Guilt Changes Everything

by shadowminded

Pressing First Impressions

None of these trees looked familiar, and yet they all looked the same. Jeckle, in his delirious, starved, and exhausted outrage, lashed out at one of the towering mimics. His leg connected with the tree and split the bark, but the trees bite was worse and fractured the whole malnourished carapace encasing his entire leg. Jeckle swore under his breath and continued to now limp on. It wasn't long before he began to feel a strange solidity in the pit of his stomach that left a flat yet enticing flavor in his mouth. This peculiar sensation he couldn't quite understand gave him reason for pause, and in his new found silence he heard grunts and shouts coming from a short distance away.

He was now only three feet away and had a conveniently concealed location to observe from, and figure out the cause of the grunts and yells. From his little alcove he could clearly see just what was happening and it gave him a sense of benevolent amusement. Before him was a small earth pony, light blue in coat marked by streaks of evening dusk navy that seemed to emminate from the moon and stars behind the cloud on his flank. The young colt shook his sun orange mane from his eyes and stared intently at an overhanging plum as he coiled in preparation for his next attempt. Jeckle realized the taste and sensation as the essence of determination and could tell the colt had been at this for a while. Jeckle was about to move towards him and offer his help when he saw the colt lunge once more with comical results as the young one successfully covered himself in mud and leaves. After stifling an ill-mannered laugh, Jeckle took a few steps forward and heard the leaves under his hoof give way stirring the colt. Jeckle paused, as hesitant and weak-willed as the hello that came his way. He was now aware of the possibility that perhaps his introduction would fail to be met with casual acceptance by this child who would no doubt think him bizarre and most likely frightening. A second hello pleaded with him to put the child at ease but in his hesitance Jeckle took a step back and broke a twig which set them both even further on edge. Obviously frightened now, evident in appearance alone, the warm sticky feeling filling his throat only further confirming his knowledge of the child's terror, the colt can be seen preparing himself to run before he called out "who's there?"

Perhaps he shouldn't have done it. He had no idea why he did. Hearing that question however; he simply felt obligated to let him know so he stepped forward. Once. Twice. As he took the final step from behind the bush his fractured leg gave out and he stumbled forward with a pained hiss. When Jeckle raised his head the colt was gone, he had frightened him away. Jeckle sighed and lowered his head again in self loathing. Then he heard the thud, crack, and a sound similar to cascading rocks. He moved forward and found the edge of a cliff behind the bush before him, from which he could still hear rocks falling. He looked down and blinked. There, several feet below the cliff face, lay a light blue streak dotted by a sun orange comet in a dark red pool that ached to be one with the river it was beginning to flow into. Jeckle sat down, mouth slightly agape as his mind laboriously pushed the events together. It was then he heard the calls.

"Twinkle! Are you out here? Mommy's looking for you. Twinkle Moon, darling!"

Jeckle started with a panic; possibly runoff from the concerned mother, maybe due to the tragedy itself, or perhaps from the thought of this mare discovering her dead son and the changeling that had been a crucial element in his untimely death. Any reason gave evidence of his poor condition and how he was loosing sense of what his emotions were, and what were not. He could feel the constricting panic of the mother's voice though she did well to conceal it. He knew he couldn't let this mother find her son like this. Having no other ideas and wrangled by guilt, Jeckle took one last remorseful look on the limp body below and gave it life by taking its form. He then lay down and closed his eyes as he heard the call of his mother near.

"Twinkle? Oh Twinkle, there you are! You made mommy so worried, I told you not to go this deep into the forest! Twinkle?" With a sigh and a shake of her head, she levitated the sleeping imitation of her son onto her back and walked toward home. "Of all the places this boy's fallen, asleep is the most emotionally straining for me.

Comments

[Cherry Noble]

Please update soon.

[Jazz]

Nice job on your first story! I'll love to get the rest!!

[Jazz]

And so shoud the titles, bra.

[shadowminded]

5974978 hey man. Sorry for the delay, REALLY busy this weekend. but the next chapters up and it didn't take me two years like it did the first two chapters. Lol. Anyways. Hope you like it, should have the next chapter(s) up soon.