed raiders opens fire, bullets whizzing past me as I run down the deserted street, as a sudden searing pain erupts as one grazes my flank. I yelp in pain as I quickly turn into an alleyway, running with full force.

“ find that bitch and bring me her head!”

Oh, right, I'm still disguised as a mare. I drop my disguise with a burst of green flame, revealing my changeling self. I reach the end of the alleyway and propel myself upward and over a chain fence with my insectoid wings. I land with a grunt, and take off toward the mountains.

“That, did not go well.”

Once I reach my little shelter, I shake off my saddlebags and plop down on the ground. I sigh, and begin to take inventory. I take the items one by one out lay them down on the ground in front of me. A sparkle cola, 23 bottle caps, some random bullets, and a small knife. I sigh again, and put the things back into the bag except the cola, and put the bag in the back of my shelter. I go back out front, lay down, and open the cola with my magic. I take a swig, and close my eyes as I contemplate what happened. Earlier today, I saw a caravan walking past, so i decided to take a closer look. They were a couple, with two foals. As they passed by, I could feel the love they had for one another, and I just knew I had to get some. I decided to disguise myself as a young mare, and feigned being injured farther down the pathway. It worked, and they took me in like a lost foal. There love was just so sweet, I gladly drank it in. However, as we walked, the raiders that were after me a while back, killed the whole family, including their Brahman. I took a random bag of theirs and ran for it. I open my eyes, take another swig of my drink, and go inside my makeshift shelter to sleep. Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow.

As I slept, I was disturbed by a voice in my head; faint and far away, calling to me. I see an image of another changeling, this one is a female, and it was trying to tell me something. Her mouth moved, but no words came out. “What are you saying?” I call out. She begins to look frustrated, and scared, as she frantically tries to talk. All that came out were faint whispers. She starts waving her fore hooves, becoming panicked, trying to yell. “What do you want? I don't understand!” after I yell back to her, she begins to fade away into the blackness, still trying to speak.

I wake up with a start, breathing heavily, the dream still fresh in my mind. “What the hell was that?” I ask myself, both scared and confused to what I had just witnessed.

I look around, making sure that i am indeed still alone. Although the dream was over, i still could feel her presence. Calling to me. I get up from my bed, put on my gear, and walk out of my shelter. I walk out and enter into a crisp, cool night; gunshots and fires in the distance. I feel something pulling on my mind, a whispering urging me to leave, and find the changeling in my dream. I turn back and look on my makeshift shelter, pick up my hunting rifle, sling it on my back and head of into the wastes.

The pull on my brain is like a physical force, urging me farther along my path. I don't know where I was going, or exactly why I am doing it, but i'm determined regardless. As the morning light came out, more of the wastelands creatures came out with it. however, lucky for me, I'm stealthy enough to avoid them. As I walk around a large rock, I spot a small pack of rad roaches, and easily avoid them. However, the next thing I see is a giant glob of goo fly over my head, landing with a acidic hiss. I turn around, and spot the bloat sprite that flung the foul smelling goop at me.

“No you don't” I declare, in my buzzy insect voice.

As I sling my rifle around, standing on my hind legs, and holding the rifle in my fore hooves, I take aim.

Suddenly, the bloat sprite flings another ball of goop at me, hitting the barrel of my gun.

“Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me!”

I drop my rifle and quickly pull out my side arm, a simple 10mm pistol, and fire three shots at the foul creature. The first two missed, landing in the dirt, with the last one blowing the creature's head clean off. I holster my gun, and look down at my rifle. The goop covered the entire barrel, and is slowly dissolving it. I kick the rifle in disgust, and continue my journey.

When I finally reach a town, night has already begun. I put on a new disguise with a wave of green fire, a dark green stallion with a pea pod for a cutie mark, and messy brown hair and walk in. There is two guard towers, each with a guard in them armed with machine guns. They eye me suspiciously, but don't make any move to stop me. As I walk in, I can already see some of the shops closing up, there owners turning in for the night; I see a gun shop still open, a pristine spec ops sniper rifle on display. My eyes open wide as I quickly rush over to it.

“How much?” I ask.

A brown stallion with grey hair turns around to look at me.

“For what?” he answers, with a tired look on his face.

“Uh, that rifle you got there” I ask eagerly, trying to resist the urge to pull it out and test fire it.

“This?” he points to the gun, “ You look more like a farmer than a sniper.”

Well, underneath I look more like a creature from your nightmares than a pony, I think to myself. This conversation is going nowhere.

“Just, please tell me how much it is”

The stallion sighs, “2,000 caps.”

“2,000 CAPS?!? What, is it made of GOLD?!?”

“Look, I got a business to run here, 2,000 caps for the rifle, take it or leave it. Also, would ya mind toning it down a bit? Some ponies are trying to sleep.”

“Ugh, ok, let me see what I have.”

I open my saddle bag and take out my caps. 23 from the caravan owners, 56 from a cap stash I found, and 12 from here and there. That's not even 100 caps in total, and no where near 2,000. I sigh, and scoop my caps up back into my bag. Stupid money. Stupid rifle. Stupid shop owner. Well, I should at least have enough money to get a room for the night. Hopefully there's some couple there, too, as I do need love to survive and all. I leave the shop and I go to look for a place to sleep. I walk around town until finally I see a building that looks like an old hotel, and I go inside. I enter the building and see a mare standing behind the front desk, looking at a computer in front of her.

“Hello, and welcome to the cozy shack. A room for a day is 20 caps, 60 for the week, and we serve breakfast in the morning. Interested?” she finished with a monotone voice, almost as she has recited this exact saying every day for her entire life. Well, to be honest, she probably has.

“I'll take a room for the night please.”

“That’ll be 20 caps, sir.”

I place 20 caps on the counter, and she offers me a room key.

“Door to the left, 3rd floor. Room 206”

I take the key, and walk through the door. After following her instructions, I enter the room, lock the door behind me, and take off my saddle bags. The room is lightly furnished, a small, stained bed, a cracked mirror, and a table with a chair. I guess it will have to do. I un-disguise myself, and look at my reflection in the mirror. Yup, still a changeling. Although I enjoy being one, life has never been easy. Always hiding, always running, always alone. Steal love, leave. Steal love, then leave. I'm kinda sick of it. I want a friend. But i'm a monster, and monsters don't get friends. I lay down on the bed, and quickly fall asleep.

Once again I dream of the changeling, She is still trying to speak to me, but i'm still unable to hear her. Her eyes are scared and pleading, and the only thing I can understand is her mouthing the word please over and over again. I sit there, feeling confused and helpless, as I watch her trying to tell me something. She once again fades into the black, and I wake into the real world.

I swing my legs around the bed, sitting. I have never been more determined about doing something. I don't know what it is, but the urge to find her has never been stronger. I mean, I've never seen another changeling; heck, until now, I thought I was the only one. I open my maws in a big yawn, stretch, and hop off the bed. With a wave of green flame, i don my disguise, checking myself in the mirror. I better get some love today, if i want to sustain myself, and give me enough magic to finish my journey. I put on my saddle bags, holster my pistol, unlock the door, and step out into the hall. As I walk down the stairs, I catch a whiff of cooking bacon from downstairs, my mouth starting water. Although i only need love to survive, normal food still tastes good. And i haven't had any good meat in a while. I get to the bottom of the stairs, and walk into the lobby. The female receptionist is still standing behind the desk, typing away at her computer. She looks up, then back to the computer, pointing a hoof at the opposite door.

“Breakfast is being served in there”

I look to both sides of me,the room being empty, and realizing that i didn't see anyone in the hall or stairs coming down either, i started to think i was the only one here.

“Uh, where is everypony?” i ask.

“Once again the receptionist looks up from her computer, then back down before she answers.

“Mostly everypony's out working already, those who aren't will be either in the there eating,” she once again points to the other door, “or there still sleeping.”

Oh, good. I started to worry there. Cant exactly harvest love if you're the only one around. I walk to the door that the receptionist pointed out, and right before i go through i quickly thank her. I open the door, and enter a surprisingly large room, with multiple round tables with chairs scattered about the room. On one side there is a bar, with a male pony standing behind it. The entire room is well kept, the floor surprisingly shiny, like the wood is glossed. Nice. I walk to the pony at the bar, eager to see what the delicious food looks, and tastes like.

“I'd like some breakfast please”

The stallion looks at me with annoyance, points to a table on the other side of the room, and continues working.

“Uh, thanks?”

What was that about? As i look at the room i'm in, I notice that there are only two other ponies in here with me, not including the bartender. Although it was odd there were so few ponies, what really caught my attention is that neither of them were eating! But the meat smells wonderful! What could possibly be there reason for not eating any? I walk over to the table, and there are plates and bowls on top all filled with… slop? I walk a bit closer and take another sniff, and jump back at the horrid smell of the sludge on the plates. Now farther away, i take another sniff, and that wonderful smell of meat once again fills the air. I look around, absolutely perplexed at this, until i spot a small jar filled with a strange red liquid sitting on a pedestal. I walk up to it and see that there's a label on it, and it reads;

“ bacon scent. Nothing like waking up to the smell of bacon in the morning!”

Bacon scent!? You mean that there's no meat?!? I want meat! I stomp my hoof in frustration, grumbling. How can such a nice place have such terrible food? I begin to walk out, as the bartender stares at me with dagger eyes.

“Do we have a problem?”

“Nope, no problem.” I mumble back.

The problem, is that the food stinks! Literally! I walk out of the hotel, wishing that I could taste some red meat right now. I step outside, ready to move on to the next part of the plan before i head off to discover the source of the pull. Find love.

I begin to walk around town, the streets much more populated then last night. Ponies are buying and selling, and foals are playing and laughing. A nice place, but I don't plan on sticking around for long. I begin to scan the crowd, looking for some unsuspecting loving couples. At first i didn't see anypony that looks even remotely in love, until I spotted them. A cream colored mare with a pink mane, standing next to a blue stallion with light blue hair. They have two foals running around them, tackling and fighting one another. I can already smell the love that the two parents have for one another, and for their children. I walk closer, as the scent grows stronger with every step. I do my best to seem as inconspicuous as possible, making myself seem interested in the shops that surround me. Once i'm close enough, I activate my inner changeling magic. I begin to steal the love that the family is producing, enough to sustain me, but not enough for them to notice. Being to greedy, and taking too much can kill the host, and a pony suddenly dropping dead with me nearby is not a situation i want to be in. The family continues to play, as if nothing happened, completely and utterly unaware of the predator standing right by them. With my belly filled, and my body rested, it's time to once again head off into the wasteland.