Hurt. Hungry. Hurt.
Hungry…hurt…
…scared…
…help…please…help…
…please…
---
Every single instinct that the foals possessed made them want to gallop back to Ponyville as fast as their hooves could carry them…but they couldn’t do that. If they did, then they might lose track of one another, and if that happened…then how would they know if the bug-thing had returned? So they trotted, bunched up close together. The adrenaline finally dying down, the moment of victory having passed, the foals jumped at every noise, panicked at every moving shadow. Once a cloud returned to cover the Moon again, and the four foals didn’t dare take another step until the cloud passed, even though Dinky and Snails could provide their own light.
They came up with a new code phrase, too. Just in case. They vowed not to tell it to anypony else, no matter what. That way, they’d always know who each other were.
The Sun was only a few hours from rising by the time they made it back to Ponyville proper. None of them were surprised to find every adult still awake and looking for them, turning the town inside out, the pegasus weather patrol being organized by Rainbow Dash to head out and search for them. When they appeared it was bare minutes before their families were on them all.
The adults had at first worn looks that mixed relief and joy with anger – fury, even – at the four of them being gone for so long, but then they saw what a sorry state the four foals were in, their costumes torn and dirty, covered in small nicks and cuts and bruises from scrabbling out of Green Grape’s shed. That, and the fact that the four burst into relieved tears set aside any anger as the older ponies focused only on the foals’ fear. They were all taken to the nearest home – Pipsqueak’s – and Nurse Redheart and Doctor Stable were called to tend to their injuries. Fortunately aside from minor cuts and a few easily-removed splinters, the foals were fine once they’d been cleaned up, Dinky especially scrubbing herself thoroughly to get the now-calcified monster goop off of her.
It was more than half an hour before the foals finally calmed down enough to tell the adults what had happened. None of the adults had a name for the Everfree monster, none recognizing its true form, nor its ability to change its shape. But the Everfree Forest did have a plethora of monsters, and it was huge. Nopony doubted the foals’ story, about what the monster could do and how it had hunted them and disguised itself like them. Maybe somewhere else in Equestria it might have been doubtful…but the ponies of Ponyville knew what the Everfree Forest was like. The only thing strange about the monster had been its subtlety – Everfree monsters were usually large and loud and very obvious about themselves.
The adults fell to talking to one another about what to do about the monster. Dinky, Snails, Pipsqueak, and Twist didn’t much care at this point, though. Everything caught up with all of them at once, and when the adults at last returned their attentions to them, they found the four of them all bunched together on Pipsqueak’s living room floor, Pipsqueak nestled against Dinky’s barrel with one of Dinky’s forelegs over him, Snails on the other side with his neck laying over Dinky’s own, and Twist tucked so that she was laying beneath both Dinky and Snails’ head, all of them sound asleep.
Nopony had the heart to move them.
---
Pipsqueak had been grounded after all, of course, once the four foals had all woken up, though the young colt hadn’t seemed to mind that he wouldn’t get to go anywhere but school or home for a month. Snails hadn’t been grounded, since his parents had believed him when he said that he hadn’t known that Pipsqueak hadn’t gotten permission from his parents to trick-or-treat alone. They didn’t think he intentionally helped him. But on the other hoof, it was several days before his parents or sister let him go anywhere without them nearby. Snails didn’t mind that at all, though. His parents had even let him stay home from school for several days, which was good, because he was pretty sure he wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on class.
Still, eventually he had to resume a normal life. The four foals all returned to school on the same day, and for each of them the chance to see their friends again was a great relief. All the foals in class had been super-interested in learning what had happened, but Miss Cheerilee had made sure that the foals didn’t ask too many questions, and stressed to the four of them that they didn’t have to talk about the monster – the other foals in class, having heard about it, had taken to calling it the Transformer, which seemed as good a name as any – if they didn’t want to.
But talking helped, so they ended up spending the entire day at school talking about what had happened, how they’d been stalked for an entire night by the Transformer, how it had been able to perfectly duplicate any of them, how they’d had to trick it into revealing itself and then fight it off.
Snails was pretty quiet for most of the talk, though. He hadn’t been able to get his mind off of the Transformer these past few days. At first it had mostly been him being really scared of it, remembering all the frightening things it had done…but then Snails had been able to think past that, to instead when the four of them had been able to defeat it, drive it away. The moment when Snails had realized that what he was looking at was scared and hungry, not really a monster, just something that was forced to act like one.
And it had apologized…
Aw, I’m gonna get in so much trouble…Snails thought when he realized what he was already planning. But he had to do it.
After school, Snails didn’t go home, though he knew he should have. He did ask his best friend Snips to stop by his house and tell them he was heading to Fluttershy’s, though, which wasn’t very unusual – he and the pegasus that lived at the edge of town had the same special talent, communicating with animals, even if the specific marks on their flanks were different. Snails sometimes stopped by Fluttershy’s home to see some of the invertebrates that she had, or to help her with some problem related to insects or arachnids or other animals that Snails liked a lot.
So it wasn’t unusual for him to go there…but it wasn’t true, either. Instead, he headed back out into the farmlands around Ponyville, and into Green Grape’s field again, though with the Sun now shining overhead, giving plenty of light for the colt to see with. The vinter had been out to his shed since the foals had fought the Transformer there. He’d dug up the little lair that the Transformer had made, pulling it from the ground and leaving it next to the shed until he figured out what to do with it. Out of the ground, it looked almost like a shriveled, rotten heart; not the stylized kind that ponies drew on lots of things, but an actual heart, with the tunnel that led down to it looking like a vein or artery.
Snails stared at the exposed lair for a moment, then trotted on, up to where the Transformer had broken through Green Grape’s fence. Green Grape hadn’t fixed that yet; part of the fence still lay on the ground, and the edges of where the Transformer had spat on the fence had calcified bits of green-black ooze, looking just like what its lair was made out of.
Snails sat down just on the vineyard side of the fence, staring beyond, into the Everfree Forest that lay about thirty feet away. Even in daylight, the forest’s twisting boughs and gnarled roots looked scary…some of the adults had ventured into the Everfree over the last few days, as far as they dared, trying to find the Transformer, but nopony had had any luck…which wasn’t very surprising, given that it could change its shape. And though Snails was pretty sure that it was a dumb idea to come out here, he wasn’t going to be so dumb as to go into the Everfree looking for it.
No, instead he simply sat, looked in, and waited. After a few minutes, he realized that the Transformer might not be looking his direction, might not know he was there. “Hey!” He called. “Are you out there?” Snails waited, placing his hooves on the lower rail of the fence. He was still for several long minutes, but nothing happened other than a breeze blew by, and he heard some birds in the distance.
The colt sighed. Just as he was getting up, however, he saw movement from the Everfree. One chitinous, holed hoof appeared around a tree’s trunk, the point caused by one of the holes digging into the bark a little. Snails backed away at the sight, even more so when the creature’s head came out from behind the tree, turning slowly to look at Snails, once again its compound eyes somehow managing to focus on him. He was suddenly struck by how very, very bad an idea this had been.
The creature remained just as still as Snails…no, not just as still, Snails realized after a moment. It was breathing heavily, but not easily, every inhale seeming like a struggle and every exhale making its shudder slightly. After several moments, its other hoof came into view, but only to grab the tree, to help hold it upright.
“Zzznailzzz…” it rasped, its voice high and dry, its eyes wide. “Zzznailzzz…hhhelp…”
Snails was frozen. Paralyzed. He’d come out here because he knew the thing was hurt, that the creature needed help…but on the other hoof, there was the thing, the creature, the monster that had hunted him, tricked him, scared him…maybe this was a trick too, maybe it just wanted to feed on his pity…
The creature’s eyes fluttered a little. It let out a dry cough, letting go of the tree and coming around it, standing on four hooves just beyond the tree line…and only barely, its legs shaking visibly. It reached out one hoof – to step forward, maybe, or maybe reaching out to Snails. But then its eyes closed, and it fell over onto its side…and Snails could just hear its breath rattling as it did.
The colt was still for a few moments, debating internally about what to do. Eventually, however, concern won out over fright, and he trotted forward. He paused a second longer at Green Grape’s fence, but forced himself through.
The colt found the creature lying on its side, breath coming in short, quick gasps. Its forked tongue was lying out of its mouth on the grass, twitching weakly, while the elytra on its back had opened slightly, revealing twitching wings. As Snails approached, the thing managed to open its eyes, but nothing more than that. “Hhhelp…pleazzze…” it begged. “Pleazzze…Zzznailzzz…”
Snails stared, his eyes growing wide. The creature…it wasn’t just hurt. It wasn’t just scared. Snails had seen animals die…many of his animal friends were predators, after all, and they had to eat. Sometimes they’d get sick too, or just old – for insects or arachnids or crustaceans or whatever – and pass on. So Snails knew what a dying animal looked like.
And the creature…whatever it was…it was dying.
“Pleazzze…hhhelp me…”
Snails shuffled from one hoof to another, glancing around. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help it…it was that, the best way he could think of to do so was to feed it what it wanted…give it love or joy or happiness or whatever else it needed. But if Snails did that…then it might get strong enough to attack him, to drag him off into the Everfree and come up with some way to keep feeding on him. Keep him trapped forever in its lair in the Everfree Forest, maybe trapped in place with that gunk that it built its lair out of, covering him like a cocoon, nowhere to go…
“Ahhh…!”
The cry was small, pathetic, weak, and born of nothing but utter agony mixed with a total inability to do anything about it. Snails looked down at the creature and realized that all the fear and panic from just now, that he’d felt while worrying that this might be a trick, had been fed on by the creature…and hurt it more.
Snails tried to calm down, but the fear of what the creature might do to him, mixed with the worry about how it was dying, couldn’t leave his mind. There was another haggard rasp from the creature, and it started convulsing, legs curling in on itself, wings buzzing frantically beneath its elytra. The creature was definitely dying now…and Snails could only think of one way to help. One thing he could do…and he had to do it, had to take the risk. He gulped a little, then threw himself forward and on top of the creature, grabbing hold of it – its hide was surprisingly pliable for looking so much like an exoskeleton – and closing his eyes. The creature had kept talking about love all Nightmare Night…so Snails would try and give some to it.
He thought about how much he loved his family. His father Dewdrops, who was always calm and fair with him, who worked in the weather patrol and helped coordinate the weather across the province. Every gentle shower or sunny day that Snails had ever had, he’d had thanks in part to his dad.
He thought about his mother Shutterbug, a nature photographer. With Ponyville sandwiched between the Whitetail Wood and the Everfree Forest, she never lacked for amazing shots, and she shared Snails’ love of invertebrate animals, too, helping him find new friends or taking him to her studio in Canterlot where they kept even more exotic animals.
He thought about his sister Raindrops, the coolest and strongest mare he knew, who was always there for him, who always helped cheer him up when he was feeling down, who was also part of the weather patrol, but was responsible for actually flying into the sky and making the weather with her own hooves.
He thought about all of his friends – Snips and Dinky, and Pipsqueak and Alula, and Twist and Applebloom and Bee Bop and Scootaloo and Featherweight and Sweetie Belle and Truffle Shuffle and so many more foals at school.
Snails thought about all of them, and he tried as hard as he could to somehow take what he felt for them, the joy he shared, the laughter he’d had, the love he felt for his family and friends, and he tried to give that love to the creature, the Transformer, the whatever it was, because right now, it needed the love more than he did. Snails could always get more…but could the creature?
And it worked. Snails could feel it working…it was like a pull, like static across his pelt, only instead of his fur standing on end was like something was being pulled out of him…it didn’t hurt, but it did feel weird and unpleasant and he didn’t like it, but the creature needed it, so he let it happen, set aside how bad it felt and focused only on helping the creature, hoping…only when he started to feel his limbs shaking, started to feel really tired, did he stop to wonder if maybe this was a bad idea
But the creature’s breathing became more regular. Snails looked to its face, and saw that it’s tongue was once again hanging out, flicking around and tasting the air…or his emotions, he guessed, the tongue must have had something to do with it. After a moment more, it drew its tongue back into its mouth, and instantly the pull on Snails stopped. He let out a long breath of relief at that, at the unpleasant feeling of his soul being pulled on going away, even as the creature took in deep, steady breaths.
“I…I don’t…don’t need more,” it said. The buzzing and hissing was basically gone from its voice, but its breath hitched a few times, and one hoof went to its mouth even as it squeezed its eyes shut, tears apparent. “I’m not hungry…I’m not hungry…I’m not hungry!”
The creature’s dam burst, and it let out an anguished but relieved wail. And even though it didn’t need it anymore, Snails grabbed it and squeezed it just a little bit harder to let it know everything would be okay.
---
“Ocellus,” the creature said several minutes later, when it had finally calmed down. “My name is Ocellus. I’m a changeling.”
The two were sitting facing each other – inside of Green Grape’s fence, the creature, Ocellus, being strong enough to stand and follow Snails’ trot, since now that Ocellus was better Snails didn't want to be any closer to the Everfree Forest than he had to be. There had been several minutes of silence after that, save Ocellus occasionally fighting back more tears of relief, of joy. This close, Snails realized that he was actually taller than Ocellus, though not much taller. It was strange, that he had been so afraid of a monster that he was bigger than.
“I…I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how I got here to…to wherever I am. I had heard stories…that pools were opening on the surface. Portals. Rifts that would swallow a changeling and then that changeling would never be seen again. But I thought they were stories…I was part of a labor group under hive lord Pharynx, repairing one of the entrances to the hive from the storms…there was a flash…then I was in that forest. Alone. That was…I don’t know. A lot of sleep-cycles ago.”
Snails nodded, though something was bothering him. He was paying attention, but ever since Ocellus had stopped buzzing so much and its normal voice became clearer, he had been wondering…“Are you a filly?” He asked.
Ocellus’s eyelids – it was strange that a creature with compound eyes had those, but it did – fluttered. “What?” It asked.
“Sorry,” Snails apologized, ears folding down. “I’m just curious.”
Ocellus was silent a moment, before giggling a little. “Yes. I’m female naturally.” She blinked, and green light flashed over her. She didn’t look much different – a little smaller and maybe a little more angular. “I can be male if you prefer, though. It’s not hard.” Her voice had shifted a little at that, becoming just a touch deeper. “Or both. Or neither.”
Snails shook his head. “No, that’s okay.”
Ocellus flashed again, returning to her natural shape. “I’m just a worker drone, anyway. It probably won’t ever matter. Plus I’ve only had a few molts since I was a nymph, so I’m too young to have a brood even if a hive lord wanted one with me.”
“Me too,” Snails said. He didn’t quite understand all of that, but he could make some guesses based on his animal friends. Though he didn’t think he’d call any family he might one day have a brood. He didn’t think they’d like that.
There was silence between the two of them for several long moments. “So, uh…” Snails said. “You eat love?”
Ocellus nodded, though a pained look overcame her face. “I’m…I’m sorry,” she said, wings buzzing a little beneath her elytra. “I was in the forest for…for a long time. I don’t know how long. I do need to eat like you do, sometimes…” she pointed at her mouth and made chomping motions. Snails noticed that despite her fangs, most of her teeth were flat, just like his. The fangs must have been for threat-displays, then. Ocellus wasn’t really a carnivore. “But I need love, too. Joy or happiness taste good as well, they can help…but I need love to live. I found your settlement a few days ago…but by then, I’d been driven mad by hunger.” She looked down, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I thought that ponies liked being scared. That’s what I kept seeing in town…ponies being scared but then feeling joy and happiness.”
“Oh, that’s ‘cause Nightmare Night is all about being scary,” Snails explained. “But not too scary. Not like…um…what you did.”
Ocellus glanced back up. “I started to realize that. But by then I was just so hungry…I…I only saw you as prey.”
Snails nodded himself. “That’s okay, too, I guess. If a wolf or a bear or something was really hungry they’d probably see me as food too. Though I wouldn’t really like being eaten. I wouldn’t just let it happen…” he paused a moment. “Sorry about trying to shove a screwdriver into your eye. I was really scared.”
“I know,” Ocellus responded. She would know, too, since she would have been tasting his fear.
The two were silent again for a bit, before Snails stood up. “Okay,” he said. “I’m gonna go to Fluttershy’s house now. I told my parents I was going to and I don’t wanna be a liar. You can come too, if you want, I bet she'd love to meet a changeling – ”
“No!” Ocellus exclaimed, wings spreading wide and buzzing as her eyes widened in panic. Snails backed away a few steps in fright, and Ocellus noticed and calmed down. “N-no,” she repeated. “P-please, Snails…don’t tell anypony about me. Everypony in your town will hate me…probably does hate me, for what I did.” She hunkered down, hooves over her head. “What I am. What I see you as. Prey.”
Snails frowned. “I shouldn’t keep secrets,” he said. “And I don’t like lying to ponies.”
Ocellus looked up at Snails, pressing her front hooves together. “Please! I don’t know where I am. I don’t know where my hive is…m-maybe I can live here, in the forest…but I don’t want ponies hunting me or chasing me or hurting me! Please!”
Snails looked at her, then sighed. “Okay…” he said. “I won't tell anypony about you. But what about food? You can’t just stay in the Everfree until you go crazy and start hunting ponies again.”
Ocellus shook her head. “I was only like that because I hadn’t found any love for…I don’t know. A lot of sleep-cycles, like I said.” She smiled at Snails, and the colt was surprised that it wasn’t an unpleasant one, even with the fangs and the knowledge that behind her mouth was a forked tongue at least two feet long. “But now that I found Ponyville, and since you fed me so much love, I could go into your settlement every day in disguise. Feed on love there. Not as much as what you gave…just a little here and there.” She looked in the direction of Ponyville, and her tongue flicked out like a snake’s, tasting the air. “There’s…there’s so much love there. I’d never go hungry.”
Snails was glad to hear that, at least. “Okay. But try not to look like a pony that’s already there! If there’s two me’s trotting around, or something, then ponies are gonna get suspicious.”
Ocellus nodded, then looked down, thinking. She flashed green, and then Snails found himself looking at a somewhat lanky filly with a sky-blue coat, pastel pink mane and tail, and aquamarine eyes. “I don’t have to look like anypony in particular,” she said, turning around in place, the buzz now completely gone from her voice. “I can make up a disguise. How’s this?”
Snails looked her over, then nodded. “That’s good, though careful that Miss Cheerilee doesn’t catch you not in school when you look like a filly…or a colt, I guess.”
Ocellus smiled. “Okay. And…and can I meet you every now and then, once I make a new burrow?” She trotted up to Snails – still a bit shorter than him – to look him in the eye. “Just…just to talk. I’ll talk to ponies as a pony…but since you know what I am, I’d like to be able to talk as myself, too.”
“That’s fine,” Snails responded. He knew he’d certainly want to be able to talk to Ocellus more. She seemed nice, now that she wasn’t a scary monster hunting foals on Nightmare Night. He offered her a grin. “You wanna meet Fluttershy while you look like a pony? She’s really shy but she’s usually better around foals than adults. I bet she’ll like meeting a new foal.”
Ocellus brightened. “Sure!” she said, and the two trotted off. Snails took a moment as they did to glance down at Ocellus – he was still a bit taller than her. This was…kind of weird, he had to admit, cantering along with a pony that was really a changeling that had been trying to eat him and his friends just a few days before. But on the other hoof, he’d made a new friend, and that was always a good thing.
He definitely wanted to get more ponies to know about Ocellus and what she really was, though. But it could wait. There’d be no harm in that.