//------------------------------//
// His Darker Side 
// Story: A Free Spirit in Ponyville 
// by HalfAngelHuman 
//------------------------------//

	Spirit awoke from his nightmare screaming as he flipped out of his bed. “W-what in Tartarus was that!?” he shouted in the dark. His brain was all kinds of foggy. “Did, did I dream about killing Fluttershy!?” he asked himself as he started to recall the nightmare. His stomach began to feel uneasy at the thought of murdering his first pony friend. “Hrrk!” Spirit gagged as he rushed to the bathroom. He leaped onto the toilet, emptying his stomach into it. “Am, am I going insane!?” he questioned into the bowl.
Feed.
“Gah! My head!” Spirit groaned as he clutched his head.
Feed!
“Where is that voice coming from!?” he yelled as the pain grew worse.
Why won’t you FEED!?
“AAAAAHHHHHH!” Spirit screamed as his world faded to black.

~~~~~~~

When Spirit awoke, he was no longer inside his safe little home. Instead, he found himself in a white void of nothingness.
“Ohh, my head,” he groaned as he stood up. “Where...am I?”
“We are inside your subconscious.” a voice answered.
“My subconscious?” Spirit repeated as he turned to face the speaker. “W-what!?” he exclaimed in shock. ‘H-he looks just like me!’ Spirit thought. The owner of the voice looked like a mirror image of Spirit: his fangs, the wings, the holes in his forelegs, even his eyes.
“That’s because I am you!” the doppelganger stated.
“You can’t be me! I’m me! Wait, how did you-”
“We are in your mind. And I am you. The real you.”
“The real me? What in Tartarus are you-”
“Enough questions! I’ll be doing the questioning here. Now, I want you to answer a question for me: Why won’t you feed?”
“What are you talking about?” Spirit asked.
“Don’t play dumb with me! You are surrounded by ponies everyday! So why won’t you feed!?” the clone yelled.
“You want me to feed off the citizens of this town!? Why? In case you haven’t noticed, I can eat regular food just fine.” 
“But what about me?”
“What?”
“Like I said, I’m the real you: the Changeling you. I need to eat as well.”
“But, I fed off of Fluttershy a few days ago.”
“That was barely enough! How much you took wouldn’t even qualify as a snack!” the clone snapped, stomping its hoof into the non-existent ground.
“Well you can forget it! I’m not taking advantage of my friends!”
“I knew you would say that.”
“What?”
“That’s why I brought you here. You may not have it in you, but I do. So I’ll be taking over your body for a while.” he said, walking towards Spirit.
“Over my dead body!” Spirit challenged, standing his ground.
“Oh, how I wish I could arrange that.” the clone said, suddenly tackling Spirit into the ground. “My will is stronger! I will feed!” he said, staring Spirit in the eyes. Spirit struggled to free himself from the clone’s grip, but he found his strength slowly leaving him.
‘No! I can’t let this happen! I...can’t...Fluttershy...’ Spirit thought as his world once again faded to black.

~~~~~~~

Fluttershy awoke to the sound of somepony tapping on her window. “Huh? Spirit? Is that you?” she said, walking towards the window. “What are you doing up so late?” she asked.
“I was hungry. I would make something to eat myself, but I forgot to go buy some food.” he lied. “I would go to Sugar Cube Corner, but it’s closed at this hour. So, I was wondering if I could get something to eat here?” he asked, a brief glimmer in his eyes.
“Hold on, you must be cold out there. Let’s get you inside.” Fluttershy said, opening the window.
“Thanks, Fluttershy.” Spirit said, landing in her bedroom.
“You wait right here. I’ll get you something to eat.” Fluttershy said as she began to walk towards the stairs.
“No, wait!” Spirit said, stopping Fluttershy in her tracks. “I don’t want to be a bother than I already am. I was wondering if I could feed off of your emotions.” he asked.
“My emotions?” Fluttershy repeated. “I’m not sure…”
“Please, Fluttershy? I’ll only take a little, then I’ll go. I promise.” Spirit pleaded.
“Well...okay.” Fluttershy relented.
“Thank you Fluttershy!” Spirit cheered as his horn glowed its signature color. Fluttershy closed her eyes, expecting the usual gentle poking. But instead, it felt like somepony was jabbing her repeatedly.
“Ow! Spirit, what are you doing?” Fluttershy yelped, wincing in pain.
“...”
“Spirit, I think that’s enough.” she said, feeling woozy.
“...”
“Spirit?”
“I am not the one you call ‘Spirit’. You may call me...Yin.” Spirit said in an empty voice.
“Yin? Spirit, what are talking about? Whatever this is about, it isn’t funny! Now stop!” she demanded, trying to escape the emotional draining.
“Gods above, you are a dense mare. You will submit or you will end up in more pain.”  Yin said, walking towards the butterscotch mare.
“Spirit. You are going to stop this. NOW.” Fluttershy compelled as she performed her Stare. Yin stopped dead in front her, unable to move. “Now. Let. Me. Go.” she commanded. Spirit’s horn sparked to life, surrounding Fluttershy in its aura. Fluttershy suddenly found herself flung onto her bed, with Yin quickly pinning her down.
“That was a nice trick, little filly.” Yin complemented. “But you won’t deny me of my right to eat! I told to you if you submitted, I’d make it hurt less. Now you’re going to learn how Changelings originally fed!” he hissed as plunged his fangs deep into her neck. Fluttershy screamed as she tried to break free from the possesed Changeling’s hold. Yin held her down tighter as he continued to feed, blood staining the bed and his fang. Fluttershy’s flailing quickly become less and less frequent. Soon, her thrashing became non-existent. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of feeding.

~SubCon~

“No! Stop! You’re hurting her!” Spirit pleaded to Yin. By the time Spirit had come around, he found that Yin had somehow chained his legs to the floor. He could only watch through his stolen eyes Yin suck Fluttershy dry, as well as see her lose a lot of blood. “Please stop! I’m begging you!” he said as he strained against the chains running through holes of his legs.
“You make me sick!” Yin spat, turning to face Spirit. “Actually caring for these ponies with a heart that shouldn’t even belong to you! Do you even know what a heart is!? A miserable pile of emotions for us to feed on! And you won’t refuse to do so! You are a disgrace to the Changeling name!”
You’re a disgrace to the Changeling name…
Filthy half-breed....
Spirit closed his eyes as the horrible memories resurfaced.
Disgrace….Disgrace….Disgrace….
Spirit looked at Fluttershy. She laid motionless on the bed. ‘If I don’t do something, Fluttershy will- NO! I won’t let it happen! I have to do something! I may have failed to keep my promise, but I WON’T LET HER DIE!’ he thought as he strained against the chains even harder. “You’re correct Yin. I guess I am a disgrace to the Changeling name...ngh...but I’m not a disgrace to the Pony name!” he declared as the chains finally gave way.
“What!?” Yin exclaimed in disbelief. “How!?”
“You said that a heart is a miserable pile of emotions, correct? Let me tell you something: the emotion I feel right now is fury!” Spirit said as his chitin skin bursted into green flames. His body transformed into a cross of his Changeling form and his ponysona. “This ends now!”