stranded

by johntheanimefan

Chapter 6: A day at the zoo

Chapter 6

A day at the zoo

Monkeys were apparently hilarious.

That seemed to be what revelation Grey was meant to gleam from his time at the zoo with the Apple family. The shrieking, erratic, feces throwing creatures sent the young Applebloom into fits of hysteria. They would swing, scratch their backsides, and, as stated above, fling their droppings at each other, and this was ample entertainment for the young girl.

Really? That made her laugh? He could do that, it’s not that funny. Grey concluded that it must be a human thing.

He’d noticed himself coming to this conclusion often recently. He found this vexing.

Grey said nothing, though, calmly biting into his cotton candy. Soon the group walked away from the monkey cage, and Grey followed suit. Unaware that he was being followed himself.

---

How could she be so blind? Sunset mentally chastised herself for not noticing the warning signs. The air of detachment, the fake smile, the way he would put himself as close to the most emotional member of whatever group he was infiltrating. No matter how well they hide, if one is trained to spot them, there is no disguise perfect enough.

A changeling had infiltrated the Apple family. And she had to stop him.

She was about to walk out to confront him, but she stopped and returned to her hiding spot before she was noticed. Sure, go and call him out in broad daylight and look like a complete loon, he’d NEVER be able to turn that against her. No, she had to think this one through if this game was to turn in her favor. Applejack was the best person she knew at sensing out bullcrap, so if he could fool her so thoroughly, this one required a bit more finesse.

First things first, though, she needed to clear up any doubts.

---

Applebloom was in the petting zoo, Granny had went off to find a restroom, and Mac had gone to get some more cotton candy. If there was a more perfect time to at least bring it up, then Grey obviously had missed it. So, Grey turned his head to the side, seeing Applejack next to him. She hadn’t noticed him staring, as she was too busy making sure her younger sister wasn’t pissing off the goats and….horses.

Well, that’s going to take some getting used to.

Veering his mind back on track, he cleared his throat to get Applejack’s attention. “So,” he said calmly. “You’ve been a touch evasive the past few days.”

Applejack looked up at him with surprised eyes. The surprise didn’t last long, as he expected. Applejack looked down. “Yeah, sorry bout that,” she said. “I don’t mean anythin by it, I swear. I’m just…”

“Not used to letting people in like that?” Grey finished. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I can relate, trust me. To be honest, I’ve never gotten as close to anyone as I have with you.”

Applejack turned with a wry smirk. “Now that has to be a lie,” she said. “Guy as good lookin as you? Ya must’ve been beatin off the mares with a stick.”

Grey chuckled. “True, I’ve had a lot of women in my life, but, well, let’s just say it never worked out.” It was Grey’s turn to look away from Applejack and thousand-yard-stare up into the sky. The funny thing about living a lie is that it was very hard to find someone willing to live it with you.

Grey was broken from his trance when he felt Applejack link her arms with his. He bristled at the surprise touch, but didn’t shy away. “Well,” she said. “Their loss, right?”

Grey quickly regained his composure and smirked down at Applejack. “Yeah, I suppose so,” he said. However, just as the two began to lean closer to each other, Applebloom decided that she felt like a good ol fashioned cliché, so she decided to kill the mood by poking her head up from behind the chain link fence. “Whatcha doin, guys?” she asked, though her big smile gave away her insincerity.

Applejack immediately shot away from Grey and stared off at nothing in particular. “N-nothin,” she said, trying to hide her blush.

Applebloom’s smile remained, though becoming injected with a knowing wit. “Ya’ll can’t fool me, sis,” she said.

Grey chuckled along, ruffling the young girl’s hair. “No, I don’t suppose we can,” he said.

“Applebloom, I got more cotton candy for ya!” Said Big Mac from a few yards down the path. Applebloom immediately forgot the previous conversation and ran over to have herself some candy.

“God, the energy on that girl,” said Applejack with a chuckle.

“Heh, yeah,” Said Grey, who pursed his lips and looked back down at Applejack. His arm snaked around her waist and pulled her close. “Now, where were we?”

“Y-ya know what, I just can’t recall,” said Applejack, who smirked wryly through her intense blush.

Grey’s toothy grin drifted closed as he brought the blonde in for a kiss. His fingers drifted into her hair, while her arms locked behind his neck.

A common misconception about changelings is that they feed on love. In actuality, only the queen had to feed on love. Grey could feed on it, but he didn’t have to. Even so, despite himself, he could feel just a bit of it enter his system from the kiss. Grey’s eyes shot open at this realization and he broke the kiss, though still holding her. Applejack took a moment to catch her breath. “Dang…” she said.

He couldn't have put it better himself. The trance held by the two was broken by the sound of muffled giggling. Grey and Applejack looked over to see Applebloom, Granny and Big Mac staring at them. “Well,” said Granny with a wry smirk. “Glad to see ya’ll finally stopped beating around the bush.”

Applejack broke down into fits of laughter, while Grey maintained his composure, save for a sharp chuckle. Hand in hand, the couple rejoined the apple family, and they continued down the path through the zoo.

---

A minor complication with spotting changeling behavior is that much of the key features could easily be replicated by someone who is asocial or is suffering from depression. As such, Sunset knew, even with her gut screaming at her that this was the guy she was looking for, that she couldn’t just jump to conclusions. So she continued following him through the day, doing whatever it took to remain inconspicuous.

Then she saw Grey and Applejack kiss. And she saw her proof, a small puff of green mist travelling from Applejack’s mouth to his. If anyone else saw it, they probably wrote it off as a trick of the sun. But Sunset knew better. It was official; the changeling was alive, and had infiltrated the apple family.

It was still too risky to confront him in the open. She either needed to get him alone and confront him there, or get enough solid evidence to convince applejack that she just kissed an anthropomorphic bug-horse-man thing. The latter would probably take too long, so Sunset settled on the direct approach.

Sunset watched her friend laughing, her arms linked with Grey’s, and her heart ached with what she had to do.

All she could hope for is that she would one day forgive her…

---

Applejack and Grey plopped down together on a bench. Grey lifted his right leg to massage his tired calves. Grey bristled when he felt the blonde next to him lean against his shoulder. Grey smiled and leaned his head against hers. “I’m willing to listen, you know,” she whispered.

“What?” Grey replied.

“I know you’re hiding something.” Applejack looked up at him with a wry smirk. “I can smell a lie a mile away, buddy.”

Grey forced a smirk to maintain his composure. “I think you’re mistaken,” he said.

Applejack chuckled, returning to his shoulder. “It’s alright, I’m sure it’s nothin too serious. If it was, it woulda blown up in ya face by now.” Grey joined in her chuckle, though his was a bit more choked. “Whenever you feel like tellin me, I promise to listen, kay?”

Grey looked down at Applejack and smiled softly. “Okay,” he said, snaking his arm around her waist to pull her closer. “Okay…”

Author's Note:

I'M BAAAAACK! A short one this time, since this was taking way too friggin long. I'll strive to reach 2,000 words next time, I promise. I also promise it to not take nearly as long XD

See you all next time!

Comments

[johntheanimefan]

7406396 huh

you're right, that probably should've been mentioned XD

[ActivistVictor]

good story, hope you continue it soon. i want to see how this all resolves