//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Life through Love // by SentientHydra //------------------------------// "Sooooooo" Silver drawled from where she sprawled on her back, her head hanging over the side of the bed, a pencil held in one wing "What do we know about you?" Her hind leg twitched a little in the air while her brow furrowed, pen transferring to mouth and notepad rising to meet her halfway. I shrugged, looking down from the ceiling at the supine pegasus "I can only shapeshift into intelligent species." I spoke in Twilight Sparkle's voice though my body was that of Big Mac. (I had long since escaped the leg-cuff by simply shape-shifting out of it) She looked at me strangely, a wave of humor and confusion bleeding out into her emotional 'aura' at the conflicting appearance and sound "Your upper limit is elephant sized*..." I nodded, dropping off the ceiling and shifting as I fell, growing into a huge dragon that stretched through the hole in her ceiling. It was both a hollow shell of a true drake and a masterful disguise; my nose snorted wisps of smoke with each rumbling breath, but the fire inside was green and cool, my flaming breath would have no bite. Long claws and talons adorned my fingers, glistening with metallic luster, but they were brittle as balsa-wood, sharp as butter knives. SIlver fought her fear down with deep breaths, bringing her notepad u to her face once again "And your smallest is a foal" My next shift was swifter than the last, the green flames consuming my draconic form with ferocious haste, until there was nothing left but a kernel in the center, one with a shiny red bow and glittering orange eyes ( I don't know why I had shifted in a karate outfit, apparently my subconscious wanted her clothed) "Yup, and ah can do clothes too!" I smiled at Silver for a moment before examining my new form, noting --with some disgust-- that my 'clothing' was not in fact so, it was fused to my body some way below the neck-line, loose enough to give the appearance of real cloth, but non-removable (when I brushed a hoof against the faux-cotton I couldn't suppress a shudder when I found that it had apulse). Silver's heart melted at filly-me, the sweet stuff pouring off her in a torrent. "D'awwwww" she made a silly face "who's that little cutie?" I chuckled "This is AppleBloom, of famous Sweet Apple Acres." "Awww. I like that form, you should keep it." the pegasi giggled, looking back to her notes after a moment, raising the paper to hide her blazing cheeks. "Okay, back to business, We know you can shape-shift, you can change your voice at will..." I let dribble of magic out, shiftng Applebloom's down from her fillyish squeak down into a deep masculine bass "Y'all are right on the bit there" I deadpanned it, my innocent voice never faltering "I have quite the vocal range." Silver almost snorted her pencil, hacking and coughing when it hit her throat "Don't do that!" she squeaked, hurling a pillow at me. I didn't need my sight, to see the flutters of something naughty flicker through her aura, being swiftly consumed by a wave of embarrassment. I grinned "Why? Is mah stallion voice making y'all feel all strange inside?" put just the right curl on those words to make them seem exceptionally inappropriate from the mouth of a foal. Among my new body's new talents were pushing people's buttons it seems. Another pillow impacted with all the force a pegasus could impart "Stop talking like that" the irritated mare grumped at me, readying the last pillow for throwing. I raised my hooves in defeat, moving my voice up a few octaves until it matched Applebloom's again "Okay okay, no more weird voices" The pillow lowered back with an almost grumpy "Good" her ghost of a frumpy frown was unreasonably cute and tiny, but then again all ponies were unreasonably cute "Besides" I lowered myself to the floor "All this shape-shifting is really draining the ol' batteries, my magic is running on fumes right now." I let myself feel the weakness, the crawling hunger. Silver Ling looked at me with worry and sympathy shining in her eyes and in her aura, with a pulse of her wings she was on her feat "Why didn' you say? I would've got us both something to eat." she patted her stomach, sitting down "I'm pretty hungry myself now that you mention it." I bit my lip a little then, hesitating to say "...I didn't want to mention it, because I'm not sure what I eat..." I mumbled in a stage-whisper, just loud enough for Silver to hear. The pegasus looked at me queerly "What d'you mean?" Something about me, my stance must have made her nervous, because she took a hesitant step back instinctively. With a sigh I collapsed my disguise, allowing my big natural form to show through and cast it's shadow, I opened my maw wide, motioning without a sound to my saber-fangs and their smaller counterparts, an entire mouth of little razors. I hated her fear, I hated it with a passion, long ripples of terror flickered in her aura, each a sliver of ice running through my heart. Silver shrank back until her hocks and hooves touched the bed "Oh..." Was all she said, her eyes running over my mouth. I couldn't take it any longer, I couldn't stand here causing my newest little friend any form of anxiety, or revulsion. With a flicker of green flame I took on Big Mac's form and closed my mouth before taking a step back, lowering myself below her level, flattening my ears and trying to make myself less of a threat "Sorry..." I put all the sincerity in my voice that I could manage "Ah didn't mean to scare ya." Silver Lining bit her lip, visibly --to both my eyes and my 'aura-sight'-- fighting back her fear. After a moment she stepped forward, without a word she came up and reared into a firm, if gentle, hug with both wing and arm "I-it's okay. I didn't mean it..." she pulled my head up to meet her eyes "I was just surprised." "By my big ugly bug-face?" I snorted, still mildly disgusted with myself. I returned the hug though, it was warm. "A little bit" she admitted, letting the hug go, both of us calmer "I guess those teeth mean you're a predator?" her nerves spiked at the idea, that hated emotion rearing it's head again. I thought on it, then made a 'so-so' motion with my hoof "Ah'm not entirely sure... Them fangs looked sharp enough sure, but ah can't even stand the thought of actually eating anypony..." Except I could, the gnawing, endless hunger flashed iages in my mind even as I looked at her, that sweet, delicious scent/feeling in the air was lke the finest perfume, alluring and enticing me to take a bite. Just a little bite, to hold her still while I dr- "NO" It came as both a thought and a shout. my lungs barked that syllable with such force that it may have been it, more than my muscles, that flung me back, away from Silver, from the scent in the air and the images of... of whatever it was I was tempted to do. Her flesh? No, I couldn't bear the thought, the maddening hunger didn't desire that. Silver cowered, icy terror coming off her in a tsunami of chilly feeling, she spoke at me, but I didn't hear her past the rush of my thoughts. Her blood? No. the gnawing hunger didn't flare, my tongue recoiled from the imagined taste. "..." Silver spoke again, her eyes wide with apprehension, she made to step towards me, bringing that seductive taste in the air closer. I hated myself beyond reason for it, but I snarled at her, my eyes flaring green and flat horse-teeth bared. What did I want? What drove me to thoughts of clamping my fangs on her neck, holding her still as I drained her.. drained her of... love... Silver didn't move towards me but didn't move back. Her eyes had gained some strength now, though her aura was roaring with fear she held her ground. She spoke slowly, shaping her mouth so I could easily read her lips. "I won't leave you. I know you don't want to hurt me, but I will be here for you." Love? That's what that scent, that glorious stuff in the air was? It was incomprehensible, it was disgustingly perverse. I couldn't wrap my head around the concept. Except that I could, It made more sense the more I thought about it, Friendship was magic in Equestria right? Love is just a stronger form of friendship, so it stands to reason that you could fuel something with it, even a creature. I looked to Silver, the snarl off my lips as I looked at her with new eyes. That sweet, delicious substance was love and affection, it was friendship in edible form. I needed to eat real food too, otherwise it couldn't work, but maybe love was the key component in the digestion process. The idea should have made me sick to my stomach, stealing another's emotions to feed should have seemed repulsive, but it didn't. My alien brain wouldn't let me find the idea anything more than mildly disturbing, and not so disturbing that I couldn't bear to do so. Silver saw my confusion, my distressing thoughts and moved forward, speaking calmly, slowly, as one might approach a large, vicious animal "Come on big guy... calm down, I don't know what's got you worked up, just tell me and maybe I can help. I bit my lip, held her gaze for a moment, and then broke it to say "Ah'm sorry fer growling at you Silver, ah really am. It's just that ah've figgered out what I eat. It ain't purty" I spoke in Big Mac's accent, made more pronounced by my nerves. The beautiful mare, understanding as Celestia herself, couldn't suppress a wince as she asked "Is it ponies?" I droopeds, afraid to look her in the eye, even as my other senses picked up her hammering heart and kaleidiscopic aura "Yes an' no" before she could question any further I sighed "Ah... Ah eat love." I think her brain broke for a minute or so, her mind boggling at the absurdity of that statement, she clearly wanted to laugh it off as a joke, but the deathly seriousness with which I spoke swept that idea away. It took her a while to work up to a "Huh?" I looked at her now, right in the eye "Ah eat love... Affection, lust, love, even the deeper kinds of friendship. It fuels my biology." It sounded so silly, it was a crazy concept. But in my alien little heart I knew it to be true. Silver was unsure, part of her wanted to flee, to slam the door and fly, part wanted to buck me in the face and keep at until my skull split, I should probably be thankful that a considerably larger portion of her wanted to stiffen her lip, look me in the eye and ask "So that's why you-" "-Shoved you away, yeah." I rubbed the nape of my neck with a hoof "Ya liked me too much, and I'm so hungry I could barely think straight with all the... Affection I could smell coming off you." Silver's eyes glazed for a moment there, I could see here aura flickering as her thoughts aligned themselves, eventually settling on embarrassment "Oh" her nose scrunched up as her face blazed with colour "I... Sorry" I was confused for a moment, but then I managed to see where her mind had wandered "huh?.. Oh OH, no." I laughed a little "not that kind of smell, It's this weird sixth sense I have, it let's me sense your emotions." I went a bit red myself, not that you could tell on Big Mac "Love and all that stuff registers as this really sweet, delicious smell in the air. Like freshly baked honey-oat cookies." Silver and I went off into memory for a moment, both of us drooling a little at the thought of that delectable love. Okay she was probably thinking of the cookies, but still, I feel my point was made, shaking off the memory I looked at her a little sadly "I just don't want to hurt you. I don't want to feed on, or off you. Silver looked away from her own thoughts and bit her lip "I know... But I can't let you starve." She stepped forward, the glint of determination in her eyes. I stepped back "Silver, I know you want to help, but I don't want to hurt you." "You won't. If it starts hurting, we'll stop." another step. Oh Celestia's beard that sweet scent "Silver..." She was faster than me, giving me no more room to back up "I promise I'll be okay, my special talent is seeing the silver lining" I put my hooves on her chest and gave her a gentle shove, a pathetic attempt to fight the urge, she was so close, so warm and sweet. She would barely know wh-. I caught those thoughts in mid sentence, stuffing them away into a deep dark hole. I tensed myself to fight the urge, growling "What Silver Lining can you see to this situation? How could me clamping my jaws around your neck and sucking out the love possibly be a good thing?" The pegasus reared up and bopped my nose, her face slightly stern "That was for growling at me mister," which faded into a smile, humor deflecting her nervousness "The silver lining big guy, is that if we do this now it'll be controlled." I rubbed my nose ruefully, say what you like, her hooves were sharp "Controlled?" I dared to query, I kinda knew where she was headed, but it would be nice to have confirmation. Silver remained rearing, putting a hoof on my shoulder and spreading her wings for balance. Her aura was calm on the surface, all emotion subsumed as she thought logically through it "Yeah, controlled. It's pretty clear that you're starving right?" Oh Luna's teats I was famished, the gnawing hunger was making my limbs tremble. "So if you're starving now, how long before you get desperate, before that hunger takes over and you can't stop yourself?" she looked deadly serious now when she looked me over, her eyes perhaps imagining the real me, rabid and frothing "I'm the only food source for a few miles out big guy, d'you think a shut door and an itty bitty chain would stop you for long, if you went feral?" I was shaken by the thought. I wouldn't be stopped I could tell, she couldn't hide from me, running would be stupid --We had found out earlier in the day that I could spit a weird kind of goopy green cement, it had hardened into something like thick spider webbing-- and I had magic, there would be no contest. Silver watched me think it through, a smile growing on her face "See big guy? it'll be much safer." I sighed, there was no way around it "O-okay. lets do this." It was a little disturbing how quickly she moved across the room to lie on the bed. Her aura was a pit of roiling turmoil, happiness and nerves fighting an undercurrent of deep-seated fear (and winning it seemed). The sweet scent was headily thick in the air when I made my way over, coming off her like smoke off a green-branch fire, it was the same old scent, but when I climbed atop the creaking mattress it took on a slightly different flavour. I rolled the new taste around in my head, trying to figure it out. While I did I moved up, watching as Silver lay down, fighting her excitement down to ask "How does it work?" Her breath was heavy, heart pounding in her chest. I didn't need to think of the answer "It's hard to explain" the images and instructions were in built, but my old body had some quirks and preference it's muscle memory guided me down. My disguise flickered off with barely a spark of green, My tongue, longer than most and slightly engorged, slipped out to wet my leathery lips, looking more of a reptile's than one of a mammal. Silver seemed to relax as I came down with, she squirmed a little, emotions bubbling up and down, her eyes closing in acceptance. As she did I figured out what the flavouring on her love was. I couldn't stop myself, thinking 'you kinky girl', Silver liked this idea a lot more than she let on. With all the care I could muster in my starved state I began to feed, horn flaring and a tight beam of green energy going between my horn and her head. Have you ever been truly starving? Seriously famished, so hungry that the gnawing seems to start tearing at your stomach, that it feels like it's atrophying your limbs? Imagine that hunger, that desperate need for food being so strong. Now imagine taking your first bite of a proper meal. I couldn't stop myself, it was too hard. The width of the beam widened until it was a torrent. Silver giggled a little, unaware of my slipping control "He he, my wings tickle" she squirmed, fluttering the pinions. I let out something between a growl and a whimper, watching as the emerald flames in my chest grew all the larger, the more violent as they were fed. The power was overwhelmingly enjoyable. Silver must have sensed the shift, the danger, because the pegasi wriggled, making to stand "Alright big guy, that's good. I think I'm getting a headache." I could sense her growing panic then, my hulking body pinning her to the bed, but I just, couldn't, stop. She made to buffet me with a rapidly weakening wing, I trapped it under a hoof, not hard enough to break bones, yet. Now began the panic in earnest, the mare struggling violently. I reacted on instinct, my jaws coming down to encircle her entire neck, the two sabers fangs at the front not breaking the skin. She stilled, but began to plead "Big g-" Silver got no further, perhaps my instictive brain knew the risk of my concious --now a prisoner behind the gnawing hunger-- taking control, so my jaws tightened on her skin, just enough to draw blood with my smaller teeth. Silver's protests grew weaker and weaker as I sucked her energy out, her struggles and whining fading to twitches and whimpers. I think it was the blood that let me take back control, the taste of it as my tongue lapped it up, that disgusting metallic flavor. With a sharp motion I jumped away from silver, breaking the connection and flinging myself away. The pegasus didn't stir. her chest was still as a grave, her limbs barely twitching and ears laid flat. I wept like a baby then, sobbing and rushing to her "PleasebeokayPleasebeokayPleasebeokayPleasebeokay" I repeated like a mantra, begging to every deity and spirit I knew not to let my horrible mistake, my dreadful failing cost the mare that loved my monstrous side her life. I placed an ear and hoof to her chest. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Babump ... Babump ... Babump I had never been so happy to hear a heartbeat. To hear the gurgling and mysterious noises of biology at work was the sweetest music. But why was she so cold? her breathing was shallow, her eyes not twitching or open. I did the only thing I could. I climbed into bed and wrapped myself and the blanket around the mare, hoping my bolstered fire would be warm enough. It was to be a long night.