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Prologue6,207 words
CH.1: So, is this a dream, or...?7,408 words
CH.2: Making a Plan! Sort of!6,736 words
CH.3: Questions and Answers8,542 words
CH.4: Arriving at the Pony Town6,882 words
CH.5: How do I 'Bug Pony'?11,291 words
CH.6: Chiroptophobia, anyone?7,865 words
CH.7: Who puts a library in a tree?14,728 words
CH.8: Its Time to do the Magic!11,202 words
Ch.9: How Big is This Town Anyway?13,031 words

CH.2: Making a Plan! Sort of!

Previously...

Zach took a few deep breaths and sighed in defeat, “Well, whatever the case may be, I think I don’t have much of a choice but to continue to play along with…whatever the heck this is.”

He set aside his thoughts for the time being and refocused on the task at hand.

“Ok, Zach, time for Phase two…” Zach said aloud with a determined look on his face.

“Now to just figure out what Phase two is going to be! Should be easy enough.”

Our Story Continues...

Zach stayed put in his hiding spot until the pegasi trio finished their task and headed back to Ponyville. Once they were fully out of sight and there was no longer the threat of being spotted, only then did he emerge from his position.

“Phase two…Phaaase Two.” Zach spoke aloud and idly prodded at his chin.

It was times like these that he found himself wishing he actually planned ahead instead of counting his contemplation and thoughts on subjects and possible outcomes as “planning”. That one was really coming back to bite him in the rear now and the irony wasn't lost on him.

However, this wasn’t the time nor the place for scolding himself. No, he needed to set that aside until after he had a proper plan for what to do next.

“Come to think of it, I need a real ‘goal’ first before I ‘plan’ anything.” Zach said after some deliberation. “I don’t know what to start with. I’m in Equestria, I’m a changeling, I’m near the Everfree forest…so…”

As if on cue, his stomach emitted a rumbly growl, which loosely translated to: feed me.

That was another tick in the box of this not being a dream.

“Oh, well, that solves that then. First goal: I need to find food. Should be simple enough.”

Zach glanced around, eyeing for some sort of vegetation that looked appetizing. “Horses are herbivores; ponies should eat the same things then, right?” He knew that Horses were herbivores, but that didn’t mean he could just eat anything ‘green’ and call it a meal.

Although, he wasn’t really an equine, given his insectoid features. The show never established what changelings really were in that regard, or what they ate, besides the obvious of ‘Love’.

“I couldn’t begin to try and guess how that would work.” He said aloud.

Zach thought it over for a bit, “Maybe if I had a look at what they sold in ponyville… it won’t necessarily fix my problem, but it’d give me some place to start, knowing what equestrians eat. They gave a few examples in the show, but, that really doesn't help me in this situation.”

He looked out, past the rolling hills and towards Ponyville. There were numerous trees in the considerable distance between his current position and Ponyville, but there was nowhere near the kind of cover he’d need to sneak into town without being noticed. Zach scoured over the view, doing his best to piece together some sort of adequately concealed means of closing the distance between himself and Ponyville.

No luck.

Even if he did find a means of covering his approach to Ponyville and get to the outer edge of the town without being spotted, there was far too much open ground afterward. He’d be spotted the second he set foot past the last set of trees.

There was an idea here and there of trying to camouflage himself, such as using an uprooted bush to hide in and pretend to be shrubbery as he advanced. “Nah, no way would that work.” He’d played more than enough of that tactical espionage game to know how poorly that would work out. “I’d have about as much luck as trying to sneak in with a cardboard box.” He figured that ponies weren’t idiots, they’d never fall for something like that in the first place.

There was one idea though: changelings were known for their ability to, well, change shape into other things. If he changed his appearance to that of a pony, that would negate his need to sneak into town altogether. He could literally walk right in, and no-one would bat an eye.

“The main flaw in that plan being: I don’t know how to do that.” Zach said out loud to finish his thought. “Maybe I could poke around in my head, feel for a response that might lead to activating the changeling disguise ability, assuming I actually have that ability. Then again, I wouldn’t know what to look for, or where to start looking. I don’t know how much time I have before nightfall, but I-”

Zach paused and looked down at his legs and his sides, a lightbulb lit in his mind. “Waaait a minute…”

He then glanced up to the sky, noting the angle of the sun against the horizon. A grin formed as he fleshed out this new idea.

“I could try and sneak in under the cover of night! The color of my chitin is just dark enough that I might be able to blend it with my surroundings after dark. If I’m careful about it, that is.” The idea was sound, Zach was confident with it. However, he acknowledged that his poor night vision would be a serious hindrance.

Or, maybe it wouldn’t.

Curiously enough, ever since he woke up in Equestria, Zach seemed to not have the same nearsightedness as he did before. Thinking on it, when he arrived here, he realized he hadn’t had his glasses on him the entire time, but he didn't seem to need them. It was obvious from the get go that he didn't have them on his face, but he didn't make any conscious effort to worry about them given the newfound quality of vision he now possessed.
His vision was far from perfect, but it was much, much better than it was before. For once in his life, he could actually see in detail past the length of his arms!

Unimpaired vision was one thing he was not going to complain about.

“Since this changeling body has way better vision, maybe I’ll be able to see better at night too? I’ve got a quick way to find out.” Zach held one of his forelegs over his face, specifically his eyes. His logic was sound, but his changeling features (namely the holes in his legs) made the execution of the idea almost impossible. Too much light got through his leg-holes.

He sighed and conceded, “I guess I’ll just have to find out when night rolls around.”

Zach’s stomach protested against the idea of waiting, but he was going to play this safe.

In case he was wrong and his vision wasn’t any better at night, he needed to try and memorize the route he’d take to get to Ponyville. The distance wasn’t too far, all things considered. It was far enough, with enough foliage along the way, that it offered him some room to put some distance between himself and the ‘pony-eating-monster preserve’ that is the Everfree forest without worrying about being seen.

Setting up a hiding spot closer to Ponyville would make things easier for him come nightfall.

Zach looked to the closest tree cover, then to the next group of trees further ahead. “I guess that’s good enough for now.”

If he was being honest with himself, Zach wanted to put as much distance between himself and the magical death forest as physically possible, dream or not. He’d already experienced tangible pain from that pricker bush (of which he’d return to exact his revenge upon), he was less than eager to see what might happen if a monster decided to make an appearance and take a bite out of him.

Zach made his way over to that first group of trees.

In a stroke of luck, the spot he’d picked to relocate to just so happened to have a tree with some low lying branches. They were just low enough and grouped close enough together that, with some effort, he might be able to climb up them.

“Actually, I might not need to climb at all.” He was a changeling, he had wings. Zach looked over his shoulder and to the membranous limbs resting idly by his sides. “I just need to figure out how to use these things.”

Zach rummaged through his mind, feeling around with the muscle groups he knew of and trying to locate the one’s he figured might control his wings. He flexed his shoulders, his back, he tried probing his mind for any kind of indication of which muscle group would affect those new changeling appendages of his.

An idea came to him, and he reached with a hoof, gently rubbing against one of his wings. The sensation came into his mind, it wasn’t unpleasant, but it was…alien. His mind acknowledged the limb’s sense of touch, but his consciousness lightly recoiled at this new limb that was not supposed to be there. A feeling of unease crept through his thoughts, notably the notion that he’d never been able to feel any ‘new limbs’ in a dream before.

Yet another point against the possibility of this being a dream.

Still, he continued on. Zach felt the limb, he found the muscle group in his mind with a bit of effort, and he flexed that muscle. The membranous appendage shifted and stuck itself outward. It was a small victory, of which Zach used to chase away the unease he’d felt a moment prior.

A little more effort and he successfully moved his other wing. It wasn’t much movement, but he at least had function of these new limbs of his. He flexed the muscles of his wings, waving the things in a back and forth motion. “I guess that’s a start.” He wasn’t flying anytime soon, but at least he had a foundation to work with later.

“Once I get some food in my system and find a place to stay for the night, I’ll give it some practice.” Zach resigned himself to the task at hand.

“I have no idea how I’m supposed to climb a tree with hooves, but…” He glanced to his hooves, raising one and moving it in its points of articulation. The foreleg had more flexibility than what he’d expected; it wasn’t ideal for climbing, but it offered some possibilities. “I might be able to make this work, with a bit of creative maneuvering.”

Zach stepped up to the base of the one tree, which of the cluster, seemed to have the lowest hanging branches available. He eyed the tree up and down, figuring in his mind how he might go about doing this without injuring himself. The tree wasn’t too large, and seemed to have grown in at an odd angle, offering a much lower first branch to get to. If not for the fact that he was working without hands, he’d have scoffed at this tree; after all, he’d climbed trees bigger than this when he was a kid!

All he had to do was get a good leap, wrap his forelegs around to get a grip, hoist himself onto that first branch, then heave himself to the next branch. Seemed easy enough, in concept.

Zach crouched down, took aim, and…leapt!

…only to miss his mark, overshoot, and get a nasty thwack to the face, courtesy of one of the other branches. He then fell to the ground, just managing to extend his feet in time to partially brace for the landing. Zach hit the ground with a thump, and immediately raised his hooves to his snout.

“Owwwwww….” Was the only word his pain addled mind could form as he lay there at the base of the tree, holding his hooves tenderly to where wood had briefly met his chitinous face.

Zach had failed to take into consideration his different weight from what he was used to and how much stronger his leg muscles were. The throbbing tide of angry nerve endings in his head were making sure to remind him of this and then some.

After a good several minutes of nursing his noggin and easing the pain, Zach rose back to his feet, err, hooves. “lets…try this again. This time without faceplanting into a tree branch, preferably.”

Zach carefully took aim as he crouched down, readying his back legs.

He leapt with more emphasis on the height of his jump rather than distance, his forelegs reaching out to try and grab hold of the assortment of tree limbs before him. Zach’s hooves glanced off the branch he’d aimed for, despite his best efforts to try to stick the landing.

The tree limb passed under his forelegs, impacting into his chest with a deep thud. Zach wheezed involuntarily from the impact as the air was forced from him. He instinctively wrapped his legs around the branch, but his efforts proved to be ineffective.

“Oh shoot! Nonononono-” within seconds, Zach’s grip of the branch slipped free and he fell onto his back with a hefty whump and accompanying grunt.

A groan escaped his lips while he lay there. “Ya know…I’m starting to get the impression…that maybe…this isn’t a dream… Either that, or my subconscious just passive aggressively hates me.”

Once Zach recollected his composure and repaired the damage to his pride, he rose to his feet. He eyed the trees and mulled over his options. He could struggle for the next couple of hours to get into this tree, that he was fairly sure was mocking him, or he could find someplace else to hunker down.

He glanced over his shoulder to the membranous wings that sat snug against his sides. “Gee, if only I had some manner with which I could achieve flight!” Zach sarcastically spoke aloud, as if his indignant attitude would magically entice his wings to begin flying.

It didn’t, of course.

“Ugh, this is stupid…” He turned away from the tree and looked around for someplace else to seek refuge.

Over to his left was a set of bushes that looked to be regular bushes and not the demon spawn he’d run into back in the Everfree forest. Over to the right were trees that, while they would likely suffer the same problem his current trees posed, had the positive benefit of offering substantial quantities of shade were he to rest under them.

Zach weighed the pros and cons, and deemed the patch of bushes to be the safer bet. Sure, the tree shade would have been more comfortable, but it would only provide cover from pegasi flying overhead. The bush would ensure full cover from view and be relatively comfortable with some effort put into it.

He walked the short distance to the bushes and stood before them. Looking at them more closely, he was able to confirm that, yes, they were regular bushes, as opposed to the thorny ones. “That’s good at least.” He said aloud. With a little shimmy, he slipped between the leaves and then branches with some effort. A few good shoves, some pushing aside of branches and a stomp or two later, he managed to form himself a reasonable accommodation within the protective vegetation. It wasn’t the most comfortable shelter, but it was better than nothing.

Now all that was left was to wait until nightfall.

Yes. All that he had to do was wait. Waiting here, in this little makeshift den, for who knows how many hours. Waiting in this one spot, until eventually the sun decided to meet the horizon and make way for the night sky.

Zach’s mind was already spinning its wheels and going every which direction in an attempt to find a means to entertain itself, and it hadn’t been 15 minutes yet.

“Well at least it’s not raining. Can’t imagine how much of a nightmare it’d be getting mud out of all these holes…” He idly mused as he tried in vain to get comfortable in his little bush shelter. “What purpose do these holes serve anyway? Eh, it’s a children’s cartoon, they’re probably like this purely for the design aspect.”

After a short while of laying in wait for the sun to decide it was time to set, Zach lifted his head from the ground and glanced about. His stomach reminded him that it was empty, and that it was growing impatient.

Zach’s eyes caught sight of numerous insects on occasion as they passed by his gaze. There were some beetles, a moth or two, a few butterflies and several mosquitos. Zach narrowed his eyes at the familiar blood sucking vermin that so frequently plagued him back home. One of the mosquitos attempted to land and take a bite, though it was unable to get through his chitinous skin.

Zach watched as the insect poked and prodded, but ultimately failed to get any sustenance from him. “Tough luck, parasite, looks like I’m not the only one going hungry for the time being.”

One of the beetles was venturing on a path that took it closer to Zach’s little bush den, close enough for him to reach out and touch the thing if he so chose. He held one of his hooves out, flexing the forehoof back and forth, looking at the beetle and comparing his feet to the insect's.

A curious sensation cropped up, like something urging him to eat. It was as if his body knew there was food, but he himself couldn’t see where.

Was it the bush he’d chosen for a hiding spot? Was this plant edible?

Out of curiosity, he leaned over and took a few of the leaves into his mouth and chewed at them with careful scrutiny. Zach was fairly certain these weren’t poisonous, at least not to skin contact. They looked nothing like the kinds of poisonous plants he knew of back home. The last thing he needed right now was to be getting himself sick.

The leaves were bland, that typical “leafy greens” flavor. It was exactly what he imagined the leaves would taste like. Nevertheless, he chewed up the leaves and, with a bit of effort, swallowed them. The fiber content would quiet the complaints of his stomach, at the very least. Begrudgingly, he took another bite of leaves, chewed them up and forced them down, followed by another.

Zach stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry at the end of it, “This is why I refuse to eat salads. What I’d give for some butter and salt, maybe some garlic.” Come to think of it, if he had the time and ever got the chance, he was curious how that might turn out. He put a tab in the thought and filed it away for later. “Garlic roasted branches of the common bush…that’s a new one. I like broccoli and asparagus when cooked similarly; shouldn't be too different. Yeah, I'll give it a try when I get the chance.”

There was still a significant amount of time before the sun set, if his estimate was correct on what time of day it was. He was still hungry, but the leafy greens would at least help fill in the emptiness once they did their thing.

Zach let his mind wander, there wasn’t much else to do.

He thought of his life, of everything that had been taking place prior to this strange event that found him in the world of a children’s cartoon show. Zach still wasn’t entirely sure how he got here, only that he’d been watching the show as he was waiting for his brain to finally let him sleep. He mulled over the possibility that this wasn’t a dream at all, the possibility that this may be real, as ridiculous a concept as that may have been.

Zach’s eyes drifted to the ground, to the beetle that was still foraging for its own food. He could feel his mouth seeming to salivate as he watched the beetle work and his mind experienced the same sensations of knowing there was food right in front of him, as if by instinct, despite him not knowing what that food source may be.

It took him a moment to acknowledge it, but everything he felt, and the instinctive pull of the need to eat eventually led him to the conclusion. It was this beetle…this changeling body must have wanted to eat the beetle for some reason.

A rather disturbing thought entered into the front of his mind: what if changelings ate bugs when they couldn’t find any love to consume? They had to eat something to survive with, didn't they? The ever present 'this is based on a children's cartoon' thought popped in as if on cue, but he retorted aloud with, "Well, yeah, but I'm literally here, for all intents and purposes. WHatever the heck this is, its feeling less and less likely that it could turn out to be a dream...so..."

He continued to observe the beetle as his thoughts turned to the pros and cons of consuming insects. All the nature documentaries and TV shows he watched during his free time were all coming back to him with those memories and tidbits of info. Again, his mind displayed the thoughts at the forefront of everything else: Changelings probably eat bugs to survive when they can't find any love. What else would they eat otherwise?

Zach scowled at that, “No thanks. I don’t know what changelings eat and I do not care how many of those survival TV shows say to eat bugs when in the wilderness, I am not that desperate for nourishment...yet. I’ll eat leaves first before I eat a bug.” He shuddered and chased away the thoughts of consuming insects with an adamant indignation.

It made sense the more he thought about it. How else would they survive for so long and be able to grow to significant enough numbers to attack a major city without a steady source of food? "This....this isn't helping, at all." Zach said with an air of annoyance. He looked away and thought of something else, trying to occupy his time. Yet… after a minute passed, he couldn’t stop his mind from being dragged back to that beetle.

Zach eyed the thing over, leaning in for a closer look, poking at it even. He flipped it over onto its back, then rolled it back to right side up. An antsy anticipation welled up inside him, his stomach wanted this beetle, despite his mental protests against the idea.

His mouth salivated some more, and his stomach ached with want.

Zach groaned, “Well, it is a good source of protein…I guess…”

His belly growled out its demands, and the conflicting feelings in his mind urged him forward. With a resounding sigh, he conceded to his body’s demands. "At least its not some giant, squishy grub."

Zach whined and squeezed his eyes shut. Slowly, he opened his mouth and reached out with his tongue, scooping the arthropod into his open maw. He closed his mouth, the beetle squirmed and struggled, Zach expected to gag, but didn’t, much to his surprise.

He chewed, hesitantly at first, but then the flavor of the beetle hit him and the instinctive response in his mind encouraged him to continue. Surprisingly enough, his tongue told him the thing tasted, well, pleasant. He could feel the chemical responses in his brain telling him this was good, this was food, despite every fiber of his consciousness insisting he spit the disgusting insect out of his mouth right this instant.

After a bit more chewing of the crunchy arthropod, he swallowed and struggled not to gag. His conscious mind was absolutely revolted by the concept of what he’d just done…and yet, he felt the familiar signals of refreshing satisfaction in his brain as if he’d just eaten a handful of potato chips.

Zach let out a sound that was a mix between a sigh and a huff, opening his eyes now that it was all over. “Ok…maybe it wasn’t that bad, but still.” If the absolute worst thing to happen to him in this trip through insanity was him eating bugs, he’d be grateful.

Unfortunately for him, neither the handful of leaves he’d eaten, nor the beetle, seemed to do anything to actually satisfy his hunger. If anything, his efforts only made his hunger worse. It lingered and gnawed at the back of his mind, much like the unpleasantness he had to deal with that time he’d accidentally spent half of his paycheck on investments instead of buying groceries.

Having to go two whole weeks eating nothing but rice and instant noodles was something he vowed never to do again. On more than one occasion he had to go to bed hungry, and the feeling inside him now reminded him of that, except it was two times worse.

He groaned and plopped onto his side. “Worst hallucinatory fever, coma...dream thingy ever.”

A short time later, he lay on his belly and laid his head onto the ground. Zach closed his eyes, trying to clear the hunger pains from his thoughts as best he could. He let himself drift into his mind, trying to see what exactly he remembered from the show, hoping it would adequately distract him from his hunger.

Zach recalled a few key events here and there, the mane six, a few of the towns and cities, some of the background ponies, the three villains: Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis. It was a bit hazy in some spots, but he was certain it would be clearer when he saw those events again.

If he was able to stick around long enough to see those events in person, well, wouldn’t that be interesting? Zach was genuinely curious to know what it would be like to witness such events in the first person perspective.

He plopped his head down, shifted a bit to try and get comfortable, and waited.

“Nope, this isn’t gonna work. No way in heck am I gonna be able to sit here for hours doing nothing while my cranky stomach chews on my brain.”

Waiting was not Zach’s strong suit by any stretch of the imagination, even on the best of days. If he was going to wait until sundown, he needed something to occupy his time with. Lucky for him, he had just the thing.

He promised himself he’d practice moving his wings and try to learn how to use them properly when he had the opportunity; now was as good a time as any. Sure, he needed to keep a low profile, but he should have reasonable room to at least train his muscle movement, right?

“Right! I know how insects fly, I think… I mean, I know for certain how aviation works, and how planes work. I just need to get my body used to doing the motions.”

Zach crawled out of his little hiding spot, though he kept his body low to the ground. Looking back to his wings, he flexed the muscle group from memory, moving the appendages with a little effort. A few practice flaps of his wings, and he got the two of them in a relative synchronization. “This shouldn’t be too hard…”

He lay there and moved his wings in a steady back and forth motion, gradually speeding up and keeping the pace between the two. Moving the wings seemed to be a lot easier than he’d predicted, it took him less time to get used to a faster pace of moving the wings in that back and forth motion than he anticipated. As odd as it sounded, in the back of his mind, the motions and muscle groups seemed natural, like he’d always had the wings. Meanwhile, his conscious thoughts were still trying to come to terms with having these new limbs.

Needless to say, the conflicted feelings were both troubling and confusing.

He briefly stopped the motions, eyeing over his wings with a contemplative gaze. He supposed that if he was dreaming, as unlikely a prospect as that was turning out to be, it would only be expected for his mind to be so accepting of having wings. If not, then, could he really be upset or angry with having the means of doing the one thing he’d wished to do in his life most of all?

There were many things he could be upset over if this were all real and he wasn’t dreaming; having wings and the possibility of being able to fly was not on that list. To think, flight was just within his reach, well, maybe not just within reach, but close enough.

Zach set about practicing; once again, he moved his wings in synch with each other, flapping them in a rapid back and forth motion. He quickened the pace with every few seconds that passed, trying to keep them in synch as he built up their speed. “C’mon… steady.”

He slipped every so often and had to reset his wing synch. After a decent amount of time was spent practicing, he reached enough speed with fluttering his wings to generate a low, chuffing sound. It was almost like the ‘thwapping’ noises the blades of a small helicopter would make, at least that’s what it reminded him of.

Zach expected his wing muscles to tire, but they seemed unphased. In fact, he felt barely any muscle exertion at all. He kicked it up a notch, trying for more speed in his wing fluttering.

Within a few moments and with a bit more effort on Zach’s part, the ‘chuffing’ sound of his wings grew closer together, to the point where it was almost a continuous sound. He kept working at it, eventually managing to get his wings to a point where the sound they made was what he’d imagine an insect of his size to make.

“Got it!” Zach exclaimed, holding the speed as he glanced back at his wings. The appendages were largely a blur now at the speeds they were going. It was a measure of success, knowing that he could get his wings up to the speed he believed they needed to be at. The next step was figuring out how to angle his wings so that he could have that fluttering generate the lift he’d need to fly.

Zach slowed his wings and let them rest by his sides for now, seeing as he had a bit of thinking to do before he’d be ready for his next step on the road to flight. He was no expert on aerodynamics, but he knew enough to be confident he could eventually get airborne with some trial and error.

“OK, airflow…I need to angle the edge of my wings so that it cuts through the air and forces it downward. That’ll generate the lift I need to get off the ground. The tricky part is the return angle, making sure I don’t stall out…” He flexed the muscles again, trying to twist them. With a bit of guesswork, he managed to do so, tilting his wings on their axis, angling them.

“That looks good; though I need to practice rapidly changing the angle of th-” Zach abruptly stopped upon hearing a crash in the trees nearby. His ears perked up and he looked in the general direction of where he heard the noise from.

“What was that!?” He fearfully whispered. With a quick bit of movement, he scooted himself back into the concealment of his little improvised bush shelter. Zach took a moment and leaned out from his hiding spot; a quick glance to the sky showed that he still had a significant amount of time left before nightfall. “Well, I’ll have plenty of time to practice at least…assuming I’m not about to get eaten or horrifically mauled.” He whispered under his breath.

Zach was still on the fence regarding whether all of this was real or a dream of some kind. There were plenty of signs dispelling the possibility of this being a dream, given everything he knew about dreams and his experiences with them. On the other hand, he was in a children’s cartoon about a magical land of colorful ponies who worshipped harmony and friendship.

Given the current situation, he decided it was best to err on the side of caution and begin treating this situation more seriously. Better safe than sorry, especially given some of the more disturbing lore the show had. Unless proven otherwise, one way or the other, it was real enough, and that was all that mattered for now.

He ducked back in and moved some of the branches to better cover himself up. There wasn’t a second crash in the trees, at least none that he could hear. Still, he kept his eyes peeled and his ears on alert.

Eventually there came the familiar voice of Derpy, “Hellooooo? Are you still out here?”

Zach was relieved to know that he no longer had to contend with the possibility of immediate danger, but he was still mildly annoyed by the new obstacle that this presented. If Derpy had come back, then she was either looking for something she’d lost when she was out here earlier, or, she was looking for him.

The possibility of Derpy seeing him wasn’t the issue, so much as the possibility of other ponies to come looking for her and them seeing him. He knew how Derpy would react, having encountered her earlier, but he didn’t want to test his luck with another pony. Not yet at least.

“Bug pony? Buuug Ponyyy!” Derpy called out to him, thus confirming to Zach that she was, in fact, looking for him. He could tell what direction the voice was coming from and she seemed close by.

He briefly considered the idea of using her as a means to get into Ponyville. If he talked with Derpy, got to know her and left a good impression with her, she could then introduce him to the town. Zach figured that the townsfolk would be far less apprehensive of his appearance if one of their own could vouch for him.

However, there was the possibility of that idea backfiring horrendously. Plus, the idea of using someone left a bad taste in his mouth. He acknowledged that it was a plausible idea, it just needed some work.

For now, Zach kept still and watched for the pegasus. Regardless of what he decided to do, he still needed to get into ponyville, eat something, then find a safe and secure place to stay for the night.

“Where did you go?” He could hear Derpy a lot clearer, she seemed to be getting closer.

A moment later, Zach caught a glimpse of her through the leaves of his hiding spot. She was flying several feet off the ground, just below the tree tops. Derpy turned her head from side to side with regular frequency, though she swayed considerably in her flight path in whatever direction she looked.

Derpy eyed the treeline of the Everfree forest, a look of contemplation and hesitation forming on her face with every glance. She sighed and lightly groaned, “I can’t go in there… Somepony would end up going in after me…then they’d be mad and they’d yell at me again.”

Derpy eventually landed, though she botched the attempt and wound up faceplanting. She got to her feet and dusted herself off with her wings, unphased and carrying herself as if she’d planned it. Zach figured that it happened to her with enough frequency that she was used to it.

Zach considered the potential pros and cons of revealing himself now and speaking with Derpy. On the pro side of the argument, the obvious one, the idea he’d had moments earlier: using her to get into Ponyville. That still left a bad taste in his mouth, but gave him a new idea, ‘What if I’m up front with her and honest? If I tell Derpy what I need from her from the get-go, if she willingly agrees to it, would it really be so bad? I think I’d be okay with that.’

‘But…how would she be able to get me into ponyville? I still haven’t ironed out the whole, “I’m a monster bug pony that eats love” shtick, and I’m pretty sure my appearance alone would ensure that it wouldn’t go over well if I just waltzed into Ponyville…’ he continued, ‘I could try for a less obvious disguise, like an overcoat and some goggles to conceal my eyes and wings, it’d be suspicious as heck, but it wouldn’t immediately give me away as a bug monster. There’s the teeth, but not much I can do about that.’

Derpy’s gaze wandered over the spot Zach was hiding, she paused for a moment, squinting her eyes and practically looking straight at him. At least, that’s what he thought she was doing, as her eyes themselves seemed to be looking off in two different directions than where her face was implying she was looking towards.

Nonetheless, he held completely still, even going so far as holding his breath. She looked to the left and to her right; it was difficult to tell, but she may have been trying to focus her eyes on his hiding spot one at a time. Eventually, she turned away and moved on. Zach quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Back to his thoughts on the ‘pros’, there was the potential for gathering useful information. He still needed to figure out what time frame of the show he was in, or if he was in any time frame of the show at all. He also needed to get an idea of whether Ponies knew anything about changelings or not. If Derpy could assist with that in even a tiny amount, he should take that chance; every little bit would help him here.

Another benefit was that he wouldn’t be bored out of his mind waiting for sundown. At the very least, he could talk to her to help pass the time. Zach had no idea what they’d talk about, but it was better than being left alone with his thoughts.

On to the cons side of the argument…

If there was anyone who came out here to retrieve Derpy, it was very likely that he’d be seen. Then again, that could go either way since he’d be seen with her; he still wasn’t sure how other ponies would react to him, regardless of if they knew what changelings were. He looked like a monster, and from what he remembered of the episode with the zebra that the show kind of forgot about, and that episode with the Halloween Analogue starring [best princess], the ponies in Ponyville had a habit of reacting badly to things that they saw as strange or frightening.

Another possibility was that Derpy might run home and tell people where she saw him. Zach didn’t give much credit to this, given that Rainbow Dash had all but ignored her earlier when Derpy tried to tell her about him. Though, to be fair, her reaction wouldn’t necessarily apply to everyone else.

If they took her claim seriously, then he’d have someone else searching the area for him. Probably someone more competent and less ‘open minded’. Then he’d have to deal with a similar situation as in the previous ‘con’.

‘The pros outweigh the cons in the long run, but not in terms of the immediate future. If I don’t at least try something, I’ll never know either way and I’ll get nowhere.’ Zach said in his mind.

After a few moments, Derpy sat on her haunches and let out an exaggerated sigh, then proceeded to look right at Zach’s hiding spot again. “Why are…err..why is the bug pony hiding from me? Was it something I said?” She spoke as if thinking out loud, but her slip up was painfully obvious.

Zach squinted his eyes, now sufficiently suspicious, ‘Does she know I’m here and she’s just acting like she doesn’t?’

Derpy looked away from the bushes and idly scuffed the ground with her hoof.

‘Yeah, she knows I’m here. She’d have moved on and kept looking by now.’ Zach rolled his eyes and huffed, deciding that there wasn’t much point in trying to stay hidden from her anymore.

For better or worse, the decision had ultimately been made for him.

Author's Note:

Hi there folks, its me again!

I uh, I've still not quite gotten over the anxiety and fear of posting new chapters for my writing... Terribly sorry.

This chapter's been done, more or less, for the past few days now. I've rewritten several segments at least four times now, never being able to settle my mind with any of it.
Same story with every other fanfic I've ever written, sad to say. My mind goes full crazy and just pours out all these ideas that I have to sort through and can never decide upon in a meaningful time on my own.

I'm so incredibly uncertain with myself that I almost scrapped the chapter entirely and started over from scratch. I digress, I worked with what I had and I'm hoping its up to par.
heavens I'm so stressed out about this, it never gets easier...

Anyway, enough of my self pitying rambling.

This chapter was originally going to be a lot longer, but the second half of it started to go on for so long that I ultimately decided to chop it in half and make it into two chapters.

I wanted the protagonist to more or less come to grips with his situation, without completely giving in to the possibility of it being real. Zach is a changeling, and a changeling has to eat, right? Well, I elected to add in a wee bit of my own twist on changeling lore, nothing too fancy yet, just dipping my toe into the water, so to speak.

I really want to start flexing the creative muscle here, but I don't have a firm grasp of what would work with readers, what folks would be wanting to see, or be accepting to see and whatnot.
I'd really like a pre-reader to help give me some active feedback prior to release of chapters, so I can get a sense of where everything is at.
I really hate going at it blind like this. Its...well, terrifying. The uncertainty of it all and having no clue how the chapter is going to be received.

Not much to talk about, besides a sequence where I was going to give a bit more of my own twist on the lore of changelings for this Equestria, but I scrapped it (for now) due to the aforementioned apprehensiveness to altering things with creative liberty.
I'll probably put it in later, or not, I just don't know.

I probably forgot something, or made an error someplace, or overthought one thing and didn't put enough thought elsewhere...but my brain is effectively mush right now just working up the courage to upload this chapter.

Gah, I'm rambling again.

if you liked what you read, I'm happy to hear it! Really, I am.
have any thoughts or feedback? Let me know in the comments.

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