Becoming a Monster

by Telgin

Chapter 4: Treachery

As it turned out, I was quickly learning that there was a lot more to being a mother than I could have predicted. On top of that, my eggs hadn't even hatched yet.

I curled up tighter around my clutch and found myself subconsciously counting them again. Six, just like there was supposed to be. The temperature was perfect too: each was just detectably warm to the back of my hand. If the day got too warm that afternoon I might have to take them out of the blanket I'd improvised as a nest, but it was overcast last I heard, so I didn't expect to need to do that. If any of the others turned up soon I'd ask them how things looked outside.

Speaking of which, I hadn't seen any of them that morning since sunrise. All three disappeared at various points to go looking for food or anything else interesting or useful. Ever since laying the clutch of eggs, I hadn't drifted far from the main chamber of our cave for some sort of hardwired fear that something terrible would happen to them the moment I took my eyes off of them, which meant I hadn't been able to help out at all with the scavenging. I felt pretty guilty about it, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. It would be a few months yet before they hatched...

Sitting around and mooching off of my siblings while I watched six immobile and very safe eggs left me with little to do other than think and read through my stacks of spell books. My newest addition was still giving up its secrets quite reluctantly, with most of its contents interspersed with too much wordy pony text I couldn't read well enough to grasp the entire meaning of. If Antic was here he could tell me what it all said, but he was off looking around for things to survive off of with the others. Whatever the spell book contained, it probably wasn't that important, and I'd learned very early on as a whelp to take experimenting with unknown magic very carefully. I'd never forget the time I blinded myself for half an hour with a flash of light I didn't intend to create.

There was that one “sentry” spell I kept going back to, and which I'd mostly figured out. Based on what I was able to get Antic to read to me while he was home and from my very careful testing, I'd determined that it was a very useful spell indeed. You could cast it on the ground and if anything ever wandered over it it would trigger another linked spell. There didn't appear to be much of a limit on what it could trigger, but in this case something simple was all I cared about. A flash of light and sound would make it perfect for alerting us if someone or something was getting too close At that point I hadn't told Zeal about the spell, since I was pretty sure he'd want me to rig it up to set the intruder on fire or something...

I shifted into a more comfortable position to read, sending my eggs into an alarming wobble that jostled one free of the nest and sent it listing away on its side. Without even a thought to realize what I was doing I snatched it up in my magic, only to realize I shouldn't be so rough with them. If it was me that broke one or otherwise hurt it, I'd never forgive myself so long as I lived. Fortunately, it turned out to be unharmed, so I let it slip from the caress of my magic back into its spot. I needed to be more careful...

Once my heart settled back down, I had my snout back in the book. There were a lot of intricacies that I was still working to master before the spell would really be useful. For one, I'd tried casting it near the entrance of the cave only to discover that it was far too sensitive. I didn't want to be woken up every ten minutes from a bug flying too close, but my attempts to fix that wouldn't trigger even after I moved a boulder over it. Nothing practice wouldn't fix.

Anchored to my unhatched whelps as I was, I couldn't really venture outside to practice it, but there was plenty inside the cave to test with. The spell itself was simple enough, and two twists of my wrist and a jolt of mana later it was done: an invisible circle about as wide as I was tall centered in the room. Time to get to work.

Using my magic to lift a few small things, I floated them over the circle. A ladle didn't set it off, nor did the annoyingly empty box of crackers. That was a good start. I moved a few progressively heavier things over it, leading up to a couple of jugs of water heavy enough to strain against. Still nothing, which wasn't so good. I pursed my lips and flicked a hair out of my face as I thought. Maybe if I tweaked-

My train of thought was broken by a shrill but brief whistling that made me nearly jump out of my scales. I perked up immediately to train my eyes on the entrance, watching to see if it was actually someone setting off the spell outside this time, or if it was just another twig blowing by.

“Hello? Anyone home?” a familiar and soothing male voice called.

“Fealty?” It took a bit of restraint to avoid jumping up and spilling eggs everywhere, so I settled for easing up to look him in the eyes as he descended the steps.

He smiled warmly at me and strode inside, failing to set off my new spell I noted, and said, “I knew you wouldn't be far. How are the kids?” He cupped an egg with his hand, which made me feel surprisingly uneasy, but I didn't have long to think on it before he leaned in to give me a peck on the cheek and quick nuzzle. “And you?”

“Oh, they're fine. Behaving themselves for the most part,” I said with a small chuckle. “And I'm pretty well, if a bit tired. Watching eggs can be surprisingly draining.”

He nodded. “Still haven't reconsidered moving in with me? We could both keep an eye on them then.”

Oh, I had considered it a lot, especially now that I wasn't much good to my siblings. None of them had said it, and they probably never would have, but I knew inside they probably were harboring a bit of frustration with me and maybe even wanting me to leave. There was one pressing issue that was really keeping me from jumping on the opportunity though. “I know, but right now I'd be afraid to move them. Maybe in a few weeks?”

That brought a smile to his face and a small squeeze from him. “I'll take what I can get. In the meantime I can keep you company for a while. The others going to be back soon?”

“I'm not sure,” I answered honestly. They'd probably trickle back in over the next few hours but there was never any way to be certain. “Oh, but since you're here I've got something to show you!” I slid my spell book between us and pointed to the page. “Ever seen this spell?”

He squinted at the page and shook his head. “Sentry...something? No, don't think I have. What's it do?”

“Sit back and I'll show you.” This would be a nice distraction from just practicing it alone, and I didn't get much opportunity to practice with my siblings. It was also a rare chance to do something for Fealty, and I wasn't going to pass that up. Not to mention it just might keep him safe one day.

If I could figure out the finer details that is... too bad Fealty couldn't read any better than me. Oh well, all the more time we'd spend working on it together, right?

---

As I predicted, Revelry and Zeal returned a few hours later, about an hour apart. Revelry returned first with an outright surprising amount of fruit hovering in her magical grasp. I recognized some apples floating around in the swirl of colors and shapes, and thought I even saw some pears mixed in. She seemed to be in a pretty good mood, but if I'd managed to find that much food in one go I probably would have been too. I could only guess that she'd been off in the woods not far off from the new pony settlement, but I wasn't in a confrontational mood and didn't bring it up.

Fealty decided to take his leave about that time, which left the two of us to sort through her find. Fruit wasn't that filling and wouldn't keep forever, but I was pleased to discover she'd found enough to feed all of us for a least a couple of days. Apples and pears were the main attraction, but she had a few grape vines mixed in along with some blueberries and even a few figs. A handful of a couple of nuts were a nice addition too. We'd be eating a little better for a few days for sure.

The two of us were busy nibbling on something or other when Zeal finally plodded back in. I noted with mixed emotions that neither of them had returned with any more of those heavenly crackers, but I was definitely disappointed that he hadn't returned with any food or supplies. That is, aside from what looked an awful lot like a pair of gauntlets that griffons would have worn. He swore up and down he just found them lying around, so at the risk of diving into an argument I didn't want I left him to his word. He seemed content to flop down on his cot and play around with resizing them with the trick I taught him, which just left me to wonder dark things about the collection of metal he was gathering while I helped put the food away with my magic.

Antic was taking longer than I expected, to the point I was starting to get worried. I loosened up from my curled up position around my eggs and cast a glance to Revelry. “Any idea where Antic went? He's pretty late.”

She was busy scrutinizing a fig for some flaw I was pretty sure wasn't there. “Hmm? Oh, he followed me down to the forest earlier, but we split up there.”

“And you're not worried?”

“He'll be fine,” Zeal said in an almost disinterested tone. “He's good with that illusion magic.”

That only made me worry all the more as I pictured him using that illusion magic to do scary and dangerous things, but he kept assuring me when I asked previously that he hadn't been off pretending to be a pony. That didn't mean trouble wouldn't find him of course, and if I wasn't metaphorically tethered to my eggs I'd probably have jumped up then to go looking for him. I made a mental note to search through my spell books later for a spell I could use to locate one of my siblings if they ever did go missing in the future.

Instead, as it was I couldn't leave and seemed to be the only one who was significantly worried so I settled on going back to alternating between paging through my books and checking up on my eggs. It wasn't much to distract me and quell the butterflies in my stomach, but I didn't have but maybe half an hour to wait before Antic finally came scampering in with his signature grin and an impressive sized sack slung over his shoulder. He dropped it in the center of the room, allowing it to open and spill a fraction of its contents on the floor. I could see a lot of scraps of cloth inside as well as a great many things I couldn't readily identify. “Antic? Where...”

He raised a hand up to hush me and started digging through the bag. “Before you ask, yes, I found this near the pony town. They were just throwing it all away!” A bolt of cloth more than large enough to make a pillow hung from one hand as he pulled more things from inside. “Not sure what we can do with some of this stuff, but I didn't leave anything!”

Were those glass beads? Even I had no idea what we'd do with something like that, but he had my interest. My eggs would be fine for a minute while I helped him pick through everything, so I eased up and moved over to peer into the bag. Scraps of thread, cloth and wood were the most obvious things, but there were a few more useful items. I recognized an oil lamp in the middle of it all, but unless there was some oil in a jug in here it wouldn't be worth a whole lot. I raised a hand to my chin as I continued to appraise it all. For once we might actually have to throw some of it away ourselves since space was starting to become a premium here.

Revelry had just slipped from her cot to come take a look herself when something happened that terrified me to my very core. “Antic?” A voice from outside. Feminine. I didn't recognize it. “Antic are you around here?”

Zeal was on his hooves faster than I could believe, grabbing his gigantic sword and the pieces of armor he had collected. All four of us shot each other horrified looks as he joined us in the center of the room. Even with the weapon and armor, I could see the fear on Zeal's face, but Antic looked like he was on the verge of panic. How did this voice know him? It couldn't be... he'd sworn that he hadn't gone parading around as a pony!

The warning whistle blared, sending all four of us to the floor and reeling from the shock. Whoever it was, she was right outside. “Huh, what was that? Antic?” No, no, no! I'd left the spell outside running!

I scrabbled back toward my eggs, wracking my mind for something to do. She was going to come down here now! She had to be a pony, and once she knew we were here... My eyes darted over the eggs as I came up with nothing to do. Could... could we kill her? Before she told the others?

Zeal certainly looked ready to. He hadn't moved from his spot and through the fear I saw a distinct look of purpose on his face. He spread his wings and flared his nostrils as he kept the sword up, ready to attack. Revelry made a small squeal and backed away to cower in a side corridor, while Antic finally gathered his wits and interposed himself between the cavernous entrance and Zeal. “No! I-I can fix this!” he hissed. I felt and saw magic splutter to no effect around him; he was so worked up he couldn't concentrate.

Hooves clopped down the stone for agonizing seconds before, finally, the fright of the unknown was replaced with horrible truth. A crimson unicorn mare with a darker red curly mane emerged, nearly bumbling straight into Antic. Everyone froze. I could hear Revelry whimpering to my side, but I couldn't look away from the pony. Her eyes gradually widened as they swept the room and her mouth hung agape. When she saw Zeal, she did the worst possible thing and screamed.

“Scarlet, wait!” Antic pleaded, jumping between her and the exit. “Y-you-I mean, don't be afraid!”

That worked about as well as could be expected, and she barreled right past him in a mad dash for the surface. She would have made it too, if Zeal hadn't grabbed her with his magic at the last possible moment and hurled her back inside. “I'll give her a reason to be afraid!” he roared, drawing the sword up.

“Don't kill me!” she begged, wriggling in vain against his magic and covering her face with her forelegs.

Whether Zeal was ready to make good on his promise or not I don't know. Antic shoved him aside with a frantic, “No!” The two collided and tumbled together, sending the sword clattering to the floor. Zeal shouted a curse, but Antic continued to wrestle with him. “She's not a bad pony! Don't hurt her!”

Scarlet wasn't content to wait around and see what was going to happen, and the moment his magic vanished she rocked to her hooves. “I'm sorry! I d-didn't mean to come here!” I wanted to believe her and Antic. I really, really did. I'm a realist though, so I knew if she got away the other ponies would be here before we could bat an eye. With that in mind it was my turn to pin her down with a flash of magic. I couldn't bring myself to actually hurt her yet, but I was searching my mind for something to use. If I could kill her without causing too much pain... “Please! I-I won't t-tell anypony!” she begged again. “Help me!”

Revelry had just managed to work up the nerve to slink back into the main room, chewing at the claw on her index finger as she watched me fight to keep the red pony restrained. “Y-you're not really going to, uh...” she asked, tearing her eyes away to look into mine.

We had to. We just had to. I didn't want to hurt her. She really sounded like she didn't want any trouble, and that was something I could sympathize with a thousand times over, but I had eggs to protect now. “We can't risk it...” I said, wishing for all the world there was another way.

“No! Please!!!” she screamed again.

“Cantrip! Don't!” Antic yelled before he was tossed aside by Zeal with another louder curse.

“She'll bring the whole town here!” Zeal shouted, retrieving his sword with his magic.

“No!” Scarlet shrieked again. Tears were beginning to streak down her terror-stricken face, and it was becoming more and more difficult to see this through. But we had to!

Fate had something else in mind. All five of us winced and cowered when the alarm spell triggered again, and again and again. Scarlet rolled away and tightened into a shuddering ball as my magic faltered, and the rest of us watched in renewed horror as three more ponies trotted down the path inside. “Scarlet!?” a male shouted. “Scarlet Swirl!” So that's whose book I'd taken. I didn't have time to reflect on it before the ponies were upon us. I recognized the first as the unicorn soldier from before. Dirk? The other two were new. A massive and heavy set chocolate colored earth pony stallion with an axe to match his size, and a sky blue pegasus mare with a long, fine sword flanked him. History repeated itself as everyone present just stared in abject shock.

“You!” Dirk shouted, angling his sword at me. I guess I was the closest, but whatever reason he chose me for, it was enough to send me leaping up to my hooves to back away. Revelry squeaked something and dove behind me, grabbing my shoulders and peaking around the moment she was there. I had absolutely no clue what to do.

Zeal snarled and jumped to meet the intruders, swinging his sword in a wide arc and even convincing the three soldiers to take a step back. “Don't come a step closer! You're not hurting any of us anymore!”

The new mare snorted. “I guess that's where your other sword went.”

Scarlet bounded up and galloped under the huge stallion, who gave her a reassuring pat with a gigantic hoof. “Stole a sword and now trying to hurt my daughter?” he growled.

Dirk was scowling. “You stole my sword!? You know what we do to thieves?” His horn began to glow a deep blue, and I completely panicked. If he fired off that noise blast in here it would kill us! There was only one thing I knew to do, risky as it was or not, so I jumped to it. Literally, as I flung myself across my eggs and dumped all of the mana I could gather into a teleport spell, reaching out and snatching my three siblings up in the magical ebbs at the last possible moment before the world lurched and shifted in a direction I didn't know existed.

---

There hadn't been time to think about where to go or even how far before I fired the spell off. I simply used all of my magic in a desperate bid to get us to safety, and it worked. The four of us appeared somewhere, and as was becoming standard fare for unprepared teleports, far enough off of the ground that the fall rammed the air out of my lungs and sent my head spinning. I rolled onto my back and muffled a groan caused by my aching ribs while I listened to my brothers and sister pick themselves up.

“Wh-what?” Revelry gasped. “What happened? Where are we?”

Antic moaned and rocked to his hooves, eliciting a crunch of a dry twig as he did so. It was then I realized my scales were a bit damp and I could feel the bristle of grass and weeds on my outstretched wings. We really had traveled some distance to end up in the forest down below the mountains, and if I wasn't so confused, scared and tired I might have even been a bit smug and impressed with the feat I'd pulled off. The feeling was short lived, as I immediately began fretting we had materialized near the pony town. Something so much worse was to come to my attention first, however.

It was Zeal's gasp that set my nerves on edge. “Ca-antrip...” Antic followed with a gasp of his own, and Revelry let out a pitiful whimper. “Y-your...” Zeal went on, taking an uneasy step toward me.

My what? I propped myself up on my elbows to see what the fuss was about, but halfway through the motion I already knew. There was something else I'd brought with us that had managed to escape my mind for those few seconds, and now that it was back a primal chill of terror shot down my spine. I knew what the dampness was already, but I couldn't not look now. It was everything I dreaded: I found what was left of my eggs. My belly was slick with sticky yellow yolks, interrupted by patches of shattered shell adhering to my scales.

I had crushed my own eggs with my body in the fall.

My jaw slackened. There was nothing I could do but stare in utter disbelief, mouth agape. I just laid there and made small choking noises as I absorbed what had happened. There aren't any words I can use to relate what I felt right then. In my haste and carelessness, I had killed my own unhatched children. I screamed.

Zeal, Antic and Revelry clearly had no idea what to do either and just kept their distance as I got to my knees and looked over the smashed remains next to me. In desperation I tried to cast the healing spell I knew, but even if I had any strength left to give I knew it was hopeless at that point. You couldn't fix this. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I wept openly, gathering bits of pulverized egg in my hands and shuddering. It was the ponies' fault that I had to whisk us away so abruptly and at such risk, but it was me who was directly responsible for... for their death.

I was so lost in my despair I was barely aware of what the others were doing. Revelry and Antic were talking about something I couldn't care less about, but I noticed Zeal circling us nervously and whipping his head back and forth to stare into the depths of the woods around us. Let the ponies come to me now. If I had any reservations about hurting Scarlet and the others, they were gone. I lowered the slippery hulls in my hands back to the ground and felt another bout of sobbing come on, but something caught my eye. There were only two eggs there. “Wait!” I cried out, rocking to my hooves and all but losing my balance from exhaustion.

“What?” Zeal shot at me with wide eyes.

Antic caught me mid stagger. “What is it?”

“There's only two!” I exclaimed, jabbing a talon down at the eggs. “Th-the other four! They must still be in the cave!”

Zeal all but blanched as the implications settled. I saw the protests simmering under the surface, but he must have recognized the bloody vengeance I promised if he didn't help me get them back. “We have to hurry,” he said.

Revelry caught me by the arm opposite to Antic, loosening her grip when she touched slimy egg goo. “Can you fly?”

By all rights I shouldn't have been able to, but I wasn't going to let being tired throw away the sliver of hope I had left. I spread my wings and was the first into the air.

---

Once we were airborne it hadn't taken but a minute to get our bearings. Somehow I had teleported us well into the forest past the pony town. It was the furthest I had ever gone with the spell by a league, even alone, and bringing three others and two eggs with me had made it equally more amazing. Desperation spoke for a lot.

Unfortunately, desperation wasn't everything. Less than a minute of trying to fly back home with reckless abandon had left me sputtering in the air and gasping for breath. My dry throat burned with each heave as I floundered in the air, and a feeling of hopelessness began to swallow me whole. I had wasted all of my strength saving us and was tapping into energy I didn't have to fly back. I knew there was no way we would make it in time. If the ponies were going to hurt my eggs they would have done it by then. All I could hope for was that they tossed them aside and I could get to them before they died of exposure.

Antic and Revelry had to help carry me the second half of the trip, each taking turns suspending me in their magic rather than slow us down by trying to physically carry me. It was enough to let me catch my breath and wipe some of the fresh tears from my eyes, but every moment I spent floating listlessly in their magic just sent my mind racing with more and more worry. I couldn't possibly rest like that, if the few minutes would have even mattered.

Zeal was the first on the ground when we reached the ledge of the canyon. He trotted up to an outcropping and flattened himself against it before bringing his sword up. After a tense moment to peer out around the side toward the entrance to our cave, he waved us over. “All clear,” he whispered.

Revelry set me down gently, but I collapsed against the mountainside the instant I tried to take a step. She shot up to my side to prop me up again, even against my feeble protests. “Just... just stand here a second,” she whispered to me before shooting pleading glances to Zeal and Antic.

There was no time to just stand around! I pushed away from her again and immediately regretted it, finding myself on my hands and knees and for the first time in my life reflecting on just how comfortable the dusty stone looked compared to trying to stand again. “We...” I rasped and shook my head. “...we...”

Revelry knelt to scoop me back up, but this time she had nothing to say. They all knew the time had come and gone long before we got there, and none of us had any idea on what to do. Zeal scowled and arced the sword upward. “Just stay here. I'll handle this.” A faint pop met my ears and he was enshrouded in an almost invisible shimmer of red. The shield could stop a couple of arrows or bolts... could it stop swords and axes? I wasn't so sure.

“Wait... let... let me think...” I wheezed, brushing my tail out of the way and rocking into a sitting position with Revelry's help. “You'll just... just get killed.”

“Better than just letting them have their way,” he growled.

Antic shuffled between us, letting his hooves scrape on the stone. For the first time I saw he was actually trembling. He wiped at his eyes and croaked, “Let me go. Pl-lease. I-I screwed this up...” He locked tearful eyes with me. “I-I'm so sorry Cantrip... everyone... I di-idn't know this would happen!” Even after I told him? I wanted scream at him for being so unbelievably stupid, but I just couldn't. Instead, I just looked away. “I screwed this up so badly... but I can fix it. I'll be right back.” With that, he was gone in a glittering burst of magic.

Revelry's ears shot up as she stood, but if she had any protest she withheld it. Zeal too looked on in disbelief as the wisps of dust kicked up by his unseen hooves disappeared around the corner, and the blink of an eye later we couldn't follow him if we dared to try. Zeal swore under his breath and slid closer to us, flicking his tail and sword nervously. “Stay low,” he muttered. “If you see a pony, stay calm.”

Calm? How could I be calm? Even so, I was more tired than ever before in my life, and more so than I expected should have been strictly possible. The only thing I could do was sit back against the wall, pant and shudder from the unbearable stress. I covered my face with a hand and broke into more hushed sniffling while we waited. And waited. And waited. Every muscle and nerve in my body tensed with each passing minute, rapidly passing the point of physical pain on to a sensation of utter anguish. If we could just save one. Just one....

I could take no more. I wasn't going to sit around any longer while the fate of my eggs hung in the balance. There couldn't possibly be much time left to keep them warm even if they were still intact. Despite every protest from Revelry and Zeal I pulled myself to my very shaky hooves. Antic wasn't the only one who knew the invisibility spell! I was going to go get my eggs back, and no pony was going to stop me!

Zeal did. He caught me by the arm as I stumbled past and pulled me back to face him. “Cantrip, stop. One more isn't going to make a difference.”

“I don't care!” I shouted, eliciting a very alarmed look from him and Revelry from the volume. “They're my eggs! I'm getting them back, no matter what!” I wrestled against his grip in vain, and once again began weeping. “Let go!” We fought for a few moments, which consisted of little more than me writhing and crying for him to let go of me, but he knew better. He pinned me back against the wall with one hand and shook his head slowly and silently. For those few moments, I hated him beyond words. I tried to scream for him to release me, but it only came up as a pleading whimper as he stoically ignored a kick.

Revelry was standing off to the side, holding one hand to her chest and another to her mouth. Her ears twitched as her eyes swept the canyon below, but she never looked back at us. Right then I hated her too. Why wasn't she helping me?! She was just going to stand there and let Zeal keep me from saving my eggs! What was wrong with them?! I opened my mouth to shout at her too, but something caught my ear.

Someone else crying.

“Ca-antrip... I-I'm s-so-sorry,” Antic whimpered. His magic spluttered and seemed to almost lazily drip away to reveal him standing in the middle of us all. Weak trembling shook his body and he raised a hand up, presenting... a broken shell dripping with sticky yolk. His reddened eyes met mine. “W-w-we were t-too late.”

Zeal's mouth went slack and his eyes widened as he finally released me. He stomped a hoof, letting out a stream of profanity and shooting Antic an acidic glare before turning to unload his verbal ire on a nearby stone. Revelry covered her face and looked away.

I just stared. Sat and stared at the remains of my unhatched whelps. I couldn't scream or cry. Just stare.

Even as Antic collapsed next to me and started sobbing himself, I just stared. That was it. They were gone. It was all gone. Everything we owned but our lives was gone. We couldn't stay here anymore. We'd have to find somewhere new and start from nothing. Again.

Antic was wrong, and it cost us everything.

Finally, the tears started to well up in my eyes again. I hated the ponies. Hated them so much it hurt. Why... why couldn't Antic have been right?

Why couldn't we just live in peace...?

Why did my eggs have to die...?