Midnight Snack
He stared down at the light green filly. The filly stared up.
“So, uh, you hungry? Cos I’m hungry,” he said clutching his belly, staring at her.
She started crying. Smooth, William, real smooth.
“W-wait, no! Don’t cry I’m not gonna hurt you!” He wasn’t quite sure what to do, so he just swivelled awkwardly on the spot, looking round to see if anyone else was there. No one was. Chrysalis had left him alone to, as she put it ‘take care of business’ while he'd just sat there stunned, so for the moment he couldn’t ask why she thought he would like to eat a pony.
“How about a game, huh? Do you like games?” She quietened down a little. “What do you think of... rock, paper, scissors?” The filly wailed even more. Wait, horrible idea she doesn’t have any fingers. “Uh, odd or even? Shadow puppets?” That one was even worse than the last.
An idea popped into his head.
“I know! Why don’t you,” he said as he ruffled around his pockets, “guess which hand the penny is in.” He pulled out a single penny.
She pointed to it.
“Ah, not yet.” He closed his palms and put them behind his back. After a ‘readjusting’ he stretched them back out in front of him. “Now guess.”
She pointed at his right hand, but when he opened it, it wasn’t there. Then she pointed at his left hand, but it wasn’t there either.
“Where’d it go?” he asked, trying to look as surprised as he could. “Hang on, is that...” He slowly leaned over to her ear and, using what little sleight of hand he had learnt from his schooldays, he ‘pulled’ the coin out of her ear.
She gasped, amazed at his trick.
“You can do magic?” she said, no longer crying, though her tears were still fresh on her cheeks. He chuckled a little.
“Not quite, no.” He reached back into his pockets. Was that his phone?
“Are- aren’t you going to eat me?” she asked, the fear, and wonder, in her eyes apparent. He pulled his hand back out.
“No, no I’m not,” he said, trying to sound reassuring.
“Oh. Why not?” Her voice was slightly shaky, though at least she had calmed down.
Why not? Because it was... it was just wrong!
“I don’t eat ponies.”
An uneasy silence set in.
“What’s your name?” he said, with what he hoped was a convincing smile on his face.
She didn’t answer.
“Okay then, I’m William. In case you don’t know, I’m a human.” Her eyes flashed with recognition. Maybe she did know? “Do you live in the village?”
She nodded.
“Do you want to go back?”
She hesitated, but nodded.
“Come on then.” He got up, “I’ll take you there.”
Taking off his scarf, he moved closer to wrap it around her but she inched backwards. He put it down in front of him and leaned back allowing her to get it herself and wrap it round her neck.
He picked up one of the sticks jutting out of the fire, but as soon as he pulled it out he found it wasn’t actually lit. Eventually he decided to leave anyway and use the light of the moon to find his way.
Navigation was much easier than he had expected. At times it almost felt like the moon was guiding them to their destination, lighting up the path through the forest towards the village. They emerged into a clearing, which turned out to be the entrance to the village.
There were eight or so log cabins around, all positioned with their backs to the forest facing inwards to a stone pillar in the centre with a freshly painted sign hanging off of it. There was writing on it, but he had no idea what it said.
“Do you know how to read?”
“A little...” she said looking down sadly.
“Oh, uh, would it be okay if you read this for me?”
She concentrated on it.
“If you want... it says, b-beee-beware of changelings.”
Beware of changelings. It was almost definitely there because of the earlier raid. The fact that Chrysalis had brought him a child to eat suggested to him that changelings ate ponies. If that was the case, he had picked the wrong people, or ponies to associate himself with entirely.
He really hoped that wasn't the case. As far as he knew, she was the only one who knew how to get him back to Earth.
There was another sign on the side that the filly told him said that the inhabitants had left for the next town over, some place called Redband Mines. Well that was great. Now he had to take care of the pony until he and the changelings had moved on.
His next thought was to search the houses. A lot of the ponies’ belongings had been left behind. He picked up a scarf from one of the cabins and put it on.
In another he found that somepony had been cooking something before they left. A pot filled with soup was hanging over what were now just a few burning embers in the centre of the room, but it still smelt good. Rustling around a few of the drawers and wardrobes on the sides, he found only a single bowl and spoon.
Sighing, he filled it up with the soup and handed it to the her.
“But, aren’t you hungry?” she asked, not taking it from him.
“Yeah I’ll be fine, don’t worry. You eat first. I can wait a bit longer.”
She tried to grab the bowl but couldn't get a grip, as he had expected, so he rested it on the floor to allow her to drink from it. After she had finished, he took it from her and used the same bowl, using the spoon to scoop up as much as he could, as quickly as he could. As he was about to take his last gulp, something knocked at the door.
He looked quizzically at his companion, but she didn't do anything or seem to know who it could be.
Slowly opening the door he peeked outside to find Queen Chrysalis tapping her hoof impatiently.
“There you are! What are you doing in the village?” she snapped. The changelings were milling around outside looking for any sign of danger.
He opened it slightly and gestured to the pot and the dark green haired filly sitting next to it.
“Oh I see.” Another smile. “You prefer it boiled?”
He was horrified.
“What? No! I was feeding her.” She looked very confused.
“To... fatten her up?” Was she really not getting this?
“I’m feeding her so she doesn’t starve to death.”
“So you’re saving her for later then?”
“I’m just saving her! That’s it!” Chrysalis thought about this for a moment.
“You mean... You’re taking care of her?” she looked even more confused. “I thought you ate fillies and colts.”
“I never said I did! What made you think that?”
He noticed a subtle movement in her back hooves which moments later was followed by the changelings assembling behind her. Perhaps picking his next few words carefully would be a good idea.
“Well then what do you eat?”
“Chickens! Cows! Animals that don’t speak!” He was frustrated by her apparent lack of understanding .
“But, cows can talk.”
Hold up, what? Cows can... talk?
“What do you mean, cows can talk?” He looked back at the filly who had covered her ears in fright. Maybe he shouldn’t have raised his voice like that.
“What I mean, human, is that cows are like you and me. They speak just as well as us, and they have families and lives too.” His blank face told her all she needed to know. “Cows don’t talk where you come from,” she stated.
He just nodded, dumbfounded. It wasn’t the new things that got you, it was when something you thought was familiar was made alien. He stood by the door unsure of what to say. Unfortunately he didn't have the luxury of dwelling on it so he moved on to his next question.
“Chrysalis, what do changelings eat?” he said. She paused before answering.
-Chrysalis-
She realised this wasn’t going to work if she just flat out lied to him. There would be too many inconsistencies. She’d have to settle for half truths.
-William-
“We eat love.”
He snorted in amusement.
“No seriously, what do you eat?” She looked at him seriously. “Love. You actually eat love. That’s, uh, that’s a new one.” He turned round, leaving the door open for her to come inside. “So, does it hurt? When you take it from them?”
She shook her head.
“No. They can sometimes get tired, but they’re usually fine.” Once again he couldn’t be sure if what she told him was true.
“Do you force them to do it or...”
“We don’t, not usually. All it takes is for a pony to feel love towards someone or even something, and we can feed off of it.”
He turned around to look her in the eyes.
“So no one gets hurt?”
“Nopony gets hurt.” She seemed sincere enough.
“Why did you bring me a pony to eat then? I thought nopony was supposed to get hurt.”
Chrysalis took a few seconds to answer his question.
“I didn't want to give her to you, but the legends said that you ate ponies. I was scared that if I didn’t feed you, you’d decided to kill us.”
That sort of made sense, though he still didn’t like it.
“Believe me if I had known there were alternatives I would have taken them, but I couldn’t be sure. Without your help I can’t get my subjects back from the ponies who have taken them. If you haven't already realised, they are my actual children, my flesh and blood. I'm sorry I did what I did, but it seemed necessary.”
“But how could you just take a child so easily? You didn't even flinch when you gave her to me.”
“If you had to pick between your own child and some colt or filly you hardly knew, which one would you choose? Because I would choose my children, every time.”
As horrible as he felt to admit it, that one made perfect sense. Sure it was good and all to say you would try to save both from whatever calamity was befalling them, but who would you go for first? She probably had hundreds if not thousands of children to worry about. He didn’t have children but he did have a nephew and he knew that there were many things that he would be willing to do if he was in danger. What if he had a hundred nephews and to save them he had to kill someone?
“So why did you want to know how I was going to,” he said the next part in a lowered tone, “cook her?”
“...here it is akin to table manners to ask about somepony’s meal. It... shows that you care about the guests presence and therefore are showing respect. We left you alone to eat, did we not? We don’t enjoy seeing anypony hurt.”
Once again he couldn't tell if it was true. The reasoning behind it didn't seem dodgy though.
“Just promise me that next time you think you have to hurt someone to do something you'll look for an alternative.”
“I promise William.
"Next time you're unsure about what I want, just ask me.”
"I will."
Well that was a relief. Now he was more sure he wasn’t on the wrong side. She just needed help getting back her people, and no on- nopony innocent had to get hurt doing it. Of course he knew some ponies would probably get hurt, but only those responsible for imprisoning her subjects; they had it coming.
“That’s good.” He turned and walked over to the filly, sitting down next to her. “We’ll be spending the night here. If you need something you know where to find us.”
She nodded and left them alone, closing the door behind herself.
-Chrysalis-
That had been a close one. She was surprised the last one about table manners worked though that could be attributed to his lack of knowledge and what she had a feeling was his less than stable mind. In the future she would have to remember to restrict his flow of information, otherwise he would start seeing the more obvious holes in her explanations.
She hadn’t realised that the human had morals so similar to the Equestrian ponies. Still, this would again make it easier to manipulate him. She had seen the slave camps and fortresses where they kept her children and was sure an idealist like him would take one look and assume the worst about the ponies that lived there.
-William-
“Did you like the soup?” he said, putting the bowl to one side. She nodded, giving him a smile. He wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be, it tasted like a cross between a leek and a mushroom. It still tasted good though.
There were a couple of woolen sheets in the wardrobe, so he had taken them out and laid them down on the floor to make a mat for himself. The child got the bed.
For now though, they sat awake, deep in their own thoughts.
She was watching him, flinching every time he moved. Poor girl. She was completely alone with a two legged monster she didn't know anything about. The best course of action would be to tell her a few things about himself so he didn't seem like such a stranger.
"Do you have any siblings?" he said genuinely interested.
She nodded and said something about two sisters.
"I'll bet you get annoyed at them sometimes, and they get annoyed at you."
She nodded again.
"But you still love them, don't you?"
"Yes," she said.
"I have a brother and sister. They always annoy the cra- I mean, they get on my nerves as well but in the end it doesn't matter. They're still your siblings. I was at my sister's wedding before I came here."
"Your sister had a wedding too?" she said surprised. He laughed. Children always said the funniest things.
"She did. Or is still having one if they aren't worrying about me. One of your sisters are married then?" She was grinning now.
"Yeah! She got married to a real life knight! He has shiny armour, a sword and everything. He even let me wear his helmet!" She sounded very excited as she told him more about her 'new big brother'. He had slayed manticores and hydra by himself and even saved her from a timber wolf. "She lives far away though so I can't visit her."
"What about your other sister? Can't you see her?"
"She's gone away as well. She lives in Equestria now, and Dad said we can't go because it's too far."
He nodded in understanding.
"I'm sure one day you'll meet again one day." She just nodded and went back to her thoughts.
That marked the end of that conversation. They fell back into silence until he thought of another question he had for her.
“When I said human back at the fire, you looked like you had heard of them before. Do you know what they are?” He spoke softly, not wanting to seem too forward.
She looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t.
“It’s okay, you don't have to tell me.” He lay down on the sheets, turning onto his side facing away from her. He doubted she’d appreciate him staring at her the whole night.
“They’re monsters. From fairytales.” He sat up slowly. “My grandmama told me stories about them.” Monsters from fairytales. That raised a lot of questions.
“What did she tell you about them?”
She paused again.
“She said that there were three kinds of humans. Warm humans, cold humans and... I can’t remember the last one. They look different but they’re really the same. Like three different ponies.” She seemed quite proud of that analogy. “They could go anywhere and do anything, even slay dragons! But there weren’t many of them and ponies didn’t like them very much because they were always angry. Grandmama told me that they would steal naughty foals and eat them! But I don’t think you would. You’re nice.”
As cheesy as it sounded, that remark at the end genuinely brought warmth to his heart.
“Where is your grandma now?”
“Daddy said she was sleeping. He also said we should never talk about it.”
Sleeping huh? He was familiar with that one. Most children got told that.
“Where’s your father?”
She seemed unsure.
“I don’t know. I remember him being taken away by some stallions in red. He told me to stay where I was but he didn’t come back. Then I came home. He usually goes away on long trips, so I’m not scared. I’m know he’ll be back.”
“Where’s your home?”
“We’re in it.”
Ah.
“...you don’t mind me using your sheets do you?”
She shook her head quite happily.
“It’s okay. Dad wouldn't mind.”
He nodded and laid down. There was a lot to think about.
Lord Pick sat at his desk, looking over a few of his advisers. They stood in a ring around him numbering seven in total.
“This had better be good,” he said. “I was in the middle of negotiations with King Goldback when you called me here.”
They shifted in their places, sweating despite the cold weather.
“There was, news, sire. We thought it best to inform you right away,” said the one directly in front of him.
“Get on with it then. Griffons don’t like being told to wait,” he said gruffly. He didn’t want this to take longer than it had to.
“Yes sir.” The adviser who had spoken gestured to a guard behind them, who opened the door, letting a white mare wearing a black scarf and a simple grey cloak into the room. She stayed behind them, keeping her head down.
“First, sire, we intercepted an Equestrian diplomatic convoy.” The adviser threw a file onto the desk. “It seems that the Eastmarsh treaty has been terminated sir.”
Now that was important news.
“Equestria is giving the griffon kingdom free passage to the north?”
“Not free, sire. It is being replaced with another. The Equestrians will be accepting payment in exchange for their access to our land.”
That was a big problem. King Goldenback was already the most powerful ruler in the north. A few more griffons and he’d be able to knock all of the opposition off, including him. He looked at the last adviser on the right.
“You, arrange some messengers to contact the other pony lords. Tell them to meet me at the cathedral in three hours,” his voice gave away his stress. The adviser left to carry out his order.
“Sire there is another thing,” said the adviser, beckoning the mare forward. “White Rush, from one of the villages further north sir. She has something important to tell you.”
Pick leaned back, waiting for her to speak.
“Lord Pick, it’s a pleasure to me-”
“Spare me the pleasantries, I don’t have the time.” She was slightly taken aback, but continued.
“Near my village sir. I saw a monster.”
Like that was big news. All the ponies here complained about monsters.
“And why should I care about this particular creature, when thousands more roam the north? Need I remind you that the other lords and I already provide ponypower to try and keep the countless timberwolves, manticores and hydras back? It’s a good thing the changelings were subdued, we were close to breaking last year.”
“Because sir, it’s not just any monster. I wasn’t sure at first, but when I got close enough and heard him speak, I remembered my mother’s words. It’s the demon trickster Low Key, he has returned.”
He planted his face in his hooves. These locals took their folktales way too seriously.
“Do you expect me to believe that a character from an old mares tale is roaming the forest terrorizing ponies? Leave.”
“But sire,” one of the advisers stepped forward. “Every village elder from here to Southpoint speaks of this demon in history. If what she says is true-”
Pick raised his hoof, silencing him.
“If I told you that there was a time when giant chickens walked the land would you believe me? What she says can’t be true because it’s just imaginary, like Father Hearthsmas. It doesn't exist.”
If he’d known that they were such a superstitious lot he would've hired mercenaries or held more interviews, anything to make sure he wasn't getting his advice from a bunch of uneducated country-folk.
“Could you at least send somepony to check it out?” White pleaded.
“Look Ms.Rush, I’m not going to waste anypony on a pointless mission just because you think you saw something out of a fairy-tale. It was probably a minotaur or something, now go.”
"But I-"
"I said leave."
"You haven't heard the-"
"You don't seem to understand Ms.Rush. This conversation is over!" He stood up glaring at her.
She gave up and left, along with all the other ponies but not before giving him a glare. When everypony had gone he took a fresh piece of paper from one of the drawers and started to write using his wings to manipulate the pen. He’d have to inform the King that he wouldn’t be able to make it, there were more important things to attend to now.