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Just a Taste

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"I found the poor guy hiding in an old house near Canterlot."
"An abandoned house?"
"Yeah, there's a ton of them all around Equestria. A few abandoned villages, old mining outposts, or forgotten summer houses that turned out not worth their maintenance costs... that sort of thing."
"What were you doing in a place like that?"
"Looking for changelings. After the Canterlot attack, nobody knew what to do, and everyone was afraid - just imagine it, your neighbor could be a changeling, or your wife..."
"But the shield spell worked, right? It blasted the changelings right out of the city."
"Sure, but that's about it. Most of the changelings ended up way beyond Equestria's borders, but every so often, a lost drone would crop up somewhere. Ponyville, Everfree... even in Las Pegasus."
"A lost drone?"
"Yeah. Most of them were in a bad shape, starved, and aggressive. It never went beyond what the guard could manage, though. Maybe some of the other changelings just... integrated, you know?"
"That could be possible. They're pretty good at that, and seem to be able of some autonomy."
"Even personality, from what I found out. What's another random pony to anyone? Of course, the kingdom can't just admit that and start screening ponies or something."
"It'd just lead to panic."
"Exactly. Anyway... when the news of the first stragglers got out, a couple ponies decided to organize search parties. Gather few friends, go around the countryside, make sure there's not a monster hiding in some cave, and make everyone sleep better."
"Did it work?"
"Sure. Half a dozen of the groups found some changelings, and everypony got a good story out of it even if they didn't. It was a bit of a... thing, I guess, back in the day."
"A cultural phenomenon?"
"Yeah, or maybe more like a pastime, kinda like hiking."
"So, that's where you came in?"
"Oh, no, I was way too late to the party. I was interested, sure, but I guess I was still a bit young, so no one wanted me as part of their group. I ended up sneaking out, and going on my own. Pretty stupid, right?"
"A bit."
"A lot. Anyway, I ended up scouting out a lot of old buildings around where I lived. Most of the time, I came across no one, or maybe a vagrant or two. But in the end, I actually found a changeling."
"What did you do?"
"I panicked. I was more of a sneaking type, so I figured I'd spot it, get out, and get a few guards to come take care of it. I never expected one to corner me in dark house."
"You're lucky to still be alive."
"Yeah. I just stumbled over my own hooves, terrified, and tried to run, but I ended up getting stuck in a room with the thing blocking the only exit. I couldn't really think straight, and it followed me, slowly, like a hungry dog..."
"Didn't you try to use magic?"
"No. Would you? I was glad I remembered to breathe. But then... it spoke."
"What did it say?"
"'Hello.'"
"Huh."
"I know. It took me a while to get over the shock, but we actually ended up having a conversation."
"A conversation?"
"With a starved changeling, yeah. But it wasn't aggressive, more like... lost. It told me a couple of groups came by in the past, but he always managed to hide. I was the first one to sneak up on him."
"What did you do?"
"Laughed it off. I though he came sneaking up to me, and I told him. That's when he laughed for the first time, and... I dunno. I guess I kinda realized changelings might not just be mindless drones. Not all of them. This one seemed more like... a lost puppy. By the end of our talk, I was already decided to help him."
"Help him?"
"Yeah. I noticed he was injured, so I offered to come back with a first aid kit. I figured I'd bring some food, too, since he looked really hungry. That was... naive."
"Changelings don't eat."
"Not like a pony would. I brought a whole bag of apples. The changeling just smiled, and told me they don't really work like that."
"They eat love."
"Yeah. That made me feel even worse for him - he wasn't just starving, he was starving because he was abandoned. Unloved. Alone. That's when I decided I'd... try to feed him myself."
"Yourself?"
"Yeah... I... I don't know. I figured it'd help. How bad could it be, you know?"
"How bad was it?"
"It was unpleasant, at first. Then... it got worse. I guess after a month of starvation, you can't really blame the guy for not exactly being able to control himself."
"Did he attack you?"
"No, he just... kept feeding. It was... It was like..."
"It's okay, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
"No, I do. Just... Imagine there's someone holding your heart, with a claw... made of ice. You feel every part of your body just loosing its will to live. The worst part is, it's not a hostile sensation. If feels natural, like waking up one day and realizing you've been dead your entire life."
"..."
"I think I screamed at him at one point, and he snapped out of it. He apologized, so much... it made me feel so bad for him. It wasn't his fault, it was just what he was. There was just no other way - he'd starve until he couldn't control himself, and one day, he'd just stumble out of the forest, crazy, hungry..."
"...and he'd get caught."
"Yeah. He'd probably get thrown into a dungeon. If he couldn't find any food, eventually, he'd probably fall into a coma, or..."
"It sounds horrible."
"It does. That's why I tried again. And again, and again. Every time, I gave him all the love I could spare, until it was too much for me, and every time, I found even more love inside myself to give. I must have been there the entire night, and it must have been the longest night of my life."
"Did you come back after that?"
"I didn't. The guards noticed me heading into the woods with a bag of apples, and when I didn't come back, they sent a search party. By this time, Pupa - I mean the changeling - was strong enough to fly, and I was too weak to even tell them to stop, let alone explain. Not that they'd believe me."
"So he just left you there?"
"Not much choice when there's five guards trying to hit you with a stun spell. He just looked back, and shouted 'Thank you!' In that single moment, just looking him in the eye, I knew he really meant it. And... I also know I'd never see him again. I could never tell him I'd do it all over again."


A commission for Cjbronyten, featuring Summer Flare and a changeling. Now available in WebM format!


Open for Commissions!


Technical

Still image created with inkscape.
The animations were made and exported with aniGen.

Testing out new version of aniGen, with improved UI. Playing around with keeping effect animation bases (the love beam) in defs and referring to, using inherited stroke and fill attributes. It works pretty well and saves a bit of the code. Also, WebM.

Links

WebM version
Original SVG

As always, I appreciate any comments, criticism and discussion.
Image size
1414x854px 29.88 MB
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