Le`Vanna chuckled inwardly. She could feel that she had succeeded. There's something about making eye contact, looking a person deeply into the eyes for only a few moments that does something to the mind. She never really studied it, but she had heard a lot about it. Atwente and a few others understood psychology much better than Le`Vanna, who took more pleasure in physical pleasures than the satisfaction or torment of the mind. Anyway, what Le`Vanna knew was that she had made some kind of impression on this child. No matter what, he would remember her. That gave her some kind of power over him. She could nurture it later.

"Yes, I'm okay. I'm just so hungry and tired. I'll be okay, now that you helped me. What's your name?"

"Maybe I should get a grown up?" He said, taking a single step back. It wasn't a threat to do it, but rather it was a legit question. Le`Vanna, gripped by a moment of panic and lacking a quick sense of self control, shouted abruptly for a moment.

"No!" Immediately, she recollected herself. "No- I mean there's really no need. I don't plan on leaving the forest, so there's no need to bring any other ponies here. My name's Le`Vanna, it was very nice to meet you and... Thank you for saving me."

"But wait, where are you going to live?"

"The forest will keep me safe and healthy. You don't need to worry about me." Le`Vanna wanted dearly to avoid the topic of her being a meat eater for a while. At least until she had a good grip hold on him and his friends.

"Oh, okay then... My name is Yarn Spinner by the way. I come here a lot of times, with friends usually."

The child sat there with Le`Vanna, and told her about himself and his friends. She listened intently, asking questions to get information on the child's friends personalities. She tried not to be too suspicions, but she worried that the child saw some kind of sinister intent in her questions. He didn't of course.

The next day, the child Yarn Spinner brought his friends, among them his sister Kinos, into the forest to meet the strange creature. Along the way, he told them of how he met her. He described her as he saw her, a strange, monkey like creature with long white hair. Had he described her better, his friends would have been more reluctant to meet her. As he was just a child with a small vocabulary, he hadn't the words to describe this beast. The children went forth, their excitement bubbling up at the thought of seeing a new creature.

Le`Vanna crawled on her bare stomach, her eyes followed a group of young ponies through a mess of branches and leaves. She had coated herself in mud and leaves in a desperate effort to keep herself warm. It wasn't entirely successful, but she had managed to trick herself into thinking she was warm. Perception is all that counts. Inching along the ground, she was beginning to wonder whether or not she should just kill all these children right now. As she struggled with herself about this, she learned a lesson. She learned that she had a strong desire for company, for some form of companionship. It stemmed past the desire to hurt others, the sadistic satisfaction. Ever since long ago, when she had been rejected and refused affection, she has always craved attention, or the illusion of it at least. In an effort to satisfy this need, she convinced herself to spare their lives, for at least a little while.

"Whose there?" Le`Vanna gasped, one of the ponies had noticed her!

The filly, by the name of Kinos, called out into the unknown. In a sudden moment, all of her confidence had vanished when she sensed some alien presence. Since birth, she had had a strong connection with the earth, as all Earth ponies do. Her special connection gave her a sort of... sixth sense. She knew what was where at all times, especially with living things, and her senses were telling her something was following them.

"Whose there?" She shouted again, thoroughly unnerved. Yarn Spinner and the other children turned to console her.

"Nothing's out there, Kinos. Don't worry, I come here almost every day. Nothing is gonna hurt us. Come on now, she was this way I think." Kinos looked suspiciously at the leaves, noticing how in some areas, the earth looked sickly grey and dead. Maybe.. but I swear I feel something.

"Well... okay." And so the children kept walking, for the most part oblivious to Le`Vanna.

Le`Vanna was worried that getting caught would make her an enemy in the eyes of the children, so she decided to let them walk farther on, and then get up to chase after them. She felt leaving the leaves and mud on herself may hide most of her appearance, making her seem less threatening. She would show her full body to them later. After all, the only reason Yarn Spinner probably didn't run was because she was bound helpless. She saw how his legs tensed up when he first laid eyes on her. He wanted to run.

She walked at a hastened pace, she wanted to catch up to them before they went too deep into the forest. After following from a distance for some time, she called out to them.

"Hello?" She wheezed and coughed after calling out: shouting seemed to be rather straining for her. Instead, she just picked up the pace until she began to feel something. It was odd, a strange sensation in the air. It filled her mind and directed her to the location of the children. She picked up pace and leaned forward until she was chasing them like a predator. As the sensation got stronger, she knew she was getting closer: it was like a burning coal in the center of her mind. Now closer to them, she gave out a weaker call.

"Children? Are you there?" Le`Vanna called out, somewhat softly. The ponies stopped in their tracks and looked back in surprise. Le`Vanna came out from the trees, covered in leaves... You know, I really haven't established what time of year it is have I? I guess it's October or something... Probably a little earlier. So the leaves were mostly yellow and orange.

"Hi Le`Vanna!" Called out Yarn Spinner. In an effort to appear more laid back, Le`Vanna sat herself down on the ground before them, her legs crisscrossed.

The children greeted Le`Vanna with mostly open arms. They had no reason to suspect her of any malicious intent, and so she managed to earn her way into their hearts. She treated them kindly, she answered as many questions of theirs as she could without contradicting herself. But as a half hour dredged by, they all gradually lost interest in who or what she was, and were willing to accept her as a new friend. Le`Vanna followed them around the forest at a sluggish pace, but her long legs made it easy to keep up with the small ponies. As the children visited her almost daily, Le`Vanna learned the names, interests, and skills of the children. She began to plan out how each child could be twisted. There was a tiny problem that she was going to have with a few of them. Morals. It would seem some of their parents had taught them certain ways of thinking... These were ways that would need changing.