//------------------------------//
// Chapter VI - Confused 
// Story: Let's Try This Again 
// by HypernovaBolts11 
//------------------------------//

	He awoke to the sound of footsteps, a door closing, and the freshened scent of newfound strength, the renewed vigor of a well rested pony, ripe for consumption. He didn't allow his eyes to open, nor did he allow a smile to cover his lips. He held his breath, and —thanks to his mother's insistence that he learn— ever so slightly tensed his chest in rhythm with his heartbeat, masking the sound of life.

With his heartbeat silent, his breath held, his eyes unmoving, he listened. He waited for the unicorn to sit down, greet him, then grow shocked at her prisoner's lack of movement. He heard the cell door opening, then footsteps. He waited for them to stop, holding in his mind the best estimate he could make of his prey's location.

Just when the unicorn's hoof was about to touch him, he sprang to life. He stood, opened his eyes, and, with lightning speed, he placed a hole in his leg over the pony's horn. He expanded the hole, and used his magic to push the inhibitor ring down on her horn. He smiled at the shocked expression on his warden's face, and used his magic to easily open what shackles hadn't fallen off in his fervid pounce.

As the choker clanged to the ground, he reset his appearance, and said to the unicorn, "I'm glad you can't taste emotions, because fear, your fear..." He flicked out his tongue, and drew in a deep breath of air. "...tastes delicious." He smiled at the lavender pony.

Twilight backed up out of the cell, and looked around desperately. She was pouring fear into the air, so much of it. The section of her horn below the ring lit up a bright purple, but the rest of it was still blocked. She had no magic available to her, and she couldn't even speak, much less convince him not to kill her.

He wouldn't kill her, but she didn't know that. He would just have a quick snack on her magic, shackle her, and be on his merry way. He didn't march towards her, nor did he even say anything else. He just stepped out of his cell, and stretched. He eyed the unicorn proudly, reveling in his successful catch.

He watched her back up into the wall, freeze, and close her eyes. She lifted her hooves in front of her face, and sat there, powerless. He frowned at the unicorn, and lifted himself into the air on his wings, which blurred into a cloud of green gossamer. He landed before the unicorn, and considered his options.

She was his first catch, his very first prize. But, looking at her, cowering in impossible fear, he longed for something else, something about this situation to be different. He thought for a moment, still examining the unicorn before him, then hissed in changeling tongue, "Alright, fine!"

He used his magic to pull the inhibitor ring off of her horn, out of pity, perhaps, or just an urge to do something else with her, he couldn't tell. He had wanted a good, delicious first catch, but, now that he had it, he wanted it to stop. He didn't want to see her incapacitated, nor did he want a meal.

He set the ring down on the floor, and said, "Okay, let's try something else." He looked down, then sat. He lowered his head in submission and stayed still. "I... I'm not a pony, but I'm only half changeling, so what says that I can't be merciful? I'm... I'm not going to steal from you, not fear. I... Why does seeing you so scared hurt me?"

Twilight slowly lowered her hooves, and scrambled back against the wall. She froze when his words sank in, and she calmed back down, so much so that her fear tasted weaker and weaker by the second. She sat there, watching the changeling prince, whose head was lowered to her, who had just spared her from his hunger.

He sighed, and admitted, "I... I don't have anything to do with my life, nowhere to go, nothing but a dead crown to my name. I'm a changeling, but I don't know what that means anymore. I don't know what or how you ponies do that makes you so much... better... at everything than changelings. I... I don't know why your fear hurts, but I know that you can give me something to do, even if just for a little while."

With that, he stood up, turned around, and slowly walked back towards the cell. He stepped through the door, turned around, still looking down, and lay down. His horn lit up, and the door swung closed. He let out a heavy sigh, and said, "After you've kept me warm, saved my life, and then didn't turn me over to the guard, the least I can do for you is help you better understand the changelings, who may still be hunting you. Perhaps I can help you defend yourself against them."

Twilight blinked at him, confused by this changeling. One moment, he was telling her exactly how the changeling systems of government, class, and reproduction worked, then he was trying to make a grand escape, feed upon her, and grinning, then he was locking himself back up.

At least Queen Chrysalis had been consistent in her goals, and her tactics. She had been manipulative, infiltrating the royal family, taking out the captain of the royal guard, nearly disabling the elements of harmony by antagonizing her, all with the goal of taking over Canterlot in mind.

But this changeling, who seemed to be neither unintelligent nor powerless, couldn't choose between ignoring her, hurting her, or helping her. His mother had been both powerless and arrogant, but even her plan had accomplished something in its short life. He was likely more powerful than his mother had been, without being quite as arrogant, and had just turned down the opportunity to avenge his mother's defeat.

She couldn't make sense of this changeling, what he thought, why he behaved the way he did, or how he ticked on even the most basic of levels. She found him intriguing, and something about the mystery drew her back into her determined, thoughtful inquiry.

She stood up, shaking a bit, as she hadn't fully calmed down. She swallowed hard, and shook her head at him. "No," she said. She walked over to the cell, and used her own magic to pull the door back open. "You've already proven that you can get out of any trap I put you in, and that you won't hurt me given the chance."

He glanced up at her from his brooding, then looked at the floor again. He picked up one of his hooves and traced a small star in the dust on the cold floor. "Why? Do you trust me?" he asked her, pausing from his idle fidgeting to look her in the eye. "I'm... I'm Queen Chrysalis's son, and she tried to kill you, but you somehow believe that you can trust me." He returned to his fidgeting, looking back down.

Twilight said, "Your family's actions have nothing to do with who you are, and you shouldn't be judged for what your mother did. You especially shouldn't judge yourself for her actions, or those of any changeling. Just because you're a changeling doesn't make you untrustworthy, useless, or evil. You are who you are, not what your family did."

He lifted his hoof from the ground, and looked up at her, catching her gaze. He held eye contact for a bit, and slowly stood up. He didn't really understand why, but felt compelled to do something other than staring at a pony's eyes. He said, "I, Twilight Sparkle, am a changeling, master manipulator. How can you be sure that I won't try to feed upon you again, and that me backing away wasn't a part of some plan to make you a more willing meal?"

Twilight lifted her hoof, pointed it at his chest, and said, "It's called benefit of the doubt, Love Bite. I'm assuming that you won't do it, but if you do try again... well, I'll have learned my lesson." She gently set her hoof against his chest, causing him to jump back a bit, his ears pinned back in surprise.

She was okay with touching him. That didn't make sense to him. Any book about changelings would tell a pony that any and all physical contact with a changeling was dangerous, though different books gave different explanations and reasons to not touch a changeling.

He stood there, a bit shocked at her boldness. He asked her, "And... What if I attempt to seduce you? What are the consequences for me if I try anything out of line?" He slowly stepped forward, his entire being going at odds. His body told him that a pony so brave was dangerous, but his mind told him to trust her.

He didn't see what he had to lose, so he slowly stepped out of the cell. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her since she'd talked about individuality, having little trust in her, and being less than eager to let her make any more physical contact than she already had. He didn't want to imagine what she could do if she was willing to touch him, as a confidence in her fear had been comforting to him earlier, but now he knew better.

Twilight closed the cell door behind him and locked it with a key she summoned. She turned to him and said, "Okay, now we've established that neither of us is out to harm the other. There's some common ground." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she walked past the changeling.

He turned his head to follow her as she walked to the other end of the room. He looked her over and asked, "Okay, so... Now what?"

She turned to face him and said, "Let's start with a few basic conversations about ourselves, what we can agree on, and what we have in common. This is how most friendships start. Although I wasn't any good at making friends until fairly recently, I'm confident that you and I can at least learn to stay on good terms."

He blinked at her, cocking his head slowly. He asked her, "Friends?"

Twilight thought for a moment, trying to figure out how she could explain such a concept to someone who'd never heard the word friend in his entire life. She hit a bit of an epiphany, or, more of a new perspective really, on these sorts of things. She had always taken some things for granted, even though she tried not to, like a basic understanding of what a friend is.

She said, "A friendship is a bond between two ponies, a sort of unspoken agreement that they'll be nice to one another, talk, and help one another. The two or more ponies who have a friendship are called friends. When you share a friendship with somepo-someone, you say that they are your friend, or that you are friends with them."

That all seemed rather simple to him, terminologically at least, but couldn't get his head around one particular thing. He gave her an look of confusion, and asked, "But why? Why would ponies want to talk to each other? Why would they agree to help without knowing what kind of help they may be called to give later? Why would they be nice, and how do they know who's worth being a friend to?"

Twilight's head crowded with his questions, ones that even she'd have been able to answer in magic kindergarten, not that she would have answered, for she'd have been so busy studying, but she could have answered them. She said, "Okay. First of all, ponies only make friends with other ponies they already know. Friendship doesn't happen immediately between two ponies who've never once heard each others' names."

He stood there, waiting patiently for more answers, and looked at her more closely. He sat down, not really thinking about it, but froze completely when he heard the door open. He burst into green fire, and sat as his pony form, the light grey pegasus that Twilight had originally found on the street. He turned his head to the right, watching as the door creaked open.