//------------------------------//
// Second Chapter 
// Story: The Metamorphosis: Travelers 
// by Nachtschwalbe 
//------------------------------//


The Metamorphosis
T    r    a    v    e    l    e    r    s



by
Nightjar



He awoke to the glaring light of the morning sun despite it having yet to rise and the bawling of the birds. He rolled on his side and slowly opened his eyes again only to find a blade of grass stabbing and slicing at the one further from the ground. The other one received a load of half frozen morning dew. 
He jumped to his hooves, yelping, and wildly shook his head while clenching his eyes closed. Still hissing in pain he sat on his rump and tried to rub his eyes. As soon as he lifted his hooves off the ground — entangled into his blanket and stripped off of his sight and thus its input used for his sense of balance — he fell forward and straight onto his nose. Which hurt. Equilibrioception! Why you betray me?! He tried to stand up but was again reminded that he had manacled himself. Once more rolling he laid on his back and looked himself over. Yup, that's a blanket... Where did it come from? He remembered last night and the rather unprofessionell interrogation. He recalled that after that second hit he had decided to sulk and eventually laid down for sleep. There was no blanket in that memory. Well, that's...rather...kind, I guess. He looked up and towards the stage caravan.


»ʔ҉ʕ«


Trixie had one of those weird dreams in which you ask a mirage of yourself 'Who are you? And if yes, how many?' and all the while you are standing on a pond, trees sprouting from your ears and you have wings made of wallpaper. And it all makes sense. Totally. However, suddenly the pond disappeared and she fell down and down and down, the trees slowly grinding away on the lithic walls. Panic began to rise and she grit her teeth and clenched her eyes shut while repeatedly thinking only one word that steadily grew louder in the corners of her mind. No!
She awoke with a gasp and frantically looked around the room while regaining her sense of orientation. She caught a glimpse of sunlight that broke through the gaps between the window frame and the shutter. The voices of songbirds chimed into the wagon. And another morning in Equestria. And it seems to herald a good day. When I bring the changeling into the next tow— That was when her eyes went wide and she tumbled out of bed. The changeling! I should have given him a dose of that damned potion hours ago! Oh, hopefully he doesn't find out and is still asleep. Who knows what he'll do? She was about to throw the door of her caravan open but stopped herself before she could. This would have surely awoken him if he was even still asleep. Trixie didn't want that. No, no, she had to do this slowly, cautiously.
Trixie crouched, unbolted the connection between the top and bottom parts of the door and slowly pushed the lower one open.
She was very proud of her new wheel estate since it had taken nearly all of her reserves and had to pull out all the stops of her bartering skills. That's why she always held it clean and in top condition which included coating the wood with linseed oil, scrubbing off graffiti and lubricating the hinges.
That was the sole reason the first step of Trixie's plan worked out as the door swung open soundlessly. Suddenly she smelled toast.


»ʔ҉ʕ«


Now only filtering this through the cloth and voila. Ponykinds greatest invention. He backed away from the folding table and admired his fine work. He had accomplished to create a decent breakfast despite the unsatisfying supply of food in the captivator's resources.
"Is that coffee?"
Vigilance jumped at the sudden voice behind him. As soon as he recognized it he regained his composure and turned around with a smile on his lips. "Indeed it is."
Trixie's confusion showed on her face as she asked a simple question. "How?"
"Well you see," Vigil began, "I tried to make a proper breakfast but as I looked around your stash I just couldn't find any coffee. So I found a solution."
Trixie patiently waited for the explanation to continue. As it didn't she already plummeted with frightening speeds towards frustration zone again. "And what was that solution? Did you go off and stole some coffee?"
Vigilance reeled in shock. Probably. "I am wounded! Of course not! There is no other pony around for at least five miles!"
Trixie blinked. That's his reason?! One of her forehooves gradually found his way to her face to massage the bridge of her nose.
"No, no. You see, I just looked around for dandelions, dug them out, roasted the roots et cetera and now we have coffee and salad. Bon appetit." With that Vigil sat down at one side of the table expectantly looking towards his captor.
Trixie on her part lowered her hoof again, sighed and eventually took her seat after a few second. She dumbly looked over the assembled foods. "I..." After carefully thinking about  the situation she came to a conclusion on what had to be asked. "Thank you...but... Why?"
Vigil tilted his head in confusion. "Why what?"
Trixie grit her teeth. This changeling is unbelievable! "Why are you still here? Why would make breakfast while you could have just run away?" she hit the tabletop with a hoof. "Why in the name of Celestia do you behave like a pony?! More or less..."
While the mare let out her frustration one of Vigilance's brows lifted higher and higher. When Trixie finished he lowered it again, blinked a few times and gave his answer. "...meh..." And with that, he grabbed a slice of the crispbread and began to make himself a sandwich.
Trixie's eye twitched. "Okay, you know what?! I don't care! I can't believe it! It's too early for something like that." She grabbed her mug of dandelion coffee and took a long gulp. Huh, nutty.


»ʔ҉ʕ«


A loud gasp was heard. Trixie looked up and at the changeling at the other side of the table. His plain blue eyes were even wider and stared at her in disbelief. "What?" The slightly annoyed undertone was clearly perceivable. They had sat in silence for a while now and were nearly done with their meal.
"You..." He gulped. "You spoke in first-person!" Trixie was about to open her mouth to answer but was cut off by Vigil. "However." His expression became blank. "What are you planning on doing with me, now?"
Surprised she closed her mouth and blinked rapidly. That's actually a really good question. "Well, I wanted to hand you over to the guards in the next town." It took her a few seconds before it registered on her that she had just said it out loud. "Ehm, I mean of course...erm..." She wracked her brain for a solution to her slip and stared with growing apprehension at the changeling on the other side of the table.
Said bug-pony just swallowed his latest and last bite, emptied his coffee and then just sat staring down. Finally, he voiced his thoughts. "Well, okay." He raised his head and locked eyes with Trixie. "It's not like I have anything better to do." He stood up, took his plate in his mouth and made his way over towards a bucket, leaving behind a gaping showmare. He spat the plate into the water and looked over his shoulder to observe his host. "By the way," he said with a raised eyebrow, "you ought to brush yourself. You have an awful bedmane."
Trixies mouth snapped shut at that comment and she shot a glare his way while a slight blush rose on her cheeks. Her glare never wavered while she retreated into the wagon.


»ʔ҉ʕ«


Trixie laid down her currycomb and reached her mind towards her brush. She thoroughly smoothed her body hair just so it wouldn't look scruffy while still maintaining a pleasant degree of fluffiness. Then she came to her mane and tail.
As she looked into the mirror and watched as her silver crest was brought into the well-known shape she remembered the words of her captive from last night. Trixie bit her lip and stopped the brush. Why am I even contemplating his opinion? Though maybe a change wouldn't be so bad? However, if I do this then it shouldn't be something too big otherwise, he might think that he was the one giving me the idea. And that is definitely not the case! Ridiculous! She smirked at the hilarity of the notion and set herself back to work. Maybe a little bit wavy-er?


»ʔ҉ʕ«