Trixie and Ocellus had settled into the small room in Town Hall intended for out-of-town government officials to stay while on official business. This also apparently included representatives from the Princess. The room, despite its intended use, wasn’t that high quality. It was little more than a room at a motel. A high-quality motel, but a motel nonetheless. But it is free lodgings, and the mayor can’t be expected to maintain a hotel-quality room that will rarely be used. Trixie even questioned whether the room had ever been used for its intended purpose.
The room was simply just a large bedroom with two beds, a dresser drawer with a record player on top of it, a closet with extra bedding, and a small bathroom. Considering its simple nature, Trixie doubted that any government officials from Canterlot had ever stayed in this room. She almost considered complaining about the room before remembering that she likely had been spoiled by the luxuries of Canterlot. And if it weren’t for the case that she was initially from Las Pegasus, she likely wouldn’t have even caught herself and realized that she had been spoiled.
Ocellus has the opposite opinion from Trixie. Despite being born and raised in Canterlot, Ocellus seemed to enjoy the simple nature of the room, having yet to become like other snobby Canterlosians. Perhaps it’s because of one of the castle’s staff, Fancy Pants, who wasn’t as snobby as other Canterlosians, despite his high-class nature. Ocellus’s only complaint was that the room had no kitchenette. And it’s not because she wanted to cook anything (especially with the kind of food Trixie eats), but because she just likes the word kitchenette.
“How’s your eye doing?” Trixie asked the faux filly.
Ocellus removed the ice pack, revealing that the swelling had gone down to almost nothing. But there was still a nasty-looking bruise left. Trixie still didn’t understand how an injury from her disguised form translated to her natural form like this or how using an ice pack works in both forms. A pony form makes sense to some extent, considering the similar shape. But what about an unequine form or even an inanimate object like a rock? She supposed it must be just another mystery she has yet to learn about Changeling biology.
“Well, at least the swelling’s gone down,” Trixie continued after analyzing the injury, “And other than a black eye, there shouldn’t be any lasting damage.”
“Why does Apple Bloom hate me?” Ocellus asked.
“I’m sure it’s nothing personal,” Trixie explained, “Even in a small town like this, you’re bound to come across bullies.”
“So it’s no different than Canterlot.”
“Don’t think like that, Ocellus,” Trixie said in a calming voice, “You’ve already made two new friends on your first day. Three if you count Maud. And she even knows your secret! How many friends do you have in Canterlot that are your own age? And how many friends do you have that know your secret?”
“Do you think they’d still be my friend even if they knew my secret?” Ocellus asked with a hint of hope in her voice.
“It’s hard to say,” Trixie replied with a shrug of her shoulders, “But from what I’ve seen of this town, if anypony would be willing to accept you for what you are, it’d be these Ponyvillians.”
“It would be nice to not have to hide anymore,” Ocellus said.
“It would be nice for both of us,” Trixie agreed, “For now, get some sleep. We still have more overseeing to do tomorrow.”
Ocellus woke up with a jolt at the sound of screaming outside. Looking around, she saw that Trixie’s bed was empty. Ocellus donned her disguise and attempted to go outside to see what was going on.
Ponies were running around and screaming in fear. The fear was intense to her Changeling senses. So much so that it was beginning to make her sick. But she had to find out what was going on. And find her mother.
That’s when she found a group of ponies, one of them being Trixie. She shot a magic bolt at what could only be described as a living shadow. The bolt of magic did nothing. No, not nothing. It angered the shadow.
The shadow’s anger was so intense that to her Changeling senses, it was becoming toxic to be around.
The shadow responded to Trixie’s bolt of magic by striking back. The shadow went down Trixie’s throat. Trixie was clearly suffocating. But that wasn’t all. Her light blue coat had turned a sickly black as if her body was going through necrosis at an alarming speed. Her mane turned black and became a miasma similar to what the shadow was made of. The miasma filled the sclera of her eyes, turning them black. Her horn lengthened into a sharp, curved, demon of a horn. Skeletal wings burst out of her back.
And all the while, she was looking straight into Ocellus’s eyes, making her see all the pain, then that pain contorted into malice.
“Mom?” the faux filly whimpered.
“You’re mother isn’t here right now,” the demon that used to be Trixie said, her voice being the only thing about her that didn’t change, twisting the proverbial knife in the Changeling’s heart, “Please leave a message at the sound of the screech.”
The demon then let out an ear-piercing unnatural screech that no pony should be capable of. As much as Ocellus tried to hold her hooves to her ears, she couldn’t stop the sensation of a warm viscous liquid seeping out of her ears. And the liquid wasn’t red, but rather blue. The color of Changeling blood. Her disguise wasn’t hiding her blood.
“Ocellus! This way!” a voice said. Ocellus turned to her right to see Silver Spoon motioning for her to follow.
Unfortunately, this also caught the attention of the demon. She also turned to Silver Spoon and let out another screech. This time, the sound specifically seemed to focus on the filly. Ocellus saw her cover her ears. But the red liquid covering her hooves made it clear that it was just prolonging the inevitable. And Ocellus had the feeling that this was something that it’d be better to get it over with quicker.
Her eyes slowly rolled to the back of her skull. Her breathing stopped. And she fell limp to the ground. The screech was so intense that it turned her brain into mush.
Before Ocellus could think of doing anything else, her world suddenly became tinted green. She realized that the green tint was a magical field as she was lifted off the ground. She looked to see Sweetie Belle levitating her and getting them to safety.
But it still wasn’t enough. The strain being put on the Unicorn filly’s magic was distracting her and slowing her down. Not that the demon needed much time to do what she planned on doing next.
The demon lashed out a whip-like tongue, wrapping it around Sweetie Belle’s neck and squeezing tightly. With her windpipe constricted, Sweetie Belle struggled in vain to escape. Or at least to get some air. Her face slowly turned blue as her struggles became weaker. She then turned to look at Ocellus in desperation, her eyes pleading for help. That was the last thing she saw before watching the life leave her eyes as her body went limp. The most disturbing part was that her eyes still seemed to plead to Ocellus to help her.
Her mother had been taken by this entity. Her new friends were killed trying to help her escape. And now the demon was walking up to her. She tried to run, but she saw that the ground she was on had turned into sludge that pulled her down the more she struggled.
But the demon stopped. She wasn’t trying to kill her. She just stood there watching with a sinister grin. Was she showing mercy on her, or did she just want her to continue to live and suffer?
Ocellus then felt her stomach churn before she grew weak. She fell to the ground, lying in the sludge. That’s when she realized what was happening. The demon was killing her by letting the hate and the town’s fear poison her. Her vision was fading, and her mind becoming hazy. She wanted to shout out for help, but all that came out was a pitiful whimper. Then her grip on reality slipped away along with her life.
Ocellus sat up in her bed with a cold sweat. She was woken up by a scream… no, wait, she was the one who screamed.
“Ocellus, what’s wrong?!” she heard Trixie ask. She looked to the other bed and saw that Trixie had sat up, a look of worry on her face.
“I just had-” Ocellus began before her stomach cut her off. She jumped out of bed and ran for the bathroom before emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet.
She then felt love energy soothing her stomach as she felt a hoof begin to rub her back, “That must’ve been one doozie of a nightmare you had,” Trixie concluded in a quiet, comforting voice.
After getting cleaned up, Ocellus told Trixie about the Nightmare she had. The entire time, Trixie held the Youngling in a comforting embrace.
“That nightmare really was a doozie,” Trixie said in an uplifting but understanding tone, “It’s still the middle of the night. Do you want to sleep with me?”
Trixie got her answer with a simple nod. Trixie got into her bed, moving over to allow room for Ocellus, who got in with her. Trixie wrapped her hoof around the Youngling to better comfort her, who soon fell back to sleep.
Trixie, however, stayed up a little longer, concerned for her daughter. The last time Ocellus had a dream remotely as bad as this was five years ago. And that was just a nightmare about being abandoned to starve to death. And even then, the trigger was Prince Blueblood instilling that fear into the Youngling. And even then, he wasn’t implying that Trixie would abandon her, but rather what he would’ve done if he had hatched the egg.
Prince Blueblood may be cold to anyone he considers below him. But he’s not cruel enough to intentionally make a foal believe that their parents would abandon them. He may be the snobbiest of the snobs. But even he has a line he’s not willing to cross.
The next morning, Ocellus woke up, thankful that the nightmare hadn’t returned. But it still left a sour taste in her mouth. Then again, maybe that was just left over from emptying her stomach a few hours ago.
She then realized that the bed she was in felt empty. Panic began to fill her mind as the fear that she had returned to her nightmare rose to the surface. Or worse, her nightmare came true.
“Mom?” Ocellus said in a slightly panicky voice.
She was relieved when Trixie poked her head out of the bathroom door, “What is it? Did you have another nightmare?”
Ocellus sighed gratefully, “No, I’m okay,” she replied, “I just wanted to know you were here.”
“Sorry I didn’t let you know sooner, but you were sleeping,” Trixie said as she returned to the bathroom, Ocellus following behind. In the bathroom, it was apparent that Trixie had been cleaning. And the specks of green around the toilet bowl made it obvious why, “Last night, you did leave a bit of a mess. And I don’t know what it is about Changeling vomit, but it’s hard to clean.”
Ocellus pinned her ears back in shame, “Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Trixie assured, “It’s your own biology, I suppose. I can’t fault you for how your body works.”
Ocellus took a look at the dried gelatinous green chunks, and a thought came to mind. She lit her horn for a fraction of a second. Then she saw that the dried chunks were no longer hard, but malleable to easy to clean.
“How’d you do that?” Trixie asked.
“I’m not exactly sure how it works,” Ocellus said, “But one time when I spit up this green stuff, I was having trouble cleaning it. So I tried using my magic. And I found out that I can control it in a way. I can make it hard or soft, solid or liquid, sticky or slippery, things like that.”
Trixie tested this and wiped up a chunk as quickly as wiping a piece of jelly off of a counter, “I wish I had known about this sooner,” Trixie said, “It would’ve made cleaning this up a lot easier.”
“I also learned that I can make it whenever I want,” Ocellus said, “Well, mostly. Throwing up is something I can’t control. And I can only make a limited amount at a time.”
“How long have you known about this?” Trixie asked, “And why didn’t you let me know?”
“For about a year,” Ocellus answered, “And… I was afraid of telling anypony because I was afraid of Twilight finding out. Specifically, I was afraid that she would experiment on me.”
“Ocellus, you know that she wouldn’t…” Trixie paused for a second to rethink what she said, “Who am I kidding? She totally would want to experiment on you. But you know there is still a lot we don’t know about what you are. If I can promise that Twilight won’t test on you directly without consent, would you at least be willing to help her experiment on that… uh…”
“I haven’t thought of what to call it either,” Ocellus said. The two of them then burst into laughter at the thought. And after the nightmare Ocellus had, this was a well-needed laugh.