Changeling of the Everfree

by Veryfriedguy7

Who is she?

I gave him a destiny and a name

Who is she?

That question has been on Murex's mind for some time now, not many ponies come into the forest now. Plenty of time to think.

Murex hated thinking as much as he loved it, not very much. But besides hunting it has become the near only thing he can do. The only active thing to come to the forest now is the stray pony. Even the zebra has started coming and going to the pony town. Why would she do that? 'Ponies will not be nice to you' Will they be nice to her? Is he meant to stay and watch as she comes and goes?

Murex may like her tales and respect her wishes but that just seemed... Unfair. Yes unfair.

The only pony from the 8 he remembers that comes near the Everfree is that shy one... Fluttershy... But that's because she lives near the forest. Much game lives with her but Murex has left them alone because she feeds them, may be attached. He may be hungry and he may kill things, sometimes daily, but he is not a taker of life. He is just what he is, a predator.

The voice hasn't spoken to him and he has kept thinking about it since, until he was thinking during a wood dog hunt. Almost injured, must think less.

Even heroes may die if they do not focus. That's what the zebra told him anyway.

The fact she ignored her own advice and went to the pony town didn't stop him from heeding her advice.

Friend

What are friends? Twilight claimed the mares with her were her friends. But what are they? A pact? A title for those worthy of something? Just another thing he doesn't know.

After a while he stopped questioning what a 'friends' purpose was. Just like most things he doesn't know or understand, he let it be.

Are he and the zebra friends? Friends spend time together, he saw those 6 again today. Eating weird food on a piece of strange red ground that they brought with them. A lone wood dog tried to get them. The six saw it's demise just beyond the treeline.

Of course he stared at them for a time before he just turned and walked back into the forest. His home.

He once thought about hunting ponies, he quickly banished the thought. No challenge, not much meat and too much noise. They always make high pitched wails when he is spotted. Ears can only take so much.

Voices stopped his latest thinking. five if his snout is not lying. Three are familiar yet... not.... must find. Murex shot off into the foliage, searching for the voices and smells, trusting his senses and instincts to guide him. They were the two things to never lead him astray.

He crouched down low, bordering the end of his home. Five small ponies stood there, talking... no... two are mocking them.

"You'll never go into the Everfree! You're too scared!" A pink with pink and white tiny pony taunted 3 others.

"Yeah! you're scaredy cats!" A grey with grey tiny ponied taunted as well.

"Blank flanks!" They chimed together.

He doesn't remember any of them, but the other three are... theirs scents are... familiar. Murex knows very few scents, close to the six maybe?

"No we aren't! We'll walk straight into the Everfree and stay for ten minutes! Just like you said we couldn't! C'mon girls!" A yellow with red tiny pony declared, the other two following along with just as much energy.

He doesn't know much about ponies but he knows challenging others to go into a well known danger is... wrong.

Murex may just have an idea. Test the zebra's advice and maybe help the tiny ponies strike back against other tiny ponies. Murex will await them deeper, face theirs fears and discover a protector in the dark. No wood dog can bark if it doesn't bite, if they bark then they must earn their bite. Just like he.

Murex intentionally attempts to scare them out, testing their will to keep going, step on a branch here rustle a bush there. Whether from being brave or stupid, they continue deeper.

Something strange happens to him, a warmness floods his chest and his lips curl of their own accord. It may be very dumb to go where the light ball does not shine, but they did it anyway, because they said they would.

They earned a chance to bite.

He was was about to reveal himself and praise the act but six wood dogs appeared, growling.

"Timberwolves!" They cried together. They may be brave but they are still small, young he guesses. He may be a predator but he will not hunt something that can not fight back just because it's easy. These Timberwolves... no... wood dogs. Don't deserve good name. These wood dogs always try to eat ponies, weak ponies. Murex doesn't like them. He hates them.

He leaps between them and snarls a challenge to the wood dogs, every living thing present jolted from his sudden and unexpected appearance, and for once they don't back down. Excellent, a show of power.

Murex brings forth his blades and lunges at the largest one, spitting a couple acid spikes into two that stood beside the big one as he does, three wood dogs circle around him. He slams into the larger wood dog as he crosses his blades together over it's face and his days of hunting them shows true as the wood dog has half it's head and some of it's upper torso removed. The three not attacked lunge at his back but he throws himself forward allowing the three to collide into each other midair, showing their lack of coordination without the bigger one.

Kill the big one first and you clean up the rodents, kill a smaller one and you have a big wood dog and it's vermin actually register as a threat. This is how Murex views them anyway.

He pulls his right foreleg across his body and puts all his trained power into one strike, cutting through all 3 in one mighty cut. Quick and simple, wood dogs are never hard, the waste of energy was unnecessary

He hides his bone blades in their rightful place and turns his attention to the now cowering tiny ponies.

He approaches them and stops when they jolt in place, so he sits down to make himself appear smaller and speaks to them.

"Saw other two mocking you. Very brave to come this far on your own, many dangerous things here, I am one of them." They stop moving altogether due to fear. "Offer you something as token of my appraisal. A chance to... bite back." He gives a toothy smile, his fangs and canines glinting in the light that bled through the leaves of the treeline.

They look at him strangely, not shaking as much. "What do ya mean 'bite back'?" Yellow with red asks.

"They scared you into coming here. Yes?" A hesitant nod. "Bite back. Can scare them for you. Just... worse than they did." His chuckle seemed to shake the foliage around them.

"Ya would do that?" She asked, perking up.

"One thing in return." They go back to their fear, shaking. "Scents are familair and not, never seen you before. Close to the six mares that came here a while ago? You seem similar to one of them."

"W-w-well I'm Applejack's little sister." Yes that makes sense. Similar voice and speech. "Scootaloo is a big fan of Rainbow Dash and Sweetie Belle is Rarity's little sister." Her voice uncertain as she points out those with her.

"Yes I know them. Not well but know them. Okay tiny ponies. How shall I scare them?" As he asked Murex noticed that the orange and purple one had accidentally cut themselves. He smiled again as he came up with a plan. A rarity and milestone for him.

---

The two, now known as 'fillies' or 'filly' for tiny pony mare, awaited the three to come, they won't. Murex let loose a very loud screech roughly a minute ago. Birds flew away and the forest has been dead silent since. Yet they still nervously await the three fillies to come back. They reached their 'time limit' about fifteen minutes ago.

He waits for them to approach, to enter his home. They seem to have a silent conversation as their eyes meet and, very hesitantly, start their trek forward. He takes no joy in frightening ponies, especially the little ones, but it is to save their foolish lives. The forest is a known danger and then it falls to him to keep them out so they don't remain long or forever.
But this is something he will enjoy.

The closer they got, the more the anticipation grew. He had to ensure the little ones were far enough away to see but also so their fun doesn't tip them off.

Slowly but surely his 'prey' entered his home as the light that made them feel so safe was swallowed by the darkness native to his home, the further they got, the slower they walked. By the time they reached about half the distance the others came, their movement stopped altogether. The courage to mock but not walk a short hike into the woods? Pathetic.

It did seem they were actually concerned about the little ones they sent in but barely had the courage to call out to them beyond a small whisper that even his honed hearing struggled to pick up despite being almost next to them. Did he forget to mention that he stalked closer to them every second?

They mindlessly kept their eyes forward as he stood directly behind them, which was a bad decision as that would have sent them further in so he backed off and tried a different approach. He said he'd scare them not send them off to certain death.

It wasn't hard to move from their back to their front as they persevered with their ineffective whisper calling, now in front of them he saw how scared they were. Shivering on the spot, stiff movement, tiny pupils. He'd feel bad. In a different life maybe. They had the temperament of wood dogs, only picking on those they see as lesser. Murex hates that.

They stood, he stood. Neither making any move, the former out of fear and the latter out of calculation. It was the first time ponies seemed to recognize the danger of his home, maybe it was the screech he did earlier. Tipped them off to something dangerous being near, because there was. They stood in a small clearing, a very small clearing but it was enough to notice his approach from anywhere but the back, where it would send them further in which was the opposite of what he wanted.

Murex needed something to send them forward a motivation, what the motivation did to them wasn't his concern, only if it sent them to him.

It was a stroke of luck that a squirrel, one that he remembered from Fluttershy's home, was crawling around in the tree above him, barely visible through the thick leaves that hid all in the Everfree. He really didn't want to but the animals from Fluttershy's home seemed intelligent enough. He tapped on the tree, enough to cause vibrations but not enough to create a noise.

It paused it's... whatever it was doing with the nuts in it's grasp and turned to stare at him, it's nose twitching. It was just his luck that he remembered attempting to consume this one, it was long before he actually met Fluttershy, he still has yet to do so properly as far as the zebra described pony soshel... soulmel... sockial... interactions.

Murex's eyes being the almost solid blue balls they were he slightly moved his head, gesturing to the small ponies who had yet to move, any non-woodland animal could have mistaken the movement for a twitch but not any animal who's survival depended on avoiding predator such as himself. It also seemed to remember him as it didn't move anywhere near his reach but it was curious enough to come closer on the branch high above him. It wasn't enough.

Fluttershy doesn't have any mystical ability to talk to animals like the zebra told him, none of them knows the Everfree as he does. The zebra knows the plant life, predator how it's predators hunt and claims to know the subtle patterns of the Everfree. Fluttershy knows the animals and their behaviors. He knows them by heart and soul as his very survival once depended on it. He wouldn't have lived this long if he didn't. The zebra introduced him to something known as a 'food chain' and how the 'apex' predators are at the top of it, the apex of the Everfree being the manticore as the more dangerous Wyrm is too far and few between to be included and her thinking of the Ursa's as more of an equalizer than a component, whatever equalizer means.

He felt off when he was considered in the middle of the chain, below wood dogs.

That was his early years and the zebra never spoke of the chain since.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He would have to apologize to a squirrel of all things.

Upon reopening them his eyes locked on to the squirrel and tightness in the back of his throat indicated he was ready. He spat a needle at the squirrel's foot and it jumped as the toxin did it's work, the squirrels small body being quickly locked up as it failed to fight the toxin. It took a long long time to control the amount of toxin his needle had and it took even longer to work out how much a given animal could take before being temporarily paralyzed to succumbing to the toxin.

Thus the squirrel stumbled and fell off it's branch, unseen by the ponies, and into his waiting hoof.

He brought it to his mouth and the terror reflected in it's eyes was reasonable. Instead of it's stomach or head he brought it's ear to his canine filled mouth, much to it's confusion.

"Talking to a squirrel... Ask a favor of you, no need to. I scare these ponies as they pick on those lesser than them, scaring to teach a lesson but am stuck. I ask of your help." Murex whispered into it's ear, unheard by all but the squirrel. The fast acting toxins ran their course and 'life' returned to the small woodland creature. It didn't run but still looked skeptical. Good enough.

A quick whispering and he lightly tossed the squirrel back into the canopy, quickly losing track of it.

As intended a small stick broke behind the fillies that could be mistaken for statues. Their bodies snapped towards the sound and begun to back up with folded ears, right into him.

As soon as their rumps made contact with his legs they stopped all movement. Then only their heads turned, the rest of them stock still as their eyes fell upon his large frame.

The little orange filly, Scootaloo, had gotten an equally little cut on her foreleg and seeing the small amount of blood gave him an idea, although she was weirded out by it at first when he roughly explained it she was all aboard. After washing his hooves and the cut in a nearby stream, he gathered the small blood that continued to leak from it and brought it to his lips, the other two, not being let in on what he was doing, assumed the worst and almost ran to get help. That led to a series of giggling as Scootaloo told them that he was doing.

Now faced with the attention of both terrified smaller, lesser wood dog wannabes. He smiled.

A toothy smile that displayed the apex of his grand plan and chilled the two to the bone. His once white fangs and canines now gleamed a soft red, the red of blood. From the fillies he had eaten.

They screamed for all their worth and turned to bolt out of the Everfree, he would have been impressed by the speed if he hadn't gone faster. Deeply satisfied with himself, Murex spat out the mud, water and blood mix he had concocted, it looked similar but was quite different from the real thing, a difference hidden in the low light of the trees. On top of it tasting foul.

As he moved to make his way back to the fillies he noticed the squirrel rolling around and clutching it's stomach on a branch high above him, he smirked as he made his way back.

A little ways away he found the giggling pile of fillies he left behind, now in uproarious, joyous, full-blown laughter.

"Was good?" is all Murex asked when they recovered from their respective fits, which prompted another wave of giggling as they nodded.

Applebloom, the yellow filly with a red mane and tail was the first to recover.

"That was great mister! Funniest thang I ever seen!" She joyously responded, the other two making similar comments.

He nodded. "Time for little ones to go, forest is no place to be." They seemed disappointed but that wasn't his concern, felt like he was being watched. If he had fur it would be standing on end. A vague feeling but one he trusted with his life as it has saved it before, the Everfree is a naturally quiet place but now the silence was unnerving and it usually meant one of two things. Murex is hunting or something is hunting him.

He needed to get the little ones out. Now.

Intending to walk them out but not having the time he scooped them onto his back and shot off to the edge of the Everfree, almost losing them to the thick foliage numerous times.

Murex dropped them just beyond where the Everfree begins and saw the six ponies he was asking about, and thinking of, earlier sprinting towards them.

"Look who came to get you little ones. They know forest is dangerous, yet they came because you were here. Do not ignore this gift." Murex said sagely, knowing the power of family and friends despite truly having neither. For all the danger it represents and holds, it was the greatest teacher he could have ever asked for.

"Before we go mister, why do yah talk like that?" Applebloom asked, did he speak weirdly?

"Like what?"

The tiny high pitched unicorn spoke up for the first time. "Do not know how talk?" Ah.

He could really only say, "Still learning." Without lying or taking too much time. He did run fast to buy time, time that was currently being wasted.

He quickly shoo'd them away and they run up to the six and begun talking to them, making them grind to a halt.

With the little ones now out of the way, his nose was unimpeded and quickly narrowed down what was chasing them. He growled.

---

It didn't take him long to return to his thinking, it never did. Maybe a full belly would help him relax and think clearer.

He thought about the fillies. Why was he nice? Why did he help them?

He thought about the mares. Why did the voice want them safe? Why did he reveal himself? Why did he let them in?

He thought about the voice and the mare behind it. Who is she? Why did he listen? What did she mean when she said destiny?

Murex doesn't know many things but what he does know he holds dear.
What did she mean?

I gave him a destiny

Comments

[link4]

before he met them he found an old building, different from the other one the mares found. A pony rose from a stone box and swore vengeance on everything alive.
His meat tasted bland.

Why did he kill him?

what? an undead?

[Wellivazey]

10870464
Probably a lich or vampire of some sort.

[Veryfriedguy7]

10877169
It's one of those things that only you can answer. Cause I'm definitely not gonna tell ya.

[tsaukpaetra]

Wonder how much is influenced from harmony, or chaos....