I Am A Soldier [Nanowrimo]

by GreyVestibule

Chapter 2 - The Town and Concern

Chapter Two – The Town and Concern

This continual feed, almost like a drip of sustenance from the colt's feelings was a odd, uncomfortable sensation for the soldier. She'd done a little when assisting infiltrator's and she needed to make sure she was maintaining her energy levels for keeping her disguises up, but she was otherwise just plain not used to this. She was so much more used to having a fuller meal of the nectar that would be provided to her. It was more savory and stuck to her figurative ribs more, which in itself was more comforting because it meant she would be able to function without a constant need to feed herself, without needing to be stuck to one creature endlessly. Cameo had been... tolerable, but the soldier did not like this dependency. Not this sort of dependency at least. She would gladly lean on the hive who provided for her. She at least knew the hive was on her side as well. This colt though, could easily turn on her if her disguise were down. The soldier knew that infiltration was an important, vital role to begin with, but she found herself feeling an all the more growing respect for those would step out into the danger of being caught, of needing to keep track of social conventions, to better fit in and help bring back food. The soldier looked up at the sky, which was started to become darker. The sun was still over the horizon, but it was starting to get close.

“This is taking longer than anticipated,” she said with mild irritation.

“Sorry, heh, I'm pretty sure we're getting close though. I recognize those mountains over there!” Cameo offered sheepishly.

Recognized landmarks. The soldier supposed that was good. She had started to pick up faint traces of pony's as well, though the wind might be carrying them a long way. The two had been working their way around rocky terrain, the soldier again wishing that she had functioning wings so she could just buzz over them with no effort. Then again, she risked being seen, so...

The soldier sighed. She hated needing to weigh all these decisions, finding herself second guessing just about every course of action she took. Naturally she needed decisions made in her own time in the hive as well, but they felt easy to fulfill instinctively. This was something else entirely. If this was something that coordinators and the Queen needed to do, it made the soldier all the more glad she did not need to engage in such things. Then again, perhaps coordinators, all the decision makers who naturally fell into their roles didn't need to deal with these incessant needs to doubt their actions, and that was why they fit their role the best. It seemed so much more likely to the soldier – after all, the Queen certainly never appeared to be in doubt. But then again, even she had failed.

The soldier's was surprised at herself for thinking such thoughts and immediately cut them off before they started to take control of more. She didn't want to think about the Queen failing. Didn't want to admit the Queen could fail. Didn't want to be caught questioning the Queen's fallibility. The soldier didn't want to risk becoming an irregular. Was this how irregulars happened? Just too much time away from the hive? The soldier supposed it made sense, it would be perfectly natural to go mad from losing one's place in the hive, for not being within one's place.

“There it is!” Cameo's voice suddenly shouted, bring the soldier out of her stupor. There, in the distance indeed, was a town, no doubt Apploosa, “See, I told ya we were getting close! I'm comin' cousin!”

And just like that, the colt was off like a bolt. The soldier, seeing her life support dash off, leapt into action as well, chasing after him. The last thing she needed was to get this far only to give out. It seemed circumstances were working against her though, and the soldier found herself making an ill-timed step over a rock and crashing into the dirt. Great, more dust. After the last few days, the soldier was having a difficult time picking herself up, and was frustrated when she looked up only to see Cameo disappearing into town.

The soldier needed food. She needed food so badly. She could probably survive on what little she'd gotten from the colt for a short amount of time, but that was no guarantee.

Don't do anything stupid, she reminded herself, Haste risks giving you away and making the situation worse. Do not allow the hunger to decrease your performance.

It felt like something she might have been chided about by an infiltrator or coordinator in other circumstances, so it felt right here. All the same it was hard to ignore the increasing knot that was developing in her again. As she went on towards the town, trying to maintain as quick a pace as possible while being efficient with what little energy she had left, she tried to break down what could be done. Find a pony, maybe an isolated one, or else find one then isolate it. Either way, the soldier had no way of knowing what would be the best course of action precisely until she was there – she could attempt to plan ahead all she wanted, but in the end, a lot of what she was basing her thoughts on was theory and guessing in an area of expertise she was not good at. As she stumbled into town, she looked around at the various ponies who were giving her odd looks. Damn. She did not need eyes on her. Eyes were the last things she needed on her. Break line of sight, she needed to get out of the view of public attention! She started heading towards one of the alleys in-between the buildings making up this town when a pony, some yellowish looking one come out the entrance of one of the buildings that the soldier was going by. Noticing her stumbling into the alley, he trotted over to her.

“Excuse me, miss? Are you alright?” he asked, coming a little closer.

The soldier looked back at him, seeing that other ponies were still watching. Why couldn't they look away? This would have been a perfect chance to be able to find, just have this one follow her and then finally get a meal of some kind. No... just play it safe. The safest options had helped her survive so far, if only just barely.

“I am fine,” she said with a strained stoicism, trying to move on out of sight. Maybe there was another pony around here who was alone she could take.

“You sure? You look like you got taken lassoed and drug through a rodeo,” he commented, coming closer.

The soldier turned and looked at the yellow pony. The concern coming off of him was nice, but hardly filling – it seemed to only whet her appetite if nothing else. Oh if only she could drag him back out of sight, away from prying eyes... Her own eyes looked at him hungrily. So tempting. So close. Would it really hurt to take the risk?

“There he is – Braeburn!” a voice called out to the yellow pony.

The pony, Braeburn apparently, turned about and tipped up the wide-brimmed hat he was wearing.

“Oh hey there Kicker, what is it?” he asked.

“Cameo just got into town, you didn't hear? He rushed straight for your house,” the other pony said excitedly.

“He managed to outwit those varmints? Well thank Celestia! I'm coming --” Braeburn said, rearing up for a moment in his excitement, before he calmed down, looking back at the soldier, “Um, you sure you don't need any help miss?”

“I am fine,” the soldier insisted.

Do not tempt me, she thought to herself.

“Well, iffen you insist miss,” Braeburn nodded, though soldier noticed his concern was not dissuaded. With a final glance back at her, Braeburn then at least took off full tilt towards what must be his abode. The soldier, however, continued to struggle, going to the back of the buildings and trying to make her way around without being stared at. It was getting difficult to walk though. Her hunger was building and it was taking a fair amount of will power to stop herself from dropping her disguise and just going after some pony. She couldn't risk it though, she kept telling herself that, trying to convince herself it was the sort of order a coordinator would be telling her. Don't do it. Stay on task. You will make it so long as you just follow orders.

Eventually, the soldier found herself walking up by a building where a strange, cloudy sense of good spirits was. Could she maybe survive here? Walking ahead, to the entrance, she stumbled through a couple doors to see a bunch of ponies at various tables, drinking, talking, and generally being happy amongst each other. Some had a clearer sense of a good time, most not so much though. It seemed to make the feelings less nutritious, and not being the object of the good times didn't help as much, but being in such a large haze seemed to equal things out a bit. At the least, the soldier was no longer feeling as desperate. She could think a little more clearly without needing to worry about her survival. She noticed a few ponies staring her way, making the soldier worry that she was sticking out too much, and so instead decided to up and sit at a long table where several stools were, with in turn several ponies. Just sit among them maybe. As she sat though, the soldier was concerned to eventually see a pony behind the long table approach her.

“Well howdy there stranger, need a drink?” he asked.

The soldier blinked a few times as she processed this before nodding. Just go with the flow.

“Yes. I need a drink.”

The pony behind the table, a unicorn it turned out, levitated up a glass onto the table before pulling up a bottle and pouring out some fluid into the glass. It wasn't the water or juice that the soldier was expecting though. The fluid was a yellowish brown, a sort of amber color. When she leaned forward, putting her nose over the glass, her nose wrinkled at the familiar smell that came up from it.

“Whiskey,” she stated simply, recalling the word spoken of by those ponies hiding in the cave.

“Yep. What, wanted something else?” the unicorn behind the table asked.

The soldier looked up at the pony, trying to read his expression for a moment. He had a curious look on his face, and the nature of the curiosity... It didn't seem like wholly suspicious thoughts, but it was giving the soldier an impression she was doing things out of the ordinary. She elected to shake her head – no point in dragging out this interaction any further.

“This is fine,” she insisted.

The unicorn shrugged and continued on down the table towards other ponies. The soldier meanwhile, found herself staring at the drink, not very excited about the prospect of taking a drink from it. She recalled the burning sensation the last time she tried the stuff, and did not look forward to trying it again. Still, as she looked down the long table at the ponies who were enjoying their beverage of choice, she realized that she would need to imbibe this fluid sooner or later to fit in among them without arousing suspicion. She looked back down at the glass. It seemed impossible to think any living creature would find this palatable. Well, perhaps one of the more heat or chemically resistant beings that existed in the world, but ponies? As capable of being tough as they were it was still genuinely surprisingly to think that they would drink it, never mind keeping whole barrels and bottles full of the stuff. Perhaps it was a way of helping to discern those who were not a part of the herd? After all, the soldier couldn't imagine most willing to try that taste unless they knew they had to. And yet, with her sampling of the local emotions, the soldier knew a good time was being experienced by those around her. Hesitantly, the soldier took the the glass between her hooves, lifting it up ever so slightly, and taking a small sip. Just as before, the substance burned her tongue and her throat, though thankfully the burning sensation diffused over time as it slipped down her throat. She repressed the urge to grimace and gag on the stuff, as such an act would have been a clear giveaway. If infiltrators needed to consume this sort of thing often, then they had a lot more bravery than the soldier thought.

The high pitched whine of the flapping doors at the entrance cause the soldier to glance back at whomever just came in, seeing another pony come trotting in and up to the bar, sitting a couple stools away from the soldier, just next to some of the other ponies sitting there.

“What took ya so long?” asked the older, gray, bearded unicorn furthest away from the soldier, and by extension, the pony who just came in. The pony being questioned, an orange pegasus, had a little chuckle.

“Well good evening to you too, Bones,” the pony smirked, “I had a little extra restocking to do in the shop. I'm glad I did though, because I heard the good news just as I was getting out.”

“What, did you finally convince Spice to give you a chance?” the middle pony in the trio, a brown earth pony, asked.

“Oh hush, you know I gave up on that when her an' Chalk got hitched up,” the pegasus said, pushing at the earth pony, though not so much as to push him out of his stool, “I mean the news about Braeburn's cousin,”

The earth pony gave the pegasus a cock-eyed look. soldier could feel the unsettled emotions from the earth pony.

“Knick Knack, you sure you heard good news?” the earth pony questioned.

“Yes, my dear Paddywhack, I am sure,” the pegasus, Knick Knack it seemed, responded, “He just came into town not too long ago!”

“Yer... yer kidding, right?” Paddywhack asked.

“No joke! He came running in just as I was finished with the stocking, had been talking to Braeburn just before then, then Tumble comes along talking about seeing him going straight for Braeburn's house,” Knick Knack smiled.

“Well that seems good,” Bones commented, “How do you reckon he got away though? I heard those varmints go 'im tied up something fierce on their way out.”

“Well I don't know, maybe he tricked 'em somehow? I dunno, you've dealt with foals too Bones, you know how much trouble they can get in if you don't keep an eye on 'em,” Knick Knack offered.

Bones and a short, low laugh. soldier detected a slight sense of... happiness? Fondness?

“Yeah, them little 'uns can get themselves in a mess of trouble,” Bones agreed before taking a sip from his own glass.

“Still seems weird though, don't it?” Paddywhack wondered, “I was there this morning when they came riding in, and they actually seemed to have a good head on their shoulders, at least as much of a good head as a bunch of outlaws can get. And they have gotten away with a bunch lately...”

“Even the brightest can have their worst moments,” Bones commented, “And quite frankly I'd say it's about time those... ponies, if you'd even call 'em that... had a change in their luck.”

There was a nod of agreement from Knick Knack, eventually followed by Paddywhack, who at least seemed to agree with some of the sentiment, even if he still had feelings of things not being resolved.

“Speaking of this morning though, how's everybody that needed a patching up?” Knick Knack asked, looking down at Bones before taking a sip from a glass which the soldier just realized had been poured for him.

“Well, everyone's doing alright for the most part. For the most part it was just bumps, bruises and a few light scratches,” Bones offered before a taking a finishing swig from his glass. He then nudged it forward, briefly addressing the pony behind the table “I'll have another. Anyway, most are good, but poor Trigger is gonna need to spend a few days off his hooves while his leg heals, and Linkin' is gonna have to have to not stress himself until the stitches set. Worried about him though, you know how he can be.”

There was a ponderous hum from Paddywhack.

“Yeah, poor stallion is gonna want to get right back to work too with the repairs we'll need to make to the clock tower an' the surrounding buildings. I'll make sure he doesn't push himself though,” the earth pony decided.

“Good. He's got a good heart but the stallion is gonna ruin himself and my own work if he just pushes himself until he drops,” Bones nodded before taking a sip from a freshly poured glass.

The soldier looked away from the trio back down to her own glass as they continued to converse among themselves. There was still a fair amount of whiskey still in her glass after her sip. She'd barely had any here this unicorn was going for another serving. This couldn't possibly be enjoyable. Ponies were insane. The soldier reluctantly swallowed another sip of the substance, again subjecting herself to the burn. Fortunately though, she wasn't feeling it as hard as last time. Maybe she was getting used to it. It was just a shame it wasn't as substantive her as it seemed to be for these ponies. Unfortunately, her physiology only allowed for it to be possible for her to consume love, or the nectar her kind produced from love. She could consume pony food, but it gave no sustenance – it simply passed through her system without any real contribution. It at least allowed for changelings to camouflage by participating in meals with ponies, but it made this situation inconvenient. In any other moment, the soldier would have been proud of her species—being able to consume love and not need food meant cutting out so many necessities, but here? It would make her impromptu infiltration so much easier if she could just eat some pony food. At least while she was among this large gathering of ponies she could siphon off what was in the atmosphere, but still, if only there was something more she could get. At least there was something about the happiness in this place that was pleasant. The soldier wasn't entirely sure why, maybe it had something to do with the foggy feeling of the emotions in here, but somehow she found her stomach's threatening pains numbing. She found herself worrying just a little less. All of a sudden though, the soldier found herself realizing that somepony was trying to talk to her.

“Miss? Miss? You alright there?”

Knick Knack had leaned over her way and tried waving a hoof within the general vicinity of her vision.

“I reckon she's seen better days,” Bones offered.

The soldier looked up at Knick Knack, then back and forth between him and Bones. Once again, there was that concern. Getting attention upon herself.

“I am fine,” she said, looking back towards her glass.

“How much has she had to drink, Clamp?” Knick Knack asked of the unicorn behind the table.

“That's her first one. Barely touched it far as I can see,” Clamp shrugged.

“So then...” Knick Knack tried to think.

“Sure as Tartarus ain't drunk. Breath certainly didn't smell it at least. Ask her yourself if you want her life story.”

The soldier took another sip from the glass, trying to avoid engaging in conversation. A quick glance to the side confirmed she was still a subject of attention.

“Um, pardon me for asking miss, but what happened to ya? You look like you got hit by a train,” Knick asked.

“Yes, I got hit by a train,” she commented dryly.

“Holy horse apples, really?!”

“She's obviously joking Knick Knack,” Paddywhack said with a roll of his eyes.

A joke. A falsehood for comedy. Maybe a semblence of the truth would be better.

“Been walking for a while in the desert,” the soldier tried to offer.

“How long?”

The soldier glanced at Knick Knack again specifically. Again, just concern, not an interrogation. Didn't make her feel any more comfortable though.

“Three days.”

That statement actually got a serious look from Bones, who got out of his bar stool and trotted over, looking over the soldier more closely.

“Three days? No wonder you ain't lookin' so well, Miss uh...” Bones looked across her before looking expectantly.

The soldier stared back, uncertain of what the gray unicorn was doing with this line of conversation. Another moment where she was not knowing what was supposed to happen, how irritating, frustrating, anxiety inspiring...

“Your name?” he pressed.

Oh. That's what he wanted to know.

“Dusty. I am Dusty,” the soldier stated.

Bones raised an eye at that, a slight smirk in the corner of mouth.

“Well, that you certainly are.”

As the unicorn approached closer and held a hoof to one of her wings, the soldier tensed up and leaned away.

“What are you doing?” she asked, becoming especially nervous.

“Just wanting to take a look at your wings, they seem off.”

Most likely because they are not working, the soldier thought to herself, before leaning away at another approach.

“Easy there miss, I got no ill intentions, I'm a doctor,” Bones said as he held up a hoof in an attempt to calm her.

Doctor... Healer. She recalled that from somewhere in her memories of cooperating with infiltrators. What was she supposed to do? Let him examine her? The soldier wasn't sure how well the disguise would hold up under scrutiny, but not allowing him could be seen as suspicious. Already, she could feel the questioning sensations intensifying and coming off of Knick Knack and Paddywhack. The concern was still present, but a less positive sensation was becoming more prominent.

“Look, if you really don't want me touching you, that's fine, but I swear on my horn, Miss Dusty, that I only want to help.”

Bones still held that same concern, but there was more. A small, hidden sense of resignation laid in the back of his mind, ready to spring. And there was also... pity? Was that a good word for it? The soldier was unsure. All she knew for sure was that she situation she was in needed to be resolved soon. Bones seemed ready to put the situation to rest, but the other two still had their eyes on her, and the concern they had was beginning to foster a seed of suspicion over her. To allow the examination, or not., neither had a pleasant probability of working in her favor. However, looking over what was happening, if she turned down Bones' offer, she'd be inviting the scrutiny of two ponies over one. The one was a doctor, but still...

“Go ahead,” she finally consented, turning away from Bones to stare at her burning drink instead, taking a moment to suffer another sip.

“Alrighty then, let's have a look,” Bones decided, stepping forward and starting to feel around the soldier's wings, having a few bursts of curiosity as his touches in turn inspired some twitches on the disguised changeling's part in a few spots, “This part hurts then?”

The soldier was feeling grateful that ponies could not detect pheromones, because she could feel her body pushing out pain signals that would practically be screaming in her races “words”.

“Yes,” she stated with a calm that belied her agitated state.

“How much water did you have to drink while you were out there?” he went on.

“None,” she answered without really thinking.

The silence that fell caused the soldier to eventually look back at the doctor, sensing the state of alarm he was in. She saw him looking at her with wide eyes before looking down at the still filled glass of whiskey.

“You didn't have any water to drink for three days?” Bones asked incredulously.

Before the soldier could do anything to react, already lost in trying to think of how to handle this, Bones was already moving, pushing her glass away.

“This is last thing you need, quite frankly,” Bones then turned to the pony behind the table, “Clamp, I know you got some cider back there that ain't hard yet, get her a tall glass. I'll pay her tab.”

Clamp had briefly opened his mouth, ready to protest in someway, but it seemed a seriousness about this situation called for a change of attitude. The soldier just wished she knew how. She knew ponies drank water, needing it made sense, but was three days really so long to go without it? She supposed she had been struggling to go a few days without love or nectar, but it didn't seem like the same to her.

“This is bad then,” the soldier stated as a glass was brought up from behind the counter, filled with an opaque brown fluid.

“Bad – yes! Assuming yer telling the truth you probably pushed yourself to the most any sane pony could possibly go without water. Drink. Honestly it must be a miracle you lasted without succumbing to dehydration,” Bones shook his head as though in disbelief, “No wonder you seem so out of it, the sun must have cooked your noggin' like a loaf o' bread.”

The soldier wasn't entirely sure what was said, but nodded anyway before drinking from the glass. Whatever the cider was it was much less offensive to her body, going down without protest.

“Get 'er another glass. The cider should be alright until we get some plain water,” Bones thought aloud, looking between those who were there for a moment before looking back at the soldier, “Dusty, do you have somewhere to stay? Anywhere to sleep?”

The soldier blinked a few times as she tried to think of how to answer. She was starting to get in deep, which could be either good or bad. Good meaning she was successfully infiltrating into the role of a pony in a community. Bad, naturally, meant being on the brink of being discovered for what she truly was.

“No,” she answered simply.

“Well you're in luck then because I got space at the clinic. And drink,” he commanded, pointing at the refilled glass.

The soldier did so. The hydration did nothing for her, but at least this wasn't hurting. And it seemed to fit with what the pony wanted of her.

“Alright you two, wanna play nurse for me for a bit?” Bones asked, looking Knick Knack and Paddywhack's way. Paddywhack was hesitant but nodded, whilst Knick Knack was eagerly nodding from the start.

“Good. Help her over to the clinic, make sure she don't hurt herself. I'm gonna set up a bed for her,” the unicorn ordered, tossing a few metal discs on the table before heading out the double doors. Clamp gathering up the discs quickly.

Paddywhack looked between the soldier and Knick Knack before shrugged, standing on the side of the soldier opposite his friend.

“Well, you heard the doctor, let's go,” Paddywhack stated before waving his hoof to the door.

It didn't take too much prompting for Knick Knack to hop off his stool and start heading off to the door with Paddywhack. They both stopped and looked back at her for a moment, as she did basically nothing before eventually moving to follow along behind them. All she had to do at this point was follow them, she supposed. She did not look forward to leaving the ambiance of this place though. Surely enough, not long after stepping out, the soldier found herself stumbling. The concern from the two ponies, particularly Knick Knack, helped somewhat, but it just wasn't as sustaining compared to the building they were in before.

“Three days out in the desert? What happened? You didn't fall off the express or nothin' did ya?” Knick Knack asked.

“No pony would be so stupid as to just fall off a train like that,” Paddywhack responded with a roll of his eyes.

“I was in a fight,” soldier stated. It was the truth, but it didn't hurt to say that much, “I lost. I woke up out there.”

“Sweet Celestia, you must have ticked someone off somethin' fierce,” Knick Knack commented.

“Yes,” the soldier responded with what was becoming a usual shortness.

“I'll admit, you got me curious, who'd you anger to get the 'left to die' treatment?” Paddywhack finally gave in, asking a question of his own.

Then, the soldier knew she shouldn't have said anything. Thankfully, Paddywhack himself seemed willing to interpret a long silence from her relatively benignly.

“D' ya not remember, or just not want to talk about it?” Paddywhack went on.

“Yes,” the soldier answered unhelpfully, actually feeling rather woozy.

“Well... that's helpful...” Paddywhack shook his head, “Well here's hoping you didn't tick off someone big, cause I'd hate to be caught helpin' you then.”

“Paddywhack...” Knick Knack said chidingly towards the earth pony in question.

“Just a joke silly, you don't need to be this serious,” Paddywhack said with a roll of his eyes.

There was a huff on Knick Knack's part, but the pegasus otherwise said nothing else. Soon though, the small group had stopped at building, one of the few on this stretch of housing that had some lit windows when the soldier thought about it. That made the soldier then realize something she'd neglected to notice, which was how dark it had gotten. The sun was practically disappearing over the horizon by now. That seemed awful quick.

“There you two are,” Bones said as he poked his head out the door, “Bring her into the room on the left. She do alright on the way over? Any falls?”

“A few stumbles, but nothing major,” Paddywhack informed the doctor.

“Alright,” Bones nodded.

The two younger ponies eventually guided the soldier inside and in the room.

“I'm gonna need to grab a few other things,” Bones spoke before turning to Paddywhack, “I'll need you to go get a big canteen of water, and you,” Bones then looked to Knick Knack, “Keep an eye on her and make sure she don't fall over dead. She may be alive now but I'm willing to bet that even a miracle won't keep her standing all night.”

So wait, she would be alone with the pegasus? Sure enough, as the other two eventually departed the room, the soldier found herself sharing the space of the room with naught but Knick Knack. Her eyes centered on him for a moment before checking out the window in the room, trying to spot any chance that they were being watched. The moment was perfect, so perfect. The ache in her stomach egged her on to feed, her appetite already brought out more by the concern of the pegasus. At long last, she could have something hopefully substantial.

“I hope they don't take long,” Knick Knack thought aloud, looking out through to the front where the other two had disappeared to, “I ain't exactly the best at medicine, so if something hap--”

Knick Knack turned about as he spoke, and immediately halted as he found himself face to face with the intense stare of the disguised changeling. Knick Knack wasn't sure what to make of the soldier's expression—he kind of felt like he was in line of sight of a predator, but the situation surrounding him threw that off from translating perfectly into how he acted.

“Uh, you okay there, Dusty?” Knick Knack nervously asked, taking a few steps back. Such steps were immediately nullified though as the soldier matched his pace, eventually backing him up into a corner, “You uh, you need something?”

“Yes.”

It was strange, hearing the soldier speak that single word. Despite having what seemed like a usual shortness, Knick Knack swore he heard her speaking with a greater sense of emotion than he had detected form her before. This amount of insistence, need...

“Oh, uh, well, what can I get for ya?” he asked.

“Just stay with me for now,” the soldier said, her face practically right up in his for a moment before moving forward, her head moving past Knick Knacks own and bring a hoof up to hold him in place.

“Uh, sure?” Knick Knack agreed reluctantly, growing a little warmer and redder in the face at the insistence of the close contact.

As Knick Knack brought up a hoof of his own to return the “hug” he was perceiving, something also occurred, a small amount of shape shifting on the soldier's part. With the others away, and her head out of Knick Knack's line of sight, the soldier allowed her changeling horn to sprout back into place. A soft green glow, reminiscent of fire, encompassed it, then flowed back to connect with Knick Knack. The feeding process began, the magic pulling on Knick Knack's emotions, the positive feelings he had been having starting to flow out of him and into the soldier. The magic also worked a vital side-effect, scrambling Knick Knack's short term memory.

“I... what... what is...” he started to question, only to be held even tighter by the soldier.

“Just stay,” she said, her voice sounding actually tranquil for once as she drank in the feelings, letting them sit in her figurative stomach. After days in the desert, surviving not just the battle that blasted her into the middle of nowhere, but the battle that led her here, to finally have a meal like this... the soldier couldn't think of a comparison that did the feeling within her justice.

Knick Knack began to grow physically weak in his legs, starting to fall to the ground. The soldier went with him, continuing to sap him until they were both on the ground and the soldier herself felt satisfied. She actually felt rather sleepy, between all the activity of the day a good meal digesting in her. The wood floor here wasn't the most comfortable, but the soldier didn't really care that much. She'd slept on hard ground before. Shifting her horn back out of sight, the soldier laid her head on the body of the now sleepy Knick Knack – he wasn't entirely asleep, but he was already well on his way. Laying there, feeling the heat of the other pony, the soldier drifted to sleep reminded of how she slept with the hive, with her fellow changelings, all staying together and helping each with their body heat and mutual protection with the shifting night guard. While there certainly were not as many bodies around now compared to that, this felt like enough of a contrast compared to the nights in the desert to be enough.

No more starving. If the soldier could keep this up, maybe her chances of getting through this and back among her kind would improve...