//------------------------------//
// Changing Hands, Changing Faces 
// Story: The Coming Swarm 
// by lola2901 
//------------------------------//

	The forest. The strange hooded pony had lead the others to the forest, so maybe it was safest to hide there. She did her best not to think too much about it, and decided simply the best she could do was hope the young filly had gotten somewhere safe. It wouldn’t help anyone if she died.
Telling herself that didn’t make Trixie feel any less guilty.
She slumped to the ground behind a tree, peering back out at the town behind her. This couldn’t be happening. Monsters ravaged Equestria weekly. The princesses would break free soon, or some ragtag group of heroes would blast them with friendship rainbows or something stupid like that. Then Trixie could go back to her mess of a wagon, buy a gallon of butterscotch soda, and curl up in the candlelight with her old copy of Hoofdini’s Paper Magic. She’d be home again, exploring Equestria and amazing the simple pony folk.
In fact, it wouldn’t be long at all, right? This was probably going to go something like the time Nightmare Moon had returned. It had stayed night for a day or so long than usual, then everything was fixed. It couldn’t be long until these insects were chased out for good, surely.
Letting out a shaky sigh, Trixie forced a slight chuckle, shaking her head. Of course everything was going to be fine, of course. Anyhow, she was the Great and Powerful Trixie, wasn’t she? She’d be fine. She’d always been fine.
Although she knew it wouldn’t mattered, and it would all be fixed in a few days, she decided to start trotting deeper into the thick treeline of the Everfree. It would probably be best to lie low until it all blew over, of course.
She stumbled slightly as she walked, struggling to keep her footing on the rocky ground. She swore under her breath when she slipped on some tiny animal’s burrow, twisting one of her ankles. In spite of the sting, she limped through the mud, teeth grit.
Night was slowly starting to fall, casting long shadows through the already eerie forest, bathing it in the evening’s faint golden-red light. After a time of walking she realized her footprints might be followed by those creatures, those things, but she’d walked so far, she figured it didn’t matter so much at this point. And she was too scared and too tired to care.
At least, she didn’t care until she heard something running through the undergrowth. Trixie froze, taking a shaky breath in, her ears flattened back across her skull. Maybe it had been just a jackalope. That was probably it, yes.
But then she heard the creature move again. It was far too big to be a jackalope. Was that the buzz of insect wings she heard? She turned her head quickly, certain she’d seen a flash of black out the corner of her eye.
“H-hello?” she called into the darkness. She was still moving. Now, her gait was slow, hesitant. “W-who’s there? The Great and P-P-Powerful Trixie demands you reveal yourself!”
There was silence. Then, footsteps. Slow, steady. They started somewhere out in the foliage. They were too cloaked in shadow and leaves to see. Step. She could hear dead leaves crunching. Twigs snapping. It did not slow. Step. The chill bit like the air had teeth. The creature was undeterred. Step. It was closer now. The crunching of feet was growing louder.
Step.
She could hear it breathing now.
Step.
The breathing was deep, like a wounded creature.
Step.
Did something touch her leg?
Step. Her heart was racing. She should blast it, or run, or something. She couldn’t just stand there. But she couldn’t. She could hardly even breathe.
The footsteps stopped.
It moved slowly, clunkily. It lurched from the leaves like a half-living corpse. It was small, and dark, a sharp horn curving up from it’s head. It approached slowly.
“T-Trixie?” said a soft voice weakly. The dark creature lifted it’s head, wiping some of the near-black mud and ichor from their face. It felt like the whole of the forest let out a breath of relief at the little stained white face.
“Celestia ‘bove, I thought you were a goner, kid,” Trixie said, letting out a breath of relief. She paused a moment, wincing at her own accent. Focusing on her stage voice, she offered the filly a shaky smile. “The Great and Compassionate Trixie is... very relieved you survived. She mistook you for one of the... creatures. She wasn’t afraid, of course, naturally Trixie can handle herself!”
“Of course,” Sweetie Belle said tiredly, offering an exhausted smile. She paused, biting her lip. “Y-you’re hoof! Is it okay?”
Blinking, Trixie lifted her hoof to look at it. The already faint green glow had faded to nearly nothing, but the torn skin and blood looked even worse than it felt. She winced, tossing her head slightly. “Tis... only a scratch. Trixie will be fine. What about you? You look like you’ve been bleeding,” she said, gently wiping some mud from Sweetie’s left eye, moving gently as not to hurt the small filly.
“Huh? O-oh, that! I’m fine, but while I was running, I bumped into a tree,” the small unicorn confessed, gingerly lifting a hoof to her head. “One of the ch-changeling things chased me into the woods.”
Trixie paused, pulling out a long string of colorful knotted scarves. They were her nicer set-she’d used the other one to tie that changeling thing up so it wouldn’t chase her. She’d gotten them for her birthday, three years ago, and had kept them in top notch-condition since.
Sighing, she began untying the yellow one on the end, then magically hoisted it to wrap it around Sweetie Belle’s head. “There. Why did it stop chasing you? The one that saw us back in town didn’t leave me alone until I tied it up.”
Sweetie looked up at her with wide green eyes. “You didn’t kill him?” She blinked, hesitating. “I don’t know. Maybe it saw s-someone easier to chase or, um, something.”
“Glad you got lucky, kid,” Trixie sighed, tucking the rest of the magician silks back into one of the hidden pockets of her cloak. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is looking for somewhere to retreat to until this all blows over. Would you like to come with?”
The small filly hesitated. “But my sister... Rarity...”
Trixie paused, hesitating before setting her hoof on Sweetie Belle’s shoulder. “You and Trixie can look for her together on the way,” she offered, managing an awkward smile.
There was a pause of silence, and at first she thought she’d offended the filly. But then, Sweetie Belle looked up. She was smiling, her emerald eyes wet. “Th-thank you, Trixie.”