A Penny for your thought

by Damaged


58 - Settling

"Whoa." Penny was with Stick, Shadow and Dreams, looking out the window at the dark forest that the train was now speeding through.

"You can say that again." Stick huddled a little closer to the mare. The two umbrum were drawn to the pair. "What's up?"

"Just hungry I guess." Dreams paused and realized that she had been focused on the pair. "I… hate to ask."

Penny reached out a hoof to the two, pulling them in for a hug. "Shadow, you know my fears the best, think you can work with this?" The lunar pony gestured at the dark and brooding forest.

His response was swift and terrifying. Penny's heart beat faster and she channeled as the big dark trees seemed to close in on her.

"Not too much." Dreams whispered in her ear, the umbrum's voice not breaking the sense of dread settling around the unicorn.

"I am… I am good for… for a bit more." Penny's breath caught in her throat and suddenly the fear was fading. There was a kiss on her cheek, from Stick, and it dispelled the last of the fear from her. "You are getting very good at that." She reached out a hoof to Shadow, getting a little clop from his in return.

Dreams sighed. "It would be harder to live with knowing my stallion held the heart of another mare in his hoof, if it wasn't for being able to taste just how much fear he can bring you to."

Penny and Shadow both blushed at this. "Penny is mine. But you can have the scared parts." Stick nibbled at Penny's neck. "I only want her love."

The train began to slow down, everypony feeling the slight shift forward as one.

"We must be nearly there." Penny spoke into the silence, not completely comfortable with where the conversation had been heading. Despite her willingness to have gone along with Silver's aborted plot, she really only wanted one pony in that part of her life.

"We are slowing down?" Shadow looked out the window to confirm. "Oh, there is the town!"

Sure enough a town that seemed to grip gloom and shadow close to its heart was coming into view. The big canopy trees loomed in over the town, keeping much of it in shadow despite the daylight hours.

The buildings themselves completed the dark theme. Gothic arches were the norm it seemed, but the oddest thing was that doors seemed much less so. Penny put it together first.

"What's up with the houses?" Stick was wide eyed as she took in the town.

Penny nipped her special somepony. "They are a whole town of pegasi. Ground level is subjective." She gestured at one building. "See, most of them have an ornate entry up off the ground."

The train jerked and there was a thud from each car as they came to a stop. "Welcome to your new home." Penny looked to the two umbrum. "Now lets see how Luna wants to do all this. I wonder how long it will take to get you settled and onto some regular meals?"

Shadow blushed at this and Penny couldn't fight the sensation that he had feelings for her. More reason she needed to be away from here, so Dreams could capture his attentions more singularly.

Penny's belly gurgled and there were giggles. "We are eating you away to skin and bones." Stick got up from the couch they had been on with a big stretch that had Penny's eyes glued to the changeling, wonder at her new-found desires evident to at least one pair of eyes. "Later, girl, first we need food."

Blushing, the unicorn nodded. Out on the platform, Princess Luna stood, her flowing night-sky mane and tail glittering in the gloom of the town. "We have returned, my ponies, and we bring new children of the night!"

There was a cheer from the lunar pegasi who had assembled to greet their princess. Penny could really see that Luna was everything to these ponies. She certainly couldn't fault them. Stepping out a little more, there was a gasp from one winged lunar pony. "Princess Luna's horn…" The exclamation was directed at Penny and the mare stopped dead still.

The princess in question stepped over. "We almost forgot, we brought two new families here."

This got many surprised cheers as Penny was presented.

"Behold, the tribe of lunar unicorns is born and will," Luna's hoof lowered significantly to Penny's side, "continue."

The roar of cheering made Penny blush and try to avoid the crowd. But with Luna there, there was no getting away. "We hunger, my ponies." The mix of pronouns didn't feel confusing to Penny at all anymore.

The crowd parted at her words, Luna directing Penny and Stick, some of the umbrum following too. Their destination was, apparently, dinner. The place had the same feel as an up-market fast-food shop, but Penny smelled something that had her mouth watering. "What is that… is that-"

"Meat." Luna grinned down to the excited mare. "You are among other lunar ponies, meat is regular diet here."

Penny found herself realizing that something had been missing from her diet that she hadn't even noticed. She all but snatched up a menu to start looking through it.

Most of the meat was fish, with some fowl in the mix. Penny pondered asking about red meat but then thought better of it. Most creatures here that would be 'red meat' were also able to talk. She pointed at one entry with her hoof. "Grilled fish with lemon-grass and a bed of daisies."

Stick cut in. "Can I have the squid salad?" A hoof that Penny knew had a hole or two in it brushed against hers.

The mare taking their orders nodded and turned to the rest of the table. Luna had Dark Pass and his family at the table. They looked a little confused at what to order. Shadow, sitting on the other side of Dreams from Penny, lifted a hoof. "Excuse me." The waitress turned to him a little overwhelmed at having not only her princess but these new creatures too. "Please, for each of us," he gestured to himself with a hoof, then Shadow and the other umbrum, "bring an extra dish that you think a lunar pony would like."

Penny drew in a deep breath. This was going to be a long meal, apparently.

This all seemed agreeable to the other umbrum, Luna looking down to the lunar unicorn with a smile. "Our niece has you working hard, we promise to reduce the time you need to keep this up."

Stick kissed Penny's cheek. "That would be appreciated. She still has her other duty to perform." Luna nodded to this. The meals started to arrive and, in clear deference, Stick got her meal first. Penny had no trouble at all feeding the changeling, all she had to do was focus on her mare and the love flowed. She channeled slowly, letting her partner feed her while she did so.

The first two plates were emptied in short order but Penny knew things were far from complete. "Dreams, would you like to try this time?" Penny didn't lean over, but she offered a hoof to the umbrum mare.

Shadow looked a little put out by not being the one to bring Penny's fears, but let it go easily, particularly since he was going to get a meal served up by his marefriend.

Dreams had a much gentler touch than Shadow. The mare felt for Penny's fears, felt them grow at her touch. "What would you want to fear tonight?" Penny's heart was already racing but she felt a smile.

"There is no fear…"

The umbrum's eyes widened and she smiled. "… but fear itself."

Penny's terror rose, she trembled a moment until Stick wrapped a leg behind her back. The food was great, it filled something in Penny she hadn't known she was missing but the stark fear of being afraid tainted each mouthful. She channeled her magic through that fear, the power tainted by the emotion as it radiated out from her. It was almost like the umbrum at the table grew in stature, at least to the unicorn.

Under Rock, the little umbrum foal of Dark Pass and Pale Whisper was the strangest. The little foal half climbed on the table in her excitement. Penny watched her and the fear wavered. "No, you can't let that go yet." Dreams' voice intruded on the adorable scene and Penny felt swamped by more fear.

Stick was quite insistent she feed Penny, when Shadow attempted to, the changeling gave him a glare that Penny, in her terrified state, managed to pick up on. Luna was chatting happily with the umbrum, discussing her plans and machinations that would see to their regular feeding.

"You can stop now." Dreams' words filtered into Penny's mind through the haze. No matter how terrified she had been, the umbrum controlling that fear had always been heard. A hoof bumped her black-tipped horn and her magic stopped suddenly.

"Penny, you can relax." It was Stick on her other side. The umbrum had all stopped their feeding when the magic ceased. But one.

Penny looked up as Under kept nibbling at her fear, taking it away slowly. "Can… can you please stop?"

The foal looked like she had been caught doing something naughty and tried to hide.

"Wait, no it's okay. You need to stop feeding when I am not channeling, not spraying it out." Under scooted along past a few ponies until she ended up managing to part Penny and Stick.

Looking entirely too adorable, the little foal looked up at Penny. "You tasted so nice!"

Penny blushed at this, the terror had been a very primal and deep one. Who wasn't afraid of fear? "I am glad you liked it, it takes a lot out of me to do that."

The foal giggled and gestured to the stack of plates before Penny, all empty. "Looks like it took a lot IN to do it too!"

"It does!" Penny couldn't help grinning, the fear she had felt all gone now.

"What's it taste like?" Stick sounded genuinely interested.

The umbrum filly lifted a hoof to her chin and rocked a little in place. "Oh, it is like those sweets the pink pony gave me. Like those but more… more solid."

Stick nodded. "Love is much the same for me." The changeling noticed the parents of the foal, at the other end of the table, looked quite distracted in each other, with their little one in friendly hooves for a short time. "Have you tried to eat other things?"

Under tilted her head. "I had one of the daisies from that plate." She pointed one cute hoof at the pile of plates. "But it tasted small."

Stick giggled at this, glancing up at Penny who had been a little shocked at the tiny pony. "No, I mean other emotions. Have you tried to eat others?"

The filly shook her head. "Okay," Penny cut in, raising one hoof up to ruffle the foal's mane, "we can try that out later if you like?"

Nodding, Under looked up just in time to see her mother and father share a kiss. She was about to try and head down to distract them from what the filly thought of as 'yucky' things, when Penny got her attention. "Hay, want to play a game?"

She was getting a small pile of bits from her bag, setting twelve of them on the table.

The filly's eyes danced. "Sure!"

"Okay, the goal of the game is to get the last bit." Penny held it up in her magic and danced it around a little. "Each turn, you can take one, two or three bits." She held up the amounts as she said them. "Then I get to do the same and back and forth."

The foal nodded at this. Stick looked a little intrigued.

"Okay, you go first!" Penny watched the filly try and sort it all out. She picked up one bit.

"Ohh, good choice." Penny took the next three.

The foal looked at the eight remaining bits, selecting two this time.

Penny plucked up two more.

"You won." Under looked up.

"You catch on quickly, so you learned how to beat me?" Penny was relaxed and calm.

Under nodded. "It is easy to win, just don't go first."

Penny laughed and pulled out two more bits. "The trick is, as you said, don't go first, but if the person insists, try and tell them that you will make it more difficult and add two more bits. Then you take those two first."

"Making them go first!" Under clopped her adorable little hooves together in excitement.


Twilight looked at her list.

Becoming better than best friends

She grinned at the title. Surely this would work. If love was a stronger version of friendship, as she hypothesized, this would be the perfect experiment.

Spreading out the blanket, Twilight had it on the little grassy hill in a moment.

"You are really going all out, I must ask, what are you up to?" Princess Fast Change was her first test subject. She knew changelings fed on love, so this would absolutely be the most definitive test. But Twilight couldn't let her know about it, that would ruin impartiality.

"What do you mean? I just thought a nice picnic would be good." Twilight started unpacking the sandwiches and cakes she had brought. She ticked off small talk from her list. Her ears suddenly dropped. "I didn't bring anything for you to eat!" Twilight's wings flared up in worry and she started consulting her list.

Fast sighed as she watched the manic mare desperately trying to find something for the situation. "Twilight, relax." She reached out a hoof to steady the alicorn. "If you think a nice, happy thought, then I can easily have a light snack."

Twilight had a quill and was adding to the list. She could still save this. "Oh, uh…" As she worked, she felt an odd tingle inside.

"There, just think about your list, are you sure you have everything on it? Tell me to stop and I will…" Fast drank sparingly, slowly. With the other princess focused on her science, Fast had more than enough love to drink from.

"Oh, that feels all…"

"Nice?" Fast's voice was smooth and Twilight nodded. "Not too much though, I only know one pony in all Equestria who can feed even a single changeling for a day."

"Penny?" Twilight perked up at this, getting a nod from Fast.

"Penny. And a most clever young unicorn too. My little drone has had her heart stolen by the mare." Fast ruminated on the thought. She remembered just having the pair in the hive had left her smiling for a day.

Twilight ticked off some more things from her list. "Did you hear the news about them? They are expecting."

The little cake Fast was nibbling on went flying as her wings buzzed in surprise. "A foal?"