//------------------------------// // The Apple Stand // Story: We Aren't All Monsters // by Arctic Inferno //------------------------------// The Changeling stepped out of the shrubs, spitting an irritatingly thin bone onto the trail and wiping the blood away from its lips. He had decided that, after capturing the small furry creature and mauling it until it shuddered and expired, it was best if he switched back to his true form to actually consume it. Ponies had little more than just sandpaper for teeth, and eating a creature with a bone structure had proven to be practically impossible. A Changeling's teeth, though; perfect for tearing meat off of the bone. With a quick check around to ensure nopony had seen him he was enveloped by jade light once more and strode back into the town centre as the pegasus he had been disguised as a few minutes prior. A single rabbit had hardly proven to be a sufficient lunch, but it was a lot better than two slices of bread and a couple of flowers. He strolled back through town to the library and peeked back through a window. Whilst eating lunch the thought had struck him that if he had moved in the dead of night he could've made a cocoon around the purple unicorn and she'd be halfway to perfection by now. But no; he had been so distracted from the warmth and serenity of a pony bed that he had failed in even that, and now it would be significantly harder to get another chance to do so. Breezy spied a bench on the side of the road directly outside the tree he had spent the night in and copied the way he had seen ponies sitting before, finding it comfortable, and got to thinking. Perhaps a direct approach was a bad idea right now. He looked up at the clouds in the sky, deep in thought. Maybe if he went back in there she might get suspicious. Yes, that was a poor idea. He needed to find a way to get to her without arousing too much attention. Breezy sat in silence for a while before his pony ears flicked and perked up. The others. The Changeling stood from his bench and looked around at the town. If he could find one of the unicorn's friends and befriend them then he could earn their trust, which was a sure way of getting easy access to another night at the unicorn's. With a blink and a twinge of emotion he was reminded of how she had addressed him, almost like he was her equal, like she cared for him. He mentally kicked the thoughts to the back of his mind and trotted back away from the bench and into the town centre. Along the road there were numerous market stalls on either side, each one being run by some pony of any race or colour. He walked through the crowds filling the streets aimlessly until his vision drifted to a stall in the middle of the road some distance ahead; there were a number of baskets lined up filled with apples, some red and others green, and a large banner with a cartoon picture of an apple painted on it. Lined up on the counter were a set of jars filled with a strange purple fluid and behind the counter was an orange mare, which had been the reason the stand caught his eye in the first place. She had a dark brown hat perched on top a lemon mane and freckles dotting her muzzle, and was talking with a larger red stallion when he approached. "I told ya, Big Mac," He overheard as he came to a standstill on the other side of the stall. Her voice had a heavy southern accent. "That I needed five barrels of apples, not four." "Well I'm sorry, sis," Her brother responded, his voice incredibly low with the same accent, "But I can't help it if Apple Bloom and her friends are up to trouble while I tryin' to work." The mare sighed. "Oh geez, what now?" "Somethin' about a love potion..." He began, but caught sight of Breezy out of the corner of his eye. "I'll tell ya later, ya got a customer." She turned to face Breezy as the stallion turned and walked away. "Oh, uh, hi there!" She said cheerfully, "You come to buy some apples?" Breezy was about to say yes when he remembered he didn't actually have any animals. If that's how it worked with ponies, anyway; Changeling economy was limited to simple trades of animal limbs and water containers stolen from pony cities. Upon reflection he remembered that ponies used something in place of those things to have access to anything they wanted, but the only thing he remembered from that lesson in the hatchery was how unnecessary he had thought it was. "Uh, no..." He began, his mind working to think up a lie. "Then you've come for some of our grape jam?" "Still no, I'm afraid." Breezy responded quickly. "Then..." The mare said after an awkward silence, "Why are ya here?" "I, uh..." He said slowly, "Just wanted... to know your... your name." "My name?" She asked with a quizzical look on her face, "Why do you want to know that?" "I'm new in town." Breezy said, starting to get into the swing of casual conversation, "And I was just hoping to make a few friends before I settle down." The mare smiled a lot more at that and tilted her hat down over her face a little. "Aaw, ain't that a nice thought? Somepony I don't even know thinking I'd be a good friend." She smiled at him and he noticed how wide her eyes had become, "My name's Applejack. What's yours, stranger?" "Breezy Stars." He replied, a little surprised he could remember a name he had literally come up with on the spot, "I just moved here from Manehatten." Applejack's smile gleamed. "Manehatten? My auntie and uncle live there! I've been and all!" He listened to her as she started to explain the origin of her cutie mark, pretending to care. He had almost zoned out of the conversation entirely, too, before she turned it in his direction. "So, how about yours?" She asked, looking at the water drop on his flank. "How'd you get yours?" Breezy was taken aback and cleared his throat, looking away from her a little. "Mine? ... Well, I, uh, was swimming one day, and, uh..." He began, "And it started to rain... You see, I swam in the outdoor pool near my house so I was going to get cold if I got out." Applejack nodded, "So what did you do?" "Well, I, uh, stayed in the pool. Swimming underneath so the rain didn't drum on my head, and I found that my wings were really good at manipulating the water to let me go faster. So I flew up out of the pool and into the rain and it turned out I could manipulate the rain, too, even make up masses of it in the air." Breezy was surprised at how creative his mind could be in such short notice. "Really?" Applejack said, stunned. "I didn't know pegasi could do that!" "No, uh, just me." "Well that's some talent you got there," She said happily as she rummaged around through her saddlebags for something, "Next time it rains you gotta show me. So anyway, where do ya live?" "Nowhere, actually." Breezy said simply. "Really, you just arrived today?" "No, yesterday. I spent the night in a unicorn called Twilight's house. A librarian, I think she said she was." "Ah, yeah." Applejack said as she retrieved the sandwich she had been searching for, "She's a good friend of mine." Breezy already knew that. "Oh, really? That's news to me." Applejack smiled at him as she took a bite from her lunch. "You seem like a nice guy," She said to him cheerfully, "Why don't you come meet my other friends later today?" *** Queen Chrysalis moved her flank with a swift, sharp motion, slicing the bottom off of the cocoon and allowing the gelatinous fluid inside spill out onto the floor of her room. "Wake up," She hissed to the filly that fell out along with it, "You're with your mama again..." The filly's eyes opened slowly, revealing two gleaming orbs of bluish light, and she looked around the room weakly. Her once fluffy coat was now a hardened carapace, her tongue was sticky and black and she had two paper-like wings and a single twisted horn on her head. She attempted to stand up on four hooves but failed and fell over again with a puff of air. "Oh, look at you!" Queen Chrysalis positively purred, lowering her head to examine the filly. "You're a little symbol of perfection!" The filly managed to pant out a few words. "M-Mama... Where... M-Mama..." "Oh, you poor thing. The transformation must have been really hard on you." Queen Chrysalis said, "I'm your mama now, same as all my children." The filly stood up successfully this time, close to vomiting up what felt like a pile of bricks. The Queen placed a hoof tentatively on the filly's cheek. "You're no longer one of those disgusting fillies," She said with a sickening grin, "You're one of my hatchlings now." She moved her mouth close to the filly's ear and her voice changed to a hiss. "You are perfect." The Queen picked the hazy hatchling up and carried her to the door, calling for a servant who arrived in seven seconds. She handed him the hatchling and he departed to the hatchery, taking the confused and petrified converted with him. She smiled and turned back to the room, walking through the gunky fluid that was now seeping into the floor and returning to her desk. She sat on the chair for a while before looking back at the empty skull perched on the tabletop, then picked it up in a black hoof and stroked it. "Oh, dear, did she not remind you of our children?" She cooed, "Only half of ours died after I put you to death, you know. Most of them are still with us so many years later." The demented Queen snickered and placed it back down, standing up and looking through her window. "I think we've just witnessed the birth of a Changeling that will last longer than most of the other converted fillies." She glanced back at the skull, "Oh, very well, then. I bet three slaughtered woodland creatures she'll last two weeks."