The 'Ling from Another World

by RainbowDoubleDash


4. Synaphage

Snails, Twist, Pipsqueak, and two Dinkies stood inside of Green Grape’s shack, the former three staring at the latter two, who alternated between looking at their friends and each other.

Well, one of them alternated between looking at her friends and the other Dinky. The other one was simply looking at her meals, Twist knew, maybe sizing them up, trying to decide who was going to be tastiest. The trick was finding out which one that was…and very quickly, because Pipsqueak was small and Snails was lanky and Dinky was just sort of average-sized. Twist, meanwhile, was a little plump. She probably looked delectable.

Though then again…either the Dinky that she’d found with Pipsqueak was real, or the one that had been with Snails was real. In either case the monster had been all alone with one of them for quite some time…but hadn’t eaten the pony it was with. Why not?

By now, the fear that Twist, Snails, and Pipsqueak had been feeling was starting to wear thin. They’d spent all night terrified so far, which was sort of the point of Nightmare Night…but it wasn’t supposed to be this scary. They weren’t supposed to actually be afraid for their lives. But after several hours of not seeing the bug-thing, the fear had become a background thing, a sense of dread. But it was no longer an overriding thing, an emotion driving them to either fight or flight. They could think.

“We should go back to Ponyville,” Snails said. “Somepony will be able to figure out which is the real Dinky, and which is the monster.”

Pipsqueak agreed, but Twist shook her head, setting aside trying to figure out why the monster hadn’t eaten one of them for the moment. “Uh-uh,” she said, and pointed at the back of the shed – or rather, beyond it. She took in a breath and thought carefully about her next words, how she wanted to say them. She would conquer her lisp! “The Everfree Forest is right over there, so we’re as far from Ponyville as we can be. The bug-thing would have a lot of time to escape, then come back disguised as one of us again. Then we’d be right back where we started.” She smiled a little at having said so much without her lisp breaking through.

Snails and Pipsqueak both considered, but slowly nodded, understanding Twist’s reasoning. One Dinky – the one that still had the monster’s goop on her hooves and a little around her face – held up a hoof. She’d also taken off her eowolf costume, or at least the fake paws; she kept the faux-pelt on for warmth. “But we can’t wait until somepony finds us,” she said. “It’s getting really late, my momma is probably already really worried. I don’t want to disappear for a whole night!”

“Does that mean she’s the monster?” Snails asked. “Since she wants to go back?”

“No,” Pipsqueak said, before the Dinky who’d spoken could indignantly object. “’Cause that is a good reason to want to go back, and the real Dinky really would want to go back to her mum.”

“I do,” the other Dinky said. She’d kept her fake eowolf costume fully on. The other Dinky turned to glare at her, but that Dinky ignored it as she looked at Snails. “I have to be the real one. I told you my momma’s name, and my sister’s, and my dad’s. And I told you about the fight I got into with Scootaloo last year. How could the monster know it?”

The goop-covered Dinky’s eyes widened, then she turned to Twist. “But I told you that!” She exclaimed. “Or…I mean, I told the bug-monster that, before it attacked me! So it could have spat this gunk on me, shoved me in the hole, and then gone after Snails!”

Twist put a hoof to her chin as she thought. “What else did you tell it?” She asked. “If you’re the real you, that is.”

That Dinky leaned back a little, glancing up. “Uh…a lot,” she said. “You…I mean, the monster…it kept asking me. I thought it was you and I was really scared and I wanted to prove I’m me, so I told it everything I could think of to prove it…”

Twist had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She looked to Snails. “Um, Snails…” she said, and waved a hoof at the Dinky that wasn’t covered in goop. “Did…did you and Dinky talk on the way here…?”

Snails thought a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. Well, whispered. We talked about lots of stuff. I don’t really remember what…I mean, mostly the Everfree monster, but – ”

Bugger!” Pipsqueak hissed, stomping one hoof.

Snails looked to him. “It’s not a bug. Only hemiptera-order insects are bugs. And – ”

“That’s not what I meant,” Pipsqueak said, stopping Snails before he could go on for too long. “I mean…” he pointed at the goop-covered Dinky. “If that’s the real Dinky, then she told the bug-thing a lot about her. And if that’s the bug-thing,” he pointed at the other Dinky, “then you probably helped it fill in a lot of gaps after it captured Dinky. It might know everything about Dinky, or at least everything we know about Dinky.”

“But what if the one I was with was real?” Snails asked. “Then since you were with Twist the whole time, that Dinky,” he pointed at the one with goop on her hooves, “wouldn’t know all that much about Dinky at all.”

“I hate zucchini,” the goop-covered Dinky said. “It tastes gross. My momma grew up in Fillydelphia. Her momma’s name is Medley, and she grew up in Las Pegasus.”

The other ponies shook their heads in disappointment. “Bugger,” Pipsqueak repeated.

“It’s not a bug!” Snails objected again.

“That’s not what bugger means!”

“Then what’s it mean?”

“I got it!” Twist said, before the argument could blossom out of control. The two Dinkies started, as Twist looked between the two of them. “I know how to prove which Dinky is the real Dinky.” She walked up the one still in her full costume, looking at her intently. “What would the other Dinky say if I asked her who the monster is?”

That Dinky’s eyelids fluttered a few times. “She’d say I was the monster?” she asked.

“Yup,” the other Dinky confirmed wholeheartedly.

“Ah-hah!” Twist exclaimed. She pointed at the other Dinky. “Then that means you’re the monster!”

The goop-covered Dinky’s eyes widened. “Wait, why?!” She demanded.

“Yeah, I’m confused too,” Pipsqueak added. Snails nodded as well.

Twist felt pretty proud of herself for figuring this out. “Becauthe,” she said, “if this Dinky is the monster,” she pointed to the one she’d asked the question, “then she’d tell me that the other Dinky would tell me that she is the monster, which would mean that she was the monster. But if this was the real Dinky, then she’d tell me that the other Dinky would say that she’th…um…” Twist paused, thinking. “Wait, I had thith figured out…if the’th real…then the’d…but…”

“Hey, Dinkies,” Snails said as Twist tried to figure out her own logic puzzle. It had made sense in her head. “Remember last week when we went shopping for Nightmare Night costumes?”

“Uh-huh,” both said, glancing at each other as they did.

“And remember when we bumped into Diamond Tiara and she was being all mean and stuff ‘cause Scootaloo was in the next aisle and she kept talking about how Scootaloo was probably gonna go dressed as Rainbow Dash like last year?”

“Yeah,” the Dinky still dressed in her costume said.

“No,” the other, goop-covered Dinky said. “I mean…she might have said that?”

“You gotta remember!” Snails insisted, smiling. “Diamond Tiara ended up getting costume bits so she could dress as a princess ‘cause she didn’t want to leave the aisle and be in the same one as Scootaloo.”

One Dinky laughed a little at Snails’ story, while the other one scratched her head…then noticed Twist, Snails, and Pipsqueak all staring at her intently. “This doesn’t prove anything!” The goop-covered Dinky exclaimed suddenly, eyes going wide. “It was last week, and I wasn’t trying to remember anything…”

The other Dinky was grinning. “Yeah, but I remember all of it!” That Dinky exclaimed proudly. “So that means – ”

“You’re the fake,” Snails said, matter-of-factly, pointing at the Dinky still dressed as an eowolf.

The other foals all started, as the eowolf-dressed Dinky backed away a couple steps. “What?” they all demanded.

Snails shrugged. “I made up the stuff about what Diamond Tiara said. It was fake. The real Dinky can’t have remembered it ‘cause it never happened.”

Four sets of eyes turned on the Dinky dressed as an eowolf, while the goop-covered one backed away from her, getting closer to the other foals. The eowolf-Dinky glanced between them in shock. “B-but…b-b-but…”

“Are you sure?” Pipsqueak asked, looking at Snails, though only for a moment: he didn’t want to take her eyes off of eowolf-Dinky.

Snails nodded. “Positive.”

The four foals all stood close together now, grinning triumphantly…until it dawned on them that, having successfully figured out which Dinky was the fake one, they now had to deal with the fact that they were standing in a small shed with a monster from the Everfree. The realization, and terror that came with it, hit them all almost at the same time, and almost as one they stepped back. The goop-covered Dinky started for the door to the shed…but then noticed that the other Dinky was standing between the four of them and the exit. She let out an eep of fright at the realization

Eowolf-Dinky’s ears flattened against her skull at the sound as the terror built, even as her eyes widened and she stooped down. She backed up against the door and let out an unequine hiss, tongue lolling out – far too long and forked. A green glow flashed over her – and once again they were looking at the chitin-covered, holed, insectile monster. It hopped backwards, feet planting themselves on the door and wall, perching there like a spider…its neck bending at a completely unnatural angle so that its head could remain facing them.

The foals all let out a shout of panic, backing away and into the furthest corner from the door, being careful of the mat that covered the tunnel to the monster’s lair. “O-o-okay, s-so now wh-what?” Snails asked.

The thing hissed again, and the foals bunched together even tighter. “I…I don’t know!” Twist exclaimed. She glanced at the shed’s window…but it was tiny, more decorative than anything. Pipsqueak might have been able to fit through, and Snails might have been lanky enough with effort, but not Dinky and certainly not Twist herself.

The smallest foal perked up a little. “Snails! Dinky!” He called. “Cover us! Twist! Buck the wall!” He emphasized his point by raising his hind hooves and bucking hard with both of them against the wall. The wood dented and splintered under the earth pony’s kick. Twist joined in a moment later

The reaction from the monster was instant, its eyes growing wider. “NO! EZZZCAPE! LOVE! FOALZZZ!” It detached from the wall, wings buzzing so fast they seemed to almost be invisible as it took to the air.

Dinky and Snails stepped forward, however, horns glowing brightly. Dinky grabbed the nearest object in the shed with her telekinesis, a drawer, and pulled it open and scooped out whatever was inside – it turned out to be screwdrivers of various sizes. She hurled them forward with all her telekinetic might.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t a whole lot in this instance. The tools flew forward but only lightly impacted the monster, though it was at least enough to drive it back a foot or two. Snails grabbed one or two off the ground himself with his own magic and sent them flying up. His own magic wasn’t any stronger than Dinky’s, and he couldn’t grab nearly as many things at once, but he did manage to get one of the screwdrivers to strike the base of the monster’s left wing. The monster let out a hiss of pain as it fell to the floor, though it landed easily and started forward.

Snails picked up another screwdriver and tried to aim for the thing’s huge eyes, but the creature’s own horn glowed green and grabbed at the screwdriver, stopping it, though Snails kept pushing anyway. Another screwdriver, this one wrapped in Dinky’s lavender glow, came at it from the other side. The thing’s green aura grabbed that one as well, but it stopped its advance, bracing itself as though this were a physical rather than magical contest – and its eyes widened when it started losing, the two screwdrivers slowly inching forward. With a loud hiss, it ducked and let go of the screwdrivers at the same time, and they went sailing over its head and embedded themselves in the far wall.

Dinky tried to grab another tool, but the monster acted first, green aura grabbing all the scattered screwdrivers and pulling them back and behind it. The effort, however, seemed to stagger it, as it remained leaning down on its knees, panting heavily, before it looked back up at the foals, eyes narrowing. It hissed again.

Dinky braced herself, but then she felt her tail being grabbed. She let out a yelp as she looked behind her, and found Pipsqueak had grabbed her tail in his teeth. He and Twist had made a hole in the shed’s wall big enough for all of them, and he’d grabbed her and was now jumping out, powerful earth pony muscles easily pulling her along for the ride. It hurt, as did the broken wood she was dragged past, but in another moment she was out in the cool night air again.

Dinky stood quickly, looking back in as her horn glowed bright. She helped Snails grab an entire cabinet and hurl it telekinetically, but they couldn’t throw the cabinet very fast, and the monster was able to easily dodge by using its wings to allow it to glide sideways, then it lunged for Snails. He let out a shout of fright and shrank back, but Twist was there, turning around and delivering a solid buck to the monster with her hind legs. It went flying away and landed on the ground with a crash, facing away from them.

Dinky almost thought they were safe, but then the thing jerked and its head snapped around to face them – without the rest of its body turning, a move that surely would have snapped a pony’s neck completely. It hissed at them, forked tongue reaching a good two feet from its body as it did.

Why would it bend like that?!” Dinky demanded as Snails hurried through the hole, followed by Twist, while the monster stood up, head snapping back around into a more normal position. It charged forward and crashed through the hole, coming out in a tumbling heap and rolling a little before staggering to its feet.

“Run!” Pipsqueak exclaimed.

“No!” Twist countered, reaching out and stopping the colt before he could. “If we run, it’ll jutht turn into one of uth again!” She turned back to face the monster, eyes narrowing. “We’ve gotta thtop it!”

Pipsqueak gulped, but a glance at Dinky and Snails let him see that the other two had apparently reached the same conclusion. Steeling himself, he turned around, facing the monster and trying to draw upon all his bravery. He’s swam with sharks once, in the Southern Sea. That had been way scarier…or at least he tried to convince himself of that.

The monster glanced between the four of them, eyes wide again…only it stood up straighter and leaned forward, taking in deep breath and tongue lolling out. “Yezzz…” It hissed in a low voice. “Brave…tazzzty…more…MORE!” It stomped a hoof, hissed, and charged forward.

Dinky and Snails both slapped at it with telekinesis, but it launched itself into the air over their auras, and landed among them, right next to Twist. Before she could react or do anything but scream, the creature was on her, hole-filled hooves pushing her back and onto her back so that the creature could hiss in her face, tongue sticking out, green goop and more normal-looking saliva falling down onto her. She screamed.

The monster hissed, eyes widening as it fell backwards and away at Twist’s scream. It didn’t notice Pipsqueak come up on it and buck it firmly in its face. It went tumbling away again, but turned to face Pipsqueak easily, mouth open wide at first and roaring. Pipsqueak let out a yelp of fright and backed away…and the monster let out a hiss of its own as it stood, taking up a defensive posture again.

Twist felt her heart hammering in her chest as she got to her hooves, but tried to force her mind to work past that. The monster had knocked her over, had her dead to rights…but when she’d screamed, it had backed away. It hadn’t seemed to mind Pipsqueak’s buck all that much, but when he’d shouted in fear, it had suddenly gotten defensive…

…and earlier, it had revealed itself first when Dinky had been mad at Pipsqueak for lying to them. Dinky had been standing over it, shouting, mad as could be…and it had reacted like it was under attack.

And just now – just now it had said ‘brave…tasty’…and why hadn’t it eaten Snails? The monster had been with Snails, alone, for hours, but only revealed itself when it had no choice…it had captured Dinky but then only put her in a hole instead of feasting…

“…it doethn’t want to eat uth,” she realized. “It doethn’t want to eat uth!

The monster’s gaze fell on Twist, and it roared. “No, I think it does!” Dinky objected.

Twist shook her head. “I mean, not uth!” Twist said. “It’th feeding on our feelingth!” She glanced at her friends. “That’th why it didn’t eat Th – Snails, or you, Dinky. It doesn’t care about us. It’s eating our bravery, or our happiness…or our love! That’s why it keeps shouting about love! It doesn’t love to eat foals…it wants to eat love from foals!

The creature hissed again, mouth open wide and tongue lolling out as it kept its eyes on Twist. “Yezzz!” It hissed, stepping forward. “More! MORE!

Twist wasn’t surprised that the creature was targeting her now; she was feeling pretty good about herself. “And I think…that if it eats love…” she said, closing her eyes and thinking hard. She focused on the monster, on everything it had put her and her friends through tonight. All the anger, the fear, the hate she’d felt.

The creature’s eyes grew wide, tongue shooting back into its mouth as it backpedaled away from Twist. “HHHZZZTOP! ZZZTOP!”

Twist put on a wicked grin that matched the witch’s costume she wore. “It hates hate,” she said. “It can only eat good feelings. Bad ones hurt it! Anger and hate and fear!”

The other three foals looked between Twist and the monster for a moment, then to each other. As one, they nodded, then turned to the monster, doing what Twist had done – focusing on this Nightmare Night. The Nightmare Night that the monster had ruined by being so scary, so frightening. They focused on the terror they’d felt at being hunted, the anger of having something that was supposed to be good taking away from them…the hate.

The reaction was immediate. The thing recoiled like it had been hit, staggering and coughing, retching like it had tasted something unpleasant. It stumbled backwards, trying to put distance between itself and the foals. “Zzztop! Zzztop it! HHHZZZKKK!

The foals advanced – Twist taking one step at first, but when that produced a flinch from the monster, they all advanced as one, charging at it and roaring in anger, trying to put that emotion at the forefront. The monster’s eyes widened – even as it seemed like it was about to throw up – and it turned and fled. Its wings buzzed, trying to get lift, but it stumbled as a dry heave overcame it.

In just a few moments, the creature had run into a problem: the fence that separated Green Grape’s field from the Everfree Forest. Its front hooves collided with the fence, and it started heaving again before spitting up some kind of green caustic ooze that splattered over the chicken wire, and started melting through it. It turned around to look at the foals – and found them all but on top of it, glaring down at it.

“You ruined Nightmare Night!” Twist exclaimed.

“You pretended to be me!” Pipsqueak shouted

“You tricked me for hours!” Snails added.

“And you scared my friends!” Dinky ended.

The monster glanced between the four of them at fear, rear hooves scrabbling at the dirt even as its front hooves reached back and tried to pull off the metal wire, weakened by the ooze it had spat out. “Zzztop! Zzztop…! Hurtzzz! HURTZZZ! ZZZTOP! PLEAZZZE!

Dinky, Twist, and Pipsqueak almost did – but they were caught up in the moment, in the emotions they were channeling, in the fact that the thing that had been hunting them and scaring them witless all night was finally on the defensive, finally scared, finally hurt. Later, they would think it was wrong, that they shouldn’t be like this…but right now, in the moment, it felt good.

But to Snails, the creature looked like a hurt, scared, panicked animal…and Snails liked animals. His cutie mark was in communicating with them. And he knew that this creature, whatever it was…it had just been hungry, just trying to feed itself. Some part of Snails’ mind even knew that the monster hadn’t wanted to scare them…after all, it didn’t like the taste of fear. If it really did feed on love and joy and happiness, then it hadn’t really meant to take that away from them…

Snails felt sorry for it.

The creature had compound eyes, but somehow Snails knew that it was looking right at him, not his friends. The wire behind it finally snapped under its clawing at it and the ooze it had spat on it, and it fell backwards through it, to the other side of the fence, but it never broke eye contact with Snails.

I’m zzzorry…” it buzzed, then turned and fled into the Everfree Forest.

It was over.