Some writing that was originally meant to be part of something bigger which realistically I will not finish so have this on its own
Gallus flew to the roof of their treehouse, where Ocellus had isolated herself. Her head attempting to hide in her limbs. His talons scraped against the crystal as he landed behind her. He hoped that would prompt her to acknowledge him.
“Hey, uh,” he started cautiously, “Ocellus?”
She seemed to only compress in on herself harder.
“We’re kinda worried about you, y’know? You’ve… been acting weird all day and we just want to know you’re okay.”
Ocellus finally looked back at him. She swiped against her eyes.
Her voice hiccuped, “I- I’m sorry.”
Gallus took that as an invitation to join her, sitting a good foot away from her in fear of smothering her.
“So… what exactly is going on?” He was attempting for his smile to be comforting.
“I just, I feel so awful.”
“It’s… Hearts and Hooves day.”
Gallus cracked a smile at her, she didn’t return it. “You’re not a fan of all the mushy, lovey-dovey stuff?”
“No, it’s not-! Well…” her voice went to a mumble, “Kind of?”
She buried her head into her front legs again, letting out a groan.
Gallus’s expression dropped. His beak pursed as Ocellus sat there, downright unmoving. He raised his hand towards her, but before he closed the gap between them, he flinched back.
He shook his head at himself, leaning over to place his hand on her shoulder-
He jumped back, eyes wide. Ocellus speaking at that volume was unheard of, and made Gallus question if it was really her he was sitting with.
“I just feel like a parasite.”
The way her voice dropped back down reminded him that it was very, very much her.
He shook his head, “Ocellus, don’t-” his words caught in his throat for a moment- “call yourself that. You’re not a parasite, and you’re never going to be. I mean, isn’t sharing love the changelings’s whole thing now?”
Her eyes lowered, “I can share lots of love. Love between friends, love families have for each other, love for something beautiful. I can share that love because I can experience it, I can feel and taste it and know what it is and why I- everyone feels it.”
She looked away from him, making his frown deepen.
“But- the love today, romantic love. I, I know it’s different from the other types of love. Sometimes it has other kinds of love mixed in, but there’s… there’s always something else in it. Something that I know I don’t experience. And haven’t felt and probably never will.”
She let out a groan that was almost a sob, “And today I’ve just been walking around like some- some love-less vampire draining everycreature around me and I just- AUGH it’s horrible!”
Gallus stared at her as she, breathing heavy, tried to stop herself from shaking.
He sighed mournfully, “Ocellus, you’re not some monster just for being around a bunch of love sick idiots, and definitely not just for not feeling all that junk.”
Ocellus scoffed to her fullest ability, “And why do you believe that?”
“Well, between you and me,” Gallus gestured to the two of them with his wing, “I don’t exactly do that sorta thing either.”
She looked up at him, “You- you don’t? Not at all?”
He shook his head, “Never have. Not interested in eventually doing it either, honestly.”
He poked her on the nose with his wing, ruffling her, “So I know that doesn’t make you a bad person. Because I’m a bad person for totally different reasons!”
“Don’t joke about that,” she said, despite the snort that escaped her. He just shrugged his shoulders in response.
She smiled at him, “I’m serious. You’re a good person. I promise.”
“Which would mean… you’re not a bad person either?”
Her smile faded as she rubbed her forelimb, “It’s different with me.”
Gallus let out an exasperated sigh, “No it’s not.”
“Yes! It is!” Ocellus snapped back. He flinched back, and she cowered down, “S-sorry.”
“It’s just, when Queen Chrysalis was in power…”
“Hey, hey, I know that’s a,” he parsed his words, “difficult thing to talk about. You don’t, y’know, owe me an explanation if it's… hard.”
She shook her head, “No, I think I wanna talk about it with someone, honestly.”
He nodded at her. She sighed to herself.
“When Chrysalis was queen of the hive, she pronounced how weak creatures, ah, her words, fell in love with each other, and how she was superior to them for never feeling those emotions. That all changelings should live as such.”
She gestured with her front limb, “When Thorax and his friends freed us and he became King, lots of changelings realized they actually could feel romantic feelings. Though some… already knew they had those feelings, but could finally be open about it.”
She had a sentimental smile on her face, “Like… my dads.”
Just as the others, it was gone, “And I never did. Still just like before, still just like Chrysalis.”
Gallus scratched his neck for a moment, “Does, ah, this have to do with your fear with the Tree of Harmony? You being Chrysalis?”
She nodded, but didn’t meet his eyes, “A monster, pretending, faking who I was around all of you.”
“Ocellus, c’mon, you’re one of the kindest creatures I’ve literally ever met. You’re nothing like her, I swear. What even makes you think you are?”
“Well, you’re definitely not like Chrysalis, or who you were before you were freed. I mean, change is like, what you do, yeah?”
A flash of white. In Ocellus’s place was Gallus himself.
His eyes widened. The Ogallus had his wings draped over him as a cover, tail wrapping around his feet, coiling in on himself, exactly like he does when he’s upset. It wasn't just a cheap imitation of him, it was Gallus to the precise point. As if another him had been walking around in the flesh and blood his whole life.
Flash of white. Smolder was next to him now. Her head hung low but her wings were sprouted wide and proud. An attempt to make herself large when she felt anything but.
Flash of white. There was, pitch black, with fangs pearly white and tongue lashing, a changeling drone.
The next flash came faster than the others. Returned was Ocellus.
“I change how I look, how I act, so I can trick and steal and cheat because I’m only changing who I am on the outside while really I’m the same evil love vampire deep down except this time-”
She croaked. Her forelimb went to her face, feeling the streaming down her face. The tears were back.
“Except this time, even I fell for the act.”
They sat there. Ocellus hesitantly drawed her eyes to him. Waiting for anything out of him, some crushingly honest admission she was as awful as she thought she was.
“I’d rather hang out with the version of you that’s faking than not hang out with you at all.”
Her eyes widened at him, frantic and dilated, “Wh-you’d what?”
“I-want-to be-around-you,” he sounded out each word, “That more clear?”
“Love stealing monster or whatever?” he asked, a bit cheekily. She looked down, and shamefully nodded.
“Well, I don’t think you’re that in the first place honestly, but yeah, that doesn’t matter much to me, as long as you stick around.”
Ocellus tried to choke out a few words until she managed a: “W-why?”
Gallus shrugged a bit with his wings. He spoke fast, “You’re smart and nice and you care about your friends, our study group would be hopeless without you, and… you’re kinda a part of the…”
She watched as his eyes shined in the light.
“A part of the only family I’ve ever had, and I wouldn’t lose you for anything.”
Gallus sat there for a moment,
Ocellus threw herself directly into Gallus, nearly knocking him back. His eyes were wide as her face was buried in his feathers and forelimbs were wrapped around him so tightly it was as if she thought he would disappear if she let him slip away.
Her voice was muffled, “I-I- Gallus, y-you…”
His face softened. He patted her on the carapace as his wings raised to cover them slightly.
She dug her head a bit deeper, “Even when I’m feeding off your love right now, you still want to be my friend?”
“I’m pretty sure whatever you’re feeding on you’re giving me back like, plenty more, so yeah. I always will.”
After a good long moment, Ocellus let go of the embrace, wiping at her eyes a bit as she did so.
She nodded at him, “Yeah, yeah, I am, I think.”
Gallus smiled, and held out his talon to her as he tilted his head to the treehouse’s grounds, “Come on, let’s get you down from here.”
She returned his smile, a bit shyly, and accepted the outstretched talon.
“Ohhhh, they’ve been up there for a while-”
“-Do you think something’s really wrong?-”
“-Should we go up there or could that make things worse?-”
“STARLIGHT!” Trixie grabbed Starlight by the shoulders, stopping her pacing in its well repeated tracks.
She sighed, wrapping her hoof over Starlight’s own as her voice softened, “They’re going to be okay, you know that. They’re smart kids.”
Starlight held back the words in her throat, instead meeting Trixie’s eyes. It stabilized her.
Trixie’s ears flicked at the sound of one pair of wings flapping and another buzzing. “And look at that.”
Starlight’s head quickly whipped around at Gallus and Ocellus landing in front of them.
“Ocellus, are you feeling better?” she put on the most comforting voice she could muster.
She nodded, expression a bit weak, “I am. I’m sorry for causing any issues, Headmare Starlight.”
She shook her head, “Oh, don’t be sorry for that.”
Trixie stepped forward, “Though, next time, try to come to me before you let yourself exploud.”
Ocellus smiled sheepishly, “Thank you, Counselor Lulamoon, I promise I’ll try to.”
Starlight allowed herself to rub Ocellus’s head for a moment (which the changeling certainly seemed receptive to) as if assuring herself she was really there. Starlight let out a breath, “Let’s get you back, and let your friends know you’re okay and that they don’t have to keep looking for you.”
Ocellus nodded again, a bit shyly.
Trixie stepped up beside Gallus as the four of them walked down the path out of the castle.
“Not half bad there. Y’know, for a student without the Great and Therapeutic Trixie’s counseling expertise,” she grinned at him.
He rolled his eyes at her, “Oh, it was nothing. Any of us could have done it.”
She simply shrugged in response, and caught up with Starlight in the front.
Ocellus fell beside him. He noticed her eyes fixated on the ground.
She squeaked as she felt Gallus rest a wing over her. She gave him one more grateful look, as he responded with a small grin. With that, they followed their teachers back home.
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