A mother's choice and consequences

by Punsz

Chapter 1

My vision was a blur, my ears were ringing and I tried stranding up, but my legs wouldn't support my body. I lay in a forest a few miles away from Canterlot; my body battered and bruised and I was pretty sure my wings were too damaged to fly. I couldn’t believe all my hard work had been ruined, the perfect plan to feed my children and to give them a new home… It was all ruined by those stupid ponies responsible for my failure. After a short while I was finally able to get on my feet my sight once more became clear and my hearing clean. My ears flicked up, hearing a small chirp somewhere in the forest; it was one of my changelings. My children were alive.

"Do not worry your mother is coming." I called out with all the volume my battered body could manage.

As I searched the area, I heard a nearby bush rustle; I move near the bush and the chirping became louder and louder. I move the plant’s leaves aside to find two changelings; one of them was lying on its stomach and the other was looking up at me curiously.

"Mother?" It chirped curiously. I lowered my head, nuzzling the young changeling gently. This changeling was just a newborn, only about a month old from the looks of it. From the shape and size of her body, this little one was a filly. The one next to her looked like an average age changeling stallion. She looked up at me and then down to the changeling next to her. "Brother." She chirped sadly. He seemed to be breathing but barely both his winged looked badly damaged.

"Little one, are you, all right?" I asked worriedly. She only appeared bruised from the blast, the older changeling seeming to have shielded her from most of the blast protectively, if the damage to his body was any indication.

"What is your name little one?" I probed calmly. She looked up at me, her ears flickering. She didn't say anything; she just made a chirping sound with her throat. "Is your name Chirp little one?" I asked. She chirped happily, a clear affirmative to my question, but her expression weakened on the sight of her unconscious brother.

"Brother." She said sadly, moving closer to him and nuzzling his cheek.

"Do not worry little one, I will protect you and your brother." I said, nuzzling her. “Then we will get our revenge on those who ruined our plan." I added with an irritable trill. Chirp looked up at me curiously, probably not understanding most of the words or tone coming out of my mouth.

"Come, let us find a safer place to rest." I picked up the unconscious changeling and carefully placed him across my back, motioning for Chirp to walk with me. As we travelled through the forest, I used whatever magic I had left as a light source to guide our way. We ventured in the dark forest with the sounds of dark creatures erupting in the night. I felt Chirp huddle up to my leg as we walked; fearing whatever lurked in the darkness beyond my magic.

"It is alright little one, I will protect you." I assured, before a growl could be heard from behind us. Chirp clung to my leg, staring into the darkness in the direction the worrying growl had come from. I looked back to see a trio of glowing green eyes staring at the both of us. My heart skipped a beat as the beast stepped out of the murky darkness. “Timber wolves…” I muttered under my breath worriedly. I hastily used my magic to put Chirp on my back and ran for our lives, trampling undergrowth and weaving between trees. I could hear the Timber wolves behind, I dared not look back; I tried to maneuver my way past a thick cluster of bushes and branches, only for one of the branches to score a cut across my face. The pain did not matter to me, only that I escape with my changelings from these relentless hunters. I burst out of the forest growth, believing that we were finally safe, only to find that my path was blocked by large boulders.

A dead end.

I turned around to find the timber wolves approaching me, their bodies low and snarls rumbling from their wooden throats. I looked around, hoping to find another exit, but I was surrounded by either wolf or stone. I glanced at the large boulders blocking my path, there was no way for me to climb the boulders, my body was too weak to safely climb the stone and keep my children on my back; and I didn't have enough magic to fend off the timber wolves. I looked back at Chirp, finding her eyes were filled with fear.

"I'm sorry little one." I mumbled; nuzzling her cheek in what I thought would be my last attempt to comfort her before our impending doom. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the tragic end. Sadly, I waited for my death to come. The terrifying moments I had been dreading passed, but nothing happened. I opened my eyes again to find myself no longer in the forest, but in what seemed to be a library.

"Where am I?" I ask, looking around confused since just a second ago I was in the jaws of death now I find myself in a place far from it.

"You're in Ponyville, in the Library." A voice says from behind me. I worriedly turned around to see an all too familiar lavender unicorn. Her lavender coat causing my teeth to grind against each other.

"You!" I yell, getting into an aggressive stance while glaring at her. I grit my teeth at the sight of her; she ruined everything! She ruined my hive's chance of getting its hard-fought utopia. "How dare you!" She only looked back at me with a stern look.

"I'm the one that saved you." Twilight Sparkle replied bluntly. Her horns glows in a light lavender hue as she gets into a defensive stance.

"Why would you save me; you’re the one who ruined everything!"

"I didn't want to save you especially with our past history in mind," She said before sighing, her expression softening, "I saved you because you weren't the only one in danger." She nodded to Chirp and the unconscious changeling on my back. I looked back at Chirp, whose face was matted with tears. I gently nuzzled her, trying to calm her down.

"I couldn't just stand by and watch what was to come of you through those timber wolves." I looked back at her, my eyes fill with hate; but hearing a frantic chirp I turned my head to see the changeling laying on my back had started to cough up blood. Chirp was panicking seeing her brother coughing up the precious, life giving fluid; I joined in her panic as well, placing the young changeling to the floor. Twilight ran over, stopping next to the bleeding changeling before me. She reached forth, about to place a hoof on him, but I stopped her with my own.

"Don't touch him!" I snarled. She looked back at me with yet another stern expression.

"If we don't help him, he's going to die." She insisted. Chirp froze at hearing the word and looked up at me frightfully. I closed my eyes and cursed under my breath. Reluctantly I let go of her hoof and let her continue to examine him. I watched Twilights expression, seeing her face turn into one of worry. "Spike!" She called out. A small purple dragon with green scales running down his back came down from another room upstairs.

"What is it Twi-WOAH! What is she doing here?!" He yelled, jumping at noticing me. He brings up his small claws in a chopping form with one of his stubby legs raised.

"We don't have time right now! Go and get the first aid kit from the bathroom!" She snapped. He paused for a bit, but eventually went to get what was asked for. Before the dragon returned with the first aid kit, Twilight set up a small bed in the living room.

"Help me get him to the bed." She instructed. Of course, I did as she asked, helping her carry my dying child to the small bed. Her dragon companion soon returned with a first aid kit he seemed to be barely able to carry it with his small form. She took it from his grip, her magic flicking it open and pulling out a few small needles and a bottle of a strangely colored liquid. She carefully used the needle to retrieve some of whatever it was within the bottle, taking a moment to clear the syringe of any air bubbles before injecting it into my changeling.

"What is that?" I asked nervously.

She kept her eyes focused on the sleeping changeling, who had stopped coughing up blood and returned to sleeping peacefully.

"It's a very rare medical brew I get from Zecora, a friend of mine inside the Everfree Forest, a few days ago I asked her to brew me a new batch, lucky for you. It’s for use when someone is severely injured; its effects are…rather profound." She tugged the bed’s sheets up, placing them over my sleeping changeling. "It's a good thing I have it at all, or we could've lost him altogether." Chirp walked up to her and gave her a thankful chirp. Twilight smiled warmly down to the filly changeling thanking her. Eventually she returned her stony gaze to me. "He needs real help if he is to survive beyond this. I've done all I can with what I have." I was dumbstruck. Why was she doing all this? The one mare that went out of her way to stop my plans and ruin everything was now standing in front of me, nurturing one of my injured changelings.

"Why?" Was all I could ask; “Why help us, after all we did?”

She looked at me and gave small but genuine smile.

"Because,” she began, "no one should be left to suffer and die." She walked past me and headed upstairs, followed by her dragon companion, who was yawning widely. "I know you probably hate me and all, but you're welcome to stay. I won't tell anypony that you’re in Ponyville…for now." She continued her way to her room to rest for the night. I heard Chirp give a cute and tired yawn of her own, and I stepped over to her, lying down next to her.

"Come little one, it is time for you to rest as well." I quietly said. I curled up around her in much the same way an Ursa Major would with its cub. Chirp cuddled up to me, yawning once more before falling into a deep sleep herself, her gentle snores accompanying her brother’s own. I looked up at where Twilights form had disappeared beyond the stairs; still astonished by what she did. Slyly I realized I could use all of this to my advantage. A small smile crept on my face as my mind thought up plots to enact my revenge on her and all the ponies who had ruined me.

Author's Note:

I wanna thank Silent Quill for editing.

Comments

[Tachyon Xenophile]

Good idea, but i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/1063151360/hE253F953/