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// Spoken by the Judged 
// Story: Words spoken on Painted Canvas 
// by LucidTech 
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        Alice slowly stirred from her position on the couch, stretching her arms above her head for a moment before relaxing them once again. After moving to a sitting position she took a few minutes to wake herself up before noticing a sheet of paper resting on the end table next to her hat. With one more stretch to wake herself up fully the girl stood from the couch and grabbed her hat from the end table, placing it securely on her head after she had done so.

        With her head now properly covered Alice reached over a picked up the note, unsure of what to think of it. Upon the white sheet was a slightly crude drawing of grocery bags and coins which Alice assumed had been left for her to inform her that the cream pegasus had gone shopping and that she would be alone for some unknown period of time.

After another look over the paper to ensure she wasn’t missing something Alice put it back on the end table and took a look at her surroundings for a moment before deciding to spend the day relaxing in the sun. She straightened her outfit out of habit before heading out the door and into the grassy area behind the house where the pegasus had set up several chairs for her and her friends to sit in should they come to visit.

As she exited the house a reflection of light danced across her eyes, blinding her breifly, before she managed to see past the red tint everything had suddenly taken on. A stir of motion in the distance caught her eye and Alice narrowed her eyelids to get a better look. Slowly the blurred outline of something that looked similar to a pony took shape and Alice began a slow approach. 

The thing turned its head to look at her, its blue eyes staring directly into her own for what seemed like an eternity before the creature took flight and ran into the Everfree Forest. Alice, believing she had scared away one of the animals that Fluttershy had started taking care of, took off after it. Sprinting towards the forest as fast as she could to try and calm the creature. Though as she approached she started to feel some kind of pseudo pull on her mind to avoid entering the forest, telling her something bad would happen should she even get close to it.

Ignoring the mental urge Alice pressed on toward the forest in pursuit of the creature she had scared away. Just as she had passed into the woods the dark aura rose up around her, hampering any further progress she wished to make. Slightly taken aback but not one to give in so easily Alice managed to push past the barrier that the odd substance had created. She had done so when it immediately reacted, coiling around her and binding her to the dirt floor of the forest.

”Just give up.” “There is no hope.” “Shh, all will be over soon.” “Peaceful death.”

As the voices tore at her mind Alice attempted to move her hands over her ears in a vain attempt to stop the sound, only to be thwarted by her bonds. She writhed helplessly on the forest floor, the voices tearing through her mind.

        A cracking noise sounded from nearby but in her delirium Alice wasn’t sure if she imagined it or if it was real. As she lay there, her eyes staring helplessly up at the canopy of the forest a black face slowly edged into view. The blue eyes from earlier looked down at her with a mixture of fear and curiosity. Time stretched onwards for both of the beings while the creature looked down at her, trying to decide what to do. Suddenly, having decided its course, the being  nudged Alice with its muzzle and turned her onto her back, a moment longer passed before a slight tingling sensation passed through her and she felt herself lift off the ground. The tingling sensation ended and Alice was rested across the back of the creature, who immediately started moving.

        Slowly the being carried her back to Fluttershy’s cottage with a steady pace. As they left the forest the black substance released her and seeped back into the ground and Alice found herself slowly regaining control of herself, though her movements were still limited. After arriving at the cottage the girl was carefully lowered to the floor of the building. Struggling to get her muscles to listen to her, Alice heard hoof steps as the creature moved around the house looking for something that might help the biped. 

        With a surge of energy, and by straining her body against the phantom bonds that had been on her only moments before, Alice managed to lift herself off of the ground and onto the nearby couch. After securing her seat the biped looked to her side and saw the same creature who had run into the forest earlier standing next to the couch, looking at the human with a tilted head. 

        With what she presumed to be a soft smile the human patted the seat next to herself invitingly and, after a moment of analysis, the creature took the offer. With obstructions out of the way and the light filtering in through the windows of the cottage Alice was afforded a better look of the creature that had saved her from her own aura.

        The being did indeed look equine in nature though it was very clearly NOT equine. The black reflective carapace and the single colored eyes of the creature hinted towards some kind of insect or bug. It was obviously sentient though and Alice found herself wishing, not for the first time, that she could speak the language of this planet or world or universe or wherever she was.

        Wishing to find out more about this creature, and wanting to know if that trip into the forest had permanently damaged her ‘magic’, Alice put her hand out to the being with her palm open. The creature looked at her in confusion until the odd black semi-liquid began to rise out of the floor around her. Fear flashed across the creature’s face as the magic built into the biped’s outstretched hand.

        Just as the orb had finished forming, the creature closed its eyes tightly to avoid witnessing its own end. However, when nothing happened immediately, the creature opened its eyes once again to see a swirling ball of eldritch green. Alice smiled to the creature from behind her orb and closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the whispers that would tell her about who she was sitting with.

The whispers never came. In their place instead was a series of visions, similar to a slideshow. And, in much the same way as the whispers. it was a flood of information with two prominent thoughts that stood out amongst the roar of information. Changeling, Alone Followed shortly thereafter by what Alice assumed to be the being’s name. Photo

“Photo?” Alice said aloud, more as a question to herself then to clarify the name with the being in front of her. “Photo the changeling?” The biped looked to the creature who sat next to her and witnessed as her eyes opened wide in recognition and surprise. “Well, that’s interesting.” At her words the creature raised an eyebrow, or would have had it any eyebrows, but didn’t make a move to question her.

Time slowly ticked away once again, leaving both of the inhabitants to think to themselves about what had just happened. Alice was more curious about the magic trying to kill her when she entered the forest where as Photo was more insistent on trying to figure out what this odd being was that had welcomed her so warmly.

        Unable to speak with each other both being’s were left to their own peace until the door to the cottage opened. The changeling started at the noise but Alice grasped her reassuringly on the leg with an honest gaze. After a deep breath to calm itself the changeling once again settled into the couch and waited as the owner of the household made her way into the room.

        As the pony entered through the now open door Alice realized that a conversation was being had. Before she could do anything Alice found herself on the couch looking at both Twilight and Fluttershy, both of whom she had taken the opportunity to learn the name of one day when neither of them had been busy.

        Everything remained still for a second while both parties assesed the situation, until chaos sprung into action. The changeling jumped off the couch and faced off towards the ponies while Twilight stepped forward and lowered her horn towards the creature while magic began to build in the room. Just as tensions had reached their peak Alice quickly stood from her position on the couch and stood squarely between the two.

        “No.” Though none of the inhabitants could understand the word specifically, the tone came away loud and clear and both the changeling and the unicorn slowly released their magic. It was at that point that Alice was joined by Fluttershy who was looking toward the changeling with the same kind eyes that Alice had been greeted with when she had stumbled into the world.

        “Twilight.” The unicorn looked at the human as she recognized her name being spoken. “Photo.” The changeling looked up as well before nodding. Alice and Fluttershy slowly moved aside and let the changeling walk slowly towards the librarian. Carefully, and with much hesitation on both sides, the two raised hooves and shook. Though no one in that room was aware of it that simple act had triggered an immense set of events that would forever change the relationship between ponies and changelings, and in the middle of it would a biped who still couldn’t speak any words of their languages.

(Sorry about the short chapter, I'm a bit out of practice for writing this. Hopefully I can manage to write some more chapters soonish. In other news, there isn't an Alice in Wonderland reference in this chapter. I ran out of things to refer to sorry. -N64Fan)