//------------------------------// // Keep them safe // Story: Changeling of the Everfree // by Veryfriedguy7 //------------------------------// That memory was burned into his mind. Reminding him of who he was. No matter how long it's been it is always fresh within the confines of his mind. Murex Murex It was so long ago but he remembers everything so well. How could he forget? Especially how his carers had left him there. He doesn't blame them. Should he? He doesn't know why they didn't comeback. He didn't know if he was even abandoned or left behind or what! He just knows he's alone. He now spends his days wandering a forest. He doesn't know what forest it is, if it's special or not, if it has a name or not but a... what was it? A zebra? Yes, a zebra. A zebra told him he was in the 'Everfree forest' so that must be where he is. It only took a while to understand what she was saying. Being alone all his life meant he didn't know how to speak or what a 'language' was but he picked it up after a while. There are many things he doesn't know and very few that he does. The zebra is kind to him and told him many things, mainly of these 'pony' things. She asked him to scare them away from the forest because they don't know how to keep away from the dangers of the forest or how to fight back, but he and the zebra do. So he did and he did it well. He isn't close to the zebra but she can't keep these 'ponies' out for whatever reason and he already looks scary. So he scared them off and the zebra told him things in return. It didn't matter if it was about where the zebra was from, where they are or the ponies that are all around the outside of the forest. He always listened, learned. Her... rhyming, yes that's what it's called rhyming, was hard to understand at first, after he learnt how to language, but he eventually caught on and listened to her tales with mild success. Murex was prowling around the forest as he usually did, searching for something to wet his appetite. The forest was dark which is usual but not around this time, it should be getting brighter. Confused he climbed a nearby tree and searched the sky for the big ball that burns his eyes. He couldn't find it. Loud bangs rang out from the pony town and his attention snapped towards it, many things were happening this dark morning, he was told to never go to the town. He asked why he couldn't and the zebra always told him that the ponies won't be nice to him. This confused him greatly. "Why would they be not nice?" He asked her many times after. He was never told why. Preoccupied with thoughts about the ball not being there, the bangs in the pony town and why they wouldn't be nice to him. He stopped his thinking and dropped from the canopy and onto the ground below. His black and deep red chitin were highlighted in the moonlight, standing out from the nearby shrubbery. Not good. Being seen is bad when not scaring off ponies. Murex is far from alone here, many things compete for food, things could try to eat him. But they never think of what they're hunting, big mistake. Things found out when he returned the favor and ate them instead. He is small when compared to them but it's his biggest advantage. After attempting, and failing, to eat a few pebbles that heavily resembled plants on the zebra's insistence. Needless to say he coughed them up, but they weren't the only thing to come back up. A tiny needle flew out from his maw and audibly impacted a random tree. He experimented with it a bit and also discovered that by tensing a certain part of his throat he could add, what the zebra called 'poison', or coat a needle in a different liquid that could melt things. Acid the zebra called it. But they weren't his main weapon. They surprised him when the zebra demonstrated what a 'Chinese burn' is and squeezed one of his forelegs. They both found out that Murex had extremely sharp and long bone blades hidden within his forelegs. He nearly killed the zebra but he walked away with very efficient weapons. Light, long, sharp, hard and thick. Perfect for cutting bad things down when they try to eat you. Or saving the six ponies entering the forest. A ponies scent stuck out in the forest, especially to predators. A sweet smell that often made his mouth water that could be carried on the wind for long distances, he used this scent to sniff them out like a bloodhound. That's what the zebra called it anyway. He shot off in the direction his nose was leading him to, the surrounding plants rustled in the wind he left behind. It was a short distance that was closed in no time. Murex crouched down in bushes some distance away and he listened in, always eager to learn about the world beyond his own. Or he would have if a voice hadn't echoed within his mind giving him two simple instructions. Follow Keep them safe That voice... The same one that saved him such a long time ago... He was powerless to disobey the simple commands from this gentle mental melody. He kept his ears off them. Whatever they were saying it was second to the instructions branded within his psyche. Follow Keep them safe Without a thought Murex followed them from within their own shadows. Stalking them like the perfect predator he is. Everything was going okay, not really. The ponies nearly fell to their deaths when the ground they were walking on suddenly fell from underneath them. He was about to act but the two wing ponies caught them all. One even jumped down the side off the cliff. There was also a big fluffy thing with the weird tail but a needle coated in poison helped calm it down dramatically, not enough to kill it though. One of the ponies then subdued the thing with... words. He never thought to try that but he probably won't. They do taste kinda nice. They laughed at trees for a while and this confused Murex but he didn't think about it too long and resumed his stalking. There was a water long thing crying about some hair on it's face while thrashing about in the small river it sat in. The ponies needed to cross the water but couldn't due to it's crying and thrashing. Murex was about to act but a different pony from before, one with a stick on it's head, walked up to it and eventually cut of it's own tail with one of the thing's scale and gave it to the thing. It made it happy and it even helped them across, Murex wouldn't hunt it later for that. They trekked on with Murex still stalking, still warding off things that would eat them from his presence alone. The tree dogs learned to stay away from him a long time ago. Even with this knowledge he must follow, must keep them safe. They eventually came across a wood walkway that was no longer there. Murex remembered it well, nearly fell when he tried to use it. He was too heavy for it. Another pony went off and dove into the fog below, he was stunned by it's apparent death until it came back up with the wood walkway in it's grasp. He relaxed at this sight. Now waiting upon the other one Murex decided to look at these ponies and commit them to memory, the voice must have wished their protection for a reason. Five... Five mares. Their colors and races standing out to him. Purple with purple unicorn, pink with pink, yellow with pink pegasus, white with purple unicorn, orange with yellow. He didn't know what the ponies with no wings or stick were called so he didn't name them and just remembered their colors. Until purple unicorn spoke up. "Hey girls? Do you feel like something is watching us?" She asked, her voice and question confirming that they were mares. "Now that you mention it Twilight, my skin has been crawling. I certainly feel like it's followed us too." White unicorn said. Purple unicorn is Twilight. He will remember this. The others sounded their agreement and yellow pegasus just curled up and squeaked. The other pony came back and he went to commit her to memory too. Until he saw her mane. 'It looks just like the light I saw on that day...' He didn't even need to commit her to memory, he WILL remember her after seeing her mane. "I never leave my friends hanging!" The color pony chimed in a scratchy, definitely female voice. He will remember her by sound now too. They crossed the wood walkway and Murex, learning his lesson before, waited for them to cross and enter some old looking building then jumped, with the aid of his wings, the entire gap in one bound and landed on the other side. He was about to find a vantage point to look into the building but was forced to quickly dive to the side into some bushes that were near the cliff. He wasn't seen but the rustle of his landing was heard. "Y'all hear that?" Orange asked the others. White unicorn spoke up "Do you think that thing that is following us is close?" This got a weird look from color pegasus. "What are you guys talking about?" Her voice was music to his ears. "Twilight said that something might have been following and watching us while you were tying the bridge darling." White unicorn replied. Bridge? Is that what wood walkway is called? Color pegasus was about to press further but a scream filled the air. "Twilight!" they all called and ran inside. Murex was about to follow them but a light off to the side caught his attention. 'Must be purp- Twilight' he corrected himself. He was about to find a perch but was interrupted. Keep them safe Safe... He felt a presence in his mind and it was leading him off the cliff and to the side of the castle. When he followed it, it never ended poorly so he went where it instructed. He backed up and fell off the cliff to grab a ledge that was poking out off the cliff face, he used it to jumped between small ledges and rocks sticking out of the cliff face. He came across a hole in the castle walls and jumped through it and heard banging. He looked to the side and saw a... door... shaking. The voices of the mares on the other side. A stick of wood was on the door, stopping it from opening. He removed it and very quickly pulled the door open, using it to hide himself as it did. When he did this the mares burst forth and didn't even look back. Falling into routine, he followed them. They found Twilight standing before a tall pure black pony with both wings and a stick. Her stick was much longer than Twilight's. Twilight looked very upset for some reason with a bunch of rock shards around her. He tensed, quickly and quietly, he jumped up and scaled a wall intent on finding a good perch, he wouldn't harm the pony but would butcher it if it attempted to harm Twilight or the others. He must keep them safe. Twilight spoke up. “You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that?” She squared her shoulders and looked to the tall black mare. “Well, you're wrong because the spirits of the elements are right here!” She stood proudly with the others mares standing behind her. “Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt represents the spirit of, Honesty! Fluttershy, who tamed a manticore with her compassion represents the spirit of, Kindness! Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger represents the spirit of, Laughter! Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of, Generosity! And, Rainbow Dash, who refused to abandon her friends for her own heart's desire represents the spirit of, Loyalty! The spirits of these six ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us.” Twilight replied to her, the mare's voice was loud and confident. She looked back as the stone shards now floated around each pony she named, he will remember them. Each was a different color that matched with the pony they circled around. This newly named pony 'Nightmare Moon' looked at them with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. “You still don’t have the sixth element. The spark didn't work!” “But it did. A different kind of spark, I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear from you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all...are my friends!” Twilight and the others looked up as a new light went off above Twilight. It was in the shape of the mark on her flank and stayed hovering in the air above her. “You see, Nightmare Moon when those elements are ignited by the spark that lives in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the element of... Magic!” Twilight exclaimed. The six ponies were pulled together and the light that flowed from them created... the colors in Rainbow's mane... held a color from each of them. The colors hit Nightmare Moon and swirled around her consuming her, hoof to her head stick. “No! No!” She screamed in protest but even the sound of her protests was soon drowned out. A bright light soon filled the entire room. Murex had to shield his eyes, not used to bright lights. After it dissipated he looked and found a smoke cloud where Nightmare Moon used to be. He relaxed his tense muscles, confidant the threat was gone. The mares started recovering from their attack and looking around the room and inspecting the new shiny metal on them with glee. Murex didn't care much for their talking, until a voice he didn't recognize sounded out. The ball of light finally rose but, much to his annoyance, another bright light filled the room and a new tall white pony emerged from it, he tensed once more but became confused as the mares bowed to this new pony. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight called out and ran to embrace this 'Celestia'. "Twilight Sparkle! My faithful student. I knew you could do it." Celestia congratulated her. "But you told me it was all an old pony tale." Twilight mused. "I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more," She replied. "I saw the signs of Nightmare Moons return and I knew it was you that had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart." She finished "Now if only two others will do this as well," She looked over to where Nightmare Moon used to be, a smaller mare in her place. Murex following Celestia intently. His eyes followed her with every word. "Princess Luna." Celestia called out, earning a gasp from the smaller mare. "It has been 1000 years since I have seen you like this, time to put our differences behind us we were meant to rule together little sister." "Sister?" Fluttershy, Twilight and Rainbow parroted. "Will you accept my friendship?" She asked her little sister. All the ponies were leaning in, intent on hearing her answer, Pinkie leaned so far she fell over. Murex was also interested. "I'm sorry!" She cried out. "I missed you so much big sister!" She said while crying. "I missed you too." Celestia replied, also crying. "Wait!" Twilight shrieked, effectively ruining the moment. Everypony (and ling) turned their attention to her. "You said two! Is there another pony here?" She asked now wary. "Indeed there is Twilight. But he isn't a pony." This surprised Murex greatly. She quickly began telling, much to his shock, the day Murex was born. "Roughly 15 years ago I sensed a creature that was on it's dying breath, abandoned by those that should care for it. By some miracle, he fought against all odds and lived, despite being born that day, and I reached out to his mind and gave him something to live for, something to fight for. I gave him a destiny and a name." She finished. Murex was in shock. She didn't know about the rock but was she the voice? "It wandered and eventually found the Everfree. He kept ponies out of the forest without me instructing him to, until today. He followed you and he kept the dangerous beasts that would seek to eat you at bay, merely by his being there." "What was his name Princess?" Twilight asked as Murex felt the presence return to his mind. "His name is Murex." She supplied. "Come forth Murex!" She called to him, the voice from within urging him out of hiding. He was torn between doing so and just leaving, remembering the zebras words. 'ponies will not be nice to you'. With a reluctance greater than the big ball in the sky he jumped down from his perch with closed eyes. Landing silently behind the mares. Celestia saw him, smiled and jerked her head towards him. The mares turned and saw him. His hole filled hooves, his black body with deep red outlines on his upper torso, neck and all around his head. They looked deep into his glowing blue eyes when he opened them and silence reigned across them all. The mares' eyes all pin pricks. "Girls. This is Murex and he is a ferocious predator and friend to me." She stated, a smile still on her face. For the first time in nearly two weeks he spoke. "I not see you before, yet know you." He spoke not loud but not quiet, firm yet friendly, his voice not deep but not pitched. The sound of neutrality. "Ponies, safe. work is done here." Everypony, Celestia included, expected him to turn and walk out the way they came. He surprised everypony when he dived out a window, that was over a cliff. Everypony ran to the window, expecting to see him falling only to see the glass shards from the broken glass falling to the rocks below. "Where'd he go?" Rainbow questioned, still searching for him. "I do not know, all I can sense is his rough location." She informed them, of course they asked where. She giggled. "He is already quite far from here my little ponies. While I would advise against it, the Everfree is his domain and he knows of you all now. You will be safe from the creatures here." "Do the creatures here... fear him?" Fluttershy asked, curious as to why there was seemingly no creatures around. "Yes. They do Fluttershy. He regularly hunts them to remind them he is still here. To fear him." Celestia confirmed her fears. "If the Everfree fears him. Is he evil?" Twilight asked, more to herself than to Celestia. "No my faithful student. He is not evil, but he is not good either." This confused all of them, Luna included. "He simply is."