We Aren't All Monsters

by Arctic Inferno

Friends Circle (until I can think of a better name)

Breezy looked down at his forehooves which rested on the table and tapped them idly in an effort to dispel the silence that hung in the air, sadly but unsurprisingly to no avail.

With a quick murmur of displeasure under his breath he raised his head, nearly jumping backwards out of his seat at the sight of 5 mares looking at him from all angles. A lavender unicorn, a prismatic pegasus and a toned earth pony with a hat, to name just three. Unacquainted with pony customs, or body language for that matter, he looked between each with an expression of confusion on his fake face.
"... Well?" The white unicorn with the frilly violet mane spoke up, her voice delicate and esteemed, "Are you going to introduce yourself?"
"I... Why?" Breezy said, generally confused, "I thought Applejack told you all about me."
"Oh, dear," The unicorn replied with a chuckle from both herself and a few of the other mares, "It's just polite, I suppose."
"Oh..." Breezy mused, wondering why ponies have so many unwritten social laws in the confines of his mind. It was confusing and made every meeting with inexperienced ponies awkward, so why have them?

The pink mare from before bounced up, setting down a tray of marshmallows and other small sweets and grinning a wide and enthusiastic smile at the Changeling, then turned and bounced back to the kitchen. He flinched a little bit but succeeded in hiding it as nopony seemed to notice.
"I'm, uh, Breezy Stars. Pegasus, as you can see, from out of town." He said in his best small talk voice. The orange mare smiled and nodded at him.
"Well, it's a pleasure t' meet ya, Breezy." She said cheerfully, helping herself to a few of the sugary treats.
"Er, pleasure to meet you too. And... your names?" Breezy replied, remembering back to one of Twilight's first questions when she let him stay the night.
"Well, you know me and AJ here," Said purple unicorn responded with a smile and a gesture towards the mare with the hat that had been running the stall. "Then we have Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash." She cycled through the other present three who Breezy hadn't exchanged pleasantries with yet.

Fluttershy smiled and tilted her head away from him, trying to conceal her face.
"H-Hello." She practically whispered, earning a chuckle from the white unicorn, the coat of whom looked ironically similar to the marshmallow she was eating.
"She's a little... timid, dear," The unicorn explained, "It's very nice to meet you." The remaining pegasus simply nodded and extended a hoof.

Breezy remembered his lesson on hoofshakes from the hatchery and extended his own, taking hers in his and shaking it calmly. Rainbow recoiled in a mixture of surprise and disgust, but the others had quite different responses, Twilight almost falling off her chair as they burst into laughter. Even the shy yellow pegasus allowed herself a subtle giggle.
"I-I, uhm!" Breezy said suddenly, "Did I do something wrong?"
"N-No, dear..." Rarity said between giggles. She took a moment to collect herself and turned to the cyan pegasus, "Rainbow dear, you really should take some things into consideration! He's not from here, he won't know what a hoofbump is! He only knows a hoofshake!"
"Hoofbump?" Breezy questioned, a twinge of irritation worming into his heart. Twilight pulled herself back up and wiped a tear from her eye.
"Yes, a hoofbump. Rainbow got it spreading between teenagers around. It's like a symbol of respect." She mused, still chuckling every few words.

Breezy looked apologetically to Rainbow. "S-Sorry."
"It's fine," She said simply, "Let's try again." Once again a cyan hoof extended halfway to greet him. He raised his own and bumped it simply against hers, hoping that he guessed correctly based on the name. She smiled widely and nodded at him, before the pink mare returned with a tray of cakes balanced expertly on her head.
"Oh, and that's Pinkie Pie." Rainbow told him as the group turned to face the pink mare, who was now serving a few other tables. "She has a habit of being a bit... er..."
"Eccentric?" Twilight completed.
"Yes. What she said." Rainbow finished her sentence and sat back in her chair. The pink mare approached and smiled at them.
"Hiya girls! And boy, I guess!" She exclaimed joyfully.
"Hey, Pinkie." The purple unicorn said with a smile, "This is Breezy Stars."
"Heeeeeeeyyy, Breezy!" Pinkie said aloud, "We need to throw a "Welcome to Ponyville" party for you!" She was just about to dart away and obtain heaven-knows-what before Applejack interrupted her.

"Ah hate to cut the party plannin' short, Pinkie," She said with a slight chuckle, "But Breezy here ain't got anywhere to stay. Twilight told me he had to stay the night at her house."
Breezy nodded, "Yes, I don't have enough bits for a residence yet."
"Ohhh!" Pinkie cried after a moment of silent pondering, "You could stay with me and work in the bakery!"
"I... stay here?" Breezy said, uncertain.
"Yeah! It'll be like a big sleepover!"
"Um... alright, then."

There was a long talk between the group members, with Breezy only occasionally cutting in, perhaps even less so than Fluttershy, and that was saying something. Eventually the conversation came to an end when the lavender unicorn looked out of the window to the sun setting over the horizon and stood up.
"I should really be going now," She said cheerfully, "Spike needs to be put to bed and I had a tea party planned with Zecora for later this evening."
"I should as well," The other unicorn responded, "Sweetie Belle will be arriving home from Applejack's house by now." Over time the other members of the group left, each explaining why they should leave (though Rainbow's was quite pathetic, as even an inexperienced Changeling knew that ponies didn't have "awesome tanks" that needed to be refilled through sleep). Soon Breezy and Pinkie were left alone and the pink mare led him up the stairs to the guest bed, not unlike the one he had slept in at Twilight's. It was just across the room from hers and he settled down into it as she locked up the bakery from downstairs and joined him, flopping into her own.

***

The Changeling's eyes flickered open and he stood up, a brilliant web of cold, green flame surrounding him for a split second before revealing his insect-pony hybrid form. It was almost pitch black to a pony, but for a Changeling's tainted eyes it may as well have been daytime. He snickered to himself as he approached the other bed, seeing the outline of a sleeping mare beneath the sheets.

His plan had worked.

He reared his head back and made a gutting noise as he collected a mixture of phlegm and pus in his throat, then opened his eyes to lock onto his target and spit. He looked down and closed his mouth slowly, almost gagging on his own fluids.
She was asleep on her side with a hoof resting just beneath her chin and snoring. It wasn't a loud, thunderous snore that the larger Changelings made during hibernation; it was quiet and soft, like light breathing. A flare of emotion started to spiral as his heart and his brain conflicted. He wanted to cocoon her, destroy her, transform her, but at the same time he almost... didn't.

He blinked and looked at her again as if the mare was some kind of illusion. She wasn't, perhaps not to his surprise. She made a quiet little noise of approval and her ear twitched slightly as something nice happened in her dreams, making the Changeling falter.

After a solid ten minutes of staring he grunted and pulled away from the bed, morphing back into the pegasus as he returned to his own. Alright, he'd let her live, if only to see her suffer with the others when his Queen arrived. But that was why he was doing it.

He assured himself over and over that he felt no pity for ponies at all as he forced himself back to sleep.

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A villain can still win in stories that do not end in tragedy.