A Change of Pace

"Make it stop. Make it stop! Make. It. Stop!" Rain yelled, the feelings and emotions burning in her heart, making her feel like she was dying.

"Okay, okay!" Light said hurriedly, undoing the spell, leaving the poor Changeling overwhelmed.

Rain started crying, screaming out in pain. She charged magical bolts in a rage of fear and anger, lashing them out every which way. She calmed down once Light put her spell on her, making her calmly fall into unconsciousness. Light smiled gently, then put on a strong face, pushing the Changeling back onto the bed and pulling the cover over her.

She then pulled the cage down and put a padlock on the metal, locking it and letting go of the key, it falling back to her neck, strapped onto a silver chain necklace. She walked out of the room, locking the door once more. She walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge. Celestia's morning sun stood low in the sky. She pulled out a few fruits and vegetables from the fridge, and made herself a salad. She ate it greedily, hungry from the long night. She thought of Rain, and how much pain she probably felt remembering and reliving everything she'd done.

She felt herself letting her body feel emotions. Pity, sadness, empathy, were some of them. She gently let crystalline tears fall from her eyes, dabbing them furiously, anger quickly swarming her mind. Why was she feeling bad for a Changeling? They were strange beings who fed off of love... they didn't deserve the love they got... right?

She sat on the sofa, getting lost in her thoughts. Contemplating them deeply, she eventually got up off the sofa and walked back to Rain's room, worried. How long had she left her there? She was thinking for a long, long time. She unlocked the door and peeked through the crack, looking at an angry Changeling glaring daggers at her, her eyes obviously soaked from crying."You!" She hissed. "You forced me to show weakness! Let me out of this cage!" She screamed in anger, pride clouding her mind.

"Calm down, you want to be calm, remember?" Light asked, a spell layered into her voice.

"No. No more mind games, you idiot. The first mistake you made was lowering your guard. The second was feeding me love. The third... oh ho ho, the third, was making me look weak!"

"I saved you from certain death!" Light challenged, keeping her voice level and calm.

"Let me out, or you will get hurt." Rain growled, anger and venom in her voice.

"I'm going into town. I'll be back soon enough." Light commented levelly. "If having emotions is weak then we both are utter hypocrites by claiming we're strong."

"I am strong, you insolent foal!"

"I will be back. Be good." Light spat, forcing Rain to feel the anger in Light's mind.

Rain sat in her cage, angry and desperate; but smart. Rain used the last of her magic reserves from Light's love, pulling the rolling chair towards herself. She reached out and dismantled it, pulling out a coil. She unwound it and snapped it in two, putting the new lock picks in the padlock, hopeful.

The two picks snapped in half, rolling underneath the bed, and thus out of Rain's reach. She then stood and bucked the lock after moving the mattress. She bucked for a couple minutes, before using the last bits of her magic to levitate a book over to her. She read the book and let her magic reserves fill up as she read about love. Her breed of Changeling was special; reading about other ponies love fed them. Seeing it, hearing it, experiencing it; all of them gave them power. And Light was foalish enough to leave four romance novels, a Daring Do story, and a mystery.

After reading about the first three love novels, she levitated the chair back together, feeling a bit embarrassed that she was such a foal. She sat on the bed, fully healed and fully charged with magic. She was confused, however; she could've changed into a foal and gotten out the window... but she didn't. She stayed. She shrugged it off and looked up from her book as the lights went off.

"Wonderful." She growled sarcastically.

Light suddenly entered the room, and Rain could make out two items levitating in a blue grasp. She could make out a magic rune on her necklace, indicating that the chair she had tried to use was, of course, booby trapped. Light put a box on the desk, and slid the other through the bars of her cage.

"What's this...? Presents... for me?"

"Yeah. I figured since it's your birthday and all... y'know... I just thought since we don't know your birthday... j-just open it, dingus." Light growled, blush on her face, but it was not seen by Rain.

Rain ripped open the box and looked at the item inside. It was a gold chain necklace, with a silver 'L' and a bronze 'R' on as little trinkets. Rain suddenly felt an overwhelming sensation of love, and it was coming from both Light and the necklace. She used her green magic and put the jewelry on, smiling brightly, showing her fangs. Light undid the cage and opened the box.

A small brown cake sat there, reading 'Happy Birthday' across it. Light started to cut the cake and gave them both a sliver, gazing at the now setting sun.

"Have some."

Light noticed Rain's face and saw that she was struck with feeling. She seemed confused.

"Have some." Light repeated.

"B-But... okay." Rain managed to squeak out.

The two ate the cake in silence, awkwardly in the faint light of the sun.