Halfling

by Dee Pad

Rating: teen
Tags: Changelings, Original Character, Violence, Slice of Life, Sex, Main 6, Drama, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 291966

With life beginning to normalize, Shade and Winter couldn't be happier. But their relationship is about to be put to the test in more ways than one...

It has been a little over a year since the changeling Shade began living in the small town of Ponyville. Accepted by his neighbors, respected by his new friends, seeing his best friend happy, and, above all, loved by his special somepony, Shade's life has never been more enjoyable or comfortable.

Of course, that doesn't mean there aren't hardships ahead of him, and Shade and Winter are about to take on the greatest challenge of their lives.

But unbeknownst to them, rumblings within the Changeling Kingdom begin to stir...

Published 2016-02-29 19:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-10-26 20:48:50 UTC

Chapter 2 - The Telltale Tummy

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 2: The Telltale Tummy

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Shade stretched out his legs, letting out a long, relaxed moan as he did. The moan became a placid sigh as he brought his legs back in, pulling the covers of his bed closer to his neck. He wasn't bothered at all by the sunlight piercing through his curtains, or the chirping of the birds outside. He was at peace, feeling comfort beyond belief. What was different about this morning compared to any other? Who could tell? Shade was simply cozy, and that was that.

Technically, Shade was awake. He was conscious and aware that it was morning, but that didn't stop him from trying to catch just a few more Z's. It felt like the sort of day where you could just lay in bed and still feel like your time was well spent. He had the day off from work, he had no lessons with Twilight to attend, he didn't have any plans whatsoever. So what was wrong with just lazing about all day? In his mind, absolutely nothing.

Shade rolled onto his left side, facing the bedroom window, but refusing to open his eyes and have his serenity interrupted. He let half his face sink into his plush pillow, welcoming it's warm embrace.

But just when he thought he couldn't get any more comfortable, he was corrected.

The changeling felt a hoof wrap around his torso from behind, a soft, furry body pulling up against his back. Shade placed an ebony hoof over the ivory one that was draped over his body, holding it tenderly and smiling blissfully as he rested. He was never going to get tired of this. Sharing a bed with somepony you love so deeply is something that most changelings didn't even bother to dream of. Sucks for them, he thought; they didn't know what they were missing.

Winter nuzzled lovingly into the back of Shade's neck, moaning cutely in her sleep. Although Shade would consider this moment the epitome of comfort, if he could ask for one thing right now, it would be to see Winter's face. However, he was afraid to move and risk compromising their comfort. Besides, he could practically feel her smiling against his neck. Seeing it wasn't really entirely necessary.

But of course, as with all good things, this moment had to come to an end at some point.

Shade knew that Winter was awake when he felt her lips against his neck, kissing him lightly. In response, he held her hoof tighter.

"You seem comfy," Winter commented quietly, leaning over him.

Shade could only reply with a satisfied, "Mm-hm."

Winter rolled the changeling over onto his back, making him finally open his eyes and giving him a clear view of the beautiful mare just inches from his face. The pegasus closed the gap, planting a kiss on his fanged lips. When she pulled away, she stared deeply into his emerald eyes.

Despite the fact that it was nearly noon, Shade still looked a little tired, though he never stopped smiling at her. He'd been working pretty hard at his job for the past few weeks, with long hours, very few breaks, and even having to work on his days off. But, finally, things had begun to slow down. His hours returned to normal, and today he was taking his first day off in three weeks. He deserved his rest.

But perhaps he deserved a little more...

Winter grinned down on him seductively, giving him another kiss, longer and more passionate. Shade placed his hoof against the back of her head, holding her against his lips as they shared in their loving embrace. Winter pulled away, pushing her un-brushed mane out of her face, and sat up. Still wearing her sultry smile, she lifted one leg over Shade, straddling him with her front hooves pressing down onto the pillow on either side of his head.

On any other day, getting this kind of treatment from Winter in the morning would have been the best way to kick off the day. But today, something was... off.

When Winter sat on Shade, he found himself suppressing a surprised, "Oomph," as though the weight upon him was more than he'd expected. This certainly wasn't the first time he'd been in this particular position, but for some reason, Winter felt heavier. Being a changeling, Shade had always been naturally lighter than even most female ponies, so the extra weight on top of him wasn't unexpected. It was just how much extra weight there was that surprised him.

And Winter must have noticed that something was on his mind, as her smile had faded, making way for a curious raise of her eyebrow. "Shade? Something wrong?"

"Huh? Uh..."

How was he supposed to answer her without it sounding insulting? It's not that he was less attracted to her or anything, just confused. He began to wonder if it was just his mind playing tricks on him.

"Nothing's wrong. I was just, um... thinking about something."

Winter tilted her head. "Like what?"

"I was... just thinking..." Shade glanced discreetly at the clock on the bedside table, seeing that it was already past noon. "...that we've kinda wasted enough daylight lying in bed. It'd be a shame to let a beautiful day like this go completely to waste, right?"

Winter's coy grin returned. "But would you really consider this a waste of time?" she said, leaning in until her face was just an inch from his and pressing her whole, furry body down upon him.

Shade grunted, a puff of air being forced out from his lungs when Winter applied her full weight against his chest. He tried to cover it up by forcing a smile. "Ha, of course not. But, uh... I'm a little hungry. Maybe a rain check?"

Winter sat up again, unbeknownst of the relief Shade felt to have most of her weight lifted off of him. "Oh, okay. I guess I'm a little hungry, too," she admitted, though not without a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Do you want pancakes?" Shade offered.

Winter smiled blissfully at the mere mention of it. "Mmm, that sounds great. With chocolate chips?"

Shade slipped out from under her and got out of bed. "Sure."

Winter followed him out into the hall like an excited filly. "Topped with ice cream?"

"Uh, yeah, if we have any."

"And extra syrup?"

Shade looked over his shoulder at the mare, puzzled by her odd behavior. Just a moment ago she seemed disappointed. Now she was acting like this? "Whatever you want."

Winter sidled up next to him with an eager giggle, nuzzling his neck. "Have I ever told you you make the best pancakes?"

"I... don't think so."

"Well, you do."

"Okay. Thanks."

Now he was even more confused. It was like she had completely forgotten what they were doing before. But maybe that was a good thing. He didn't want her to feel neglected. Maybe he should just focus on breakfast for now considering how happy Winter was about it, however baffling and inexplicable that was.

***** ***** *****

Shade was right, it is a nice day out today, Winter thought as she trotted through town, staring up at the pure, blue sky.

She was starting to think that he was right about more than just that, too, like having wasted perfectly good daylight hours lying in bed. Although, she had still been looking forward to the alternative, and it certainly wasn't like Shade to turn her down like that. She had to wonder if something was on his mind.

Or maybe he was starting to get suspicious...

Winter knew she was just procrastinating at this point. It seemed like every time she told herself that she was just going to come out and tell him, something would come up that suddenly made it a bad time. Even she was starting to realize that she was just making up excuses, using every little thing as an out to avoid it.

And she hated herself for it. Every day that passed by that she didn't talk to Shade about it made her feel worse and worse about herself as a person. And just thinking about it now was kind of ruining this beautiful day. She needed to talk to somepony to help her feel a little better, somepony that would give her the kick in the flank she needed to do what she knew was right.

She needed to talk to Twilight.

Winter hadn't really had a destination when she left the house, but now she found herself heading towards the library. She felt that Twilight was really the only one she could talk to about this, especially considering she was the only person who knew she was pregnant—aside from Princess Cadance, but that was neither here nor there.

At the same time, though, Winter knew she wasn't going to get a simple pep talk and some sagely advice. Twilight had already said her piece on the situation and was adamant about Winter telling Shade as soon as possible. She probably wasn't going to be happy to learn she had yet to tell him.

Winter soon found herself approaching the library, but paused when she made it to the door. It might have been a good idea to come up with some reason as to why she hadn't told Shade about the baby yet, hopefully reducing the amount of scolding she received from the princess. Unfortunately, Twilight would likely take no excuses, so why bother wasting time. Better to just rip the bandage right off.

Winter knocked on the door. She didn't have to wait long to hear Twilight's voice beckoning to her guest to come inside. The pegasus opened the door and stepped inside. She was about to greet Twilight, but stopped short.

The alicorn was sitting at the table in the foyer, as expected. However, what Winter hadn't expected were the two guests seated with her: a white unicorn with a well-styled and conditioned, purple mane, and an orange earth pony with a large stetson upon her blonde ponytail.

Seeing Rarity and Applejack, Winter was about ready to just back out the door again. "Oh, sorry. I didn't realize you had—"

Rarity stood up, walking over to Winter with a giddy grin. "There she is!" the unicorn squealed excitedly.

Winter raised an eyebrow. She didn't like the sound of that. When she looked over at Twilight, she saw the alicorn with an embarrassed hoof on her head. The pegasus let out a groan. "Twilight, you told them?"

"I'm sorry, it just kind of slipped out," Twilight apologized.

Rarity grabbed Winter by the fetlock and ushered her over to the table, ignoring her obvious reluctance. "Come, dear. We have so much to talk about."

"Darn tootin'," Applejack agreed with a chuckle. "And lemme just start off by sayin' congrats."

"Um, thanks," Winter said in an uncomfortable tone as she and Rarity sat at the table.

Rarity leaned against her fetlocks, staring at Winter with an eager smile. "So? How are you, darling?"

The white unicorn's tone was not doing much to make her feel any more comfortable. "O-Okay, I guess."

Rarity giggled amusedly. "Oh, I'd say more than just 'okay.' You're positively glowing, dear." Her deep blue eyes glanced down at Winter's abdomen. "It seems as though you're coming along nicely. That's quite a cute, little baby bump you have there."

"Huh?" Winter looked down at her stomach. "Is it really that noticeable already?"

"Oh, certainly. In Twilight's defense, I'm positive I would have figured it out rather quickly, even if she hadn't told me."

"So how far along are ya anyhow?" Applejack inquired.

"Oh, um, almost three months now, I think," Winter answered, the attention she was garnering causing her to blush a little.

Rarity was confused by that response. "Really? Hmm... I would have guessed two at the most. Seems a tad small."

Applejack, having noticed a nervous gulp from Winter, offered her thoughts. "Well, it's half changeling, right? They ain't quite as big as us ponies, or at least not as heavy. 'Sides, we don't really know much about baby changelings. This might be normal. Who's to say it'll even be eleven months before she has the baby?"

"I suppose you have a point," Rarity conceded.

"But that does raise an interesting question," Twilight added. "What exactly is this foal going to look like? Are changeling genes dominant or recessive?"

"You think my baby might be just be a normal changeling?" Winter asked with a tinge of worry.

Twilight simply shrugged. "It's a possibility, I guess. Whenever two people of different races—or species in this case—propagate, the resultant offspring will generally inherit traits from both parents, but typically one is more apparent. As an example, Mr. and Mrs. Cake are both earth ponies. However, their twins are a pegasus and a unicorn because those traits are present in their gene pool. So I feel there's no guarantee that your foal will even exhibit any changeling traits. Conversely, it also may not exhibit any pony traits."

Applejack rolled her eyes at Twilight's long-winded explanation. "Basically, she's sayin' we'll just have to wait 'n' see."

"Well, yeah, I suppose," the alicorn grumbled. "Just trying to educate a little."

"Personally, I don't believe there's anything to worry about," Rarity said with a reassuring smile in Winter's direction. "The important thing right now is that you and Shade are happy and are taking this big step in your lives together."

"Speakin' o' which, where is the baby daddy anyhow?" Applejack inquired. "Working?"

Winter shied away slightly rubbing her foreleg in embarrassment. "Uh, no, he's got the day off today," she replied quietly.

Twilight immediately took notice of Winter's body language and let out a frustrated groan. "Don't tell me you still haven't told him."

Rarity and Applejack gave the pegasus shocked looks, causing Winter to shrink back a little in shame.

"Um... No, I haven't."

Rarity was appalled by this news. "Winter! You're almost three months pregnant and you haven't told Shade yet?! He's the father of your child! He has a right—"

"I know!" Winter interrupted loudly. She took a breath to calm her nerves before attempting to explain herself. There really wasn't any point in trying to create excuses at this point. "I just haven't been able to work up the courage to tell him yet."

"That's simply unacceptable," Rarity scolded.

But before she could elaborate, Applejack interjected. "Now, hold up there, Rarity. An unplanned pregnancy can be a little hard on a couple. Ah think it's important that she get herself accustomed to this before droppin' it on Shade. It ain't gonna do anypony any good if the both of 'em are in a tizzy over this."

Winter sighed, relieved that somepony was actually on her side. "Thank you, Applejack."

"That bein' said," the earth pony continued, her tone a little more stern, "you should probably get around to it soon. It'd be better if you told him yerself before he finds out on his own."

Winter sighed again, this time in reluctant acceptance. "Yeah. I know. And it's not easy either. I actually think he's starting to find me less attractive."

"All the more reason for you to tell him," Rarity told her. "And if you promise that you'll do the right thing, then I suppose we needn't worry. Above all, we should be happy for you, and we are." Twilight and Applejack nodded in agreement. "Congratulations, darling."

"Thanks. It is a little comforting knowing I have friends to support me—er, us. Oh, and, Rarity, please, please, please, don't mention this to Chamella. If she finds out, she'll definitely tell Shade."

Rarity made a zipping motion over her mouth with her hoof. "My lips are sealed."

At that moment, the library door swung open. And swinging in with it, performing a playful twirl as she entered, was a cheerful, pink earth pony, her poofy mane bouncing as she spun around.

"Knock knock," Pinkie Pie chirped cheerily. She noticed then that Twilight had company. "Hey, are you throwing a party?" As the words left her mouth, her smiled curled into a fussy pout. "Wait, you're throwing a party without me?! How very dare you!" she yelled in exaggerated anger.

Pinkie's outburst didn't really faze any of them. Rarity simply explained, "It's not a party, dear. Applejack and I just stopped by for a visit, and Winter only showed up not long ago."

The pink pony's smile returned instantly, as if nothing had even happened. "Oh, okey dokey then."

There was a brief moment of awkward silence as Pinkie just stood there, smiling. Twilight glanced around as she waited before clearing her throat. "Did you wanna join us, Pinkie?" the princess offered, gesturing to the table.

Pinkie shook her head. "Oh, no, that's okay."

"Then whadja come over for?" Applejack asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Oh, right!" Having been reminded of her purpose for coming over, Pinkie produced a book and held it out. "I came by to return this cookbook I borrowed from the library."

"Cookbook? Pinkie, that was a year ago," said Twilight. "You're only just returning it now?"

"Do I gotta pay late fees?" Pinkie asked.

"Well... no."

"Did you wanna use it?"

"Uh, no. I'm not much of a cook."

"Did you need it for anything?"

"No, I..." Twilight let out a groan. "Nevermind. Just put it back on the shelf, please."

"Righty-o!" Pinkie hopped over to one of the many bookshelves, inserting the book into it. She then turned back at Twilight who was giving her a look. Pinkie pulled the book back out, replacing it on the shelf below it before trotting over to the door. She stopped for a moment, though, her curiosity getting the better of her. "So whatchu girls talking about?"

Twilight stood up, walking over to the bookshelf where Pinkie had placed the cookbook and swapping its place with the book next to it. "I thought you had to be somewhere."

"Huh? I didn't say that. I just meant that I didn't come over for a visit. But my task is done now, sooooo... What's up?"

"Well, we were just talking about how Winter's got a bun in the oven," Applejack revealed outright.

The pegasus was shocked that she would just blurt it out like that. "Applejack!"

Rarity glared at the stetson-wearing pony. "Very tactful," she commented sarcastically.

Applejack shrugged as if she'd done nothing wrong. "What? We're all friends here, right? Ah'm sure it's fine."

Pinkie glanced between the unicorn and the other earth pony in slight confusion. "What's the big deal? She's just baking a bun. Also, it's kinda inefficient to bake just one bun, Winter. You really should put in at least a half a dozen."

"I don't think Winter could handle that many," Twilight giggled.

Rarity stifled her laughter as well. "Yes, she appears to be have enough problems with just the one."

Pinkie tilted her head. "Really? Well, if you want, I can come over and help you eat them."

"Alright, Ah'm puttin' a stop to this bit," Applejack interrupted. "Pinkie, Winter's pregnant."

Pinkie stopped to think about that for a moment before finally understanding. "Oooooooh, 'bun in the oven.' I get it now. Hee hee! That's funny." There was a moment of silence as the gears continued turning in the oblivious mare's head, but when she finally made the realization, her face changed instantly. "What?!" Her shock was quickly overpowered by sheer glee as she immediately bolted over to Winter's side, invading her personal space by placing a hoof on her stomach. "There's a baby in there?!"

"Uh, y-yeah," Winter stammered awkwardly.

Pinkie gasped loudly. "You know what this means, don't you?!" she bellowed, her enormous, toothy grin uncomfortably close to Winter's face. Pinkie threw her hooves in the air excitedly. "Baby shower!"

Twilight seemed puzzled that that was the first place the pink mare had jumped. "You're not at all curious as to how this is possible?"

Pinkie just scoffed with a sly smirk. "Oh, please, Twilight. I'm an adult, you know, and I took biology in school, too. Give me some credit."

Twilight breathed a sigh. "Not exactly what I meant, but whatever."

"But she does raise a good point," Rarity said. "We definitely need to plan a baby shower."

Pinkie raised her hoof. "I'm your gal!" she volunteered eagerly.

"Now, keep yer saddles on, girls," Applejack interjected. "We ain't havin' no baby shower 'til she tells Shade about this."

"Oh, of course, but that doesn't mean we can't plan the shower," Rarity argued.

Again, Pinkie raised her hoof. "I'm your gal!"

"Yes, Pinkie, you've said that already," Twilight pointed out with a roll of her eyes.

The pink pony crossed her forelegs with a huff. "Well, I need confirmation. I'm a professional party planner, and party stuff ain't exactly cheap. I got expenses to cover, ya know. So I can't do squat 'til Winter gives the go-ahead."

Pinkie stared seriously at Winter, making the pegasus feel like she was being backed into a corner. "Okay, you can plan the baby shower," she told her, mostly just to get her off her back.

Pinkie clapped her hooves gleefully. "Yay! This is gonna be so fun! I haven't planned a baby shower since Mrs. Cake was pregnant with the twins."

"Speaking of celebration..." Rarity said coyly, leaning her chin on her fetlocks. "With a baby on the way, does that mean that you and Shade might tie the knot soon?"

Once again, Pinkie shot her hoof up. "Oh! I can plan that, too!"

Winter gawked at the unicorn's question. "Are you kidding? That's the last thing on my mind right now. We're going to have enough on our plate without having to prepare for a wedding."

Pinkie flopped her head down onto the table in disappointment. "Aww..."

Winter was starting to get a little frustrated with everypony trying to butt into her business. "Look, I appreciate all the advice and everything, but just let us handle this at our own pace, okay? We've got concerns of our own to worry about. The first of which is actually telling him about it," she sighed in shame.

"You're worried that he's not gonna like this news?" Pinkie asked her, tenderly placing a hoof on her shoulder.

Winter, as well as the other mares present, raised their eyebrows at Pinkie's surprising display of perception. "Uh, yeah."

The pink mare gave Winter's shoulder a light pat. "I getcha. This is a pretty big deal. You gotta be delicate about how you tell him. But just remember: if you ever need anything..." Pinkie looked straight into the pegasus's eyes, offering a comforting smile. "Sugarcube Corner's the place to go for comfort food."

Twilight groaned loudly. "Pinkie, seriously? I don't think this is an appropriate time for advertising."

"Do you have any jelly donuts?" Winter asked curiously, causing Twilight to slap a hoof on her face.

"Sure do!" Pinkie chirped. "Hey, why don't we go see if there's anything else you might want there? Maybe I can make you a special platter of mouthwatering morsels for mommies."

Mouthwatering was the word, for sure. Just the thought of it made the pegasus lick her lips in anticipation. "Sure, that sounds great."

"Awesome!" Pinkie ushered Winter to the door. "Later, girls!"

"Thanks for being so understanding," Winter said to them as she and Pinkie exited the library.

Applejack stared at the door in utter confusion. "The hay just happened?"

Rarity sighed. "Pregnancy happened. She's going to have more problems than she even realizes."

***** ***** *****

The front door of the shared residence swung open, making way for the changeling who lived there to enter. Shade let out a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him, scratching an itch on the back of his head.

Having a couple of days off after all of his hard work was nice and all, but it suddenly didn't seem like much now that he was back at it. Thankfully, things weren't as hectic as they were before and his work load and hours had returned to normal. Still though, even just a couple of days off after all of that had spoiled him a little.

But at least he was home now. And he had plenty of time to fix up something to eat and maybe head out and look for something to do. Perhaps he'd pay Chamella a visit.

"Heurgh!"

Shade halted just as he was about to enter the kitchen, the jarring sound surprising him. It sounded like it came from upstairs. Curiously and cautiously, Shade made his way upstairs, keeping his ears perked up in case he heard the sound again."

"Bleugh!"

There it was again. This time, Shade could tell exactly where it was coming from. He went straight for the bedroom, turning to the left once he got there. Sure enough, the bathroom door in the bedroom was closed, but light streamed through from underneath. Obviously, it must be Winter.

Shade rapped on the door lightly. "Winter? That you?"

"Oh, hey, Shade," Winter replied rather nonchalantly. She followed that up with the off-putting sound of her spitting.

"Are... you okay? You sound sick."

"No, no, I'm fine," she insisted, although the sound of the toilet flushing suggested otherwise.

Shade heard the sound of the sink running, followed by Winter gargling mouthwash. A moment later, she stepped out with a smile on her face. Admittedly, she didn't really look sick. Had he not heard her vomiting, he wouldn't have thought there was anything wrong.

"You sure?" Shade persisted.

Winter waved off his concern. "Yeah, yeah, I, um... must've eaten something that was off. Yeah, that's probably it. Stomach cramps and all that. Don't worry, I think it's out of my system now."

"Alright, if you say so," Shade conceded, though still a bit skeptical.

As the pair made their way back downstairs to get themselves prepared for supper, there was a knock on the front door. Immediately, an eager smile graced Winter's lips and she bounded over to the door with a spring in her step. She must have been expecting company, Shade thought. Winter threw the door open, her own smiling face being greeted by another, surrounded by shades of pink.

Pinkie Pie wasn't exactly somepony they interacted with on a regular basis, usually only when they went to Sugarcube Corner for a sugary snack, or if she happened to bump into them at random. She still sent Shade and Winter cards on certain holidays, or invites to parties, but then again, she did so for everypony else in Ponyville, as well. Perhaps Winter was simply closer to her than Shade was. Odd considering she's never been invited over for a visit and has never actually come to visit of her own accord either.

"Hi, Pinkie Pie," Winter greeted with enthusiasm, her voiced filled with eager anticipation.

"Good evening, Winter." She turned to Shade, tipping her non-existent hat to him. "And to you, Shade."

"Hi," Shade greeted with a half-hearted wave of his hole-riddled hoof.

Winter peered over the other mare's shoulder. It appeared that Pinkie may not have come by for a casual visit. Behind her was what looked like a metal serving trolley.

"Is that the stuff?" Winter asked, her smile persisting.

Pinkie spun around, grabbing the trolley and pulling it inside. It was loaded up with a wide assortment of desserts and pastries. "I got chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes with rainbow sprinkles, lemon meringue pie, chocolate fudge brownies, jelly donuts with cherry filling, and the pièce de résistance..." She gestured to the eye-catching cake in the very center of everything else. "...a strawberry shortcake."

Winter had to lick the drool from her lips as her amber eyes stared hungrily at the spread. Shade raised an eyebrow at her peculiar behavior.

The pegasus managed to tear her eyes away from the sweet smörgåsbord. "So what do I owe you?" she asked the pink pony.

Pinkie shook her head. "Don't you worry. This one's on me. After all, you are a fellow 'baker,' wink wink," she said without actually winking.

Winter glanced in Shade's direction for a moment with a slight blush. The changeling certainly looked confused, but not really suspicious. "Um, thanks, Pinkie. It all looks great."

Pinkie gave a friendly salute. "Cool. Then I'll be off. Just don't forget to bring the trolley back. Enjoyyyyyy," she sang as she walked backwards out the door. Interestingly, Shade could have sworn she winked at him as she shut the door behind her.

Now that their visitor was gone, Shade finally decided it was time to inquire. "What's with all this stuff, Winter?"

"Oh, I just ordered a few things from Sugarcube Corner. I don't know why, but I've just been craving something sweet lately."

That was putting it lightly, the changeling thought. There were enough snacks on the trolley to feed at least fifteen people. "You're going to eat all of that yourself?"

"Of course not," Winter laughed. "You can have some if you want."

Shade shrugged. It did look pretty tasty. And it was free, so what was the harm? Shade reached out to sample a brownie, but just as he was about to pick it up, he felt winter's hoof slap his. "Ow!"

"Not those. Those are mine."

Shade rubbed his stinging hoof with a scowl, deciding instead to go for a cookie, only to receive another sudden smack.

"Not those either."

Shade wasn't sure he wanted to chance another go, but despite her repeated denials, Winter still smiled hospitably. Against his better judgment, the changeling started towards the cupcakes, keeping his eye on Winter as he did so. And, as expected, just as he was about to grab one, Winter acted. Though instead of slapping him again, she simply pulled the entire trolley out of his reach.

"Um, tell you what, you can have what's left, 'kay?" She pulled the whole thing into the kitchen, sitting down at the table and helping herself to the gifted confections.

Well, so much for supper, Shade thought with an internal sigh.

Now that he thought about it, Winter had been acting rather strangely lately. This wasn't even this first time he'd observed her exhibiting weird eating habits. She'd been trying to practice cooking a lot more as of late, too, and eating larger portions during meals. All in all, she was just eating more lately.

And suddenly, things began making sense.

"Hey, Winter," Shade called out to her.

Winter glanced out from the kitchen with a mouthful of brownie, lips smeared with chocolate.

"I'm going to head out for awhile, okay? I'll be back later," he said as he inched toward the door.

Winter smiled through her chocolate-packed cheeks. "Okay. Shee you later, shweetie," she said as she waved goodbye.

***** ***** *****

"What do you think, darling?" Rarity asked as she looked over her latest piece.

The piece in question was a deep purple, sequined dress with white accents, currently being worn by Rarity's only employee and the second of the two changelings living in Ponyville. It sparkled so brightly under the lights of Carousel Boutique that it was practically blinding. Chamella had to squint as she looked in the mirror, barely able to see herself between the bright sparkles reflecting back at her and her own long, purple mane hanging down over her face.

"Um, it's a bit much, don't you think?" Chamella commented quietly, still trying to see herself properly, but struggling.

Rarity hummed in thought. "How so?"

"Well, isn't the point of a nice dress to be eye-catching? That'll be kinda difficult if people can't actually see it."

The unicorn took a look around the boutique. The whole place was speckled with the reflected light of the sequins, making the building look somewhat like a discotheque. "You may have a point," she conceded. "Very well. Take it off and I'll modify it."

As Chamella slipped out of the dress, there was a knock on the front door before it opened, revealing the changeling's closest friend.

"Hello?" Shade called out.

"Oh, good evening. Come on in, dear," Rarity greeted with an inviting smile.

Shade stepped inside, but immediately had to shield his eyes from the onslaught of flickering lights. "Agh! What is that?"

Chamella tried to see through the veil of light. "Shade? Is that you?"

Rarity rolled her eyes in a huff, snatching the dress away from Chamella. "Oh, for heaven's sake, now you're just being overly dramatic."

With eyesight restored, Chamella could clearly make out the face of her best friend. She shot him a friendly smile. "Hi, Shade."

"Hey, Chamella," Shade greeted back.

It was clear in his tone and expression that he had come over for a purpose rather than just a visit. Rarity picked up on this as she put the dress into a trunk to be dealt with later. "Did you need something, dear?"

"Yeah, actually. Advice."

"Oh, well, I have that in droves," the fashionista giggled. "In regards to what exactly?"

"Winter," he stated simply.

Rarity's ears perked up, a knowing smile appearing on her face. "Oh? Relationship advice?" she said, a touch of coyness in her voice.

"Uh, kind of. Have you noticed anything... different about her lately?"

Rarity nodded with a relieved sigh. "As a matter of fact, I have."

Shade was surprised to hear that. "Really?"

"Yes, it's actually fairly obvious when you look closely. I take it she's told you?"

The changeling shook his head. "No, I just kind of picked up on it. I've noticed she's had some strange eating habits lately, and she's definitely heavier than she used to be."

Rarity placed a hoof on her forehead, shaking her head in disappointment. "Oh, I warned her this would happen."

Shade raised an eyebrow. "She talked to you about it?"

The unicorn nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so. She was just nervous about bringing it up to you. She wasn't sure how you'd react."

Shade turned his eyes away slightly. "Oh. Well, I guess I can understand that."

Rarity placed a hoof on his shoulder, giving him a soft smile. "You came to me for advice, yes? Well, here's my advice: be there for her. She needs you now more than ever. Talk to her and let her know how much you support her."

Shade was confused by that. "What? Support? I can't support this."

The unicorn was taken aback, absolutely flabbergasted to hear him say that. "What?! Why not?! You love her, don't you?"

"Of course I do. Which is exactly why I can't let her do this to herself. I'm worried about her."

"Shade, you can't be serious," Rarity scolded with a scowl. "I thought we were better than that. How could you say such a thing?"

Chamella raised her hoof to interject. "Um... What exactly are you talking about, Shade? What's wrong with Winter?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I know that her diet lately hasn't been very good. I'm worried that she might be endangering her health."

Rarity's eyes widened in sudden realization. "Wait, you think she's been overeating?"

Shade nodded. "Yeah. She's at home chowing down on a platter of desserts she ordered from Sugarcube Corner as we speak. That's not healthy, right?"

"Oooooh, is that what this is about?" Rarity couldn't help but laugh at the whole misunderstanding.

Shade was vexed by Rarity's reaction. "How's this funny? I'm concerned for her. Hold on, what did you think I was talking about?"

"Hm?" Rarity held a hoof over her mouth before she said something she might regret. "Oh, er... Nothing. I must've just misunderstood the situation, that's all." She waved it off dismissively. "You have nothing to be concerned about."

Shade blinked, unable to understand how she came to that conclusion. "How do you know that? There's got to be a reason why she's acting this way. I'm really worried about her. Earlier she was throwing up. That's not good, is it?"

"You still want advice?"

"Yes, please," Shade said, his rising aggravation with the unicorn noticeable.

"Well then... Hmm..." Rarity tapped her chin in thought. She glanced up into his eyes for a moment. As much as she wanted to be honest with him, it really wasn't her place to reveal that information to him. She needed to fabricate something. "Overeating can sometimes be a... coping mechanism when dealing with stress."

"Stress?" Shade echoed. "What stress? What could be stressing her out?"

Rarity scratched her head, a little annoyed at how persistent he was being about this. "That's hard to tell. Perhaps it's work? I know when I'm bogged down with orders, I sometimes pour my pent up emotions into a tub of ice cream."

Shade thought about that for a moment. "So she might be having problems at work. Okay, thanks, Rarity." He then started back to the door.

Rarity reached out to him in a panic. "Wait! Where are you going now?"

"I'm gonna have a word with Rainbow Dash," was all he said.

"But—" But before Rarity could continue, he was already gone, the door shutting behind him. She let out an exasperated sigh. "Oh, dear."

"Uh, I'm a little confused," Chamella said, scratching her head.

Rarity stared off in Shade's general direction with a shake of her head. "Trust me, dear, you won't be the only one."

***** ***** *****

The sun above beamed down upon all of Ponyville, bathing the small town in its warming light. Despite the fact that the day was gradually coming to its end, the sky was still as bright as it's been since noon, making for a beautiful spring day. For Ponyville's resident weather manager, it was a perfect day for lounging and catching a few Z's on a soft, fluffy cloud.

Rainbow Dash inhaled deeply in her half sleep, still conscience and aware, but just beginning to nod off. This was always one of her favorite ways to cap off a busy work day of clearing out clouds, but she always made sure to keep a few around for just such a purpose. Sometimes she even really pitied the earth ponies and unicorns stuck on the ground who couldn't know this sort of comfort.

Dash finally let out that deep breath, ready for sleep to envelope her wholly.

"Hey! Rainbow Dash!"

The ear of the cyan pegasus twitched, her face curling into an annoyed grimace even though her eyes were closed. She was tempted to ignore the call and attempt to achieve sleep in spite of it, but the warm sunlight that had been beaming down on her was obscured, leaving her lying in the shadows all of a sudden, not to mention the incessant sound of buzzing. She groaned in irritation as she reluctantly cracked one eye open.

Flittering in front of her she saw a rather distinct silhouette hovering in front of the sun. Whether it was the thin, translucent wings that buzzed like a bee's, or the fact that the sunlight streamed through the holes in his legs, there was no mistaking that it was a changeling. Shade, to be specific, as his voice had tipped her offed.

Rainbow Dash let out a defeated sigh. There wasn't much point in being cross with him for disturbing her rest. She may have been one of the first people the changeling had met when he first arrived in Ponyville, but they weren't really too familiar with one another. Although, they did share a connection via his girlfriend and her co-worker.

"What's up, Shade?" she asked, sounding a little lethargic, though not irate.

"We need to talk," Shade stated simply. He attempted to land on an adjacent cloud so he could speak with her without having to talk over the rather loud buzzing of his wings. However, his hooves sunk straight through the fluffy cumulus, forcing him to quickly correct himself in the air and remember that having wings doesn't necessarily give him the ability to stand on clouds.

With a laborious effort, Rainbow Dash sat up, scratching her head. "Yeah? Well, go ahead, shoot."

"I need you to ease up on Winter."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Ease up? The hay are you talking about?"

Shade stared at her rather sternly. "Look, there's no point pretending you're a perfect boss..."

Dash pulled back slightly at the insult. "Excuse me?"

"...and I know you've been giving Winter a hard time recently. But for the sake of her health, I'm asking that you go easy on her, okay?"

The pegasus rubbed her forehead, finding it difficult to deal with her sleepiness and these accusations all at once. "Alright, I don't know what she's been telling you, but I have not been hard on her lately. At least, no more than usual. If anything, I should be giving her some flak. She's really been slacking lately. Just yesterday I told her to clear the storm clouds that were still lingering around downtown, but by the end of the day she'd hardly cleared up half of 'em."

"And you didn't yell at her about it or anything?" Shade asked.

Rainbow Dash plopped back onto her cloud again with her hooves behind her head. "I mean, I gave her a talking to about it, but it's not like I yelled at her or anything. I just figured she was having an off day. Can't say that's never happened to me before."

The changeling stared at her skeptically. "You didn't get mad at all? I find that hard to believe. Winter's been pretty stressed lately, and she's trying to burying that stress in food."

"So you're blaming me for your girlfriend getting fat? Real nice," she groaned sarcastically.

"Well, I can't think of any other reason why she'd be so stressed out."

"Have you tried, I don't know, asking her?"

"What am I supposed to say? 'Hey, Winter, I noticed you've been gaining weight lately.' Do you think she wants to hear that from her boyfriend?"

Rainbow Dash simply shrugged. "Sounds like your problem. If you're really that worried about her, maybe you should just tell her. If she's gonna listen to anypony, I'd think it'd be you."

Shade was prepared to retort, but stopped to think about that for a moment. Maybe Rainbow Dash had a point. He'd been so fixated on asking other people for help that he never stopped to actually consider just talking about it with Winter.

"Maybe you're right. Yeah, okay. Thanks, Rainbow Dash."

The pegasus watched as Shade flew off suddenly. She lay there in silence for a few seconds as she stared up into the sky that was gradually shifting from blue to orange. "Did I just give somepony relationship advice? Huh. Guess there's a first time for everything."

***** ***** *****

Shade shoved the front door open, trotting into his home with a determinate gait. Winter was still in the kitchen, and he was a little disappointed to see that she was still stuffing her face. In fact, the trolley that Pinkie Pie had brought over was looking shockingly barren, with only a few of each snack left on the plates. At the very least, only one slice had been taken out of the strawberry shortcake, which was currently lodged in the mouth of the gluttonous pegasus at the table.

"'Om' aw'eamy?" Winter mumbled, her words garbled by the large mouthful of cake. She swallowed the pastry and wiped the icing from her lips and cheeks, freeing up her mouth to actually speak intelligibly. "That was quick. Where'd you go?"

"Winter, I want to talk to you about something. It's important." He gestured her into the living room.

The pegasus hesitated for a moment. Something about his tone and his expression, that stern determination, had her a little worried. She stood slowly from the table, following him into the living room. He then gestured for her to sit on the couch, and she complied. Then she simply sat there, waiting in silence for him to speak. His eyes were closed and he breathed a deep sigh, clearly trying to formulate in his mind exactly what he wanted to say to her. Winter didn't have a good feeling about this. She could feel her stomach knotting tighter the longer this silence continued, until he finally spoke.

Shade opened his eyes, his emerald irises and slotted pupils carrying the same tenderness and care Winter had come to associate with his gaze, but at the same time accompanied by concern. "I think I know what's been going on with you, Winter."

Winter's ears folded back, a sense of dread falling over her. "Y-You do?"

Shade nodded, but at the same time, looked uncertain. "Well, I don't know what the exact problem is, but I've definitely noticed the effect it's had on you."

Winter lowered her head, overcome with the shame and regret that she hadn't taken Twilight and Rarity's advice.

"The eating, the vomiting, and the... well, to be blunt, the extra weight. I'm just upset that I didn't find out sooner."

Winter had to fight back the urge to cry, mentally kicking herself for putting Shade through this. "Shade, I'm so sorry. I should've told you sooner, I know, but I... I just didn't know how'd you react."

Shade breathed another sigh. "It's okay, Winter. I fully understand why you would be so reluctant to say anything about this."

Just that one sentence did wonders for the pegasus. Hearing him say that was like having an enormous weight lifted from her shoulders. A small, shaky smile managed its way onto her lips. "Shade..."

The changeling tenderly placed a hoof against her cheek, and Winter's eyes began to well up from the joy she felt that he wasn't angry or scared. He spoke softly and compassionately to her. "I just want you to know that, no matter what happens, I'm going to be here to help you through this."

Winter raised a white hoof, placing it gently upon the black one caressing her cheek.

"I'm going to help you get back on a normal, healthy diet and help you get that extra weight off."

The pegasus blinked uncomprehendingly, unsure if she had just heard him right. "Wait, what?"

Shade pulled back, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Now, first of all, I need you to tell me why exactly you've been turning to food for comfort. Once we get whatever's stressing you out cleared up, we can work on fixing up your diet and maybe even start an exercise routine together. Not that I don't think you're beautiful regardless—I'd love you if you weighed a thousand pounds—but I'm just worried about your health is all."

Winter stared at him incredulously. She simply couldn't believe what she was hearing right now. "Shade, I'm not fat."

"Winter, you don't have to deny it any more. I want to help you."

Winter stood up from the couch. Now she was just feeling insulted. "Listen, Shade, I am not getting fat."

"You're just making this more difficult, Winter. Just tell me what the problem is and we can deal with it together."

"There is no problem!" Winter argued, becoming increasingly agitated. "I'm not stressed out and I'm not getting fat!"

"Winter, please! Don't keep doing this to yourself!" Shade pleaded. "I'm only trying to help you, so just tell me why you're doing this!"

"I'm pregnant!"

And the house was suddenly filled with a thick silence.

Both of them stood there, staring at one another. Shade, confused and bewildered, not quite certain if he had heard that correctly, and Winter, cheeks red and eyes wide at the realization of what she had just inadvertently blurted out.

Shade was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. "...What?"

Winter remained quiet, staring at Shade's expression, looking for anything that might suggest that she had simply imagined that she'd said that. But everything about his face told her that she had said it. It had finally happened. She didn't even mean for it to happen, it just came out.

And so that was it; the cat was out of the bag. No point in pretending anymore.

Winter inhaled deeply, coming to terms with the fact that Shade now knew the truth. All that was left now was to wait for his reaction. "I'm pregnant," she repeated more calmly.

Shade's reaction was much the same the second time, falling silent and trying to comprehend what he was hearing.

Winter tilted her head, concerned and confused about exactly how Shade was feeling right now. "Shade?"

"That's what this was all about?" he asked quietly.

Winter rubbed her foreleg bashfully, breaking eye contact for the first time in minutes. "Well, yeah."

Shade thought back, remembering everything about the changes in Winter's behavior. "You've been like this for a while now, right? How long have you known about this?"

Winter was starting to feel ashamed of herself again, shrinking back slightly and lowering her head. "Um... A few months..." she practically whispered.

Shade was taken aback by this information, his jaw dropping in shock. "A few months?! You've known about this for that long and didn't mention it to me?!"

"I was scared, okay!" Winter shot back, her eyes once again on the verge of tears. "You were only just starting to get used to your life here! I was afraid something like this would be putting too much pressure on you and you might..." She turned away, her voice growing quiet again. "...leave me."

She felt Shade's hoof under her chin, turning her head back so that their eyes met again.

"How could you think that?" He said, his voice sounding of hurt. "You of all people should know how miserable life was back in the Changeling Kingdom. I never want to go back there, and I'm hurt that you think I'd prefer that over this. You should have just told me."

Winter's lips quivered, a shameful tear running down her cheek. "Shade, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I was just too scared. Please forgive me."

"Winter, I love you more than anything. You were the one who made me realize that love was more than just a source of power; it was a reason to keep living. I thought that you'd have more faith in me." He grabbed her hoof, holding it to his chest. "I meant what I said before: I will love you no matter what, and I will never leave your side. It's just upsetting that you wouldn't tell me."

Winter shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes and staring at him with resolute, amber eyes. "But that doesn't matter anymore, Shade!"

The changeling was surprised by the sudden shift Winter's attitude.

She grabbed hold of both of Shade's hooves, a loving and excited smile on her face. "We're gonna have a baby, Shade. Don't you get that? I'm sorry that I didn't tell you sooner, but the important thing is that you know now. What is important is that I know you're there for me, because we're going to be parents."

Shade took a moment to process that. He had been so concerned about why Winter had neglected to tell him about it that he hadn't put much thought into just what this meant for the two of them. But now that it had dawned on him, he found himself smiling as well. "We are. We're actually having a baby. This isn't some joke, right? This is actually happening?"

Winter nodded, barely able to contain her joy. She surprised even herself with how excited she suddenly was considering how much this had been tormenting her for the past few months. But now that she knew for certain that Shade was going to be there for her, she found it much easier to accept. In fact, she had been so wracked with worry, it was finally starting to hit her now just how big a deal this was. "It is! We're having a baby! I can't believe it!"

Winter threw her hooves around Shade, holding him tight and nuzzling into his neck, overwhelmed with pure joy.

Shade happily returned the hug, relishing every moment of it. But unbeknownst to the pegasus, the changeling, while overjoyed by this news, had some concerns of his own...

Chapter 3 - Biological Concerns

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 3: Biological Concerns

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Shade took a sip from his morning tea, sitting and pondering at the kitchen table as he helped himself to his breakfast of eggs and toast. Winter was still in bed, so he dined solo this morning.

It was odd; he had slept rather well that night, but for some reason, he woke up earlier than usual. Winter was still sleeping blissfully, so he didn't bother to wake her. She didn't need to work today anyway, so he figured she deserved to sleep in.

Especially now that he knew what was going on with her.

Winter was pregnant. Shade couldn't get over that. How he managed to sleep so well with that on his mind was beyond him. It was almost as if it had all been a dream, and when he awoke the next morning, everything would be back to normal. But he knew it was real, but still no less unbelievable. This mix of emotions he was going through was bizarre to him. He was happy, but at the same time confused. Surprised, but scared. But it wasn't just him. He could tell from Winter's voice the day before that she was in the same boat. In a way, that made him feel a little more comfortable with the situation, yet also a little more worried.

Am I really ready to be a parent?

It was that question that woke him up that morning. But it was more than that, too. He had so many questions, but with how unprecedented this whole scenario was, he had no idea where to look for answers.

Perhaps first and foremost would be to let somepony know about this. After all, this was big news for them. Maybe there wasn't anyway to get answers to his queries, but at the very least somepony out there might be able to offer him some advice.

Shade turned to the clock hanging on the wall. He breathed a sigh, knowing that he'd probably have to wait; six thirty in the morning may have been a little early to be making any visits.

***** ***** *****

"Chamella, can you pass me that roll of fabric?"

The female changeling did as her employer asked, lifting the heavy roll with a flash of her vibrant, neon green aura and no lack of effort.

As much as she'd been practicing using her magic as a multipurpose tool as unicorns did, she still found it difficult to manage objects weighing any more than ten pounds. Twilight had told her that changeling magic appeared to be more specialized than unicorn magic, being mostly tailored for specific spells, such as shapeshifting and hypnosis. Although, Twilight did admit that such spells were difficult for unicorns, even herself, leading her to the conclusion that the two types of magic had some significant differences at an arcane level, whatever that meant. Honestly, it all went over Chamella's head, and she tried not to think about it too much. She just continued to practice anyway since Shade had managed to make noticeable improvements over time.

The purple-maned changeling dropped the roll of fabric on the floor next to where Rarity was working, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding now that the strain was off.

"Thank you, darling." Rarity rolled out a short portion of the navy blue fabric, expertly running a pair of scissors through it and pulled the cut segment over to the sewing machine.

"Anything I can help with, sis?" asked a little, unicorn filly, standing with her front hooves on the desk where Rarity was working, perhaps a little too close to the sewing machine.

Rarity let out an ever so slightly irritated groan, motioning for her little sister to step back. "I'll let you know if I need anything, Sweetie Belle. But for now, I'd like to ask that you stand back when I'm using the sewing machine, alright?"

The small unicorn did as she was told, taking a few steps back. "Okay," she said with a persistent smile.

"It's almost lunchtime," Chamella pointed out. "Maybe I should make us all something to eat."

"A wonderful idea, dear," Rarity said with an approving grin as she worked the sewing machine. "Perhaps just a bowl of oatmeal for me."

Chamella nodded, making her way to the kitchen.

Sweetie Belle trotted close behind her. "Can I help?" she asked enthusiastically.

Chamella gave the little, white filly a smile. "Sure."

Given who Chamella not only worked with, but also lived with, it certainly wasn't uncommon for her to spend some time with Rarity's younger sister. In fact, aside from Shade and Rarity herself, Sweetie Belle was probably Chamella's closest friend. Despite the age difference, the two had some things in common. Being young still, Sweetie Belle had a lot to learn about the world and how it worked. In addition, the filly and her other friends, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, often went to Twilight to learn, with Sweetie Belle in particular still learning how to properly use her magic. Occasionally, Chamella would even join the three of them when Sweetie Belle would invite her to tag along. It was really the only time she'd do anything outside of Carousel Boutique without Shade. In a way, they were both little sisters that relied a lot on their relationships with their siblings to grow and mature.

After some time, the two of them had finished prepping their lunch, opting to join Rarity with bowls of oatmeal of their own. Chamella called Rarity into the dining room, where the three of them sat and began eating.

However, their meal was interrupted by the jingling of the front door's bell. Rarity excused herself from the table, stepping out to greet the potential customer. But it wasn't a customer at all, rather it was Ponyville's other resident changeling. Certainly not an unfamiliar sight, as he would often visit to see Chamella.

"Well, hello, Shade," Rarity greeted with a welcoming smile. "We just sat down for lunch. Would you care to join us?"

Shade shook his head. "No, thanks, I already ate."

Chamella poked her head out from the dining room, having heard Shade's voice. "Hi, Shade."

"Hey, Chamella," he greeted her quickly before turning back to Rarity. "Listen, can I talk to you about something?"

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "I suppose. Is this about what we talked about yesterday?" She placed a worried hoof over her mouth. "Oh, dear. Don't tell me it didn't go well."

"Actually, it turns out we were both wrong about Winter."

The unicorn's eyes lit up. "Oh?"

Shade scratched the back of his head, unsure of how to make it sound believable. "Well, turns out Winter hasn't been gaining weight, at least not because of overeating. She's, uh... She's pregnant."

Rarity clapped in gleeful surprise at the news. "Oh, she finally told you! Wonderful! Congratulations, darling!"

The changeling gawked for a moment. "Wait, you knew about this?"

The ivory mare pouted apologetically. "Yes, I'm afraid so. I was sworn to secrecy not to tell you."

Shade was hurt to hear this. "Why would she tell you and not me?"

"Actually, she didn't tell me. She first told Twilight, who then accidentally let it slip to Applejack and myself. I wanted so badly to tell you so I could congratulate you, but that responsibility was on Winter. I'm just so relieved to see that her fears were unfounded."

"Wait, so Winter's having a baby?" Chamella said as she approached Shade and Rarity.

"A baby?!" Sweetie Belle squealed, having overheard the conversation, and came galloping out to join the adults. "So Shade's gonna be a dad?"

"Yes, that's right," Rarity confirmed with a proud grin.

"Cool! What are you gonna name it?"

Shade stared down at the excited filly. "Name?"

"They aren't thinking about that sort of thing quite yet, Sweetie Belle," Rarity informed her.

"How's that possible?" Chamella inquired, paying no mind to Sweetie Belle's interjection.

Shade struggled to answer her. "I... I don't know. Actually, I haven't really thought about that. How is this possible?" He looked to Rarity, who seemed surprised that he thought she might have an answer.

"Oh, don't ask me, dear. I haven't the foggiest."

Sweetie Belle tilted her head in confusion. "What are you talking about, Rarity? I thought when two people loved each other, they could have a baby together. Right?"

The question suddenly made the older unicorn feel a touch uncomfortable. "Er, well, yes, but that's for two ponies, dear. Shade and Winter are completely different species."

"So? They still love each other, right? Isn't that all they need to have a baby?"

The blush on her big sister's cheeks deepened. "It's... a little more complicated than that, Sweetie Belle."

"So what's the problem?" the filly insisted, becoming annoyed and impatient with Rarity's beating around the bush.

The older unicorn let out a huff. "I am not having this conversation with you, Sweetie Belle. If you're that curious, go ask Mom."

The filly crossed her forelegs with an angry pout, but didn't bother to inquire further knowing her sister wasn't going to answer her.

"Anyway..." Rarity sighed, returning her attention to Shade and Chamella. "As I said, I've no clue how or why this is possible. Regardless, it's certainly wonderful news. I'm very happy for both of you," she congratulated with a smile.

Shade nodded in understanding. "Thanks, Rarity, but I'd still feel better if I could at least figure out if things are going to be alright."

Rarity could see the worry in Shade's eyes. She could tell there was so much on his mind right now. "Well, perhaps Twilight could shed a little light on this. She is a genius after all. Certainly if anypony would know something about this, it would be her."

Shade considered that for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, you're probably right. I don't know why I didn't think about that before. Yeah, I'll just go over and see her now."

Rarity was a little surprised to see him start leaving just like that, giving him a quick wave as he headed out the door. "Oh, well, goodbye, dear. And good luck."

Shade was so eager to get to Twilight's place that he barely took the time to shut the boutique's door behind him. However, he hadn't made it twenty feet when the door opened once more.

"Shade! Wait!"

Shade turned around, spotting Chamella hurrying over to him.

"You're just going to leave and glance over the fact that you're going to be a parent?"

"Oh. Uh, sorry, Chamella. I guess I've just got a lot on my mind right now. And, honestly, you know just as much as I do." Having said that, an idea came to him. "Hey, why don't come with me to Twilight's?"

"Huh? Oh, well, I'd like to, but I'm supposed to be working so—"

"Just go, dear," Rarity said from the door, flashing Chamella a grin. "Take an extended lunch break."

Chamella grinned gratefully. "Thank you, Rarity."

The unicorn nodded, heading back inside.

The pair of changelings started making their way to the library. However, they didn't get very far before Chamella gave Shade a curious look, noticing the indiscernible expression on his face.

"So what's the deal here?" she asked with a tilt of her head. "You don't seem very happy."

"I honestly don't know how to feel," he answered plainly. "Winter's happy. I guess that's what's important. But I just have too many questions."

"It's weird, huh? I wonder what your baby will look like."

Shade shook his head. "No clue. That's why I need to talk to Twilight. But the baby isn't the only thing I'm worried about."

"What else is there to worry about?"

Shade breathed a sigh. "Let's just get to the library," he dismissed. "It's just as well to save it for Twilight."

Chamella accepted that; no sense explaining things twice. They were almost there regardless, the large oak tree now within sight.

When they approached the library, Shade knocked on the door. The two changelings heard Twilight's voice from within, beckoning them to come inside. Shade opened the door and he and Chamella walked inside to find Twilight and her assistant Spike reorganizing one of the bookshelves.

"Hey, guys," the small dragon greeted from atop a ladder as he placed a few books back on the shelf where they belonged.

"Oh, hello. I wasn't expecting you two today," Twilight said, slightly confused. Using her magic, she materialized an organizer, flipping through its pages briefly. "I don't believe I've scheduled lessons for today." She hummed as she consulted her organizer. "Hmm... Nope." She shut the book, whisking it away with a flash of pink magic. She looked a tad disappointed, but still pleasantly surprised that her students had stopped by for a visit on their day off.

Since moving to Ponyville, both Shade and Chamella had made great strides in their education. It only took a couple of months before they were fully capable of functioning within pony society. Even so, the reason they continued with their lessons even more than a year after moving to the small town was not so much out of necessity, but rather the simple desire to learn more. And Twilight had no objections; she was happy to pass on her knowledge to anypony—or changeling—who wanted to learn. Of course, Shade had been there a little longer than Chamella and was slightly ahead of her when it came to their lessons, but she was making some pretty good progress. Their reading and writing skills were almost on par with the average adult pony, and the fact that they had learned as much as they did in such a short amount of time was fascinating to Twilight, making her even more eager to continue teaching.

"So what brings you two here?" the lavender alicorn asked with a hospitable smile.

"I need to talk to you about something," Shade informed, starting to realize just how much he'd been saying that lately; certainly a testament to just how busy his mind currently was over all of this.

Twilight nodded, gesturing to the table in the lobby. "Sure. Have a seat." She cleared a few books away, using her magic to guide them to their proper places on the shelf. As she and her guests sat down, she turned toward her reptilian assistant. "Spike, would you kindly make some tea for our visitors?"

The purple dragon gave a thumbs up. "You got it." he said, then scampered off to the kitchen.

Twilight turned back to her guests, admittedly a little enthusiastic to just sit down and have a casual conversation with them. "So..." she started, her hooves resting on the table in anticipation. "What did you want to talk about?"

Shade noticed the look on Twilight's face. That knowing smile of hers seemed to suggest that she already had an idea of what Shade was going to say. "I have a feeling you've already figured that out," he stated.

Twilight giggled happily. "Yes, I can tell by your tone and expression. Winter finally told you then?"

Shade gave her an affirmative nod. "Yeah. She's pregnant."

"And you have some concerns, I take it," she inferred.

The male changeling turned his gaze away slightly, causing Twilight's smile to fade. "Yeah..."

Seeing the seriousness in his expression, Twilight could tell that his concerns may be a little more severe than she had initially suspected. "Shade, please tell me that Winter's fears were unfounded."

"Of course they are," Shade confirmed with steadfast resolution. "She already told me that she was worried this news might scare me away, and I told her that I'll stay by her side no matter what." He took a deep breath. "That being said, that doesn't mean I'm not a little scared myself."

"That's understandable. The prospect of being a parent can be pretty scary."

The conversation was interrupted suddenly by a knock at the door. The trio sitting at the table watched as it opened and the crimson mane of a certain pegasus poked in.

Shade was surprised to see her here. "Winter?"

"Oh, you are here," Winter said with a smile as she stepped inside. "Rarity said you two came over here."

"Actually, this is good timing," Twilight said. "Shade was about to voice his concerns about being a parent. It seems like a topic that both of you should be involved in."

"That's a good idea. Come over here, Winter." Shade pat the floor, signaling her to sit next to him.

As Winter sat down, Spike reentered the room with a tray holding a teapot, sugar bowl, milk, and three cups. However, noticing that they now had an additional guest, he hurried back into the kitchen, retrieved one more cup, and returned to the foyer, placing the tray upon the table. Twilight gave the dragon a quick "Thank you" before he went back to his duty of reordering the bookshelves.

Shade held Winter's hoof in his, staring into her eyes apologetically. "I'm sorry I came to Twilight about this instead of talking to you about it, but I don't think you'd be able to give me the answers I'm looking for."

"That's okay, Shade," Winter said with a soft smile. "We're both a little nervous. I could use a little reassurance myself."

"Need I remind you that I am not a parent," Twilight interjected, looking a little insulted. "I can't exactly tell you how to be a parent. I don't have that kind of experience." She glanced over to the dragon standing atop the nearby ladder. "Well, not in the traditional sense anyway. I'll offer what I can, but I'm not making any promises."

"Actually, that's not exactly what I want to talk about," Shade corrected.

Twilight, as well as Winter, raised an eyebrow. "It's not? Then what else could you be concerned about?"

Shade glanced at Winter, specifically her stomach, where their child was slowly incubating. He turned back to Twilight. "I want to know if this is even safe for her."

"Safe?" Twilight echoed.

"He has a point," Winter added. "I know we talked about this a little before, Twilight, but we have no idea how exactly this foal is going to turn out."

Twilight closed her eyes, placing a hoof upon her chin in thought. "Hmm... To be honest, I've been thinking about this myself. It's just so fascinating to me," she said with a whimsical twinkle in her eye. "Just think about it. Your foal is going to be the first half-pony-half-changeling in history. A... halfling, if you will. Pretty clever, huh?"

Her three guests simply sat quietly, the princess's enthusiasm over the situation in stark contrast to their own feelings.

Twilight took notice of their unease, clearing her throat awkwardly as she attempted to get to her point. "In any case, as I've said, I've been putting some thought into this. My main problem is that I couldn't get any information until Winter actually revealed that she was pregnant. But now that she has..." With a flash of magic, the alicorn produced a piece of parchment, as well as a quill and inkwell. "...I have some questions of my own."

"Can't it wait?" Shade asked, admittedly a touch irritated that she had twisted the conversation toward her own ends. "We'd really like some piece of mind over here."

"Have patience," Twilight told them, dipping the large quill into the inkwell, staining its tip black. "My hope is that the answers you provide me might help me quell your worries. I just need information about changeling biology so that I can compare it to ours. Now..." She readied the quill, holding it above the parchment. "Shall we get started?"

Shade and Winter shared unsure looks, but in hopes of actually getting some answers and reassurance, they agreed to let Twilight conduct her questionnaire.

It's not as though Shade wasn't accustomed to Twilight inquiring about changelings and their society. Ever since Shade and Chamella had started living in Ponyville—even before that, in fact—she'd developed a keen interest in them. This was partly due to her wanting as much information as she could get so that perhaps Equestria could be prepared in case Chrysalis staged another siege, but it was mostly out of her morbid curiosity and her need to expand her knowledge. For these reasons Twilight had steadily been working on a research paper that she was hoping to one day have published and make all facets of changeling life public knowledge now that they knew the threat was out there. And she could not have been more fortunate to have two changelings she could go to for that information. Shade and Chamella were more than willing to help her out whenever she had a question; they, too, hoped to avoid any future altercations with their own people, and if this was one way to help, they were happy to contribute.

"First question," Twilight started with an eager smile. "What is the gestation period for a changeling fetus?"

The two changeling's stared blankly at the lavender mare. Chamella, especially, looked confused. "'Gestation period'?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes. In other words, how long is a female changeling pregnant before she gives birth?"

Shade and Chamella shared confused glances.

The alicorn didn't quite know how to simplify it any further. "For... example, a pony will give birth after eleven months. Does that help?"

There was an audible groan from nearby, where Spike already had his claw on the doorknob, ready to excuse himself to evade the off-putting conversation. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna go hang out with Rarity for a while," he grumbled.

Chamella turned her eyes up as she thought about Twilight's question. "Oh. Well, it's a little difficult to say. We didn't really count the days or anything when we lived out there, but I'd say, um... a week, maybe?"

Both Twilight's and Winter's mouths dropped open. "Wait, a week?"

"At most," Chamella added with an unsure shrug. "At least, that's the longest it's been for me. I can't speak for other female changelings."

Twilight held up a hoof, looking puzzled. "So let me get this straight, female changelings get pregnant, then give birth only a week later?"

Chamella rocked her head side to side as she tried to explain. "Well, we don't really 'give birth.' We mate, find a nursery in the hive, create an egg sac, and implant the egg in the egg sac. Then the larva just grows there until it's born."

"Oh. Well, I guess that kind of makes sense," Winter said, recalling her own past run-in with baby changelings.

Twilight's face lit up with curious wonder, furiously jotting down notes on the parchment. "Fascinating..." she mumbled to herself. "Who'd have thought the differences between us would be so stark? It only makes this whole scenario all the more baffling."

Winter's eyes widened suddenly. "Hold on, back up a minute." She turned to Chamella. "Did you say that you went through this, too?"

"Well, yeah. A few times," the purple-maned changeling answered.

Twilight looked up from her parchment, her ears perking up. "Wait, you mean you're a mother?!"

Their shock made Chamella feel a tad uncomfortable. She figured this was something Shade might have already mentioned. "I-I guess, yeah. I mean, I've mated and laid eggs, so I suppose I'm technically a parent."

Twilight had to let that revelation sink in for a moment. "Wow. I never would've thought you'd be that kind of mare."

Chamella turned away, suddenly feeling ashamed of something she had never really seen as abnormal.

Winter shifted her gaze to Shade. "What about you?"

Shade was caught off guard by the question, not feeling comfortable with the hurt look in her eyes. "You've seen me during the mating season. It was really the first time I'd ever actually fought against those urges. It's just a part of our lives. I guess I've never really thought too hard about it until now, but I guess we both have offspring out there somewhere. It's instinctual."

Winter turned her eyes downward. "Oh. Okay."

Shade leaned forward, trying to read the expression on her face. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

She looked up into his emerald eyes, trying her best to smile. "No, no, I'm not mad. That was another part of your life. It's in the past."

Twilight glanced between the two changelings. "Um... Out of curiosity, you two haven't... you know... with each other, have you?"

"Huh?" Shade briefly turned to Chamella, then to Twilight, frantically waving his hooves in denial. "No! Absolutely not!" He looked straight into Winter's eyes. "I swear we haven't."

Winter furrowed her brow a little bit, looking through Shade and toward Chamella. "Glad to hear it."

"Shade and I always made sure we were nowhere near each other when we knew the mating season was coming around," Chamella clarified.

"I guess that speaks to just how different you two really are compared to other changelings, huh?" Twilight commented.

Shade raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you said that you've never resisted those urges before, but clearly you have. You willingly tried to avoid being around one another during the mating season so that your friendship wouldn't get, for lack of a better word, weird."

Shade shrugged. "Maybe. But then again, having friends isn't exactly commonplace for changelings to begin with. Some of us stick in pairs for survival's sake, but the moment things get rough they turn on each other. You guys saw that for yourself with Guise."

"Which further proves that you two are different," Twilight said with a smile. "But we're getting off topic. Let's get back to your baby, shall we?" She gave her quill another dip in the inkwell. "Hypothetically speaking, should your foal be born as a typical changeling baby, would that really change anything? I mean, you'd still love it regardless, right? And you guys have proven that changelings can be normal people, too."

All three of them looked a little uneasy about the prospect. Shade spoke for the group. "That was one of the other concerns that I had. Changeling larvae are... not like ponies. They're not even like grown changelings."

Twilight's eyes shone with curiosity. "How so?"

"Changeling larvae run on pure instinct," Chamella answered. "All they think about is food, and they'll do anything to get it. They're violent and vicious. They're basically just wild animals."

Twilight was certainly surprised to hear that, her own expression beginning to show signs of concern. "Really?"

Winter shuddered at the thought of it. "I've seen it with my own eyes. A hundred baby changelings all trying to sink their fangs into me. It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life."

"Only about half the larvae in a given cluster will actually survive though," Shade added. "If they can't find any food, they just cannibalize each other."

Twilight blanched at the mental image of a hundred baby changelings tearing one another apart.

"If there's any consolation, once their full they calm down, and it only takes around a year before they actually start developing their intelligence and personalities. Still though, even adults try to keep their distance from them."

"Almost as though they go through some sort of metamorphosis, huh?" Twilight commented. "Appropriate, given your insect-like bodies. But it's hard to believe that even you two were once like that yourselves."

Winter tried her hardest to not picture Shade ripping into another changelings flesh. But the alternative thought in her mind wasn't any more pleasant. "Twilight, what if our baby turns out like them? What if it's just a violent and uncontrollable drone?"

Twilight could see that Winter was becoming increasingly hysterical as these thoughts continued to pervade her mind. The alicorn scratched her head, trying to come up with a solution. "I suppose that's just something you'll have to prepare for. Shade did say that they're a little more manageable with full stomachs and they start to grow out of their animalistic behavior after a while. I guess you could just stick it out for the first year."

"No offense, Twilight, but that's not exactly comforting," Winter said with a sigh, her ears folding back.

Twilight rubbed her temple. She was starting to get somewhat frustrated with this whole situation. She was glad to give them advice, but it was hard to give anything concrete when there was so much uncertainty. "Look, we can talk about this all we want and not get anywhere. When it comes right down to it, this is just a waiting game; we won't really know anything for certain until the baby is born."

Winter ran an exhausted hoof through her mane. "So we really do just have to sit and stew over this for the next eleven months." She let out a long sigh. "I guess my only hope is that maybe it'll actually be a little shorter than that."

"Not necessarily," Twilight reassured. "There's actually a pretty simple way to get some answers: just go see a doctor. There's a chance that it might turn out how we just talked about, but there's also the possibility that it won't. At least this way you'll know and can be prepared for it."

Winter's eyes widened. "You're right." She stood up, a smile finally managing its way onto her face. "That's actually a great idea. In fact, I'm going to go make an appointment right now. Thanks, Twilight."

And with that, she stepped out the door, leaving the alicorn with the two changelings.

"Not a problem," Twilight said, but not managing to get it out quick enough for the pegasus to actually hear. She looked back at Shade. "I guess you want to go with her. You're probably just as curious, huh?"

"Actually, there's something else I want to talk about." Shade glanced toward the door. "It might even be better for Winter to not be here for this."

Twilight could sense the seriousness in his voice. Whatever was on his mind must have been even more concerning than everything they'd talked about thus far. She sat quietly, listening intently to Shade's plight in hopes that it wasn't as bad as he made it sound.

Shade hesitated to speak, unsure if this was something he should even bring up at all. He was just so worried that there would be nothing he could do about it. "I..." he started, but paused, not making eye contact with Twilight. He took a breath. He needed to get Twilight's input, otherwise it would eat away at him until the baby was born.

"I don't know if I can be a father."

That sounded concerning. Twilight took a moment to contemplate what exactly he meant by that.

"What do you mean, Shade?" Chamella asked with a tilt of her head.

"I mean I'm a changeling. You said it yourself, Chamella, changelings mate, lay eggs, and that's that. We don't really take care of our offspring. We've never needed to."

"But that's for changelings," Twilight interjected. "We don't know yet if that's going to be the case for your baby."

"It's not the baby I'm concerned about. It's me." Shade lowered his gaze to the floor, his emerald eyes wracked with worry and shame. "Changelings may not have any parental instincts to speak of. What if, when our baby is born, even if it turns out to be a normal, pony foal, I feel nothing when I look at it? No desire to care for or nurture it; no love for it; no attachment to it whatsoever. And what would Winter think when she found out that the father of her child can't bring himself to care for it?"

Twilight closed her eyes, letting Shade's words simmer in her mind for a moment as she analyzed them. Shade finally looked up at her, somewhat confused by her expression. He'd expected her to be showing more sympathy and offer some comforting words.

"Honestly, I think this is yet another instance of something you're just going to have to wait and see about. Sorry I can't offer anything more than that, but that's just the way it is."

The male changeling let out a disappointed sigh. "I see... But I'm going to have to bring this up to Winter, even if she might hate me for it."

"Now, there's no need to be so down on yourself about it," Twilight said to try and reassure him. "While it's true that we won't know for certain for some time, I personally feel that you have nothing to worry about on that front."

Shade raised an eyebrow, a small spark of hopeful optimism developing. "How do you figure?"

The princess gave him a comforting smile, as he had grown accustomed to seeing when going to her for advice. "Well, you've shown over the past year that you're capable of defying what limitations you thought changelings had. You thought that changelings couldn't make friends, but you have Chamella and even me, a pony. You thought changelings weren't capable of loving another, yet you fell for Winter. We all thought that changelings and ponies couldn't propagate, but here you are, expecting a child."

Shade stared in quiet contemplation about all of that. Those words were managing to subjugate the worries and fears that had plagued him ever since Winter told him she was pregnant. Maybe this was just another one of Twilight's theories, but given the evidence, there may have been some truth there. And with that truth came hope. Hope that he could be the father that their child needed.

Chamella smiled, seeing the confidence in Shade's face rising. She was relieved to see that he wasn't going to let this get him down too much, even if the possibility that they were wrong, however small it may have been, still existed.

Shade nodded, grateful for Twilight's words, even if she couldn't give anything absolute. He gave her a grin. "Thanks, Twilight. That makes me feel a little better."

Twilight smiled back, looking Shade straight in the eyes. "Believe me, Shade, I have full confidence that you and Winter can handle this as long as you're willing to put in the work. It's not going to be easy, but I know you have what it takes."

Shade stood up, taking a breath as he did so. "I think I better go see how Winter's doing. We have more to talk about, I think. Thanks again, Twilight." And with that, he excused himself, stepping out the front door.

Chamella stood up as well, passing a grateful grin of her own to Twilight. "I should get going, too. I'm only supposed to be on a lunch break, so should get back before Rarity gets mad."

"Alright. And make sure to send Spike back here, would you? He's not getting out of helping me organize these books."

***** ***** *****

Shade turned off the water in the shower, stepping out and grabbing a towel with his neon green magic to dry himself off. He vigorously scrubbed his soggy mane before turning his attention to the rest of his body, which didn't take long to dry.

Winter had voiced on several occasions how she envied Shade for not having a coat of fur. She'd sometimes complain that it could be difficult to clean and was a real hassle when it was wet. Shade's chitinous skin was smooth and harder than a pony's, making it quick and easy to clean and wash. Conversely, Shade was a little jealous as well; a warm coat would have been a blessing for he and the other changelings back in the Changeling Kingdom to protect them from the biting winds of their perpetual autumn weather. That being said, not having a coat of fur made snuggling into her at night all the more pleasant for him, although he couldn't imagine she felt the same way, but she's never complained about it.

Shade stepped out of the bathroom, still running the towel over his head to dry his still damp mane as much as he could. He sauntered absentmindedly downstairs, glancing around the living room, but seeing nothing and nopony.

Winter still hadn't come back from the hospital. Since he'd left Twilight's, he'd been sitting at home, waiting for his ivory lover to return with news, whether it be good or bad. In addition to that, he needed to tell her what he had told Twilight earlier. Admittedly, he was getting a little impatient and antsy. He had gotten a shower to simply pass the time, and now he was contemplating putting together something to eat, maybe make something for Winter for when she got back.

The changeling headed into the kitchen. But just as he opened the fridge door, the front door also opened. Shade decided to forego his meal and instead focus on Winter, who had finally come home. He quickly trotted over to her side, tossing the towel sitting on his head aside.

"Well?" he asked with concern and curiosity. "What's the news?"

Winter simply let out a frustrated sigh. "There is no news. Not yet anyway. I made an appointment for a checkup in a couple of days."

"And that'll help us figure out whether the baby is changeling or pony?"

Winter shrugged. "I don't know, but it'll be something at the very least." The pegasus plopped herself down on the couch, letting her body sink into the cushions and letting out another sigh. "I guess all we can do now is hope for the best."

Shade sat down beside her and draped a hoof over her shoulders, prompting her to rest her head against his neck. As much as he didn't want to sully this cozy moment, or pile even more onto their already rather large list of concerns, he had to let her know. "Winter, listen, there's something else I need to warn you about."

"It can't be any worse than everything else," she mumbled.

"There's a possibility that I may not be capable of caring for our foal."

Winter lifted her head from Shade's neck, her expression a mixture of hurt and worry. "What?"

Shade could tell how she felt without even looking at her, and it was pretty much exactly the reaction he expected. "What I mean is that changelings don't raise their young; they're fully capable of taking care of themselves the moment they're born. So it's not in a changeling's nature to take care of children." He looked Winter in the eye. "I may not have the parental instincts that I need to love our baby."

Winter closed her eyes, laying her head back onto his neck. "I guess there's a lot we don't know. We're just going to have to wait and see for sure, huh?"

Shade looked down at her peaceful face. "You're not upset?"

She shook her head lightly, her silky, crimson mane brushing lightly against Shade's ebony skin. "At this point, there's no reason to be upset about stuff we can't be sure about."

"I want you to know that, even if I'm not able to love the baby, I still love you. And as long as I love you, I'll be here to help you through this."

Winter smiled into his neck. "I know. To be honest, I'm not worried about that. If you can love me, you can love our kid."

Shade smiled as well when he heard that. "Twilight said the same thing. Maybe you're both right. Maybe I'm worried about nothing."

She snuggled into him more deeply, pushing him down onto the couch and lying on top of him. Shade didn't mind the extra weight anymore, now that he knew the real reason for it. In fact, as he looked up into her soft, amber eyes, his worries just sort of faded away for the moment, letting him enjoy her embrace.

She grinned down on him before laying her head onto his chest and closing her eyes. "Guess we'll find out eventually, hm?"

Chapter 4 - Learning From Experience

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 4: Learning From Experience

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Winter Maple threw the front door open, letting the rays of the morning sun bathe her. She extended her white wings, stretching her muscles after a wonderful night's sleep. She gazed up into the sky, shielding her amber eyes from the intense, yet soothing, sunlight, smiling enthusiastically.

It had been a while since she'd been in such a good mood. All the stress over the baby had gotten the better of her as of late, and even though most of her questions regarding it had yet to be answered, for some reason her mind was pretty clear this morning. Her appointment at the hospital wasn't for a few days, but it was as if she had somehow managed to convince herself that everything was going to turn out just fine. She just couldn't explain it, but she certainly wasn't complaining. Even just one day without worrying herself silly over this was more than welcome. She was ready for a rigorous day at work.

Winter pranced happily toward the center of town, where she knew Rainbow Dash was going to be as she prepared for the day ahead. The sky was pretty clear already, but there was always work for the Ponyville Weather Team. Sure enough, the cyan pegasus was flapping about above the town fountain, scoping out the skies above town.

"Good morning, Rainbow Dash!" Winter beckoned with a hearty wave. She flapped her wings, finding some slight difficulty in getting off the ground to go and meet up with her rainbow-maned supervisor.

Rainbow Dash saw the ivory pegasus lift off and immediately zipped down in a hurry before Winter could get more than a few feet up. "Whoa, whoa! What're you doing?"

Winter halted her flight, staring at Dash in confusion. "What do you mean? I'm getting ready for work."

"Oh no you don't," Rainbow Dash ordered, carefully guiding the other pegasus back to the ground. "Rarity told me what's up. You're pregnant."

Word had certainly spread fast, Winter thought. "Yeah, so what's that got to do with—"

"Are you kidding? You can't be working this job while you're pregnant. It's too dangerous. We, as full grown pegasi, can take a few zaps from a storm cloud, but that foal in your belly definitely can't. And what if something happened to you while you were flying? That's a pretty long drop from up there, and I saw how you struggled just to get off the ground."

Winter's eyes widened. How had that not occurred to her until now? She was well aware that she had been a little lacking in her workload lately, but she had simply believed that the extra weight was slowing her down. This entire time she had unknowingly been putting her unborn child's very life in jeopardy.

"Oh my gosh, you're right. I-I can't believe I never thought about that."

"To be honest, I'm pretty ticked off that you didn't tell me. I'm not going to be the one held responsible if a stray bolt hits you and scrambles your kid."

The mental image was certainly not appreciated, but Rainbow Dash definitely had a point. "So what do I do? How am I supposed to work if I can't... work?"

Dash shrugged, but wore a slight grin. "Simple: you don't. Starting right now, you're on maternity leave. No ifs, ands, or buts. And don't worry about it, you're job'll still be here when you're ready to come back. Oh, and word of advice: you might wanna stay grounded during the pregnancy. Don't take any chances."

"You seem pretty knowledgeable about this despite not being a parent yourself," Winter joked.

"Just one of my duties as weather manager." She brushed a hoof through her mane with a proud smirk. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm pretty good at my job. Now, go on home. We'll try and handle things without you. Oh, and congrats."

Winter gave her boss a grateful smile. "Alright. Thanks, Rainbow Dash."

With that, the cyan pegasus took off once more to return to work. Winter, now left alone, stood around for a minute before she realized that she now had nowhere to be. So she figured she may as well just listen to Rainbow Dash and head home, and that's what she did.

It was kind of a weird thought. The entire reason she moved to Ponyville in the first place was this job, but now she couldn't work at all. For the remainder of her pregnancy, and even a little thereafter, she'd basically just be a stay-at-home mom. It wasn't a position she'd ever pictured herself in, but here she was. She laughed to herself quietly, wondering how the hay she was going to occupy herself for the next several months.

When she made it home, Winter immediately bumped into Shade as she opened the front door.

"Hey, fancy running into you here," the pegasus joked with a giggle.

Shade gave her a puzzled look. "Winter? What're you doing here? I thought you left for work."

"I did. Turns out I can't do my job while I'm pregnant; it's too dangerous for the foal. So I'm on maternity leave."

"'Maternity leave'?" the changeling echoed with a raised eyebrow.

"It just means that I'm off work until I have the baby, maybe even a little after. So I guess we're going to have to scrape by on your paycheck for a while."

"Is that bad?" he asked with a touch of worry.

Winter giggled, giving Shade a quick peck on the cheek as she stepped into the house. "Nah, we'll be fine." She took notice of how Shade seemed to be preparing to leave, hence why she had coincidentally bumped into him as she arrived. "You going somewhere?"

"I was just going to go pay Chamella a visit."

"Oh, okay. But listen..."

Shade stopped as he was about to leave to hear what she wanted to say.

"Before you go, I need to discuss something with you."

Shade, seeing as how this sounded important, shut the door. Considering how their discussions as of late tended to revolve around one particular subject, he was understandably concerned. "What's on your mind?"

Winter could see the compassion in his eyes and gave him a smile to alleviate his worries. "It's nothing serious. I've just been thinking that it's about time we tell my parents about the baby. It is their grandchild after all."

Shade's expression became noticeably reluctant. "Your parents?"

"Yeah, so I was thinking we could invite them here for dinner sometime within the next few days, preferably after my appointment at the hospital, and give them the good news." It was now that she noticed the involuntary grimace on Shade's fanged lips, and Winter let out a sigh. "Don't give me that look, Shade. They're my parents; we have to tell them."

"I know, but do I necessarily need to be there for it?" he attempted to argue.

The pegasus gave the reluctant changeling a corrective scowl. "You are not wriggling your way out of this. If I'm going to tell my parents that I'm having a baby, you are going to be there with me."

Shade gestured with his hoof for her to calm down. "Alright, alright, I get it."

Winter placed a hoof sympathetically on his shoulder. "Trust me, you're not the only one who gets a little stressed out when you know they're coming. Just try to enjoy yourself."

"Easier said than done," Shade grumbled. He turned back toward the door. "I'm going to head out now."

"Sure. But don't be gone too long. I'm going to need company now that I have nothing to do with my time."

The changeling gave her a nod before stepping outside, leaving Winter by herself. And without Shade around anymore, she stood in the middle of the house, glancing around as she tried to think. Sure, she'd had free time even while she still had her job, but for some reason, now that she didn't, it suddenly seemed like it was much more difficult to find something to do. She shrugged to herself, figuring now was as good a time as ever to write that invitation to her parents. She went to the kitchen, riffling through a drawer of odds and ends until she found some paper, an envelope, and a pencil, then sat at the kitchen table to begin writing.

She certainly understood why Shade was so reluctant to see her parents. Over the past year, they'd received a few visits from them, but they were rarely pleasant for Shade. Her mother, Autumn Maple, wasn't an issue. She was friendly, enthusiastic, and, perhaps most of all, very accepting of the fact that Shade was a changeling. In a lot of ways, she and Winter were pretty alike; they even looked similar.

The real problem was Winter's father, Nimbus. When Shade had first met him—even before he met him, as Winter had told Shade about him—Nimbus was rather elitist and was against the idea of his daughter dating somepony who was not a pegasus, let alone a changeling. He had gotten better about that with subsequent visits, or at the very least had been keeping his comments to himself, but it was still pretty evident that he was not entirely accepting of the fact that his daughter was dating a changeling. Both Shade and Winter could only imagine how he'd react to hearing that they were having a baby.

Winter finished up the letter, folding it up and slipping it into an envelope. All that she had to do now was bring it down to the post office and mail it.

But the moment she opened the front door to head out, she once again found herself bumping into somepony on the other side. This time, however, it was not Shade, but by some inexplicable coincidence, Ponyville's resident mailmare: a grey-coated, blonde-maned, wall-eyed pegasus wearing her beige, post office uniform and a big, friendly grin.

"Oh, Derpy, hi," Winter greeted with a surprised smile.

"Hello!" she chirped back cheerily.

"This is actually good timing. Like, ridiculously good timing. I was just about to head down to the post office to mail this letter," Winter informed, holding up the envelope.

"Oh? Well, I can take it back for you if you want," Derpy offered.

Winter considered that for a moment before shaking her head. "Nah, I'll just bring it myself. I have time to kill." She tilted her head at the other pegasus, suddenly realizing something. "Oh, wait, did you come over for something?"

"Oh, right!" Derpy, finally remembering why she came by, removed an envelope of her own from her mailbag, passing it to Winter. "This letter got mixed up at the post office. I was supposed to deliver it this morning. Sorry about that," she apologized with an embarrassed grin.

Winter waved off the error. "Don't worry about it. No biggie." She then actually looked at from whom the letter was sent. "Wait a minute, this is from the hospital."

"The hospital? Oh, that's right! I heard through the grapevine that you were pregnant! Congratulations!" Derpy said as Winter tore the envelope open. But realizing that the letter could be something serious, her tone turned more concerned. "Th-There's no problem, is there?"

Winter quickly scanned the letter before returning it to the envelope and dropping it on the side table beside the door with a sigh. "No, they're just letting me know they had to push back my appointment. Shade and I have had some... concerns about the baby," she explained.

The wall-eyed mare gave a tender smile. "I'm sure things'll be fine."

"I hope so," Winter mumbled, sighing again. "Anyway, I gotta mail this letter."

"Mind if I come with?" Derpy asked. "I gotta head back and get ready to clock out."

"Sure," the ivory mare agreed, stepping out and shutting the door behind her.

For the first several minutes, the pair of pegasi walked in relative silence, with the only sound between them being Derpy's happy humming. The two of them weren't exactly strangers, but they weren't too well acquainted either. There have been specific circumstances that had brought the two of them together in the past, but nothing that really caused them to become close.

However, now that Winter was looking at the carefree, grinning face of the bubbly mare, a thought occurred to her.

"Derpy, you're a mom, right?"

She nodded. "Mm-hm. My little Dinky is my whole world. Why?"

"Well, until now the only advice I've asked for about being a mom has been from Rarity or Twilight. I haven't actually sought advice from another mother."

"Not even your own mom?"

Winter held up her sealed letter. "That's what this is for. I'm inviting my parents over to tell them the big news. But that's still a few days away yet, and now that my appointment's been delayed, I'm getting kinda desperate for reassurance."

At this point, they had made it to the post office and stopped at the entrance. Winter looked to Derpy, the desperation she mentioned visually evident.

"I just need to ask: what's it like being a mom?"

"What's it like?" Derpy's one off-center eye managed to straighten out, her face exuding compassion and sympathy. "Well, it's not easy, I'll say that much. There's gonna be sleepless nights, big messes, and the fear that anything could go wrong at any moment. It can be pretty overwhelming to suddenly become responsible for another pony's life."

Winter's ears folded back. That wasn't exactly the reassurance she was hoping for.

However, Derpy's mouth curled up into a soft, fond smile. "That being said, I can't imagine my life without my little muffin. Being a mom may be hard, but it's been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. All of the stress, all of the worry, and all of the doubt might take its toll on you, but it's all worth it just to see your baby smile. Those are the moments where you'll realize that being a mom is the best thing you'll ever do with your life."

Hearing that, Winter managed to smile again. Although she wasn't looking forward to all of the hardships she was going to have to deal with, it was still comforting to hear regardless. "Thanks, Derpy. I needed to hear that. Hopefully I can manage it."

Derpy's eyes returned to their usual state of unfocus. "No problem. And you'll be fine. If a klutz like me can be a successful, single mom, then you and Shade shouldn't have any real issues as long as you work together."

"Maybe you're right," Winter giggled. "I'm probably worried over nothing. Anyway, I should probably get a stamp for this letter."

Derpy took the letter from Winter's hoof. "Let me handle that. It's my job after all." Derpy went to go inside the post office, but turned around to look at Winter one last time. "And if you need any more tips on being a mom, I'm always willing to share my wisdom. I'm not good at a lot of things, but I'm proud to call myself a good mom," she laughed.

"Will do," Winter said with a friendly grin before starting back home.

***** ***** *****

Shade let out a yawn, providing some noise in the otherwise silent household. But while the house was devoid of sound for the most part, it was not devoid of smell. The kitchen was thick with the smell of batter and fresh fruit and berries. Shade was busy fixing up a nice brunch for not only himself and Winter, but also her parents, who were expected to arrive pretty soon.

Winter could never decide what she wanted to make for her parents whenever they came to visit—or rather, could never decide what she wanted Shade to make; she didn't want her mom and dad to show up to a sub-par meal, so she thought it best that the better cook should handle it. But given her recent cravings for sweet treats over the past few months, she settled on a nice helping of pancakes, smothered in maple syrup and whipped cream, and topped with strawberries and blueberries. Not exactly a traditional or fancy meal, but Shade certainly knew how to make a mean short stack.

The pegasus herself was busy getting cleaned up upstairs. Combing her mane, preening her feathers, and making sure her coat was kempt and free of knots. It was always a habit for her to make sure she was presentable for her parents, especially her dad. He was a difficult man to impress, but she liked to try her darnedest.

Satisfied that she looked alright, Winter left the bathroom and approached the vanity in their bedroom. She gave herself one last once over in the vanity mirror now that she had the natural light shining through the bedroom window, but her true purpose at the vanity was a small, black case tucked away in one of the drawers.

Winter removed the case gently, an involuntary smile spreading across her lips. She unclasped the gold latch and flipped open the velvet case. Inside, the sunlight sparkling off of its pristine surface, was a diamond necklace cut in the shape of a snowflake with asymmetrical halves. Winter held it up, letting it dangle from her hoof, and watched the snowflake slowly rotate at the end of its silver chain. She couldn't help but feel her heart fill with emotion every time she looked at it.

It was the necklace Shade had given her the first time he told her he loved her. Like most couples, it was a very important moment in their relationship. However, it perhaps meant even more in their case. Until then, changelings—Shade included—weren't even sure if they were capable of falling in love. He very well may have been the first changeling in history to ever say "I love you" and genuinely mean it.

But it wasn't just that. She knew its asymmetrical shape was symbolic. His words explaining it stuck in her mind ever since that day: "How two beings that have no right being together can live in perfect harmony." This necklace did more than just remind her how much they loved one another, but also represented the hurdles they'd overcome in pursuit of their relationship and even gave her hope that, some day, Shade wouldn't be the only changeling to achieve that level of happiness.

Winter felt a little guilty. Although she had worn it everyday since he'd given it to her, that was only the case until recently. For the past several months she'd decided it best to not wear it everywhere she went. Sure, it was extremely important to her, but it was because it was important to her that she'd stopped wearing it. She had lost it once when she went to find Shade in the Changeling Kingdom, she didn't want to lose it again. It meant too much to her to risk losing it again, so she simply opted to keep it safe in its case at home. However, she still liked to bring it out for special occasions, hence why she was admiring it now.

Winter slipped the necklace around her neck, letting its diamond body rest against her chest. She let out a wistful sigh, missing the feeling of it against her coat. If there was any consolation to not wearing it regularly anymore, it was that she could enjoy it so much more when she finally did. Just putting it on brought her back to that fateful moment in their relationship. It was funny to think back on it now, remembering that she didn't even know Shade was a changeling at the time.

Pleased with how she looked, Winter went downstairs to join Shade. She could have made it down blindfolded thanks to the sweet smell of pancakes and syrup guiding her by the nose. It was all she could do to stop herself from devouring them now, her temptations difficult to resist thanks to her growing "passenger." She stood at the threshold to the kitchen, grinning and grabbing Shade's attention.

"How do I look?" the pegasus asked, tossing her mane and posing in an attempt to look elegant and sophisticated.

Rather than comment on her perfect mane or shiny coat, Shade's eyes immediately fell upon the jewel around her neck and smiled fondly. "You got the necklace out, huh?"

"Well, it's a special occasion. It's not everyday you get to surprise your parents with a grandchild." Having said that, the grin faded from Winter's mouth, a small sigh taking its place. "Still, I wish the timing could've been better. It kinda sucks that my appointment got rescheduled for the same day my parents are showing up."

"How are we gonna handle this?" Shade asked her.

Winter shook her head in resignation. "We're just gonna have to do both. I don't have to be at the hospital until later, so we can have dinner with Mom and Dad, give them the big news, and then I'll go to my appointment."

"You can't just ask to push back the appointment 'til tomorrow or something?"

"It's not that easy. Besides, do you want to wait even longer to get some answers?"

Shade grimaced at the thought. As far as he was concerned, they've been left to wonder about it long enough. "Fair point. But what about this dinner? Couldn't you just ask your parents to come another day? I mean, it's not like you're gonna have the baby anytime soon, right?"

"That would require me to write another letter to them. And considering they're already on their way right now, that'd be pretty pointless. And I'm not gonna just tell 'em to go back home when they came all the way out here. Plus, I want this to be a surprise for them. They might get suspicious if I just send them home."

"Not to mention all of these pancakes would go to waste," Shade joked, pointing to the two dozen or so pancakes being kept warm in the oven.

"Trust me, they would not go to waste," Winter said with a somewhat embarrassed chuckle, her statement punctuated by a growl from her hungry tummy. "But maybe this is actually good timing."

"How so?"

"It's just as well that my parents find out what's up with our baby when we do. Otherwise we'd have to break the potentially bad news to them over another dinner. That could be kind of uncomfortable."

Shade shrugged indifferently. As cozy as he'd gotten living amongst ponies, he still hadn't gotten a firm grasp on the more social aspects of pony life. Sometimes the choices that they made puzzled him when it came to dealing with situations regarding other people. Shade was more of an individual who would speak his mind in those types of scenarios, questioning the methods and reasons that other people used when he figured a direct approach would suffice. The only pony he really used any sort of tact with was Winter, for obvious reasons. That being the case, he typically trusted Winter's judgment when it came to this stuff, so if she thought this course of action was preferable, he was willing to go along with it.

"So you think they're gonna like this news? The baby, I mean," Shade asked her.

Winter sighed with a hopeful smile. "I really hope so. It'd be really disheartening if my parents weren't excited about the prospect of being grandparents. At first, I thought they might lecture me about this and call me irresponsible. But I'm an adult, dang it," she exclaimed with a firm stomp of her hoof. "I'm perfectly capable of dealing with whatever problems life throws at me. And I'm sure they'll see that when they get here." Winter suddenly began fidgeting uncomfortably. "Speaking of which, I gotta use the bathroom. Be right back!" With that, she scurried off up the stairs.

While Winter was busy with that, Shade turned his attention back to their brunch. Everything seemed to be in order. There were certainly enough pancakes for four people and then some. All that was really left was to wait for their guests to arrive.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Knowing that the time had come, Shade quickly set some plates, glasses, and utensils on the table in preparation before going to answer the door. But before he could, Winter, having heard the knock on the door, scampered back downstairs with a big, albeit anxious, grin.

She ran a hoof over her mane, making sure it was straight. "How do I look?" she asked Shade.

The changeling chuckled at her behavior, finding it odd and amusing that she was putting so much effort into her appearance just for a visit from her parents. "As beautiful as ever," he responded, earning a kiss from his pegasus as a reward for the compliment. "You ready?"

Winter nodded. "Yup. Let's do this." The pegasus sucked in a deep breath, followed by a long exhale as she placed her hoof upon the doorknob. She put on a smile and swung the door open.

Just as expected, a pair of pegasi stood outside, waiting to be invited in. One a mare, Autumn Maple, who bore a striking resemblance to Winter, but with the colors of her coat and mane reversed; her coat a bright crimson, while her mane was white—silver, really. The only other real difference was her cutie mark; a snowflake, as opposed to Winter's maple leaf. However, what was her most notable feature at the moment was her cheery grin, always happy to see her daughter.

Of course, with her was her husband, Nimbus; a tall, lithe stallion with a dull blue coat and dark blue mane. Coupled with the three clouds of his cutie mark, he brought with him the impression of the sky on the verge of a storm. That was only accentuated by the stern scowl he wore on his face, although at this point, Shade wasn't sure if he actually was scowling or if that was just his default facial expression. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad," Winter greeted, giving each of them a loving hug.

"Hello, sweetie," Autumn greeted back cheerily. She turned her sights on Shade, giving him a hug as well. "Hello, Shade."

"Nice to see you again, Mrs. Maple," the changeling said, happily returning her hug. After the embrace came to an end, Shade looked up at Nimbus, who's expression had changed none as he stared back at him. "Nimbus," Shade greeted flatly, though politely.

Nimbus acknowledged his greeting with a slight nod. "Shade." That was all he said before stepping inside and walking past the changeling toward the kitchen.

Seeing where her husband was headed, Autumn sniffed the air. A sweet fragrance wafted in from the kitchen. "I take it dinner's just about ready."

"Yup," Shade answered. "Should be more than enough for all of us. Have seconds if you want."

The scent was curious to their two guests. "What is it anyway?" asked Autumn.

"Pancakes," Winter informed them, ushering her parents into the dining room.

Nimbus quirked an eyebrow. "Pancakes? That's an... odd choice."

Winter trotted up next to Shade with a grin. "Trust me, you'll love it; Shade makes the best pancakes."

Taking that as his cue, Shade removed the large plate of golden-brown pancakes he'd left warming in the oven and whisked it over to the table with the glow of his neon green magic. He then fetched all of the toppings he'd prepared in bowls, placing them upon the table as well.

Autumn practically licked her lips. "Oh my, that does look good," she commented, taking a seat at the table.

Following her lead, Shade, Winter, and Nimbus took their seats as well, Nimbus opting for the chair next to his wife, leaving Shade and Winter on the opposite side of the table. With his magic, Shade generously distributed the pancakes into four short stacks, giving one stack to each of them.

Nimbus eyed up the food on his plate. Shade watched him as he did, knowing full well the stallion was looking for something to criticize. Shade didn't consider himself a great cook, but he was decent enough—especially in comparison to Winter. But if there was one meal he excelled at, it was breakfast, including pancakes.

Nimbus picked up a fork, preparing to cut out a piece and test it.

"You're not going to add anything, Dad?" Winter inquired with a smile.

Shade grinned slightly himself. He could tell that she was waiting for the same thing he was: the look on his face when he realized how delicious it was. Winter wanted desperately for her father to approve of Shade, and hopefully this would help work toward that.

Heeding his daughter's words, Nimbus topped his pancakes with some maple syrup, a dollop of whipped cream, and a spoonful of blueberries. Autumn happily followed his example with zeal. The stallion cut out a piece, making sure to get a little of everything upon his fork, and lifted it to his mouth to take a bite. Shade and Winter waited impatiently as Nimbus chewed, the seconds between the chewing and the swallowing excruciating for them.

"That's pretty good," was all Nimbus said before going for another bite.

Shade and Winter were a touch disappointed by his lackluster reaction. Sure, it was a rare compliment for Nimbus, but the lack of emotion in the comment didn't leave the pair particularly satisfied.

"That's it?" Winter said. "That's all you have to say?"

Her father shrugged. "What do want me to say? I said it's good. Is that a bad thing?"

Autumn leaned back in her chair with a mouthful of pancake, a blissful smile on her face. "Oh my goodness, this is just heavenly! It's so fluffy and flavorful."

"I told you, didn't I?" Winter said with a proud grin as she started on her own meal.

"Is this all you know how to cook?" Nimbus asked.

Shade grimaced slightly. The questioned sounded a little condescending, but his answer would fix that quickly. "No, I can cook other things. I only made this because Winter suggested it."

Autumn watched as Shade bit into a forkful of pancake with his sharp fangs, her curiosity piquing. "I've never thought to ask this before, Shade, but changelings are carnivores, right?"

Shade looked up from his plate with a puzzled expression, the question catching him off guard. "Hm?"

"Well, you have fangs, so I assume that means changelings eat meat."

"Autumn, dear, is this the sort of topic you want to talk about while we're eating?" Nimbus cautioned her.

The crimson mare waved off his warning. "I'm just curious, that's all. If you're too squeamish, you can go into the other room."

Nimbus shifted awkwardly in his chair, not pleased to have his fortitude called into question. Shade couldn't help but smirk at the stallion.

The changeling looked at Autumn to answer her question. "Yeah, we eat meat. Have we never actually talked about this? I feel like this is something that would have come up by now."

"I don't believe we have. I've just kind of been wondering if that's had any effect on this relationship."

Shade and Winter exchanged glances. "Not really," Shade informed with a shrug. "To be honest, when I first arrived here, I gave up eating meat. I had to since nopony knew I was a changeling at the time; eating meat might have been compromising."

Nimbus gave Shade a judgmental glare. They'd discussed Shade's inception into pony society in the past, and Nimbus was very vocal of his disapproval of Shade's lying to people about who—or rather, what—he was. It didn't bother Shade really, though; had he not done what he did, he'd have been run out of town the moment he showed up. Things only turned out as well as they did because he disguised himself at first.

"So you don't eat meat anymore then?" Autumn inferred.

"No, I still do."

Winter, noticing the sudden raising of her parents' eyebrows, quickly interjected. "It's mostly for health reasons. And it's not like he eats it everyday."

Autumn gulped, hesitant to ask her next question. "So... what sort of meat do you eat?"

"Back in the Changeling Kingdom, it was anything we could get a hold of: mice; rabbits; bugs. Nowadays, though, I've got access to stuff like pork, beef, poultry, all kinds of things." He had to stop himself from saying anything further for fear of making his guests uncomfortable.

"So you kill pigs and cows just to get a bite to eat?" Nimbus accused, his voice containing audible disgust.

"What? No, I don't kill anything."

"Shade and Chamella have meat imported from the Griffon Empire," Winter told them. "It's not that big a deal. Griffons eat meat, and we ponies get along with them just fine. I don't think this is any different."

Autumn nodded in understanding. "Yes, I suppose you're right. I'm sorry if it seemed like we were judging you, Shade."

The changeling shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it. I've had this conversation with enough people at this point that I'm not really fazed by it anymore."

"So you're fine with having meat in you're fridge, Winter?" Nimbus asked his daughter.

Before Winter could answer, Shade chuckled to himself a little.

"'Fine'? She wanted to try some."

Autumn and Nimbus turned to their daughter, appalled.

Winter glared at the changeling harshly, snapping at him. "Shade!"

"You... did what?" Nimbus muttered in disbelief.

The ivory pegasus frantically waved her hooves in defense. "I didn't do it, if that's what you're worried about. I chickened out at the last second."

Shade stifled a small chuckle. He received a glance from Winter.

"What?"

He shook his head, still smiling. "Nothing, it's just... puns," he mumbled. It was only now that he noticed the venomous daggers being thrown his way from the large stallion across the table. "What?"

"You know damn well 'what,'" Nimbus said, practically growling. "You're poisoning my daughter!"

Shade didn't let that accusation get to him, simply taking a bite of his pancakes nonchalantly. "I didn't do anything."

"I was just curious, Dad," Winter admitted quietly, a little ashamed. "Like I said, I didn't go through with it, so no harm done."

"Nimbus, you're overreacting," Autumn said in an attempt to calm her husband. "She's in a... unique relationship; it's expected that she'd be exposed to different things that she'd be curious about. I'm sure she was just trying to walk a mile in his horseshoes."

"Straight into a wolf's den," the stallion grumbled.

Nimbus received a quick, reprimanding jab in the shoulder from his wife, who was glaring at him harshly. "That's enough, Nimbus. Shade hasn't done anything wrong. Stop looking for excuses to not like him. He's a fine stallion, and we should be happy that our daughter's found someone like him."

Nimbus simply huffed in annoyance, turning his attention back to his neglected dinner.

Autumn rolled her eyes, but returned to her meal as well. However, she made sure to cast a warm smile in Shade's direction. "I can't really speak for him..." she said, tilting her head toward her husband, "...but I, for one, think you're doing my little powder puff a world of good, Shade. I can tell just by looking at her that she's a much more mature mare than she was when she left Cloudsdale."

Hearing that, Winter turned to Shade, feeling now was as good a time as any to get to the point of all this. "Well, Mom, it's funny you should say that. To tell the truth, we had an ulterior motive behind inviting you guys here."

Autumn's eyes widened curiously. Even Nimbus seemed a little interested. "Oh? And what would that be?"

Winter pushed out her chair, the legs scrapping against the tile floor. Shade followed suit. "Why don't we talk in the living room? This is pretty important."

Her parents shared concerned looks, but followed them into the living room. Winter gestured for her mom and dad to sit on the couch, and she and Shade opted to share the armchair, with Winter leaning against Shade, the chair barely large enough for the two of them, but the lack of space just made it more snug.

Winter took a deep breath, steadying her nerves as she prepared to break the news. "Okay," she started as she exhaled. "Guess we should just get right to the point." She looked her parents dead in the eyes, hoping that the small smile on her face would transfer to them when she told them. She wrapped a hoof around Shade's leg, pulling herself closer to him. "Shade and I... are going to have a baby."

There was a sudden silence within the room. However, it wasn't stunned silence as Winter had first predicted. Rather, her parents simply exchanged awkward looks; confused, yet concerned.

Autumn cautiously opened her mouth to speak. "Um, Winter, honey... I'm not sure how else to say this, but... Shade's a changeling."

Winter quirked an eyebrow, puzzled by their unexpected reaction. "Uh, yes, he is. Is there a problem with that?"

"Well, I'd hate to be the one to suggest this, but how do you even know such a thing is possible between our kinds?"

Winter sighed silently. "Mom, I think you might've misinterpreted. Shade and I are not planning to have a baby, we're having one. As in, I'm pregnant. Right now."

And now the silence had turned stunned. Autumn simply stared at her daughter, eyes wide, unsure if she was understanding this right. "You're... p-pregnant?"

Winter nodded with a barely contained smile.

The news was finally starting to set in, the excitement within the older mare beginning to seep out. "A-A baby?! You're having a baby?! My baby is having a baby?! I'm gonna be a grandma?!"

Winter nodded once more. "That's right."

Autumn hopped off the couch to give her daughter an elated and tearful hug. Winter got up to meet her halfway. "Oh my goodness, I can't believe it! This is amazing! I'm so happy for you, sweetie!"

While the two mares shared in their excitement, the men remained seated, with Nimbus staring on in disbelief. He clearly didn't know how to feel about this information. Shade watched as his mind was fighting through all of the emotions the stallion thought he should be feeling; should he be happy for his daughter, shocked by the surprise, or furious at the one who knocked her up? In any case, Shade couldn't help but smirk, as any opportunity to see Nimbus befuddled like this was pleasantly enjoyable for him. And upon turning his eyes to the changeling, Nimbus shot a scowl his way, but it had no effect on Shade.

Autumn took a step back, taking a breath to relax herself, though her enormous grin could only be held back so far. "Okay. Okay. Calm down. We can't talk about this if you're too excited," she said to herself between breaths. She looked between the two young lovers, confused, but her smile persisting. "But... how?"

Winter laughed, brushing an errant strand of hair out of her face. "Honestly, I don't know. It just is, and I think that's enough for me."

Shade leaned in toward Winter. "Are we gonna tell them about... the appointment?" he whispered.

"Appointment?" Autumn said with a tilt of her head, having heard Shade despite his effort to remain discreet.

Winter gave Shade a reassuring pat on his hoof. "It's fine." She turned back to her parents. "I actually have a doctor's appointment later today."

"For what?" asked Nimbus.

"We just want to make sure that there aren't going to be any sort of complications."

"That's a good idea," Autumn said with a nod. "And no matter how this foal turns out, we'll love it unconditionally."

Nimbus opened his mouth, but before he could get a word in, Autumn spun around, pointing at him with a reprimanding hoof and a stern glower.

"Unconditionally," she repeated to him through grit teeth.

The stallion sat back in his seat with a silent huff.

Autumn put her smile back on, shaking her head dismissively. "If it's alright with you, sweetie, instead of concerning ourselves with the hows and ifs, I'd like to focus more on how we're going to be grandparents," she suggested with a giddy clap.

"Don't you think we're a little too young to be grandparents, dear?" Nimbus grumbled in a rather judgmental tone.

The scarlet mare rolled her eyes. "I don't think we're in any position to judge, honey. We weren't even out of high school when you got me pregnant."

"Ugh, Mom," groaned Winter, planting a hoof on her face in disgust.

"At the very least, we should be happy that Winter has her life in order and found a nice stallion like Shade to have a foal with."

Nimbus simply shrugged, but gave his daughter a heartfelt look through his usually stern, hazel eyes. Winter smiled, seeing from even just that look that her father was happy and trusted her with this big change in her life.

Winter caught her mother's gaze falling upon her stomach, the fond, proud smile on her face unmistakable.

"Honestly, I just thought you had gained a few pounds. I wasn't going to say anything," Autumn admitted, still clearly trying to figure out if this was real or not. She leaned toward Winter slightly, her hoof outstretched. "Can I?"

Winter rolled her eyes with a sigh and a smile, sitting down to expose her stomach. "Go ahead."

Autumn tenderly placed her crimson hoof upon her daughter's belly. The gentle curve and firmness of it brought back memories. She remembered that feeling fondly from when it was her in that position. And now, finally, she had a chance to watch her little bundle of joy give life to her own little bundle of joy.

"I still can't believe this is happening," Autumn said quietly, her smile ever wider. "I must admit that I was convinced I might never be a grandmother. Not that that made me think less of you, Shade, dear; I just didn't think it'd be possible."

"You and me both," the changeling said with a chuckle.

"How far along are you?" Nimbus asked curiously.

"A little over three months," Winter answered.

"Three months?!" Autumn said, shocked. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?!"

Winter let out an exasperated sigh. "Because we had our own problems to deal with first. We didn't exactly plan for this to happen."

"Oh, it doesn't matter," her mother said eagerly. "What does matter is what you're going to do now."

"What do you mean?" Winter asked with a tilt of her head.

"Plans, dear. You may not have planned for this to happened, but surely you've made plans now, right?"

Winter scratched her head. "Well, uh..."

Autumn rolled her eyes. "Well, for starters, are you going to have a baby shower?"

"Oh, actually, yeah. A friend of ours is planning it for me."

Autumn smiling gleefully. "And when is it?"

"Oh, uh... I don't think there's a date set just yet. I'll be sure to let you know."

Autumn leaned in toward Winter, speaking in a hushed tone. "So are there any plans to... 'update' your relationship?"

The younger mare raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"A wedding, dear."

Winter ran a hoof down her face with a groan. "No, Mom. No wedding. At least, not yet. We've got enough to deal with as it is."

Autumn raised her hooves defensively. "Alright, just asking. No pressure."

"I wish your parents were that easygoing when we were in this situation," Nimbus grumbled to his wife.

Autumn attempted to tug Winter aside and into the kitchen, though her daughter resisted. "Oh, there's so much we need to talk about. You need to know what exactly you're in for. Have you been having morning sickness? Mood swings? Strange appetite?"

"Uh, yes, yes, and yes. But listen, my appointment is pretty soon, so why don't we discuss it on the way?" Winter suggested.

"You sure I wouldn't be in the way? I understand that something this serious and worrisome is probably something that you and Shade should perhaps discuss in privacy."

Winter shrugged. "I guess, but I think I'd feel more comfortable if my parents were there to comfort me, too. You know, just in case it's bad news."

The ivory mare felt a hoof upon her shoulder. She was expected to see the loving green eyes of her beloved changeling, but instead was met by her father's hazel eyes, full of rare compassion. "Don't worry about it too much, sweet heart. Right now, it's important for you to stay optimistic. Stress isn't healthy, for you or the baby."

With a soft smile, Winter placed her hoof over her father's. "Thanks, Dad."

"Is it too early to head over to the hospital now?" Autumn asked.

Winter shook her head. "Maybe a little early, but we can sit and talk in the lobby until they call me in. I've asked a few people for advice already, but it'd be nice to get some from my own mom."

Autumn put a hoof around Winter's shoulder, guiding her to the door as they prepared to leave. "I'll share everything I know, sweetie."

Shade hopped down from the chair, trailing closely behind the two mares. "Guess I should come with. I could go for some advice myself."

Autumn held out a hoof, stopping Shade in his tracks. "Actually, I think this is more... girl time. Maybe you and Nimbus could wait up for us."

Shade blinked. "Uh, what?"

The older mare opened the door, ushering her daughter outside. "Well, we'll be off. Hopefully we won't be long. Bye, boys!"

And with that, they were gone, leaving Shade behind. Alone. With Nimbus.

Shade looked over his shoulder to the tall stallion standing behind him. Nimbus didn't exactly look too keen on the idea either. The changeling did get some oddly cathartic enjoyment from occasionally pushing Nimbus's buttons, but that was only because he knew the pegasus wouldn't do anything about it while his wife and daughter were present. And now they weren't, meaning that there was nothing stopping him from retaliating. Shade was going to have to screen his thoughts before saying them out loud.

Shade forced an awkward smile, trying to seem as though he were at least attempting to be hospitable to his girlfriend's father. "Sooooo..." Shade started, but his effort at starting a conversation was met by a gruff grunt as Nimbus simply grabbed a newspaper off of the nearby side table and sat down on the couch to read it in silence.

It seemed as though any attempt at being amicable was just going to be ignored, so Shade figured it might just be best to try and pass the time until Winter and Autumn got back from the hospital. The changeling peered into the kitchen, noticing that their dirty dishes were still on the table, their dinners' left half eaten in all the excitement over the baby. Cleaning up that mess seemed like a good place to start.

***** ***** *****

It was certainly a nice enough day for a stroll through Ponyville, but it was difficult to enjoy it with so much on your mind. That was Winter's thought as she and her mother walked to the hospital together. Autumn kept a smile on the whole way, remaining optimistic that there was nothing to fear. Winter envied her. She couldn't quite understand how her mom could be so nonchalant about something they knew nothing about.

Winter jumped slightly when she felt her mother's hoof pat her on the back. She must have noticed the worry on her daughter's face.

"Try not to look so glum, sweetie," Autumn said with pep. "As thick-headed as your father may be, he's right; you shouldn't be so stressed out. At this rate, if there's going to be a problem, it'll be because of your poor attitude."

Winter let out a defeated sigh. "It's easy to say that. I'm responsible for the very life of this baby. It's hard knowing that and not be worried."

Autumn nodded in understanding. "Believe me, I know. You don't think I didn't go through the same thing when I was pregnant with you? Heck, I was still a teenager. I think I had more reason to be concerned than you do. You didn't have to tell your parents that you were going to be bringing a baby to your graduation."

"And you didn't have to tell your parents that your baby was half changeling. Nopony has. That's what worries me. I'm worried that this is going to make raising our foal so radically different that nopony can really give me any advice to help."

It was about this time that they had made it to the hospital. The pair of pegasi stepped into the bright, white lobby, continuing their conversation as they approached the reception desk.

"Well, that's just the thing, dear; everypony's experience with parenthood is different. Most of the important things you'll learn about being a parent you're going to learn as you go. What worked when my parents were raising me didn't necessarily apply to how I raised you. There was advice they gave me that didn't work whatsoever, so I had to come up with my own solutions."

"Maybe if you ever have a baby that very well may try to eat you moments after it's born, you'll have more of an idea of where I'm at emotionally," Winter groaned, not finding her mother's words the least bit comforting, surprisingly.

The earth pony nurse at the front desk looked up upon overhearing the conversation—particularly that last, odd statement. With a perky smile, she greeted the patient. "You're Winter Maple, right?" She briefly checked the appointment list. "You have an appointment regarding... your unborn foal?"

Winter nodded listlessly. "Yep."

"Hmm... Your appointment's not for another half an hour," the nurse informed.

"That's fine," Winter waved dispiritedly. "We're just going to wait." She led her mother to a bench off to the side of the lobby.

As they sat down, Autumn took notice of other ponies in waiting, whispering quietly while frequently glancing in their direction. Whenever Winter would bother to look up from her own thoughts, whatever other pony her eyes fell upon would wave to her cheerily.

"You seem like you're pretty popular around here," Autumn commented.

"It's less 'popularity' and more 'gossip.' I'm just 'that mare who's dating the changeling.' Although, recently it's been more like 'that mare who's having the changeling baby.' I've been trying to keep it on the down low, but I guess in a small town like this, news tends to spread pretty quickly."

Autumn rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Winter, you need to lighten up a little. If not for your sake, then for those around you. If it is gossip as you say, then walking around with a frown and your head hung low is only going to make people think the worst. From what I've seen, the people of this town are very friendly people. I doubt any of them are here to judge you."

Winter shrugged indifferently. "I guess..."

Her mother simply sighed in resignation. It seemed as though it was pointless to try and cheer up her daughter until after her checkup, when they would have more information.

As the conversation slipped into uncomfortable silence, the hospital's front door opened and a certain perky, grey pegasus trotted in, humming to herself happily. The bubbly mare approached the nurse at the front desk, the two exchanging a few words before the pegasus stepped away to look for a seat. It was then that the grey mare noticed that Winter was there, though only one of her yellow eyes managed to spot her, the gaze of the other sort of just trailed up toward the ceiling.

"Oh, hi, Winter," Derpy greeted with a friendly grin. "I didn't know your appointment was today. Talk about a coincidence. No bad news, I hope."

Winter sighed, brushing her mane aside slightly. "That's what I'm here to find out. It's just a checkup to see if there might be complications."

The deadpan tone of Winter's voice concerned Derpy a little, the blonde mare taking a seat next to Winter. "You sound like you're pretty confident that something might go wrong."

"I've been trying my best to make her feel better, but she's just too stubborn," Autumn explained. "Oh, I'm Autumn, by the way. Winter's mother." She extended a hoof out to Derpy, which she accepted.

"I'm Derpy. Nice to meet you," she greeted with a grin.

"And you. Are you a friend of Winter's?"

Derpy nodded enthusiastically. "Uh-huh."

"Well, that's nice," Autumn said with a friendly smile. "So why are you here? Nothing serious, I hope."

The grey mare shook her head. "Naw. I make an appointment twice a year to make sure this..." She pointed to her eyes, one of them having veered off-center slightly. "...isn't getting any worse. Just a precaution, really. My condition hasn't really changed in years."

"I certainly wish my daughter could take a page out of your book and not fret so much," Autumn commented with an exasperated sigh.

"To be fair, she has every right to be worried."

Both Autumn and Winter were taken aback slightly at Derpy's bluntness.

"I'm not saying she should worry herself sick over it, but speaking from experience, it's probably for the best if you mentally prepare yourself for everything that could go wrong. When I was pregnant, I was terrified that my filly would inherit my little problem. I basically spent the whole pregnancy wondering and worrying what I was going to do—what my filly was going to do—if they had to deal with the same stuff I did throughout my life. But then it occurred to me that I had experience dealing with it that I could share with her if that turned out to be the case. Maybe my suffering could be used to make life a little more bearable for my daughter."

"But I don't have that kind of experience!" Winter argued. "I can't pass on that wisdom to my foal."

"Well, maybe you can't, but Shade can, right?"

Winter blinked, her eyes widening slightly.

"Shade's had to deal with being a changeling in pony society for a while now. I'm sure that'll make things easier on all three of you."

Winter stared hopefully at Derpy. "Do you think it'll be that easy?"

Derpy giggled awkwardly, scratching behind her ear. "Heh, uh, well, probably not. But you've got a whole town of great people here to support you if you really have any problems."

"Winter claims they're just gossiping," Autumn interjected.

Derpy was surprised to hear that. "Gossip? Have you even talked to anypony about this? Everypony's so excited for you!"

Winter gawked at that revelation. "Wait, they are?"

"Yeah! Your kid's gonna be like a town treasure or something. I've heard people saying that they even believe it could be the first step to making peace between ponies and changelings. They want to do everything they can to make sure you get through this."

The ivory pegasus sat in stunned silence as she let that sink in. She knew she had some good friends that she could depend on, but she never once thought that the entire town of Ponyville would be willing to support her.

"Now, you hear that, Winter?" Autumn asked with a triumphant grin. "There really is nothing to worry about."

Winter turned to her mother, still at a loss for words. "I... Uh..."

"Ms. Maple?"

The three mares looked up toward the nurse that was now standing in front of them.

"A spot just opened up, so the doctor will see you now if you want."

Winter nodded, but gulped nervously as she stood up. She glanced back at her mother and Derpy, the two smiling comfortingly at her.

"Everything's going to be fine, sweetie," Autumn reassured.

"We're here for you!" Derpy bellowed with an enthusiastic wave, earning an annoyed shush from some of the other ponies in the lobby.

Winter took a deep breath before following the nurse. It was time to get some answers.

***** ***** *****

As Shade made yet another pass through the living room, he once again cast a glance toward the couch where Nimbus was sitting quietly, reading a newspaper. The changeling entered the kitchen and, knowing he was now out of sight, let out a quiet sigh.

Shade had finished washing the dishes half an hour ago. Now, he found himself wandering aimlessly, yet with purpose in his step, around the house in an effort to make it look like he was busy. All so he could avoid having an uncomfortable, face-to-face conversation with Nimbus. He must have looked ridiculous tracing all around the house while doing absolutely nothing. He'd been up and down the stairs nearly ten times by now, and during none of those trips did he ever bring anything up, or take anything down, or even do anything while he was up there. He could just stay up there and wait this out in the bedroom, but no doubt his absence would raise suspicion; it'd quickly become evident he was avoiding Nimbus.

Oddly, however, the gruff pegasus hadn't bothered to even look up from his paper to see what Shade was even doing. The only time he had even seemed to move in the past half an hour was whenever he would turn the page of the newspaper, and the only sound he made was an occasional cough, or clearing of his throat—not that he had anything to say.

This is ridiculous, Shade thought to himself. What am I doing? What reason do I have to be so uncomfortable around this guy?

Shade peered out into the living room. For once since he'd known him, Nimbus didn't have any sort of stern expression on his face. Although, he couldn't imagine that something in the newspaper would be enough to upset the stallion. At the very least, when Nimbus came to visit he had the animosity between himself and Shade to encourage his brow to furrow. Shade didn't know what counted as a good mood for Nimbus, but this was probably the best he was going to get.

This was his girlfriend's father. His child's grandfather. Shade was beginning to think he should listen to Winter and at least make an effort to get on his good side. Shade took a breath before stepping back into the living room with a determinate look on his face.

Nimbus continued to read the paper quietly. However, he felt something disturbing the atmosphere around him—a sense most pegasi developed due to their affinity with the sky and weather. Nimbus lowered the newspaper. Standing before him was Shade, staring at him with green eyes full of resolve. There was a brief moment of tense silence between the two before Nimbus spoke.

"What?"

"I can't be the only one who's getting sick of this, right?" Shade said.

Nimbus simply raised an eyebrow. "Of what? You traipsing up and down the house to kill time until the girls get back? No, it was getting on my nerves as well, I just didn't say anything."

Most of the confidence in Shade's face drained away. "Oh. Well, you can see why I'd be so reluctant to sit down and talk to you," the changeling said, attempting to remain stoic.

Nimbus lifted the newspaper again, trying to return his attention to his reading. "Nopony said we had to talk at all."

Shade sighed, letting himself fall onto the nearby armchair in exasperation. "Well, at least I'm trying. When you leave later, I can say with confidence that I walked out of this as the good guy who gave enough of a damn to make an effort."

"You done up there on your podium?" Nimbus grumbled from behind the paper.

Shade glared with contempt at the stallion, though only because he knew Nimbus couldn't see him through the periodicals. He couldn't wrap his head around why this pony was so dead set on hating him. Autumn had once speculated that it was simply a case of a father protecting his daughter, that no man would ever be good enough for her. But you'd think that if that were the case, Nimbus would be satisfied to just see that his daughter was happy, but apparently not. It only made Shade more determined to get to the root of the issue.

"You know, I don't get why you insist on antagonizing me."

"I'm not antagonizing you, I'm ignoring you."

Shade chose not to acknowledge that remark. "Well, whether or not you like me, the fact is I'm going to be the father of your grandchild."

Nimbus turned down a corner of the newspaper to stare at Shade. The changeling smirked slyly, knowing he'd finally hooked the pegasus.

"And with that being the case," Shade continued, "it'd probably be in your best interest to at least learn to tolerate me. Don't wanna set a bad example for your grandkid, do you?"

Nimbus let out a groan; not a groan of defeat, but rather one of exasperation. He folded the newspaper, set it aside and stared Shade dead in the eyes, unnerving the changeling. "Listen to me. I don't know what put it in your head that I don't like you..."

Shade lifted his head slightly in surprise.

"But in case you haven't noticed, you haven't exactly been showing me the respect I deserve either. 'Do unto others...' Have you ever heard that phrase where you come from?"

Shade gulped. He hadn't thought about it from his perspective before. He may have had a point. Ever since Winter told him about her father back before she'd even introduced them to each other, Shade had it in his head that he was just a very disagreeable individual, so that's how Shade always approached him. He hadn't considered that he himself was the one who came off as being a jerk sometimes.

But the stallion had asked a question, and judging by the raised eyebrow, Shade figured Nimbus may be getting a touch annoyed. "Um... No, I haven't."

Nimbus nodded, having guessed as much. "It basically means that you should treat people the way you'd want them to treat you. And since you've always talked to me as though I was some sort of obstacle you had to overcome, it only makes sense for me to be one."

Shade was puzzled by his reasoning. "But... if you put any stock into that saying, shouldn't you treat me nicely? That's how'd you want me to act, right?"

Nimbus leaned forward, a dead seriousness in his eyes. "The reason I treat you the way I do is not due to anything ridiculous like prejudice. The fact of the matter is that you are responsible for my daughter's happiness."

Shade stayed silent. It appeared that Autumn's theory was right all along.

"I will admit that I may have been somewhat insensitive in the past when it came to... race and species, but I like to think I've made leaps and bounds to put that behind me. And I have you to thank for that."

The changeling blinked. "Me?"

"Ever since I first met you, I've made an effort to like you. But knowing that you were ultimately the one who held the key to Winter's happiness... It made it difficult not to be critical of you."

Once again, Shade found himself confused by the stallion's logic. "I don't follow."

"I need to be absolutely sure that my daughter—the person I love more than anypony else in the world—is safe in your hooves. So far, I've yet to really see that judging by the way you act around me."

Shade ran a hoof through his mane. Admittedly, he felt more than a little ashamed of himself. "I, uh... I guess I owe you an apology then. Sorry. I guess I never bothered to show you who I really am." Shade glanced at his foreleg, paying particular attention to the holes that were distinctive features of his kind. "Even when I'm not disguised, I still manage to hide my true colors." He let out a defeated sigh. "I guess I'm still not going to ever escape what I am."

Nimbus shrugged indifferently. "Maybe not. But what you are and who you are are two completely different things."

Shade looked up at Nimbus. For what seemed like the first time ever, the stallion looked back at him with compassion. And what he said sounded pretty familiar as well. She really was his daughter.

"So... you don't actually have any objections to me being with Winter?" Shade asked, actually wanting Nimbus's honest opinion.

The pegasus's expression turned stern once more. "As long as she's happy with you, no, I don't." He leaned forward suddenly, causing Shade to jump slightly as if to defend himself. "But if you ever hurt her—if I ever find out that something you did caused pain for my baby, or your baby—you'll have me to deal with."

Shade finally managed a genuine smile. It seemed like they were finally starting to make some headway here. "Right. I understand."

Nimbus stared into Shade's eyes for a moment, scrutinizing both his expression and his tone. Satisfied with what he'd heard, he leaned back onto the couch with a nod. "Good."

The changeling rested his head against his hoof. Winter was going to be happy to hear that he and her father had actually gotten to talking and were beginning to get down to the bedrock of their issues. It was going to take some doing to fully earn his trust, certainly, but it was definitely a step in the right direction.

But speaking of trust, it occurred to Shade now that there may be something Nimbus needs to know. How the stallion handled the information was difficult to predict, but he felt Nimbus should know regardless.

"Listen, Nimbus... There's something I want to talk to you about."

Nimbus had been just about to pick up the newspaper again, but stopped when Shade spoke, choosing instead to see what he wanted. "And what would that be?"

"It's about me... and changelings in general. It's a couple of things, actually."

Nimbus looked genuinely concerned, no doubt for the well being of his unborn grandchild. He listened intently.

"First, about baby changelings..."

"Do we know whether or not it's even going to be a changeling?" Nimbus asked.

"Well, no. But that's why Winter's at the hospital right now. Hopefully, we'll have an answer to that soon. But just in case it is, it's important for you to know that changeling larvae and pony foals are two completely different beasts. Literally. See, changeling larvae are not dependent on their parents to raise them. In fact, they basically run on pure, animalistic instinct from the moment they're born. Like wild animals basically."

Shade paused for moment. The look on Nimbus's face was difficult to read, but he seemed like he wanted to say something.

"And... what does that mean for its family?"

Shade shrugged with a sigh. "Not much, really. At least for changelings. But anything else it sees is basically viewed as food."

Nimbus nodded in understanding. "I thought as much. Winter's told us about her little excursion to your homeland and how she was almost eaten alive by them."

Shade shuddered at the thought of where he'd be now if a certain someone hadn't been there at the time. "And I'm just worried that, if our baby turns out to be more like an average changeling larva, it might just happen again. Baby changelings tend to be wary around adults, but ponies—or any other animals—are a different story."

Nimbus took a breath, letting that all sink in before speaking in a surprisingly calm tone. "I suppose we'll know for certain pretty soon if that's something we need to worry about. And if so... Well, I guess we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it."

"You're taking this pretty well. I'd have thought you'd be a little more upset."

Nimbus simply shrugged. "It's not as though it's something I can help." He then raised a curious eyebrow at Shade. "You said there were a couple things you wanted to talk about. What else is there?"

Shade hesitated. This was the moment that he'd been pensive about the whole time, but there was no point in keeping his mouth shut now. "Well, like I said, changeling larvae are capable of looking after themselves when they're born. Getting right to the point here..." Shade stared at Nimbus for a moment with apologetic eyes. "I don't know if changelings possess any parental instincts to speak of. There's a distinct possibility that, when our baby is born, whether it's a changeling or not, I might not have the instincts necessary to care for it."

Shade waited for Nimbus's reaction. The pegasus furrowed his brow slightly, worrying Shade.

"Have you mentioned this to Winter?" he asked sternly, obviously looking for a yes.

Shade nodded reassuringly. "Yeah, I have."

That appeared to quell any concerns that Nimbus had at the moment. It seemed he was more concerned about Shade being open and honest with his daughter more than anything.

"But I just want you to know that even if I don't have what it takes to be a parent, I'm still going to try my best," Shade assured.

"You damn well better."

Shade flinched slightly at Nimbus's response. The harsh glare the pegasus was shooting at him was making Shade more than a little uncomfortable.

"Like I said before, this is my daughter and grandchild we're talking about here. I only want what's best for them. And right now, that's going to have to be you, whether I like it or not. I am not going to let my grandchild grow up without a loving father, and if you think you're not good enough to be it's father and leave them behind, I will personally go to the Changeling Kingdom and hunt you down. Understand?"

Shade sat in mild shock. Sure, Nimbus had never really been the most hospitable person to him, but he'd never really made a threat like that, especially not one that sounded so aggressive. But regardless of Nimbus's threat, Shade managed to smile. "Yeah, I get it. Actually, Winter herself thinks it won't be a problem. Before I met her, I didn't know it was possible for a changeling to actually love someone—especially somepony. So I guess it's possible that I'll be able to love our kid just the same."

"I should hope so," Nimbus said with a huff.

At that moment, the front door opened. Immediately, Shade hopped from his chair just as the two mares they'd been waiting impatiently for returned, with Nimbus following close behind. The changeling took a moment to read the expressions on their faces before inquiring about the results of Winter's check up. He had a difficult time determining what was going through their heads, though. They weren't smiling, so it obviously wasn't good news. However, they didn't look particularly upset either. Winter looked pretty much the same as she had when she'd left.

"So? What's the verdict?" Shade asked, trying to maintain some level of optimism, but the worry in his voice was still evident.

Winter let out a quiet, disappointed sigh. "There is no verdict."

Shade and Nimbus exchanged puzzled looks.

"What do you mean 'no verdict'?" asked Nimbus.

"They couldn't really tell us anything about it at this point and we're probably not gonna find out until the baby's born," the younger mare answered, starting to sound somewhat aggravated.

Shade ran a hoof through his mane with a groan. "So, basically, we're back at square one. Dammit. I was really hoping we'd be able to get some answers."

Autumn, seeing both Winter and Shade looking distraught about this whole thing, forced a smile and tried to lighten the mood a little. "Well, it's not all bad news. Right, Winter?"

Winter paused for a moment, then shrugged. Her attitude did seem to lift a small amount. "I guess. At the very least they were able to tell us that it's healthy for now. From what they can tell at this point, there aren't any complications that they can pick up on."

"Well, that's something, I suppose," Nimbus commented.

"So they couldn't prove or disprove any of our concerns then?" Shade asked.

Winter shook her head. "No. Actually, the doctor's thoughts are pretty much the same as ours have been this whole time."

Nimbus raised an eyebrow. "That being...?"

His daughter let out another sigh. "We may have to worry about... mutation."

Shade's eyes widened. That wasn't a word he was expecting to hear. "Mutation? What do you mean?"

"Like I said, it's the stuff we've been talking about. Our foal might have shared traits from both of us. The problem with that is that those traits might conflict with one another because of how different we are physically, and that can wind up leading to some... unfortunate complications."

Autumn immediately noticed Shade's expression fall, so she decided to speak up before he could voice his concerns. "But that's not guaranteed. Like Winter said, the baby is healthy as it is right now. As long as Winter makes frequent visits to the doctor, we can be sure whether or not everything is going to be alright. My advice would be to try not to worry about it too much."

Nimbus put a hoof over his wife's shoulder, looking compassionately at Shade and Winter. "And no matter what happens, or how it turns out, we'll be here to help you through it."

Shade smiled at Nimbus's encouraging words. Winter, however, as well as Autumn, glanced at him with puzzled looks.

"That's... surprisingly assuring of you, Dad," Winter commented, more amazed than anything. "You're really not upset about this news?"

Nimbus shook his head. "Shade and I had a little discussion about this ourselves. And before anything else, I'm a father who loves his daughter and am willing to do whatever it takes to see her happy."

Winter's head shot around to Shade in shock. "You guys actually talked?! Wow. I think that's the big news of the day," she giggled.

Autumn joined in on her daughter's amusement and pleasant surprise with mild laughter of her own. "Well, I think it would be for the best if we left this on that positive note. It's starting to get late anyway. Your father and I should probably be headed home."

Winter nodded. "Alright. And thank you for being so understanding and supportive."

The ivory pegasus gave her mother a hug, then her father. In an unusual display of affection, Nimbus bent down to give his daughter a loving kiss on the forehead, then looked into her eyes.

"Congratulations, Winter. I'm happy for you. For both of you."

Her father's compassionate words were almost enough to bring a tear to Winter's eye. "Thank you, Dad."

And with that, Autumn and Nimbus went to the door. As Autumn stepped out, Nimbus paused briefly to look in Shade's direction, giving the shapeshifter a look of warning.

"Remember what I said."

Shade nodded with a small smile. "I will."

Satisfied with that answer, Nimbus followed his wife outside, closing the door behind him.

Winter raised an eyebrow at the odd exchange. "What was that about?"

Shade shook his head, his grin persisting. "Nothing. You don't need to worry about it."

Winter gave the changeling a skeptical look, but decided not to inquire further. "Okay." The crimson-maned mare then let out a long yawn. "Ugh, this day... All I want right now is to lie down and sleep."

Shade wrapped a foreleg around Winter's shoulders, pulling her in for a loving kiss. "Then why don't we hit the hay a little early tonight?"

Winter smiled softly, nuzzling her nose against his. "Sounds good."

As the two ascended the staircase toward the bedroom, Winter's curiosity finally got the better of her.

"So you and Dad actually got to talking, huh? What was that like?"

Shade let out a quiet chuckle. "Uncomfortable and insightful."

"Yeah? So does that mean you guys will get along from now on."

Again, Shade laughed. "I wouldn't go that far. I think I've still got a ways to go before that."

Chapter 5 - Shower Thoughts

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 5: Shower Thoughts

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Winter Maple sauntered casually through the Ponyville market, seeking out the various items she had written down on her grocery list. She took a quick glance at the list, noted that the next item was a few apples and started looking around to spot a stand selling them. Most of the produce stands tended to be in the same area, so she already had an idea of where to head.

It was certainly a nice enough day for shopping at the open air market. Normally she'd be busy working at this time of day, but being on maternity leave has caused Winter's usual habits to get a little mixed up. She wasn't really bothered by it per se, but she certainly wasn't complaining. She'd forgotten what it was like to have this kind of free time. The only real issue she could think of was spending a lot of that time sitting at home, bored and alone. If Shade were around more it wouldn't be so bad, but one of them had to bring home the proverbial bread. In the meantime, she figured she may as well bring home the literal bread, as well as everything else on her grocery list.

Winter stopped for a moment to readjust her saddlebags. They were already getting kinda heavy, and she was only about halfway through her shopping. Of course, she was carrying a little "additional" weight, which may account for the difficulty she was having, and that weight was steadily increasing as the months went by. With a labored grunt, Winter finished adjusting her bags and carried on her way.

It was hard for her to believe, but it had already been eight months since she got pregnant, and it was definitely quite noticeable now. Not only that, but by this time pretty much everypony in Ponyville knew about it, and even if they didn't, one look at the ivory pegasus would be a clear tip-off. Basically every person Winter passed as she walked would give her a friendly smile and a wave.

It was certainly nice of them to be so supportive of her, but at the same time it made her a touch uncomfortable. There was already a lot of pressure on her considering she was going to be a parent in just a matter of months, but what if it was too much for her to handle, even with Shade's help? Sure, she'd been reassured that her friends and neighbors would be willing to pitch in if needed, but how would people start to look at her if she couldn't adequately care for her child?

Lost in her thoughts, Winter hadn't been paying attention to where she was walking and bumped headlong into one of the many produce carts in the market. The collision caused several bright red apples to tumble onto the ground, the impact and noise of falling apples snapping the pegasus back to reality.

Seeing the mess she'd caused, Winter scrambled to pick up some of the fallen fruit and return them to their rightful place. "Sorry! I-I guess I wasn't watching where I was going." As she placed the apples back onto the cart, she noticed exactly whose cart it was.

"Don't fuss over it, sugarcube," said the orange, stetson-wearing earth pony behind the cart with a chuckle. "Just a little dirt. Nothin' some water can't fix. Though you should be a little more careful; you got a little bumpkin in there to worry about," she said, pointing to Winter's rotund belly.

"Yeah, I know," Winter admitted with a sigh. "There's just a lot on my mind right now."

Applejack quirked an eyebrow. "Ya still frettin' over this? Haven't we been tellin' ya that ya ain't got nothin' ta worry about? Everything'll be fine."

"I know, and I've been trying to be more positive, but every now and then my mind just kinda... wanders."

"Well, why don't we just talk about somethin' more upliftin' then?" Applejack suggested with a smile. "I hear yer throwin' yer baby shower pretty soon. Reckon yer lookin' forward to that, huh?"

The topic change did manage to put a smile on Winter's face. "Yeah. I don't think I've ever really just spent the day with a bunch of the girls before. You are coming, right? I mean, I'll understand if you're busy on the farm or something."

"Course Ah'm comin'. Wouldn't miss it. But Ah'm probably not as eager about it as Pinkie Pie," Applejack laughed.

Winter rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. She's the reason I'm having it now rather than later; she's been asking me every other day about it, so I figured it's just as well to do it and get it over with." Winter looked at Applejack with a touch of concern. "She's not going to go overboard with this, is she?"

The earth pony waved a hoof dismissively. "Naw. As eccentric as that mare is, she knows her parties. She knows that a baby shower is supposed ta be low key. She did a pretty good job with Mrs. Cake's baby shower. Though, now that Ah think about it, she mighta gotten it mixed up with a bachelorette party. Might explain that dancin' feller she hired." Applejack noticed the unsure expression on Winter's face and quickly backpedaled. "But Ah'm sure yers'll be just fine. Heh heh."

Winter let it go with a discreet roll of her eyes. "Let's hope. But either way, it should be fun," she said with a grin. The pegasus glanced down at the pile of apples in Applejack's cart, her memory coming back to her. "Oh, right, I came here for apples. Can I get a dozen?"

"Sure thing. Twelve bits."

Winter fished around in her saddlebags for a minute. Applejack waited patiently as the other mare struggled to find the money in amongst all the groceries she'd already picked up, Winter mumbling to herself every few seconds when she'd thought she'd gotten some, but it turned out to be something else. She finally managed to scrounge up some dough, but was still a few bits short, so she stuck her hoof in again to root around for the rest.

Having had enough, Applejack gestured for Winter to stop. "That's alright, sugarcube, just take 'em," she said, sliding the bits back to her. "Consider it a gift for yer baby shower. Ah know it's kind of an... unorthodox gift, but, hey."

Winter was pleasantly surprised. "Oh. Well, thank you." She glanced at her saddlebags again as she dropped her bits back in. "Come to think of it, I don't think I have enough room for them. Plus these things are already pretty heavy as is," she admitted as she once again readjusted her bags.

Applejack nodded. "Sure looks that way. Tell ya what..." The earth pony took Winter's saddlebags off of her back, replacing them onto her own, much stronger back. "Let me carry those for ya. And Ah'll bring ya a dozen apples when Ah come over for the shower."

"You don't have to do that, Applejack," Winter told her, though their was no hiding her gratitude about having at least some of the weight lifted from her aching spine.

"Don't you fuss, missy. It's mah pleasure."

As if the bags weren't enough, Applejack even hitched up her apple cart and prepared to take off from the market, just proving how much tougher the farm pony was, even in comparison to most stallions.

"You're taking the cart, too?"

"Well, Ah can't very well just leave it here unattended. Some ponies out there have sticky hooves. Ah don't provide for mah family givin' away free apples. Ah mean, unless it's a gift," she said with a chuckle. "So Ah'm just gonna lug these here apples back to the farm after Ah drop off yer stuff for ya and call it a day."

Winter flashed an appreciative smile. "Thanks, Applejack. I'm not used to having people offer to help out with simple stuff like this."

The orange pony chuckled heartily. "Well, ya better get used to it. Ah've got a feelin' that the people 'round here are gonna be mighty helpful to ya for the next few months and then some."

Winter giggled. "You know, normally I'd kindly decline those offers, but lately it just seems like even the simplest tasks become a complete chore. It's kinda nice to have people waiting on you."

Applejack smirked knowingly. "Got Shade at yer beck 'n' call, huh?"

"It's like having a butler," the pegasus laughed. "Anything I want, he does it for me, no questions asked. The only reason I'm doing the shopping right now is because he's at work."

"It's too bad he can't be at the shower. We could get 'im to put on his uniform and serve us snacks."

The two mares laughed openly at Applejack's joke suggestion. It felt good to just laugh and be happy after all the turmoil this pregnancy had put Winter through. Hopefully, the baby shower would help her keep that up.

"Speakin' of attendance," Applejack segued. "Who else is comin'?"

"Oh, well, mostly just you and your friends. You know, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy..."

"You close with Fluttershy?" Applejack asked quizzically. "I know Dash is yer boss, and Twi and Rarity have been pretty close with Shade for a while, and Pinkie's caterin' an' everything, but I don't think Ah've really ever seen ya hangin' out with Fluttershy."

"I haven't really. I just thought it'd be unfair to invite the rest of you without offering an invitation to her as well, you know? I don't want her to feel left out."

"We have lives outside each other, ya know? We don't always hafta do everything together."

"Well, I would like to get to know her a little better. I hear she's a pretty good foalsitter."

"Oh, so you got an ulterior motive, huh?" Applejack chuckled. "Is that everypony?"

"Almost. I invited my mom, of course. She'd never forgive me if I didn't invite her my baby shower. Aside from that, there's just Derpy."

"You invited Derpy?"

Winter nodded. "Yeah. I've actually been spending some time with her lately. It's nice to have another mom to talk to about things if I need advice, and she's been pretty helpful, so I figured it'd be only fair to extend an invite her way."

Applejack waited for a moment for the other mare to continue with her guest list, but Winter stayed silent, as though the conversation had reached its end. "That's it? Nopony else?"

Winter turned her eyes up in thought, counting off her guests in her mind. "No, that's it. I don't really want there to be a big crowd anyway. As weird as it feels to admit this, I'm not exactly the most social pony around. I don't have a whole lot of close friends."

The earth pony quirked an eyebrow. "Really? Yer not forgettin' nopony?"

Winter was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. Was she forgetting somepony? "Um... I don't think so."

"What about Chamella?"

Winter stopped in her tracks, forcing Applejack to stop as well. "Chamella?"

"Yeah. Ain't she Shade's best friend? You did invite her, didn't ya?"

The pegasus stayed silent, which was all Applejack needed.

"Well, why not? I figured she'd be the first one you'd invite."

Applejack's tone was starting to make Winter feel a touch guilty, but at the same time, she had her reasons. "Well... like you said, she's... Shade's best friend. All of his other friends are going to be at the shower with us, so someone needs to keep him company. Otherwise, he'd be bored out of his mind until the party was over."

Applejack shrugged. "Ah guess that makes sense. Still, though, it would-a been nice to have her there. She's the closest thing to family yer kid's gonna have on its dad's side. I'd've thought havin' what's basically the baby's aunt there would've been yer first thought."

Again, Winter said nothing, but started back on the road back home. Applejack thought her behavior to be somewhat peculiar. Something about her words were almost... disingenuous. The earth pony gave a skeptical look, though made sure to be discreet about it. Something was up, but she thought it best to not pursue given that this conversation was supposed to be an uplifting one.

After a few more minutes of walking, the two mares finally made it back to the home of Winter and Shade. The pegasus stepped inside while Applejack unhitched herself from her apple cart before following the other mare inside. They both headed for the kitchen, Applejack slipping off the overstuffed saddlebags and hoisting them onto the kitchen table with a thud.

"Need help putting all this stuff away?" Applejack offered with a courteous grin.

Winter simply shook her head. "No, you've done enough. I can handle it from here. Thanks a lot," she said with an equally amicable smile.

Applejack started back towards the door, turning back for just a moment. "Don't mention it. Guess I'll see ya at the shower in a few days."

Winter nodded. "Looking forward to it."

***** ***** *****

Rarity snapped the lid of her fabric trunk closed, having folded up and put away the last piece of leftover material after a long day of sewing and embroidering. With a flourish of her powder blue magic, she lifted a handkerchief to her slightly glistening forehead, letting out a sigh of relief that her hard work for the day was done. She had been about to glance up at the clock to confirm the time, having felt as though she'd gone well over her usual work hours, but the unseemly sound of her stomach rumbling quickly notified her that she had indeed worked past suppertime. It was time that she joined her friend and employee in the kitchen for a hearty meal.

However, the jingling sound of the boutique's bell stopped her in her tracks. Normally she'd be happy to help a customer, even after hours, but after how long this day felt, she was contemplating politely turning them away. But, not wanting to appear rude, she put on a smile and prepared to greet the customer with a cheery, albeit forced, grin.

"Good evening," the ivory unicorn greeted, making sure to discreetly put emphasis on "evening." "How can I help—oh..." Just as she turned around, she realized that the person who had come in was not a customer, but rather Ponyville's other resident changeling. Rarity breathed another sigh of relief. "It's just you Shade. I thought I was going to have to take yet another order. This day as been quite... productive as is."

"Yeah, I just got off work myself," said the changeling. "I feel bad, too, because Winter had to handle the chores all on her own."

Rarity gave Shade a smile of admiration. "Oh, well, that's very sweet of you to worry about her so, but even in her condition, I'm sure she can handle a few simple chores by herself. Besides, you're the sole provider right now. You have to do your own part as well."

Shade shrugged slightly. "Yeah, I guess. Honestly, I'm just glad that she's been in a good mood for once. It's getting a little hard to predict her sometimes."

"Moodiness comes with the territory, dear. But I've a feeling her good mood is directly related to her upcoming baby shower. Oh, it's going to be such fun!" Rarity exclaimed with a clap of her hooves.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask: what exactly is a baby shower? I imagine it's not literal; can't really give a shower to an unborn baby. Unless... it involves a shower of babies?" Shade asked both curiously and worriedly.

Rarity waved his guesses off with a light chuckle. "Oh, heavens, no. It's simply a little get-together to prepare an expecting mother for parenthood. We're all bringing gifts that the two of you and the baby can use to make this whole thing a little easier, on your minds, bodies and finances."

"So you've got a gift to give to Winter then?"

Rarity smirked proudly, as though she'd been expecting him to ask. "But of course. I've made just the cutest—" She stopped abruptly, biting her lip as she stared at Shade. After a moment of contemplation, she shrugged, her grin returning. "Oh, I suppose I can tell you. You won't be at the shower after all."

Having said that, Rarity trotted over to one of her many storage trunks, opening it and using her magic to pull out her gift: a tiny, bright pink pair of pajamas with frills around the edges of the sleeves and several gemstones sewn into it, giving it that trademark Rarity flair. "Isn't this onesie just the cutest? I made it myself, as I'm sure you've guessed."

Shade gave it a once over with an unsure grimace. Rarity appeared to be watching and waiting intently for his opinion, though she should have known full well by now that Shade had no eye for fashion. He figured it best to just say what she wanted to hear. "It's... nice."

"Oh, you don't have to tell me, dear. After all, I made it," the unicorn chuckled proudly.

"But it's a little... girly, don't you think?"

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Well, we don't know if it's even going to be a girl, do we?" Shade pointed out.

Rarity gasped in realization. "Good heavens, you're right! Oh, dear, I need to rectify this as soon as possible." She hummed as she thought about a plan of action. "Hmm... With all the work that's been piling up lately, I may not have time to make something more male-oriented before the shower." She shrugged in disappointed resignation. "I suppose I can just give her this one and promise another at a later date. It wouldn't hurt to have one of each anyway."

"Is there any particular reason why I'm not allowed to be there?" Shade asked, clearly confused.

"It's not so much that you're not allowed, but baby showers are traditionally a girls-only affair."

The changeling breathed a sigh of slight exasperation. "You ponies have a lot of weird traditions."

"Yes, I started to notice that as well when we had to explain so many of them to you. I suppose that's what happens when we live a much more lax lifestyle." Rarity flashed a grin at Shade. "And you get to be a part of them now. You should feel lucky."

Shade smiled back. "Trust me, I do. I wouldn't give up any of this for anything, even if it means I have to get used to the weird things you guys do."

At that moment, the conversation was briefly interrupted when Chamella walked into the room, casually munching on a mouthful of a grilled cheese sandwich. She paused momentarily when she saw Shade, swallowing the bite of food.

"Oh, I heard Rarity talking to somepony, but I didn't realize it was you, Shade," she said, pleasantly surprised. She took another bite of her sandwich as she trotted over to the pair. "What's going on?"

"We're just discussing the baby shower, that's all," Rarity replied.

Chamella raised an eyebrow. "What's a baby shower?"

The unicorn was taken aback slightly. "Why, Chamella, you should know, certainly. You are going with us."

The female changeling tilted her head, puzzled. "I am?"

"Of course! You were invited after all."

"I was?"

The ever-growing confusion on Chamella's face started to make Rarity worried for a moment. "Oh my. Chamella, you did get your invitation, did you not?"

Chamella tried to think about anything that may have felt familiar about it, but ultimately came up empty. "Um... No, I don't think so. I don't remember getting an invitation to anything recently. Did it get mixed up with the rest of your mail maybe?"

Rarity shook her head. "No, it couldn't have; Pinkie delivered all of them personally. She most certainly should have given you yours."

"I haven't seen Pinkie Pie lately," Chamella informed her.

"So, wait, are you saying that Chamella may not have been invited at all?" Shade asked.

"That can't be," the ivory mare disagreed. "She's practically the little one's aunt. She has every right to be there."

Chamella was a little disheartened to hear about this, but at the same time, she didn't want anypony to make a fuss over her. "It's fine," she assured with a small grin. "I don't have to be involved with everything you guys do, right?"

Rarity scoffed at the notion. "Nonsense. You absolutely must be there. This is a rare opportunity, especially for you. Getting together with all the girls, chatting, helping a dear friend prepare for motherhood. It's a very special event."

Chamella suddenly seemed off put by the idea. "Oh... Well, if that's the case, I really don't think I should go. Crowds aren't really my thing, I'm not very talkative, and I don't know anything about being a mom."

Rarity, shocked by Chamella's resolve against attending, struggled to come up with a counter-argument. "B-But... You must... You've got to..."

Chamella turned her attention from the flustered mare to the other changeling. "Rarity said 'with all the girls,' right? Are you going to be there, Shade?"

Shade shook his head. "Apparently this is 'girls only' sort of thing. I've got to find some way to keep myself occupied in the meantime."

Rarity, having now reluctantly accepted Chamella's decision to stay out of it, gave Shade an unsure look. "Well, normally the father would just go out and spend the day with his friends, but considering all of your closest friends are going to be at the shower, I don't really know what to tell you. And you don't exactly have a lot of 'guy' friends. Would any of your co-workers be available?"

Shade shrugged with a sigh. "Honestly, I don't really spend much time around them outside of work. They'd probably be weirded out if just I suddenly asked to hang out."

Chamella gave her friend a reassuring grin. "That's okay. We can still hang out. To be honest, we haven't really spent a lot of time together since you found out Winter was pregnant."

Seeing Chamella's expression fall ever so slightly and her gaze shift away, Shade immediately stepped in to remedy any worries. "Winter just needs my support right now. We're about to be parents; that's... kind of taxing just to know, not to mention all the stuff I need to know and do to prepare for it."

Chamella smiled at him. "It's okay, I understand. Er, well, I guess I sort of understand. I don't really know exactly what you're going through right now, but at the very least, I know it's important."

Rarity placed a hoof on her employee's shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want to join us? I'm sure it'll be helpful to learn about all of this. Who knows, maybe one day, when you find a special somepony yourself, you'll have to go through the same thing."

Chamella grimaced slightly at the thought. "Uh, no, thanks. I'm good."

The unicorn shrugged in defeat. "Oh, well. I tried. Truthfully, it's a touch disappointing, but in the end, the choice is yours. Alright, I'm going to grab something to eat. You two do as you please," Rarity said as she disappeared into the kitchen.

The both of them being done with their work for the day, Shade made a suggestion. "Wanna go for walk or something?"

Chamella grinned eagerly with a nod. "Sure."

***** ***** *****

Winter stepped out of the bathroom, taking in a pensive, yet eager, breath. She stopped in front of her vanity. Even though she had just spent the past few minutes fixing her mane and coat, she wanted to give herself one more once over. She nodded at her reflection, happy with how she looked. Yet, something was missing. Winter opened the drawer of the vanity, removing the case that held her precious necklace. Without a second thought, she slipped its silver chain around her neck, knowing that it was the missing piece she was thinking of.

Today was a special occasion after all: her baby shower. Even now, several of her friends had already arrived and waited downstairs for her to join them. She felt a little bad to leave them waiting, but she wanted to wait until everypony had arrived before making her entrance. This was her day after all. For once in her life, she wanted to be the center of attention. Besides, her mother could keep her friends entertained until the last of the guests showed up, no doubt with embarrassing stories of her childhood; but even if she explicitly told her not to, that probably wouldn't stop her.

Winter's attention was caught by yet another knock on the front door. If her count was correct, that should be the last guest. Without hesitation, the pegasus hopped over to the door, exiting the bedroom and heading for the stairs. She paused briefly, lowering her head to peer covertly into the first floor of the house. She was unable to keep the smile from her face as she saw all of her friends gathered there. Even if she wasn't really that close with some of them, it still made her happy to see that they accepted her invitation. Though, admittedly, she couldn't help but feel a little excited at the sight of the stack of gifts piled up beside the couch as well.

Most of her guests were idly chatting away in the living room as they awaited their host. Twilight Sparkle and Rarity were sitting on the couch chatting with Derpy and Rainbow Dash. They were the only ones Winter could see from her vantage point, but no doubt Pinkie Pie was in the kitchen preparing the snacks. Considering she could clearly hear the pink pony's high-pitched voice speaking to somepony, one of her other guests must have been in there as well; either Fluttershy or Applejack. After a moment, Winter spotted her mother exit the kitchen, heading for the door to let in the final guest. When the door opened, Autumn greeted Applejack, who was also carrying a bag of apples as she'd promised, meaning that Fluttershy must have been in the kitchen with Pinkie.

And that meant it was time to get started.

Making sure to put extra spring in her step, Winter trotted down the stairs. The sound of her hoofsteps on the carpeted floor got everypony in the living room to turn their heads to finally see their host. Rarity was the first to get up to greet her with an enthusiastic smile to match Winter's own.

"There she is!" the ivory unicorn said with a cheery clap of her hooves. "Oh, I'm so excited for this! Today is going to be so much fun!"

Autumn Maple guided her daughter to the couch for a seat. Twilight stood up to make room for her, instead electing to bring in several chairs from the kitchen with her magic for everypony who didn't have a seat. Despite having known Twilight since before she was coronated, Winter still felt humbled that a princess was relinquishing her seat for her. If there were ever anything that signified the importance of being a mother, that would certainly be up there.

After making herself comfortable, Winter looked upon the friends she had invited with a smile. "Thanks for coming, you guys. It really means a lot."

"Wouldn't dream of missin' it," Applejack assured with a tip of her hat.

Rainbow Dash leaned back casually in the armchair. "Yeah, these kinds of girly parties aren't usually my thing, but for you I'll make an exception just this once."

"Oh, I actually prefer baby showers over the usual parties. They're much quieter and less crowded," Fluttershy said with a small smile. "Although, Pinkie's parties do tend to get a little... out of hoof," she added with an inexplicable blush.

"In any case, we're going to make sure this baby shower is memorable for my little powder puff," Autumn chimed in with a big grin, along with amused snorts from a couple of the guests.

At that moment, Pinkie Pie skipped in from the kitchen, balancing on her head a tray with a pitcher of vivid, pink liquid with whole raspberries floating within it and enough martini glasses for each pony present. Winter wasn't even sure if she owned any martini glasses, but Pinkie had some and they were all decorated with lime wedges and sugar coating the rims.

"Who wants margaritas~?" she called out in a singsong tone.

Twilight gave the pink mare a disapproving look. "Pinkie, I don't think margaritas are appropriate for a baby shower. Winter—or anypony for that matter—shouldn't consume alcohol while pregnant; it can cause severe complications."

"Even if I wasn't pregnant, I don't even drink," Winter added.

Applejack raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Pinkie, did you get yer party-plannin' folders mixed up again? 'Member what happened last time?"

"You didn't happen to hire any... *ahem*... 'entertainment,' did you?" Rarity asked cautiously, though there was a hint of eagerness in her expression and tone.

Pinkie rolled her eyes and scoffed, her smile unwavering under the accusations. "Psh, don't worry, you guys, I know what I'm doing. It's non-alcoholic. It's basically just fruit punch." She placed the tray on the coffee table and began pouring the pink juice into the glasses.

"Oh, well, in that case, go right ahead," Twilight said with a relieved grin.

"If it's just fruit punch, then why did you call 'em margaritas?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Because margaritas are classier and a better party drink. You want this to feel like a real party, right? Plus, any drink is automatically classier when it's in a martini glass," Pinkie explained.

Using her magic, Rarity grabbed one of the filled glasses and brought it over to herself. "Can't argue with that," she agreed with a giggle.

After Pinkie Pie served drinks to everypony, Twilight hoisted her glass into the air. "I think now would be an excellent time to toast our expecting mother, wouldn't you say?"

"Certainly is," agreed Applejack, raising her glass as well. "Congrats, Winter."

Everypony else joined in to congratulate Winter once more, causing the ivory pegasus to blush with a bashful smile. They all then took a swig from their drinks, taking a moment to silently enjoy the fruity flavor.

"Thanks again, everypony," Winter said. "You have no idea how much your support means to me. Especially after I've been such a worrywart about all of this. Sorry if I've been a bit of a downer."

"Well, it's not like you don't have reason to worry," said Autumn. "I mean, even mothers who are having normal, non-changeling babies can get pretty stressed out about it."

With the subject having been brought up again, Winter felt the need to voice her thoughts just one more time. "Just out of curiosity, do all of you think I'm overreacting about the baby? Do you honestly think the baby'll be fine?"

"I'm sure we've all said this before, but there really isn't any way to be sure about that," Twilight reiterated.

"Yeah, and if there's nothing we can really do about it, then what's the point in worrying about it?" Rainbow Dash added.

"Now, not all of us can be as laid back as Dash here, but she has a point," Applejack said. "Ain't no sense in getting hung up on somethin' ya got no power over."

"What's important is to stay positive," Fluttershy said with a soothing smile.

"And make sure you have all your ducks in a row beforehoof!" Pinkie chirped, pulling out a series of linked, paper, duck cutouts as a visual. "And that's what baby showers are for! See?" She pointed to all of the gifts piled up beside the couch. She picked one of them up, shaking it lightly and listening for any clues about its contents. "What could it be? Diapers? Pacifiers? Toys?! Anything and everything you need!"

Autumn could already see the excitement building in her daughter's face, but placed a hoof on her shoulder to deter her. "Now, now, there'll be plenty of time for the gifts later. Why don't we finish our drinks and chat a bit first. I'm sure everypony here's got a lot they want to say, hm?"

Pinkie Pie hopped away from the couch once more, heading back towards the kitchen. "I've got cupcakes in the oven! You gals talk while I handle the snacks. I'm sure I can hear you from the kitchen."

"Well, I don't really know what to say or anything," Rainbow Dash said with a shrug. "Babies aren't exactly my area of expertise."

"I guess most of you can't really relate to my situation, huh?" Winter said with a hint of disappointment.

"That ain't entirely true," Applejack corrected. "We may not actually be moms, but that don't mean we ain't got no experience with parentin'."

"Applejack makes a fair point," Rarity agreed.

Winter quirked a curious eyebrow. "How do you mean?"

"Well, in the case of the two of us, being a big sister has its similarities to being a parent."

"'Specially in mah case," Applejack continued. "Me 'n' Apple Bloom lost our parents when she was still in 'er cradle. So without them around, rest their souls, it came down ta me 'n' Big Macintosh 'n' Granny Smith ta raise her. So don't tell me Ah don't have no experience."

"That's very true," Autumn said, giving a smile to Winter to help her feel reassured.

"I've cared for quite a few baby animals," Fluttershy added. "I mean, I know that's not exactly the same as raising a foal, but it's something, right?"

"And I've looked after Spike ever since he hatched from his egg. In fact, I was the one who hatched him," Twilight regaled with a fond smile. "In many ways, I could be considered Spike's mother. Granted, I was still a filly myself when he hatched, so Princess Celestia and the servants at the castle helped out with him quite a lot, but still."

"Even Pinkie foalsits the Cake twins all the time," Rainbow Dash chimed in.

As if on cue, the pink mare's head popped up from behind the couch, just inches from Winter's face, giving the ivory pegasus a start. "Speaking of foalsitting, have you given my offer any thought?" Pinkie asked with a wide, presumptuous grin and a fluttering of her eyelashes.

"Um... I-I haven't really..." she stuttered, having been put on the spot suddenly.

"She mentioned to me about askin' Fluttershy," said Applejack.

The quiet pegasus pointed to herself in surprise. "Me?"

Pinkie's ears drooped at the news, her grin flipping upside-down. "Aww, but I asked first. Not fair."

"Oh, you can foalsit if you want, Pinkie. I don't mind," Fluttershy told her.

"Guys, hold it," Winter interrupted hastily. "It's not like I have to assign a specific foalsitter or anything. If we need one, we'll just ask whoever's available. I'd just heard that Fluttershy was good with kids, too."

Pinkie simply shrugged. "Okey dokey then." She then hopped over the couch, plopping herself down next to Winter and placing a three-tiered serving dish on the coffee table loaded with all sorts of small pastries, from brownies to cream puffs to colorful, miniature cupcakes, to which the other guests immediately began to help themselves.

"It's all well and good, Ah reckon," Applejack waved dismissively with a chocolate truffle in her mouth. "Now, if you got any questions, feel free ta ask, just as long as it ain't got nothin' to do with the whole birthin' process. No experience there, Ah'm afraid."

"You can ask me," Derpy volunteered cheerily.

Winter chuckled awkwardly. "I think that should be something I discuss with my own mom. In private."

Autumn sighed, brushing it off wearily. "Oh, nothing can really prepare you for that. They recommend breathing exercises and all that jazz, but in the end, when the day comes, it can be hard to really remember it all, what with all the screaming and such."

"Real reassuring, Mom, thanks," said Winter flatly and sarcastically.

The crimson mare simply shrugged. "Just letting you know it's not going to be all sunshine and rainbows, sweetie. I'm not going to lie to you."

Derpy shuddered slightly. "Ugh, I remember too well what that was like. Trust me: not pretty." Seeing Winter's face contort into an uncomfortable grimace, Derpy quickly added an addendum to her comment, putting on a big, albeit somewhat forced, smile. "B-But it's definitely worth going through all of it, no doubt about that. I'll keep saying 'til the day I die that being a mom is the most rewarding job in the world."

Rarity turned her eyes up, staring at the ceiling with a wistful grin. "Oh, I do so hope I can one day know that sort of happiness. Of course, I'd first have to find a nice stallion to settle down with. Preferably one who's tall, handsome, strong..."

As Rarity trailed off into her own fantasy, Fluttershy decided to change the topic. "So, um, when are we going to get to your gifts? I know we were supposed to chat for a bit, but I'm actually really curious what everypony got you."

Pinkie jumped out of her seat with excitement. "Yes! Present time!" She grabbed a gift that had rather gaudy wrapping, but was neatly tied, from the pile—somehow not upsetting the whole stack in her haste—and dropped it into Winter's lap. "Open mine first!"

A little flustered on account of the suddenness of it, Winter took the gift. "Uh, okay..."

She quickly unwrapped it, but was completely baffled by the contents. Despite the box shape of the gift, there was no actual box within, but rather just a half a dozen multi-colored pacifiers still in their store packaging. How Pinkie Pie had managed to wrap it as a perfect cube with no actual surface to wrap it around was beyond her, but the gift put a smile on her face regardless.

"These are pretty cute," Winter commented.

"I know!" Pinkie chirped enthusiastically. "They're the same brand that Pumpkin and Pound use, so they're baby approved."

Winter gave the pink mare a grateful smile. "Thank you, Pinkie."

"I just wanna make it clear in advance," Applejack chimed in. "The apples Ah brought over don't count as mah gift. Actually, Ah got Granny Smith to dig out her old recipe for the baby food she 'n' our parents used ta feed me, Big Macintosh 'n' Applebloom back when we were tots."

"Does it have apples in it?" Winter asked with a grin, knowing full well the answer.

Applejack tipped her hat proudly. "Darn tootin'. And it's the best darn baby food this side-a Equestria."

"You say that about everthing you make on your farm," Rainbow Dash said with a roll of her eyes.

"Don't make it any less true." Applejack turned back to Winter. "And if you ever need more, you just ask. We'll be happy to give ya as much as ya want, free o' charge."

Winter was taken aback by the generous offer. "Really? Wow, that's amazing Applejack. Thank you so much. You sure it's alright to just do something like that for free? I'd be happy to pay for it."

Applejack waved off the offer. "Don't you worry about it. It's not exactly a complicated recipe. Granny Smith used to whip up a weeks worth o' the stuff in a couple-a hours. It's no trouble."

"Oh! You must open mine next," Rarity suggested eagerly, pointing to a gift wrapped in elegant, powder blue paper. "You'll simply adore it!"

Winter wasted no time picking out the gift in question, quickly unwrapping it and opening the box within. She pulled out a tiny, pink onesie that practically looked as though it were made for a doll.

"Aww, that's so adorable, Rarity," Fluttershy commented.

Autumn sized it up with an unsure quirk of her eyebrow. "It's quite... extravagant. Certainly unique," she said, noting the overabundance of rhinestones embroidered into it.

Rarity chuckled with an embarrassed blush. "Yes, I'm aware that I may have gone a tad overboard. If you like, I can remove some of them for you."

"Yeah, I might take you up on that," Winter agreed, none too fussy about just how flashy the article was. "But it's still really cute. Thank you, Rarity. Just one question..."

Rarity chimed in before she could even finish, as if she had read Winter's mind. "I am going to make a different one in the event that your foal turns out to be a boy. Rest assured, that point has been addressed."

Winter nodded, her question having been answered.

"So who's next?" asked Applejack, looking around at the ponies whose presents still went unopened.

"I guess you could open mine next, if you want," Fluttershy suggested quietly.

Winter picked up Fluttershy's gift, a simply wrapped present with yellow paper.

"It's not much," Fluttershy said modestly as Winter began to unwrap it. "I didn't make it myself, like Rarity, and I didn't have to spend any money or anything, so it might seem kind of... cheap."

When Winter had finished unwrapping, she was left with a small rabbit plush toy. The fur looked quite worn, and the white color was dulled somewhat. One of the two button eyes looked newer than the other, and one of the ears had some stitching in it, suggesting that it had been repaired recently.

"It's one of the stuffed animals I brought with me when I first moved to Ponyville," Fluttershy explained. "It's just been lying at the bottom of a trunk for a while, so I thought it'd be better if somepony could enjoy it." She gasped, covering her mouth as she made a realization. "Oh my, I'm basically just giving you my garbage! I'm so sorry. I-I can take it back if you—"

"Fluttershy, I love it," Winter said adoringly. "I had one just like it when I was a filly."

Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. I'm glad you like it. I was worried that you'd think I was just pawning off something I don't need anymore onto somepony else."

Winter gave the other pegasus a grateful smile. "I'm sure the baby will love it. Thank you."

Rainbow Dash suddenly lifted off from the armchair, flying over to the three remaining gifts in the group, picking up one of them and passing it to Winter. "Hey, you should open mine next. It's pretty awesome."

Winter was a touch confused by Dash's sudden enthusiasm, especially considering she'd been maintaining a cool detachment during the shower up until now. But not wanting to disappoint, Winter accepted, taking the gift from her.

"Uh, careful; it's fragile," the chromatic pegasus warned as she returned to her seat.

As Winter held the present in her hooves, she could swear it was making noise. She lifted it to her ear to listen more closely. "Why is this making a rumbling sound?"

"Why would I tell you that? That'd ruin the surprise, dummy. Just open it," Dash told her with an impatient grin.

Winter shrugged, conceding the point to Rainbow Dash and unwrapping the gift. From inside, she removed a glass jar, but inside the jar itself was what appeared to be a very tiny, grey cloud. Every few seconds or so, the cloud would flash dimly and shoot out little bolts of lightning; not enough to be harmful, for certain.

Winter looked up at Rainbow Dash, baffled. "What's this supposed to be?"

"A storm in a bottle," she answered, as if it were obvious. "I know you like the sound of rain, so now, even if it's a clear night, you've got this. Oh, but it's just the little thunderclaps. No actual rain. The jar would just fill up with water."

"Oh, like a white noise machine," Twilight chimed in.

Dash blinked uncomprehendingly. "Uh, sure. If that helps," she said, clearly having no idea what the alicorn was talking about.

"It's a device that produces varying sounds, like waterfalls or wind. They're often used to help people sleep, as some find it difficult to doze off in dead silence," the princess explained.

"Rainbow Dash, the idea of a baby shower gift is to get something for the baby, not necessarily the mother herself, unless it helps with the baby," Rarity pointed out.

"Hey, come on," barked Dash defensively. "I'm trying here. I'm not great at this sorta thing."

"Maybe you could use it as a nightlight," Fluttershy suggested. "The sparks are dull enough that they aren't hard on the eyes or anything."

"Oh, and it could go well with my gift!" Derpy chirped, hurrying over to pass it to Winter.

Wanting to know exactly how it tied together with a storm in a bottle, Winter quickly unwrapped Derpy's gift, pulling out a pair of electronic devices with speakers, resembling walkie-talkies.

"A baby monitor!" Derpy blurted out eagerly. "See? Now you can put it in the baby's room and still hear the noise from the bottle. Just don't put it too close; don't wanna drown out the baby."

"Okay, thank you. Both of you. I don't usually need noise to sleep, but it's a very thoughtful gift regardless, Rainbow Dash." Winter gave both Derpy and Dash a grateful smile, as she had done for everypony else.

"I guess my gift is next," Twilight said, lifting the carefully and expertly wrapped gift with her magic to give to Winter. "I think this one may have some sentimental value," she suggested somewhat proudly.

Hearing that, Winter was eager to know what it was. After tearing off the wrapping paper, she held in her hooves several colorful books; children's books to be precise.

"Just a gift I put together from the library," Twilight explained with a modest shrug.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Leave it to Twilight to give somepony homework and call it a 'gift.'"

The lavender mare ignored the quip. "Check the bottom one. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."

Her curiosity piquing ever higher, Winter flipped through to the book at the bottom of the short stack. Her jaw dropped slightly when she read the title. "'The Ugly Duckling'?"

"What's so special about that book?" asked Applejack. "It's just a regular ol' kid's book. Everypony knows that one."

"Yes, but this one holds special significance to Winter specifically," Twilight elaborated. "Right, Winter?"

"Yeah. Shade and I read this book together when we first started dating. I had locked myself out of my house after we had just set up a big storm. I ended up getting sick and spending the night at Twilight's library where Shade took care of me. He was still learning to read at the time, so this was one of the books he was practicing with. We had our first kiss the very next day, after he had escorted me home."

"How romantic!" Autumn exclaimed wistfully. "You never told me about that, Winter."

"Not with Dad around. If he heard I locked myself out in a storm, he'd never let me live it down," Winter said with a sigh.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. As Winter had been regaling the story, Twilight had noticed a certain lack of emotion in her voice. Surely such a significant moment in there relationship would be held more fondly. "Is something wrong, Winter?"

Winter looked up from the book, forcing a smile. "Oh, no. It's a very thoughtful gift. It's just..."

"Just what?"

Winter hesitated. She didn't want to devalue Twilight's gift, but she definitely couldn't get away with not explaining it now. "Shade doesn't like this book."

Twilight tilted her head, confused and a little shocked. "He doesn't?"

"But that story's a classic," Rarity said, equally confused.

Winter looked back down at the book, flipping through its pages to the ending. "It's just that the ending didn't exactly fill him with confidence back then. He had been trying his best to blend in and live with us, and this book only seems to suggest that somepony who's out of place won't be accepted by anypony except their own kind. I can only imagine the doubts that it must have brought up."

Twilight's face became very apologetic. "Oh, gosh. I hadn't even considered that."

"Now that you mention it, the message in that book is not exactly... modern," Rarity commented.

"And imagine how it would be for your foal," Fluttershy added. "They might be put through a crisis where they're worried they might not be accepted by either species."

"Should I take it back?" Twilight requested.

Winter simply nodded, handing the book back to Twilight. "I appreciate the sentiment behind it, but this isn't the sort of book I want my child to read."

"I understand. I'll see if I can find something more appropriate to replace it," Twilight assured with a grin.

Eager to continue, Pinkie Pie looked down at the remaining presents. Or rather, she would have had there been any left. She frowned in disappointment. "Aw, guess that's everything."

Winter quirked an eyebrow, looking to where the pile once was to confirm for herself that there was nothing left.. "Wait, I haven't opened Mom's present yet. Where is it?"

Autumn grinned coyly, also receiving similar grins from Rainbow Dash and Twilight. Well, sweetie, that's because it's not in the house right now. It's waiting outside."

Winter's ears perked up, but she tried her best to hide her excitement. "Why is it outside?"

"Because if it were inside the surprise would be ruined."

After receiving the go-ahead from Autumn in the form of a nod, Rainbow Dash flew over to the door, stopping briefly at Applejack to make a request. "Hey, AJ, mind helping me out?"

The earth pony stood up without hesitation. "Sure thing."

The pair stepped outside for a moment, leaving the others to wait and Winter to stew in her impatience and curiosity. Too excited to remain seated, Winter stood up and waited in front of the door, fighting back the urge to go outside and see what it was.

However, within moments her patience was rewarded. From outside, Rainbow Dash and Applejack rolled in a wooden crib and Winter's eyes widened in utter disbelief.

The crib was painted pure white. On the inside was a blue cushion decorated with white clouds, giving the illusion that the baby would be floating in the sky. There was even a mobile hanging over the crib, with several clouds and birds ready to lull a tired foal to sleep with soothing tones.

Seeing that her daughter had been rendered speechless, Autumn decided to explain in case Winter hadn't quite recognized it yet. "It's your crib from when you were a foal."

"Oh my gosh, it is!" Winter exclaimed, finally placing it in her memory. She ran a hoof over the railing, still slightly reeling from disbelief.

"I had your father give it a new coat of paint, got new batteries for the mobile, patched up the mattress, and now it's good as new. I even enlisted help from Rainbow Dash and Princess Twilight in getting it here."

Winter turned on the mobile and the paper clouds and birds began to slowly rotate as quiet tones chimed out a soft, peaceful tune. "Mom, this is amazing. I can't believe you went to so much trouble."

"Remember, dear: the whole point of this to make less trouble for you," her mother reminded her. "These gifts are just a few less things for you to worry about."

"Do you have room for the crib?" Fluttershy asked.

"We have a spare room at the end of the hall upstairs," Winter explained. "Shade and I can clear it out and turn it into a nursery."

"Well, if you need help getting it upstairs, just ask," Twilight offered. "Teleportation can be extremely convenient in such situations."

Winter looked at everypony who had gone to such lengths for her, wiping a single grateful tear from her eye. "Guys, you have no idea how much all of this means. Thank you so much, everypony. And I'm sure Shade would thank you, too, if he were here."

"Speaking of Shade," Autumn interjected. "Where's that friend of his you told me about? You know, the other changeling."

"Oh, that's right," Rarity spoke up, finally remembering. "I had intended to ask about that. Chamella tells me she didn't get an invitation to the baby shower at all." She turned in Pinkie Pie's direction as she said that.

Confused, Pinkie glanced over her shoulder before pointing to herself. "What are you looking at me for? I delivered invites to everypony on the list." She reached a hoof into her bottomless mane, pulling out a piece of parchment, unfurling it and showing it to Rarity. "See? No Chamella."

Sure enough, Chamella's name was absent from the list, just as Pinkie said. But this news only raised more questions.

"How come you didn't invite Chamella, Winter?" Fluttershy asked.

"She told me it was because she figured Shade would want some company while everypony else was here," said Applejack, casting a somewhat skeptical glance in Winter's direction.

"Even still, it would have been courteous at the very least to tell her about it," Rarity continued. "Chamella hadn't even so much as heard about the baby shower."

With everypony's eyes casting curious and confused looks upon her, Winter felt as though she was being backed into a corner. "I-I don't know what to tell you. It's just like I told Applejack. I guess I figured Shade or Rarity would've mentioned it to her."

"I suppose that's fair," Rarity conceded. "She even said herself that this sort of thing wasn't her cup of tea."

Autumn sighed in disappointment. "Oh, well, that's a shame. I haven't had a chance to meet her yet. I was looking forward to it."

"You're welcome to come over to my boutique after the shower to say hello," Rarity offered with a hospitable smile.

"I've never thought to ask until now, but how exactly does Chamella feel about all of this? The baby, I mean," Fluttershy asked Winter.

The ivory pegasus raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking me? She's Shade's friend."

That comment elicited some concerned reactions from her guests, and Winter immediately regretted the way she'd worded that.

"What do you mean? You don't consider Chamella to be your friend?" Twilight inquired.

"T-That's not what meant," Winter said defensively. "I just mean that... she's known Shade longer than me. If anypony knows how she feels about something, it's him."

The others couldn't help but notice the somewhat downtrodden tone of her voice as she said that.

"Are things alright between you two, Winter?" Rarity asked, concerned. "I know there's been some... animosity between the two of you in the past. I do hope that's not the issue here."

Winter shook her head. "No, it's... It's fine. Don't worry about it."

Despite Winter's insistence, the room was still filled with a rather thick tension regardless. Pinkie Pie decided this would be a good time to brighten the mood.

"Cake! Who wants cake? We should all have a piece and just, you know, mellow out a bit, huh? No reason why a baby shower should be so tightly wound. Let's unravel this tension with some more sugary sweets!"

"Sounds good to me," Applejack agreed, following Pinkie into the kitchen.

Everypony else followed behind them as well, leaving just Winter and Autumn in the living room. Winter took a moment to look over her old crib again, though this time without that notable grin she'd worn before.

"Winter, sweetie?"

Winter looked over her shoulder at her mom, the older mare looking concerned for her daughter.

"Everything is alright, isn't it?"

Winter gave her mother a small, but genuine, smile. "Yeah, I'm good, Mom. Seriously, don't worry about it."

That was enough to satisfy Autumn, and she grinned back. "Alright then. Want to get some cake?"

Winter nodded. "Sure. Be right there."

As her mother went off to join the others in the kitchen, Winter turned back to her crib—or rather, her baby's crib. It kind of got her thinking about what Chamella really did think about all of this. Like herself, Shade had been slowly getting over his fears regarding their impending parenthood. Was Chamella just as eager about it, she wondered. Maybe it was actually worth talking to her about it...

"Winter, you better hurry before it's all gone."

Heeding her mother's rather sarcastic warning, Winter headed into the kitchen to join the others and enjoy the rest of the shower.

Chapter 6 - The Other Girl

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 6: The Other Girl

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Chamella brushed her long, purple mane out of her eyes with a sigh, mentally going over all of the things she had done to figure out what was left. She glanced over to the several trunks in Carousel Boutique's storeroom, each of them locked tight, a clear indication that all of the leftover fabric had been stowed away for the day. The changeling peeked out to the foyer, half-expecting the door to swing open. She wasn't entirely sure she'd be able to handle a customer by herself without Rarity's help. She was pretty sure that everything had been taken care of now. In any case, if she had forgotten anything, it was probably of no consequence; Rarity would likely notice and rectify it when she got back.

Chamella took a seat on a couch near Rarity's usual workstation, taking a moment to relax after a long day's work. This was actually the first time that Rarity had left her to close up the boutique alone. Her boss had decided to take the rest of the day off so that she could attend Winter's baby shower, leaving Chamella with a list of things that had to be done when closing shop. Of course, her quick-learning employee was well familiarized with the usual routines by now, but something about having the entire burden put upon her shoulders made her a touch anxious, admittedly.

But that was of no concern now that she was finished. The quiet changeling managed a self-satisfied smile at a job well done. The only thing left to do now was wait. If the time was any indication, Shade should have been getting off from work any moment now, as well. And she knew he was coming straight over to see her rather than heading home, like usual. It still puzzled her as to why Shade couldn't attend the baby shower when it was his baby, too. It just went to show how much about pony society was still confusing and weird to her, despite having lived with them for well over a year now.

The sound of the boutique's entrance bell brought Chamella to attention. She hopped up immediately, a grin on her face as she started towards the door. However, she stopped when it was not the dark chitin of her fellow changeling that showed through the door, but rather the white coat of small, unicorn filly.

"Hi, Chamella," Sweetie Belle chirped cheerily.

Chamella's ears fell slightly, admittedly a little disappointed that it wasn't who she'd expected. "Oh, hi, Sweetie Belle. Sorry, I thought you were Shade."

The filly lifted an eyebrow in confusion and looked herself over. "Really? I didn't think I looked that much like a changeling."

"I'm just expecting him, that's all."

"Oh. Well, is Rarity around?"

Chamella shook her head. "She's at Shade's house for Winter's baby shower."

The filly stomped in and pouted in a huff. "Phooie. I really wanted to go with her. But apparently baby showers might be too 'adult' for a young filly," she huffed with a roll of her eyes and a grumpy pout. Sweetie Belle then gave Chamella a quizzical look. "Hey, how come you're not at the shower?"

"I wasn't invited."

"Why not?"

Chamella shrugged. "I don't know. It's not a big deal though; it's not really my scene."

"So you're just gonna hang out with Shade until it's over?"

"That's the plan."

The filly gave Chamella an eager and presumptuous grin. "Can I come with you guys?"

Chamella was caught off guard by the question, hesitating slightly. "Oh, um... I mean, that'd be nice and everything, but I was really looking forward to spending some time with him today." Her ears drooped a little. "We haven't really had much time to just hang out and talk lately, what with Winter and the baby and all. This might be one of the only times we'll get a chance to spend some quality time together. You understand, right?"

Sweetie Belle smiled and nodded, seemingly not fazed at all to be declined. "Totally. Rarity's usually too busy with work or her friends or saving Equestria or something to spend time with her own sister," she said with a resentful grimace.

As if on cue, the door opened once more, and this time it was Shade who entered. His presence immediately perked up Chamella, who met him with a cute grin.

"Hi, Shade," the purple-maned changeling greeted happily.

Shade matched her smile with his own. "Hey, Chamella. Hope you weren't waiting long." He glanced down at the filly standing next to her. "Oh, hi, Sweetie Belle."

"Hi!"

"So did you have any ideas for what we can do today?" Chamella asked.

"Actually, I was thinking we could head back to the café and grab a bite. That sound good?"

"Sounds great," Chamella agreed. "Just let me grab some money."

Just as she was about to head to her room, Shade held out a hoof to stop her. "There's no need for that. I'll take care of it."

Chamella gave him an unsure look. "Are you sure?"

Shade nodded, smiling happily. "Absolutely. Think about it as an apology for not being able to spend time with you lately."

Chamella simply grinned gratefully.

Despite the fact that they were ready to go, the pair of changelings stood around for a moment, an awkward silence falling over them. Chamella discreetly glanced down at the filly standing next to them, who had been intently listening in on their conversation, not wanting to up and leave her there by herself.

"So, um... Guess we'll be heading out now," Chamella said rather awkwardly.

It took a moment, but it eventually dawned on Sweetie Belle. "Oh! Right! I'll just be leaving now. Have fun you guys," was all she said before slipping out the door herself.

With that out of the way, Shade turned back to Chamella, gesturing towards the door. "Shall we?"

***** ***** *****

It was certainly a clear enough day for a day out. The sky was beginning to make it's way towards the softer colors of the evening, but there was still enough daylight to take advantage of regardless. And it also wasn't too late for a nice meal either. In fact, it was so nice outside today that the pair of changelings saw fit to eat outside, having gotten an outdoor table at the café where Shade worked.

Despite the fact that Shade worked there, Chamella didn't eat at the establishment often; she wasn't really the sort of person who went to a restaurant to eat alone. That being said, she was quite fond of the food here. Being primarily a carnivore, having options as to what to eat was refreshing. And even though it took some getting used to for the citizens of Ponyville, they eventually got over the fact that one of their local eateries had begun serving meat dishes to appease their changeling residents, as well as griffon tourists.

No longer needing to feel self-conscience about consuming meat in front of her friends and neighbors, Chamella had happily ordered a hamburger and fries for her supper, while Shade had elected to get a plate of bacon and eggs; sure, it was a little late for that, but he knew just how good they made it here, and they offered all day breakfast anyway, so what the hay?

The strange thing was, it was oddly quiet between the two changelings. After they had ordered their food, they went a couple of minutes without saying another word. At the same time, however, it wasn't awkward. In between enjoying the nice weather and admiring the pleasant view of the hills surrounding Ponyville, their gazes would cross occasionally, prompting both of them to give one another a fond smile.

It was nice; that was how Chamella would have described it. She enjoyed just being able to spend some time with her best friend, even if it was in silence. They had gone for a short walk a few days ago, but it was just that: short. Today, Chamella knew she had the rest of the evening to spend time with Shade, which was more than she'd gotten since he found out Winter was pregnant. But Chamella was willing to take whatever she could get.

"This is nice, huh?"

Chamella was almost startled when Shade finally broke the silence, smiling across the table at her.

"Just you and me," he continued. "Kinda like old times. Except now we're not wondering if we get to eat today."

Chamella gave Shade a cute grin. "I'm glad you're not stressed out anymore. I like seeing you smile, Shade."

"Likewise," he said with a chuckle. He stretched his back a little, flittering his translucent wings slightly with a relaxed sigh. "It's nice just being able to sit back and chill out for once, you know? I've had too much on my mind lately. I needed a distraction, and this baby shower is perfect for that."

"I guess when you think about it, we don't really have any right to complain," Chamella commented as she stared off into the distant horizon. "Any problems we think we have now aren't really anything compared to how things used to be."

Shade nodded solemnly. "You've got a point there."

Chamella looked back at Shade, whose gaze had followed hers toward the distance, and hesitated for a moment before asking the question that had popped into her mind. "Do you... ever wonder what our lives would be like if you never left the Changeling Kingdom?"

Shade grinned slightly at the question. "Not lately. There hasn't been much besides the baby on my mind recently." His smile then faded as he answered her seriously. "Actually, I used to think about it all the time. There were always those nights where'd I'd just be lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling and wondering how it was possible for everything to just be so... perfect. A too-good-to-be-true kinda thing, you know?"

"You ever have any of those mornings where you wake up and expect to be lying on a pile of cracked leaves with the cold wind blowing over you?" Chamella asked with a somber look.

"You too, huh?"

The two couldn't help but smile when he said that. As depressing as that used to feel for them, knowing that they weren't alone in their feelings was still quite comforting.

It was around that time that a waiter came by with their meals, placing Chamella's burger and fries and Shade's evening breakfast in front of the pair of changelings. Without much hesitation, Chamella popped a fry in her mouth, still hot and crispy. However, Shade just held a strip of bacon within his magical grip, but didn't eat it. As Chamella chewed her food, she saw the look on his face. He seemed to be lost in thought, but then looked across at her.

"I'm sorry, Chamella."

The female changeling was surprised and confused by that. "For what?"

"Leaving you alone out there by yourself. Thinking about it now, I was being selfish; leaving behind everything I ever knew and the only person I ever cared about to chase some pipe dream about making friends with ponies."

Chamella's ears drooped when she saw a sullen look fall over Shade's face. "You don't have to apologize for that, Shade. Everything worked out, right? I mean, look at us now." She pointed out the fact that there were many ponies around them that weren't paying any mind at all to the two changelings in their presence. "We're just normal members of the community now."

Shade breathed a silent sigh, not exactly comforted by that. "That's not the point, Chamella. I had no idea whether or not I'd be successful. It was a complete gamble. And leaving you back there to fend for yourself was the worst part."

"You gave me the choice to come with you and I turned it down. If I could go back to that point in time, I'd definitely go with you. I was just... scared."

"I was scared, too, believe me," Shade sympathized. "And I am glad that things worked out for the best. It could've been much worse, all things considered."

With all that having been said, the two changelings were at ease enough to finally enjoy their meals properly. But just as Chamella took her first big bite of her burger, Shade spoke up again.

"You know, Winter and I have been fussing and fretting over this baby for a while now, but I've never really had a chance to ask you what's going through your mind about all of this."

Chamella paused with a mouthful of burger, caught off guard by the question. She swallowed the bite and looked a tad flustered. "W-What do you mean? It doesn't really have anything to do with me, right?"

Shade raised an eyebrow slightly, noticing that she was avoiding eye contact. "What? Of course it does. Like Rarity said: you're family."

"Yeah, but... I don't know what to do with a baby."

Shade chuckled. "Neither do I. And I'm its father."

Chamella managed a giggle hearing that. "I guess. I just... don't know if I could handle being responsible for raising a foal myself. I don't really envy you."

Shade looked quizzically at Chamella, her comment raising a question. "Would that be possible, I wonder."

Chamella blinked uncomprehendingly. "Would what be possible?"

"For you to have a baby."

That suggestion caused Chamella to reel slightly. "M-Me?! I-I just said I don't think I could handle that."

Shade shook his head. "No, I mean biologically. Would it be possible for you and a pony stallion to have a baby together?"

Chamella adjusted her mane with a sigh, relieved that Shade was just posing a hypothetical rather than an actual suggestion, but she was still a little baffled. "Well, why wouldn't it be? You and Winter are having a baby, so we know it's possible."

Shade didn't seem so sure of that. "But our case is a male changeling with a female pony."

"You don't think it could work the other way around?"

"That's what I'm wondering, because giving birth is completely different between our species'. Winter's actually pregnant with our foal, but female changelings don't give birth that way. Can a pony stallion even get you pregnant, and if so, what would happen?"

"Oh. I guess I never really thought about it like that."

"I mean, I can't imagine your body is designed to carry a baby for eleven months, and I also can't imagine a baby pony growing in an egg sac."

Chamella grimaced at Shade. "Can you please stop using me as an example?"

"Think about it: it might not even be possible for you to have a baby like Winter and I."

"I'm not really torn up about it, if that's what you're saying," Chamella stated flatly.

"You're not bummed out at all that you might not be able to start a family here?"

"You seemed perfectly happy when you still thought that."

Shade couldn't deny that. Back then, just being with Winter was enough to keep him happy. "Yeah, but now that it's actually happening, it's completely different. I'm excited, yet terrified. It's an odd feeling, but I can't say it's unpleasant."

Chamella chomped down on a fry, not feeling envious in the slightest of her friend. "I'll pass. Being a mom seems like too much pressure for me."

"But what if you change your mind one day?"

Chamella was starting to get a little irritated with Shade's insistence to continue with this topic, casting an annoyed glare across the table. But he just kept staring at her, waiting for a response as though he was unable to read her expression. "You're getting a little ahead of everything, aren't you? I'd need somepony to have a baby with first."

"And I'm sure you'll find somepony eventually. I'm just saying, when that day comes—"

"If that day comes."

Shade stared at her assuredly. "When that day comes, you might think about things a little differently."

"Okay, let's just say I do change my mind. You just said it won't work, so what difference does it make?"

"It might not work. I don't know for sure. I'm just asking you what you'd do if it turns out that it isn't possible."

"I don't know. How am I supposed to know?"

"Well, I heard that apparently some people adopt kids and—"

"Shade, I don't want to have a baby!"

Chamella immediately became self-conscience of the fact that she had said that much louder than she'd intended. Several other patrons eating outside the café turned in their direction at the sound of her sudden outburst and the female changeling shrunk down slightly with an embarrassed blush. Even Shade discreetly glanced around at the ponies surrounding them, hoping that they weren't misinterpreting the conversation.

Feeling thoroughly humiliated, Chamella silently returned to her meal, not looking up from her plate as she took another bite of her burger.

Shade also felt a little embarrassed, but not for the same reason. "Sorry. I didn't realize I was making you uncomfortable," he said rather quietly, hoping that the other customers weren't now listening in.

Chamella lifted her pinks eyes, looking a bit apologetic herself. "Me too. I didn't mean to shout at you. I know that this kind of stuff's been on your mind lately."

Things got pretty quiet after that, neither changeling knowing what else to say. Chamella wondered why she had talked to Shade like that. She'd never spoken to him like that before. It definitely didn't feel good, and it got her thinking about how much things have changed in just a little over a year and a half.

As time went by, the silence between them persisted. The food on their plates diminished and their meals were over. True to his word, Shade paid the bill and the two went on their way. It was starting to get noticeably late anyway, the glowing amber of the evening sky transitioning to the soft violet of dusk. But even now, as they made their way back to Carousel Boutique, the pair remained quiet. Chamella began to think about everything that had changed in their lives.

"Everything's a lot more complicated nowadays, huh?" Chamella said quietly.

Shade turned to her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Chamella inhaled a long breath through her nose, letting it out as a somewhat wistful sigh. "It's not that I'm not extremely grateful for how our lives turned out or anything, but you have to admit that things were a lot simpler when we were back home."

"You mean wondering if we'll be able to eat today, or even if we'll wake up tomorrow?" Shade said bemusedly.

Chamella's ears drooped a little. "You know that's not what I meant. I mean that there's so much more we have to deal with around here. There's so much we have to know, and we have to have jobs, and now you've got to deal with parenthood. It may not have been an easy life, but you have to admit that there wasn't much to think about back home."

Shade furrowed his brow. "Why do you keep calling it that? That place is not our home anymore, this town is."

Chamella shrunk back slightly under Shade's glower. "How can you say that? I know it wasn't exactly comfortable or even safe there, but it's still the place where we grew up; where we were born."

"The Changeling Kingdom can rot for all I care," Shade scoffed with ire. "I'll be happy if I never have to see that place again."

Chamella was appalled to hear him say that. "What? But what about the other changelings? I thought you wanted them to be happy, like us. You wanted peace between the ponies and changelings just as much as anypony."

"We have to face facts, Chamella. The other changelings don't want the same things we want. They're not like us. We're different. We're good people."

The two stopped walking, having arrived at the front door of the boutique. However, instead of going in, Chamella just stared Shade right in the eye. "Is that what you believe?"

Shade paused, not quite comprehending what she was getting at.

"You used to be no different from the rest of them, Shade. You used to hate the ponies just as much as Queen Chrysalis or any other changeling. I remember all the times you told me that one day we'd beat them, and then we finally wouldn't need to worry anymore. You fought the ponies in Canterlot, just like all the others."

Shade tried to say something, but no words made it out of his mouth. She was right about that. It was only coming back to him now that he used to think like that. "But... I changed," he argued with confidence. "That's what makes me different than them."

"Then who are you to say that they couldn't change, too? You don't think the other changelings deserve a chance to be happy like us?"

"Well... no, I'm not saying that, but if they want to be happy so badly, why won't they just do what we did?"

Chamella brushed her mane out of her eyes, turning away with a sigh. "I don't know. But if we were offered the chance to change, then I think they should, too."

Shade turned his gaze down, looking pessimistic about the whole thing. "The question is: would they even take that chance?"

"I hope so." Chamella sat down, leaning back against the door of the boutique. "Knowing that you used to be that way once makes me think that there is hope."

"I still think we're different than them," Shade reiterated.

Chamella lowered her head slightly, speaking quietly. "The only one who was different was me. I could barely fend for myself. I was scared and helpless."

Shade sat down beside her. "And you had every right to be. Changelings are violent, selfish, power-hungry..." He looked down at his sullen friend. "Well, most of them are. I guess I was at one point, too. Which is exactly why you shouldn't think about it anymore. The Changeling Kingdom is a dangerous place. There's nothing good there."

Chamella lifted her head again, giving Shade a disagreeing glare. "I don't believe that. Despite all the bad things and hardships, I still have good memories of the Changeling Kingdom. I remember being happy there, and I wouldn't trade that for anything."

Shade raised a quizzical eyebrow. "What could you have had that made you happy that the other changelings didn't?"

"You, you dummy!"

Shade was taken aback by her sudden outburst.

Chamella was silent for a moment as she stared into Shade's eyes, all of her memories running through her mind. "Like I said, I wasn't strong enough to take care of myself. In reality, I'd be dead right now if it weren't for you."

It was somewhat jarring for Shade to hear her say that.

"You shared your food with me, helped me build a shelter, stood up for me when other changelings threatened me. You were what made life worth living. You were why I was happy."

Chamella stared off into the distance for a few moments. Shade simply sat there, staring at her in silence. She seemed to be deep in thought. She closed her eyes, breathing another sigh.

"I guess I was wrong."

"About what?" asked Shade.

Chamella looked back up at him with a small smile. "You were different. You cared enough to help me. No other changeling would have done that. Guise never did anything nice like you did."

Shade grimaced at the mentioned of that name. "Guise was just waiting for an opportunity to stab us in the back. Now he was no different than the others. You can at least agree with me on that, right?"

Chamella giggled quietly. "Yeah. Maybe worse even."

The two of them leaned back against the door, letting out simultaneous sighs as they gazed up at the sky. By now, night had fallen entirely, but they were not completely blanketed in darkness as the full moon and sea of stars above them still illuminated the small town with their soft, white glow.

"You ever wonder how different our lives would be if things went differently?" Chamella asked as she stared up at the endless expanse above.

Shade looked over at her, a little confused. "Didn't we already talk about that?"

The purple-maned changeling never took her eyes off the sky. "I asked if you wondered how things would be if you never left the Changeling Kingdom." She turned to meet Shade's gaze. "But what about if other things were different?"

"Like, if you had come with me?"

Chamella nodded. "Yeah, something like that."

Shade turned his eyes back up as he thought about the question. "Or if I had gone through with my original plan of showing up without a disguise. Or if I had been able to help that pony in the forest. Or even if I'd ended up in a completely different town."

"I think it's safe to say our lives would definitely be a lot different if any of those things had happened. All things considered, this is probably the best that things could have turned out for us, huh? Is this what 'fate' is?"

Shade shrugged. "Maybe. But you're right: things couldn't have turned out better for us, but I guess there's no way to know for sure."

Chamella turned away, lowering her head and rubbing her foreleg ashamedly. "Well, I guess some things could have been better. I did some awful things that still haunt me today."

Shade stared down at her, concerned. "You mean with Winter, right?"

Chamella simply nodded slowly, still avoiding eye contact.

Shade closed his eyes and remained silent for a moment. It had been quite some time since that topic had been brought up. He knew it was too much to ask for Chamella to get past something like that. The day would probably never come where she was able to forgive herself for what she did to Winter. But Shade couldn't help but feel that it tied into their conversation about fate.

"It's weird," Shade said quietly, almost to himself.

Chamella removed her gaze from the dirt below to look up at him curiously. "What's weird?"

"Well, would we be where we are now if you hadn't kidnapped Winter?"

Chamella's eyes widened in shock in response to hearing him say something like that. "Wait, you're not saying it was a good thing that I did that, are you?"

The phrasing of that inquiry made Shade feel a little awkward about it, but he figured he may as well explain himself. "Well, think about it. If you hadn't done what you did, Winter may have never found out I was a changeling. Can you imagine how she—not to mention everypony else in Ponyville—would have reacted if they found out months, even years, later that I was a changeling? I don't think I would have been able to talk my way out of that. As bizarre as it might sound for me to say this, I really should be thanking you."

Chamella blinked silently, certainly not feeling the same way about it.

"I mean, not that that makes what you did okay or anything. I just mean that I should thank you for making me shed my disguise and come clean. You have no idea how amazing it felt to find out that, even though she knew what I was, she still loved me. It's still so hard to believe."

Chamella ran a hoof through her long mane with a sigh. "I still wish I hadn't done it. I feel terrible about it."

"I guess there's no helping that. But at the very least, if you hadn't done that, you would still be living in the Changeling Kingdom. Alone."

"I know you're trying to make me feel better about it, but no matter what you say, I'll always consider it a mistake on my part. It was entirely possible that I might have ruined your life."

Shade gave her a reassuring smile. "Well, the important thing is that you didn't. Besides, I'm the one who'd feel guilty if you were still living back there, if you can call that living; 'surviving' is more like it. And guilty or not, as long as you're happy now, that's what's important, right?"

Shade felt Chamella rest her head against his neck, letting out a soft sigh as she closed her eyes and nuzzled into him.

"I'm just glad you're still my friend."

Shade tilted his head back, leaning against the door comfortably. "And I always will be."

The two just sat there quietly for a few minutes, basking in the peaceful silence of the night. Chamella lay with her head upon her best friend's shoulder, a blissful smile on her face. This day had been quite the roller coaster for her emotionally, ranging from friendly chats to uncomfortable arguments and even a little anger. But she couldn't say she didn't enjoy her time with Shade, especially considering this was the most time they'd spent together since he found out Winter was pregnant.

And with that thought, everything had come full circle.

"You're really looking forward to being a dad, huh?" Chamella said quietly, not opening her eyes.

Shade nodded lightly. "I am. And I want you to be excited, too, Chamella."

The female grimaced a little. "I'm not making any promises. But at the very least I can be happy for the two of you. But I'm still a little worried at the same time."

"We all are. I think the important thing here is to remain optimistic and hope for the best."

For once, the pair had nothing else on their minds that they wanted to share. Chamella was content to just sit there and continue to enjoy Shade's company. Who knew when they would get another chance like this? The closer they got to the baby's arrival, the less time they were likely to spend together, especially after it was born. Chamella wanted to make the most of the very limited time they would have together after this. And if that was simply just a matter of the two of them sitting in silence, staring up at the night sky with smiles on their faces, that was fine with her.

***** ***** *****

"IIIIIIIIIs this your card?!"

Derpy looked at the card Pinkie Pie was holding up to her face, pushing it away so that she could actually distinguish it. "No."

Pinkie looked at the card herself, surprised. "Oh. Really?"

Derpy shook her head.

"Okay..." Pinkie tossed the card aside, rummaged through the rest of the deck, and selected another card, holding that one up to Derpy's face as well. "Is this your card?!"

Once again, Derpy shook her head.

Now Pinkie was starting to get frustrated, pouting grouchily as she held the two cards and analyzed them. "I know I did this right, so if it's not this one, or that one, then which one is it?"

Derpy scratched her head in thought. "Um... I forgot."

The pink pony threw the whole deck into air with an annoyed groan, starting an impromptu game of fifty-two pick up. "Augh! Fine, we're starting over," she declared as she reassembled the deck.

Applejack let out a sigh as she passed by the earth pony and pegasus, carrying an empty glass into the kitchen where Autumn, Rarity and Twilight were chatting. "You know a party's startin' ta wind down when Pinkie Pie busts out her rudimentary magic tricks."

"I guess it is starting to get a little late," Twilight commented, noting the now total absence of sunlight outside.

"You girls can head home if you want," Autumn told them. "If you're bored, you don't have to stick around. I'm sure Winter just appreciates that you all came."

"Nonsense, darling. I'm still having a wonderful time," Rarity said with a cheery smile. "I'm willing to stay as long as you're willing to have me."

"Likewise," Applejack agreed. "Ah was just pointin' out that things are gettin' a little mellow." She glanced back into the living room, particularly at a certain cyan pegasus lounging on the couch, fidgeting around. "Ah figure Rainbow Dash might be gettin' a tad bored, but she ain't gonna bail so long as nopony tells her to. She got more courtesy than that, an' I'm sure she doesn't wanna offend her gracious host slash mare of the hour."

"Speaking of whom, where is Winter?" Twilight asked, peering out into the living room but seeing no sign of the ivory pegasus. "She was in here eating some cake with us, then... well, I have no idea where she went after that."

Autumn shrugged with a quiet sigh. "I think she went upstairs. She says she's fine, but I personally believe that something's bothering her."

Rarity held her hooves to her cheeks in worry. "Oh, dear. You don't think she's still fretting over the baby, do you? After everything we've done and said to reassure her, I'm not sure what else we can do to ease her weary mind."

"No, I don't think it's that," Autumn said with a shake of her head. She looked to the three other mares, a particular concern arising in her head. "What can you girls tell me about Shade's changeling friend? Chamella was it?"

Twilight tilted her head. "Chamella? Well, she's a perfectly friendly individual. Eager to learn, but a bit shy and bashful. Timid even. I've actually been tutoring her just as I have been with Shade."

Rarity nodded in agreement. "Yes, and quite the quick learner indeed. She's been working for me at my boutique since she moved here, and I must say she catches on quickly. I dare say she's inherited my eye for fashion," the fashionista bragged with a smug grin.

"I suppose she and Shade are close then?" Autumn inferred.

"Like apples from the same tree," Applejack confirmed with a smile. "They've known each other their whole lives. Apparently, they're a rare example of changelings that were actually friends. They looked out for one another as if they were real kin."

"Shade actually considers Chamella to be like a sister to him," Twilight added, but her expression shifted to an unsure frown as she continued. "But... past evidence seems to indicate that Chamella may feel differently toward him."

"She doesn't care about him as much as he does her?" Autumn asked, concern in her voice for the man her daughter loved so much.

"Just the opposite, I'm afraid," Rarity corrected with a sigh. "At one point she appeared to actually be in love with Shade."

Hearing that worried the older mare. "Oh. I see. Would that have anything to do with the 'animosity' you mentioned earlier between her and Winter?"

Rarity nodded somberly. "Yes, I'm afraid so."

"How much has Winter actually told you about Chamella, Mrs. Maple?" Twilight asked.

"Not much. She just briefly mentioned her here and there when telling me more about Shade."

"Oh, dear. Then I suppose you aren't aware of the... incidents that occurred between them," assumed Rarity.

Autumn did not like the sound of that. "What incidents?"

Rarity, Twilight and Applejack all shared glances and could tell that they each had the same thought. Applejack was the one to speak it.

"Ah don't really think it's our place to be tellin' ya that. If she wanted to talk about it, she would've."

"Is it that serious?" asked Autumn. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to know anymore, but at the same time, if something was bugging her daughter, she wanted to do what she could to ease her.

As if on cue, Winter herself walked back downstairs, but almost immediately headed for the door, stopping only to briefly say something to Fluttershy, who nodded back at her. Just as Winter opened the front door and was about to step out, her mother called out to her.

"Winter, where are you going?"

"Hm?" Winter turned to face her mother, her expression somewhat melancholy. "Oh, I was just going to step out for a minute."

The ivory pegasus grinned at her mother, but Autumn wasn't fooled for a second. "Is there something on your mind you'd like to talk about, honey?"

Winter was caught off guard by that. "What? I thought we talked already, Mom. I told you I'm fine. I'm just getting some fresh air. Maybe I'll see how Shade's doing, too. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Autumn sighed internally. "Alright, sweetie. But when you get back I'd really like to just... talk for a bit. Just you and me. Mother to mother. Okay?" She gave Winter a warm smile.

Winter returned the smile with one of her own. "Sure thing." She then stepped outside, shutting the door behind her.

The ivory pegasus let out a breath, the smile she had given her mother fading. She didn't like lying to her mom, but this was something that really didn't concern her, Winter thought. If her mother found out that she had just spent the last ten minutes shut away in her bedroom, debating to herself whether or not she should go and talk to Chamella, she no doubt would've butt in. She didn't need that right now; there was already enough on her mind.

As Winter began her trek to track down Chamella, she couldn't help but wonder why this was so difficult for her. Why was she so hesitant to talk to her? But the moment that question popped into her mind, she realized how dumb it was. Of course she knew why. She was well aware of the fact that she hadn't spent any extended time with Chamella in the nearly two years since she and Shade moved to Ponyville. Whether that was on purpose or a subconscious decision may have been up in the air.

But the important thing was that she had worked up the nerve to do it now. Better now than after the baby was born, was what she thought. And maybe now was even better than she initially thought. Shade was with her after all. His presence might make this whole situation a little easier on her, not to mention she'd probably be a little more careful with her words and attitude with him there.

The question now was: where were they? Shade had said that the two of them were going to get something to eat, but they likely finished a while ago. Twilight was at the baby shower, and Winter couldn't see Shade and Chamella hanging out at the library with just Spike around. It was entirely possible that they simply went for a walk around town, and if that was the case, it'd prove difficult to actually find them. The most logical thing to do would be to wait for them at a spot where they'd most likely wind up. With that in mind, Winter headed for Carousel Boutique since that was probably going to be their last stop before Shade went home for the night.

Winter stared up at the stars as she walked. She certainly wouldn't blame Shade for wanting to go for a walk on a night like tonight. She and Shade had spent many a clear, starry night sitting outside and just gazing up in silence, enjoying each others company. Maybe when the baby shower was over and everypony had gone home, they could do the same tonight.

After a few minutes of walking, Carousel Boutique came into view. The dark veil of night made it's purple accents somewhat difficult to pick out from a distance, but the outline, even in the dark, was unmistakable.

But as Winter got closer to the building, she stopped, just standing there for a moment as though she were trying to understand what she was seeing.

At the front door of the boutique, just sitting there, not saying a word, were Shade and Chamella. Shade was staring off into the endless blanket of night, the sky blue of his sclera and the deep green of his irises practically glowing in the dark, while Chamella's eyes were closed, her head nestled up against Shade's neck. Both of them sat there in utter silence with peaceful smiles on their faces.

And Winter could only stare, uncomprehending. Suddenly, it was though her emotions had begun to roil and mix. The words she had planned to say while contemplating this moment in her bedroom just minutes ago had all vanished from her mind in an instant. She felt her teeth clench in her mouth, her hoof ground slightly into the dirt beneath her, and then she turned and walked away.

Winter couldn't even collect her thoughts as she briskly stomped off, believing her destination to be home as her legs were running on autopilot so she could devote all of her brainpower to making sense of the storm of emotions raging around in her head. She honestly couldn't tell how she was supposed to feel right now. Was she angry? Saddened? Upset? On top of it all, she was confused, adding to the already overwhelming maelstrom she was experiencing. Her purposeful, yet pensive, gait seemed to suggest that it must have been some sort of amalgamation of all of those emotions. Her ears felt hot, her wings twitched, and she felt as though anything else even the least bit upsetting would manage to bring her to tears.

Before she had even realized it, Winter had made it back home, finding her hoof already on the doorknob when she snapped back to reality. But she hesitated to open it. In her state of emotional confusion, she had forgotten that she had a house full of guests, including her mother who she had already promised to chat with when she got back. Needless to say, she wasn't in much of a chatty mood now and may need to postpone that promise. On top of that, it might be a good time to wrap up the shower. All Winter wanted to do right now was lay down and try to make sense of what was going through her head at the moment.

Taking in an apprehensive breath, Winter stepped inside the house, attempting to seem as though nothing was wrong so as not to draw any questions that she really didn't need right now. She was met by a few looks from her house guests, acknowledging that she'd returned, but nopony spoke up, thankfully. Winter knew she wasn't gone for very long, but part of her had hoped that some of them would have gone home in the meantime to make things a little easier. No such luck, unfortunately.

"Oh? Back already? That was fast," Winter's mother commented, exiting the kitchen when she realized her daughter had returned. "Did you find Shade?"

Winter tried to put up a facade, but found herself unable to form a smile. The most she could manage was a look of indifference. "Yeah."

"Did you talk to him?"

Winter sighed in defeat. "No."

Autumn tilted her head in confusion. "Why not?"

"I changed my mind. That's all." Winter said with exhaustion. She looked around at her guests, still just sitting and chatting as though the night had no end. "I think it's time to wrap up. I'm kind of tired."

"It is getting a little late," said Twilight, approaching the two from the kitchen, Applejack and Rarity close behind.

Having overheard the conversation, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Derpy all stood up as well.

Winter looked at each of her guests and friends. Again, she attempted to smile, but found herself lacking the energy to do so. "Thank you for coming, everypony. You've really done a lot to help me through all of this. You have no idea how much I appreciate it."

"You don't sound too happy about it," noted Rainbow Dash. The cyan pegasus then received a firm, correcting nudge in the ribs from Applejack, along with a disapproving glower at the comment.

"You're more than welcome, darling," Rarity said with a compassionate smile. "And we really should have more get-togethers like this. It was such fun."

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie agreed enthusiastically. "Parties like this give me an excuse to practice mixing cocktails. I'd like to try my hoof at being a tradional, wise, savvy barkeep doling out advice to her patrons and easing their weary minds with a cold drink."

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "Since when have you wanted to do that?"

"Since just now, when I thought of it," the pink pony answered with a chipper grin.

"Oh, geez, it really is getting late, huh?" Derpy said, a hint of guilt in her voice. "I should get home. I need to relieve the foalsitter before she falls asleep on my couch. And I like Rarity's idea; we should do this again sometime. Bye, girls." The wall-eyed mare waved goodbye as she stepped out into the night, ready to pack it in.

"Ah reckon we'll be hittin' the ol' dusty trail, too," Applejack said with a tip of her hat. She paused, however, taking a look at the coffee table, noting the leftover snacks and dirty dishes. "That is, unless you want some help cleanin' up."

Winter shook her head dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I'll clean it up tomorrow. And I'll get you're glasses and stuff back to you when I can, Pinkie."

The party pony waved it off with a carefree grin. "Take your time."

"Then I suppose we'll be calling it a night," said Twilight. "Thanks for having us, Winter."

The others nodded in agreement and the rest of Winter's guests made for the door, saying their goodbyes as they exited, leaving just Winter and Autumn standing in the living room.

Without so much as looking at her mother, Winter turned and ascended the stairs to her bedroom. Autumn was becoming quite concerned about her daughter's behavior. Something happened when she went to find Shade, she just knew it, and given the way Winter was acting, it wasn't likely she was willing to share. But that wasn't going to stop Autumn from trying.

Once Winter was within the sanctity of her bedroom, she shut the door behind her, sauntered over to the bed and fell upon it, her head sinking into the pillow. She didn't even bother to cover up; all she wanted to do right now was lay down, not necessarily sleep.

However, she had laid down for less than a minute before her privacy was disturbed by a gentle, cautious knock on the door.

"Winter? Are you alright, sweetie? You seem... out of sorts," her mother expressed through the wooden door. She received no response, further solidifying that something was wrong. "Winter, if something's bothering you, you can talk to me. This is supposed to be a happy day for you. I don't want to see you moping around."

"I don't want to talk," came Winter's voice weakly through the door.

Autumn frowned at the somber sound of her daughter's voice. "Winter, it's not good to keep things bottled up. Please, I'm worried about you. I only want to—"

"I said I don't want to talk," Winter repeated, her voice more stern, though still fairly quiet. "I just... I think I need to be alone right now."

Autumn breathed a defeated sigh. "Alright. If that's what you want, I won't push it. Just know that I'm always available if you need to borrow somepony's ear."

Reluctant as she was to do so, Autumn kept her word and turned to leave and head home. Just as she reached the staircase, Winter's voice could be heard once more.

"Goodnight, Mom."

Hearing that from her at the very least managed to put a small smile on Autumn's face. "Goodnight, Winter."

As silence once again began to take hold of the modest, two-story home, Autumn descended the stairs and went to the door. As she stepped outside, she let out another sigh, feeling guilty about leaving her daughter to deal with whatever it was that was bothering her by herself. No doubt she was going to be up all night worrying about Winter and wondering where this tension between her and Chamella stemmed from, but what was she supposed to do if Winter kept refusing her help?

Autumn was about to take off back to Cloudsdale, her wings spread and ready to carry her home. However, she stopped when she saw a figure in the darkness coming towards her. Had it been anypony else, she likely would not have recognized them from this distance, but there was no mistaking the luminescent eyes of a changeling.

Trotting up to the house with a bit of a spring in his step was Shade. He certainly seemed to be enjoying the night air, a smile on his face as he inhaled the crisp, cool oxygen through his nose. In fact, he seemed so distracted that he hadn't even noticed Autumn standing there until he was practically right in front of her, halting in his tracks and passing his smile to her.

"Oh, hey, Mrs. Maple. You heading home?"

Autumn nodded solemnly. "Yes, I'm afraid so. Everypony else has called it a night, so I figure I might as well do the same."

"Did you girls enjoy yourselves? Was the baby shower fun?"

"Oh, yes, it was a hoot. I think everypony had a blast," she confirmed with a grin. However, that smile fell as she continued. "Although..."

Shade raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Autumn looked Shade in the eye. She was about to mention Winter's current mood to him, but for some reason, something told her to not. Shade seemed like he had enjoyed his night, and if Winter was so adamant about not talking about it, it probably wouldn't go over well if she had found out her mother told her boyfriend about it and had him try and drag the issue out of her. Not to mention worrying about Winter would quickly put a damper on Shade's day. Maybe Winter really did just need a little alone time, and if it persisted, no doubt Shade would try and cheer her up anyway.

Autumn smiled once more, shaking her head. "Nothing. Sorry. Anyway, I should be getting home. Nimbus is probably going to be upset with me for coming home so late, but that's his problem," she laughed. "Goodnight, dear."

"Goodnight," Shade bid her as she took off, flying off into the night sky back to Cloudsdale.

Not wanting to wait around any longer and eager to ask Winter about her day, Shade entered the house. Immediately, he had to stop himself, taking notice of several unfamiliar objects near the couch. One in particular caught his attention: a tiny storm cloud in a jar, crackling with small flashes of thunder and lightning. Shade glanced down at the floor, noting all of the torn wrapping paper on the floor. These must have been the gifts that their friends got for them. Perhaps more interesting was the large crib pushed over into a corner of the living room.

But he'd have to ask Winter about all of that stuff later. Right now, his attention was drawn to the empty glasses and tray of leftover snacks on the coffee table, accompanied by a mess of stray crumbs. Curious, he took a peek in the kitchen. Much to his chagrin, the sink was full of dirty dishes, mostly cooking trays for cupcakes and such.

"Guess I know what I'm going to be doing tomorrow morning," Shade grumbled to himself with a slight grimace, although he wasn't going to let it spoil his good mood. It certainly looked like the girls enjoyed themselves, so he couldn't be too annoyed with them.

Shade noted as well that Winter wasn't around, quickly inferring that she must be upstairs, perhaps cleaning up in the bathroom. With that in mind, he quickly ascended the stairs, skipping every second step on the way up in his enthusiasm, and entered the bedroom.

He was about to head straight to the bathroom himself, but contrary to his assumption, Winter was already in bed—or rather, on the bed; she hadn't even bothered to cover up.

"Hey, Winter," Shade greeted her with a chipper grin as he made his way to the bathroom. "Man, you girls must have partied your flanks off if you're already this tired."

Winter didn't respond. Instead, she simply watched Shade enter the bathroom and grab his toothbrush. Her gut tightened as she remembered what she saw earlier. Despite her efforts to cool her head, she still was having trouble grasping exactly how she was feeling. She found herself resenting the fact that Shade was actually happy when she struggled just to understand what was going on in her own head. And she hated herself for it. Never in her life did she ever believe she would think such a thing, but she just couldn't get that image out of her mind.

Shade stepped into the doorway, toothbrush in his mouth, and looked intently at Winter. "You have fun today?" he said between brushes.

Winter hesitated briefly, contemplating not saying anything at all, but instead answered with a simple and quiet, "Yeah."

"You got a lot of weird gifts, huh?" Shade commented, recalling the pile downstairs in the living room. "Was there a storm cloud in a jar?"

"Yeah, that was from Rainbow Dash."

The changeling tilted his head curiously. "What's it supposed to do?"

Winter shrugged. "It's just a storm cloud. It doesn't really do anything. It's more of a decoration than anything, I guess."

Shade was hoping for a more interesting answer than that, but took it for what it was and went back into the bathroom to rinse out his mouth.

"And how was your day," Winter asked. She didn't really mean to ask that. It just sort of came out of her mouth. She most definitely did not intend for it to sound so spiteful. Her emotions really were starting to get the better of her.

Thankfully, Shade didn't seem to notice her tone, gargling and spitting into the sink before rejoining her in the bedroom.

"Great," he answered with a content smile.

Just that one word elicited a slight scowl from Winter, again, making her hate herself more for not being able to keep her emotions in check.

"Me and Chamella just talked all day. It was nice, you know? We haven't been able to spend much time together in a while."

Once again, unable to really contest her own feelings, Winter grimaced, thinking to herself that Shade would rather spend time with Chamella than her. It was starting to seem as though he'd only been spending time with her, the mother of his foal, because he felt obligated to do so.

Shade climbed onto the bed before continuing. "You know, she's just as worried about the baby as we are."

It was that statement that finally made Winter a little curious. That was her original intention when she went to find Shade and Chamella earlier: to ask about Chamella's point of view. She just got a little... distracted. "She is?"

Shade nodded. "Apparently. She's concerned it's going to be tough for us and she feels like she's not going to be able to help us. I even brought up the subject of her one day starting a family of her own." He sighed with an awkward chuckle. "She was not keen on that idea."

"But I guess you two got to a more enjoyable subject eventually," Winter said, recalling the pair of changelings sitting quietly together, the image bringing back that swirl of uncomfortable emotions.

"Yeah. We talked about the Changeling Kingdom a bit. Apparently, we having slightly differing views of our former home. But we ended up talking about how our lives might have been different if certain things were changed."

Winter swallowed nervously. Judging by the way she saw them, she was worried about where that conversation might have led.

"But, despite the bumps along the way, I decided that the way things are now are exactly how I want them to be." He looked down at Winter, who hadn't turned over since he got onto the bed and her back was still facing him. Despite that, he smiled fondly down at her. "I wouldn't change anything."

Winter suddenly felt the tension that had been building in her mind begin to melt away. And at that moment, she felt Shade pull the covers over the two of them, wrapping his hooves around her and pulling himself close, snuggling up into her back.

"Just talking about it made me eager to get home and back to you," he said softly into her ear. He then ran a hoof gently over her round belly. "Both of you."

Winter lay motionless with Shade nestled comfortably into the back of her neck as he readied himself for sleep to take him. And she, for what felt like quite a long time to her, somehow finally managed a smile, as if she had been sick and Shade was the remedy. The squall of confusing and frustrating emotions tearing away at her insides finally began to quell. Maybe she was just being irrational, or maybe she was overthinking things. But what really mattered was not what she thought Shade could do, but rather what he actually decided to do. And if that decision was to come home and just lay in bed within each others embrace, then she could be happy. Any doubts would have to be cast aside if she wanted to truly achieve and maintain that happiness.

Chapter 7 - Mounting Suspense

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 7: Mounting Suspense

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"Here's your food. Enjoy."

The pair of ponies sitting in the café booth gave their changeling server a grateful nod, leaving him to continue with the next order on the list. Shade discreetly wiped the sweat from his brow as he went to pick up the next order. As he picked up the plates and made his way to the next table, he began to take notice of how packed the café was today. Every single table and booth were full up, and he could only imagine that the outdoor tables were much the same.

If that weren't bad enough, Shade hadn't even seen any of his fellow servers since he'd started. Had he really been the only one serving these customers all day? And on the subject of customers, it was bizarre how he didn't recognize any of today's patrons. He'd just been working non-stop all day; take an order, pick up order, deliver order, lather, rinse, repeat with absolutely no time to stop. He was honestly surprised he wasn't more worn out.

The entire café was surrounded by an aura of noise; countless conversations of unfamiliar ponies, completely incomprehensible, droning on and on and talking over one another. Even attempting to zero in on one particular conversation proved pointless. To Shade it was all just noise, as though they weren't even saying words. It sounded more like he had stuck his head into a beehive and the entire colony was buzzing around his head.

Shade chanced a glance up at the clock. Much to his shock and dismay, the clock still read nine a.m.; the same time he'd arrived at work. He could have sworn he'd been here for hours at this point, the clock hadn't changed at all. It wasn't broken, as the second hand ticked past the twelve, prompting the minute hand to tick over as well. He knew he couldn't have been here for just one minute; he'd already served at least two dozen tables.

All of a sudden, the noise within the café just died, as if everypony's conversations came to a conclusion all at once. The unexpected silence was then immediately followed by the door bursting open. A white unicorn with a purple mane, the only pony Shade had recognized today, came rushing up to him, hurried and panicked.

"Shade! Come quickly!" Rarity commanded, her eyes filled with concern. "Winter just went into labor!"

Shade's eyes widened in panic, the plates he'd been carrying dropping to the floor with a disproportionately loud crash. "What?!"

"We've already brought her to the hospital. You have to go! Now!"

Not needing to hear anymore, Shade bolted out the door, making a beeline for the hospital. He attempted to take off and fly to get there quicker, but for some reason he couldn't move his wings. He couldn't worry about how or why right now, all he knew was that he needed to get to Winter as fast as he could.

As he galloped, Shade thought that he should have made it there by now. He knew where the hospital was, and he knew he was going in the right direction. He glanced to the side as he ran, confused when he noticed he'd run by Carousel Boutique. He could have sworn he'd already passed the boutique. But when he looked ahead, there it was again; the boutique standing straight in front of him.

Against his instincts, Shade skidded to a halt. On a whim, he spun around, and sure enough, standing behind him was the hospital. Again, Shade didn't question it, he just continued running. But no matter how long he ran, or how far he thought he'd run, he didn't seem to be getting any closer to the hospital. But that didn't deter him. Shade just kept running.

Suddenly, the bright blue, morning sky began to darken. But it was not dark clouds that blocked out the light. It was as though the very sky itself was being stained black by an unseen force.

Shade's pace began to slow, but he wasn't getting tired. It felt like his body had become heavier and he began to struggle just to move his legs any further until he came to a complete stop. Shade attempted to move, but his hooves felt as though they'd been fused to the ground. Actually, now it seemed like the ground itself were moving—or rather, shaking. The dirt beneath him shook and trembled, but Shade didn't take his eyes off of the hospital. His goal was right there, but he just couldn't reach it.

The rumbling of the earth suddenly intensified. Shade didn't know how, but he knew the trembling was coming from the hospital. However, he was forced to simply watch as the windows of the building began to bow and crack until each and every pane shattered outward, along with the front door.

Shade could only watch in horror as hundreds of changeling larvae burst forth from the structure, pouring out endlessly into the sky. But before they ascended into the blackness above, they suddenly dove down, careening straight at the adult changeling frozen in place. Dozens of ferocious, infant changelings bore their sharp fangs as they quickly closed the gap, preparing to sink their teeth into their petrified father.

Shade shot upright, cold sweat on his forehead and his heart racing. It took a few moments for him to adjust to his surroundings and realize that he was now seated in reality. But to make sure, he had a look around. Indeed, he was now sitting in his bedroom, covered by his bed sheets and surrounded in near total darkness as it was still the middle of the night.

For one last level of assurance, he glanced down at his side. Shade let out a sigh of relief when his eyes fell upon Winter, still soundly sleeping beside him. He was a little concerned that he may have cried out in fright as he woke up, but considering she was still snoozing away, that didn't turn out to be the case.

Shade let himself fall back onto his pillow, running an exasperated hoof through his mane. This was the third time he'd had that nightmare in the past two weeks, and it wasn't getting any easier to deal with. It was especially frustrating because he thought he was over those initials fears. Sure, he was still a little worried that something could go wrong with the baby, but he didn't think his fears went so far as to give him nightmares. But it was the fact that the dream specifically depicted actual changeling larvae that was disconcerting. Was that still something they needed to worry about?

Additionally, Shade had to wonder why these dreams happened to manifest now rather than sooner. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the big day was quickly creeping up on them. According to what he'd heard about ponies giving birth after eleven months, it wouldn't be long now; it had been almost eleven months now, and everypony was starting to get pretty anxious about it. Perhaps Shade was drawing from all of the excitement going around and it was all starting to get a bit overwhelming. It was starting to feel like when he first found out about it all over again.

With another sigh, Shade rolled over, draping a hoof over Winter who reacted unconsciously by snuggling into his embrace.

She was getting pretty antsy about this, too. Winter had expressed to Shade multiple times over the past week or so that she just wants it to be over, not necessarily because of the burden of carrying an unborn foal, nor the excitement of finally starting her motherhood, but mostly because she knows it's going to be an ordeal, and not knowing exactly when it's going to happen has been putting her on edge.

Shade nestled into her mane and his hoof drifted over her stomach as he'd done many a night now. In a way, he was going to miss this. It definitely made for a memorable time in his life.

Shade suddenly felt movement coming from Winter's rotund belly. The foal was kicking. The changeling found himself smiling, wondering if the tyke will be this energetic after it was born. Its light kicks certainly didn't give the impression that it was a monstrous, little eating machine, but only time would really tell.

***** ***** *****

The Ponyville library was dead silent, normally what one would expect of any typical library. But when the library's owner and operator was supposed to be tutoring her students, it would make sense that there'd be some discussion taking place. However, Twilight Sparkle simply sat there at the table in the middle of the foyer quietly, several books neatly stacked on the table and none of them open. Next to her sat one of her students; the town's resident female changeling, also sitting quietly, but also looking a tad awkward.

Twilight looked down at the cup of tea she'd poured for herself, the beverage now completely lacking steam and having cooled to the point where she'd just rather not drink it now. Chamella's cup was much the same, though she had already drank most of it in the meantime. The third cup, sitting isolated at the spot beside the changeling, was completely untouched as nopony was there to drink it.

The lavender alicorn glanced up at the wall clock, knitting her brow and breaking the silence by impatiently tapping on the oak table. At this point, she figured she had waited long enough. "Well, I guess he's not coming today. Should we just get started without him then?"

Chamella shrugged, though felt a touch of concern for her missing classmate. "I guess."

"Right then..." Twilight floated a textbook in front of her, opening it to a page she had marked beforehoof.

But before she could read even a single word, the library door flew open roughly, the previously missing, changeling student finally arriving in a rush and hurrying over to the table.

With a judgmental raise of her eyebrow, Twilight once more turned to the clock, more so to make the other changeling realize his error as she'd just noted the time before he entered. "Glad you could join us, Shade," the princess quipped with an irritated glare.

Shade let out a sigh and sat next to Chamella. "Yeah, sorry. I slept in."

Chamella leaned in, noting the lack of energy in his face. "You still look sleepy."

The male changeling rubbed his tired eyes. "Yeah, not much sleep last night." He reached for the cup of tea set in front of him, hoping that it might help his lethargy. But seeing that it had already cooled, he simply put it back down and didn't bother.

"Perhaps you should consider going to bed earlier," Twilight suggested.

Shade simply shook his head. "That's not the problem. It might sound weird, but I've been having these... dreams lately that've been keeping me up."

"A resurgence of your worries about the pregnancy and the uncertain condition of your unborn foal?"

Shade blinked, surprised. "Uh... Yeah, pretty much. How'd you do that?"

Twilight took a casual sip of her tea, forgetting for a moment that it had cooled and was now rather unpleasant. "Just a hunch. The big day's coming up; it makes sense that you'd be a little on edge. Your fears are just manifesting themselves within your subconscious."

"Do you know a lot about dreams?" asked Chamella curiously.

Twilight shrugged modestly, but couldn't hide her grin at the opportunity to talk about it. "I've dabbled in the subject of oneirology, yes. I certainly wouldn't say I'm an expert by any means, but maybe I can be of some help. What exactly is the nature of your dreams? Can you describe them to me?"

Shade hesitated, looking at the pile of books on the table. "Shouldn't we wait until after our studies?"

Twilight contemplated that for a moment, but smiled and closed the book she'd opened previously. "Missing one class isn't that big a deal. Besides, dealing with your impending fatherhod should take precedence; I want to help you in any way I can. It shouldn't take long anyway. We can get our studies started afterwards."

Shade was a little uncertain, but also more than a little curious to see what Twilight made of it. "Uh, alright. My dreams always start with me at work, but the café is packed and I'm the only one working."

Twilight quickly snatched up a piece of parchment and began taking notes with an enthusiastic smile. "Okay. Then what?"

"Somepony barges in telling me that Winter is at the hospital having the baby and that I should get over there as quickly as possible."

"Who tells you about it?" Twilight asked.

"It varies. I've had the dream a few times now. Once it was you, but for the other two times I remember it was Rarity."

"So close friends." Twilight hummed in thought. "I don't think there's anything too unusual about that. What happens next?"

Shade thought for a few seconds, recalling everything in the dream exactly as he remembered it. "I start running to the hospital, but no matter how fast or how long I run, I never make it there. I can see it in front of me, but I can't get any closer."

"Running in place and not getting anywhere. I think that's a fairly common theme in dreams," Twilight noted as she jotted down the information. "Then?"

"After that, I just stop moving entirely, like my legs are stuck. Then a swarm of hundreds of changeling larvae burst out of the hospital and charge straight at me. And... that's it. I wake up after that."

Twilight nodded, though looked a touch disappointed as she set aside her parchment and quill. "So that's really all there is to it?" she asked, receiving an affirmative nod from Shade. "Hm. To be honest, I was hoping for something a little more complicated. Your dream seems pretty straightforward and direct."

"So what does it mean?" asked Chamella.

Twilight simply shrugged dismissively. "He's worried that the baby will be born a changeling. Simple as that. At least, that's what I believe. I'd like to reiterate that I'm a bit of an amateur on the subject. I've only read a few books about dream studies."

Shade sighed, feeling as though that had all just been a waste of time. "Geez, I could have told you that."

The studious alicorn huffed at his attitude. "Don't blame me. Dreams are usually full of symbolism and have deeper meanings that aren't immediately apparent. That's why there are psychiatric professionals that are devoted to deciphering them. I figured there'd be something I could analyze." Twilight quickly looked over the few notes that she'd taken. "I suppose the part about you working alone at a busy restaurant could represent a subconscious worry about all the work it's going to be to raise a newborn foal."

"How long is it going to be before the baby is born?" Chamella inquired.

"Any day now, I'd imagine. It's been about eleven months. It's actually pretty exciting," Twilight said with an eager grin.

"For you maybe," Shade said flatly. "I'm losing sleep over it."

Twilight looked down at Shade's untouched teacup. "Perhaps a fresh cup of tea will help for the time being. Spike!"

The purple dragon, hearing Twilight's call, emerged from the kitchen wearing an apron decorated with indiscernible stains. "You rang?"

"Could you get us a refill on our tea, please?" the princess asked politely.

"You got it," Spike replied as he collected the three teacups and headed back to the kitchen. "The cookies are almost done, by the way. I'll bring 'em out when they're ready."

Twilight nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Spike."

While they waited for their tea, Chamella turned back to Shade, who was laying his tired head down on the table, a question on her mind. "If you're this stressed out about the baby, how is Winter handling it?"

Shade didn't bother to lift his head, even with the discomfort of the tips of his fangs digging slightly into the wooden table. "Pretty much the same really, except she's been kind of... irritable lately."

Twilight looked concerned for him. "She's not directing those emotions at you, I hope."

Shade shook his head the best he could with his fangs embedded. "No, she's just been getting frustrated easily. I imagine it must be worse for her. She's aware of the way she's been acting, though. She wanted me to know that anything she might say in her frustration she doesn't really mean."

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, at least she's conscious of her emotional state. I suppose that's good considering how little time is left before things get back to normal. Er, well, I guess it's not really going to be normal, per se. So what's Winter doing now while you're here? It's probably not fun for her to just be sitting around worrying about this."

The weary changeling finally lifted his head from the table, requiring a bit of effort to pry his fangs from the oak table. "Autumn's in town again, so she's spending some time with her. It think they're just wandering around town."

"Rarity said something about wanting to spend the day with them, too," Chamella mentioned. "So she might be keeping her company as well."

"It's probably for the best for her to have people around her to try and take her mind off of it for the time being," said Twilight

Shade let out a groan. "And I kind of just want to do the same right now. Can we just get started with our studies?"

Twilight nodded in understanding. "Alright, that's fair." She began rummaging through the pile of books she'd prepared. "Now then, where shall we begin today?"

***** ***** *****

Winter stared out into the distance, watching as countless ponies wandered about the Ponyville Market, making purchases with vendors and small talk with their friends and neighbors. The sun beamed down on the mingling ponies and the grass on the distant hills swayed ever so slightly in the gentle caress of the lightly flowing air that was too soft to really be called wind.

It all may have been more peaceful had the view not been on its side.

The alabaster pegasus breathed a sigh—not of relief, but exhaustion—too weary to bother lifting her head from the table where she sat, despite the fact that she was losing feeling in her left cheek.

She just wanted it to be over. As time went by, even the simplest of tasks were becoming more and more taxing for her. Just walking to the open-air market today was enough to warrant having a rest. Winter would have never imagined that a tiny, unborn foal could be such a significant weight on her—physically and emotionally. Her only reprieve was that it was almost over.

But at the same time, the worst was yet to come.

Winter heard something being placed on the table and managed to work up enough energy to tilt her head back upright to check what it was. Her mother was standing there, holding a cup with a straw in it, having placed a second cup in front of Winter and smiling down at her daughter knowingly.

"Thirsty?" the older mare asked with a grin. "I brought you a smoothie."

The mention of something sweet was enough to encourage the tired pegasus to finally speak. "What flavor?"

"Strawberry."

With no more hesitation, Winter pulled the cup over to her, lifting her head just enough to get her lips around the straw and start sucking down the sweet treat. After a long swig, the straw popped out of her mouth, flicking a few errant drops of the beverage into the air, and Winter enjoyed the sensation of the cold liquid sliding down her throat and caressing her taste buds with its sugary sweetness, breathing a satisfied sigh. "Ahhh. Thanks, Mom."

Autumn took a seat at the table with her daughter, taking a short sip of her own smoothie. "Don't mention it, sweetie. I just want to do what I can to take some of the pressure off."

Winter savored the flavor for a brief moment, licking her lips. "It's a start, but I don't think it's going to do as well as you think."

Autumn chuckled. "Believe me, I know."

"Who's hungry~?" came the singsong voice of Ponyville's resident fashionista.

Rarity approached the table with a tray of food, placing it in front of the two pegasi. Upon it was an assortment of edibles, all of them rather small portions. It was likely that Rarity had simply collected various free samples of food being offered by some of the vendors rather than actually paying for a full meal. Autumn reached for a small dish of fruit salad, while Rarity herself took a triangle cut of a cheese sandwich with lettuce and tomato.

Winter, however, elected not to partake in the snacks that had been kindly offered to her, an act that wouldn't go unnoticed by her company.

"Eat something, darling," Rarity encouraged. "I'm certain you must be hungry. If not, then the foal probably is."

"Can you not say stuff like that?" Winter groaned.

Rarity pouted, feeling a little dejected. "I'm only trying to help."

Winter sighed, then reached for a small cup of chocolate pudding on the tray. "Sorry. I've just been pretty stressed out lately." She scooped a spoonful of pudding into her mouth.

"Oh, dear. I was hoping you'd be past this by now," Rarity said, expressing her concern.

"I'm not surprised, to be honest," Autumn commented. "I know I went through the same thing; the shock of finding out and the worry and doubts that follow, then the excitement and eagerness at becoming a parent, and the return of the anxiety as the day approaches. As far as I'm concerned, despite whatever worries you might have, everything seems to be progressing pretty normally."

"That's not gonna stop me from thinking about it," Winter replied. "And it's not just me either. Apparently Shade's been having nightmares about it lately. Admittedly, I'm a little afraid that he might be having doubts about the whole thing."

Autumn was unfazed by Winter's disconcerting thought. "Again, perfectly normal. It might surprise you to hear this, but your father was much the same way, though he'll never admit it."

"Also, I highly doubt you'll have to worry about Shade," Rarity said with a comforting smile. "He's such a kindhearted and caring individual. In fact, I must admit that I'm quite envious of you, Winter. Stallions like him are a rare commodity these days, regrettably," she commented with a roll of her eyes. "Why, had you not gotten to him first, I may have attempted to woo him myself."

"And had I been a little younger and, you know, not married, I certainly wouldn't mind getting a little... closer with him," Autumn giggled jokingly.

Winter grimaced. "Mom, seriously. Gross."

The older mare waved off her daughter's disgusted glower. "I'm just kidding, sweetie."

"All things considered, you certainly lucked out with Shade," Rarity said with a wistful, yet jealous, grin. "And he's lucky to have found a mare as caring and accepting as you. Even when you found out he was a changeling, you still chased after him."

Winter let her gaze fall to the table as she recalled that fateful day. "Honestly, even that was only because of how amazing Shade is." She gently gripped the diamond necklace around her neck. "If he hadn't given me this necklace, I probably wouldn't have gone after him to apologize."

Autumn tilted her head in confusion. "Why are you wearing it today anyway? I thought it was something you only took out for special occasions."

The ivory pegasus stared down at the meticulously carved jewel. "Because I need it. With how stressful everything's been lately, I need something to help keep my spirits up as much as possible. This necklace is a reminder that no matter how tough things are for us, our relationship can survive." She looked at her mother, smiling fondly. "We've made it through worse than this."

"And as long as you keep that mentality, you'll be able to handle this, too," Autumn assured her with a smile of her own.

Winter spooned another dollop of pudding into her mouth, letting out an exasperated breath through her nose. "I've been trying. As you can clearly tell, it's been kinda hard."

"Well, on the bright side, it won't be much longer now," Rarity reminded her.

Winter leaned her head against her hoof, a bemused expression upon her face. "Yup. Then I won't have to worry about carrying the baby, I'll have to worry about raising it."

"But at least your friends and family can help you with that part," her mother encouraged her with a chuckle.

The expecting mother went for another spoonful of pudding, but found that she had already eaten all of the small portion that had been brought to her. And despite the fact that there were still a few different samples left, none of it was likely to satisfy the appetite of both her and the baby.

Rarity saw the way that Winter was eyeing the food, noting the mild disappointment on her face. "Well then, perhaps now that we've had our appetizers, we should see about getting a proper meal, hm?"

"That sounds like a plan," Autumn agreed with a nod. "Any suggestions, Winter? Or perhaps I should ask, 'any cravings?'"

Winter thought for a moment, letting her stomach make the decision for her. "Hayburger."

Rarity groaned quietly at the suggestion. "Fast food? Is that really the sort of thing you want to feed your unborn child?"

Autumn interjected before Winter could respond. "Oh, let her indulge a little. She's not going to get many more opportunities to eat out."

Rarity rolled her eyes, but conceded. "Fine. Shall we?"

Rarity and Autumn both stood up, the unicorn guiding the tray of half-eaten food over to a nearby trashcan, and made to leave the marketplace.

With a grunt, Winter laboriously lifted herself from her seat and turned to follow them. She managed a grin at the prospect of satiating her sudden cravings. "You know what? I am going to indulge. If there's been anything that manages to take my mind off of my troubles lately, it's food. I'm just gonna pig out a little. Then, after dinner, I think I'll head home, lay down on the couch, and take a long nap for the rest of the—"

Autumn and Rarity stopped when Winter had suddenly cut herself off, turning around to see what was up. Winter had halted in her tracks, her eyes suddenly wide and her pupils having shrunk down to the size of pinpricks. Her legs were quivering slightly and her wings twitched as she stared off at nothing in particular. Her gaze slowly turned to her mother with a pleading and even fearful look in her eyes, speaking with a shaky voice.

"Mo-o-om..."

***** ***** *****

Twilight Sparkle looked over a pair of papers in front of her, her eyes shifting from one to the other, then back again. She hummed thoughtfully as she analyzed them while her two changeling students sat in silence and awaited a verdict.

Chamella was never too fond of Twilight's pop quizzes, and they came up more often than she'd like. Their teacher maintained that it was the most effective method of seeing how much they've learned and how attentive they were being, but that didn't make it more fun for the female changeling, knowing that at any time she might just drop a test in front of her, and it was that sort of anxiety that made it difficult to recall what she'd learned. Shade wasn't too bothered by it, however, simply leaning on one hoof and tapping the oak table impatiently with the other while they awaited the results.

Finally, Twilight looked up from the papers, a congratulatory smile spreading across her face as she looked to Chamella. "Good job, Chamella."

Just that alone elicited a relieved sigh from the changeling. "I passed?"

The alicorn nodded. "That's right. You did make a couple of mistakes, but overall your work was impressive."

Chamella managed a small, bashful grin at the praise. "Thanks. I was worried I might have messed everything up. I get kind of nervous when you just throw these tests at us without warning."

"It wouldn't really be a pop quiz otherwise, would it?" Twilight laughed. However, her mirth was quickly subdued when her gaze shifted to Shade. "You on the other hoof... I'm pretty disappointed by your work."

The comment didn't faze Shade at all and he simply continued to sit in silence.

Twilight glowered slightly at Shade's apathetic attitude. She glanced back down at Shade's test. "It's like you didn't even try. For question three, you just wrote the answer without showing any work. And you skipped question six altogether. If you don't start taking this stuff seriously, I might have to take corrective measures."

Chamella didn't like the sound of that. "W-What do you mean 'corrective measures'?"

Twilight was about to speak, but paused, thinking for a moment. "Well, in schools they usually make troublesome students stay behind for detention. You should be familiar with the concept, if I recall. Or I could make you take a make-up test. How would like that, Shade? Another test as punishment?"

Again, Shade stayed quiet, staring down at the tabletop.

Twilight furrowed her brow in irritation. "Well?" she said, raising her voice slightly.

Shade finally looked up, gazing across the table at the frustrated alicorn. "Hm? You say something?"

The princess's jaw dropped in utter disbelief that he had just completely zoned out while she was talking at him. "Were you even listening to me?"

Shade let out a groan and ran a hoof through his mane, clearly exasperated. "Oh, uh, sorry. Guess I was somewhere else there."

Twilight's minor annoyance quickly turned to sympathy. It was clear there were more pressing things on his mind at the moment than a simple test. "I guess our studies didn't do much too distract you, huh?"

Shade just gave her an apologetic look.

The alicorn waved it off with a sigh. "I suppose it's not a big deal," she said, lifting Shade's quiz again. "Honestly, I thought it was odd that you would do this poorly. I know you're smarter than this, but I guess with all the stuff that's on your mind, it can be difficult to concentrate. Hmm..."

Chamella noticed that Twilight seemed to be mulling something over. "What's wrong, Twilight?" she asked curiously.

"Well, I was just thinking: as important as a proper education is, the two of you already know everything you need to know to function in your day to day lives. I wonder if it's even necessary for us to continue our classes."

"You don't want to teach us anymore?"

The lavender mare shook her head. "No, no, I definitely want to teach you, but I can't help but think that there are better things you could be doing with your time. Given Shade's impending parenthood, it's unlikely that he'll be able to continue attending our study sessions as they're scheduled."

"I can still come and learn from you," said Chamella in an effort to perk Twilight up.

The alicorn grinned gratefully. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, Chamella, but I think it may be about time for the two of you to graduate from my teachings. There's so much more you could do with your time, and I'm sure there are things you want to do. Besides, if there's ever anything you feel you want or need to know, all you have to do is ask. Or, heck, even borrow a book or two; this is a public library after all."

"You'd really be okay with not having us as students anymore?" Shade asked.

Twilight nodded resolutely. "I'll have to find something to occupy the extra time in my schedule, but I'll manage. Plus, with everything I've taught you two, I think I can make this decision and feel satisfied with the work I've done with you. Congratulations, Shade and Chamella, you've graduated. I... don't have any diplomas for you, but something tells me that's not important."

Shade and Chamella shared proud grins with one another, the female giving her friend a happy hug.

At that moment, the front door burst open, Rarity barging into the room suddenly.

"Shade! There you are! You have to come quickly!" she shouted in panic, clearly out of breath.

Twilight stood up at the unicorn's frantic behavior. "Rarity? What's going on?"

"Winter just went into labor!"

"What?!" Twilight gawked in utter shock.

"Her mother is bringing her to the hospital right now. We have to get over there!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Twilight and Chamella both made to follow Rarity, but stopped at the door. Twilight turned around, noticing, to her surprise, that Shade hadn't even stood up. He simply continued to sit there, staring over at them as though he were confused about something.

"Shade!" Twilight called to him. "It's not a dream this time! We have to go!"

Hearing that, Shade snapped out of his stupor, the reality of the situation now dawning on him. He didn't say a word. He just stood up and bolted past the three mares as fast as he possibly could, taking flight the moment he made it outside.

Chapter 8 - Arrival

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 8: Arrival

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It was quiet; uncomfortably so. Given the circumstances, one would expect quite a lot of hullabaloo, people expressing their excitement, impatience, and nervousness. But within the lobby of the Ponyville hospital, the atmosphere was surprisingly calm. Were anypony to walk in, it would just seem like a normal day at the medical institute; people making appointments, or getting ready for a quick checkup, and others just waiting around for their names to be called.

The only thing that really would have tipped anypony off that something special was happening at that very moment was the presence of a green-eyed changeling, sitting quietly on a chair in the lobby and just staring down at the floor.

Shade was dealing with a mix of emotions at the moment, and wasn't quite sure which one he should be outwardly expressing. A part of him believed that this wasn't actually happening, that it was just another dream, but playing out differently than they had before. He glanced up slightly, shifting his eyes towards the clock on the wall. Unlike in his dreams, the clock was definitely moving forward, despite the fact that it actually felt like it was standing still this time. As a matter of fact, Shade had been sitting in the hospital lobby for eight hours now, not moving, not saying anything, and barely able to think.

The changeling finally breathed a sigh; the first audible noise he'd made in some time. This managed to grab the attention of the mare sitting across from him: the soon-to-be grandmother of his child.

"It's not easy, is it?" Autumn said to him in a calming, compassionate voice.

Shade didn't say anything. He just stared back down at the floor.

Autumn grinned. She knew he had a lot on his mind and didn't really expect him to want to talk much. So she figured she may as well do the talking and try and comfort him as best as possible. "Honestly, I can't blame you. I'm pretty anxious myself. This is our grandchild we're talking about. I can't help but feel a little concerned, too."

Shade sighed again, shaking his head. "That's not exactly what I'm thinking about."

Chamella, sitting to Shade's right, tilted her head curiously. "Then what's bothering you?"

Shade looked around the hospital lobby, finding little comfort in the pristine, white walls and overall peaceful atmosphere. "What am I doing? Winter's in there giving birth to our baby, and here I am, sitting in the lobby, twiddling my hooves. I should be in there with her."

"Then why aren't you?"

Shade instinctively furrowed his brow at the gruff voice addressing him, looking up and casting a small scowl across to the stallion sitting beside Autumn.

After getting Winter to the hospital, her mother had gone to ask Rainbow Dash to make a quick trip to Cloudsdale in order to deliver the news to Winter's father Nimbus. The stallion wasted no time in getting there, marking one of the few times in his life that he'd left work early, but, given the circumstances, nopony was going to argue with him.

"If you really feel that you should be by her side, then why are you sitting out here doing nothing?"

Shade was somewhat miffed that Nimbus would continue to scrutinize him even as his foal is being born. However, now was not the time to get confrontational, and he just answered the question honestly. "Because... I can't bring myself to go. I feel terrible about it, but no matter how much I tell myself that I should be there... I'm just... scared."

Shade felt a hoof rest upon his left shoulder; the lavender hoof of Ponyville's resident princess. "I know my words aren't really guaranteed to ease your mind, but I personally believe you have nothing to worry about," Twilight said with an assuring smile. "The pregnancy progressed pretty normally, with no complications that we could perceive. All in all, it was basically a typical, pony pregnancy. If something was going to happen, the doctors probably would have picked up on it by now."

"I know," the changeling said quietly. "But... I just can't. I feel like if anything bad happens, it's my fault."

Autumn giggled, eliciting a rather hurt look from Shade. "Shade, sweetie, you really don't need to beat yourself up over this." She cast a sly glance at Nimbus, then leaned towards Shade, speaking more quietly. "You want to know something?"

Shade raised an eyebrow. However, Nimbus rolled his eyes and groaned, knowing what she was getting at already.

"Nimbus stayed out in the lobby when I was having Winter."

Shade briefly shot a look at the stallion, who was clearly embarrassed to have that information out there. "Seriously?"

Autumn laughed again, giving her husband a playful nudge, much to his chagrin. "Yup. He might put up a tough front, but when it came time to actually be a father for the first time, he wussed out."

"I didn't 'wuss out,'" Nimbus denied. "I needed some fresh air."

"For six hours? There's nopony in Equestria that needs that much fresh air. You didn't even set foot in the delivery room until Winter was born." Autumn chuckled at her husband's embarrassment before turning back to Shade. "Point is, you're not alone. You're not a bad boyfriend for not being in there. Truth be told, I was so stressed and panicked when I was in labor that I wanted nothing more than to punch Nimbus in his scowl-y face just to let off some steam. So, all things considered, you might be doing yourself a favor by waiting it out out here."

The changeling simply lowered his head, still feeling ashamed of himself about it. "That doesn't stop me from feeling bad. I still think I should be by her side during this."

Autumn shrugged in resignation. "No helping that, I suppose. Oh well, you can make up for it when you have your next kid."

Shade's head shot up, eyes wide. "N-Next kid?!"

"I think she's just joking, Shade," Twilight informed with a chuckle, and her assumption was confirmed when Autumn giggled along with her.

Shade let out a relieved sigh. He knew she meant well with her kidding around, but he really did not need surprises like that right now.

After that, the lobby got quiet again, but only for a few minutes. It wasn't long before the silence was once again broken by the hospital's front entrance busting open abruptly, the culprit—to nopony's surprise—being a certain pink pony well known for inappropriately loud entrances.

"Who wants coffee~?" Pinkie Pie sang, two trays holding cups of coffee balanced precariously on her head. Despite how bouncily she trotted inside, the cups managed to stay upright without spilling a drop. She placed the trays down on a small table near where Autumn and Nimbus were sitting.

However, Pinkie wasn't the only one who had come by. Following close behind her were her posse of close friends; namely Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy. Rarity in particular had been the one who originally went out for coffee, but must have run into Pinkie on the way. Then, once the party pony caught wind of what was going on, no doubt gathered up her other friends to hang out at the hospital until the baby was born.

"Sorry for the wait, everypony," Rarity apologized as she took a cup of coffee for herself. "As you can see, we needed a little more than we originally thought. Any word on Winter? We didn't miss it, did we?"

"If you did, we wouldn't still be out here," Twilight pointed out.

"Fair enough."

Rarity and the others found themselves seats to wait it out with their friends.

"So how long's it been now?" asked Applejack, taking a sip of coffee.

Autumn looked up at the clock. "About eight hours."

Just hearing that was already making Rainbow Dash impatient. "Geez, really?"

"That's nuthin'," Applejack said in response. "When mah Ma was havin' Apple Bloom, she was in there fer fifteen. We could still be in fer the long haul yet."

"You don't have to stay here the whole time if you don't want to, Rainbow Dash," Twilight told the pegasus, seeing the look of apprehension on her face.

Rainbow Dash sighed, waving it off. "Nah, if I left, I'd feel like kind of a jerk."

"Nopony would blame you if you wanted to leave at any point. And that goes for any of you," Autumn assured them all. "It is pretty late as is, and we could very well be here all night."

"That's why we brought coffee!" Pinkie chirped cheerily, not one to let the late hour affect her peppy mood.

"Now that I think on it, we really should have picked up some food while we were out," Rarity said with a disappointed sigh. "We were actually about to go eat when Winter went into labor, and with all the hubbub I haven't had the chance yet." Her displeasure was made evident by the off putting sound of her stomach rumbling.

"The hospital's got a cafeteria," Applejack suggested.

Rarity mulled that over for a moment, feeling somewhat reluctant. "Mm, hospital food is not really appealing, but I suppose it may work in a pinch." She got off of her seat, carrying her coffee in her powder blue, magical aura. "Anypony care to join me?"

Rainbow Dash was quick to hop up. "I'll go. Better than doing nothing."

"Wait fer me, too. I could use a bite," Applejack added, following closely behind as the pair left the lobby.

As the three ponies left for the cafeteria, the lobby became noticeably quieter, despite the presence of one particular pink pony. However, one mare, who had thus far remained silent, decided to voice what was on her mind.

"This is pretty exciting, isn't it," Fluttershy expressed with an eager smile towards Shade. "We've been waiting for this day for the past eleven months, and now all the questions and concerns you've had are about to be answered. You must be very relieved."

"I won't be relieved until those answers are actually made clear," Shade replied. "And knowing we're so close but still not quite there is kind of... agonizing. You know what I mean?"

Nimbus nodded. "I know that feeling. And, in all honesty, the fact that you feel that way makes me believe you might make for a decent father."

Autumn grinned with surprise. "My, my. Did you hear that, Shade? A compliment from Nimbus. You should have that transcribed and framed on your wall."

Autumn's joke managed to put a smile on Shade's face for once, but it was also due in part to hearing that from the stern stallion at all. "I guess just sitting here and doing nothing is making my mind fixate on this stuff."

"Why don't we just talk about fun things?" suggested Fluttershy. "Like, um... Have you and Winter thought about names?"

Shade turned his eyes up toward the ceiling in thought. "Uh, no, actually. I mean, we don't even know what gender the baby's going to be."

"Well, you can plan for either event," Autumn stated. "We actually had a name ready if Winter had turned out to be a colt."

Hearing that made Shade curious. "Really? What was it?"

"Alto," Nimbus answered simply.

"Like altocumulus clouds, I presume," Twilight surmised, to which Nimbus nodded in affirmation.

"As you might imagine, Nimbus came up with that name," Autumn explained. "We made an agreement that if our foal turned out to be male, he would name it, and if it were female, I would name it."

"Guess you won that one, huh, Mrs. Maple?" Pinkie said.

Chamella turned to Shade with an amused smile. "I wonder how things would have turned out if you had met a stallion named Alto when you came to Ponyville, Shade."

Shade chuckled lightly at her hypothetical. "Well, I don't think we'd be sitting here right now, that's for sure."

"All joking aside, I do have a serious question," Autumn said, her face curious, yet somewhat concerned. "If the baby turns out to be full changeling—anatomy, biology, behavior and all—what are you and Winter going to do?"

Shade scratched his head as he thought about it. It's not as though he and Winter hadn't discussed the possibility, but he was certainly hoping that it didn't turn out that way. "Well, I think we've decided that, regardless of how it turns out, we're going to raise it as best we can. I've mentioned before that changeling larvae are instinctual creatures and violent by nature, but that's really only because of the environment that they're typically born in, I imagine. It'll be a matter of keeping it under control. We wouldn't be able to take it outside the house, unfortunately. But they're usually more manageable after they've had something to eat; they're really only unruly when they're hungry. So as long as we keep it fed, it shouldn't be too difficult to keep it under control. Although, I wouldn't want to leave Winter alone with it; she may be its mother, but I doubt it would have any qualms about taking a bite out of anypony—even her—if it was hungry enough."

"And how long would this go on for exactly?" Nimbus asked.

"Uh... Well, that's difficult to say. The larvae certainly start to develop higher levels of intelligence after a while, but it varies exactly when that starts to happen. Usually it's about a year or so, I think."

"And you think the two of you could handle a year of raising what is essentially a wild animal?"

Shade hesitated to answer for a moment. "I... don't know. It's not like any changeling has ever bothered to even attempt to properly raise their offspring."

Twilight tapped her chin in thought. "I wonder if their behavior is based purely on the fact that they have to fend for themselves. It could be possible that they'd become much more dependent if they were being taken care of by their parents, or even somepony—or changeling—acting as a parent or guardian."

Shade raised an eyebrow at the notion. Oddly, that thought had never occurred to him. "Huh. I don't know, maybe. I guess that could be possible."

"Changeling or not, do you two think you've adequately prepared yourselves for parenthood?" Nimbus asked sternly. "As near as I can tell, you've spent more time worrying yourselves over what might happen rather than actually preparing for those possible outcomes."

Autumn gave her husband a reprimanding glare. "Nimbus, they've had eleven months to prepare themselves for this."

"My point exactly. And what have they done in that time? I still think this whole thing was a mistake on their part."

The crimson mare gawked in appall at the blunt comment. "Nimbus! Don't say things like that!"

"Are you suggesting that we hadn't made a mistake when you got pregnant?"

"Of course not! Winter is the best thing that's ever happened to us!"

"Is that why you were worrying yourself stupid when you found out? I'm sure I don't have to remind you of how terrified you were to tell your parents."

"Well, yes, but Winter—"

"Is making the same mistake we did."

Hearing that effectively silenced Autumn, and the mare was clearly trying to devise a counter-argument.

During the moment of tense silence, Fluttershy discreetly leaned over to Twilight, whispering to her. "This is awkward, right?"

The alicorn nodded. "Oh yeah."

Shade finally decided to interject on the argument. "To be fair, Winter assumed I couldn't get her pregnant because we're different species."

"And assumptions like that just prove how immature Winter still is," Nimbus snapped back without missing a beat. "She should have taken the necessary precautions regardless of what she thought was possible because that's what a mature adult would do."

"Nimbus, I do not appreciate you talking about our daughter like this," Autumn expressed in a surprisingly quiet voice, looking both angry and hurt at the same time.

"I'm only saying this because I care about her. I will agree that she is the best thing to happen to us, but that doesn't change the fact that we were in over our heads. I don't want the same thing to happen to her."

Autumn sighed at her husband's stubbornness. "Nimbus, Winter isn't as immature as you think she is. Our parents were not very supportive of us, but I'd like if we didn't make that mistake. We need to support her, especially given the... odd circumstances of the pregnancy." Nimbus was about to counter that, but Autumn held up her hoof, stopping him and continuing with her point. "I've spent a little more time with Winter than you have lately, especially since a certain someone came into her life. Maybe you haven't noticed, but Winter's changed a lot from the naïve, absentminded filly she used to be."

"And how do you figure that?" Nimbus challenged her to explain.

Autumn smiled fondly, pointing to the changeling sitting across from her. "Him."

Shade was surprised by that, pointing to himself as if he were unsure to whom she was referring. "Me?"

Autumn nodded. "Winter was like a completely different person before she met you, Shade. Scatterbrained, a bit of a worrywort, and submissive to a fault, especially around her father. She was always worried about disappointing people, and I firmly believe that he was responsible for that," she said, this time pointing to the dull blue pegasus sitting beside her. Once more, she smiled across at Shade. "But since meeting you, I've seen her grow up more than she had before she left Cloudsdale. She's more sociable, confident, and most of all, happier. I've seen her speak to her father in a way she never would have before meeting you."

"Which just means she doesn't respect me anymore," Nimbus grumbled. His tone was gruff, yet uncharacteristically sullen.

Autumn placed a reassuring hoof on the stallion's shoulder. "It's not that she doesn't respect you, it's that she has more respect for herself now. And we have Shade to thank for that."

Nimbus stared into his wife's eyes for a moment before turning away with a slight scowl. "I still think she's too immature for her own good."

Autumn glared at her husband, pointing a hoof in Winter's general direction. "Nimbus, our daughter is in there right now giving birth to our grandchild. If that doesn't prove how mature she is, I don't know what will. Why can't you just be happy for her?"

"I am happy!" he snapped abruptly, his tone belying the exclamation. "I'm just..."

Autumn held his hoof tenderly and knowingly. "Afraid?"

Again, Nimbus looked his wife in the eyes, but said nothing. He just stared down at the floor with a defeated sigh, feeling somewhat ashamed that his emotions were so easily deciphered.

"We're both worried about her. We're her parents; it's our job to worry about her. But the other part of that job is to show her how much we support her, especially at times like this. She has friends, a loving boyfriend, and us behind her. She's much better off than we were when we were in this situation." Autumn nuzzled lovingly into her husband's neck. "And I know, despite your prickly exterior, you're going to love your grandchild just as much as you love your daughter."

To add on to the already strange and rare display of emotion, Nimbus gripped his wife's hoof tightly, closing his eyes with a sigh.

Twilight leaned slightly over towards Shade with a grin. "I guess you two weren't the only ones fretting about this after all."

"Yeah," Shade agreed, the surprise of this revelation evident in both his voice and expression. "And from the last person I would have expected."

At that time, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had returned from the cafeteria, not really having been gone long enough for a meal, but considering the hour, it was more likely they procured themselves some light snacks to tide them over. Rainbow Dash was actually still in the middle of munching on a sandwich full of leafy greens while holding her coffee cup with one of her wings.

"Shtill waiding around, huh?" the cyan pegasus said with a full mouth before swallowing. "No news yet?"

Applejack rolled her eyes at Dash's impatience. "We weren't gone long, Rainbow."

"What? It can happen anytime, right?" Dash responded defensively. "It's a legitimate question."

"You're right about that," Autumn agreed. "We've been here for so long now that I can't help but expect to receive word any minute now. But I suppose that's just me being antsy. I'm so excited and nervous at the same time." Her statement was punctuated by her fidgeting in her chair, but grinning with eager anticipation.

The trio of ponies who had just rejoined the group in the lobby each found themselves a seat to wait. Rarity chose to sit next to her employee and housemate. The ivory unicorn took a dainty sip of her coffee before turning to the quiet changeling. "What about you, Chamella?"

The purple-maned changeling lifted her head as if snapped from her thoughts. "Huh? What about me?"

"Well, I just thought you've been awfully quiet since we got here. Unless, or course, you waited for me to leave the room to speak openly," Rarity joked with a look of mock hurt.

Chamella simply shifted in her seat, shrugging indifferently. "I haven't really had much to say, that's all."

"Really? I figured you'd have more on your mind. It may be Shade's child, but as we've said on multiple occasions, you're practically its aunt."

"I suppose that's true, isn't it?" Autumn interjected. "I guess that makes you the closest relative on its father's side, even if you're not actually blood related."

"Oh, that's right," Twilight said as she made the realization. "This is actually the first time the two of you have met, isn't it?"

"Well, given the circumstances, now might not be the most opportune time for proper introductions." Autumn briefly glanced at the clock. "Although, we've certainly had enough time to get acquainted now, but I suppose I've had a little too much on my mind. If you want, Chamella, we could chat a bit while we keep waiting."

The changeling shied away slightly, not making eye contact with Autumn and looking almost ashamed. "Uh, that's okay. I don't really think I'm up for talking about myself right now."

Autumn was disappointed to hear that, but smiled understandingly. "Alright. But one of these days I'd like to get to know you a little better. There are a few questions I've been wanting to ask."

Chamella didn't say anything else in hopes of the topic shifting away from herself. Given her... history with this mare's daughter, she figured it would be more than a little awkward to sit down and talk with her. She was worried about what exactly those questions the older mare may have had were.

Shade took notice of Chamella's posture and expression. He understood why she'd be reluctant to speak with Autumn, but he knew very well what a friendly and accommodating mare she was. Just looking at her now suggested that Autumn was more than willing to forgive Chamella for what she'd done to her daughter. But thinking about it now, Shade thought it was odd that she'd never brought it up to him even once. He figured she'd at least want to discuss that with him before opting to confront Chamella directly. Had Winter even told her mother anything about Chamella and what she did?

A sudden silence had fallen over the lobby once again, with nopony really having anything else to say. All that was left really was just to wait, like they'd been doing for a while now. Fluttershy let out a sleepy yawn, which spread to both Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Another hour had passed and the time was starting to really take its toll on all of them. Even Shade, who had more reason than any of them to be there, was starting to find the idea of a nice, long nap pretty appealing right about now.

Fluttershy lazily stood up from her seat, stretching her wings and back. "I'm sorry, Shade. I think I need to head home. I'm very tired, and I don't like to leave my animals all alone for too long. I still have to read bedtime stories to the baby mice."

Shade, feeling quite tired himself, waved a hoof dismissively. "Don't worry about it. You go on home."

Fluttershy nodded, giving everypony a wave goodbye as she turned to the door.

However, at that moment, the double doors leading further into the hospital opened. A unicorn stallion wearing a white coat and a blue surgical mask stepped into the lobby, his gaze immediately pointing toward Shade.

The changeling, recognizing the stallion as the doctor that had taken Winter in, stood up the moment he saw who it was. Suddenly, the tiredness Shade had been feeling evaporated, and now all that was on his mind was Winter. The doctor's presence also prompted most everypony else to stand as well, particularly Autumn and Nimbus who stood just behind Shade when he approached the doctor.

"What's going on?" Shade asked, impatient and still quite concerned. "How's Winter? Is she okay? How's she doing?"

The doctor raised a hoof to Shade, pulling down his mask to speak. "Please, calm down. That's what I came out here to tell you."

"Is she okay?" Shade repeated more sternly, wanting an answer as soon as possible.

The doctor chuckled at Shade's behavior. "Relax. Both Winter and your son are fine."

The lobby went dead quiet. Shade stood, unmoving, with his mouth hanging open slightly as though he wasn't quite sure he had heard that correctly. "My... My son?"

The doctor grinned widely. "That's right. You are now the proud father of a perfectly healthy, baby colt. Congratulations."

Autumn held her hooves to her mouth, trying her best to fight back joyous tears. "Nimbus, did you hear that? A colt! We have a grandson!"

Nimbus simply stared in disbelief. "Yeah... I guess we do." A small, proud smile managed to work its way onto his face.

"Oh, how wonderful!" Rarity exclaimed gleefully.

"Congratulations, Shade," Twilight said, placing a hoof upon the changeling's shoulder.

"Hearin' that must be a mighty relief, Ah reckon," Applejack said with a chuckle, her own voice sounding of relief itself.

"Well, I can't just leave now, can I?" said Fluttershy with an eager grin. "I don't think I'd be able to sleep wondering what the baby looked like."

Shade had just continued to stare at the doctor, as though he couldn't even hear everypony else as they each congratulated him. "Can I see them?" he asked, addressing the doctor.

The doctor nodded. "Of course. You are the father after all." Having heard that, Autumn made a step forward, eager to see her newborn grandson. However, the doctor held out a hoof, stopping the mare and eliciting a confused look from her. "I'm only allowing the father to see them right now. The whole ordeal was quite taxing for Winter and she fainted once the whole thing was over. The poor girl didn't even get to see her son before she passed out."

Autumn gasped in shock and worry. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine," the doctor assured. "She's just resting, which is why I'm only allowing Shade to see them right now. Once she wakes up, you can go see her."

Shade was about to make his way in, but, once again, the doctor stopped him.

"I should warn you: there is a slight... anomaly with your son."

A sudden feeling of dread fell over not only Shade, but the others as well, especially Autumn and Nimbus. In addition to that dread, Shade also felt a sudden anger build up inside him, which he directed at the doctor. "What? I thought you said he was perfectly healthy?!"

The doctor waved a hoof in an attempt to calm Shade down. "He is! Health-wise, the colt is fine. It's just... Well, perhaps it's best if you see for yourself." The doctor then turned back toward the doors, gesturing for Shade to follow.

Autumn and Nimbus shared concerned looks, but smiled as reassuringly as they could at Shade. Feeling a little uneasy himself, the changeling followed behind the doctor.

As Shade stepped through into the inner halls of the hospital, he found himself wondering once more if this was just a dream. Everything was a little too quiet, as though any sound was being muffled by an unseen force, leaving Shade with only his thoughts. Thankfully the halls were at least populated with nurses and doctors passing by and conversing as they walked. That gave Shade at least some semblance of reality, but there was no real way to completely abate his disbelief.

At least not yet.

Contrary to the events of his dreams, Shade and the doctor had wound up in the hospital's maternity ward rather quickly, continuing a little further down before the doctor stopped and pointed Shade to one particular door.

"She's right through here," the doctor said as though it were no big deal. "I have some work I need to take care of, so I'll stop by later. You go on in."

Shade said nothing. He wanted to thank the doctor, but found his mind far too preoccupied. The doctor had already began making his way back down the hall anyway, leaving the changeling by himself and staring at the door. Shade took a breath in an effort to calm himself, because he knew when he stepped through that door, his life was going to change drastically.

Shade gently pushed the door open, only peeking his head inside at first. The first thing his eyes fell upon was the prone form of his beloved pegasus, covered by the hospital bed sheets and fast asleep. Shade slipped inside, making sure to close the door carefully so as not to wake her abruptly. With his eyes transfixed on her, he softly stepped over to her side.

The doctor wasn't kidding when he said it was an ordeal for her. Winter's ivory coat was damp with sweat and her scarlet mane was frayed and matted to her face. And even in her sleep Winter was breathing rather heavily, practically panting; the only sound in the otherwise dead silence of the hospital room. Shade felt his guilt coming back upon him. Seeing her in such a state made him feel even worse about not being by her side as she went through this. Shade gently brushed aside the errant strands of hair from her face and managed a soft, proud smile regardless of his guilt. At the very least, she was okay. Seeing that did a lot to ease Shade's mind.

But in the brief moments of silence between Winter's labored breaths, Shade heard another noise. It was so quiet that had this just been any ordinary day, it wouldn't have even registered in Shade's mind. But the tiny sound of a quiet moan managed to catch his attention.

Shade turned around. He knew what it was, but at the same time needed confirmation. Behind him, against the wall on the right side of the room, was a hospital manger. And through the clear, acrylic glass railings, Shade could see a small figure laying down inside of it. The changeling stood motionless for a few moments, mouth slightly agape as his disbelief reached a new high. But his sheer, morbid curiosity forced his hole-riddled legs to move, though not without hesitation. Shade slowly approached the manger, placing a hoof upon the railing, and with wide eyes, stared down at the figure within.

There, wrapped up snugly in a light blue, cotton blanket, was a tiny, newborn foal, sound asleep. From what was visible with the blanket wrapped around him, Shade could see that the little colt had a jet black coat and a tiny tuft of dark green hair sprouting from his forehead.

But what was most shocking to him was the fact that it looked like a normal, baby pony. Its coat was thin, but it at least had a coat rather than the smooth, chitinous skin that was characteristic of changelings. In addition to that, the colt lacked the changelings' sharp, curved horn. Shade had worried about this so much over the past eleven months that he basically conditioned himself to expect those things. But for all intents and purposes, this foal somehow managed to be born as a normal pony.

No, it wasn't just a normal pony: it was his son.

A smile crept its way onto Shade's face. Finally, after so much time fussing and worrying, it appeared as though all doubts and concerns were completely unfounded. That, more than anything else, brought so much relief. Shade even managed a quiet chuckle, laughing at himself for wasting his time fretting over this little guy for so long.

At the sound of Shade's voice, however, the little one stirred in his sleep. The tiny colt let out a sleepy yawn, giving Shade a clear view of the kid's fangless mouth. The colt then slowly opened its beady, little eyes, his irises a bright, vivid green. The newborn squinted its eyes as it adjusted to the bright light of the white hospital room.

And the first thing he saw was the adult changeling staring down at him.

The colt's eyes were transfixed on the figure leaning over him, and a worrying thought pervaded Shade's mind. How must it feel to have a creature such as himself staring down at a helpless, newborn foal? Even adult ponies would show fear when faced with a changeling, so how might the colt react?

But there was no reaction. Shade fully expected the colt to begin crying in fright, but it just stared up at him, its eyes not full of fear, but with a sort of curious wonderment. It was then that Shade made a realization. What reason did this foal have to be afraid? He was just born into the world; he had no concept of what was normal or what was scary yet. For all he knew, the creature staring down at him right now was perfectly normal. That thought was bizarre to Shade. To actually encounter somepony who might believe that changelings were normal was a foreign concept, but one that was oddly comforting, even if it was just a foal maybe not even an hour old. Shade began to think that perhaps, if the colt was feeling somewhat wary, he should do something to help ease the tyke. He should welcome his son into the world.

Shade gave the colt as comforting a smile as he could manage—which wasn't difficult, all things considered. As he gazed down at the foal, he spoke his first words to his son. "Hi," Shade said quietly. The colt didn't really react to his voice at all; it just continued to stare curiously. "I'm... I'm your dad." It felt weird to actually finally say that; the kind of feeling that made his stomach tighten, but made his heart beat more fervently. It was a good feeling.

But talking to him could only do so much. After all, the little guy couldn't understand Shade yet. He needed to do something a little more meaningful. Shade's horn went alight with green magic, the aura enveloping the tiny, bundled up colt. He knew he had to be careful; having just been born, the foal was probably still quite frail. With just a minute amount of force, Shade slowly and gently lifted the colt from the soft sheets on the bottom of the manger. However, the moment the colt felt itself moving, its eyes widened more than they had already been, almost looking panicked. Shade paused, a sudden dread overcoming him, and he gently placed the colt back down. The changeling felt a little guilty to have perhaps scared his son like that, but at the very least he wasn't crying. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten the child, but he also wanted to show him that there was nothing to be afraid of. Shade's green aura never dissipated, keeping it tenderly wrapped around the tyke, and he readied himself to make another attempt to pick him up.

As the colt began lifting again, it had much the same reaction as before, moving its head around as if to try and make sense of what was happening.

"It's alright. I'm not going to let anything happen to you," Shade assured him as soothingly as possible.

Somewhat to his surprise, the colt locked eyes with its father again upon hearing his voice. The baby stopped fidgeting and just focused on Shade. Feeling more confident, Shade finally lifted the colt from the manger and guided it to his chest, cradling the foal in his foreleg. Despite the holes in his legs not making for a very consistent surface to rest upon, the colt seemed comfortable wrapped up in its woolly, blue blanket. Again, it just simply stared up at Shade, but after a few moments, its gaze seemed to drift about the room a little more, taking in its unfamiliar surroundings.

Shade couldn't help but smile. This felt good. He was holding his son and he was enjoying it. Maybe all that stuff he theorized about changelings having no parental instincts was just due to the fact that they never bothered to try. Just standing there now, with his son cradled against him, he was filled with pride. And even though he'd only known this colt for a few minutes, Shade already knew he was willing to do anything to protect him.

"Shade?"

The changeling looked over his shoulder at the sound of the quiet and exhausted voice. Staring back at him, amber eyes still half-lidded and tired, was Winter, still laying down on her pillow. Shade grinned softly at her before fully turning around.

Immediately, Winter lifted her head, her eyes widening in disbelief when she saw the little colt in Shade's gentle embrace. "I-Is... Is that...?" she said, her voice shaky as though all of her emotions had just awoken as well.

Shade smiled down at the colt, some disbelief still in his own voice. "Yeah. This is our son."

Winter's legs quivered when she heard him say that. "O-Our son?"

The changeling walked over to the bed with the foal, giving its mother a closer look.

Winter held out a hoof. "Can I hold him?"

Shade laughed a little at the request. "He's your son. I think you have more right to hold him than anypony."

Shade lifted the colt over to its mother with his magic. Winter propped herself up against the headboard of the bed, tenderly taking the foal in her forelegs. Shade could already see moisture beginning to form in her eyes as a wide, yet shaky, smile graced her beautiful lips.

"I can't believe it," she said, her quiet voice belying the emotion behind it. "I'm a mom. Oh, gosh, I feel terrible that I fell asleep before I could see him. I wanted to be the first person he saw."

"Can't really help that," Shade said to comfort her. "Just be happy that he's healthy. And that you're okay, too."

Winter's eyes never lifted from her son, lovingly brushing a hoof over his little cheek, and he stared up at her in much the same way he had done with his father. "You're right. And look at him: he's... normal. Oh, uh, not that you aren't... normal. You know what I mean."

Shade waved it off. "I know. Believe me, I'm just as shocked. And relieved."

"But I would have loved him regardless," said Winter, lifting the colt up to nuzzle it. "Still, I guess this makes things easier on us." Winter giggled to herself as she continued to gaze down at her son. "He actually looks like his daddy, too."

Shade raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You're kidding, right? How exactly does he look like me?"

"It's his eyes. He has your eyes."

Shade looked a little closer, skeptical of her claim. He could clearly see some distinct differences, like the lack of the pale, blue sclera and normal, round pupils instead of slotted ones. "I don't see it."

Winter sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well, you haven't spent as much time staring into your eyes as I have. Trust me, those are your eyes. And he also has your... Er, well, I was going to say 'coat,' but I guess 'color' would be a little more accurate."

"Well, out of all the things he could have inherited from me, eyes and coat color are probably the best we could have hoped for. Could've been worse things to take from me."

Winter grinned fondly at her lover. "You're too hard on yourself sometimes, Shade."

"I just want him to have it easy, you know? I don't want him to go through the same things I had to when everypony found out about me."

"Well, it's because of you that I think he wouldn't have to. But I guess that's not really worth arguing about now, is it?" Winter turned her gaze back down, gently brushing the small tuft of hair on their son's head to smooth it out.

Shade finally managed to take his eyes off of the colt for a moment, turning his attention instead to Winter. "How are you doing? You feeling alright after all this?"

The pegasus smiled up at him. "Still a little tired, but given the circumstances, I don't really mind. It was all worth it," she said, holding the foal closer and nuzzling him again. After a moment, Winter simply stared down at the tiny colt all wrapped up like a present. Seeing only his little head, a thought came to her and she held him out to Shade. "Hey, can you take the blanket off of him? I wanna see if he has wings."

Shade raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't he? He is a pony."

"Well, despite what it seems, he's still half changeling and he doesn't have many of your features. He might not have wings either."

Shade shrugged, conceding the point and taking hold of the colt with his magic. Thankfully the little guy didn't seem to mind so much anymore and didn't squirm much as he was held slightly in the air above the hospital bed. Carefully, Shade unwrapped the blanket from the colt, letting it fall onto the bed.

And it was all Shade could do just to keep his grip on the child as he and Winter gawked in total shock at what they saw.

He had wings alright, just not the kind they were expecting. Sprouting from the colt's back were not pegasus wings with bones, joints and feathers, but the thin, bright blue, translucent, insect-like wings of a changeling, fluttering slowly now that they were free from their wrappings. Additionally, this being their first look at the colt's lower body, it was worth noting that his legs were free of holes and covered in thin, black fur like the rest of his body. Strangely, his wings also lacked any of the natural holes and tears present in the average changeling's wings, making them look more like a normal insect's wings, like that of a fly, or bee.

Winter and Shade just stared in stunned silence, their mouths agape as they attempted to process this. Winter was the first to speak, her voice a little shaken up. "Well... at least if there was still any doubt that he was your son, there isn't anymore," she joked with a large and somewhat forced grin, trying to play it off like it wasn't a big deal.

Shade pulled the tyke closer, turning him around to get a better look at his wings. While the colt had no thin shell covering his back and wrapping around his abdomen, Shade did notice that the skin around the joint where the wings connected to his back had the same glossy sheen that his own chitinous skin had.

The changeling flipped the child around again, looking his son in the eyes. "Huh. How about that? Guess he got more from me than we thought," Shade commented with a proud smile. He then lowered the colt back into his mother's loving embrace.

Winter chuckled quietly at the comment. "After everything you've just said, I didn't think you'd react so well."

Shade shrugged. "Well, it's not fangs or holes at least. And his wings look pretty normal by bug standards, unlike mine." He flittered his naturally tattered wings to punctuate his statement.

The two new parents then spent several silent moments staring proudly and fondly at the new life that they had introduced into the world. Shade in particular was still trying to come to grips with the idea that he now had a child whose life he was actually responsible for, and not only that but one who was actually half-pony. There was just so much about this that he would have never believed could ever happen had he not been able to see it with his own eyes, and even then it was still so hard to believe that it was real.

Winter held her hoof up to the colt, letting the little pony grab onto her and cuddle in. The sight elicited a soft smile from the pegasus. "He's so tiny. It's hard to believe this little guy was the one I've been carrying around for the past eleven months. And he doesn't even realize how special he is yet." She nuzzled her nose against the colt's with a giggle. "Hi, little guy. I'm your mommy." She pulled back as she realized something. "Oh, right. We should probably give him a name, huh? Any suggestions?" she asked, looking up at Shade.

The changeling hadn't really been expecting the question, stammering slightly as he tried to respond. "M-Me? What, you want me to name him?"

"Well, we should probably come to an agreement on one, but I just want you to throw out some names, see if there's any that have a nice ring to them."

Shade thought for a brief moment, but a name did come to mind rather quickly. "What about Alto?"

Winter's ears perked up at the name, then quickly folded back as she glowered and grimaced slightly at Shade. "Ugh, they told you that, huh?"

Shade, not quite understanding her sudden disdain, shrugged. "What? I just thought it'd be a nice surprise for your parents."

"We are not naming him Alto," the mare commanded firmly. "That'd be too weird for me knowing that it was supposed to be my name. Try again."

Shade took another moment to think, but, in light of Winter's reaction to his first suggestion, came up empty. "I... I don't really know what would be a good name. Sorry. Why don't you pick something? I'm sure whatever you come up with will be better than anything I can think of."

Winter inhaled a long breath through her nose before staring down at the little colt. She gazed intensely at him, searching for inspiration. Her eyes ended up drifting to the foals insectoid wings, and that made her think of something. She then glanced down at her own chest. In spite of everything, her necklace was still draped around her neck, shimmering in the bright light of the hospital room.

And that was when inspiration struck.

"'How two things that have no right being together can exist in perfect harmony...'"

Shade tilted his head, leaning in as Winter mumbled the words.

Winter looked up, passing a gentle, smile to the father of her child. "How about Snowflake?"

"'Snowflake'?" Shade repeated. He looked down to where Winter was looking just a moment ago at the asymmetrical necklace. He immediately caught on to her meaning and grinned back at her. "You know what? That sounds pretty good."

Winter beamed happily when Shade agreed. "Then that's it. His name is Snowflake," she declared happily, snuggling the newly-named colt. "Because you are my special, widdle snowflake, aren't y—ow!"

Shade chuckled in amusement as he watched Snowflake tug on his mother's hair, Winter wincing in mild pain, but, not wanting to upset the tyke, didn't pull away, forcing a crooked smile. "H-Hey, easy there. That kinda hurts." She gently pulled away, her hair slowly slipping from the baby's surprisingly tight grip for a creature with hooves.

Once Winter had freed herself, their little family meet-and-greet was finally interrupted when the door opened slightly. The doctor poked his head in to check on the new, happy family, grinning and stepping inside when he saw Winter sitting up with the baby. "Ah, you're awake. How are you feeling, Winter?"

Winter smiled softly. "Like a million bits."

"Good to hear. Congratulations, by the way. And now that you're awake, would you like me to inform your parents and your friends?"

"Oh, right! Mom and Dad must be pacing holes in the floor waiting to see their grandson. Yeah, tell 'em to come in, and anypony else who wants to visit, too."

The doctor simply nodded to acknowledge the request and left once more.

Winter looked back up at Shade. "What were they like while you guys were waiting? Were they a wreck?"

Shade shook his head. "Not really. Your mom was more excited than anything. Although, your dad was surprisingly worried. Either way, they couldn't have been in any worse shape than me." The changeling sighed, gently running a hoof over his son's head. "Winter, I want to apologize for not being by your side through all this. Even if I was scared of what was going to happen, I should have been here to help you and hold your hoof through this."

Winter could see the guilt all over Shade's face, his narrow pupils widening apologetically. She gave him a fond grin. "That doesn't matter, Shade. What does matter is that you're here at all. Admittedly, there were moments during the whole pregnancy where I was afraid you might leave because of all the pressure being put on us."

"You never have to worry about that," he assured her. "I'd have to be a pretty ungrateful boyfriend to abandon you after everything you've done for me. Which is why I feel so bad about not being here."

"And I want to apologize for doubting you, but, look, we don't have to focus on stuff like that now. Right now, all of our attention should be focused on this little guy, okay?"

Shade couldn't help but smile when she said that. "Fair point."

"Knock knock." From the door poked the silvery mane and crimson coat of Winter's mother, her cheeks dimpled by the widest of smiles, but Winter could tell she was still restraining herself. That restraint, however, flew out the window at the sight of her daughter cradling a tiny, newborn foal. She stepped inside, her hoofsteps shaky and trepidant as she fought to hold back joyous tears. "Oh my gosh, there he is," she squeaked, barely able to control the volume and pitch of her voice.

Autumn moved to the bedside next to Shade to see the colt up close, every inch closer causing her eyes to well up more. And with the doorway now cleared there was room for more visitors to enter, Nimbus having followed closely behind his wife, and he was followed by Twilight and her friends who all spread out about the room, making the place feel a touch cramped, but making sure they weren't in the way in case the doctor needed anything. Chamella was the last to enter, electing to stand by the door. Everypony expressed their congratulations and 'aw'-ing at the adorable, little colt, but none more than Autumn.

"He's just the cutest, little thing," Autumn exclaimed, lightly tapping a hoof on the colt's nose. "Oh, gosh, I can't believe it. I'm actually a grandma. And look at him..." She cast a smile towards Shade. "He looks just like his daddy."

Nimbus leaned in toward the colt with a raised eyebrow. "I don't see it."

Shade grinned to himself slightly, a little amused that he and Nimbus actually agreed on something.

"What exactly about him makes him look like his dad?" asked Rainbow Dash in confusion. "I mean, his coat is black and his eyes are green, but aside from that he looks like any other newborn foal."

Winter rolled her eyes with a sigh and a slight smile, looking to Shade. The changeling shrugged; he knew what was coming next.

"Brace yourselves," Winter warned.

From his cradled position within Winter's embrace, Snowflake's wings were not visible. However, the moment she lifted him up for everypony to see, the room fell silent.

With wide eyes, Autumn held a hoof to her mouth in shock. "Oh, my goodness."

Everypony else's reactions were much the same: mouths agape in surprise. Nimbus even shot a glower towards Shade, to which the changeling simply shrugged; it wasn't as though he had any control of it. However, one pony in particular wasn't so much shocked as she was intrigued.

"Fascinating," Twilight mused, unable to contain her smile of scientific curiosity. That curiosity urged her to push through the crowd in the room to inspect the foal more closely. "I knew that mutations were to be expected, but this is more along the line of selective breeding; the process of passing down ideal traits of the parents to create offspring with the most beneficial genetics. But even that is a little more subtle that what I'm seeing here. This is more like an advanced form of evolution. Who would have thought something like this was possible?"

Winter cleared her throat to interrupt the excited princess, giving her a somewhat bemused stare.

Twilight, realizing she was looking at the colt more like a subject of biological study as opposed to an actual person, blushed and corrected herself. "Oh, sorry. He's cute. That's what I meant."

"Cute is an understatement, darling," said Rarity. "He's absolutely precious!"

"You gotta bring him over to Sugarcube Corner so he can have play dates with twins sometimes!" Pinkie Pie suggested enthusiastically.

"I'll be sure to do that," Winter agreed with a nod.

Autumn took an eager step closer. "Can I hold him, sweetie?"

Winter nodded. "Yeah, of course."

She held the colt out to his grandmother, Autumn barely able to contain her emotions when the tiny foal came to rest in her motherly embrace. "Oh my, it's been such a long time since I've held a baby like this. I used to hold your mommy like this, too," she whispered sweetly to the colt.

"At least he doesn't seem too overwhelmed by having so many people around," Applejack observed, noticing nothing more than an expression of innocent curiosity on the colt's face as he looked around at all the adults around him.

"So did you decide on a name yet? Or perhaps you need more time to think about it," Fluttershy inquired sheepishly, not wanting to make them to feel rushed.

Winter and Shade looked to one another and smiled proudly. Winter's eyes fell upon the child in her mother's gentle caress once more before looking back up at her friends and family. "Actually, we have decided. Snowflake."

"Oh, that's such a cute name," Rarity commented.

"Kinda weird, though, don't you think?" Rainbow Dash added. "I mean, no offense, but, personally, I don't think it really fits with the black coat and everything."

"I'm sure their choice of name has a deeper meaning to them," Twilight inferred. Winter noticed that her gaze briefly fell upon her necklace as she spoke, clearly having already figured out the inspiration.

"It's not exactly very masculine, is it?" Nimbus pointed out with a slight grimace.

Winter looked at her father, confused. "Huh? What do you mean? Does that really matter?"

"Of course it matters. The name you give him is what he's going to be known as throughout his entire life. You have to think carefully about things like this."

"Nimbus, please, is this really the time for this?" Autumn said quietly, attempting to diffuse the argument she knew was coming.

"Autumn, I just want what's best for our grandson. He may have a rough enough time fitting in with those wings."

"Hey, come on," Shade interjected. "Don't say things like that."

Nimbus was unfazed by the changeling's effort to scold him. "I'm not trying to insult anypony, I'm just pointing out that children can be cruel, especially towards those who are different. With his wings and a name like that, there'll be more than enough for kids to latch onto in the schoolyard. You should be practical rather than trying to be clever with his name."

Winter just stared at her father as though none of what he had just said meant anything to her. "Well, if you and Mom decide to have another kid, you can take your sweet time coming up with a name. Our son's name is Snowflake. You don't get a say in that, Dad. Sorry."

Nimbus backed off with a huff. "Fine. But don't come crying to me a few years from now when he comes home from school one day crying because some kids were making fun of him."

"If I might offer a compromise," Twilight interjected. "Why not just call him 'Snow' for short? That sounds a little more masculine, doesn't it?"

Winter grinned at the suggestion. "How about that, Dad? You can call him Snow if you want."

Nimbus paused for a moment to contemplate that before shrugging indifferently. "I suppose that's a little better."

The gruff stallion suddenly found himself flinching when Autumn had thrust the colt into his forelegs out of nowhere. Nimbus stared at her in confusion, receiving a coy grin from her.

"Just shut up and love your grandson, 'Pops,'" she giggled.

Nimbus looked down at the little colt, who stared back at him with his beady, green eyes. The sight of the foal in his forelegs brought back so many dormant memories of when his own daughter was born, and the stern stallion softened up a little and finally managed to smile. "Well... I guess I can teach him to stand up to anypony who might give him a hard time. Nopony better mess with my grandson."

"Excuse me."

All eyes turned to the door to find the doctor attempting to squeeze into the crowded room.

Autumn gave the doctor a grateful grin, though there was a touch of concern in her voice as well. "Hello, doctor. Is there a problem?"

The stallion shook his head with a dismissive smile. "No, no. No problems at all, really. Just dropping in to see if you had any questions about the colt."

"You mean the wings, right?" Shade inferred, to which the doctor nodded.

"Ah reckon we should probably get out of the way an' give 'em some room," Applejack suggested, already pushing through the door and exiting out into the hall. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight, and Chamella all made to follow.

"There's no need for that," Winter assured them. "You guys aren't in the way."

Twilight turned back and gave a wave. "This sounds like a family matter. I'd rather give you guys some privacy."

"Actually, Your Highness, I'd like to request that you stay," the doctor said. "And Miss Chamella, too, if you would."

Twilight and Chamella stopped, looking back at the doctor curiously as the others continued on their way back to the lobby. "Huh? Why's that?" asked the alicorn.

"I heard that you're writing a research paper about changelings. Is that right?"

"Yes," Twilight confirmed with a nod.

"In that case, I'd like to ask for your opinion on certain matters we'll likely be discussing, seeing that you're essentially the leading authority on changelings. And having an actual pair of changelings weigh in would be very helpful as well."

"I can't really say I know how this is going to affect our kid, but I'll help where I can," said Shade.

The doctor nodded, then picked up and looked over a clipboard hanging off the foot of the hospital bed. "Alright then. First of all, I'd like to reiterate that the foal—oh, have you decided on a name yet?"

"Snowflake," Winter answered.

The unicorn doctor removed a pen from the pocket of his white coat using his magic and made an addendum on the paper. "Okay. As I was saying, I'd like to reiterate that Snowflake is in perfect health. As near as we can tell, the wings are not demonstrating any adverse effects on his health. He even seems to be able to move them without any trouble. I do fear that they may be rather fragile. Is that an issue that you deal with?" he asked Shade and Chamella.

Shade simply shrugged. "Not really. The Changeling Kingdom is a pretty cold place, so I guess we've adapted to that. Our wings are stronger than they look, at least when it comes to damage." He splayed out his wings to show him. "And these 'rips' and 'tears' you see are actually natural; we were born this way."

"Although, I have seen some particularly violent changelings fighting one another and ripping each others wings off at the base sometimes," Chamella added. The mental image caused not only Winter and Autumn, but also Nimbus, to shudder at the thought.

"I don't suppose changeling wings grow back, do they?" Nimbus inquired, to which both changelings unfortunately shook their heads.

"From what we've seen, it's not that easy for them to get ripped off anyway. I've been in a few rough tussles and my wings are fine. Even the guys I fought with still left with their wings intact. They're probably not gonna get torn out unless somepony specifically goes for them."

"That's good to hear at the very least," Autumn said with a relieved sigh. "I'd hate for this little guy to go through that sort of pain." She ran a hoof gently over the colt's head.

"I just had a thought," Twilight interjected. "Changelings are notably lighter than ponies, having more slender frames and less mass, what with the holes in their legs and the apparent lack of leg bones."

The doctor nodded, having been just about to address that topic. "Yes, I believe we're on the same train of thought, Princess. Changeling wings possess no muscles except for the area around the base, so it's essentially impossible to increase wing strength through exercise like a pegasus can."

"What exactly are you getting at, Doctor?" Nimbus asked with narrowed eyes.

The doctor gave the family a sympathetic look, hesitating to answer the question. "From what we can tell... it's unlikely the colt will ever be able to fly."

A stunned silence fell over the room, the faces of the three pegasi and the changeling father having fallen at the shock of hearing the unfortunate news.

"Never?" Autumn whimpered sullenly.

"Changeling wings are designed to carry the lighter bodies of changelings," Twilight clarified. "A pony's body would likely be too heavy."

Nimbus hung his head slightly, holding the colt more tightly to himself.

"However, this is merely a theory," the doctor told them. "As you can tell, his wings don't look exactly like his father's. It's entirely possible that the extra surface area of having—for lack of a better word—'whole' wings may give him the lift needed to fly."

"And he is part pegasus, right?" Winter pointed out. "We tend to be a little lighter than earth ponies and unicorns. And maybe his changeling genes mean he'll be even lighter than us."

"Wishful thinking, but I suppose we have no evidence to rule it out," said Twilight optimistically.

"Speaking of pegasus genes, I wonder if he can walk on clouds," Autumn mused. "I'd hate for him to never be able to visit his grandma and grandpa in Cloudsdale."

"I'm afraid I don't have an answer for that," the doctor said with a shrug. "You'll have to test that out yourselves, I suppose. Though I'd recommend doing so as safely as possible."

"I never even considered that my grandchild wouldn't be able to fly," Nimbus mumbled solemnly.

"If it means anything to you, if I had a choice in the matter, I'd have given him pegasus wings," Shade said in an effort to ease Nimbus's mind.

"Look, in the end, it doesn't matter if he can fly or not," Winter stated with confidence. "He's our son, and that's all that matters to me. So right now, I'd rather focus on taking care of him than worry about how things might turn out in the future."

"So the exact opposite mentality you've had for the whole pregnancy then?" Autumn quipped with a giggle.

Nimbus passed Snowflake back to his mother, letting the colt nestle into her alabaster chest and letting out a yawn as it drifted back to sleep in her embrace.

"I'll make sure to keep his future in mind," Winter clarified. "But I need a little time just to get used to the fact that I'm a mom now. I thought after carrying him around with me for eleven months I'd have already come to terms with that, but..."

Autumn nodded in understanding. "But actually holding the baby in your hooves is a completely different feeling."

Winter smiled at her mother. Knowing that she now had so much more in common with her mother was a warming feeling. Having a foal herself made her feel even closer to her parents than ever before. "Yeah."

The conversation having seemed to have reached its natural conclusion, Twilight turned to the door, excusing herself with a polite grin. "I'm going to head back out to the lobby. If you need anything from us, don't hesitate to ask."

Winter returned the princess's grin with a grateful smile of her own. "That's okay. Thanks for being here, Twilight. And make sure to thank everypony else for me."

The alicorn nodded silently before disappearing out into the hall.

"I'll be going now as well," the doctor added. "If you have anymore questions, just have one of the nurses fetch me."

"Thank you so much, Doctor," Autumn said, very grateful for everything he's done to help her daughter and grandson.

With them gone, the only person left in the room with no blood relation to the baby was Chamella, a fact that was made very evident to her as she watched Shade, Winter, Autumn and Nimbus all quietly watching Snowflake sleep on his mother's chest. The feeling made her a little uncomfortable, as though her presence was an intrusion on what should be a family moment. With that in mind, Chamella attempted to quietly slip out while they weren't looking.

"Where're you going, Chamella?"

The female changeling halted with a jerk, turning back to see Shade smiling amicably at her. "I... just figured I'd give you guys some privacy."

"Nonsense. You're basically family; you have every right to be here," Autumn assured her.

While she blushed at the compliment, Chamella was still a touch uneasy about staying, a feeling that became stronger the longer she looked at the newborn colt.

"And you haven't even held the baby yet."

Hearing Shade say that made that uneasy feeling in her gut even worse. "Uh, t-that's okay. I'll pass."

Shade frowned in disappointment. "You sure? I really want him to meet his aunt."

Chamella gulped nervously. While she didn't want to disappoint Shade, she also didn't want to do anything wrong that might upset the colt's mother or grandparents.

"If she wants to leave, she can," Winter interjected. "You don't have to make her do anything she doesn't want to."

The purple-maned changeling breathed a silent sigh of relief, happy to have an out. "I'll... just be out in the lobby with Twilight and the others."

After Chamella promptly left the room, Autumn had a thought. "Actually, now that I think about it, you've been in here for quite a while, Winter. You must be starving."

At the mere mention of it, Winter suddenly felt a rumble in the pit of her stomach. "Huh. Now that you mention it, I guess I am pretty hungry. Wasn't really something that was on my mind given the circumstances."

"I can get you something if you want," Shade offered.

Autumn lifted her hoof to stop him. "No, no, you stay here with her and the baby. I'll fetch something to eat."

"Thanks, Mom," Winter said with a grateful grin. "But don't go overboard; I'm not eating for two anymore. Something light will be fine."

"Sure thing."

"I'll go with you," said Nimbus, following his wife to the door. "I could use another coffee."

And for what felt like the hundredth time, the room was befallen by silence. The difference this time was the peacefulness of it. There was no tension, no nervousness, no shock or stun. Just peaceful, comfortable quiet. Winter simply lay there, watching her newborn son moan quietly as he slept soundly on her chest, a content and proud smile upon her lips. Shade continued to stand by the bedside, watching as Winter gently ran her hoof over the colt's head. Each tender stroke of his mother's hoof elicited a slow flitter of Snowflake's tiny, bug-like wings.

"It's too bad not all changeling babies are this cute," Winter said softly with a light chuckle.

"You're happy now, right?"

Winter looked up from the colt, turning to Shade with a raised eyebrow. There was a look of slight concern on her boyfriend's face. "What do you mean? Of course I'm happy."

Shade nodded and smiled. "We've been worrying ourselves silly all this time. I just need to know that you're not scared anymore."

Winter let out a sigh, but smiled regardless. "Well, it's not like I'm not still scared. We're responsible for his life and that's pretty scary, but at the same time, I can't help but feel like having that kind of responsibility is going to be important for us, you know?"

"So you've been looking forward to this then?"

"Yeah. Just because I'm scared doesn't mean I don't want it to happen. Why? You're not having second thoughts about this, are you?"

Shade shook his head, placing his dark, hole-filled hoof over Winter's ivory, coated hoof. "No way. I just needed to know that you felt the same way."

Winter stared up at him fondly, one hoof lightly gripping his, the other resting gently upon their son. She leaned up as much as she could without disturbing the colt, closing enough distance to press her lips against Shade's and kiss him for several moments, breathing a satisfied sigh when they parted.

Today marked the start of the next big chapter of their lives, and perhaps the most important, as well. Winter and Shade quietly watched the colt sleep; the life that they, together, had created.

Their special, little Snowflake.

Chapter 9 - Insomnia

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 9: Insomnia

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The delectable aroma of an assortment of tasty foods wafted about the Ponyville café, both from the kitchen where said food was being prepared, as well as the plates of food already sitting on the tables in front of several of the customers. It made no difference if the meals prepared were vegetarian or off the red menu, nopony would argue that the scent was pleasant regardless of its source. Of course, this was normal for the small town's premier dining establishment, as it had developed quite a reputation over the years, and even more so in recent years due to certain, special circumstances.

But today wasn't really anything special. There were no more customers today than on any other day, there was no special menu being offered, and there was not anything worth celebrating—or at least, nothing that the whole town would celebrate together. People were just going about their day like usual, chatting and eating their lunches without a care in the world.

At least, up until now.

Out of nowhere, all conversations were brought to a halt by the loud, jarring sound of glass shattering and metal clattering, drawing everypony's attention to the source. A tray had fallen to the floor unceremoniously, the food that had been upon it splattered amongst the shards of glass and ceramic, creating an unsightly and rather hazardous mess.

And standing in the midst of it was the café's lone, changeling employee, eyes half-lidded and glazed over as though the slip up he had just made was nothing worth noting.

All eyes were on the changeling as he just stood there in the middle of the mess, some of them chuckling quietly at his expense, while others raised confused and concerned eyebrows at the changeling's uncharacteristic clumsiness. But needless to say the owners of the food that was currently decorating the café's floorboards were none too pleased by the incident.

Regardless of the customers' reactions, the changeling simply sighed internally, scooping up the mess with his neon green aura and floating it off with him to the café's break room to dispose of it. Now free from the prying eyes of the customers, Shade dumped the ruined food and shards of broken glass into a durable, plastic bag to be thrown out safely at the end of the day. Before heading back out, Shade made sure to grab a mop to clean up what was left before it stained.

However, just as Shade picked up the mop, the break room's door opened and in walked an off-white, earth pony stallion with a well-groomed, blue mane, a thin mustache and a clean, white suit. It was Shade's boss and the owner of the café, Horte Cuisine, looking somewhat perturbed.

"Shade, may we speak, s'il vous plaît?" Horte asked in his distinguished, Prench accent, although his tone made it sound more like a demand. He gestured toward the table where employees would usually sit to eat lunch during their break.

Shade pulled out a chair and sat down, and Horte did the same. The earth pony stared at Shade for a moment. It didn't take a genius to figure out what Horte wished to speak to him about, but even in light of the slight scowl on his face, Shade still retained his look of mild indifference and even annoyance. Even so, Horte couldn't help but notice the terrible bags under Shade's eyes and the listlessness in the changeling's gaze.

"Zis is zee second time zis week zat you've dropped an order on zee floor, Shade. You are not usually zis clumsy. I can't 'elp but zink zat zere is somezing bozering you."

Shade took a moment to formulate a response. Not because he didn't know what to say, but because it felt like his brain was running more slowly today. "I... I didn't get much sleep last night. Sorry. I'll..." He let out a long, tired yawn. "I'll make up for it. Take it out of my pay or something. I'll try not to let it happen again."

"I do not doubt zat, but zat doesn't explain zee last time zis 'appened."

"I'll be more careful," Shade reiterated.

Horte shook his head and gave his employee a sympathetic look as though he already knew the reason for Shade's oddly inadequate performance lately. "Unfortunately, I do not know if your word is enough. You appear to be quite... distressed lately, and until you manage to deal wiz zis, you may be a liability to us, as much as it pains me to say."

Shade was confused and a little worried about the way he'd worded that. "So what do you want me to do?"

Horte let out a sigh. "Go 'ome. Get some rest. You've been an asset to us 'ere for a long time and I do not want to see you slip up any fuzer or it may 'ave an unfortunate effect on zee café's reputation. Once you feel you are in better shape, you may come back to work."

Shade was ready to ask "Are you sure?", but hearing his boss tell him himself that he could take the rest of the day off was an offer he was in no state of mind to refuse. Without saying anything, Shade removed his uniform and simply left.

Horte watched as the door shut behind the changeling. Perhaps this wasn't the typical method of handling situations like this, but, given what he knew of Shade's current circumstances, he felt sorry for him. Hopefully he'd be able to get everything on track before too long.

***** ***** *****

The loud, high-pitched sound of the whistling kettle pierced the quiet, late afternoon atmosphere of the kitchen within Ponyville's Golden Oak Library. The sound called the attention of the alicorn and dragon who were in the middle of preparing their suppers. Twilight Sparkle sauntered casually over to the stove, removing the kettle from the burner and pouring the scalding hot water into a pair of teacups with teabags already resting within. As the princess steeped their tea, Spike, perched atop a stool to reach the countertop, worked away putting together their meals: a bowl of mixed gemstones for himself, and a dandelion sandwich for Twilight, a personal favorite of the alicorn despite its simplicity. In addition to their respective meals, Spike also had a tray of biscuits baking in the oven for afterwards; a tasty treat to eat with their tea.

"Hey, can you check those biscuits, Twilight?" Spike requested as he slyly picked only the sweetest gemstones for his supper.

Twilight opened up the oven to fill her assistant's request with a smile. Her olfactory senses were immediately overcome by the sweet smell of lemon and sugar. Perhaps a little too sweet. The overwhelming aroma made her think Spike may have gone a little overboard, but she certainly wasn't going to complain.

Having gotten her fill of the tempting scent, Twilight looked over the biscuits. "I think they're about done."

Without needing a prompt, she carefully removed the tray from the oven and placed it upon the countertop to cool. She couldn't help but take one more deep whiff of their delectable, citrus-y scent. It was all she could do to resist the urge to pop one into her mouth to taste test them, but the risk of burning her tongue was all she needed to dissuade her. She then used her magic once more to stack the biscuits neatly on a plate.

"So, are we ready to eat?" Twilight asked, unable to ignore the rumble in her tummy.

Spike slapped the last dollop of mayonnaise onto Twilight's sandwich, plated it and turned to hand it to her proudly. "Yup. Here you go."

Twilight took the plate within her pink aura and waited for Spike to hop down from his stool with his bowl of gem "salad," taking note of the bowl's contents. "Spike, you should really throw a few greens into your diet every now and then."

Spike let out a groan and waddled back to the counter. With a huff, he hopped back onto the stool, grabbed the box of gems from the cupboard, and dropped a single emerald into the bowl before jumping back down.

The alicorn gave her assistant a rather bemused grimace as she grabbed the two cups of tea and the plate of lemon biscuits. "You know that's not what I meant, smart guy," she said as they made for the foyer to enjoy their suppers.

"What? They're healthier than you think. You ever try 'em?" Spike argued, holding the emerald out to Twilight.

The princess just stared back at him, disgruntled. "You know I haven't," she answered, pushing the mock offering back. "But just because you're a dragon doesn't mean you can't have a few vegetables with your gems. In fact, I'm sure it'd be beneficial in the long—"

"Uh, Twilight?"

Twilight stopped, raising an eyebrow as she followed Spike's pointing claw as they entered the library's foyer. There, sitting at the table in the middle of the room, head laying down and fast asleep, was Shade. They hadn't even heard him come in, which made them wonder how long he'd been there, especially considering he'd already fallen asleep.

Spike looked up at Twilight in confusion. "Did you invite him over?"

"No. I can't say I was expecting him."

Twilight walked over to the table, laying down her sandwich, the tea and the biscuits. Shade was definitely just sleeping. He was snoring softly and even drooling slightly on the table; Twilight made a mental note to clean that up as soon as possible.

The alicorn gently jostled the sleeping changeling with her lavender hoof. "Shade?"

There was no response. He just kept on dozing. Twilight gave a puzzled look to Spike, who simply shrugged.

"Shade, wake up," Twilight said more loudly.

Still nothing.

Twilight breathed a sigh. "Well, this brings back memories," she quipped sarcastically, recalling occasions in the past when Shade had fallen asleep during her lessons.

Spike watched as Twilight used her magic to pull out a very hefty dictionary from one of the library's shelves—easily half Spike's size—and levitating it over to the table. She held the book about a foot above the table and braced herself. Her magic dissipated and gravity took hold of the dictionary, dragging it down onto the oak surface with a very loud whap, the force of it blowing Twilight's mane back as if a strong breeze had just come through.

The jarring noise did its job and the changeling jolted upright in a panic, almost falling over has his consciousness returned to him abruptly. "Gah! Wha—! Whu..." Shade's eyes slowly adjusted to his surroundings and it didn't take too long for his panic to die down and recognize the two baffled faces staring at him. "Oh, hey, Twilight," he greeted nonchalantly, letting out a tired yawn as he did.

"Shade, what are you doing here?" the alicorn asked.

Shade raised an eyebrow the best he could with the bags under his eyes weighing them down. "Whaddya mean? I'm here to study."

Twilight and Spike shared concerned glances before the lavender mare looked back at the changeling. "Uh, Shade, there are no more lessons. You graduated, remember?"

Shade stared back at her vacantly. Just through the expression on his face they could tell he was trying to process that information, further worrying the library's two residents. Finally, his eyes widened a little in realization. "Oooooh, right. Yeah, I was wondering why... uh... what's-her-name wasn't here. You know the one... The, uh..."

"Chamella?"

"Right, right. Chamella."

"You okay, Shade? You don't look so good," Spike inquired, noting both the haggard state of his face and mane as well as his tired voice.

"Oh. Yeah, yeah, I've just, uh... haven't slept much lately. Or at all. I'm a little sleepy."

"Sounds like an understatement," Twilight commented. She cracked a small grin. "I guess the baby's been keeping you up, huh?"

Just hearing her mention the baby caused Shade's head to hit the table again with a loud, unapologetic groan.

"I think you nailed it," said Spike.

Twilight placed a sympathetic hoof on Shade's shoulder. "Guess somepony should have warned you about that. It's pretty normal for couples to get little respite after bringing their newborn back home."

"How does that help me?!" Shade snapped loudly, causing Twilight to jerk back.

"Whoa, take it easy!" Twilight said defensively.

Shade took a breath in an effort to calm himself, laying his head down on his forelegs. "Sorry. He just doesn't stop crying. I don't get it. He was fine in the hospital, but as soon as we got him home..."

"It's been a week. You're exaggerating, right?" Spike assumed.

Shade just glanced at the dragon, his eyes dead serious. "I haven't slept for more than an hour at a time since he was born. It's like every ten minutes there's something else wrong that we need to take care of. I just want a few hours of silence, that's all I ask." Suddenly, Shade lifted his head, a surprisingly wide smile on his face as he turned to Twilight. "Hey! I just thought of something fun. What if I spent a few nights here? It'll be like old times. You can move the guest bed into the observatory—"

"Shade, I'm not going to be an accomplice to your abandoning of Winter and leaving her to take care of Snowflake all by herself. This is just a part of being a parent. You were given fair warning that it wasn't going to be easy."

"Don't make me go back home," Shade begged. "He throws his food everywhere, tries to get into things he shouldn't, and there's all sorts of gross stuff coming out of him. Both ends! Do you know how bad baby poop smells?"

Spike gagged in disgust. "Well, there goes my appetite."

Twilight remained adamant in spite of Shade's pleas. "These are just some of the challenges the two of you are going to have to face together."

Shade's head hit the table once more. His tired eyes managed to glance over to the teapot Twilight had brought out. "Can I at least have a cup of tea? You know, to help keep me awake."

Her gaze never softened, staring back at him sternly. "Go home, Shade. No doubt Winter needs your help, and hanging out around here is just making more trouble for her. You're a father now, so it's time for you to step up and be one."

"But it's harrrrrd," the changeling whined.

Twilight groaned, standing up and cloaking Shade's whole body in her pink, magical aura. Before the distraught changeling could register what was happening, she had lifted him into the air and brusquely carried him out the door, slamming it roughly behind them.

Spike looked around, confused and now alone in the library. He looked down at his bowl of gems, picking out the lone emerald. He glanced back at the door, making sure Twilight was actually gone before sneakily tossing it into a nearby trashcan.

***** ***** *****

Winter paced back and forth briskly, trying not to move too rigidly, but also hoping that the slight increase of movement would speed up the process. Cradled in her right foreleg was her week-old son, squirming and crying, continuing the week-long stress session she had had to put up with.

The house was a mess. Baby food stained the kitchen floor, clean diapers and other necessities for newborns were strewn about from all the times Winter had rifled through them to get to particular items, and toys were littered about the living room and creating various opportunities for physical harm. Winter had had no time to clean anything either. At this point, Snowflake had been crying endlessly for the better part of three hours and she could not for the life of her figure out what was wrong with him this time.

The mother herself was in rather poor condition as well. Her mane was frazzled, her coat unkempt and stained, and her feathers ruffled. In fact, she had even noticed that several feathers had been falling out of her wings in the past few days; a clear sign of just how stressed out she truly was. In the past week she'd been so preoccupied attempting to tend to her baby's needs that she had no time to take care of herself. She hadn't bathed in a least four days and her own body odor had mixed with the various unpleasant smells that her crying son was producing, creating a rather unpleasant, nose-wrinkling musk within the whole house. And on top of her lack of sleep, she also hadn't eaten much lately, only taking the time to eat whatever random food was lying around that didn't need preparing.

To make matters worse, she had to deal with all of this all by herself for eight hours a day while Shade was working. She found herself cursing him for having an excuse to get out this. All he had to do for those eight hours was wait tables while she was running herself ragged for a "customer" who couldn't actually tell her what he wanted. And if that wasn't bad enough, Shade was late today. He should have been home half an hour ago, and every minute that ticked by that he didn't return made her more and more aggravated.

Winter groaned in dismay. Snowflake was still crying just as loudly as ever. At this point Winter had forgotten what total silence sounded like. She'd been trying all day to get the colt to go to sleep, but to no avail. She didn't understand how it was physically possible for him to be awake right now considering he couldn't have gotten any more sleep in the last week than she did. Admittedly, her pacing may have been too quick and abrupt for the child to find it soothing, but she hoped beyond hope that somehow moving more quickly would put him to sleep faster. Obviously that wasn't the case.

Winter stopped her pacing, too exhausted to keep it up. She felt like she had just gotten a whole day's worth of exercise in. She was tired, and all she wanted was to just have even a brief moment of respite. Even if she had to continue dealing with the shrill cries of her distraught son, having a few minutes to just sit down and rest was a very welcoming thought. With that in mind, Winter carried her son upstairs, bringing him down to the nursery at the end of the hall and on the right.

There wasn't much to the nursery at the moment; they hadn't exactly had much time to decorate. She and Shade had been using the room as a storeroom, stowing away various odds, ends and knickknacks that they didn't have any place for. They made as much room as possible, but didn't exactly have anywhere else to put stuff. Thankfully, her parents were willing to take some of it off their hooves, and what they didn't want to get rid of was packed into boxes and stacked neatly in the corner of the nursery until they figured out what to do with it. With some magical help from Twilight, they had managed to effortlessly get the crib Winter's parents had gifted them up to the room, pressed up against the left wall and below the room's lone window. A few toys were within the crib itself, but most of them were scattered around downstairs since Snowflake had spent next to no time in the crib yet anyway. The only other things in the room were the various gifts Winter had received for her baby shower, including one part of the baby monitor—the other being in their bedroom—the various storybooks Twilight had given them, and even the bottled storm cloud from Rainbow Dash, all rather haphazardly placed upon a small end table. Winter was hoping that one day she'd put up some nice wallpaper; something autumn-y, like maple trees in the fall or something along those lines. But obviously those plans had fallen by the wayside.

Eager to have even a short break from being a mom, Winter lowered Snowflake gently, albeit shakily, into the crib. Once the foal was out of her grasp, she immediately fell back onto her haunches, letting out an exhausted sigh. She ran a hoof through her tattered mane, noting how greasy her hair had gotten without proper care, not to mention all the stress sweat. She also got a quick whiff of the odor she was emitting, cringing at her own rankness. As much as she'd like to take a nice, long, cleansing bubble bath, she knew she wouldn't have the time for such a luxury. She'd have to settle for a quick shower. Of course, she wasn't going to just leave the baby alone for any amount of time, even just a few minutes. She'd have to wait until Shade got home and pawn the foal off on him for a few minutes while she cleaned up. And that was the first thing she was going to do when he got back. Well, perhaps not. First, she'd chew the inconsiderate changeling out for not getting home on time, then shower.

Winter lifted her head from her thoughts for a moment. The fact that she had even heard her thoughts in the first place was startling. She stood up, staring down into the crib. Snowflake was drifting off. He hadn't exactly stopped crying, but he was definitely petering out. She didn't feel great letting her newborn cry himself to sleep when something may be bothering him, but any amount of respite she could get was more than welcome.

After a few more minutes, the bawling died down to weeping, then to whimpering, and finally soft hiccups as the foal drifted off into his no doubt light slumber. The tired, pegasus mother let out a quiet sigh, and her lips were graced with the first smile they had managed since bringing the little colt home. Winter didn't dare move from where she was at the risk of the sound of her opening the door jostling Snowflake from his much sought-after rest. She was content to simply curl up on the carpeted floor and close her eyes for a few minutes.

Until somepony decided to knock on the front door, startling the tyke and restarting the painful shrieking once more.

Winter stood up with a loud groan, taking every ounce of her willpower not to drown out her son's screaming with her own. "You have got to be kidding me!"

A part of her was entertaining the idea of just ignoring it. After all, she had more important things to deal with and, quite frankly, whatever reason somepony had to visit, she really didn't care right now. But despite all that, she was still a nice person who wanted to be hospitable and, right now, was hating herself for it.

Winter lifted Snowflake out of the crib again, carrying him with her as she ambled downstairs, his screeching practically normal to her by now. She made sure to wear the most frustrated and indifferent expression she could—which came quite naturally at this point—in the hopes that her unannounced visitor would take the hint and just leave her alone.

When she opened the door, she was somewhat surprised to see Twilight Sparkle of all people standing there. And odder still was the disgruntled look on the alicorn's face.

Without even offering a friendly greeting, Twilight stepped aside to guide a shabby changeling wreathed in her pink magic into the house. "I believe this is yours."

Suddenly, the aura surrounding Shade dissipated, dropping the changeling to the floor unceremoniously and with a loud thump.

Winter decided to forego her attempt to dissuade her company from staying seeing as how she had brought the father of her crying baby back home. Instead, she focused her ire on him. "Where the hay have you been?! You were supposed to be home half an hour ago!"

"In his somnolent state, he ended up wandering over to my place, having forgotten that he's already graduated from my lessons," Twilight answered for the ashamed changeling. "I found him dozing off in the foyer."

And hearing that only heightened Winter's aggravation. "You snuck off and took a nap?! While I'm back here trying everything in my power to get Snowflake to stop crying for ten minutes!"

"I wasn't thinking straight!" Shade defended himself as he rose up from the floor. "I'm just as tired as you. I'm having trouble just seeing straight."

"Yeah? Well, you managed to 'see' yourself 'straight' to Twilight's place just fine."

"It's habit! I'm used to going over to the library right after work."

"And you're also used to not raising your offspring. You've got a lot of habits you need to start breaking."

"That's a low blow and you know it."

"Can I interject here?"

The arguing couple turned to Twilight with frustrated scowls, causing the alicorn to step back slightly.

Twilight cleared her throat, regaining her composure under the pair's irate glowers. "You know, if you guys are having difficulties, all you need to do is ask for help. I, and I'm sure any of your friends, would be more than happy to lend a helping hoof if you really need it."

Winter breathed a sigh at the offer. "Look, no offense, Twilight, but I'm a little tired of getting advice and offers to help from people who aren't actually parents."

Despite Winter's statement, Twilight did indeed take offense to that, furrowing her brow slightly. "I did help raise a baby dragon when I was just a filly."

"The key word being 'help,'" the pegasus quipped. "And does this look like a baby dragon to you?" She held the bawling baby out at the princess.

Twilight stayed silent for a few moments. In that short time she took notice of the state of the two new parents and even their home, giving them a look of pity. "I understand you're in a... volatile place right now, so I'm going to try not to take any of this personally. You're both tired and frustrated and you're not in your right mind. So I'd just like to calmly reiterate that you can ask for help. It'll be good for all three of you."

Shade turned to Winter almost pleadingly, his expression urging her to take Twilight up on the offer. However, Winter responded to his silent plea with a reluctant shake of her head.

"I'm not going to do that. Snowflake is our son—our responsibility. If we can't raise him on our own, what kind of parents would we be?"

Twilight frowned at her response. "That's not the point, Winter. A good parent would do anything they could to ensure their child is happy and healthy."

Winter passed Snowflake to Shade and walked up to Twilight, her hoof upon the open door. "And when you have a kid of your own, you can take your own advice. Now, could you kindly leave us alone? We're trying to put our baby to sleep."

Twilight wasn't happy to hear that, but it appeared as thought there was no getting through to the pegasus in her current state of mind. She received an apologetic look from Shade before turning back to return home.

Shade looked back at Winter, who was already stomping off towards the stairs. He then glanced down at the crying foal in his embrace, then back to Winter. "I don't think it's such a bad idea."

Winter stopped, looking back at him through narrowed eyes, but said nothing.

"Honestly, I could use a break, and I know you could, too. Weren't you looking for somepony to be a foalsitter at some point anyway?"

"That was for when I went back to work. I'm not gonna pawn off my son on somepony just so I can sit back and kick my hooves up. That would just make me look like a lazy, uncaring mother."

Shade took a look around the house and the sorry state it was in. "Winter, look around. We can't keep this up. We need some time to recompose ourselves."

Winter stepped up to Shade, her face full of determination and defiance. "This is all a part of being a parent. Everypony else has to put up with this kind of stuff and so do we. I'm not giving up. I'm going to be a good mom, and I'm going take care of our son."

"Do you think asking for help is really giving up?"

Winter continued to stare Shade down, but the steely look in her eyes wavered for a moment, indicating that, despite her stubborn insistence, she knew there was credence to what both Shade and Twilight said. However, that stubbornness still persisted. "I don't want to come off as an incompetent parent. I want to show everypony that I can raise my foal as well as anypony else. And I can't do that if I ask for help."

Shade just stared back at her, worried about what this sort of thinking would ultimately do to not only her, but their family as a whole. Which is when a thought occurred to him. "This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with your dad, would it?"

Winter's determination made way for surprise and confusion. She hadn't expected him to suggest something like that. "What? What does this have to do with my dad?"

"Well, I've had a chance to get to knew you and your dad and the relationship you have with him. It just seems like you always have something to prove in order to impress him or something."

Honestly, that thought had never occurred to her and she mulled it over for a moment. "Um... I mean, I guess. I will admit that I have a tendency to try a little too hard around him, but that's only because he criticizes everything. Even the day I gave birth to his grandson he criticized me."

"So that's it then?"

Winter furrowed her brow once more and straightened up. "You know what? No. This isn't about Dad. This is about you and me and our baby. This is our first big hurdle as parents and we're gonna get through it ourselves. We're going to prove we don't need anypony's help, because we can be good parents." She turned away and once again made for the stairs. "Now, could you watch him for a few minutes? I really need a shower."

Shade sighed inwardly, but nodded. "Yeah, sure."

As he watched his beloved ascend the staircase, he couldn't help but admire that she felt so strongly about being a parent. It made him wonder if perhaps he should feel the same way, too. Was his willingness to ask for help truly a sign of being a bad parent? It pained him to think that, but he also didn't want to put up with this torture much longer. The entire time they were talking, Snowflake just continued to cry and cry. Shade wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up before he caved. But he wasn't about to go behind Winter's back and ask somepony for help, even as much as he wanted to. He was just going to have to find some way to convince her to see things his way.

***** ***** *****

Night had fallen and not much had changed in that time. Despite the peaceful darkness that cloaked the rest of Ponyville, one house was still lit up from the inside, light shining through the windows like a beacon in the night. It was beyond the hour of the night that anypony should still be awake, but, just as it had for the past week, sleep eluded this home's residents.

In stark contrast to the serene atmosphere outside, the inside of the house was anything but relaxing and quiet. The home was still filled with the grating and disconcerting sound of a baby wailing away with no way to inform his parents what exactly he needed. As a result, and having tried everything they could think of already, said parents had resigned themselves to simply sitting around and hoping that the foal would eventually cry himself to sleep.

Shade sat down at the kitchen table—although perhaps "fell into his seat" would be a more apt description. He was so tired that he was amazed that he simply hadn't passed out from exhaustion at this point. His eyelids felt like they were being pulled down by heavy weights, but it seemed like every time they managed to drift shut, even with the baby still crying, Snowflake would let out a particularly loud shriek that shattered any chance of him finding the sweet release of unconsciousness.

Despite how badly he wanted sleep, Shade was still attempting to stay awake if only because Winter was as well. The changeling looked down at the mug he held with his hoof, grimacing slightly at the liquid inside.

Shade had lived in Ponyville for around two years and had tried many things that he never would have even considered back when he lived in the Changeling Kingdom. In terms of beverages there were a plethora of interesting and bizarre concoctions that the ponies had come up with. During his old life, the only thing available to really drink was water, unless you considered blood a beverage, and even then only some changelings would kill just for the taste of blood. But now Shade had tried all sorts of things; from drinks as simple as various fruit juices to stranger beverages like soda pop. Admittedly, Shade was caught off guard by the fizzyness of soft drinks and they were a bit too sweet for his liking. He had even tried alcoholic drinks once and, suffice to say, only once. Overall, he preferred the simpler drinks, like water, milk, or juice.

However, there was one drink that he despised above all others: coffee. Even though he regularly drank tea, which many people would say is at least similar to coffee, the bitterness and the overpowering fragrance was incredibly off-putting to him. Some people had told him that there were many different types of coffee and that there was probably one out there that he'd like, but, after hearing a list—a very long list—of the many different kinds, Shade was even less inclined to indulge. And based on what little he'd tried, he had to wonder why anypony would be willing to drink it at all.

And now here he was, sitting with a big cup of joe in his grip.

The taste and smell of it weren't factors in his decision to drink this stuff right now. No, the only reason he was entertaining the idea of drinking this swill was due to one thing: caffeine. He needed something to keep him awake, and based on what he'd learned over the past two years, coffee was the go-to source of that magical substance. Unfortunately.

Shade took a long, reluctant swig of the dark brew, having trouble working up the willpower to swallow it as his brain was telling him to spit it out. Once the coffee had managed it way down his throat, his face tightened in a disgusted grimace and the bitter bite of it caused him to shudder. He wasn't even sure if he was getting the desired effect from the drink as he was still very sleepy, although perhaps the caffeine was the only reason he hadn't quite passed out yet.

The weary changeling looked up from his drink, staring across the table at his equally tired lover and mother of his child. Winter was staring back at him. However, underneath the tired bags of her eyes was a spiteful scowl, glaring across at him with icy daggers from her narrowed eyes.

Shade blinked uncomfortably under her strangely venomous glower. "What?"

"This is your fault," she snapped icily.

Shade raised an eyebrow. "What is?"

Winter stayed silent for a moment, her eyes briefly turning up towards the ceiling where the incessant bawling that was keeping them awake was coming from. "That. You're the reason we're in this mess right now."

Shade, insulted and confused by the accusation, furrowed his brow and retorted defensively. "How exactly is this my fault?"

"You got me pregnant!"

Shade gawked at her weird logic. "You're blaming that on me?! We both thought it wasn't even possible!"

"Well, maybe you should have used a condom anyway."

"I don't even know what that is! You're the one who's supposed to teach me about these stupid, pony things! I'm not taking responsibility for you neglecting to tell me these things."

"You always had enough questions for Twilight. Did you never ask her about it?" Winter quipped vindictively.

Shade stared across the table, appalled. "What are you trying to imply? I'm not going to talk to Twilight about personal stuff like that!"

The pegasus rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. How personal can it be for you when you just would shack up with any available female back in the Changeling Kingdom?"

"That's different! It was mating season! I had little control over it!"

"You seem to show a fair amount of control when it came around while you were here."

"That's because of you. Because I love you!"

"And look where that got us!" she shouted, once more gesturing in the general direction of their crying son.

Shade grit his teeth. He couldn't believe she'd act like this after he'd devoted himself to her. He leaned back on his chair, crossing his forelegs in a huff and turning away from her, not wanting to even look at her right now. "I wouldn't have to put up with this crap back in the Changeling Kingdom," he muttered under his breath.

"Then maybe we all would've just been better off if you'd stayed there!"

Shade's gaze shot across the table, his ears falling slightly and all the anger that had built up evaporating after hearing that. He suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his heart and he sunk into his seat, his eyes turning down to the tabletop in dejection.

Seeing the harsh, crestfallen expression come over Shade's face, Winter was quickly overwhelmed with worry and remorse over what she'd said. "Oh, Shade, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that, I swear," she apologized with deep regret. "I'm just..." She ran a hoof through her mane with a weary sigh. "I'm just a little on edge."

Shade looked across at her again, seeing the remorse in her wide, apologetic eyes. He leaned on the table with a sigh of his own. "I know. We both are."

"You're not mad?" she asked with a hopeful look.

Shade shook his head. "I think we both need to just blow off some steam. I wouldn't mind just... kicking a hole in the wall right now."

Winter held her head in her hooves, the reality of their situation finally hitting her like a ton of bricks. "What are we even doing? Look at what this baby is doing to us. We're a mess. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Shade watched as Winter rubbed her temples, her head no doubt pounding as badly as his own. She had been pretty ornery this whole time, and even more so as the week went on. But now, she looked like she was on the verge of tears, like she was ready to just give up. "Winter..."

She looked up at him, a regretful seriousness upon his face. She already knew what he was going to say.

"We can't keep this up."

"No. Don't say it, Shade."

"We don't have a choice anymore, Winter. We're just not ready for this yet."

"Please, don't..." Winter whimpered, trying her hardest to fight back the tears.

"You know I'm right. You know there's nothing else we can do."

"Please..."

Shade let out a long, disappointed sigh. "We have to... ask for help."

Winter threw her head into her hooves, her tears flowing freely, and she began to bawl as loudly as her crying son. "I'm a bad mo-o-o-m!" she sobbed, although in a rather exaggerated fashion.

Shade stood up, walking over to her side and placing a hoof tenderly upon hers. "You're not a bad mom. We just need a little help to get us started, you know?"

Winter stared up at him, sniveling quietly. "Y-You think we just need a little push?"

Shade nodded with a reassuring smile.

Winter sniffed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "And... nopony will think less of us for it, right?"

"They've been suggesting it for ages, Winter. If anything, we were being irresponsible for waiting this long."

The pegasus hiccuped softly, cleaning the moisture off her cheeks. After a moment of deliberation, she nodded. "Okay."

Shade gave her a supportive pat on the back as he made for the door. "Alright. I'll be right back. Try and console Snowflake until I get back, okay?"

Winter finally managed a smile. "I'll try."

***** ***** *****

Winter waited patiently on the couch, Snowflake cradled in her forelegs and still crying endlessly. Oddly, she wasn't quite as distraught as she was a few minutes ago. Perhaps the idea that somepony was actually going to help put an end to this torment was comforting on its own, though how effective their help would be was yet to be seen.

Winter didn't even know who Shade was going to ask. It was probably something they should have discussed before he left, but there was nothing she could do about that now. It would probably be Twilight anyway. Whenever Shade needed help with anything, Twilight was the one he'd generally turn to. Honestly, she felt a little insulted that he wouldn't ask his own girlfriend first, but, admittedly, she wasn't nearly as smart as Twilight and she knew that. If anypony was going to be able to answer his questions or calls for help, she'd be the most likely.

The pegasus's eyes drifted back down to her screeching child as she attempted to rock him to sleep in the hopes that help wouldn't be necessary. She wasn't really sure how much help Twilight would be in this particular situation. As regrettably blunt as she was to the alicorn earlier that day, she felt she still had a point; Twilight wasn't a mother and probably didn't have much experience caring for children, especially newborns.

The exhausted mother let out a sigh, barely audible beneath Snowflake's jarring cries. Considering the state both she and Shade had been in this past week, she had to wonder if perhaps it may have actually been easier to raise a full changeling baby. Shade had said they're at least manageable as long as they're well fed, and they probably didn't cry nearly this much, if at all. She couldn't help but crack a slightly amused smirk, finding it funny, if not a little polarizing, that, for the first time since she got pregnant, she felt like she would be okay if her baby was born a pure changeling. But Winter shook her head; she knew that was just the exhaustion talking.

Winter's head jerked up when she heard the sound of the door opening. In spite of her weariness, she stood up from the couch rather quickly to meet Shade. Sure enough, the changeling had returned, but with him was not quite the person she expected. Following behind Shade was a sleepy, pale yellow pegasus, grinning weakly after a long, tired yawn.

"Good evening," Fluttershy greeted quietly, her voice likely physically incapable of reaching any higher a volume at such an hour. "Although, I suppose it's actually closer to morning at this point."

Thinking about it now, it made sense to Winter that Shade would think to ask Fluttershy for help. She was very experienced with caring for small and helpless critters, and Snowflake certainly met those criteria. Additionally, she was also the least likely to be a grump about having been woken at such a late—or perhaps early, depending on how you looked at it—hour. The small, gentle smile on her face was evidence enough of that. And besides, she was one of their prime candidates for a foalsitter anyway. This was a good chance to see how well placed their trust would be.

"Sorry we had to get you up so late, Fluttershy, but we're getting desperate here," Winter apologized.

Fluttershy waved it off weakly with a kind smile. "Oh, it's no problem. I'm always willing to help my friends, even if it's really late. Besides, this sounds like a bit of an emergency," she said, looking toward the crying infant in Winter's care and having noted the physical and mental states of the two parents from the past week.

Shade gestured for Fluttershy to follow them upstairs and the three of them headed for Snowflake's nursery. Once they were there, though, Shade and Winter just stood there awkwardly, Winter still holding the crying baby. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at their silence and supposed confusion.

Shade cleared his throat, feeling somewhat embarrassed to be in this situation at all. "So, uh... What do we do?"

"You said you've tried everything, right? Changing him, feeding him and such?" Fluttershy asked.

"Everything," Winter groaned with exasperation. "He's been eating and peeing and pooping just fine, but no matter what we do, he won't go to sleep."

Fluttershy gave them a sympathetic look, their rising desperation evident in their expressions. She then turned her attention to the poor foal. She held out her hooves toward Snowflake. "May I?"

Winter nodded, gladly passing the infant to the other pegasus.

Snowflake's screeching died down to a whimper as he took a moment after changing hooves to look over the new face now holding him. Fluttershy gave the tyke a kind, motherly grin. "Hello there, Snowflake."

Immediately, the foal returned to its never-ending cries, finding little comfort in this nice mare.

"Oh my, he is quite fussy, isn't he? But I'm sure he's just very sleepy."

"If that's all it is, then why won't he just go to sleep?" Winter asked, not understanding the logic behind it; if one were tired, then why wouldn't one just sleep?

"He probably just needs some coaxing."

"I've been trying for ages to rock him to sleep," Winter told her.

"Should I give it a try anyway?" Fluttershy suggested.

"Be our guest. Can't do any worse than us," said Shade.

Fluttershy pulled the colt close, having him nestle up against the fine fur of her chest. Despite her warm and gentle embrace, Snowflake still squirmed and cried, but that didn't stop the quiet pegasus from smiling down upon him. She cleared her throat discreetly and took a deep breath.

"Hush now, quiet now,

It's time to lay your sleepy head,

Hush now, quiet now,

It's time to go to bed.

Drifting, drifting off to sleep,

Exciting day behind you.

Drifting, drifting off to sleep,

Let the joy of dream land find you..."

To the shock of the foal's parents, Fluttershy's soothing singing actually seemed to be working. As she continued to sing and ever so gently rock the colt back and forth, the crying began to fade and Snowflake's teary and tired eyes slowly began to drift shut. Shade and Winter almost couldn't believe it. After everything they tried, Fluttershy was effortlessly lulling the fussy baby to sleep with a simple song.

After a few minutes of singing, Snowflake, amazingly, had fallen asleep. Fluttershy hadn't managed to finish her song, but seeing as they were all looking forward to getting a good night's sleep, she figured it best to cut it short as long as the job was done. The yellow pegasus lowered the dozing baby into his crib. She noticed that the worn, plush bunny she had gifted to Winter during the baby shower was lying in the crib as well, and placed it beside the colt and covered him with his soft, cotton blanket.

Fluttershy flashed a smile at Shade and Winter. "Well, that wasn't so bad. I'm surprised you had so much trouble."

The two parents just stood there, flabbergasted. "How... How did you do that?" Winter inquired in amazement.

"Oh, I've always sung that song to help my animals fall asleep. And my mom used to sing it to me when I was a filly. But, really, it wasn't the song. I think the poor thing was just a little scared. He needed somepony to comfort him, let him know everything was okay. Maybe with the two of you so worked up about him all this time, he felt uneasy, like something was wrong."

Winter's ears folded back dejectedly. "He... He doesn't think we're comforting?"

"Not when you're all panicked and desperate. I think you need to have more confidence in yourselves as parents. So even when you feel stressed out or anything, just make sure to keep smiling, for his sake. And if you want, I can write down the lyrics for that song in case you think that'll be helpful."

Winter stared blankly, but nodded slowly. "Uh, yeah, sure. I mean, I'm don't think I'm a great singer or anything, but I guess I can give it a shot if I can't think of anything else."

Fluttershy grinned at her. "All you really need is to be his mother. Just let him know you're there for him and hopefully that'll be enough." She let out another long yawn. "So, um... I guess I'll be going. If you ever need help again, don't hesitate to ask."

"Yeah. Thanks a lot, Fluttershy," Winter said with a relieved smile.

Shade gave the yellow pegasus a similar smile. "We really appreciate this."

"My pleasure. Good night, you two," she bid them as she walked out into hall, down the stairs and out the door, eager to get home and return to bed.

Even though the house was finally quiet, Shade and Winter couldn't help but continue to stand there and stare at their baby, sound asleep in his crib for the first time since they brought him home. It was still hard to believe that just a few minutes ago, this little, sleepy bundle had been on a week-long temper tantrum. And now, here he was, like nothing was ever wrong to begin with.

Winter stared down at their son. Even though she was finally given some long-deserved respite, a depressing thought was on her mind. "Shade... Are we bad parents?"

The changeling let out a long sigh. "I think we're inexperienced parents. Twilight did say this was something every parent had to go through. Maybe this was like our first test as new parents or something."

"And you don't think asking for help would be like cheating on that test?"

Shade shrugged. "I don't know. Given that everypony is willing to lend us a hoof if we need it, I guess not."

"So... we can finally go to bed?" she asked him, her amber eyes wide and hopeful.

"I think we can."

And with that the pair immediately made for their bedroom, the soft mattress practically beckoning to them, causing their pace to quicken as though the bed had its own gravitational pull, drawing them more quickly the closer they got. The two of them practically collapsed the moment they made it to the bed, letting their heads hit the pillows with a satisfying fwump. They both let out simultaneous, contented sighs, having forgotten what lying in bed was actually supposed to feel like.

"You think things'll be easier from here on out?" Shade asked as he stared up at the ceiling.

He got no response. Hearing Winter's silence, he turned to her. Winter had already fallen asleep the moment her head hit the pillow, snoring softly in her deep slumber. Apparently she needed this much more than he did. Shade let out one more sigh, grinning to himself and pulling the covers tightly over the two of them as he draped a hoof over his beloved, pulling her gently up against him. She unconsciously nestled into him, resting her head into the crook of Shade's neck. It didn't take much longer for the changeling to follow her into her slumber.

***** ***** *****

Cold; dark; depressing. These words and many more could be used to describe the Changeling Kingdom's vast and seemingly endless catacombs. Even for the inhabitants of these lands the caves within the hive had claimed many lives due to their disorienting and maze-like nature. Many changelings even prefer the biting, autumn winds of the decayed forests outside than try and survive within the hive itself. There were very few changelings who could actually confidently navigate the caverns, and most of them were among the higher ranks of the colony.

One such changeling had found herself aimlessly wandering the twisted and labyrinthine corridors of the hive this night.

Queen Chrysalis had no particular destination in mind. She simply walked, freeing her mind to focus on other things. She had come to resent the silence that surrounded her day in and day out. Sitting alone in her quarters with nothing but the sound of harsh winds blowing outside and the constant and incessant sound of water dripping onto the cold, stone floor was enough to slowly chip away at one's sanity. She needed a distraction.

There was little doubt that she was still crestfallen as she had been for quite a long time. She had passed by many of her subjects as she traversed her home. Each one she encountered looked at her as though she were some rare occurrence—which, recently, may have been accurate. The worst part was the noticeable lack of respect in their eyes and their murmurs when they thought she was out of earshot. There was a time where her very presence would elicit wary bows and even fear in her subjects due to the commanding and foreboding air she carried with her. But now, she was but a shell of her former self. Her self-confidence, her determination, her drive had all vanished, and with it the admiration of her beloved subjects.

Chrysalis paused when she came upon a chamber set aglow with an eerie, green light. Her wanderings had brought her to her throne room, illuminated by torches set all around the jagged, stone walls and upon the several naturally-formed rock columns and burning with magical, emerald flames. The queen looked upon her throne. It was seated upon an enormous stone platform overlooking the rest of the chamber, cementing her position as the leader of the entire colony. The throne itself barely resembled something someone would sit on, simply being a large piece of shattered and jagged rock that roughly looked like a chair, though in the green glow of the flames it left a rather intimidating impression with its shape and silhouette.

Hesitantly, Chrysalis approached her throne, climbing the steps as she did when she first put on her crown. It had actually been a long time since she sat here. With nothing happening within the kingdom recently, she had no need, nor the willpower, to hold an address for her subjects. With a weary sigh, Chrysalis lowered herself onto her throne, looking out over the empty chamber for the first time in ages.

It didn't feel right anymore. Normally, sitting upon her throne gave her a feeling of power rivaled only by the stolen love of ponies. But now, all it did was remind her of her failures; her failure to conquer Equestria, and her failure to give her subjects the lives she'd promised them. She had thought about it a lot recently, but now, more than ever, she really felt as though she didn't deserve to be queen.

Unbeknownst to her, the ruler of the hive's sullen disposition was being observed. From the entryway of the throne room two changelings clad in sharp, midnight blue armor watched as their queen lost herself in her self-pity. One of them, large and imposing, looked on through his violet eyes with cautious curiosity. The other, a female of more average size, was notably more indifferent to the queen's downtrodden mood.

"This is a change," the female pointed out with mild surprise.

The larger changeling offered no response at first, but just continued to stoically observe.

"Her mood is shifting, if only a little," the female continued, brushing aside a few errant strands of her short, chocolate brown mane that had escaped from the confines of her helmet. Having still received no reply from the other changeling, she breathed an impatient sigh. "The fact that she's in the throne room for the first time in ages means something, unless it's simply subconscious. I'd like to know your thoughts on the matter, Captain Wraith."

"You may be right," Wraith finally answered. "However, her behavior when she's resting within her chambers hasn't changed in any way. She still has not been eating very much and hasn't been sleeping properly."

"So this is negative change, is what you're saying," the female surmised. She shrugged as she contemplated that. "I can believe that. You think that she's finally starting to approach her decision. She's been tormented about it for a long time. It won't be long now before she makes her choice."

"The fact that she's delayed it this long shows that she has at least a modicum of hope left, whether she's aware of it or not. And there is no guarantee that even now she has actually made a concrete decision. She may be weighing her options."

Wraith never once removed his gaze from Chrysalis. He'd been silently observing her actions for the better part of two years, ever since her failure in Canterlot, watching as she slowly descended into a long spiral of depression and self-loathing.

Wraith turned away, heading back towards the deeper catacombs of the hive. "Come, Glory. Leave her be."

The female, Glory, gave her superior a skeptical look before following Wraith's order. She trotted up alongside him, glancing at him through the corner of her dark, hazel eyes. "Your talks haven't been going well."

"My efforts have yielded no discernible results. She's asked for my opinion on the matters that pervade her mind, but it seems even I am unable to make any sort of impact."

Glory let out an irritated groan. "I'm getting a little fidgety here, Captain. We can't really afford to sit around until she makes a decision. Time's not exactly on our side with how antsy the drones are, as well."

"Have patience, Glory. The changelings will have their chance again in due time. If you cannot keep even your own anticipation in check, you may find yourself in an unfavorable position."

Wraith looked down on Glory. His eyes appeared calm and stoic at first glance, but the female could feel his gaze boring through her and she shrunk back slightly with a nervous gulp.

The captain's gaze turned forward once more, allowing Glory to take in a breath of relief. "Truthfully, I, too, am beginning to grow concerned."

Glory could see in his eyes that there was a thought that he must have been playing around with. "You've got an idea."

Wraith shook his head. "No. But we need something to push us in the right direction: a catalyst. As it sits right now, we're walking upriver and making no headway against the current."

"Captain!"

The pair of changelings put their conversation on hold as another armored changeling hastily caught up to them from behind, panting in exhaustion. Wraith gave him a curious stare as he waited silently for the other changeling to catch his breath. Glory gave the captain a dismissive wave.

"Go on ahead, Sir. I'll see what he wants and catch up," Glory offered.

Wraith gave a simple nod in response before heading back off into the caves.

Glory waited impatiently, tapping a hoof on the stone floor as the other changeling's breath finally started to level out. "Any day now."

"Our scouts... came back with a report... Ma'am," he informed between breaths.

"Uh-huh..." Glory rolled her eyes, having had enough of waiting around to get to the point.

With a sigh, she grabbed the other changeling by the horn, surprising him. Her horn, as well as her hazel eyes, began to glow with an eerie, green light as she stared deeply and intensely into the messenger's eyes, which had also begun to glow green under her gaze. After a few moments of this, Glory released him, pulling her head back.

The other changeling shook his head after being freed from her grip, shuddering uncomfortably. "Can you not do that? It's weird."

Glory ignored the complaint, but a pleasantly surprised grin spread across her face. "Well, this is interesting news indeed." And that was all she said before taking flight, buzzing off down the cavern to catch up to Wraith, leaving the other changeling to just groan in displeasure to no one but himself.

It didn't take long for Glory to find Wraith again, since he hadn't made it far. The moment the captain heard the buzzing of her wings approaching, he stopped to wait for her. The female touched down in a brisk trot just in front of him, her grin still persisting.

Wraith took notice of her expression immediately. "Something important, I take it?"

Glory's grin turned into a eager smirk. "Yeah, so you were talking about needing a 'catalyst.' Well then, I've got good news for you..."

Chapter 10 - Guardian

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 10: Guardian

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Chamella sized up her work, looking it over with as much scrutiny as possible. Was there anything out of place? Did she need to fix anything? Had she forgotten something? She eyed up the dress for a few minutes in total silence, pondering these questions over and over in her head to make sure everything was perfect.

Chamella had been working with Rarity for a couple of years now, and although it took her some time to familiarize herself with the art of dressmaking, Rarity had complimented her on multiple occasions for learning so much so quickly. Of course, the changeling was too modest to admit her natural talent and would always attribute her "skill" at the craft to Rarity's guidance. But this was why the unicorn wanted her to become a little more independent in her work. Rarity wanted Chamella to be able to take pride in her work. She wanted her employee to hear their customers specifically thank her for the clothes she'd made instead of allowing Rarity to take most of the credit.

With that in mind, Rarity had given Chamella a challenge to design one article of clothing a month with as little input from her boss as possible. For the most part, Chamella had focused on simpler items, such as hats, scarves, saddles and such, but the changeling had never made a full ensemble without any advice or input whatsoever from Rarity. That was what made this her first true solo project. She'd been working on this dress for the better part of the last month with the goal being to one-up everything she'd ever designed up until that point. And in all that time, Rarity had not said a word about it. No comments, no suggestions, not even an acknowledgement that she was even making it outside of when Chamella told her she was making it.

The dress she'd chose to make wasn't anything too off-the-wall compared to some of the outfits Rarity had designed in the past or even ones that she'd helped Rarity make. It was a long, flowing, form-fitting dress in amaranth pink with a deep neckline, designed to be worn to fancy parties. The shoulders and hem were decorated with fake roses of the same color. She got the idea after having attended the Grand Galloping Gala last year, seeing all the fancy ensembles the socialite mares were flaunting.

But it wasn't just the dress, either; Chamella wanted a full ensemble. With that in mind, the dress was also accompanied by a boa of soft, white feathers and a rather large sunhat that matched the dress in color, as well as sharing the rose motif. Around the neck of the mannequin that was currently wearing the dress was a black choker, and, still following the motif, it had an amethyst shaped like a rose hanging from it. Finally, on the hooves of the mannequin were a set of glass slippers embedded with a few gemstones.

All in all, Chamella was satisfied with the work she'd done thus far and was admittedly getting a little anxious considering she was almost done. The whole time she'd worked on the outfit, she had to resist the urge to ask Rarity for her opinion or advice on the project. There was an ever-present worry that there was something she had been overlooking since the beginning, something that perhaps Rarity had taken notice of, but, as per the criteria of the challenge, had to keep it to herself.

Chamella breathed a long, relieved sigh. Even though it wasn't quite finished, there wasn't really much left to be done that was worth being concerned about, just a few finishing touches here and there. She just needed to grab a few things to make those slight adjustments.

The bell over the boutique's front door jingled, signaling that somepony had arrived. It only took a quick glance for Chamella to realize it was Rarity, returning from running a few errands and carrying a couple of grocery bags in her powder blue aura.

"I'm back~" the unicorn sang cheerily as she set aside her groceries. She cast a discreet glance toward the pink dress that Chamella had been working on. "How are things around here, hm?" she asked coyly.

Chamella noticed the coy grin Rarity was trying to hide, unable to suppress her own proud smile. "Well... Actually, I think its far enough along now. Rarity, I want to ask your opinion on it. What do you think?" the changeling asked, eager to finally get her input and fidgeting somewhat anxiously.

"Oh, well, to be honest, I've been wanting to say something for ages, darling, but I've had to restrain myself."

Chamella gulped nervously. She wasn't sure if that was good or bad. She waited in agonizing anticipation as Rarity—no doubt purposely—paused for a few tense moments before answering.

The unicorn let out an excited giggle before speaking. "Oh, it's positively fabulous, darling!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.

Chamella beamed at the comment, thrilled to hear that Rarity liked it. "You really think so?"

"Oh, absolutely. I've been dying to comment on it, and, I must say, you've outdone yourself, Chamella. It's simply gorgeous! Perhaps a bit simple in overall design, but in this case I think less is most certainly more. I can definitely picture you wearing this at the Grand Galloping Gala."

Chamella was surprised by that statement. "Huh? Me? I-I wasn't planning to keep it or anything."

Rarity waved off her modesty. "There's nothing wrong with keeping a few of your creations, dear. Almost every ensemble in my wardrobe I made myself. And I'm sure you must feel strongly about this one. You're welcome to keep it for yourself."

Chamella chuckled awkwardly, rubbing her foreleg as she continued to argue against the suggestion. "I mean, I like making dresses and everything, but I'm not really into wearing them. I'd rather not draw too much attention to myself; I'd get enough of that just being a changeling anyway."

Rarity seemed a touch disappointed by her refusal. "Oh, I see. Then what do you want to do with it?"

Honestly, Chamella hadn't actually thought about that. What was she going to do with it now that it was practically finished. They could just sell it; that was their job after all. However, the longer she looked at it, the more that idea didn't really feel right to her. She'd poured her heart and soul and everything she'd learned into it, and now it felt wrong not to do something special with it. But what exactly?

"Um... Actually, now that think about it, maybe I'll hold onto it for a while. I don't think I can part with it just yet," she said with another proud smile.

Rarity giggled, having expected as much. "Alright then. I suppose you could consider it a trophy to commemorate your success. And if we just keep it on display here in the lobby, we may get requests to make more."

"You really think it's that good?" Chamella asked again, still in slight disbelief.

Rarity nodded reassuringly. "It is, most certainly. I must say, I'm very proud of you Chamella. Now I think I know how Twilight must have felt teaching you two. I feel like I've just watched my prized student graduate."

Chamella blushed bashfully. "Thank you, Rarity. That means a lot."

The unicorn picked up her grocery bags once more and started toward the kitchen. "Don't mention it, darling. Now, I have to put these away. I'll be back in a moment to give your dress a bit of a closer inspection."

The changeling turned her attention back to her dress, hopping up onto the mirrored stage where the mannequin sat with an extra spring in her step. Having finally gotten Rarity's approval, Chamella was feeling quite chipper. Even if she wanted to, there was no wiping the beaming grin off her face. And with that additional enthusiasm, now was no better a time to put those finishing touches on the dress.

But just as she was about to start, the entrance bell chimed again. Smiling still, Chamella felt she was in a perfect mood to greet a potential customer, quickly turning away from her work to welcome them.

"Good afternoon. Can I help—oh." She stopped when she saw who it was, though her grin continued to persist; it was her best friend and fellow changeling, and with him he wheeled a small stroller carrying his infant son, who had a firm grip on his plush bunny toy. "Hi, Shade. I wasn't expecting you," she greeted with pleasant surprise.

Shade, noticing his friend's uplifted attitude, grinned back at her as he shut the door behind him. "Hey. You seem pretty perky today. What's up?"

With a giddy giggle, she hopped back down off the stage and gestured to the outfit on display. "I'm just about to finish this."

Shade stared at the dress for a moment, attempting to look analytical. Chamella rolled her eyes with a quiet chuckle; she knew Shade had no eye for fashion and was just sizing it up to appear interested. Regardless, she let him look it over.

"It looks good," he complimented with a genuine smile.

Chamella did a small, happy hop in place. Even if he wasn't very fashion forward, a compliment was a compliment, and she was enjoying all the positivity she was receiving today. "Thanks. Rarity likes it, too. This is the first outfit I made all by myself, without any input from her. So hearing her—oh, and you, too—say it's good, means so much to me."

"I can tell. I don't think I've ever seen you this happy," Shade laughed heartily. "I'm sure it'll make one of your customers happy, too.

"Actually, Rarity suggested that I keep it for myself, and, honestly, I think I just might. It might make for good inspiration if I'm having trouble with a future project."

"Oh! Look who's here!"

Rarity had returned from the kitchen, skipping over to her visitors cheerily.

"Hey, Rari—" Shade stopped mid-greeting when she noticed that the unicorn was leaning down to give Snowflake a playful boop on the nose, eliciting a squeaky giggle from the colt. "Oh, you meant him."

"Apologies, Shade, but I just can't resist! He's just so pwecious!" she said with pursed lips as she tousled the small tuft of green hair on the colt's head.

"Where's Winter?" Chamella asked, unaccustomed to the sight of Snowflake without his mother around.

"Today's her first day back to work, so she's out there now, clearing away clouds and whatnot," the father answered.

"So soon?" Rarity questioned with a slightly concerned raise of her eyebrow. "He's only two weeks old. I thought she'd be given a little more time."

Shade shrugged. "Bring it up with her. She insisted on it."

That only served to confuse Rarity more. "Whatever for? I would have thought she'd relish the time off. Plus, with how much she's been fussing about being a good mom, I figured she'd want to spend as much time with her son as she could."

Shade breathed an exasperated sigh. "Yeah... See, that's the thing: she wants to prove just how responsible she can be by balancing motherhood and her job." He scratched the back of his head with another sigh. "I'm starting to feel like her obsession with being a responsible mother is getting a bit out of hoof."

Rarity waved his worry off dismissively. "I wouldn't fret too much. I'm sure she'll realize she's trying too hard in due time. She's probably just a bit overwhelmed by this sudden change to her lifestyle."

"I hope you're right," Shade said with a shrug.

Rarity flashed a grin at Shade. "On a different, yet not unrelated subject, I heard that you and Winter have been discussing choosing godparents for little Snowflake here."

"You heard right," the changeling assured with a nod.

"What's a godparent?" Chamella asked curiously.

"A godparent is somepony that parents appoint as the legal guardian of their child should they meet with an... unfortunate fate," Rarity explained.

Chamella's ears folded back worriedly. "You mean, like... if they die?"

"Basically. Or if they're unable to care for their child for some reason outside of their control."

The purple-maned changeling looked at Shade with deep concern, but before she could say anything, Shade held up his hoof.

"There's nothing wrong with us Chamella. This is just supposed to be a just-in-case kind of thing."

Chamella let out a relieved breath upon hearing that.

"So, do you have anypony in mind?" Rarity asked.

"Well, like you said before, we're still discussing it," Shade replied. "But, yeah, we've been tossing some names around."

"I imagine you suggested Twilight," Rarity assumed with a chuckle.

"Well, yeah. I know she doesn't have much experience with kids, but I definitely trust her. I even mentioned you."

Rarity held a hoof up to her chest in flattery. "Oh, I'm honored. I'd love to be Snowflake's godmother. After all, he's such a little cutie," she exclaimed, giving the colt another boop and eliciting another playful giggle from him.

"I think we're going to weigh our options a little more before we make a decision. No offense; I'm sure you'd be a great godmother."

"Actually, I already am. I'm actually Sweetie Belle's godmother. Should something tragic ever befall our parents—Celestia forbid—I am to become her caretaker. Honestly, it probably wouldn't be difficult. She spends more time with me and her friends than she does at home with Mom and Dad anyway."

"It probably doesn't matter much anyway. Based on the way we've been talking, we're kind of leaning towards Winter's parents."

Rarity nodded in understanding. "That does make sense. They certainly have experience raising children. It probably wouldn't be too much trouble for them to raise their own grandson."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what we've been thinking. But, listen, the reason I came over is because I need somepony to watch Snow for a little bit. I've gotta go talk to Winter about..." Shade briefly glanced in Chamella's direction, prompting a puzzled raise of her eyebrow. "...something. So can you two keep an eye on him for a few minutes?"

Rarity smiled hospitably. "Why, of course, darling. However, I just realized that there was something I forgot to pick up while I was out and need to make another run to the market."

Chamella's heart rate suddenly jumped up. "W-Wait, you're not gonna leave me to watch him alone, are you?" she pleaded desperately.

"It's just a few minutes, Chamella," Shade assured her. "I'll be back before you know it."

"As will I," said Rarity, as well. "I'm sure you can handle him."

Before Chamella could argue otherwise, the two of them were already headed for the door. "B-But I don't—"

She was interrupted by the door shutting behind them, blocking out her pleas. That happened surprisingly fast. They didn't seem like they were in such a hurry before. But now, Chamella was left alone with only the tiny colt as company. She looked down at the tyke, forcing down a nervous gulp.

At a glance, Chamella's uneasiness would appear unfounded; Snowflake was content in his stroller, playing with his stuffed rabbit and blowing playful raspberries with his mouth. A normal person probably wouldn't take issue with looking after a child who was perfectly happy. If anything, that would make things all the more easy. However, the adult changeling whose care he'd been left in just stared at the colt, a nervous bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. Chamella had made it quite clear to Shade that she had no interest in being a mother, a fact that was made evident considering she had not so much as even held her "nephew" since he'd been born.

Snowflake suddenly looked up at Chamella, causing her to wince slightly. She half-expected him to burst out into tears and she'd be forced to try and figure out what was wrong. And if Shade were to return to find his son in tears, what would he think? Thankfully, though, he just gave her a big smile and laughed as he shook his plushie around.

Chamella let out a sigh, relieved that he didn't seem to need anything. And as long as he was content, she may as well do something while she waited for Shade or Rarity to get back. Now was a good time to put those finishing touches on her dress.

Chamella stepped back up onto the mirrored stage, looking over the outfit to remind herself of what it was she had left to do. The first thing she noted was that the dress was perhaps a tad too long. It would likely graze the ground if somepony were wearing it, getting the hem dirty. She figured she should hem it up just a smidge, she just needed to get some thread, a needle and a pair of scissors.

As she stepped back down from the stage, she felt something soft collide with the back of her head. She spun around, confused, to find Snowflake looking at her and laughing rather loudly. Chamella glanced down at the floor to find the stuffed bunny lying at her hooves. She furrowed her brow in mild annoyance, though she was admittedly a little impressed by the kid's impeccable aim. She picked up the toy with her magic, guiding it back to the colt, who happily reached out to snatch it out of the air.

Chamella was about to get back to her work, but as soon as Snowflake got his mitts on the bunny, he tossed it across the room again with another bout of uproarious laughter. Chamella chose to ignore it, believing that the colt simply didn't want to play with it. However, the colt looked at her expectedly, and when she didn't retrieve it for him, he began to whine with a displeased frown. Chamella quickly jumped in to avoid any potential waterworks, hurrying over and picking up the toy once more. She passed it to Snowflake again, whose smile returned as he took it back and immediately chucked it again, right over Chamella's head, accompanied by more amused laughter from the tyke.

Chamella grumbled, growing more and more irritated with the colt's attitude. So instead of playing into his hooves a third time, she decided that he could just get it himself. She unclasped the safety belt strapping the colt to the stroller, then hesitated. Despite her elevating frustration with the kid, she was still too uneasy about actually handling him with her own hooves. Instead, she carefully wrapped Snowflake in her neon green aura and gently lifted him up and out of the stroller and onto the floor. She let out a quick sigh, relieved that she hadn't hurt him.

"There. Now you can get it yourself," she told the colt, though she knew it was unlikely that he understood.

Surprisingly, Snowflake actually started crawling over to his discarded toy. Satisfied, Chamella finally took her opportunity to get back to her work to head off and retrieve the needed items and fix the dress. She stepped inside the back storeroom where Rarity kept most of the leftover or surplus materials and supplies, and also where they packed away things like needles and other sharp objects to avoid potential accidents. She didn't take long to locate the needles and plucked one out of its pincushion. Conveniently, there was also a pair of scissors right next to it, so she grabbed those as well. All that was left was thread, but, unfortunately, Chamella didn't see any at first glance. She was going to have to rummage a bit...

However, her search was cut short when she heard the loud clattering of plastic hitting the floor out in the lobby. Her heart suddenly jumped in panic, the thought that something may have happened to Snowflake in her very brief absence prompting her to bolt back out to check on him. She screeched to a halt when she saw what had happened. Thankfully, Snowflake was fine, but the mannequin wearing her dress was now lying on its side on the floor, the hat and boa having fallen off. The colt must have reached up and grabbed the hem to pull it down, and the worst part was that he was currently playing with it with the same reckless abandon he had shown his toy rabbit.

"No! Don't touch that!" Chamella shrieked, dashing over to save her dress before any harm could come to it.

She grabbed the dress and attempted to pull it away from the colt with her magic. However, he had a surprisingly tight grip on it and refused to let go, giggling jovially as though he thought Chamella was playing with him.

"Please let go. This dress is really important," the changeling pleaded.

Of course, the foal couldn't comprehend what she was saying and simply took her words as encouragement to keep tugging. In fact, he only began to pull harder.

Desperate to keep her creation safe, Chamella also began tugging harder, clenching her eyes shut as she pulled. "Let... go!"

The dreadful sound of fabric tearing caused Chamella's eyes to shoot open, but before she could make the decision to stop pulling, the tear became a loud shred as a large portion of the dress's hem tore straight off. The force of their pulling caused both Chamella and Snowflake to topple backward, the scrap of torn fabric flying up and landing on top of the colt's head.

Chamella shot up, panicking as she held what was left of her dress, looking at the ruined hemline and loose threads as though it were a family member who had just been disemboweled. "No! My dress!"

She looked over at Snowflake, kicking his legs around playfully as he lay on his back with the shred of fabric covering him. It wasn't often that Chamella lost her temper, but this had definitely become one of those times. The changeling had quickly gone from panicked to livid, gritting her teeth and stomping her hoof as she stood up. She grabbed the piece of pink fabric and tore it away from the colt, giving Snowflake a chance to see the displeasure upon her face.

"Look what you did!" she bellowed, shaking the scrap of torn cloth in front of the foal.

That was all it took to cause a complete one-eighty in Snowflake's mood. At the sound of her infuriated shouts, his cheery smile immediately flipped into a frightened frown before he started screaming and crying.

Chamella simply grimaced at the shift in the colt's attitude. Admittedly, she felt a little guilty about making him cry, but she was just so uncharacteristically angry that she still felt justified. After she had put so much work into her dress, it was ruined in the blink of an eye; it was just so disheartening to her. She almost felt like crying herself.

It was at that time that the door opened and the bell rang once more, both Rarity and Shade coming inside and apparently having already finished their errands. Shade, of course, immediately noticed that his son was in distress and hurried over to his side.

"Whoa, what happened?" Shade asked Chamella as he picked up his son to try and calm him down.

Rarity was quick to pick up on the state of Chamella's dress, seeing the female changeling holding onto a torn scrap tightly while the rest of it lay unceremoniously upon the floor. "Oh, good heavens! Chamella, your dress!"

Chamella tried her best not to look upset at the baby with his father staring at her as he awaited an explanation. "I took my eye off of him for ten seconds and he wrecked it. I worked so hard and now..."

Rarity placed a sympathetic hoof upon the changeling's shoulder, but could clearly tell how frustrated she was. "Now, now, take it easy, he's just a baby; he doesn't know what he's doing."

"I'm sure he wasn't trying to sabotage your work," Shade added, his tone surprisingly understanding.

Rarity picked up what remained of the dress and looked it over with an optimistic grin. "Besides, we can fix it, surely. I've dealt with worse before."

"It wouldn't be the same..." Chamella mumbled, her ears folding back.

Rarity frowned at her response. "Oh... Well, then we could make a new one from scratch. With the two of us working together it should take no time at—"

"It wouldn't be the same!"

Rarity flinched at the sudden rise in her employee's voice. She wasn't sure if she'd ever seen Chamella this upset.

Chamella took a long, deep breath in order to steady herself. "I know it's just one dress, but I was so proud of it. I knew it was good because I put so much time and effort into it. It was the one thing that finally made me feel like I was actually good at something."

"Chamella, I've been telling you since you got here that you have natural talent," Rarity reassured her.

"But that doesn't mean I have to feel the same way. I actually accomplished something that I could take pride in. It was the best thing I've ever made..."

Snowflake's weeping had died down as he snuggled into his father's shoulder. Shade looked at Chamella apologetically. "Chamella, I'm so sorry. And I'm sure if he realized what he did, Snow would apologize, too."

The slight guilt she had felt before began to well up more. Chamella hadn't expected Shade to be so understanding about her making his son cry. At the same time, though, she was still pretty upset about losing something that meant so much to her. "I'm sorry I yelled at him," she said quietly, her voice barely audible. "I... I think I need to cool off for a bit. Is that okay, Rarity?"

"Oh, well... Yes, of course, dear. Why don't you just take the rest of the day off, hm?" Rarity offered, trying to help cheer up the downtrodden changeling with a soft smile.

"Thanks..." Chamella slowly shuffled over to the door, stepping outside for some fresh air.

Shade watched her leave with a concerned frown as he gently strapped Snowflake back into his stroller, picking up his toy bunny and giving it back to him. The colt held it tightly as he sniffled, taking comfort in its soft fur.

"I hope she's not too mad," Shade expressed.

"Have you ever seen her this upset before?" Rarity asked curiously.

Shade shook his head. "No, never."

"Hm. And at a baby, no less. Who'd have thought it would be your child that pushed her buttons like that?"

Shade let out a sigh. "Yeah... I know I've been kind of busy with fatherhood and everything, but, honestly, I kind of feel like she's been avoiding me lately. I was hoping Snow could get to know his aunt a little better. That's actually part of the reason I brought him over here."

"Unfortunately, she didn't quite give the best impression today, did she?"

Shade managed a grin in spite of that. "I'm sure things'll work out. I'm not really too worried about her."

Rarity smiled as well. "It is important to stay optimistic. I'm sure they'll warm up to one another in due time."

Shade nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me too. So I think we'll be on our way now. Let's go, kiddo," he said as he wheeled the youngster toward the door.

"Have a nice day, Shade. And you, too, cutie pie!" Rarity bid them with a wave.

***** ***** *****

Chamella had wound up wandering aimlessly through Ponyville after leaving the boutique, hoping that the fresh air would help her get over her loss a little easier. She was still pretty ruffled over it. She had to force herself to hide her displeased grimace so that the other townsfolk didn't give her odd looks. But even in spite of her mood she knew that Rarity was right: Snowflake didn't know any better. He wasn't trying to deliberately ruin her work. She knew it was really her own fault for taking her eyes off of him. Still, though, that didn't stop her from being upset about it.

Thankfully, Chamella would eventually find a way to take her mind off of it. At least, that's what she had hoped when she bumped into Sweetie Belle and her friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Having seen that their changeling pal was feeling out of sorts, they invited her along with them to get ice cream. Chamella was happy to accept and bury her disappointment in a cold, tasty treat; if nothing else, it would help her cool off as her face was still a bit hot from her temper.

As the changeling and the three fillies went on their way with their ice creams in tow, of course, the girls had to ask what was bugging their bug-like friend. Though reluctant to talk about it at the risk of possibly losing her cool again, Chamella eventually divulged, if only to get it off her chest.

"That doesn't really sound like you," Sweetie Belle commented after hearing the story. "I don't think I've ever seen you get mad at anypony before. I'm not sure I've even heard you yell before."

"That dress was really important to me," Chamella reiterated to the fillies.

"Do you even go to fancy parties?" asked Scootaloo. "I know you went to the Grand Galloping Gala once, but I don't remember any other times you went to stuff like that."

Chamella shook her head. "That's not the point. I was never planning on wearing it at all. It was what the outfit represented to me. I already told Rarity that even making another one wouldn't make me feel any better about it."

"So yer just gonna stay mad at Snowflake about it?" Apple Bloom said. "That don't really seem fair. He's just a little baby."

"I'm not mad at him, I'm more mad at myself for letting it happen," Chamella corrected, lowering her head slightly.

"But just because it's wrecked now doesn't really mean you didn't accomplish anything, right?" Sweetie Belle said with an optimistic grin.

The changeling raised an eyebrow at her logic. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if you were never planning to wear it anyway, what difference does it make? You made it, and you were proud of it. You can still be proud of it, can't you?"

Chamella's eyes widened a little as she took that into consideration.

"Hey, yeah! And you know now that you can make awesome stuff, so you can make something different, but just as awesome, right?" Scootaloo added.

"I... I guess you have a point there," Chamella said quietly. But she shook her head again. "But that's not really the whole issue. I'll probably get over it eventually, but I still yelled at Snowflake. I'm supposed to be his aunt, and now he probably hates me."

"Ah don't think he hates you," Apple Bloom assured her. "Applejack's yelled at me fer all sorts o' things, an' Ah don't hate her. She's mah sister an' Ah love her anyway."

"Same with Rarity and me," Sweetie Belle agreed. "Besides, he probably won't remember this when he gets older anyway. I don't remember any of the stuff I did when I was baby."

Chamella let out a resigned sigh. "I think it's probably better if I'm not really involved with his upbringing anyway. Just the idea of taking care of a baby scares me. I just know I would do something wrong. Shade left him with me for only a few minutes and things got out of hoof."

"It does sound like a lot of work," Scootaloo admitted.

"Have ya told Shade that yet?" Apple Bloom inquired.

Chamella shied away ashamedly, taking a small lick of her ice cream. "Um, well, I told him I wasn't interested in being a mom myself, but I never said anything about Snowflake. I don't want him to think I don't care."

"So you're just going to avoid him and hope Shade doesn't notice?" inferred Sweetie Belle. "That seems like it'll be pretty difficult considering he's your best friend."

"I just have to hope that he doesn't ask me to foalsit or anything," Chamella elaborated.

"Been going great so far," Scootaloo quipped sarcastically.

The changeling let out a reluctant sigh. "Maybe I should just talk to him about it. I'm just worried he'll think I'm a bad friend for it."

"I don't think ya got ta worry about that," Apple Bloom assured her with a dismissive wave. "But talkin' to 'im's probably a good idea. Family's important. If yer worried about somethin', it's best ta talk about it."

Chamella's lips spread into a small smile. "Thanks. I'll do that then. I just hope he understands."

"Chamella! Yoo-hoo!"

The changeling and the three fillies turned around at the sound of the beckoning voice. Chamella was quite surprised to see Winter's mother Autumn casually walking towards them. However, she wasn't alone as she also had her grandson with her in his stroller, contentedly sucking on a pacifier as he took in his surroundings. Chamella wasn't aware that Autumn was visiting, so she wasn't expecting to see her.

"Oh. Uh, good afternoon, Mrs. Maple," Chamella greeted somewhat meekly.

Autumn rolled her eyes with a chuckle. "Now, you know you can just call me Autumn. How often do people keep reminding you that we're family?"

"Right, sorry."

Autumn took notice of the three young ponies standing with her, all offering friendly grins as they ate their ice creams. "Hello there. Are these girls friends of yours, Chamella."

The changeling nodded. "Yeah."

"Are you friends with many of the children around here?" Autumn asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, Sweetie Belle is Rarity's little sister, and Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are Sweetie Belle's friends, soooo..."

"We're friends by proxy!" Sweetie Belle chirped.

Scootaloo tilted her head in confusion. "'Proxy'?"

The little unicorn shrugged. "It was on my word-a-day calendar."

Autumn giggled at the adorable fillies. "How nice."

"I didn't know you were visiting today," Chamella said to the crimson pegasus. "I was just talking to Shade earlier and he didn't mention it."

"I just got here really. I knew Winter was heading back to work today, so I thought I'd stop by and give the two of them a little off time. They could use a moment to just unwind and not have to worry about Snowflake for an afternoon. Winter was a little reluctant to accept my offer, but I made sure to imply that I wasn't giving her a choice in the matter. Honestly, that girl is working herself too hard, but I can't say I wasn't the same way when I was a new mother."

The three fillies had gathered around the half-changeling colt, baby talking and making silly faces to entertain him. Snowflake's laughter was muffled by the pacifier, but it was clear he was enjoying the attention. However, the little tyke looked up from the three smothering girls at Chamella. The female changeling expected the colt to shy away from her after having yelled at him earlier, but, surprisingly, he actually reached out his hooves toward her, as if beckoning.

Autumn grinned with a quiet giggle. "I think he wants uppies."

Chamella stared at the older mare quizzically. "W-What's 'uppies'?"

"He wants you to pick him up," Autumn explained.

Chamella looked back down at the foal in confusion. After the way she'd acted, he really wanted her to pick him up? Had he forgotten the way she had bore her fangs at him and scolded him?

"Well? Aren't you going to pick him up, Auntie?" Autumn asked teasingly.

The changeling gulped nervously, shaking her head. "N-no, thanks. I'll pass."

Autumn frowned at her choice. "Oh. Well, that's up to you, but I think he'll be disappointed."

"Can I pick him up?" Sweetie Belle asked, standing on her tippy hooves with a giant, pleading grin in an effort to use her cuteness to her advantage.

Autumn chuckled at the filly's eagerness. "Normally, I'd say yes, but I was actually hoping I could talk to Chamella in private for a few minutes."

"W-What?" Chamella stammered awkwardly.

"We can watch him for you while you talk," Scootaloo offered.

"I think you girls are little too young to be foalsitting just yet. But I'll be sure to come find you later so you can play with him again, okay?"

"Sure!" chirped Sweetie Belle excitedly.

"Come on, girls. Let's give 'em some privacy," said Apple Bloom, turning to walk away as her friends followed.

"Later, Chamella," Scootaloo bid the changeling. Her goodbye was accompanied by friendly waves from the three fillies.

Chamella watched them trot away, a part of her desperately wanting to call for them to come back. She glanced over her shoulder at Autumn, who was grinning amicably back at her. She really did not want to do this.

"I've been hoping you and I could have a little time together," Autumn said cheerily.

Admittedly, Chamella had hoped that Autumn would have forgotten about their brief chat at the hospital while they were waiting for Snowflake to be born, but no such luck apparently.

But the grandmother wasn't oblivious to her company's feelings. It was evident in the changeling's face that she was feeling apprehensive, which was all the more reason for her to find out what Chamella's deal was.

"Should we walk and talk?" Autumn suggested, taking the lead and gesturing for Chamella to come along.

Against her better judgment, Chamella agreed, walking alongside the older mare, but consciously keeping a notable distance between the two of them. She also couldn't help but notice that Snowflake was just staring at her, his gaze unwavering.

"I think he likes being around his Aunt Chamella," Autumn commented with a soft smile.

Chamella turned away, mumbling quietly. "I doubt that."

Once more, Autumn took notice of her demeanor, looking at her knowingly. "Are you upset over what happened earlier?"

Chamella turned back to her, her eyes widening in surprise. "You know about that?"

"Shade told me," the pegasus said with a sympathetic grin. "Kids can be pretty troublesome, but that comes with the territory. I'm sorry that had to happen to you."

"It's okay. It was my fault really. I should have watched him more closely."

Autumn nodded, unable to suppress her slight amusement. "That's what happens. Given even a few seconds alone, a baby can do untold things."

"I guess I'm not a good foalsitter," Chamella said dejectedly, though there was a little hope that that meant they wouldn't ask her to look after him again.

"Don't be so down on yourself. You are new to this kind of thing after all. But, you know, I can't help but feel like you might be avoiding Shade and Winter."

Chamella stopped walking, once again looking surprised.

"Shade mentioned he hadn't seen you around much. He might be busy being a dad, but he was kind of expecting you to come visit to make up for not being able to get out as much."

The changeling simply stayed silent, an act that, once more, wouldn't go unnoticed by Autumn.

"Is this really about Snowflake? Or is it about you and Winter?"

It was starting to feel like Autumn was telepathic with how well she was landing those guesses, again eliciting shock and surprise from Chamella.

"W-What makes you say that? Winter and I hardly ever chat or hang out together," Chamella defended in an effort to avoid the subject she knew was coming up.

"That's exactly the problem. Given that Shade's your best friend—practically your brother even—I'd have thought you'd be pretty close to his girlfriend."

Chamella turned her gaze down, watching the dirt pass by her hooves as she walked. But she didn't respond to Autumn.

The pegasus was really starting to feel like her daughter had been deliberately hiding something from her, having never really told her much of anything about this mare that was so important to Shade. Conversely, Chamella seemed uneasy about the subject altogether, suggesting that something had happened that perhaps cast a void between them, which had also been hinted to her in the past.

"Princess Twilight and her friends mentioned that something happened between you and Winter at some point. I was wondering if you might be willing to tell me about it since even Winter hasn't mentioned it to me before."

Chamella's ears folded down as far as they could go and her head lowered slightly as those unpleasant memories came back to her. "I don't want to."

Just that reaction alone was enough to tell Autumn that whatever it was that occurred, it must have been pretty serious. Normally, she wouldn't want to pry into sensitive matters, but this involved her own daughter, and she wanted to get to the bottom of it whether the two of them wanted her to or not.

"Please, Chamella. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not as bad as you're making it out to be. Maybe I can help you two resolve this," Autumn offered with a motherly smile.

"I'd really rather not..."

"But why not? Why can't you tell me?" the older mare insisted, beginning to become desperate for answers.

"Because I don't want you to hate me."

Autumn came to a halt upon hearing her say that. Perhaps this was a little more serious than she gave it credit for. Now she really needed to find out what was going on. "What? Chamella, why would I hate you? I don't care what it was, I'd never hate you. You seem like a perfectly nice person. Would you just tell me what this is all about? I'm starting to get worried thinking about it."

Chamella finally looked her in the eyes again, her expression pleading. "Do you promise not to get mad at me?"

"Of course. I just want to know if there's any way I can help."

Chamella gently brushed her long, purple, hole-filled mane out of her eyes, taking a deep breath as she thought about the best way to word it. "Back when I was still living in the Changeling Kingdom, after Shade had left, I heard about how much better his life had gotten. Up until he left, I relied on Shade a lot just to survive. He was the only thing in my life that gave me a reason just to keep living."

Autumn listened intently, not wanting to interrupt when she knew Chamella was pouring her heart out, but also already having questions. "Why didn't you go with him?"

"Because I was scared. The Changeling Kingdom was all I ever knew, and I thought that the ponies hated and feared us since we attacked Canterlot. I didn't know what would happen. Shade wanted me to go with him, but I couldn't bring myself to go."

"And what does this have to do with Winter?"

Chamella let out a pensive sigh. "Someone told me about the things he had in his new life: a home; plenty of food; friends; even somepony that he had fallen in love with. I guess I was... jealous."

"Of Winter?"

Chamella shook her head. "Of Shade. Hearing all that made me deeply regret not going with him. So I went to look for him. And when I saw him with Winter, I guess that's when I became jealous of her."

Autumn felt a sudden fear inside her heart. Jealousy and love could be a very volatile and dangerous combination, and that concerned her. She thought it may be pertinent to confirm what their friends had told her at the baby shower. "Are... Are you in love with Shade?"

The changeling straightened up defensively. "No! No, no... I mean... I was... Or maybe I still am. I don't know." She shied away again, rubbing her foreleg ashamedly.

Autumn wasn't quite sure what to make of that answer, so she simply stayed silent to allow her to finish her story.

"The point is, I wasn't thinking straight. I wanted what Shade had. And I wanted Shade. So I... did something horrible..."

The crimson mare was hesitant to ask, unsure if she wanted to know any more. "What did you do?" she inquired quietly, more curious than anything.

Chamella gulped, reluctant to actually admit it. "I... trapped her in a cave and took her place."

Autumn's mouth hung open in stunned silence. That wasn't quite what she had expected to hear. Her own daughter had been kidnapped and replaced by a changeling and she didn't even know.

"I know how despicable it was of me, and I regret it more than any decision I've ever made in my life. If I could go back and fix it, I would, believe me."

In spite of her shock at this information, Autumn thought about what she'd just learned for a moment, trying to view it from a more optimistic angle. "But... Winter ended up being alright. And you're here after all. So... it wasn't really all that serious in the end, right?"

Chamella looked up at her again, a little surprised. "You're not mad at me? I'd understand it if you were. Winter could have died because of me. And it was because of me that Winter found out Shade's a changeling."

Inexplicably, Autumn grinned. "Well, that sounds like a good thing."

The changeling was confused by her reaction.

"Look, I'm not going to say that what you did wasn't wrong. Honestly, I'm pretty shocked to hear about this. But..." Autumn took a breath, her smile persisting. "In the end, something about this whole situation must have been resolved, otherwise you wouldn't still be living here, right?"

Chamella's eyes widened hopefully, the mare's words sounding oddly familiar. "You sound like Shade. He said basically the same thing when we talked about it."

"You seem like a lovely girl, Chamella. I don't have any trouble believing that anything bad you may have done was simply a result of poor judgment. And Shade seems to have forgiven you. And I'm sure if Winter really felt as strongly about it as you think she does, she'd have brought it up, whether to me or Shade. The important thing is that you know what you did was wrong and that you'll never do it again. You can promise me that, can't you?"

Chamella finally managed a small smile. "I can. I promised myself that a long time ago."

Autumn nodded. "Good. So there's not really any reason for you to feel weird around Shade and Winter then."

The changeling's smile faded. "Um... Actually, there is."

The pegasus raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Chamella blushed slightly and shied away in shame and embarrassment. "Um... Have Shade or Winter mentioned anything about... mating season?" she asked, practically mumbling the last two words.

Autumn's amber eyes widened and she chuckled, clearing her throat awkwardly. "Oh... Er, yes, they did tell me about that. That must be weird, having such difficulty controlling yourselves." Her awkward smile vanished when she realized what the implications of bringing up this subject might be. "Wait... Nothing happened between you and Shade, did it?"

Chamella hesitated, her blush deepening. "I... kissed him."

Autumn blinked, then breathed a sigh of mild relief. "Goodness. For a moment there I was expecting something a little more... unsavory. But it was just because of the circumstances, right? If it wasn't mating season, it probably wouldn't have even happened."

"I still feel bad about it. I should have tried harder to control myself, like Shade did."

The older mare inhaled a long breath as she took in all of this. "So you kidnapped and impersonated my daughter, and kissed her boyfriend. I have to admit, saying it out loud doesn't make you look like a very trustworthy individual."

Chamella stopped walking again, the ice cream she'd been carrying all this time falling from her magical grasp and onto the ground. She let herself fall back on her haunches, shrinking back in shame. "I know..." she murmured, her voice slightly shaky. "I don't deserve everything I have now. I hurt the one person I ever cared about. Twice. And yet somehow he still cares about me. I don't deserve having a friend like him..."

Autumn frowned sympathetically. Chamella sounded as though she were on the verge of tears. Before she could offer some words to console her, Snowflake reached out to her from his stroller. With a small grin, the foal's grandmother pushed the stroller closer to Chamella. The changeling looked up at the little colt, his hooves grabbing her cheeks lightly. Chamella didn't really react, but just continued to mope.

"Chamella, you're not a bad person. You just made some mistakes. Everypony makes mistakes. What's important is that you learn from them so that you don't make the same mistakes again. Shade still trusts you after what you did, which tells me that you've already learned from them. Plus, I've never met the mare who did those things. As far as I'm concerned, Chamella is a person who is kindhearted, passionate, friendly, and just a little shy and soft-spoken. And I'm sure she's a great aunt, too. I mean, if she really wants to be."

Chamella's pink eyes gazed up at the smiling mare. It was so difficult to believe that she would still treat her so nicely after learning about what she did to Winter. Autumn could see there was still a little doubt in the changeling's mind, so she grinned wider to help reassure her. Chamella began to think that perhaps she shouldn't take people like Autumn and Shade for granted. And not just them, but all of her friends. If they were so willing to overlook Chamella's transgressions, maybe she should just accept it. There was no telling if she'd get another chance were she to make another one of those grievous errors in judgment.

Chamella managed a small, grateful smile. "Thank you, Mrs. Ma—er, Autumn. It's actually nice to hear something like that from somepony other than Shade." She felt her cheeks getting smooshed by the pair of tiny, ebony hooves grasping her face, followed by the muffled giggles of the overzealous colt. "Bud I shtill don't really know if I can be a good aunt."

Autumn laughed at the amusing sight. "Well, we'll just have to see. I have a feeling you'll come around in time." She pulled the stroller away, forcing Snowflake to let go of Chamella, though he made an effort to maintain his grip on her face, much to the changeling's discomfort. "Come on, Snowflake. I think we should head back to Mommy and Daddy. Will you be heading home, Chamella?"

Chamella rubbed her cheek, her small grin still in place. "Yeah, I suppose."

"Alright. I'll be sure to come by and see you again before I go back to Cloudsdale."

Chamella simply nodded, waving as the mare sauntered away with her grandson. She then stood up again, taking in a deep breath as she began her own walk home.

***** ***** *****

"Do you have everything?"

"Just about."

Chamella came out of the storeroom of Carousel Boutique carrying a bunch of fabric and other odds and ends with her. Rarity stood upon the mirrored stage in waiting, having donned the fashionable, orange glasses she usually wore for doing precise work. The unicorn helped her employee separate and organize all of their materials, double-checking to make sure they had everything.

"Alright, I think we're ready. Are you sure you want to do this? You seemed to be quite against the idea earlier," said Rarity with a touch of concern.

The purple-maned changeling flashed a carefree, fanged grin. "I'm sure. I know it's not really going to be the same, but I still liked the design. I'd like for us to do something with it."

Rarity nodded with a smile of her own. "I'm happy to see that you've put this behind you so quickly. And I have to agree; your dress was too lovely for us to not at least have on display here in the shop." She grabbed a large portion of pink fabric and brought it over to the sewing machine. "I must admit, I'm quite eager to try my own hoof at your design. And since this is your creation, I'll try to avoid adding my own personal flair to it."

"I don't mind if you want to modify it a little. I'm sure anything you add would only make it better."

"Oh-ho, well, I appreciate the compliment, but I'll still refrain, if you don't mind," Rarity chuckled bashfully.

Rarity had been pleasantly surprised to see Chamella return home with a smile on her face. The reserved changeling had a tendency to be a little hard on herself whenever she made some sort of mistake or did something she regretted, which, given her history, was understandable. However, Rarity was pleased as punch when the first thing Chamella said upon getting back was that she wanted to recreate the dress that had been ruined, and from scratch no less. Rarity had offered to simply repair the damage, but Chamella was actually rather excited to make a new one, only this time as a joint effort between the two of them, and the unicorn was more than happy to oblige. Thankfully, the hat and boa where undamaged, so it was just the dress they had to focus on, lightening the workload somewhat. Although, before they actually got started, for some reason Chamella inexplicably wanted some ice cream. Rarity chose not to question it and let her do as she pleased.

However, the question arose as Rarity busily took measurements of the fabric:

"So what exactly was it that changed your mind so quickly?" Rarity asked.

"Actually, it was Sweetie Belle," Chamella answered.

The fashionista raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Sweetie Belle? How so?"

Chamella began to take pieces of fabric, expertly using her magic to fold them into rose shapes. "She said that what the dress represented was more important than the dress itself, and I think she has a point. I don't really need to look at it to remind myself of how proud I am of it."

"Hm, that's surprisingly profound of her. Must be the mentality she has when she 'borrows' something of mine, only to return it later in tatters," Rarity grumbled with a roll of her eyes. "Honestly, I know she means well, but that filly can be more destructive than a swarm of parasprites sometimes."

Hearing her say that, a curious thought popped up in Chamella's head. She recalled many a time over the past two years where the two sisters would squabble over something or other, usually a result of Sweetie Belle not really thinking before she acted. "Has she always been troublesome for you to deal with?"

Rarity let out a slightly frustrated groan. "Since I can remember. Even when she was just a baby and I was but the age she is now, she's been an endless source of irritation."

"Then why did you agree to be her godmother?"

Rarity's head spun around, giving Chamella a shocked look. "Why, whatever do you mean?"

The changeling wasn't sure what it was about her question that confused the unicorn, but elaborated regardless. "Well, you just said that she's always getting on your nerves and causing trouble for you, so why would you want to raise her if something happened to your parents?"

Rarity was a bit flabbergasted by the question. "Well... because she's my sister," she stated as though the answer should have been obvious.

"But..."

Rarity, seeing the confusion on her friend's face, began to understand why she brought this up. "Chamella, I know you don't exactly have any experience with family outside of Shade, and even then you two are the same age, so it's understandable that you wouldn't be used to how familial relationships work. Sweetie Belle may be a nuisance sometimes, and she's caused me quite a number of headaches over the years, but, if the need arose, I would gladly give my life for hers because she is my little sister and I love her. Surely you can relate at least a little, right? You once threw yourself in harm's way to protect Shade, if I recall."

"But that's... different," Chamella argued, though sounding a little unsure of herself. "I don't think I could live without him. I need Shade. I-I mean, I need him around, you know? He's always been the one to protect me, so..."

Rarity smiled knowingly. "It sounds to me like your relationship is actually more like that of parent and child rather than siblings. Perhaps that's why Shade is so comfortable in the role of father; despite what he believes, he's already got experience in that category. So you've jumped to his side to protect him before, would you not do the same for Snowflake if you had to?"

"I-I..." Chamella stammered, caught off guard and unable to form a response.

Before she could compose her thoughts and formulate a proper answer, the boutique's entrance bell chimed. Chamella breathed an internal sigh of relief, thankful for the distraction.

Until she saw who had arrived...

Just as he had earlier that day, Shade came waltzing in casually and with a particularly cheery grin. However, he wasn't alone, as with him was the equally amicable face of the mare Chamella had spoken with not long ago, Autumn. And if that weren't enough, to round out the family gathering, even Winter walked in alongside them, though looking notably less peppy than her boyfriend and mother; not particularly upset or anything, but more like she had a lot on her mind, and given everything that Shade and Autumn had said about the way she'd been acting lately, that was understandable. She was probably a little stressed.

"Well, isn't this a nice surprise," Rarity said with a pleasant and welcoming grin. However, she noticed that something was missing. "Where's little Snowflake?"

Shade chuckled at the question. "He's around."

Just as he said that, a pair of little, black hooves appeared on top of the changeling's head and a tiny colt poked up from behind him with an excited and playful squeak. Snowflake had apparently been riding on his father's back the whole way to the boutique.

"There you are," Rarity said with a giggle. "Getting adventurous, are we?"

"He wouldn't sit still long enough for us to strap him into his stroller," Shade explained, though there was no hint of frustration about it.

"So to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit? A small family excursion, or is there something you need?" the unicorn asked hospitably.

"Actually, we came over to make an announcement," Shade told them, looking a little eager. "We've decided on Snowflake's legal guardian."

Rarity's eyes widened a little in surprise. "Already? Well, that was rather quick."

"We've actually been thinking about it for the better part of the past week at this point, mostly because we simply couldn't come to an agreement."

"You didn't have to come over just to tell us that," Chamella said. "Shouldn't you tell the person you chose?"

Shade and Autumn glanced at one another, the mare stifling a chuckle. Shade turned back to Chamella with a smile. "That's what we're doing."

Chamella turned to Rarity. "You chose Rarity? I thought you were leaning towards Autumn and Nimbus?"

Rarity shook her head and rolled her eyes, smirking at the changeling's obliviousness. "Oh, Chamella, your naïvety is so adorable."

Chamella raised an eyebrow, puzzled by the comment. "What do you mean by that?"

"They chose you, sweetie," Autumn told her.

"What?!" Chamella was taken aback by the news, a sudden wave of dread washing over her. "You're joking, right?"

"No, of course not," Shade confirmed with a reassuring grin.

Hearing that, Chamella's shock and confusion at the situation she had suddenly found herself in only intensified. "But... I told you I didn't want to start a family myself. I don't want a kid. I don't want to be a mom! I can't handle that kind of responsibility! What would possess you to pick me?!"

Shade shrugged, unfazed by her reaction as though he'd been fully expecting it. "Look, you're allowed to say no. We're not going to force this on you. I just want you to be more involved with our family."

"No! I don't want this! I-I mean, I want to be a part of the family, but I can't raise Snowflake. I'm terrified to even touch him for fear of accidentally hurting him."

"It's not like we plan on going anywhere any time soon," Winter chimed in from behind Shade and Autumn. "You probably won't even have to do anything. You're just going to be his godmother."

Even hearing that, Chamella was still apprehensive. "But... what if something does happen? I can think of at least a half a dozen other ponies that could be better parents than me."

"Well, Winter was pretty adamant about going with her parents, but for some reason Autumn came back to our place and immediately recommended you," Shade said, looking a little confused about it himself as he turned to Autumn.

"I think she deserves a chance to prove that she can be responsible," Autumn explained, giving Chamella a sly wink.

"But... I wouldn't know what to do. I'd be a horrible parent," Chamella pleaded quietly.

"What, you think I didn't feel the same way when I found out I was going to be a dad?" said Shade as the colt, oblivious that he was the topic of their conversation, played around on his father's head and back. "I was scared, too, you know that. I didn't know it was even possible for changelings to be responsible parents. It was only by having that thrust upon me that I learned otherwise. If and when you become a parent yourself, or if the day comes where you have to look after Snow in our stead, you'll find that out for yourself, too."

Chamella lowered her head, an earlier shame coming back to the surface. "But I yelled at him. I got mad and lost my temper and made him cry."

"If that were the criteria for being a bad parent, there would be no such thing as a good parent," Autumn laughed. "Winter was a wonderful filly, but I'll be damned if she wasn't a walking natural disaster from time to time."

"And Winter and me can attest to that," Shade agreed with laughter of his own. "Uh, not about Winter, I mean with Snowflake. Honestly, I've heard Winter cursing more often in the past two weeks than she has the entire time I've known her. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit aggravated by this little guy's hijinks, too." He placed his hoof upon Chamella's shoulder, giving his best friend as comforting a smile as he could manage. The colt sitting on his back gave her more of a carefree and playful smile "If there's anything I've learned since becoming a father, it's that good parenting doesn't come naturally. It comes from experience. I still don't think I'm a good dad just yet; I'm still getting my footing here. That's why we want you to be his godmother."

"I don't understand," Chamella admitted with a uncomprehending shake of her head. "If you're still having trouble with parenthood, then what makes you think I'll be any better?"

"Because I want us to learn about this together."

Chamella's eyes widened. "T-Together?"

Shade nodded with a fanged smirk. "Right. I need to be sure that you're ready to be a mom if something ever happens to Winter and me. That way I'll know he's in good hooves. And if it doesn't have to come to that, then it'll be good experience for when—oh, sorry, if you ever decide to start a family yourself. But..." With his magic, Shade hoisted his son from his back and held him in front of Chamella. The little colt blew a childish raspberry with his lips as he stared straight at his aunt. "...in order for you to get any experience, you have to actually start being an aunt."

Chamella stared, wide-eyed, at Snowflake, her entire body tense with apprehension. "I-I... I can't—"

"I'm not taking no for an answer here, Chamella. Just hold him for a minute."

"B-But—"

But before she could continue her objections, Shade thrust the colt into her possession, forcing Chamella to cradle him against her will. The female changeling clenched her eyes shut, gritting her teeth to brace herself for what might happen. She could be holding him wrong; he might fidget and slip out of her grip; he might start crying at any second. All manner of things could go wrong and it'll be her fault.

As her mind played out all of the things she didn't want to happen but expected to happen anyway, Chamella was snapped out of her internal panic when something tugged on her long, dark purple mane. She opened her eyes again, letting her gaze pensively drift downward to the foal resting in her forelegs.

Snowflake was absentmindedly chewing on her hair like a pacifier, making cute, quiet noises as he suckled on the hole-riddled strands. The colt's bright green eyes turned up to meet his aunt's pink ones, who was staring down, unable to process the fact that nothing bad had happened yet.

From over Shade's shoulder, Winter watched curiously, wondering what Chamella was going to do with her son. So far it seemed fine. The changeling still looked pretty nervous, but, all in all, was remaining steady.

After a few silent moments, Snowflake's mouth opened wide with a sleepy yawn, letting Chamella's locks fall free. He then nestled into her embrace, snuggling up against her chest and quietly drifted off to sleep.

Chamella stared down in disbelief, wanting to rub her eyes to ensure what she was seeing was real, but could not due to her hooves being occupied by the very object of her disbelief. Instead, she looked to Shade for an explanation, as though what was happening now wasn't something she believed to be possible. Shade just gave her a smirk. He was silent, but his expression was clear: he had complete faith in her, more than she ever had in herself.

"Isn't that sweet?" Rarity said in a hushed tone so as not to disturb the slumbering tyke.

"See? It's not so bad, is it?" said Autumn with a quiet giggle. "You just have to get a feel for it. He already likes you, so now you just have to show him that you care, too. And you're off to a good start, I think."

Chamella looked down at the sleeping colt again. As she gazed at the content look on Snowflake's face, she suddenly felt her tension begin to melt away. Nothing bad had happened. Just sitting here like this was defying all of her expectations. Had she really just been overreacting this whole time? Did she really just not trust herself enough? Now that she was in this position, she was starting to realize that it wasn't so bad after all.

Shade could see a small smile beginning to creep its way onto Chamella's face as she instinctively held the colt tighter to her chest. But he'd seen all he needed to see at this point. "So, do you plan on sitting there and letting him nap?"

Chamella looked up as if snapped from deep thought. "Huh?"

"I know you're just getting comfortable, but I'm sure you don't want to sit with him all day."

"Plus, we do have work we need to get back to," Rarity added, gesturing to the materials they had gathered up earlier.

"Oh, right." Chamella gently and carefully passed Snowflake back to his dad, who passed the snoozing foal to Winter.

"Great, now he'll be awake all night," the ivory pegasus joked, though with a hint of genuine annoyance at the thought.

Shade, Winter and Autumn turned to make their way to the door to head back home. Shade glanced back at Chamella one last time before leaving. "Don't be afraid to come by just to see him, okay?"

Chamella grinned and nodded.

"Oh, and I guess we should get a definitive answer from you, huh? Do you actually want to be his godmother?"

There was still a moment of hesitation, but Chamella eventually weighed everything that had gone through her head in the last few minutes and came to a conclusion. "I'll try my best."

Shade smiled proudly at hearing that. "Alright then. We'll see you later."

"Goodbye, Chamella," Autumn bid with a wave as she and Shade followed Winter outside.

Rarity gave a wave back. "Don't be strangers." With a jingle, the door closed, leaving the two seamstresses alone with their work once more. Rarity turned to Chamella with a look of eagerness. "Shall we get back to it?"

With a little bit of extra pep, the changeling smiled with an equally eager nod. "Let's do it."

Chapter 11 - Day Off

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 11: Day Off

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Shade stepped outside the café into the bright, warming rays of the sun, tilting his head back as he stretched his neck, back and hole-filled legs. He let his thin, translucent wings flitter in the light breeze, a quick, but noticeable buzz briefly interrupting the conversations of the patrons dining outdoors. He was relieved to finally take off his uniform and head home for the day. Not that it was a particularly tough work day for him, but more so that he was just eager to get back home to Winter and their little bundle of joy.

As the days had gone by since Snowflake had been born, Shade was gradually becoming more and more accustomed to parenthood. He didn't exactly view himself as a great father just yet, but he felt as though he was starting to get a feel for it. Outside of that first excruciating week, the colt had been relatively manageable. He did have a tendency to get pretty hyperactive occasionally, especially after a long nap, and in those situations he could be a little hard to handle and quite exhausting to deal with. Thankfully, that didn't happen too often so as to be overly taxing on his parents, though he was only a little over a couple of weeks old yet, so there was still plenty of time for it to start getting under their skin.

Shade knew that he wasn't going to get any time to relax, even after a full day at work. Winter had the day off from work today, so he knew that she was going to immediately pull him over to help her out. He was fully expecting that, but he wasn't really bothered by it. Winter had been working herself into the ground lately, despite Shade's insistence that she slow down a bit and take a breather every now and then. He was more than willing to take some of the workload off of her if it meant giving her a chance to relax and clear her head for even a few minutes.

Still, though, he had to wonder what exactly had been going through Winter's head since Snowflake was born. She was almost like a completely different person lately. She insisted on returning to work despite the fact that her maternity leave was supposed to still be in effect, she hadn't been nearly as peppy as she used to be, and she still refused help from her friends and family if she didn't absolutely need it. Since she'd started going back to work, she hadn't had any downtime outside of sleep, with the baffling part being that that was by choice. She and Shade hadn't even had any... private time since the birth. The changeling wasn't going to bring it up, but he was starting to count the days.

Shade was almost home by now, with his house even being in view. However, he wasn't quite going to make it just yet as he noticed that somepony was waving at him some distance away. It was Fluttershy, flashing a friendly grin as she sauntered toward him.

"Good afternoon, Shade," the yellow pegasus greeted as the two met up.

"Hi," Shade said back with an equally amicable smile.

There was a brief silence after that, the two of them just standing there awkwardly for a few moments. Shade had figured Fluttershy stopped to have a chat, but it was evident that she hadn't come up with anything to start.

"Soooo... Did you just get off work?" she asked in a desperate attempt to initiate small talk and hopefully avoid making this just an awkward encounter.

Shade nodded, his smile now somewhat forced, but only to help alleviate any discomfort Fluttershy might be experiencing. "Yup. Just heading home now. What are you up to? You seem pretty cheery today."

"Hm?" Fluttershy's eyes widened a little, having not really expected Shade to play along, but also thankful that he did. "Oh, well, yes, I am. I was just heading over to Rarity's. We're going to get ready for our weekly spa visit. I always look forward to it. So, yes, I'm quite eager."

"Sounds... nice," Shade said, though having not actually visited the local spa since moving to Ponyville, he wasn't actually familiar with what it involved. However, it raised a question. "Does Chamella join you guys, too?"

"Oh, uh, no, she doesn't. I mean, we've invited her before, and she came with us once, but I don't think she enjoyed it a whole lot. It seems like she's not too fond of being touched. She found it a little uncomfortable, and I guess that's understandable. I know I took some time to get used to it when I first started going, but if you just open your mind to it a little, it's very relaxing. Now I don't think I can even function without my weekly spa trips. It's just such a wonderful way of working out all of the week's built up tension."

"Well, then I guess you want to get to it then, huh?" Shade said, seeing an opening to end the conversation.

Fluttershy seemed a bit disappointed. "Oh. I suppose. Are you in a hurry?"

Shade, realizing that he had sounded inconsiderate, quickly backpedaled. "Oh, sorry. It's not that I don't want to talk, it's just that Winter's back home waiting for me and—"

"And she's having to deal with the baby all by herself," Fluttershy inferred with a soft smile, filling in the blank herself. "I understand. Sorry to hold you up."

Shade shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure a few more minutes won't kill her. I just need to get home before she starts wondering where I am."

"Alright. It was nice talking to you, Shade, even if only briefly."

"Same."

The two walked past one another, both offering friendly waves goodbye as they headed off to their respective destinations.

Of course, Shade didn't have far to walk; his home had been in sight during the whole conversation. In fact, it might have been a little risky to stop and have a chat where Winter could easily see him through the window. She wouldn't be happy to see that when he's supposed to come straight home to help her out. But, as he said, a few extra minutes couldn't possibly hurt.

Shade stepped up to the door, flinging it open with earnest and preparing a loving smile for his favorite pegasus and their son. "Winter, I'm—whoa..."

Shade had to stop himself mid-sentence, almost taking an instinctive step backwards as his happy smile was overwritten by awe when his jaw dropped slightly.

The house was a complete disaster area. Snowflake's toys were strewn about all over the living room, with the playpen they had got for him entirely devoid of any playthings. As if that weren't enough, it appeared that absolutely everything normally necessary for caring for a newborn foal was littered all over the place. Wet wipes—both clean and used—were scattered about as though their container had exploded. Many diapers also lay around, though, thankfully, none of those appeared to be used. However, there was still the distinct and off-putting odor of something lingering in the air, though Shade couldn't quite place it, which was probably a good thing; he knew what dirty diapers smelled like, and it wasn't that. Bottles and pacifiers were also among the mess of baby products, and, given the state of the house, they were definitely going to need to be cleaned before their next use.

Shade carefully stepped around the toys and other assorted health hazards, heading toward the kitchen, which was where that odd smell seemed to be coming from. The changeling could hear the hurried sound of busy hooves on the tile floor. Sure enough, Winter was rushing around the dining room, cleaning up splatters of baby food that decorated the table. And the floor. And the walls. And, somehow, the ceiling. Even her own pristine, alabaster coat was sullied with gross, orange stains. The culprit was sitting rather nonchalantly in his highchair at the table, smearing his baby food all over the tray as if he were hoof painting a really disgusting picture.

Shade sniffed the air again, the pungent odor guiding his attention to the stove. As he feared, the smell appeared to be Winter's cooking. Apparently, she had decided to cook something for either herself or for them both for when Shade got home, but, understandably, her attention had been diverted elsewhere. As if Winter's cooking wasn't questionable enough, a distracted Winter's cooking was likely to be entirely inedible, and, quite frankly, a very real fire danger. Even now, thin smoke rose from the pan that had been left on the burner.

"Uh, Winter, I think supper's on fire," Shade pointed out.

The pegasus's head shot up from the spot on the floor she'd been cleaning up, whipping around in a panic. "What?!" She stood up and made to dash over to the stove, but skidded to a stop when Shade held out his hoof.

"Relax, I got it."

Winter watched Shade casually trot over to the counter, turning the dial for the burner off. Using his vibrant, green magic, the changeling removed the smoldering pan from the burner. Out of curiosity, Shade took a peek at what Winter was cooking. Although the contents were burnt to a crisp and charred black, it appeared to be a stir fry. However, Shade took note of the presence of chopped chicken breast amongst the carnage, indicating that the food was meant for Shade alone. It kinda made him feel bad about not getting home sooner, but, given the state of the dish, even the few minutes spent talking to Fluttershy wouldn't have been enough to save it.

"Sorry, I got a little distracted," Winter apologized, her voice noticeably shaky. "I-I can start again if you're hungry."

Shade dumped the contents for the pan into the nearby trashcan, giving Winter a shake of his head and a comforting smile. "Don't worry about it. We'll get this place cleaned up first. I'm not in any rush. Oh, actually, have you eaten yet today?"

Winter ran a hoof through her frazzled mane, letting out a long, exhausted sigh. "I had a few crackers when I had a minute, and a few spoonfuls of Snow's baby food, but aside from that..."

"Why don't I throw some pancake batter in the pan and we can eat together?"

Winter stared at Shade, an incredulous look on her face. "Why are you so calm? Have you seen this place? I've been running myself ragged all day. I'm a freaking mess here!"

Shade couldn't help but smile. Now this was the Winter he fell in love with. He couldn't count the number of times she had had these mild panic attacks when they first started dating. Heck, it reminded him of the day they met. Granted, she probably wasn't in any sort of mood to hear that right now, but that's what Shade liked about this part of Winter: when she was like this, he could help her. And when he helped her, he made her happy. That's all he wanted.

"Just take a breath, Winter. We can handle this," Shade assured her.

Winter looked over her shoulder at their baby. Snowflake was still happily chucking globs of puréed carrots all over the floor and himself. "I can't stop, Shade. If I stop for even a minute, things are just going to get worse."

"Look, I'm here now. Just go get cleaned up or something and I'll take over."

"Didn't you just hear me? I can't stop, even with you here. Believe me, I'd love to just sit back and relax for a few minutes, but what kind of mom would I be then?"

Shade grimaced at the rhetorical question. How many times had he heard her say something to that effect in just the past few weeks? He was pretty convinced that it was this obsession with being an "ideal" mom that was responsible for all of her stress lately. Maybe if she would just take one day off she would level out enough to realize how irrational she was being.

And that's when Shade got an idea.

"Winter, I think you deserve some time off."

"So do I. I've been working my butt off since he popped out," she said, pointing to the mess-making colt. "But, like I said, I don't have time to take a break. There's too much I need to do."

With that said, Winter went straight back to cleaning up the goopy mess her son had made. However, before she could really get back to it, she felt Shade's hoof upon her shoulder. The look he was giving her was serious and stern, yet concerned and caring.

"Winter, I'm done giving you a choice in the matter," Shade stated flatly. "You need to take some time off. You need to let yourself wind down and come back with a clear head."

"But—"

Shade held up his hoof to stop her. "No. No arguing. This is happening."

Winter took a moment to try and contemplate an argument, but there wasn't really anything she could say that she hadn't already said. It was evident in Shade's tone and expression that he wasn't taking no for an answer, and he looked like he was going to remain adamant about that.

Shade's stoic glare shifted to an eager grin when he saw that Winter was beginning to give in. "I have a suggestion."

The pegasus gave an apprehensive raise of her eyebrow.

"I bumped into Fluttershy on the way home, and she said that she and Rarity were going to the spa today. Why don't you go with them?"

Winter blinked. "The spa?" To be honest, the moment Shade mentioned it, she felt a twinge of excitement in the back of her mind. Just the idea of really laying back and being pampered was pretty appealing. But she shook her head, jostling the thought from her mind. "No, I can't. Even if I did, I'd just be thinking about Snow the whole time. I can't leave him alone."

Shade grimaced. "Um, he does have a father, you know."

"You think you can handle him by yourself? I mean, look at this place," she said with a sweep of her hoof, gesturing to the entirety of the abode.

Shade didn't bat an eye. "I'm sure I can handle one evening. And that's all I'm asking of you: one evening of rest and relaxation. I promise you'll come back fresh and ready to mom your flank off."

"You're sure about this?"

Just that comment alone made Shade happy. She was clearly entertaining the idea and was willing to go along with it. She was just having a little difficulty convincing herself it was okay.

"Look, why don't we head over to Rarity's and ask her if you can tag along? I'm sure they'll be more than happy to have you."

Winter hesitated for a moment, but let out a resigned sigh. "Alright. I guess I can give it a shot. But I'm not making any promises that I'll actually be able to relax."

Shade grinned even wider at her answer. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that. But we should probably head over as soon as possible before they head to the spa without you."

Winter looked around at the mess that Snowflake was still adding to. "But what about—?"

"Forget about it for now. I'll clean it up when I get back. Let's just get Snow cleaned up and head over, okay?"

The stressed pegasus took a deep breath, finally managing a smile. "Okay. I hope this works like you say it will."

Shade smiled back at her softly. "Me, too."

***** ***** *****

"I'm sure I already know the answer to this, but I'll ask anyway: would you like to join us, Chamella?"

The female changeling shook her head, though smiled regardless, appreciating the consideration of her friend and employer. "No, thanks."

Rarity gave a nod, having expected as much.

"Are you ready to go, Rarity?" asked Fluttershy, standing by the front door of the boutique.

"Just about. I just need to grab some bits. Give me a moment." Rarity hurriedly trotted off to acquire some money.

At that moment, the door opened, the jingling of the entrance bell giving the meek pegasus a start and eliciting a surprised yelp. She took a breath to slow her heart rate after the sudden jump before noticing who had arrived.

Rarity looked up from her search for her bit satchel to find Shade and Winter had come over with Snowflake, the sight of the little colt in his stroller prompting an excited squeal from the unicorn. "Oh-ho, well, isn't this a nice surprise."

"Hey, girls," Shade greeted rather quickly. "I'm glad we caught you before you left."

Fluttershy sniffed the air, an odd and pungent scent offending her nose. She leaned in toward Snowflake, the smell getting stronger. "Um, I think Snowflake needs to be changed. He's a little stinky."

Winter scratched the back of her head in slight embarrassment, a blush appearing on her cheeks to go with it. "Uh, actually it's both of us. He... kind of made a mess with his supper and we only had time to wipe it off before coming over. We could both use a bath."

Rarity gave the other ivory mare a sympathetic pout. "Been having a rough day, I take it?" She received an affirmative nod from Winter, accompanied by an exhausted sigh. "Oh, you poor thing. Being a mother certainly is hard work, not to mention dirty."

"And that's actually why we came over," Shade interjected with a hopeful grin. "I spoke to Fluttershy earlier and she said you two are going to the spa today."

"Yes, we were about to leave actually." Rarity let out an elated gasp as she connected the dots. "I know! Winter should join us!"

Shade was pleased as punch to hear that. He hadn't even asked yet and they've already agreed to it. "That's what I was going to ask. Winter's been working herself into the ground for the past few weeks, and I finally managed to convince her to at least entertain the idea of a day off. Talking to Fluttershy gave me the idea. So it's okay if she goes with you two? That's not going to cause any problems, is it?"

Fluttershy gave a small smile. "I think that's a wonderful idea. I'm sure they can squeeze her in. It should be no trouble."

From the back of the room, Chamella had been listening intently. She couldn't help but notice that Winter didn't seem too keen on the idea of a spa day, a mild grimace on the pegasus's face. "You don't look very excited. Aren't you happy to get some time off, Winter?"

"I just... Look, my mind has been preoccupied with taking care of Snowflake lately. I can't guarantee that I'll really be able to relax, even at the spa," she explained with her head hung down.

"You might as well try," Fluttershy suggested. "I'm sure Shade can handle little Snowflake for an evening."

"No, no, no, that won't do."

Everypony looked at Rarity, confused by her sudden change in attitude.

"Just one evening is far too little in comparison to the work she's done. She needs to make a day of it."

Fluttershy glanced at the clock on the wall. "But we're almost late as it is. We can't get any more than an evening now."

The unicorn smirked confidently. "I have an idea of my own. Fluttershy, I suggest we cancel today's appointment and reschedule for tomorrow."

Fluttershy grinned widely with a small gasp, her wings spreading out eagerly. "Are you saying we should take an entire day to go to the spa? Oh, that's such a fantastic idea, Rarity!"

"An entire day?" Winter echoed skeptically. "I don't know. I'd feel bad about leaving Shade alone with Snow for a whole day."

Shade rolled his eyes with an insulted groan. "You know, I'm beginning to think you don't have any confidence in me."

"I didn't mean it like that. I just don't want you to have to deal with all the crap I've had to put up with. Both figurative and literal."

"If anything, it'll give me a chance to see the whole situation from your point of view. Look, just try not to think about it too much and chill out, okay? Nothing bad is going to happen if you take just one day off."

Rarity nodded in agreement. "Yes, and it'll do you a world of good, I assure you. Now, I'll head over to the spa to rearrange our appointment. And I'll ask one more time..." she said, turning back to Chamella. "Would you like to join the three of us? It would be so much fun to make this a real girl's spa trip."

Chamella paused to think it over, glancing discreetly in Winter's direction. She was looking back at her, but her expression was pretty unreadable. Maybe she could turn this into an opportunity. She grinned at Rarity's offer. "You know what? I think I will."

Rarity clapped with glee to hear her say that, having wanted this day to come since the changeling's last visit to the spa. "Oh, wonderful! I promise, you won't regret it this time. Now then..." The unicorn walked over to the door, looking over her shoulder as she prepared to leave. "I'll just pay a quick visit to the spa and let them know of our change of plans. Fluttershy, you're welcome to stay for tea if you like. I'll be back shortly," she said as she brushed past Shade and Winter, giving their son a playful pat on the head as she passed.

"We should head out, too," Shade said. "We've got a bit of a mess to clean up back home. Not to mention we haven't had supper yet either."

"And Snow and me need baths," Winter added. "I appreciate this Rarity, Fluttershy. I'll try and enjoy it as best I can. See you tomorrow."

Fluttershy and Chamella gave them a wave as they went back out the door.

***** ***** *****

Winter swung the front door open, letting the life-giving rays of the afternoon sun warm her ivory coat and drying what dampness remained after her morning shower. Her entire day was planned out, something that hadn't happened since she became a mother. It was also going to be her first day away from her son. Even when she worked, she still spent half the day taking care of Snowflake. Now, she was going to spend an entire day separated from him, outside of this morning and later tonight. That thought made her reconsider this whole thing. She really didn't want to leave him. It's not that she didn't trust Shade, she just didn't want him to go through all the trouble she had for the past few weeks.

Winter's reluctance led her to spin back around to go back inside, perhaps having subconsciously decided against this whole endeavor. However, her attempt to back out was stifled when she found Shade standing immediately behind her, giving her a rather displeased grimace.

"You're going," he insisted authoritatively.

The pegasus breathed a defeated sigh, turning back toward the outside world. She looked back over her shoulder at the changeling, a little hope, yet a little worry in her eyes. "Are you sure you can handle him on your own?"

Shade's bemused expression shifted none.

Winter turned halfway around. "Just... If you need help, don't hesitate to come get me, okay? I'll run right back."

"Won't be necessary," he stated rather flatly, clearly growing increasingly impatient with her apprehension.

Winter turned fully toward him now, taking a step closer. "You can always—"

Shade furrowed his brow, pointing a hoof over the pegasus's shoulder. "Winter. Go."

Once again, the mare sighed in defeat. However, she then felt Shade's hoof under her chin, lifting her eyes to meet his. Now he was smiling; a soft and loving smile. She stared into his vivid, emerald eyes for a few moments, remembering now just who she was talking to. She could trust him. She knew she could. She could always trust him.

"Just relax, okay?"

That was all he said before he leaned forward, leaving her lips tingling with the pleasure of a light, loving kiss. She lifted her own hoof onto his, grinning almost involuntarily at his show of affection.

Winter looked past Shade and to the playpen in the living room, where their baby was sitting, sucking idly on his pacifier. "Don't cause too much trouble for Daddy, okay, sweetie? Mommy'll be back later." He didn't really react, but just stared back at her, which was enough acknowledgement for Winter. She looked back into Shade's eyes, returning the favor with a kiss of her own. "You two have fun."

"Same goes for you."

With a wave goodbye, Shade shut the door behind Winter, officially shutting her off from her baby. Aside from when she was working, this was really the first time that Snowflake's been out of her sight during her waking hours. Oddly, though, she didn't find herself in as much of a panic over it as she had been anticipating. She figured that the moment that door closed, her mind would start racing with worry. But she was pleasantly surprised to discover that not only was she unusually calm about it, but that she was actually looking forward to having some time off for once.

Winter took a deep, relaxing breath through her nose, taking time to properly enjoy the crisp air and warm sun for the first time in weeks.

"I deserve this," she said to herself, reminding herself of that so that she didn't have a sudden change of heart.

But there was no time to dawdle. Rarity, Fluttershy and Chamella were waiting for her, and the more time she spent standing around, lost in thought, was less time she could spend at the spa and letting her worries melt away. So away she went, spreading her wings and taking flight to hurry over to meet up with the others as quickly as possible.

It didn't take long to get there, not surprisingly. It wasn't as though Ponyville was a large town or anything. It would have taken only a few minutes to get there on hoof. Winter touched down into a short trot towards the entrance to Carousel Boutique. She already noticed that Rarity put a "Closed" sign on the door, which she thought was rather odd. Winter had never seen Rarity make use of signs to denote whether the boutique was open or closed. By now, it seemed like everypony was familiarized well enough with her business hours that it wasn't necessary, but it was more likely that it was simply because she welcomed customers throughout most of the day; she'd even been known to take orders on her days off. The sign was probably there because she and Chamella were taking the entire day off. It was interesting really: somehow, that made Winter feel like this day was pretty important. Rarity was actually shutting down her business for the day in order to treat her to a spa day. With that in mind, she couldn't very well have any second thoughts now, otherwise she'd come off as inconsiderate and ungrateful.

Winter made sure to put on as appreciative a smile as she could as she prepared to knock on the door. However, before her hoof had a chance to rap against the purple wood, the door swung open. With impeccable timing, Rarity was preparing to step outside herself, stopping abruptly when she nearly bumped right into Winter.

"Oh, there you are. Good afternoon," the unicorn greeted with a pleasant grin.

"Am I late?" Winter asked, feeling bad that she may have been holding them up. "Sorry. I was still having some doubts about this."

Rarity waved her apology off dismissively. "Think nothing of it, darling. We were simply excited to get our little day-long siesta underway. We were just on our way over to fetch you."

Having heard the word "we," Winter glanced over Rarity's shoulder to see both Chamella and Fluttershy standing behind her, wearing similar smiles as the violet-maned unicorn. Apparently, Fluttershy had arrived early, so they had been waiting on Winter.

It was then that Winter also noticed that the three other mares were carrying small bags around their necks, with Rarity's being much more ornate and more like a satchel or purse, as would be expected from the fashionista. But seeing this made Winter realize something:

"Oh, cripes, I forgot to bring money. Can you girls give me a few minutes? I'll fly back home real quick and grab some bits." Winter crouched down as she prepared to take off, but looked back with a question. "Uh, how expensive is the spa usually?"

Chamella scooched through the doorway, brushing past Fluttershy and Rarity, and grinning at Winter, though there was some clear pensiveness in her posture. "Actually, you don't have to do that. I'll pay for your treatments."

Winter raised a suspicious eyebrow. "What? Why?"

"Just... as a thank you for trusting me enough to be Snowflake's godmother."

"Besides, this is supposed to be your day," Rarity informed, placing a hoof on Winter's shoulder and turning her away from the direction she had intended to take off. "You shouldn't have to pay for your own gifts."

"We discussed all pitching in to pay together, but Chamella insisted that she treat you herself as a show of good will," Fluttershy added.

Winter looked back at Chamella, who, once again, was smiling amicably. "Oh. Well... thanks."

Chamella's smile faltered slightly. That thank you wasn't as satisfying as she'd hoped it would be. Winter gave a grateful smile back at her, but for some reason, it looked a little forced.

"Well then, let's not waste anymore time loitering, ladies," Rarity said as she began leading the group to their destination. "To the spa! Where our stress and woes evaporate with the water on the hot coals."

***** ***** *****

The Ponyville Day Spa was a place that Winter had certainly seen many times since she moved to Ponyville, but never once had she been inside. The tented roof of the building's outward design gave it a foreign and exotic feel, and the inside was much the same. As the four mares waited in the lobby for Rarity to confirm their appointments, Winter had a look around now that she had the chance to take it all in.

The lobby was quite ornate, yet had a relaxing air about it. From the moment they stepped inside, Winter could smell the soothing aroma of lilac incense, and various exotic plants were sitting around the room. They haven't even begun their treatments yet and already the spa was doing its job. The lobby was illuminated by hanging lamps, giving the room an almost mystic glow, and the walls and archways that led further in were carved from marble. Winter would have expected to see a place like this in an upscale city like Canterlot rather than a small, rural town like Ponyville.

She took a seat on a chair next to Fluttershy, who was idly skimming through one of the beauty magazines laying on a glass table.

Fluttershy briefly glanced up from the magazine, immediately noticing the peppy grin on Winter's face. "It's nice to see you smiling again," the soft-spoken pegasus commented. "Are you starting to warm up to the idea of taking some time off?"

"Kind of, yeah. I mean, I can't say I don't already miss my baby, but I just have to keep telling myself that I'm doing this not just for my sake, but for Shade and Snow, too."

Fluttershy nodded. "That's a good way to think about it. You don't want them to see you getting all wound up and stressed out. If you want to do your best, you have to be at your best, right?"

Winter let out a sigh. "Yeah, I guess. I don't know, I just feel like I'm being neglectful by doing this."

The yellow pegasus gave her a reassuring grin. "Try not to think about it too much. Shade's reliable, and I'm sure he can deal with a little colt by himself for a day."

"I know, he kept telling me that. But I just can't shake the idea of something horrible happening in my absence. Not because of Shade or anything, but more like... random misfortune."

"Alright, are we all ready, ladies?" Rarity chimed in.

The unicorn was standing with two earth pony mares who looked to be near-identical twins, except one had a blue coat with a pink mane that was perfectly straight, and the other was the opposite, minus the hair style, which was also straight and perfectly maintained. Both wore white hairbands and chokers with an embedded, pink gemstone, both had vivid, blue eyes and appeared to wear a fair amount mascara and eye shadow, and, astonishingly, they had the exact same cutie mark: a lotus flower.

Fluttershy and Chamella both stood up, with Winter following their lead. The two mares with Rarity both bowed slightly, offering friendly and welcoming smiles. The blue one was first to speak.

"Welcome to Ponyville Day Spa. I am Lotus," the blue mare greeted.

"And I am Aloe," the pink one added.

Winter picked up on their particularly strong accents, but couldn't quite place their origins. She assumed that wherever it was they hailed from was probably the inspiration for the design and theme of the spa. However, she couldn't help but notice that they seemed to be looking at her when they had introduced themselves.

"Miss Rarity tells us this is your first visit," Lotus said directly to Winter, a slight twinkle of excitement in her eye.

"We are looking forward to showing you what our facility has to offer," added Aloe. She then gestured for the four guests to follow them further into the building. "Come. We shall get your treatments started immediately."

As they were led down the brightly lit hallways, Winter let her eyes wander. Several other ponies wearing towels and bathrobes were also going here and there, conversing as they waited for their next treatment. She had a peek inside some of the rooms they were passing by, as well, finding ponies getting deep and rather aggressive-looking massages, while others were enjoying facials or mud baths. It really seemed like this place had everything and then some.

Seeing all of this, it brought up a question that Winter hadn't actually thought to ask until now. She quickly trotted forward a bit, getting up next to Aloe and Lotus. "So, um... What exactly did Rarity sign us up for?"

"Oh, you have the full package ahead of you," Lotus said with a polite smile.

"Deep tissue massage; sauna; mud masks; hooficures. And that is just the beginning. Miss Rarity made sure that you would get to use all of our major facilities," Aloe elaborated.

"It's not too intense, is it?" Winter asked with an apprehensive gulp.

Rarity gave her a dismissive scoff. "Hardly. There may be some discomfort, to be sure, but ultimately, at the end of the day, you'll feel like a million bits, I promise you."

Somehow, that didn't really assuage Winter's worries. She instead looked to Chamella for a second opinion. "Rarity said you didn't really enjoy it last time. Any particular reason?"

The changeling thought back, grimacing slightly. "I guess I just don't really like being touched by strangers. But, admittedly, I did feel pretty relaxed later on."

"Why don't we start you off with something simple, like the sauna? Perhaps that will help ease you into it," Aloe suggested.

Winter shrugged indecisively. "Whatever you think is best."

"Then follow us down this hall." Aloe and Lotus both pointed down a branching hall, leading the four mares toward a rather nondescript door. "Let us know when you are ready for your next treatment," Lotus said.

"Please enjoy yourselves," added Aloe with a courteous bow as the twins left their customers to themselves.

The only thing that stood out about the door was the temperature gauge on the wall beside it. Before they had even opened the door, Rarity and Fluttershy both stepped over to a nearby cart carrying fresh, white bathrobes with gold trim and each put one on. Rarity offered one each to Winter and Chamella, as well, before finally opening the door to the sauna.

Winter felt the heat blast against her face the moment the door opened, like being sprayed by a hot mist. Rarity and Fluttershy both entered without hesitation, with Chamella and Winter following behind them, though the latter with a touch of apprehension. The two more experienced mares took up seats on the wooden bench that stretched all around the circumference of the perfectly circular sauna, while the two less experienced struggled just to see where they were through the curtain of sweltering steam. But visibility quickly increased as the fresh steam began to clear up, and Winter took a seat next to Rarity. The walls were rather ornate and beautiful for a room where it was consistently difficult to see, with landscape art painted in purple all around depicting a mountain range and a sky with fluffy clouds. However, the only other thing in the room was the pit of coals in the very center of the circle, with a ventilation funnel hanging above, as well as a bucket of water and a scoop.

Seeing that the steam was dying down, Rarity used her magic to scoop up a small cup of water and poured it onto the hot coals. The water on the coals generating a loud hiss as a burst of steam lifted up from them, creating a new cloud that enveloped the room and its four patrons.

Rarity breathed a relaxed sigh, leaning back against the wall as she let the steam caress her ivory coat. "Ahh, this is lovely, isn't it? Doesn't that steam feel good?"

"It feels like my stress is melting away," Fluttershy said with a similar, contented sigh.

"I'm not entirely sure this is even good for my skin," Chamella expressed, staring down and watching the steam condensate on her smooth, chitinous legs.

Rarity waved off her concern. "I'm sure it's fine. It might not have the same effects, but you can still enjoy the experience regardless."

"How about you, Winter?" Fluttershy asked her fellow pegasus. "Are you feeling a little more relaxed now?"

"It's, uh... kind of hot," she expressed, futilely fanning her face in the hopes of cooling off. She felt her mane beginning to grow heavy with gathered moisture, and the feathers of her wings were starting to mat together.

"Trust me, darling, it'll be worth it in the end," Rarity assured her. "By the time we're done with all of this, your coat and feathers will be silky smooth, your muscles will be loose and limber, and you might even have enough energy to show Shade a little 'thanks' for giving you this opportunity," she said with a sly grin and a suggestive bounce of her eyebrows.

That comment elicited a slight blush from Winter, though it was barely visible through the steam and natural heat permeating her body. "Admittedly, it has been a while."

"You really haven't had a chance to rest, have you?" said Fluttershy with a sympathetic frown.

Winter let out a long, exhausted sigh just thinking about it. "Juggling a newborn, a relationship, and a job is really tiring. I don't know how people do it."

"To be fair, you didn't have to go back to work as soon as you did," Rarity pointed out. "Typically, maternity leave is good for a few months after the birth, not just a couple of weeks."

"I've got a family to support. I can't just sit on my butt all day doing nothing," Winter argued.

"You're not doing nothing, you're taking care of the baby," Fluttershy corrected. "I'm sure Shade could provide on his own for those few months."

Winter shook her head. "You guys don't get it. You're not mothers."

"Even your mom seems to think you're handling this the wrong way," Chamella chimed in. "She's worried that you're working yourself too hard."

Winter simply grimaced at Chamella's comment.

"You're keeping in mind that you can ask your friends for help, right?" Fluttershy asked.

The other pegasus let out an aggravated groan. "How can I not when everypony keeps reminding me?"

"Alright, I can see that this conversation has taken an unintended turn," Rarity interrupted with a defeated sigh. "This sort of talk isn't really conducive to what we came here to do. You're not supposed to think about these things today, Winter. Just for today, you are to think only of yourself. Do you think you can do that?"

"Obviously not. Not when I know my boyfriend is home alone with our newborn hurricane of a son."

"Is he still not sleeping?" Fluttershy asked with concern. "Having you been singing to him or anything?"

"No, no, it's not that. That song's actually been doing wonders to help him sleep, not to mention Shade and me, too. He's just so... rambunctious. He's happy, but when he's happy, he doesn't stop. The house has been a complete wreck lately, but there's just no time to really clean it because you can't take your eyes off of him."

"No kidding," Chamella mumbled with a discreet roll of her eyes.

"And now Shade's at home having to deal with that. I know exactly what he's putting up with right now. He's probably miserable, while I'm here goofing off at the spa!"

Rarity immediately saw the look of doubt, regret, and worry appear on Winter's face and knew exactly what she was thinking at that moment. Almost simultaneously, the two of them stood up, Winter taking a step towards the door, and Rarity towards Winter.

"I'm sorry, I have to go. This was a mistake. I need to be there for Shade and Snowflake," Winter said hurriedly as she quickly exited the sauna.

Rarity made to chase after her. "Winter, wait! The whole point was for Shade to take some of the load off of you! It would be inconsiderate to throw it away!"

Winter just glanced over her shoulder briefly, giving Rarity an apologetic look before throwing off her robe and disappearing down the hall.

Chamella and Fluttershy poked their heads out of the sauna while the unicorn stood silently in the hall, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Oh my. That poor girl..."

***** ***** *****

Thoughts of what sort of mess Shade might have been dealing with at this very moment invaded Winter's mind as she hurried home. Her own imagination played out the various scenarios he may be finding himself in. Baby food plastered all over the walls; hard toys being tossed at the back of Shade's head; the foul stench of all manner of bodily excretions. She knew these woes all too well and didn't wish any of it on Shade. He needed her help.

At her brisk pace, it didn't take long for Winter to get home, though the run back still left her a little worn out. She flung the front door open, ready for the carnage within.

"Shade! I'm—"

Winter jerked to a stop before she could finish. For a moment, she stood in stunned silence as she attempted to grasp the situation she was looking at.

Or rather, the complete lack of any situation.

Shade was standing in the living room, leaning over the railing of Snowflake's playpen, the tyke himself sitting quietly within it. The house itself was totally in order. There were a couple of toys laying here and there, but they were at least out of the way. The walls were spotless, the floors unstained, and the place smelled... nice.

When Winter abruptly burst through the door, Shade looked up from the their son, quirking an eyebrow at the sight of his beloved. "Winter? What are you doing back so soon?" It was then that he noticed the somewhat disheveled state she was in, with her coat, mane, and feathers damp and matted. Even her skin was slightly wrinkled. "And what happened to you? Why are you wet?"

"Uhh..." was all Winter could manage upon seeing the house in a cleanly state and her son so well behaved. She looked Shade in the eyes, seeing the confusion and concern in his expression. "I came back to help you. I didn't want you to have to do this—"

Shade held up his hoof, scowling slightly at her. "You're supposed to be relaxing. I thought we went over this."

"But... I... I was worried."

Shade breathed an exasperated sigh. "Well, as you can see, everything is under control. Besides, you've only been gone a half an hour. Seriously, stop worrying. I got this."

"Anything can happen in just half an hour. Believe me, I know. I just had to make sure you could handle it."

"And?"

Winter paused, glancing down at her son, who was staring back up at her from the playpen as he sucked contentedly on his pacifier. "I... guess everything's okay."

Shade gave her a loving smile. "See? You're worrying about nothing. Now that you've seen it with your own eyes, do you think you can sit back and enjoy your day off?"

Winter brushed her wet mane out of her face, a small, embarrassed blush tinting her cheeks. "Okay. I'm so sorry, Shade. I didn't mean to sound like I didn't think you could deal with it. I just don't want you to have to deal with it, you know?"

The changeling waved it off. "I get it. But we're both his parents. We should share the burden."

Winter managed to smile back. "Alright, I think I understand. Gosh, I've must've been a real pain lately, huh? I'm sorry I worried you. And Mom. And our friends. I'm sorry for everything."

"Stop apologizing, it's fine," Shade told her with a chuckle. "Now, I think you should get back while you still have hours left in the day. Speaking of which, you never told me why you're wet. Were you swimming?"

"Huh?" Winter finally took a look at herself, feeling a sudden chill from the outside air blowing through the open door and against her damp coat. "Oh, uh, we were just in the sauna. It's pretty warm and steamy in there," she said with a small shiver.

"Sounds like you might want to get back in there before you catch a cold," Shade laughed.

The pegasus giggled, still a little embarrassed about all of this. "No kidding. Alright, I guess I'll head back then. But first..." She sauntered over to the playpen, leaning down toward Snowflake and rubbing her nose against his. "Thanks for going easy on Daddy. I'll be back later, okay?"

The colt lightly grabbed his mother by the cheeks and pulled her in closer to nuzzle her. It made it hard for Winter to leave again when he was being so affectionate.

Winter trotted back to the door, giving Shade a quick kiss as she prepared to head back to the spa. "I promise I won't come back until we're done this time."

"Just enjoy yourself," Shade said, kissing her back.

***** ***** *****

Rarity, Fluttershy, and Chamella all lay back in total comfort—or slight comfort in the case of the changeling—enjoying their second round of treatments at the spa. The room they were in was fairly small, around the size of a typical living room. In fact, the room looked as though it were made for lounging, with several comfy recliners and a couch furnishing the place, and a few artsy looking paintings on the walls. There was a magazine rack on the wall, as well, giving patrons something to read while receiving their treatments. There was also a table containing all sorts of beauty products, as well, all to be used for their current treatment.

For the most part, the three mares were quiet as they relaxed. Fluttershy was idly flipping through a magazine as she lay on the couch, while Chamella simply sat up on a chair, looking a little uncomfortable. Rarity was leaning back on one of the recliners. She broke the silence of the room with a sigh, though not one of complete contentedness. There was a hint of disappointment in the one sound she'd made, something that wouldn't go unnoticed by her companions.

Fluttershy was about to voice what she believed to be what was on Rarity's mind, but was interrupted when the door opened. In walked Lotus, a rather large smile on her face.

"Right in here," she gestured to somepony out in the hall.

Coming in behind her was the pegasus who had run out on them earlier, wearing a fresh robe and towel herself for her still wet mane and coat. She looked a touched embarrassed about her earlier behavior.

"Winter, you're back!" Fluttershy exclaimed excitedly.

Rarity immediately shot up from her seat upon hearing the name. "What?! She came back?!"

"Hi, girls, I'm sor—uh..." Winter paused upon seeing the three other mares.

While their manes were done up in towels and they were wearing a fresh set of robes, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Chamella had weird, green gunk slathered on their faces, only their eyes and muzzles left clean. Rarity also had a pair of cucumber slices covering her eyes as she lounged, and when she had shot up in her seat, they both plopped down into her lap. The unicorn, upon seeing Winter had returned, immediately stood up and hurried over to greet her, throwing her hooves around her neck in relieved elation. Winter had to pull her head back to avoid having Rarity's mud mask stain her coat, which was still a little wet from the steam of the sauna.

"Oh, I'm so glad you came back!" Rarity pulled away, looking Winter in the eye with sympathetic concern. "How are you feeling? Is everything alright back home?"

Winter sighed with a smile, lifting Rarity's hooves off of her. "Uh, yeah, actually. Everything's fine. Shade's got it handled."

"Well, that's good to hear. Does that mean you'll be joining us again?" asked Fluttershy.

Winter nodded. "Yup." Her expression then became a touch reluctant as she looked upon the gunk on their faces. "So... mud masks, huh?"

Lotus gestured toward one of the recliners. "If you would lie down, I can apply yours."

The ivory pegasus looked to the others for encouragement. She simply received pleased grins from Rarity and Fluttershy, but Chamella didn't seem too fond of the treatment. Two out of three wasn't bad, she supposed.

Following Lotus's guiding hoof, Winter sat down on one of the recliners, leaning it back to give Lotus access to her face. The blue mare acquired the needed products and began the treatment.

"You must be quite relieved knowing Shade is such a capable father," Rarity surmised, watching as Winter let out a long breath.

"Yeah. It was actually kind of shocking. I'm used to the house now looking like a total disaster area. Seeing it spick and span is just... jarring. Honestly, it made me think that something was wrong, but Snow was just... behaving himself," Winter told them as Lotus smeared her face with exfoliating cream.

"Shade must be doing quite a good job of keeping him in line," Fluttershy commented with a giggle.

Winter didn't seem to find the comment amusing. She simply stared up at the ceiling as she let Lotus do her work, looking to be thinking about something. "It makes me wonder what I've been doing wrong..." she muttered quietly.

Despite her effort to keep her statement under her breath, it still managed to catch the attention of her company and elicited looks of concern.

"Winter, I'm sure you're not doing anything wrong," Chamella assured her.

"Most certainly," agreed Rarity. "You've said it yourself, little Snowflake is always so enthusiastic when you care for him. He might just enjoy the company of his dear mother. Of course, I mean no offense to Shade in saying that, but it's not uncommon for a child to be more attached to their mother than their father during infancy."

"He doesn't know that he's making more work for you," Fluttershy added. "I'm sure he thinks it's just playtime."

Winter's face contorted as she fought against her own doubts and concerns. "I'm overdoing it again, aren't I? I talked to Shade about it, and I realize now that I've been pretty dumb lately. I'm sorry if I might have worried any of you with the way I've been acting. I promised Shade that I'm going to try and loosen up a bit."

Rarity leaned back into her chair again, replacing the cucumbers back over her eyes. "Good to hear, darling. I presume that means you're going to enjoy the spa to its fullest then?"

The ivory pegasus let out a relaxed sigh as Lotus finished applying the mud mask, letting herself sink into the comfy recliner while Lotus took her leave for the time being. "You bet. After all, I think I need this to help offset all the unnecessary obsessing I've been doing lately. I'm finally ready to just kick my hooves up and chill out." Winter's nose twitched slightly in discomfort. "Ugh. I think some of this stuff got up my nose."

"We don't have to sit around here if the mud masks are too... unpleasant for you. Perhaps we could just move on to the next thing," proposed Rarity.

"Really? This stuff's not gonna do its job after just a couple of minutes, is it?" Winter asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, the three of us have been sitting here since you ran off," Fluttershy told her.

"To be honest, I'd be fine with doing something else," Chamella chimed in with a grimace. "This stuff is gross and it feels weird."

Rarity got up from her seat, sauntering over to the door. "I'll just fetch Aloe and Lotus, then. We'll get cleaned up and move on."

"Any suggestions on what we should do next, Winter?" asked Fluttershy with eager curiosity.

Winter hummed in thought for a moment. "Hmm... You know, I think a nice hot tub soak would be just the thing I need right now."

"Now that's something I can get behind," Chamella stated with a grin of approval.

***** ***** *****

Shade stretched out his hole-riddled legs, feeling a few satisfying pops in his vertebrae. He let his head sink down onto the throw pillows as he lounged on the couch. Finally, a long sigh left his lungs, the final piece of his relaxation puzzle. Winter may have been having a day of rest today, but Shade also found himself getting pretty cozy as well. He honestly felt kind of bad about it; the whole point of Winter's spa day was for him to take all the work and stress off of her and upon himself. Yet here he lay, comfy and, admittedly, a little bored.

The changeling felt a stirring and he glanced down at his chest. The sleepy form of his exhausted, halfling son snuggled into him as he lay atop his father, moaning quietly in his half-sleep.

It wasn't as though Snowflake hadn't been rather rambunctious. He was certainly energetic, just as Winter warned. However, he wasn't quite as much trouble as she made him out to be. Shade had managed to keep the house orderly, and he hadn't had any difficulty feeding the tyke. For the most part, Snowflake had spent most of his time playing with his toys in his playpen. If anything, Snowflake seemed almost... indifferent today. But that certainly didn't stop him from tuckering himself out.

Shade gently wrapped Snowflake in his neon green aura, slowly lifting him from his chest. He then rose from the couch and began to carry his son upstairs. "Come on, little guy. Let's put you to bed," he whispered softly as he cradled the colt.

It was starting to get a little late, at least for a small colt like Snowflake. The house was bathed in the soft, orange light of the sunset as it shone through the windows. Honestly, Shade thought Winter would have been home by now. She hadn't even come home for supper. He could only assume that she and the other girls must have gone out for a bite together before heading right back to the spa. He was starting to get curious as to just what they were doing with her at that place to actually keep her occupied all day. But, at the very least, not coming home meant that she was probably enjoying herself and was willing to put her worries out of her head for at least one day. That was enough to put a smile on Shade's face.

The changeling father brought his son into the nursery. He gently lowered the tyke into his crib, covering him with his soft, cotton blanket. Snowflake had fallen fast asleep in the short trip to his room. Perfect timing, all things considered. And with Snowflake down for the night, all Shade had left to do now was wait for Winter to get home. Maybe he could find some sort of chore to preoccupy himself until she returned. It couldn't be that much longer.

Still, though, it was a deep relief to him that Winter had actually acknowledged her behavior as of late. No doubt Autumn would be happy to hear about this, too. Actually, now that he thought about it, perhaps now Winter would be willing to agree to some sort of family outing with her parents, something that Autumn had suggested a few times since Snowflake had been born. It was only Winter's stubbornness that dashed those plans against the rocks until now.

Having returned downstairs, Shade wound up wandering into the kitchen in an effort to look for something to do. As fate would have it, there were still some dirty dishes from supper. It probably wouldn't take more than ten minutes at most, but at least it was something for him to do. He had noticed as he passed through the living room that a few of Snowflake's toys were still strewn about as well. He'd pick those up afterward.

However, Shade had barely turned the faucet in the sink on before he got interrupted by a knock on the door. It was a rather aggressive knock, loud and rough. The sound of it reverberated through the house and Shade was worried that the inconsiderate visitor may have woken up the baby. Thankfully, Shade didn't hear the sound of an upset newborn roused from his sleep, so he went to answer the door and give this unannounced guest a discreet warning about common courtesy.

Shade opened the door, and immediately took a few steps back, his mind reeling with sudden shock and dread and his face showing as much.

Standing beyond the threshold was the last thing he expected to see: a changeling. But not just any changeling. This changeling was of quite large stature, taller and more muscular than the typical drone, and was adorned with the jagged, deep blue armor that was characteristic of changeling soldiers. The gaze of his vivid, violet eyes felt as though they were piercing straight through Shade.

Shade knew this changeling. He had never met him, but his reputation proceeded him. He knew enough that just seeing him was enough to accurately identify him. And his presence here not only confused, but terrified Shade. His very name shot through Shade's mind like a horrified scream.

Wraith.

Shade was stunned to silence. No amount of visual confirmation could lead him to any acceptable reason why Captain Wraith—the most feared of all changelings, perhaps even more so than Queen Chrysalis herself—would show up out of the blue at his front door. So storied was his strength and intellect in comparison to the average changeling, many of the drones believed that, had he accompanied the swarm during their invasion of Canterlot, the outcome would have been in favor of the colony.

A few tense moments of silence passed between the two changelings. Shade stood motionless. Wraith, too, remained where he was, simply staring down at the smaller bug. Shade was more than a little intimidated, but, if only out of morbid curiosity, finally managed to ask the question of the hour:

"W-What are you doing here?" Shade stammered, trying, and failing, to maintain some level of composure in the face of the behemoth of a changeling.

"I'm here for the larva," was his response, his voice level, yet still intimidating.

The declaration vexed Shade. "Larva? What, you mean my son?"

Wraith didn't bother to answer that, knowing how obvious the answer was.

"What do you want with my son?"

"All changeling larva are property of the hive and its ruler. You and the other deserter willingly abandoned the colony. However, your 'son' is a subject of the hive's ruler. I'm here to bring it back, where it belongs."

Hearing that, Shade's previous fear of Wraith was replaced by a sudden rise in anger. It had been a while since he'd heard something like that, and he was already sick of it. Shade furrowed his brow in defiance. "What kind of garbage is that? This is his home. He was born here, and that makes him a subject of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

Although his expression changed little, it was still clear that Wraith's patience in this matter was quite limited. He likely wasn't expecting to have any difficulty completing his objective. "I am simply upholding our laws. I am not concerned with what you choose to believe, deserter. By all rights, I should kill you right here and now as punishment for abandoning the hive, but I'm not going to dirty my hooves if it isn't necessary."

"Chrysalis gave us her blessing!" Shade exclaimed in aggressive defense. "We're free to live as we please!"

"She gave that boon to you and the other deserter. The larva received no such blessing."

Shade grit his teeth at Wraith's stubborn insistence. "How did you even know about us?! How could you possibly even know that we had a son?!"

Wraith stayed silent for a moment, his expression stoic and unfazed by the question posed to him. He turned his head slightly, glancing off some distance from the house. Shade, puzzled, leaned out the door, following the Captain's gaze.

Standing a fair distance from the house was a trio of ponies. They looked vaguely familiar, people Shade had seen in passing in town, though he didn't know their names. Oddly, the three of them were looking straight back, seemingly unperturbed by the presence of the larger, unfamiliar changeling.

Shade's anger began to roil further when the realization hit him. "You've been spying on us?!"

"You sound surprised. Regardless of whether or not you've received Queen Chrysalis's blessing, you are still a deserter, a traitor to the colony. You were allowed to live your life the way you saw fit, but we knew that you had a constant source of love. That love makes you a threat to the throne, so, of course, we needed to keep tabs on you."

"I don't even want anything to do with the Changeling Kingdom anymore!"

"And what's to stop you from changing your mind in the future? We are not taking that chance. And, again, the only reason you are still alive right now is because I'd rather not create a scene while I'm here. And I'm not going to bother requesting that you return to the Changeling Kingdom; I've already determined that that would be futile on my part. So I would suggest you make this easy on yourself and give me the larva. Then you can get back to your life."

Shade narrowed his eyes, tensing every muscle in his body as he prepared to go to any lengths to defend his son. "Over my dead body."

Shade had all of one second to regret his choice of words.

In the blink of an eye, Wraith had pivoted around on his hooves, and before Shade had a chance to register what was happening, the brute's hind legs delivered a crushing buck to the smaller changeling's chest. The force of the kick sent Shade careening across the house, into the kitchen and through the dinner table, shattering the table into pieces. It did little to slow Shade down, however, as he kept going until he collided with the kitchen wall and collapsed onto the tiled floor amongst the splintered remains of the table.

Pain shot through all of Shade's body. His ears were ringing and his vision blurred. He struggled to breathe, coughing after having the air knocked from his lungs. He attempted to stand, but found his legs suddenly too weak to support him. He even had trouble trying to figure out where he was and what had happened; Shade felt as though he may have blacked out for a moment.

Shade's vision gradually began to refocus, but he was distracted by the taste of blood on his tongue. He lifted a hoof to his mouth to assuage the sore spot, but found that something was missing. His left fang had snapped off, leaving behind just a jagged stump. He glanced down at the floor. Sure enough, amidst the wreckage of the kitchen table was his severed fang, slightly stained by his own blood.

The sound of heavy hoofsteps prompted Shade to look up, a furious glower already upon his face. Wraith now stood over him, his expression unchanged. Even when brought to use violent force, no hint of satisfaction or haughty superiority were evident, at least not on the surface.

"At this point, your continued survival is mere commiseration. I am not blind to the fact that you've found happiness, and, on some level, I regret that I have to do this. But I gave you the opportunity to comply peacefully and you swatted my hoof aside. My sympathies have dwindled as a result. Now then..." For the first time since he had arrived, Wraith's expression shifted, if only minutely. He narrowed his eyes, his patience clearing having run thin. "I will ask once—and only once—more: give. Me. The. Larva."

Shade continued to bare what was left of his fangs at the armored changeling. He wiped away a trickle of blood that dribbled from the corner of his mouth and stared venomous daggers into Wraith's penetrating, violet eyes. He offered his reply with a low, primal growl.

"Go to Tartarus."

Wraith responded back by spinning around once more and throwing one hoof squarely against Shade's temple. The smaller changeling's head was knocked back into the wall, the combined trauma of the two consecutive blows causing Shade to fall limp and unconscious on the floor.

Wraith shook his head in disappointment. "I would have surmised that having spent so much time within a proper, more established civilization you would have made the smart choice. The result would have been the same regardless, but instead you continue to defy us."

The sound of crying from the home's second floor drew Wraith's eyes toward the ceiling. It appeared the commotion had awoken the baby, giving the intruder a firm idea of where to look. He turned his commanding gaze back down onto the unconscious changeling.

"I suppose I've taken up enough of your time. I'll retrieve what I came here for and leave you be."

***** ***** *****

After a long, relaxing day at the spa, Winter, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Chamella had now arrived at their final treatment: massage. The distinct aroma of lilac incense filled the massage room, the same scent that wafted throughout the rest of the building. The room was also more dimly lit compared to the halls and the other rooms in the spa, and quiet, peaceful music was playing from speakers in the walls. It all gave the room an overall atmospheric feel. The four female patrons were lying prone on their bellies upon massage tables, while leaning over them were their masseuses, expertly kneading and rolling their hooves against their backs and shoulders. Lotus decided to take their uninitiated customer—Winter—into her own hooves, while Aloe handled Chamella due to needing a more experienced masseuse such as herself to treat the more unfamiliar anatomy of a changeling. Rarity and Fluttershy were being taken care of by a pair of handsome, earth pony stallions, at the specific request of the unicorn.

Rarity let out a long, blissful moan as her masseur gently, yet firmly massaged the base of her neck. "Mmm... Is this not just divine? I always like to end my visits with a good massage. It's the perfect way to finish your day. That way you're so relaxed and limber that you can practically fall right to sleep without any trouble."

Fluttershy, eyes closed as she rest comfortably with her head on her folded fetlocks, breathed a similar sigh as the masseur worked her shoulders. "Oh, yes, I agree. I often have trouble walking home after a good massage. And I'll certainly be far too relaxed to fly. A little lower, please," she requested, prompting the stallion to move down to work her wing joints. Fluttershy cracked an eye open, glancing to the table on her left where Chamella lay. "How are you enjoying it, Chamella? You didn't stay long enough last time to get to the massage."

The changeling didn't answer right away. Her eyes were closed and she looked as though she had already fallen asleep while Aloe tenderly worked her hooves across her chitinous, ebony skin. "It's... surprisingly good..." she practically mumbled in her comfortable state of half-sleep.

Aloe grinned, pleased by the comment. "I must admit, I do not know much about changeling musculature, but I am glad to hear that you are enjoying it. Should I... do something with your wings? I am unsure what I could do with them."

Chamella hummed quietly for a moment as she thought about it. "You could try the base."

Heeding her suggestion, Aloe moved her hooves to where Chamella's translucent, bug-like wings joined with her back, rubbing the area carefully. It didn't seem possible, but the changeling managed to sink further into the cushion of the table, letting out a long moan.

"I think she likes it," Fluttershy giggled amusedly.

Going off of Chamella's reaction, Aloe continued to massage the base of her wings, feeling more confident in her motions now.

"And how's Winter liking it?" Rarity asked with a presumptuous grin, expecting only one answer.

"You know... It might be just what the doctor ordered," the ivory pegasus replied. "I didn't realize just how tense I was—hnn!" Her thought was interrupted when she felt a particularly satisfying pop in her back as Lotus worked her magic. "Until now..." she finished with a sigh. "Running around the house all day; cleaning all kinds of nooks and crannies; handling a hyperactive foal. Even if I had a chance to relax, I was probably never in any real shape to enjoy it."

"Sounds like Shade is in for a pleasant night," Rarity surmised with a suggestive chuckle.

"Honestly, I'll probably be too relaxed to do anything. My whole body feels like jelly. I'm likely to just pass out as soon as my head hits the pillow."

"It's important to remember that you'll be right back at it tomorrow," Fluttershy pointed out. "This is just one day of pampering. You can't forget about your duties just because you had one day off."

"I know. Believe me, I've realized how hard I was making things for myself. From now on, Shade and I are going to share the workload instead of taking most of it on myself."

"And if you ever need help, we're always here for you," Rarity assured her.

"And I'll be sure to take you guys up on that," said Winter. "I should actually get around to asking Pinkie Pie if she can foalsit occasionally. Even if I can't have a spa day everyday, even having a little time to sit back or get something else done would be immensely helpful."

"You're more than welcome to join us for our weekly trip," Rarity invited her.

"We'd be happy to have more company," added Fluttershy. "You, too, Chamella. You seem like you're enjoying it in spite of your protests."

Chamella let out another moan, slightly cracking one eye open. "Hm? Oh, sorry, I must have dozed off for a minute. Did you say something?"

Fluttershy giggled at the changeling, already feeling as though she had her answer. "Nevermind."

"That actually sounds pretty good," Winter replied. "I mean, I'm not going to promise I'll be able to make it every time—motherhood takes priority—but I'll try my best to join in whenever possible. Hey, here's an idea: why not see if Shade would like to try this place out?"

Rarity chuckled, amused by the suggestion. "Honestly, I doubt he would be for it. He doesn't strike me as the sort of person to really enjoy being pampered."

"Or at least wouldn't admit to liking it," Fluttershy laughed.

"That sounds about right," agreed Winter, joining in on the laughter.

Some time went by as the four mares enjoyed their massages and continued their idle chit-chat, conversing mostly about Winter's currently brief time being a mother and offering advice where they could. The ivory pegasus was surprisingly receptive despite her former objections; a sure testament to her sudden change in attitude. And on top of everything, Winter had felt all of her stress and worry evaporate over the course of the day, and it made her look forward to more outings like this. But she was also looking forward to returning home with a fresh set of eyes and a clear mind, ready to start doing things right.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and the time soon came for the four mares to return home. After their massages, they all went back to the lobby, offered their gratitude to Aloe and Lotus for their expert treatments, and left the spa to begin the walk home.

Winter habitually stretched upon stepping outside, although with how limber and loose her muscles were now, it was ultimately unnecessary. She could definitely feel what Fluttershy was talking about as they lay on the massage tables; it took all of her willpower not to let herself flop over into the grass and take a nap right there on the ground.

"Wow, it's actually a lot later than I thought," Chamella commented, noting the light purple tinge as the evening twilight steadily approached.

"Yes, and I intend to retire to bed the moment I get home," declared Rarity. "Typically, Fluttershy and I arrange shorter sessions than this, but this was a special occasion. I'm actually quite eager to bring this level of relaxation straight to bed with me. I expect quite the sound sleep tonight."

"Me, too," Fluttershy added, following it up with a sleepy yawn.

Winter turned to face Rarity and Fluttershy, a grateful smile creasing her lips. "Guys, listen, I just want to thank you for doing all of this for me. I really needed a kick in the flank to set me straight."

Rarity waved it off dismissively. "Oh, think nothing of it darling. We just wished to help you loosen up a tad."

"Either way, I really appreciate it."

"And you're most welcome. Now, then, shall we head home, Chamella?"

"Um, actually, I kinda wanted to say goodnight to Shade and Snowflake," the changeling informed the unicorn.

"Oh? Well, that's fine. I'll just go on ahead," Rarity acknowledged with a grin as she went on her way.

"Goodnight, girls," Fluttershy bid them as she, too, headed for home.

With only Winter and Chamella still together, the changeling looked to the pegasus expectedly. "Is it alright if I come over for a few minutes?"

Winter was admittedly a little caught off guard by the request, but responded with a shrug. "I guess. I mean, as long as Shade's not trying to spoil our kid, Snowflake will probably be in bed by now."

"Then I'll just say goodnight to Shade, and maybe let him know how much I enjoyed the spa this time."

"Alright, but don't stay too long. I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight."

Chamella smiled happily. "I'll try not to impose."

Despite their loose and limber bones and muscles, the two made for Shade and Winter's home at a rather brisk pace. Winter was simply eager to get back and see her two favorite men again. She was actually quite looking forward to just laying in bed with her beloved and each of them sharing the events of their day with one another before sleep inevitably took hold.

On the other hoof, Chamella was just in a particularly good mood. She felt a little embarrassed that she had bailed on Rarity and Fluttershy when they had first invited her along on their spa day now that she knew how enjoyable it truly was. She was just as happy to share her own thoughts with Shade about her day, though as per Winter's request she would be sure to keep it brief. There probably wasn't anything she could say that Winter wouldn't also say anyway. Chamella was also hoping that Winter was wrong about Snowflake being put to bed by now. Since being appointed the colt's godmother, she's found herself more and more willing to interact with him, with each visit gradually building her confidence. She was simply excited to see him, as well.

Soon enough, the house came into view. Winter almost instinctively began to pick up her pace, her impatience getting the better of her. However, upon getting a little closer, she slowed down slightly, noting that something was off.

"Huh. The front door's open," Winter said, more to herself than to Chamella.

Chamella noticed it as well when Winter pointed it out. "Weird. Shade must have forgot to close it."

Winter chuckled to herself. "Or maybe he needed to air out the house. I don't know if you've smelled a dirty diaper before, but it's not exactly potpourri."

The two approached the house, but it only took one step beyond the threshold for Winter to find that something was more amiss than she'd anticipated. Her gaze immediately locked to the kitchen, the wreckage of their dining table impossible to miss.

"W-What the—?!"

Winter and Chamella hurried over to the kitchen to investigate the mess. The kitchen table had been broken in half, with shards and splinters strewn about the floor. On top of that, there was a crack in the far wall, as though something heavy had been thrown at it.

"W-What happened here?" Chamella inquired, her voice quivering with worry.

"Shade! Shade!" Winter shouted out, but received no response.

Chamella sniffed the air, a distinct, familiar scent invading her nostrils, one she had not smelled in quite some time. "I smell... blood..." Her eyes followed the scent that her nose had detected, finding a small, sharp object lying on the floor amongst the wreckage. Her pink eyes widened when she identified the white object, stained red with fresh blood.

Winter's eyes followed Chamella's gaze. The moment she realized what the object was, her entire being was filled with a deep, crippling dread.

"Shade!"

Having gotten no response once again, an even worse thought manifested itself within her mind.

"Snowflake!"

Without another moment of hesitation, Winter made a beeline for the stairs, hurrying up to the second floor in such a panicked rush that she nearly tripped on the top step. She galloped down the hall, where she found the door to the nursery already open. She halted in her tracks when she looked inside.

Shade was sitting at Snowflake's crib, gripping the railing with one hoof. His head was hung low and he shook and trembled. But what was worse was the fact that the crib itself was empty.

Winter hurried to his side, desperate for an explanation. "Shade, what happened?! Where's Snowflake?!"

Shade slowly looked up at her, tears streaming down his face. Winter felt her mounting dread envelope her two-fold when she saw the blood on Shade's mouth and the absence of his left fang. He looked her straight in the eyes, the light of his own, green eyes having dimmed significantly, and he choked out an answer in a heartbroken whimper.

"He's gone..."

Chapter 12 - A Mother's Mission

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 12: A Mother's Mission

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Pain shot through his head. His own thoughts were muffled and fuzzy. He could feel his head throbbing, like a kettle drum booming inside his skull. It felt like he was surrounded by nothingness, the blackness of an unending void enveloping his vision. The only thing that managed to signify to him that he was still alive was the pain beating against his temple.

But there was something else. For a brief moment, he thought he heard something, something that wasn't a ringing in is ears. It sounded like a voice, but he couldn't make it out. Like his own thoughts, the voice was muffled, like somepony trying to talk to him through a wall.

However, while the pain persisted, his other senses began to gradually return to him. The voice became a little more clear.

"I think he's waking up."

His eyelids managed to crack open, penetrating the darkness that had been plaguing him. Instead, his vision was assaulted by a bright light, nearly blinding him and making the pain in his head more pronounced. But within the curtain of divine rays stood a shape: a silhouette of somepony hovering over him. He felt a hoof gently grip his own.

"Shade?"

The voice sounded heavenly; the first sensation of pleasure he'd felt since this throbbing pain had overtaken him. As his vision began to adjust to the intense light beaming down on him, the form of the being leaning over him became a little more distinguishable. The picture of beauty stood above him, with a flawless, pearl coat and a pair of gorgeous wings helping to blot out the light that continued to weigh down on him. An angel?

"Shade, are you awake? Talk to me."

He felt a breath leave his lungs, as though he'd been holding it for hours. He groaned as he finally managed to match a name with the voice that spoke so soothingly to him.

"Winter?" he mumbled, still unsure whether or not he was actually conscious.

It had taken some time—what felt like days—but his eyes opened fully, the light no longer painful to his retinas. Despite the concerning expression on the face of the pegasus watching over him, he took a moment to compose himself and determine where exactly he was.

He was in a bed, that much was evident. A thin, white sheet was draped over him, but the mattress he lay on wasn't particularly comfortable. It wasn't his own bed. And apparently the alluring mare above him wasn't the only thing in the room that was robed in alabaster. The walls were also white and pristine, and... Well, that was pretty much it. The rest of the room was bland and empty, save for the ivory angel. Yet, somehow, this fairly unremarkable room felt familiar to him.

"Are you okay?" the angelic voice asked him.

He groaned in response, the throbbing pain in his head coming back in a second wave.

"Maybe we should give him a few minutes to come to."

Another voice, different from the pegasus's, but still familiar. Its source came into view from the other side of the bed: another mare, but with jet black skin to contrast the other mare's white coat.

"We don't have time! We need to find out what happened," the pegasus argued in a hurried tone. She turned her beautiful, amber eyes back down on him. "Shade, please, you have to tell us what happened. Who did this? Who took Snowflake?"

"Snowflake?"

The name flashed in his head. Suddenly, his memory was lit up with images of what had happened and who had done this to him. The image of a monster leaving him beaten and taking from him the most important thing in his life.

"Snowflake!"

Shade shot upright in bed in a panic. However, the sudden movement made his head pound as though his skull were full of rocks, rattling around and battering his brain. With a sharp, pained intake of air between his clenched teeth, he lifted his hoof to massage his aching temple.

Chamella placed a hoof upon his shoulder, carefully urging him to lay back down. He submitted and leaned back onto his pillow. "Don't overdo it, okay?"

After taking a moment to let the sudden, stabbing pain die down, Shade looked at Chamella, then to Winter, feeling a little confused. "Where are we?"

"The hospital," Winter answered, gingerly stroking his hoof. "Shade, I know you're in pain, and I know it might be difficult to think straight right now, but you have to tell us what happened. When I got home, I found the house in a mess, you looked like you got hit by a train, and Snowflake was gone. All you said was, 'He's gone...' Then you passed out. So where's Snowflake? Who took him?"

Winter could feel Shade's hoof tense up, gripping the bed sheets tightly as an ashamed grimace blemished his face. "Wraith..."

The pegasus raised an eyebrow at the mention of the name, not recognizing it all. Chamella, however, felt a sudden, overwhelming dread inside her.

"Wr-Wraith?! Y-You don't mean... that Wraith, do you?" Chamella stammered in fear.

Winter looked between the two changelings, still confused. "Who's Wraith?"

"He's the captain of Queen Chrysalis's army," Chamella answered. "He's basically her second-in-command and one the scariest changelings there is." She looked back down at Shade, hoping in futility that he was talking about some other person named Wraith. "Was it really him?"

"Hard to mistake him for anypony else. He just showed up and demanded I give him Snowflake. And when I didn't comply, he attacked me and took Snow anyway."

"What does he want with Snowflake?" asked Winter with deep worry and a hint of curiosity.

Shade shrugged lightly. "Some crap about larvae being Chrysalis's property. He knew we wouldn't come back, but it's not like Snow had any say in the matter."

Chamella looked hurt upon hearing that. "What? But... Chrysalis let us live here. She said she was happy for us."

Shade scowled as he thought about it. "Obviously she was lying. Apparently, because I have somepony who loves me, I'm a possible threat. The changeling's have been spying on us in order to keep tabs on me."

Winter was shocked by that. "Spies?! Here in Ponyville?!"

Shade nodded. "I don't know how long they've been here, but it's long enough."

"So... what does Queen Chrysalis plan to do with Snowflake?" asked the female changeling.

"No idea."

Both Winter and Chamella stared down as Shade went quiet. He looked defeated. But more than that, he looked disappointed; disappointed in himself that he could do nothing to protect his son. Shade's eyes drifted shut. He had fallen unconscious again.

Chamella was lost as to what to do. She was worried about Shade, but she was just as worried about Snowflake. Surely something had to be done. She glanced across the bed at Winter. The pegasus didn't look so much concerned as she looked to be deep in thought. Her brow was furrowed as she looked down at her unconscious boyfriend, her amber eyes fixating on him, but at the same time seemed unfocused. She appeared to be mulling something over.

However, before Chamella could inquire about it, the pegasus turned around and left the room with a hurried trot. Concerned, Chamella made to chase after her and figure out what was going through her head. She followed Winter all the way to the hospital's lobby and chasing her outside into the dead of the night before finally calling out to her.

"Winter! Where are you going?"

The pegasus slowed down, but kept trotting toward whatever destination it was she had in mind. She glanced over her shoulder at the changeling following her, a look of determination in her eyes. "Where do you think? The Changeling Kingdom."

Chamella skidded to a halt, her jaw dropping wide. "What?! Why?!"

"What kind of a question is that? To get my son back, obviously."

Chamella quickly flew to catch up to Winter, flittering in front of her and touching down, forcing Winter to stop with an annoyed scowl. "Are you crazy?! You'll be eaten alive!"

"In case you forgot, I've been to the Changeling Kingdom before," Winter argued.

"Yes, where you were almost eaten alive. There's no guarantee you'll be so lucky a second time."

Winter rolled her eyes with a scoff, brushing past the changeling brusquely. Regardless of her stubbornness, Chamella continued to follow her.

"Well, you can at least ask Twilight and her friends for—"

Winter turned around, glaring at her tag-along with a fire the changeling had never seen in her before. "No! This is none of their business!"

Chamella flinched at Winter's sudden outburst. She was more than a little surprised and puzzled to hear her say that. "What? But... what about all of the stuff you said earlier? You said you'd be more open to asking for help and—"

Winter took a couple of furious steps toward Chamella, the changeling cowering slightly under her fierce glower. "You don't get it, do you? Shade just got assaulted, my son was just kidnapped, and what have I been doing all day? Getting massages and hooficures at the damn spa! I take one day off from being a mother, and look what happens! Everypony's been urging me to 'relax' and 'take it easy,' and I was stupid enough to go along with it! This is exactly why I've been refusing to leave his side all this time! A good mother wouldn't have let this happen!"

Chamella struggled a little to come up with a retort, more shocked than anything to see Winter acting so rashly. But she felt she needed to try and calm her down and help her get back to a rational level. "Winter, if Shade is right about it being Wraith that took Snow, then, even if you were there, I highly doubt that there's anything the two of you could have done to fight him. I've heard a lot of rumors about him. He's scary, even by changeling standards. You wouldn't have stood a chance."

That didn't seem to do anything to level out Winter's head. She was still fuming over the situation and her own perceived ineptitude as a mother. "Well, I guess we'll never know now, will we?"

"Just ask Twilight for help. I'm sure she and her friends would be more than willing to help."

"I already told you, this is none of their business!" Winter snapped, gnashing her teeth. "I failed as a mother, now I have to redeem myself. I am going to rescue my son. I'm going to prove that I can be a good mother! And you are not going to mention this to anypony, got it?!"

"B-But... I..."

Winter stomped up to Chamella until she was just inches from her face. "Did I make myself clear?"

Chamella gulped, but nodded meekly.

"Good," was all Winter said before turning to go about her mission.

This wasn't right. Chamella knew Winter was making a huge mistake going to the Changeling Kingdom by herself. She was going to get herself killed. Chamella could only imagine what sort of effect it would have on Shade to lose both her and Snowflake. She should just tell Twilight and the others, she thought to herself. Winter being mad at her was of little consequence if it meant saving her life. Or, alternatively...

"Wait!"

Winter let out an aggravated breath at Chamella's annoying persistence. She contemplated just ignoring her—after all, time was of the essence—but turned back to face her anyway.

Chamella trotted up to her once more, an uncharacteristic determination in her bright pink eyes, though her pensiveness was still quite evident. "I'll go with you."

The pegasus narrowed her eyes in disgust at the suggestion. "Absolutely not."

"Winter, I'm sure you know that the Changeling Kingdom is dangerous. Don't you think it'd be helpful to have somepony with you who knows the place a little better than you?"

Winter turned around fully, staring Chamella straight in the eye. "Let me be perfectly clear here. Even if I wanted to ask somepony for help, you'd be the last person I would ask."

The stoic front the changeling had been attempting to put up suddenly faltered, her chest tightening as Winter's words stabbed at her. "What...?"

The furious mother raised an eyebrow above her scowl, confused as to how Chamella could be surprised by that. "What, you think I've just conveniently forgotten about all the crap you've put me through? Do I need to remind you?"

Chamella's pupils shrunk down. For Winter to bring that up was sure evidence that she was dead serious right now. And it appeared that Chamella's fears about this subject may have had some legitimacy.

"You kidnapped me, trapped me in a cave and left me to die, and impersonated me in an attempt to steal Shade from me. Then, you went and kissed him in your drunken, hormonal stupor. Do you really think I'd forgiven you for all of that?! Your presence here has lead to a lot of unneeded stress on me and my relationship with Shade."

"I-I..." Chamella was at a loss for words. Finally, everything had come full circle. She had feared this day, the day that her horrendous actions came back to haunt her. Had any hope of her ever earning Winter's forgiveness been shot down in a fiery blaze? "I-I made a mistake. A few mistakes. If I could, I'd go back and fix it, I swear."

Winter narrowed her eyes at the ashamed changeling. She spoke quietly, unsettling Chamella. "Do you love him?"

Chamella paused for a moment, hesitating as she tried to form an answer to the question.

And that was all the response that Winter needed. It wasn't the answer she wanted to hear, but was the one she was expecting regardless. "See? This is the problem. Do you know how hard it is on me feeling like I have to vie for Shade's affection? I see how he is around you. He enjoys your company. He's happy when you're around. I'm his girlfriend, but I'm not his best friend..."

Chamella's ears folded back. She never wanted to hurt Winter, and she'd regretted everything she'd ever done that may have done just that. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't want to fight you for him. He's yours. I've accepted that, but that doesn't mean I can just... stop loving him."

Winter grimaced once again, skeptical of her statement. "Then let me ask you this: hypothetically, if Shade ever came up to you and suddenly declared that he loved you and wanted to be with you instead of me, what would you do?"

That query caught Chamella off guard. She certainly wasn't expecting to be put on the spot like that. "Huh? W-Well, I'd have to wonder what happened between you two."

The pegasus didn't buy that for a second. "Really? Shade throws himself at you and you just stand there worrying about me? Since when have you shown any sort of concern for me? You'd be all over him, I know you would. Don't try and pretend otherwise."

Chamella shrunk back under the accusations, but said nothing. She couldn't say whether or not she was right. Chamella could speculate what she would do all she wanted, but if the situation were to present itself in reality, there wasn't really any telling how she'd react to something so sudden and shocking.

Seeing Chamella's defeated gaze drift toward the ground, Winter let out huff and turned to be on her way once again.

"I still want to go with you."

Winter halted once more, rolling her eyes and sighing. "I already told you: no."

"You need help. And I'm Snowflake's godmother. I care about him, too."

Winter spun around, glaring daggers at the changeling. "The only reason you're his godmother is because of Shade and my mom. Honestly, I don't even know how you managed to win her over so easily. If it were up to me, I wouldn't let you anywhere near our son!"

As if the piercing pain in Chamella's heart couldn't get any worse, Winter had gone and twisted the knife. "Then... why didn't you say anything?"

"Why do you think? Shade! Everything either of us has done has been about Shade! He was the one who brought it up to make you Snowflake's godmother, and, for some reason, my own mother agreed with him. And besides, what kind of help would you be in the Changeling Kingdom? You wouldn't even be alive right now if it weren't for Shade. You'd have starved to death or been eaten by other changelings if he wasn't there to take care of you. You think your presence would make me feel safer?"

Chamella suddenly felt herself clench her teeth behind her lips. Winter had a point; Shade was the only reason she was even alive. She'd said as much herself on several occasions. But that was exactly the reason why she wanted to go; why she needed to go. She needed to do everything in her power to make sure that the two people that Shade cared about more than anything else in the world were safe, whether Winter wanted her help or not. She owed him that much.

"I'm going with you," Chamella declared with confidence unusual for the normally timid changeling. "You can say no all you want, you're not going to stop me. I'll follow you, and I'll make sure that both you and Snowflake get home safe and sound."

"No. You're. Not!" Winter snarled back at her. "You are going to stay here, keep your mouth shut, and stay out of my business!"

Chamella was unfazed by the outburst, staring back rather nonchalantly. She shrugged at Winter's demand. "Alright."

That reaction certainly confused the pegasus. She hadn't expected her to give in just like that. Chamella stared back at her, something about her eyes feeling... devious to Winter, a notion she would have never expected to associate with this particular changeling.

"I'll just stay here in Ponyville then. Alone. With Shade."

Winter's eyes widened, her mouth hanging open slightly in shock and disgust.

Chamella continued, turning her nose up at Winter. "After all, he's going to need somepony to console him when he finds out that his beloved girlfriend and the mother of his child went and recklessly got herself devoured by vicious changelings and his son was gone forever. At least somepony he cares about will still be there for him."

The crimson-maned mare grit her teeth at Chamella's threat. "You wouldn't."

The changeling lifted her eyebrows. "Wouldn't I? After everything you just said, you seem to think that it's exactly what I'd do."

Winter felt her gut boil with anger. All Chamella was doing now was staring at her expectedly, adding fuel to her burning fire. She had put Winter in a difficult position.

"We're leaving in half an hour. Go pack some supplies, and meet me at my place."

And just like that, Chamella's sinister smirk was replaced by an elated grin. "Got it." She turned around and started making a beeline for Carousel Boutique to prepare.

Winter grumbled to herself, unhappy with how this turned out. But she wasn't too keen on the alternative either. At least this way she wouldn't be able to spill to anypony about what they were doing.

***** ***** *****

Chamella carefully opened the front door of Carousel Boutique, peeking her head inside discreetly. All of the lights were off, indicating that Rarity had gone straight to bed upon returning home from the spa, as she said she would. Chamella had been gone much longer than intended. She told Rarity that she was just going to say goodnight to Shade and Snowflake, but after finding out what happened, she'd spent the last several hours at the hospital. Honestly, Chamella hadn't exactly planned for what would happen had Rarity still been up and realized that she had been gone so long. Certainly she would have found herself in a situation where she couldn't have kept this to herself. Winter wouldn't have been happy with her.

But, as luck would have it, things worked out. Still, though, Chamella would have to be rather stealthy to avoid waking Rarity. Thankfully, she knew that the unicorn was one to wear earplugs to bed to ensure an undisturbed rest. But as a precaution, Chamella held the entrance bell with her magic to prevent it from ringing as she slipped inside her own home like some sort of mixed up cat burglar. She quietly snuck to her bedroom to acquire her saddlebags and began to think about what supplies she should bring with her.

The first thing to come to mind was food and water, so she headed for the kitchen. There was no telling how long they were going to be gone, so bringing something to eat and drink seemed like it'd be important. Plus, she knew what the Changeling Kingdom was like. There was the distinct possibility that they could get lost. She was going to have to stuff her bags full.

As she began to pack away anything that caught her eye and fit into her bag, she started to think about the situation they were in. They were really about to run off to the Changeling Kingdom to rescue Snowflake. Chamella wasn't too proud of having to resort to such underhoofed tactics to convince Winter to let her come along, but it was better that she agreed rather than just following her. Of course, it was a total bluff. Chamella would never take advantage of Shade like that, but it was the only way she could think to get Winter to willingly let her tag along. But despite her insistence to go with her, Chamella was most certainly scared, more for Winter and Snowflake than herself. There was a distinct possibility that they might not even survive. But she had to put such thoughts out of her mind. She needed to save Snowflake, and she needed to help Winter. If there were ever a time where she needed to be brave and confident, it was now.

Chamella had a look at everything she'd packed for the journey. She had made a couple of cheese sandwiches to eat early on during the trip, but everything else was much less likely to spoil, with perhaps the exception of some leftover salad that was sitting in the fridge. Her bags were stuffed pretty full and it made her wonder how difficult it was going to make things for her. Plus, Rarity was probably going to wonder why so much stuff had vanished from the fridge and pantry. Chamella would explain when she got back; hopefully, after learning of the situation, she'd understand. But that was neither here nor there.

Chamella wanted to ensure that she had absolutely everything she needed, so she planned on seeing if she could stuff a couple of granola bars in there. She began to rifle around in the pantry again in search of the snacks she knew were in there somewhere.

"Chamella?"

The changeling nearly jumped out of her chitin at the sound of the voice behind her, having to force herself not to yelp in shock. She spun around in a panic as the light in the kitchen was switched on. Chamella let out a somewhat relieved breath when she noticed that it wasn't Rarity, as she had feared. Instead, it was her younger sister, Sweetie Belle, rubbing her sleepy eyes as they adjusted to the bright light she had just turned on. She may have anticipated that Rarity wouldn't be able to hear her rummaging, but apparently somepony had.

Even though she counted herself lucky that it wasn't in fact Rarity, Chamella was still confused and surprised to see Sweetie Belle. "Sweetie Belle, you nearly scared me half to death. What are you doing here?" the changeling whispered, still careful not to wake Rarity.

"Mom and Dad are out of town, so I'm staying here for a couple of days. Didn't Rarity tell you?" she explained with a cute, tired yawn.

Chamella thought about it for a brief moment. Perhaps Rarity had mentioned it at some point, but with her day-long spa trip and the unpleasantness that she was now wrapped up in, it must have slipped her mind.

"Anyway, what are you doing up so late?" the little filly asked curiously. "Did you just get home?"

Chamella looked away guiltily, trying to fabricate an excuse. "Uh, yeah. I'm just..." She trailed off, unable to come up with anything convincing off the top of her head.

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow at Chamella's hesitance. She then cocked her head at the sight of the saddlebags jam packed with food. "What's all that for? You going on a trip?"

Chamella could feel a bead of sweat dribble down her neck, and she gulped nervously. "I, uh... No, this is..."

The young unicorn was becoming increasingly suspicious of Chamella's odd behavior, narrowing her eyes skeptically. "You're acting kinda weird, Chamella. You came home really late, and you're packing up a lot of food. What's going on?"

Still, Chamella failed to come up with an explanation. At this point, Sweetie Belle probably wasn't going to buy whatever she might have come up with, so she was just going to have to evade the question. She gave Sweetie Belle an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Sweetie Belle, I can't tell you."

Oddly, hearing that almost seemed to excite the filly, her eyes widening and her ears perking up. "What? Why not?"

"I... promised I wouldn't tell anypony."

"Promised who?"

"Winter." Chamella immediately slapped herself in the forehead for carelessly saying that before hopelessly attempting to backpedal. "W-Wait, I mean... Aw, shoot."

"Winter? What happened with Winter? Is she okay?" Sweetie Belle asked with concern.

"She's fine. She's just..."

Chamella breathed a defeated sigh. Was there really any point of continuing to hide it now? Even if she left without telling Sweetie Belle, the filly was likely to bring up Chamella's strange behavior and her disappearance in the middle of the night to Rarity tomorrow morning. She needed to make sure Sweetie Belle wouldn't spill the beans.

"Okay, I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anypony, alright? Not Rarity, not Apple Bloom or Scootaloo. Nopony. Alright?"

Though young, the little unicorn could sense how serious the changeling was being. "Oh. Okay, if you say so. I won't tell."

Chamella paused for a moment, staring with dead seriousness at Sweetie Belle. "I mean it, Sweetie Belle. Not a soul. You have to promise."

"Alright, I get it," the filly said with growing impatience. "I promise I won't tell anypony."

More satisfied by that response, Chamella took a deep breath as she readied to drop this bombshell on the young filly. "A bad changeling showed up at Shade's place earlier. He hurt Shade and kidnapped Snowflake."

"What?!"

"Shh!"

Sweetie Belle clasped her hooves over her mouth. Both of them stood perfectly still for a few tense seconds, listening to see if the filly's shout had penetrated Rarity's earplugs and jostled her from her slumber. Thankfully, the plugs seemed to do their job quite well, and no sounds of stirring were heard.

Sweetie Belle removed her hooves from her mouth, appalled by the news. "Why would somepony take Snow?"

"We don't know, but apparently Queen Chrysalis sent spies here to watch Shade. I'm sure she has some reason, we just don't know what. Honestly, it doesn't really matter why. We just want to get him back."

"What are you going to do?" the unicorn asked, her earlier curiosity replaced by deep worry for the poor colt's well being.

"Me and Winter are just going to go to the Changeling Kingdom and try to find him and bring him home."

"By yourselves?"

Chamella shook her head. "I know, I wanted to ask for help, too, but this is Winter's mission. It took some doing just to convince her to let me go with her."

"What about Shade? Is he going with you?"

Chamella's ears folded back as she thought about Shade. After all of this drama, she was focused mostly on Snowflake, but now she was remembering that Shade had been hurt in the process. "No. Like I said, Shade got hurt. We brought him to the hospital, but we can't sit around and wait for him to get better. We have to get Snowflake back as soon as possible."

"So you're leaving right now?"

The purple-maned changeling saw the concern in the filly's green eyes. Not just concern for Snowflake, but her close friend, as well. That look reminded Chamella of just how dangerous this journey was going to be. She sat down, gently placing a hoof on Sweetie Belle's shoulder. "Yes. We have to. And... I can't say if we'll actually be able to do it. I can't even promise that I'll... make it back. So, just in case we never see each other again, I want you to know that you've been a really good friend to me since I moved here and made living in a strange, new place a lot easier for me. So thank you."

Sweetie Belle could see tears beginning to well up in the changeling's pink eyes as she smiled softly and fondly down on her, the realization of her potential fate gradually dawning on her. Not wanting her expression of gratitude to go unwarranted, Sweetie Belle wrapped her hooves around Chamella's shoulders and hugged her tightly.

After a silent moment between the two, the hug was broken and Chamella stood up, grabbing her saddlebags and slinging them onto her back after poking a few granola bars in them. "Alright, I'm going now. Hopefully this goes well."

As Chamella made her way to the door, she was stopped by Sweetie Belle's voice one more time.

"Chamella."

The changeling glanced over her shoulder. Sweetie Belle was smiling at her.

"Good luck. I know you'll do it."

Chamella grinned back, grateful for the vote of confidence. "Thanks."

***** ***** *****

Being the middle of the night, it wasn't exactly warm outside. It wasn't particularly cold, just not as warm as one would like in order to be comfortable. Thankfully, the weather was nice. Only a mild breeze blew through the countryside on the cloudless night, the stars and Princess Luna's full moon shining so brightly that visibility was hardly affected.

Still, though, Chamella wished they could have waited until morning.

The changeling looked over her shoulder, ensuring that Winter was still behind her. The pegasus was only a few feet behind as Chamella lead the way, but she wasn't looking at her. Winter seemed to be staring past her, her gaze intense and focused. There was only one thing on her mind right now. Chamella had to wonder what Winter was planning to do if she had left by herself. Sure, it was fairly bright out for being the middle of the night, but would Winter really be able to find her way to the Changeling Kingdom by herself? Sure, she'd done it once before, but even if she did it again, what would she do then? She had no idea where to even begin looking for her lost son.

The two had been flying for a couple of hours now, only touching down to take a short breather every now and then. Both of them were also carrying full saddlebags, making flight just a little more difficult and tiring. Both Winter and Chamella could feel the sweat running down their neck and forehead, but at least the light breeze helped keep them cool. Even so, Chamella could feel herself beginning to lose altitude, her pace slowing and the buzz of her thin wings growing quieter. The changeling looked back at Winter again, making a silent gesture toward the ground. Following her lead, Winter descended behind Chamella and the two of them alighted on the dew-soaked grass.

The moment their hooves hit the grassy field, they both fell back onto their haunches, panting in their exhaustion. Normally, a trip like this wouldn't be too tough for Chamella; she had never had any issues with stamina, but her luggage was certainly taking its toll on her muscles. She glanced over at Winter, who was in much the same state as she was.

"You okay?" Chamella asked between breaths.

Winter wiped the sweat from her forehead with a heavy, exhausted sigh. "Yeah. I'm not really used to this much physical exercise. I've never really been too physically fit to begin with, but you put that on top of the fact that I basically spent the last eleven months grounded, not to mention how loose the spa made me... Plus, these bags... I'm beat." The pegasus tossed off her saddlebags and lay down in the damp grass, letting the coolness soak into her fur.

"Guess the spa didn't really do us much good in the end, huh?"

"No kidding..." Winter grumbled, her voice dripping with self-loathing.

Chamella looked around the grassy field they had touched down on. Off in the direction they were headed were some rolling, green hills, and beyond that, a fair distance away, Chamella could see a rocky mountain range through the veil of the night. "We're almost there anyway. I think we should walk from here."

"We don't have time to walk," Winter argued without getting up from the ground. "We have to get there as soon as possible."

"It's too dangerous to fly over the Changeling Kingdom. We'll just end up drawing attention to ourselves. The other changelings probably won't bat an eye at me, but if they see you, it'll be trouble, trust me."

Finally, Winter straightened up, stretching her wings to work out the kinks the journey thus far had developed. "So you're suggesting we just waltz in then? They've got my baby in there. We need to move fast."

"I don't think we do."

Winter lifted an eyebrow.

"Look, obviously they don't plan to kill Snowflake. If they did, Wraith would've done it back in Ponyville. So he's probably fine. I think we're okay to take our time here."

"I don't care. I want him back. Now."

Chamella narrowed her eyes at Winter's stubborn insistence. "You really didn't have any sort of plan for when you got there, did you? You were actually going to just charge in and get yourself killed."

Winter didn't respond. She simply lowered her gaze to the gently swaying grass below her. She'd had some time to think about it since leaving home, and she was starting to realize that what she had been planning to do was pretty much suicide.

"We have to think about what we're doing, Winter. You've been here before. You know how dangerous this place is. Running in head first is not a smart idea."

The pegasus glanced up at Chamella. There was a hint of hesitance in her expression. Obviously, she wasn't about to admit that the changeling was right, but there wasn't really any sort of argument she could come up with to refute her logic. "Then what do you suggest?"

Admittedly, Chamella hadn't really come up with anything either. She hadn't really had time to think of a plan. Honestly, if she had come on her own, without Winter, it would probably be easier. She could just casually walk in, find Chrysalis, talk to her about it, and hopefully convince her to give Snowflake back. She had sympathy, Chamella knew that; she'd seen it with her own eyes. But Winter's presence meant that she had to sneak into her former home, hopefully without being spotted. But aside from that, she didn't really have any idea where to go from there.

Chamella glanced up at the full moon, the sight of it eliciting a sleepy yawn from the changeling. She noticed that her yawn had also spread like a contagious illness, with Winter stifling a yawn of her own. That did give Chamella one idea.

"I think we should probably get a little sleep."

Winter furrowed her brow, clearly not keen on the idea of wasting more time.

"We'll be in no shape to defend ourselves if we're this tired. And like I said, I don't think Snowflake is in any immediate danger. Plus, we might not get a better chance to rest up once we get there. Might as well get some sleep before we actually enter the Changeling Kingdom."

The determined mother breathed a reluctant sigh, laying back down on the grass and rolling over onto her side. "Fine. I'm not really in any mood to argue. But only a few hours. I don't want to waste too much time."

Chamella smiled upon hearing that, laying down herself and taking in a deep breath of the crisp, night air through her nostrils.

It was a strange and somewhat unsettling feeling to lay in the grass to sleep. Fittingly enough, Chamella hadn't had to do this since she left the Changeling Kingdom around two years ago. And now, here she was, preparing to go back there. She never thought she'd ever have a reason to go back, and, quite frankly, didn't want to. She didn't exactly share the same views of the Changeling Kingdom that Shade did, but that didn't mean she wanted to revisit it, especially under such stressful circumstances.

Chamella opened her eyes, glancing in Winter's direction. The pegasus's back was to her, so she couldn't tell if Winter was asleep, or even if she was attempting to sleep. Chamella was very conscious of the tension that had arisen between them, and she had a feeling that that was going to make this whole excursion more difficult for them. She wanted to talk to Winter. She wanted to speak her mind and at least try to make amends. And given everything that was on their minds right now, it wasn't likely either of them were going to get much sleep anyway.

"Winter?"

The pegasus didn't respond, but Chamella saw her ear twitch slightly at the sound of the changeling's voice. Her body language clearly indicated that she didn't want to talk, but that didn't really matter; Chamella only wanted her to listen.

"I don't know if I've ever apologized for the stuff I did to you in the past, but for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Again, there was no response from the prone mare, but Chamella continued anyway. This was something she really needed to get off her chest.

"Shade was the only thing back then that I ever cared about. So when he left, I... I felt like I didn't have anything to live for anymore."

Finally, it seemed she had gotten Winter's attention, the mare turning to peer over her shoulder at Chamella. She said nothing still, and kept a knitted brow, but at least Chamella knew now that she was listening.

"I do love him, but I care about you, too. I know you probably wouldn't believe that based on what I did on our first meeting. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that we have enough to worry about without having this tension between us. I don't want your feelings toward me to get in the way of what we came here to do, you know? We're here for the same reason after all."

Chamella watched for Winter's reaction. The ivory pegasus stayed quiet for a moment, but turned away again, seemingly returning to her attempt at sleep. Chamella breathed a sigh of resignation, rolling over herself in the opposite direction, their backs facing one another now.

"I'll try not to dwell on it for now."

Chamella's ears perked up at the sound of Winter's mumbling voice.

"Snow is our priority. I'm going to focus on him."

The changeling grinned slightly, though it went unseen by Winter. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. At the very least, it meant that Winter was going to try and avoid antagonizing her. She was hoping for a little more than a simple acknowledgement, but she was willing to take what she could get, especially if that meant getting Snowflake home safe and as soon as possible.

But for now, they needed to try and get some rest. Tomorrow was going to be one heck of a day.

Chapter 13 - Into the Hive

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 13: Into the Hive

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A chilly breeze blew gently over the rolling, verdant hills of the Equestrian countryside, the blades of grass that stretched out for miles dancing in waves under the wind's instruction. There was little to offset the nip in the air as Princess Celestia apparently had yet to raise the morning sun to offer its warming rays. It wouldn't be long until then, however, as a soft, orange glow could be seen far off on the horizon, but it'd still be a couple of hours before Celestia coerced the sun out of hiding.

But even though most of Equestria's citizens wouldn't be rising from their slumbers for some time yet, two in particular stood upon a tall, grass covered hill, staring silently at the landscape laid out before them.

Chamella stifled a sleepy yawn. As she figured, she and Winter hadn't really gotten any sleep during the night. In fact, they'd only rested a few hours at most. Winter had abruptly stood up from the spot at which they'd chosen to rest and, without a word, hitched up her bags and prepared to continue on her way. Had Chamella actually managed to doze off, she may not have heard Winter. She had intended to confront her about it, especially after their short chat—if one could call it that—during the night, but, to her surprise, Winter actually jostled her to wake her up. Hopefully, that was a good sign. She may not have gotten any rest, but perhaps those sleepless hours were spent thinking on what Chamella had said to her.

In any case, there were more important things on their minds right now. Namely, the sprawling, autumn forests and golden plains that were straight ahead of them.

Neither of them looked very fondly upon the oranges, browns and yellows of the Changeling Kingdom, knowing full well what awaited within. It wasn't like Chamella or Winter really had any pleasant memories of the place, aside from the changeling's friendship with Shade. Said changeling was currently looking upon the forests with trepidation, the bittersweet feeling of knowing that this place was, at one point, her home. However, one look at Winter told her that she had other feelings. There was nothing but pure determination in the pegasus's amber eyes. Her single-mindedness was visibly apparent, and Chamella worried that that would end up clouding Winter's judgment. Rather, it had already done so, evidenced by the fact that she had been willing to come here on her own.

Chamella took a deep breath, preparing herself mentally and emotionally for the task ahead of them. "Well, I guess we should head in."

Winter followed behind her as the pair descended the hilltop toward the border of the Changeling Kingdom. The sudden and bizarre shift from vibrant, green grass to brittle blades of gold was a clear indication that ponies had absolutely no influence on this remote and frankly dangerous portion of Equestria. Similarly, the sounds of their hoofsteps transitioned from the gentle brushing through the dew-covered greenery to the crunch of dead grass and leaves as they cracked underneath them.

Chamella shivered when a chilling gust blew over them. She certainly didn't miss that feeling. Those howling winds kept her awake many a night in the past. Already she was desperate to get in, get out, and return to her warm and cozy bed back in Ponyville.

"So I'm guessing they're keeping him in the caves," Winter surmised, rubbing her hooves together to help generate some warmth.

Chamella nodded. "Probably. That's where the nurseries are."

Hearing mention of the nurseries brought back some disturbing imagery. A pitch black cavern littered with the bones of deceased animals and the swarm of hungry larvae that nearly turned her into their first meal. The thought of those ravenous newborns only brought forth more concerns.

"He can't defend himself. Are the changeling larvae going to attack him?"

Chamella's ears drooped slightly, and she spoke quietly. "I don't see why they wouldn't. They'll eat each other if they're desperate enough."

Winter shot a furious look at the changeling. "I thought you said we had time! We've wasted hours just lying around! He could already be eaten by now for all we know!"

"Shh! Keep your voice down. We don't want any of them to know we're here," warned Chamella.

The pegasus grit her teeth. "You said we had time."

"And I still think that," the changeling said defensively, hoping to quell the anger boiling within the concerned mother. "Like I said, what would be the point in taking him if they were just going to let him die?"

"What if they don't know that baby ponies can't take care of themselves? What if they just put him in there thinking that he'd just fight for his survival like the rest of them?"

Chamella thought for a moment. Honestly, she wasn't sure why, but she had a feeling that wasn't the case. "I think Queen Chrysalis is smart enough to know the differences between baby changelings and baby ponies. They would probably see that when they notice that Snow is pretty passive compared to changeling larvae. Plus, they've been spying on us for a long time apparently. They must've learned something about pony society in that time, right?"

Winter ran a hoof through her mane with a heavy sigh. They had only just made it to the Changeling Kingdom and already her mind was frayed beyond belief. "I guess I can only hope that that's the case."

Chamella gave her a look of sympathy. For as worried and as scared as she was herself, she could only imagine how rough this actually was on Winter. Even if they managed to find Snowflake and bring him home safely, this whole experience was likely to traumatize the mother. She might never leave her son's side again, exacerbating the unhealthy behavior she'd already been exhibiting since giving birth.

"Let's try not to think about it too much, okay?" said Chamella in an attempt to comfort Winter, though she knew it wouldn't amount to much. "Let's just keep moving."

Winter simply nodded, lifting her head with a deep breath as she willed herself to move forward and push the negative thoughts from her mind.

The pair walked in relative silence through the autumn forest of the Changeling Kingdom, the only sounds accompanying them the whistling of the wind, the rustling of the leaves, and the crunch of the dead grass under their hooves. Had the situation been different—and had Winter not been here before, knowing the dangers that awaited and the bad memories that went with it—this place would have seemed beautiful to the pegasus; a place she could see herself visiting in her downtime. She found it ironic that a place frozen in the season she enjoyed the most would be a place that she or anypony else should stay away from. That such beauty was home to vicious monsters like the changelings—generally speaking—was disappointing to Winter to say the least.

Still, though, the scenery was nice. Winter watched the trees as they walked by them in the hopes that it would help take her mind off of all the stress and worry. It didn't do much, admittedly, but she still tried.

In an attempt to seem at least somewhat optimistic, Winter brought up a thought that had popped up. "So I guess since it's still pretty early, most of the changelings are probably asleep, I assume. That should make sneaking in easier, right?"

Chamella gave her a look that didn't exactly inspire confidence in her theory. "Changelings are nocturnal for the most part. Plus, we didn't really have much concept of time around here. There's not really anything we could do in the day that we couldn't do in the night. We slept when we were too tired to do anything else, whether the sun was up or not."

Winter let out a sigh. So much for optimism. It was probably safe to assume that nothing on this trip was going to go their way.

Suddenly, Chamella stopped, holding a hoof out to halt Winter's movement as well. The pegasus raised an eyebrow at the changeling. Chamella's ears twitched and swiveled. Obviously she had heard something. Winter kept her ears open as well, seeing if she could pinpoint what Chamella had supposedly heard. It wasn't entirely easy to hear over the wind and leaves, but Winter definitely thought she could hear something else out there. Although, it could be just her mind playing tricks on her; in a place this dangerous, it was understandable to be a little paranoid.

However, this seemed to be more than mere paranoia. The noise sounded like voices. Changelings no doubt.

"Are they coming this way?" whispered Winter.

"I think they might be."

Winter wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do if they actually encountered other changelings, despite how likely it was. A part of her wanted to just rush through them with brute force, believing that she would be granted the fabled strength a mother received when their child was in distress. But the other parts of her had a feeling that that approach was foolhardy and, quite frankly, suicidal.

"Any ideas?" asked the pegasus, crouching down slightly in case they needed to make a quick escape.

Chamella looked a bit worried, glancing around at their immediate surroundings. The trees around them were too skinny and sparsely placed to hide among, and there weren't any bushes big enough or with enough foliage to provide adequate cover.

The changeling slipped off her saddlebags, then looked quickly to Winter. "Take off your bags."

Following suite, Winter let her bags slide off. Chamella then hoisted the two sets away from them, tucking them within some nearby shrubbery; they might not have offered enough cover for the two mares, but it should at least keep their supplies out of sight.

"Get down, quick," Chamella told the pegasus.

Winter was vexed by the command. "Down?"

"Lie down on the ground, close your eyes, and stay quiet."

The pegasus grimaced slightly. She wasn't keen on taking orders from this homewrecker, but it wasn't like she had any plan of her own. Winter did as Chamella instructed and lay down on her side in the dry, dead grass. "Like this?"

Chamella quickly looked over her shoulder. The voices were definitely getting closer, but she couldn't see them yet. She turned back to Winter. "Right. But you have to keep your eyes closed, and don't move a muscle. Try to hold your breath if you can."

"What exactly is this—?"

"Shh! They're coming!"

Winter suddenly felt her heart rate increase when she heard the sound of buzzing changeling wings approaching. "Shouldn't I be hiding instead of just lying here?"

Chamella glanced around looking a little panicked. "There's no time to explain. You're just going to have to trust me, okay?"

That didn't exactly fill Winter with confidence. But, at this point, it wasn't like she had any other option. So Winter took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and let herself lay limp in the grass. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to be able to hold her breath long enough, so she instead focused on taking slow, quiet breaths through her nose.

"Let's face it, we're not going to find anything to eat," came a male's voice from the canopy of the trees.

Chamella saw two changelings descend from the treetops and land some distance away. They were far enough that it was entirely possible that they may not even notice Chamella and Winter unless they happened to turn directly towards them.

"Ugh, but I'm starrrrving," whined the second changeling, a female.

"Well, I'm drop dead tired. And right now, I think I'm more tired than hungry. We're probably not going to find any critters running around at this hour anyway, and a couple of moths isn't gonna fill us up."

"Can't we just look for a few more minutes?" the female pleaded. "There's gotta be an apple or some berries or something around here."

"And you think that'll be enough for both of us?"

"Who said anything about you? I thought you were tired."

"Oh, well, in that case you can look by yourself," the male scoffed as he turned his back on her to walk away.

"Good. Who needs you anyway, quitter?"

When the male made to walk away from his "friend," Chamella crouched down next to Winter. He was heading straight in their direction.

"Remember: stay quiet, don't move," she whispered to Winter.

The pegasus wanted to quip back at her for talking to her like an inattentive child, but right now, she was more worried about her well being. She could hear one of the other changelings heading their way, but without being able to see them, her fear was being amplified.

The male changeling stopped moving. He squinted his eyes, noticing the black form of another changeling leaning over something on the ground. "Hey!" he called out.

Chamella didn't move, hoping that by not responding the other changelings would simply lose interest and leave. Winter heard her take in a deep breath. In fact, she could swear she felt Chamella's breath against her neck.

Curious, the male changeling cautiously trotted over to Chamella, somewhat suspicious of her presence. "What are you doing?"

Chamella merely glanced over her shoulder at him with a slight scowl.

The male's eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of the crimson tail and pearl coat lying on the ground beneath the other changeling. "Is that... a pony?!"

"What are yelling about over here?" the other female changeling inquired, fluttering over to investigate. It didn't take long for her to notice herself what he was gawking at. "Holy crap! Is that what I think it is?!"

The male grinned eagerly. "Damn right. Apparently this chick caught herself something tasty. Mind if we take a bite?"

Chamella spun around, hunching over to protect her "kill," and hissed ferociously at the two other changelings, causing them to reel back in surprise.

Winter almost jumped with a start at the sudden aggression from Chamella. With her eyes closed, she normally wouldn't have even considered that it was Chamella that had made that noise. It was only the proximity to her that allowed her to identify the source.

"Back off!" Chamella snapped at the two changelings, baring her short fangs aggressively.

"Whoa, chill out," the male said in an attempt to diffuse her.

The female took a step closer to get a better look at the pony on the ground. "It's actually a pony. That's awesome! I want a piece!"

Chamella gnashed her teeth at the female as she started to reach out a hoof, forcing her to retract. "I said back off! I caught her, she's mine!"

The male held up his hooves defensively. "Geez, calm down. There's a lot of meat there, more than enough for three of us."

"Get your own," Chamella growled.

"Come on, I just want a teeny bit," the female begged. "Maybe just a leg."

"I'd settle for a wing myself. I've never actually tasted a pony before," said the male, licking his lips.

Chamella snarled viciously. "Do you want to be dessert? Get lost!"

"What's your problem?" the female huffed in annoyance. "We're all hungry here."

The male shook his head. "Forget it. She's not gonna give it up that easy. Can't say I blame her, honestly. I'd probably do the same thing if I caught myself a pony." He turned around and started to walk away. "Let's just go. I'm too tired to fight anyway." With a buzz of his wings, he took off back into the forest.

The female glared angrily at Chamella, who glared right back. "I'm coming back for the leftovers." And she took off to follow the other changeling.

Once the pair of unfamiliar bugs were out of sight, Chamella let her muscles relax and exhaled a long breath that felt like she'd been holding it forever. She looked over her shoulder at Winter's prone form with a relieved and slightly satisfied grin. "Okay, they're gone. You can get up now."

The pegasus finally cracked one eye open, discreetly glancing around the immediate area to ensure for herself that the coast was clear before rising to a sitting position. She felt her heart battering against the inside of her rib cage like a woodpecker after ten cups of coffee. She was surprised the two changelings didn't hear it.

However, what was more surprising was the sudden personality shift in her companion. Never in her life had she seen—or rather heard, as the case may have been—Chamella act so aggressively, going so far as to threaten those two with cannibalism. That warranted an explanation.

"What the hay was all that about?" Winter inquired, brushing away the dead grass that was clinging to her ivory coat. "Since when are you so confrontational?"

Chamella rubbed the back of her neck and giggled awkwardly. "Yeah, I just figured that most changelings wouldn't consider getting into a fight and possibly getting hurt to be worth the effort. Honestly, I have no idea what I would've done if they hadn't backed down."

Winter glared at her, surprised by that response, and more than little appalled. "What?! You were gambling my life on a bluff?!"

The purple-maned changeling flinched at Winter's biting accusation. "Well... what else could we have done?"

"For one, in the time it took them to notice us, we could have run away."

"But we couldn't have known for sure that we wouldn't be spotted. How would we know where they were going to land? Running away would have been just as big a gamble. We'd be easier to spot and we might grab the attention of some other changelings we didn't even notice."

Winter scowled at her, refusing to accept that any excuse could make up for putting her life in danger. "You could've gotten me killed before we even got anywhere near the hive. Maybe I would've been better off coming alone."

Chamella scowled right back. "I think I just proved that you wouldn't have even made it this far without me. Can't you just be thankful that it worked?"

The pegasus turned her back to Chamella, trotting over to the bush where her bags were hidden to retrieve them. "I'll thank Celestia for our luck. Don't try pulling a stunt like that again."

"Hey, it's not like I wasn't nervous, too," Chamella argued defensively, pointing out the glistening beads of sweat on her smooth, ebony chitin.

"What do you have to be nervous about?" Winter said as she hitched up her saddlebags. "They just think you're one of them. You're not really in any danger at all." She picked up Chamella's bags as well, brusquely thrusting them at the changeling as she passed and started back on the path towards the hive.

Chamella quirked a vexed eyebrow. "Not in any danger? I'm in just as much danger as you. If they knew that I was a changeling that deserted the colony, they wouldn't care about killing me. They aren't really that bothered by killing their own kind anyway. And it'd be even worse if they found out I was helping a pony."

Her gaze drifted down to the dry grass cracking below her hooves, the sound of it all too familiar to her. "It's the whole reason I had to be so aggressive with them. 'The strong survive, and the weak are consumed.' I've heard that my whole life. Growing up as a changeling isn't easy when you don't have the guts to stand up for yourself."

Winter peered back over her shoulder as she walked, but didn't say anything. Chamella's eyes were still trained on the ground.

The changeling finally lifted her head, her expression of self-pity replaced by determination, even if it looked a tad forced. "But the one time in my life that I stood up to them, I wasn't even doing it for myself. For all the times Shade has protected me, it's high time I stand up for somepony he cares about even more. And besides, Snow can live without his godmother. I'd hate for him to grow up without his mom."

Winter stayed silent a moment longer as Chamella stared her right in the eye. She turned to face forward once more with a scoff. "Well, regardless of your intentions, it was still a crazy gamble. You're lucky that it worked."

Chamella furrowed her brow at the comment. "We're both lucky."

"Whatever."

Never in her life had Chamella actually been angry at Winter for any reason, but right now she was really starting grind her gears. She'd basically just saved Winter's life and she didn't even get so much as a thank you. Chamella was beginning to question how Shade managed to fall in love with this mare. The changeling had to force herself not to get too upset with her, though. Winter obviously had a lot on her mind. The stress of the situation was probably getting to her.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes after that, though the tension between them was still as thick as mud. Chamella wasn't even leading the way anymore, mostly because she didn't want to risk doing anything to aggravate her. They were heading in the right direction anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.

"I want to ask you a question."

Chamella was surprised to hear Winter break the silence. She figured the pegasus was a little too miffed to want to talk right now.

Winter didn't look back at her, but spoke regardless. "You were pretending to eat me back there, right?"

The changeling raised an eyebrow. That wasn't quite the question she was expecting. "Well, yeah. I mean, I was a little worried those other changelings might find the lack of blood suspicious, but thankfully they didn't seem to notice."

For the sake of her own temper, Winter chose to ignore yet another oversight in Chamella's bid to "protect" her. "Have you ever actually eaten a pony?"

Chamella's jaw dropped. She was practically offended by the question, as if there was even any need to question that. "What?! No! Of course not! Shade's told you that, right? You must've asked him about that at some point."

"Yeah, but I never asked about you."

This line of questioning was really starting to confuse Chamella. One minute Winter's pointing out that she couldn't even take care of herself back then, then she kept accusing her of trying to steal Shade away, and now she thought she might have eaten ponies before. Was she looking for reasons to hate her?

"Do you honestly believe that I would have killed and eaten somepony?" Chamella postulated.

Winter shrugged. "I guess not. But that being said, let me throw something out there. Hypothetically, if a pony had happened to wander out here back before the whole Canterlot thing, would you have attacked them?"

Another hypothetical. She really was trying to back Chamella into a corner.

"Why are you asking me things like this?" asked Chamella, looking hurt by Winter's insistence.

The pegasus shot a look over her shoulder. "You're not answering the question."

"I thought you said you were going to try and not harp on this kind of stuff until we found Snowflake and got back home. Why are you so dead set on making me the bad guy?"

"Shade said that even he disliked ponies back then. Changelings even eat each other sometimes, don't they? Are you saying that, if the chance came up, you wouldn't eat a pony to survive?"

"Stop comparing me to them! I'm not like them and you know it!"

"I just asked a question. If you're so concerned about what I think, just say no."

Chamella stopped, gritting her fangs and grinding her hooves into the fragile grass. "Stop it!"

Winter halted at Chamella's outburst, looking back in mild shock.

"I've apologized for the stuff I've done. I've been doing everything I can to earn your forgiveness, but you just keep looking for excuses not to trust me! What do I have to do?! Just tell me, please!"

Winter stared at the changeling with mouth slightly agape. Chamella's lips, while framing her infuriated fangs, quivered, and the sparkle of moisture was visible against the faint glow of her cyan sclera. "Are you... crying?"

Chamella wiped her eyes against her leg to wipe away the tears, having not actually been aware of just how emotional she was getting. She started walking again, overtaking Winter and continuing on toward the hive. "Forget it. Let's just go," she muttered under her breath.

The ivory mare shook her head and followed after her. She could hear an occasional sniff and sob from the changeling, even though she was trying to mask it. It seemed that she'd been bringing out all sorts of sides of Chamella she had been unaware of. But Winter was still curious about their conversation.

"You still didn't answer my question."

"I'm not answering your stupid question," Chamella angrily, yet quietly, shot back without looking back at her. "Believe whatever you want. That seems to be what you've been doing with me since we met."

She must have hit quite the nerve. That's what Winter thought. To be getting the cold shoulder from Chamella was an unexpected and unprecedented development. Granted, she fully realized that she hasn't exactly been treating the changeling with much respect, but everything Winter knew about Chamella pointed to her taking a more passive stance in the face of conflict. Apparently, all it took was to push the right buttons with the right amount of pressure. The strangest part of it all was that Winter was actually starting to feel a little guilty. She did make a promise to her last night, and it didn't take long for her to throw that out the proverbial window. On top of that, what would Shade think if he were to see the way she'd been treating his best friend? As much as she hated to admit it, Chamella had known Shade a lot longer than she had; her whole life in fact. He obviously wouldn't take too kindly to see her treated so harshly. Maybe it was time to make good on that promise...

Winter picked up her pace slightly until she was directly beside Chamella. She didn't look directly at her, instead awkwardly glancing around as if she were taking in the sights. "Hey, listen, I wanna—"

"I don't want to talk right now," Chamella mumbled, her head lowered slightly as her eyes veered away from her course slightly to avoid looking at Winter.

Winter grimaced at her response. Perhaps it was for the best anyway. Given how she knew she felt about Chamella, she honestly didn't trust herself not to say something else hurtful. This was probably one of those situations where silence was golden. If she was going to attempt to have a level-headed conversation with Chamella, it was probably a good idea to wait until both their heads had cooled off a bit first.

The seriousness and the tension in the air was subverted somewhat by a low grumbling sound. Winter blushed slightly when Chamella shot her a look, realizing that it was her own stomach that had spoken up in the silence.

"I guess we shouldn't've skipped breakfast. Should we stop and have something to eat?" Winter suggested.

Chamella thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "It's probably not safe to eat here. It'll be too easy to spot us, plus the other changelings might smell our food."

"Then what do we do? We can't just not eat. We don't know how long we're going to be out here."

"We can eat when we get inside the hive. There won't be nearly as many changelings in there, and there are plenty of safe places for us to hide while we eat."

"How long 'til we get there?"

Chamella looked ahead. Honestly, since their little exchange just now, she hadn't really been paying attention to their progress, but now that she was, she could see the rocky mountainside through the treeline. "It's just up ahead. We could probably make a quick sprint there if you're really hungry."

Winter entertained the idea for a second before shrugging indifferently. "I mean, it's not far, but I wouldn't want to draw any attention to ourselves when we're this close. We can walk for a few more minutes. I'm not desperate yet."

Chamella actually managed a small smile upon hearing that. Winter was actually taking her advice.

As the pair got closer to their destination, Winter finally got a look at the mountain that was the changeling hive. During her first foray into the Changeling Kingdom, she hadn't actually had a chance to see it from the outside, having fallen unconscious and dragged inside, and running for her life when she left. From a distance, it wouldn't appear to be much more than your run-of-the-mill mountain; steep, jagged cliffs tapering into sinister looking peaks that jutted up into the overcast sky. However, when viewing it up close it was evident that it was more than that. The mountain's face was peppered with innumerable holes and tunnels boring into the stone, leading to who-knows-where. It honestly looked vaguely like an enormous termite mound. Somewhat appropriate, all things considered.

Chamella and Winter had come to a stop at the base of the mountain. Sitting right in front of them was a large tunnel entrance, its size suggesting to the uninitiated that creatures far bigger than changelings would reside within. The open cavern before them lead towards nothing but darkness, a pitch black curtain preventing the pegasus from seeing any more than a couple dozen meters down the path before the light from the outside was swallowed up by the seemingly endless void.

Winter felt a shiver run down her spine. That blackness only stirred up unsettling memories of nearly being devoured by ravenous changeling larvae. To think that her own baby was in there somewhere at this very moment. It was a notion that almost made Winter sick just thinking about it.

Chamella and Winter shared looks with one another, but neither of them said anything. Winter looked rather uneasy, but that was understandable. It seemed that the closer they got, the more she began to realize just how haphazard she was being. Regardless, her amber eyes still housed that indomitable spark of determination; no matter how uneasy she was, Chamella knew she wasn't about to turn back. The changeling made a simple gesture with her head before cautiously stepping into the hive proper. With a hesitant gulp and a deep breath to calm her nerves, Winter followed behind her.

It didn't take long before Winter's vision was completely stolen from her by the darkness. Luckily, she had an idea of what she was going to be dealing with, and came prepared. While she still had light from the entrance to rely on, she slipped off her saddlebags and began rummaging through them.

Chamella glanced back with a quirked eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"I packed a flashlight. I'm trying to find it," she answered, switching to the other bag when the first yielded no results.

"There's no need for that," the changeling informed her.

Curious, Winter looked up from her bags. The pair of them became bathed in an ethereal, green glow as Chamella set her horn alight with magic, providing adequate lighting for Winter to see several feet in any direction. Certainly preferable to the mono-directional flashlight. Now she was kind of regretting not using the extra space in her bag for more important supplies. Still, though, the flashlight may prove useful if the two of them somehow got separated.

Chamella looked further down the tunnel. "We can probably find a safe spot to have breakfast up ahead a little farther."

"Are there going to be many changelings around?" asked Winter as she closed up her saddlebags and put them back on.

"Not as many as outside, like I said before. But if we're going to run into any, it'll be near the entrances. We should get a decent distance inside before we take a break."

Winter let out a sigh. It was a sigh combining not only her fears and worries about being where they were, but also her impatience; she was getting pretty hungry. As desperately as she wanted to find Snowflake, doing so on an empty stomach probably wouldn't make things any easier. Another grumble sounded out from Winter's empty belly, practically echoing off of the stone walls of the cavern. If she didn't eat something soon, her noisy gut was liable to give away their presence to any nearby changelings.

Chamella wasn't in much better shape. Although her stomach was being less vocal about it, she could definitely use a snack. She peered ahead, scouting for any place where they could hide out. "There's a fork in the path up ahead. The tunnel on the right is a bit narrower, so it might be safe there."

Winter squinted her eyes. "I can't see a thing past your glow."

"Well, I'm a changeling. We've got some degree of night vision," Chamella reminded her.

"What I wouldn't give for that right about now," Winter mumbled with an envious pout.

As they approached the fork that Chamella had mentioned, the changeling glanced down the aforementioned right tunnel. While the left tunnel was approximately the same size as the entry tunnel they'd been walking down, the right was significantly more confined. Still wide enough for a small group to walk through comfortably, but a swarm of a dozen or so changelings all flying simultaneously were likely to scrape themselves against the craggy cavern walls.

"So is it safe?" asked Winter, unable to see more than a few meters in front of them.

"It's not even a tunnel really. It's a dead end. I can see the far wall a ways down. The good news is that there's a bunch of big rocks around that we can hide behind. As long as I keep our light to a minimum, we shouldn't be spotted."

Satisfied that they'd found safe spot to rest, Chamella and Winter traveled a short ways into the right tunnel. Chamella chose a particularly large boulder to slip behind and slid off her saddlebags as she sat down. Winter followed suit, letting out an exhausted sigh. They hadn't exactly made it very far yet, but they already felt like they'd been walking for hours on end. That unpleasant encounter earlier certainly didn't help matters.

Chamella opened up one of her saddlebags, pulling out a cheese sandwich preserved in plastic wrap she had prepared the night before. She also removed a small bottle of water to drink. She noticed Winter rifling through her own bags in search of whatever she might be craving. Chamella pulled out a second sandwich and held it out to the pegasus. "You want this?"

Winter cocked an eyebrow. "I brought my own food, you don't have to share."

"Well, these aren't going to keep for very long. I figure it's better to get the perishables out of the way first."

With a shrug, Winter took the sandwich. "That's reasonable. Thanks."

The two of them unwrapped their meals and began to eat, finally satisfying those hunger pangs. As they chewed, Winter had a look at her immediate surroundings—or what little she could see by Chamella's soft, green aura. This cave certainly didn't provide an ideal atmosphere for a quaint picnic. The darkness and maze-like nature of the cave invoked quite a bit of paranoia; it was hard not to believe that there were eyes watching them from beyond the veil.

"Did you guys really dig out these caves?" Winter asked between bites of her sandwich.

"I didn't. As far as I know, these caves have been here for decades, maybe centuries, or however long changelings have lived here."

"So where exactly are we going? You said he's probably in one of the nurseries, right?"

Chamella swallowed another bite of her breakfast. "Probably. The problem is figuring out which one. There's got to be hundreds of nurseries in these caves, and I've only ever been to some of the ones near the entrances. Process of elimination isn't really an option; we could be down here for days on end trying to find the right one, and even then we could just wind up going in circles."

"So what's the plan then?" asked Winter without much optimism.

"I think the best course of action is to find Queen Chrysalis. She'll know where he is, and she knows these caves better than any other changeling would I'd think."

"Why would she even tell us where he is? She's the one who had that Wraith guy take him in the first place," the mother said, knitting her brow at the mere thought of it.

Chamella closed her eyes for a moment. "I don't know why, but I just get the feeling she'd be willing to at least hear us out. Who knows, maybe she'll change her mind and give him back. I mean, it's not like we know exactly where to look anyway. We might as well try."

"Okay, so the next big question is, how do we find Chrysalis?"

"Well, I don't know where her personal chambers are, so our best bet would be to get to the throne room."

"And you know how to get there?"

"Um... kind of?"

Winter didn't like the lack of confidence that accompanied that answer. "What do you mean, 'kind of'?"

"I've only been there a couple of times. It's pretty deep inside the catacombs. The only time most changelings go there is if Queen Chrysalis calls a meeting for the colony, like when we were preparing to attack Canterlot, and even then we're lead there by some of the soldiers. They know the caves pretty well, but I doubt they'd be willing to help us. So we're basically going off my memory, and I haven't been there in, like, two years." Chamella held her head down in embarrassment, knowing that that wasn't something that Winter wanted to hear.

The pegasus let out a slightly aggravated sigh. "Well, it's better than nothing I guess. Certainly more to go off than if I'd come by myself."

Chamella lifted her head, eyes slightly widened. Considering all the flak she'd been getting from her lately, that wasn't the response she was expecting. But that having come to mind, now seemed like as good a time as any to bring up something that she'd been thinking about.

"Listen, I've been thinking, Winter. I know now exactly how you feel about me and Shade."

Winter paused in the middle of taking a sip from her bottle of water, giving Chamella her full attention.

"All I want is for you and Shade to be happy, and I know I might actually be getting in the way of that, at least on your end. So I think I've come to a decision."

Winter stared silently, wondering where she was going with this.

"If you really feel that strongly about me, then after we find Snowflake and get you two home safe and sound..." Chamella hesitated before forcing the words from her mouth, looking pained by the thought running through her mind. "...then I can stay here in the Changeling Kingdom. That way, I won't be in the way anymore, and you and Shade can finally enjoy your relationship without any obstacles to get in your way."

Winter stared in awe at Chamella upon hearing her ultimatum. At first, Winter thought that maybe she was just saying that to get her off her back, but the look in her eyes seemed pretty serious about it. However, Winter didn't let herself get too choked up over the declaration, letting out a quiet sigh. "Look, nopony's asking you to leave Ponyville, Chamella. As much as I hate to admit it, you're very important to Shade; you're his best friend. He wouldn't be too happy if he found out I let you do that."

Chamella was honestly relieved to hear that. Even though it was a genuine offer, she obviously didn't want to live in the Changeling Kingdom again. But she was more than willing if that's what it took. Thankfully, that wasn't the case, but that didn't exactly solve the issue she was trying to fix. "But what about you? You don't like me and you don't trust me. How are you going to be happy if I'm around?"

Winter simply shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to find out. Either way, I'm probably stuck with you for the foreseeable future." She had another look at where they were currently. "Assuming we make it out of here alive that is."

Chamella grinned weakly. It wasn't quite what she was hoping for, but at the very least it gave her a chance to hopefully make up for what she'd done and maybe, someday, earn Winter's trust.

The changeling screwed the cap back onto her half-emptied bottle of water and stuffed it back into her bag. Their sandwiches finished, Chamella and Winter both hitched up their bags once more and faced the daunting darkness ahead of them, unsure if they were truly prepared for what awaited them deep within the changeling hive.

Chapter 14 - The Cavalry

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 14: The Cavalry

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The Golden Oaks Library was awash with silence, the only sound the incessant ticking and tocking of the clock hanging on the wall. The library's only two residents sat at the round table in the middle of the foyer. One, Equestria's newest alicorn princess, idly flipped through a book laying on the table, though she looked somewhat disinterested due to having already read this particular book three times. The other, the princess's draconic assistant, leaned his head on his hand, adding to the ticking of the clock with a rhythmic tapping of his claws on the wood of the table.

Spike let out a sigh of boredom, glancing over to see if Twilight was soon done with her book. Luckily, the genius alicorn was a phenomenally fast reader and had already reached the last dozen or so pages. At her usual pace, the dragon estimated she'd be finished within the next five minutes. That being said, he had no idea why he was waiting for her to finish her book at all.

Sure enough, after approximately five minutes, Twilight snapped the book shut, using her pink, magical aura to replace it back onto the shelf where it belonged, as though it had been there for ages. Having finished up, the alicorn let out a long sigh, looking at Spike with a small grin. However, she said nothing. Spike glanced side to side before looking back at Twilight. The way she was staring at him made it seem as though she had something to say, but still she stayed silent, just smiling.

Spike straightened up, giving Twilight a hopeful look. "Soooo... Do the bookshelves need reorganizing?"

Twilight shook her head. "We did that on Tuesday."

"Maybe we could take inventory on everything down in the basement."

"Do you really think I haven't taken inventory of the basement already?" Twilight deadpanned.

Spike sighed, leaning his face against his claw again. "What about supplies? Do you need any parchment? I could make a quick trip to Quills and Sofas if you need some."

"We went shopping yesterday."

The room went silent again when Spike failed to come up with any other possible errands he'd be willing to do. The ticking of the clock seemed almost louder now than it had been before.

"Sure is boring around here without Shade and Chamella coming over to study," Spike pointed out.

"No kidding. I've scheduled our chores to accommodate for their classes, but guess I haven't quite gotten used to having the extra time on my hooves." Twilight let her head fall to the table, her ears drooping. "Maybe it was too early to let them graduate. There's so much more I can still teach them."

"You said it yourself that they knew everything they needed to know, and anything else they could just ask you about. You sure you're not just saying that for yourself more than them?"

Twilight hesitated, looking away with slight embarrassment. "Maybe... Being a teacher was just so fulfilling. I'm starting to miss that."

"You could volunteer to help out Cheerilee at the school," Spike suggested.

Twilight rocked her head back and forth, humming indecisively. "I could... But teaching a whole class wouldn't be as personal as the way I taught Shade and Chamella."

"So, basically, you want the same student-teacher thing that you had with Princess Celestia."

A slight blush appeared on Twilight's cheeks. "I mean... A little?"

Spike raised a suspicious eyebrow.

The alicorn let out a defeated sigh. "Yeah, I guess."

Spike shrugged. "Well, Shade's got a family to worry about now. He'd probably end up missing a bunch of classes for that anyway."

"That's true. And I know Chamella would be reluctant to continue without him."

"So, really, we just need to find something to fill that space," said the dragon.

"The question is, what?"

Again, Spike shrugged. "Maybe we just need to find something fun to do for now. We can worry about the schedule later."

"Any suggestions?"

"Um..." Spike glanced around, looking for anything that would give him some idea of a way to pass the time, if even for just a few hours. His eyes fell upon the source of the only other noise in the otherwise quiet library: the clock. The dragon stood up with an excited smile, pounding his claws on the table. "Hey! It's lunchtime! We could go out for a bite to eat!"

Twilight straightened up as well with a similar grin of enthusiasm, although perhaps a little forced to make it feel more exciting than the suggestion actually was. "That's a great idea, Spike! You up for Hayburger?"

"You know it!" he exclaimed with a point of his claw.

Without wasting another moment, Twilight and Spike were out the door. They knew full well that this was a play at desperation, their boredom making any mundane thing sound that much more appealing. But it was still lunchtime, and food had to make its way to their bellies one way or another. At least this way they had an excuse to leave the library, even if only for a short time.

The pair made a brisk pace toward their destination, already occupying their minds with what to order when they got there. On the way to Hayburger, they passed by Carousel Boutique, and as chance would have it, Rarity happened to step outside as they passed along. Seeing another opportunity to pass time, Twilight stopped to offer the unicorn a neighborly wave, her abrupt stop causing Spike to crash into her backside and fall onto his own.

"Hi, Rarity," the alicorn greeted with an overly amicable grin.

Rarity looked as up as if snapped from deep thought. "Hm? Oh, good morning, Twilight."

Twilight's grin faltered. It didn't take her long to notice that Rarity looked somewhat out of sorts. Normally, she would wave back with a smile of her own and try to strike up a conversation upon running into a friend by happenstance. However, she was currently void of enthusiasm, looking almost concerned about something.

"What's up, Rarity? You okay?" Spike asked, having picked up on the unicorn's deflated expression as well.

Rarity hesitated for a moment before looking hopefully to her two friends. "You two wouldn't happen to have seen Chamella around, would you?"

Twilight and Spike shared confused glances. "No. I haven't seen her at all in a couple of days actually," answered Twilight. "Why?"

Rarity's mouth curled into a small frown. "Mmm... Well, I haven't seen her since last night."

"Maybe she got up early for something," the purple dragon postulated.

"That's just it: I'm not even sure if she came home last night."

"Where did you see her last?" asked Twilight.

"Well, she and Winter joined Fluttershy and I at the spa yesterday. When we left, Chamella said she wanted to go say goodnight to Shade and Snowflake, and I haven't seen her since."

"That is odd," said Twilight, tapping her chin in thought.

"She could have just crashed at Shade and Winter's place," Spike said.

"Perhaps," Rarity said, though sounding unsure of that. "She may have been too relaxed from the spa to make the trip back. I certainly wouldn't be surprised. I was out like a light the moment my head hit the pillow. And with my earplugs in I wasn't likely to hear her come home if she had."

Twilight smiled reassuringly. "That's probably it then."

Still, Rarity seemed unsure. "I'm not so sure. She and I were supposed to get started on an order today, yet she has yet to come home."

"Maybe you should go see if she's still at Shade's place," the alicorn suggested.

Rarity nodded. "That's actually just where I was headed."

"Oh! Mind if we come with?" requested Twilight with an eager grin.

The ivory unicorn shrugged. "I suppose there's no harm. Be my guest."

As the two mare's were about to make their way to the home in question, Twilight felt a tug on her tail. She glanced back to a quizzical dragon staring back at her.

"What about Hayburger?" he asked.

Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile and a dismissive wave of her hoof. "Hayburger'll be open all day. We have time to help out Rarity."

Spike gave a shrug. It wasn't like they were all that hungry anyway. They were just going to Hayburger to kill time more than anything, and this little detour would only help with that. Thinking about it that way, Spike followed along with Rarity and Twilight.

After a few minutes of walking, the trio arrived at Shade and Winter's shared residence. Rarity took it upon herself to knock on the front door. The three of them stood around awkwardly for a few moments before they all came to the conclusion that nopony was going to answer.

"Guess they're not home," Spike observed.

"Even stranger still..." mumbled Rarity, becoming even more concerned.

"Shade and Winter could be at work," Twilight threw out, though with an uncertain shrug.

"But that doesn't explain where Chamella could be."

"Maybe she took Snowflake out for a walk."

"Twilight, darling, I appreciate your attempts to reassure me, but you have to admit that something here is amiss."

The alicorn grimaced, sighing in resignation. "You're right. This is very bizarre. If Chamella's not here, then where would she be?"

"Um, guys, you might want to see this."

The two mares glanced over to Spike, who was standing on his tippy toes and peering into the window of the house. Following his suggestion, Rarity and Twilight sidled up next to the dragon, gazing into the home.

They both let out shocked gasped upon seeing what Spike had been pointing to. From the window they could see into the kitchen, where the table had been broken into pieces, leaving a rather hazardous looking mess on the floor.

"Oh, good heavens!" Rarity shrieked in horror.

Without any hesitation, Twilight threw open the front door, her politeness of not wanting to intrude without invite was overridden by sudden concern for the residents. Rarity and Spike followed quickly behind, the three of them running for the kitchen and looking upon the mess of furnished wood.

"What in Equestria happened here?" Twilight muttered in her uncomprehending shock.

"I'm guessing this wasn't the result of a lovers' spat," said Spike. The dragon's eyes took note of a patch of red amongst the carnage. "Is that blood?"

"Oh, dear..." Rarity's face went paler than normal at the sight of the dark red liquid, finding it both nauseating and very worrying.

Twilight shot a quick look at Spike. "Spike, check upstairs. See if anypony's still here."

With a simple nod, the little dragon hurried up the stairs.

The princess turned her attention back to the potential crime scene, looking upon it with more analytical eyes.

"Do you suppose somepony broke in? A burglar perhaps?" Rarity asked.

Twilight held her hoof to her mouth, humming in thought as she analyzed the scene. "This seems like an awful lot of damage for a simple thief." She used her magic to pick up a white, pointy object stained with blood: a fang. "There was obviously a rather intense struggle here. Shade must have gotten into a fight with whomever was here. And by the looks of things, it didn't go well."

The sound of Spike descending the stairs could be heard behind them, and the dragon ran over to Twilight in a panic. "Nopony's here! Even Snowflake is gone!"

Rarity was aghast at this news. "Oh, that poor child! Whatever could have happened?! I do hope he's okay."

"Rarity, I think we should get back to your place," suggested Twilight.

The unicorn raised a confused eyebrow. "My place? Whatever for?"

"It's possible that Chamella may have been out there looking for help. She might be back home trying to find you."

"It's worth checking I suppose. Let's hurry."

And with that, the three of them rushed out of the house in the hopes of finding Chamella, or at the very least, some sort of explanation as to what was going on.

On the way, Twilight went over the mental notes she had taken of the scene. As she said, this had to be more than mere burglary. The damage was quite excessive, even if the intruder had gotten into a tussle with Shade, which seemed likely given the evidence. Also, the kitchen appeared to be the only area affected; Spike mentioned nothing about the state of the upstairs rooms, only that there was nopony up there. Considering that, it was likely that the intruder either had some other reason to be there, or knew exactly where to find what they were looking for. However, as of this moment, Twilight didn't have any suspects.

Twilight, Rarity and Spike slowed their pace upon reaching Carousel Boutique, preparing to head inside and see if the alicorn's hunch was correct. However, just as Rarity was about to grab the doorknob, the door opened anyway. The three of them took a step back as Sweetie Belle stepped outside, who also paused briefly upon seeing her sister right outside the door.

"Oh, hey, sis," the young unicorn greeted in passing as she attempted to slip past them toward an unknown destination.

"Sweetie Belle, wait one moment, please!" Rarity called out.

The filly stopped, turning around with a quizzical look. "Hm? What's up?"

Rarity looked down at her, concern evident in her deep blue eyes. "Is Chamella home?"

Sweetie Belle's ears twitched at the mention of the name, and she suddenly seemed nervous. "C-Chamella? Uh, nope, she's not here."

"You wouldn't happen to know where she is, would you?"

"Why would I know where she is?" the filly asked with some mild aggravation.

Rarity reeled slightly at the surprising defensiveness of her question. "Because you're her friend. I just thought she might have mentioned something to you."

"Well, she didn't. Look, I gotta go. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are waiting for me."

"Wait!"

Sweetie Belle stopped short again, hoping that her sister wouldn't notice the nervous bead of sweat rolling down her neck.

"Do you happen to know where she went?" the older unicorn asked in desperation.

"No. Stop asking! I'm not her secretary! Geez."

Rarity knit her brow at her little sister's impatient and rude attitude. Now she was getting a touch suspicious. "You're being awfully defensive, Sweetie Belle. Are you trying to hide something from me?"

Sweetie Belle gulped worriedly. "What? O-Of course not."

Rarity raised an eyebrow at the other unicorn's stuttering response. "Sweetie Belle, I know when you're lying to me. What are you trying to hide?"

The filly shrunk back slightly, frowning as she started to find herself backed into a corner.

Twilight leaned forward, addressing her with a more pleading look and tone compared to Rarity's more stern and authoritative approach. "Sweetie Belle, if you know where Chamella is, could you tell us, please? This is very important."

Sweetie Belle turned away from her apologetically. "I can't," she murmured.

"And why not?" her sister demanded.

"Because she made me promise not to tell anypony."

Twilight and Rarity shared concerned looks.

"It sounds like Chamella probably does know what's going on," Spike surmised.

Twilight nodded. "That's sounds likely now." Again, she looked pleadingly at Sweetie Belle. "Listen, Sweetie Belle, if you know anything about the situation, I beg you to tell us."

Sweetie Belle bit her lip. She already knew how important it was, but she wasn't about to break a promise to a friend. "I can't... I promised..."

Rarity, casting aside her authority, kneeled down to see eye to eye with the younger unicorn, speaking to her not as her senior, but as her sister, her tone becoming more quiet and sympathetic. "Sweetie Belle, darling, I know how important a promise to a friend is, believe me. But what if breaking that promise meant saving somepony's life?"

Sweetie Belle opened her mouth, but no words escaped. She had an idea of the gravity of the situation, but her mind was in conflict with itself.

"We think something terrible may have happened to Shade, Winter and even Snowflake," Twilight explained. "And if Chamella is involved, too, she might be able to help us figure out what's going on. Please."

The filly hesitated still, but it was obvious that she wanted to tell them.

Rarity smiled softly at her. "Tell you what, if Chamella gets upset that you broke your promise, I'll take the blame, alright? You don't have to take responsibility."

Sweetie Belle let out a defeated sigh. She knew it was only going to be a matter of time before Rarity and Twilight wore her down anyway. They knew she knew something, and they weren't likely to stop until she spilled the beans. "Alright..." she said reluctantly and ashamedly.

Twilight flashed a grateful smile. "Thank you, Sweetie Belle. So where's Chamella then?"

The filly paused briefly before answering, looking the two adults in the eyes. She knew they weren't going to like the answer. "She's in the Changeling Kingdom."

The mares and the dragon reeled back in shock, expressing their surprise in unison. "What?!"

"Wh-... But whatever would she be doing in the Changeling Kingdom?!" Rarity inquired, flabbergasted by the news.

Sweetie Belle scratched her head, trying to remember all the details that Chamella had shared with her the previous night. "Um... Apparently some bad changeling guy showed up and took Snowflake away."

Rarity gasped. "Oh, my word! That poor child!"

"And Chamella went after him?" Twilight assumed.

"She went with Winter. They left late last night," explained Sweetie Belle.

"What about Shade?" asked Spike. "Is he with them, too?"

Sweetie Belle shook her head. "The changeling hurt Shade. Winter and Chamella brought him to the hospital before they left."

"Heavens... Is he alright?" Rarity inquired with deep concern.

The filly shrugged with an apologetic look. "I dunno. Chamella never really had time to talk about it a whole lot."

Spike tapped a claw to his chin in thought. "I wonder why that changeling wanted Snowflake to begin with."

Again, Sweetie Belle shrugged. "Chamella said that Chrysalis probably wanted him for something, but she didn't really know what. Apparently there are even changeling spies here in Ponyville that've been watching Shade for a while."

"Oh, dear, this just keeps getting more and more alarming," said Rarity with a shake of her head.

"Did she tell you anything else?" asked Twilight.

Sweetie Belle thought for a moment, but shook her head. "No, that's pretty much all she said."

The alicorn looked at Rarity and Spike with dutiful determination and concern for her friends. "Rarity, Spike, round up the girls and tell them to meet at the library A.S.A.P. I'm going to the hospital to see if I can learn anything else from Shade."

Spike gave a quick salute before hurrying off toward Sugarcube Corner to fetch Pinkie Pie, and Rarity nodded to acknowledge the order before Twilight took flight to head to the hospital. Rarity was about to head straight to Sweet Apple Acres to get Applejack, but stopped briefly to give her sister a grateful smile.

"Thank you, Sweetie Belle. You did the right thing." The unicorn then broke into a hasty gallop to gather her friends.

The young filly's gaze fell to the ground beneath her. "I don't feel like I did the right thing... Sorry, Chamella. But I hope you're okay."

***** ***** *****

It was relatively quiet at the Ponyville Hospital, as one would expect. One of the nurses, Nurse Redheart—a mare with a pearl coat and pink mane tied in a bun, and a cutie mark depicting a pink outline of a cross with a red heart in the middle—was going over some paperwork at the lobby's reception counter. However, she was forced to look up from her work when she heard the front doors open. She had been prepared to greet whatever person might be arriving with her usual comforting smile; an effort to preemptively reassure potential patients and help them deal with whatever may be ailing them.

However, the pony who had walked in certainly wasn't who she would have guessed. It was Princess Twilight Sparkle, and although she didn't show any immediate signs of injury or illness, she looked to be a quite a hurry, trotting inside with purpose in her steps. She quickly cantered over to the reception desk, looking Nurse Redheart in the eye with an unusual seriousness.

"Twilight, what brings you here? Is something the matter?" asked the nurse with audible concern in her voice.

"Yes, actually. Is it true that Shade was admitted into the hospital last night?"

Nurse Redheart's ears stood at attention at the mention of the resident changeling's name. "Shade? Why, yes, he was. Winter and Chamella brought him here yesterday evening."

"I need to see him," Twilight requested rather abruptly.

The nurse's ears folded back, looking apologetic. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was told not to allow anypony other than immediate family to visit him."

Twilight didn't like the sound of that, which only increased the urgency of the situation. She took a breath, knowing what she had to do. She wasn't fond of the idea, but she had no other choice. "You don't understand. I need to speak with Shade. I'm making this a royal order."

Nurse Redheart hesitated for a moment, suddenly finding herself conflicted. However, she wasn't about to decline a command from a princess. "Oh, um... O-Of course, Your Highness. Right this way." She stepped out from behind the counter, leading Twilight through the nearby double doors and into the halls of the hospital.

As they made their way to Shade's room, Twilight decided to get some questions out of the way in the hopes of saving time. "How is he? Is he alright?"

"Well, seeing as he was brought in rather late last night, we were a little short-hooved. It seems to be a mild concussion brought on by a blow to the head, but he's been drifting in and out of consciousness since he arrived. We haven't really been able to learn anything about what happened to him yet." Nurse Redheart looked over her shoulder at the alicorn. "You wouldn't know what happened, would you? Even Winter and Chamella didn't know."

Twilight stayed quiet for a moment. She elected to keep the knowledge that other changelings had shown up in Ponyville to herself for the time being, not wanting to cause any panic or misleading rumors about another invasion. "Everything I know is basically conjecture or hearsay. I'm hoping to get more information out of Shade."

Nurse Redheart frowned slightly. "Well, if you catch him while he's awake and lucid, maybe you'll get something. But so far we haven't had any luck. And, oddly, Winter and Chamella haven't come back since last night. I'd have thought they'd be more concerned."

"I'm sure they have their reasons," said Twilight knowingly.

Nurse Redheart stopped for a moment, staring further down the hallway with mild confusion. Walking towards them was one of the head doctors at the hospital, and the same doctor that had delivered Shade and Winter's baby.

The bespectacled, unicorn doctor, upon seeing a princess in his presence, gave a welcoming smile. "Ah, Princess Twilight, good afternoon. What brings you here?"

"I'm here to speak with Shade," she answered concisely.

He gave a quick, reprimanding glance to Nurse Redheart, who had obviously disobeyed his order of disallowing visitors to Shade's room. However, he gave a dismissive shake of his head; this was Princess Twilight, so it was understandable.

"Well, I hope you have better luck than we have so far. Honestly, his injuries aren't severe, but he's been unable to stay conscious for more than a few minutes at a time."

With that, the doctor was about to be on his way to allow Twilight to get to it. However, Nurse Redheart stopped him.

"How did it go, Doctor?" she asked him.

The stallion raised a puzzled eyebrow. "How did what go?"

"The house call. I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

This confused the doctor further. "'House call'?"

"Yes. You... told me earlier that you were going out for a house call."

"We... don't do house calls, Nurse Redheart."

"Huh? But you told me..."

The doctor shook his head, still slightly confused by the situation. "I don't know who you were talking to, but it wasn't me."

"No, I know it was you. I'm positive. If it wasn't you, then who else would it be?"

Twilight's eyes suddenly widened in panic. "Which room is Shade's?" she asked hastily.

"Oh. Um, second door on the right," answered the nurse.

Before Nurse Redheart could even finish her sentence, Twilight was already rushing down the hall. She flung open the door forcefully, her fear over what she thought may have happened overriding her consideration for hospital etiquette. Her ears drooped the moment she realized her fears were realized.

"Oh, no..."

Just as she had suspected, the room that was supposed to be Shade's was, in fact, empty. The only sign that anypony had been there was the messy sheets upon the bed.

Nurse Redheart peeked over Twilight's shoulder into the room. Upon seeing that their patient was nowhere to be seen, she suddenly realized what had happened. "Oh, dear... I'm sorry, Princess. I—" But before she could finish apologizing, Twilight had already took off back towards the entrance.

***** ***** *****

Once again, the library was relatively quiet. However, it was currently occupied by more than the usual two residents who lived there. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie sat at the foyer's table, the former tapping a hoof against the wooden surface impatiently, while the latter was preoccupying herself by cutting linked pony shapes out of paper. Fluttershy was also present, but sat quietly off on her own, too unsettled by her own imagination of why exactly Spike had rushed her over here.

The dragon himself was bringing their guests glasses of water while they waited for the two remaining ponies to show up. Twilight had returned as well just a few minutes prior and was pacing back and forth in deep thought, only making Fluttershy more nervous about what this was all about. Twilight hadn't told them anything yet about why she had had them all gather there, opting to wait until everypony was present to explain to avoid repeating herself.

But one particular pony was reaching the end of her chain, rolling her magenta eyes and letting out a groan in her sheer boredom and curiosity. "Can we please get some kind of explanation for this 'emergency meeting'? I'm slowly dying over here," complained Rainbow Dash as she slumped her head down onto the table.

Twilight looked up from her thoughts to address the impatient mare. "Rarity and Applejack should be here shortly. I'll elaborate the moment they arrive."

Just as the alicorn said that, the door opened and the two mares in question finally arrived. Rarity trotted inside rather hurriedly, while Applejack cantered in with a somewhat annoyed grimace.

"Alright, can somepony finally explain to me what in the hay y'all rushed me over here for?" Applejack inquired.

"I already told you," stated Rarity, slightly out of breath and readjusting her windswept mane.

"All you said is, 'Emergency meeting! Rendezvous at the library, s'il vous plaît!' Even barrin' the fancy talk, that don't tell me nothin'."

"Apologies, but I get unnecessarily cultural when I'm flustered," Rarity admitted.

"Is that a thing?" asked Rainbow Dash with a raised eyebrow.

"Guys? More important things," Spike interrupted, gesturing to Twilight.

The alicorn nodded, and everypony gave her their full attention. "Right. Okay, now that everypony's here, I can explain. To get to the point, there's been a kidnapping."

Fluttershy covered her mouth as she gasped in shock. "Oh, my, that's awful. Who was kidnapped?"

"Yeah, and whose flank do we gotta bust up to get 'em back?" added Rainbow Dash, pounding her hooves together.

"Snowflake," answered Twilight.

The room went silent for a moment as the uninitiated mares let that sink in. However, Rainbow Dash broke the silence.

"That's... for the first question, right?"

"And to answer the second, Queen Chrysalis and the changelings," Rarity elaborated.

Dash pumped her hooves eagerly. "Yes! I've been itching to have another go at her! Lemme at 'em!"

Applejack raised a hoof to interrupt. "Now, slow yer roll there, little missy. We ain't got all the details just yet." She turned to Twilight. "Can we back up fer a sec and figure out what, how and why?"

Twilight nodded in acknowledgement. "Allow me to explain. From what we've been told, at some point last night, an unknown changeling showed up at Shade and Winter's house. At the time, Winter was out with Chamella, Rarity and Fluttershy at the spa. Shade was assaulted and subsequently hospitalized. Afterwards, the assailant abducted Snowflake and carried him off to the Changeling Kingdom."

"Poor Snowflake... Poor Shade and Winter..." Fluttershy said glumly with drooping ears.

"Well, that answers the what and how. Do we know why?" asked Applejack again.

Twilight shook her head. "Unfortunately, we don't. However, there's more to this. Apparently, after discovering an injured Shade and escorting him to the hospital, both Winter and Chamella left in the middle of the night for the Changeling Kingdom by themselves."

"What?! Are they loopy?! They can't go there alone! That's crazy!" exclaimed Applejack.

"I can't help but wonder if this perhaps has something to do with us," Rarity said quietly.

Rainbow Dash gave her a puzzled look. "How do you mean? What did we do?"

"Oh, not you, dear. More so myself and Twilight. I can only imagine how this whole thing must have affected Winter. The poor dear had been working herself to the bone to take care of Snowflake, and the one time we actually manage to convince her to take a day off..."

"Her kid gets taken away," Spike finished with a frown.

"So she probably thinks it's solely her responsibility to get him back, huh?" Fluttershy assumed.

"Considerin' the way she's been actin' since the baby came 'round, Ah'd say that's a safe bet," Applejack agreed.

"You didn't happen to get any useful information from Shade, did you, Twilight?" asked a concerned Rarity.

"And is he okay?" added Fluttershy.

The alicorn let out a sigh. "Well, that's another problem. Shade wasn't at the hospital."

The other mares stared at her, confused.

"But Sweetie Belle said Winter and Chamella took him there," said Spike. "If he's not there, then where is he?"

"It seems that Shade snuck out of the hospital under the guise of one of the doctors. I can't be one hundred percent certain of where he is now, but I have a hunch..."

"Let me guess: the Changeling Kingdom," Applejack said with a frustrated groan.

"Oh, this just keeps getting worse and worse," Fluttershy whined in despair.

"So, just to fast-forward a bit here, we're going after them, right?" Rainbow Dash presumed.

Twilight nodded. "That's the idea, yes."

"Is that wise?" asked Rarity. "We don't really know anything about the Changeling Kingdom."

"I agree with Rarity," said Fluttershy. "Maybe it would be better to let Princess Celestia know."

"I thought about that, too. However, I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Twilight told them.

"Why not?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I mean, I'm all for kicking some changeling butt again, but if Celestia just sends an army of soldiers in there, we could have them all back home by bedtime. We didn't lose a single person when they invaded Canterlot."

Twilight raised a hoof. "First of all, they invaded us on our territory. In this case, we'd be invading theirs. Shade once told me that the army of changelings that attacked Canterlot wasn't even close to their entire population. I have little doubt that even the royal army in its entirety would be completely outnumbered on the changelings' home turf. Secondly, out of respect for Shade and Chamella, I, myself, have been hoping that one day we could make peace between out peoples. Sending an army of soldiers into their homeland would be highly counter-intuitive to that goal."

"So? They invaded us first," Dash reminded her.

"And we have the opportunity to take the moral high ground. Peace is not achieved by getting even."

"So yer sayin' that we're just gonna go in there ourselves?" assumed Applejack. "That sounds just as boneheaded as Winter and Chamella goin' in there alone."

Twilight ran a hoof through her mane, letting out another sigh. "I-I know. Believe me, I know. But this is the only course of action I can think of that won't result in outright war with the changelings. If Princess Celestia knew that the changelings kidnapped an infant foal, that could very well happen. Not to mention the panic amongst the general public."

"Hey, Ah never said nothin' about not doing it," Applejack corrected. "Just wanted to make sure that that's where you were goin' with this."

Rainbow Dash shrugged nonchalantly. "I said I was up for it from the beginning."

Twilight looked over her friends, seeing the determination and courage in each of the their eyes. "Bear in mind that until we figure out how to open that box at the Tree of Harmony, we don't have the Elements of Harmony. We'll have to rely on our own individual skill sets to get through this. That being said, since we don't have the Elements, it's not necessary for all of us to go. If anypony wants to stay behind, that's perfectly understandable."

All eyes turned to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus glanced behind herself to ensure they weren't looking at something else. "What? Why's everypony looking at me?"

"I don't think any of us would be able to live with ourselves if we let our friends go out there and put themselves in harm's way while we just sit back at home," Rarity said with a confident smile.

Twilight grinned knowing that her friends were all ready and willing to take this risk with her. "Alright, then I suppose we need to prepare our search party."

Pinkie Pie, who had been uncharacteristically quiet as she played with her paper crafts, finally lifted her head. "Did somepony say party?"

Twilight rolled her eyes with an annoyed grimace. "Pinkie Pie, have you been paying attention at all?"

"'Course I have." The pink pony inhaled a deep breath. "Shade got hurt Snowflake got kidnapped Winter and Chamella and presumably Shade all went to the Changeling Kingdom to get him back and we're gonna go there and save the day. Did I miss anything?"

Twilight simply blinked, surprised by the bubbly mare's firm grasp of the situation. "Um... No, that about sums it up."

Pinkie just beamed proudly with a big, toothy grin.

"So what do we need to do?" Rainbow Dash asked, wings spread eagerly.

"Everypony should return home and packs some supplies," Twilight informed everypony. "Food; water; first-aid. Anything you think might be necessary."

"Bit overkill, don't you think?" the cyan pegasus commented.

"I've learned a lot about the Changeling Kingdom from Shade, and one of the most prominent things he's told me is how labyrinthine the changeling hive is. From the way he described it, it's entirely possible we may be there for several days attempting to navigate it. So I ask that you all pack provisions for the journey, and we'll all meet at the train station in half an hour."

"I... don't think the train goes to the Changeling Kingdom," Fluttershy pointed out.

Twilight waved off her comment. "It just happens to be in the direction of the Changeling Kingdom. It makes for a good starting point."

"Alright then. We shall break and reconvene at the train station," Rarity affirmed with a nod as she headed for the door. "Oh, what should I pack? I'll have to think this over for a moment."

Applejack gave the unicorn a stern glare. "Rarity, don't you dare pack a single accessory. If Ah find even one article of clothing or jewelry in yer bag, Ah swear to Celestia..."

The fashionista simply gave a haughty "Hmph," as the two left the library. Rainbow Dash was quick to bolt out the door behind them, followed by a bouncing Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy was last to leave, her exit significantly more subtle as she quietly left to make her own preparations.

Now that it was just Twilight and Spike left, the dragon prepared to rush up to the bedroom. "Alright, I'm gonna get started packing our things."

"Hold on, Spike."

Spike stopped halfway up the stairs, looking back down at the alicorn.

"I'm going to have to ask you to stay behind in Ponyville."

Disappointment immediately fell over his scaly face as he slowly descended the staircase again. "What? You're seriously going to leave me out of an adventure like this?"

Twilight gave the grumpy dragon a reassuring smile. "Actually, I have another important job for you. Sweetie Belle mentioned that the reason the changelings knew about Snowflake was because there were spies in Ponyville. For all we know, they could still be here. I want you to stay here and try to suss them out."

Spike's mood lifted in an instant, his face overcome by suppressed excitement. "You mean like detective work?"

The alicorn smirked at his sudden enthusiasm. "Something like that."

The dragon pumped his fist. "Awesome! Don't you worry, Twilight. Detective Spike is on the case! I'll have those dirty spies locked up behind bars before you girls get home."

"Good to hear. But I still want you to be careful. They could be dangerous."

Spike waved off the warning dismissively. "Pfft. I can handle a few changelings."

"I just ask that you try to keep this whole thing under wraps for the time being. We don't want to cause a panic. But if you need help, don't be afraid to ask somepony trustworthy for assistance. Preferably somepony who can keep a secret."

"Won't be necessary, but I'll keep it in mind," Spike said confidently.

"In the meantime, you can help me pack. I was going to have a quick skim for spells that might be useful."

Spike saluted with a smile before hurrying upstairs. "You got it."

***** ***** *****

"It's quite a long way, isn't it," Fluttershy commented between exhausted breaths.

"Well, if it were right next door, we probably wouldnt've been invaded so easily. We'd be able to keep tabs on 'em then at least," Applejack pointed out.

Even if Fluttershy was the only one to voice her displeasure, each of the six mares were finding the trip to the Changeling Kingdom somewhat tiring. Applejack, considering her more physical lifestyle, felt the effects the least. The journey was more like a long workout for her. However, the other mares' lifestyles weren't exactly conducive with long travels, which was evident by the sweat beading on their foreheads, and manes damp and disheveled.

Rarity attempted in futility to keep her normally-perfectly-curled mane in its well-styled shape. "Heavens, I already knew this endeavor was going to cause problems, but I didn't expect so soon. May we take a rest? I really must fix these dreadful split ends."

Applejack cast a judgmental glare from the corner of her eye. "Ah sure hope that don't mean you packed a curling iron."

Rarity turned her nose up at the comment with a scoff. "I'm insulted that you'd even insinuate I'd be so impractical. I'd just like to do what I can to repair it," she whined.

"I'm sorry, Rarity, but we've got bigger problems to worry about," Twilight said sympathetically. "Besides, with how long we're likely to be out here, your mane probably wouldn't stay in shape for very long anyway."

"I'd just like to stop and catch my breath for a few minutes," Fluttershy complained, panting.

Pinkie Pie exuberantly bounded between her friends with a wide smile. "I don't know what you guys are crying about. I feel fine. Dandy! Bouncy! Super-dee-dup—oof!" As Pinkie was boasting about her own stamina, one of the pink mare's bounces ended with an ungraceful face plant into the grass. She lifted her head and shook it off with a dizzied groan.

"Well, seems yer legs say otherwise, sugarcube," Applejack chuckled. "Probably don't help that you've been skippin' and hoppin' the whole way. Wanna try walking like a normal pony fer a little bit? Might save some energy."

Pinkie Pie lifted herself up, brushing herself off with an embarrassed grin. "Yeah, probably a good idea."

"How much further is it?" Fluttershy whined again.

Twilight breathed an exasperated sigh. "I'm not sure. All I know is that Shade said it was in this direction. I certainly hope I wasn't misinformed."

"Hey!"

The five mares turned to the skies ahead of them when the familiar voice called out to them. Rainbow Dash was making a beeline back towards them, having earlier split off from the group to scout ahead. The cyan pegasus looped behind the group before touching down into a brisk trot to match their pace.

"Well? Did you find anything?" asked Applejack curiously.

"You said the Changeling Kingdom was like a forest stuck in autumn, right?" Rainbow Dash asked Twilight.

The alicorn nodded. "According to Shade and Chamella, yes."

"Then I've got good news." Dash pointed to some steep, rolling hills in the distance. Beyond them the mares could see the grey and cloudy peaks of a large mountain range. "It's just over those hills up ahead."

Fluttershy let out a long breath and let herself fall to her haunches. "Oh, thank goodness. Does that mean we can take a break before we get there?"

"I suppose that's a good idea," Twilight affirmed with a nod. "Let's have a quick lunch and we'll continue on our way shortly."

The moment Twilight said that, everypony else immediately sat down in the grass and threw off their cumbersome saddlebags. They were all quick to begin rummaging through them to find something to snack on.

"What did you pack, Rarity?" asked Fluttershy curiously.

"Well, a variety of dishes, of course. Just because we're, urgh..." She rolled her eyes in mild disgust. "...roughing it, for the time being, doesn't mean we can't have a varied diet."

"It ain't exactly 'roughing it' if you bring yer own prepacked food," Applejack corrected.

Rarity ignored the comment. As far as she was concerned, if you aren't eating off of a table, you're roughing it. "In any case, I think I'm going to have myself a nice çoban salatası," she said, removing a fork and a plastic container with a salad consisting of parsley and a variety of finely chopped vegetables.

"That's a bit fancy for a trip like this, don't you think?" Rainbow Dash commented, basing that purely on the name of the dish.

"It's a fairly simple salad, Rainbow Dash. Although it does lose a certain... je ne sais quoi without a nice glass of wine to drink with it, but sacrifices must be made," the unicorn said. "And what, dare I ask, did you pack?"

Rainbow Dash reached into her bag, pulling out a bag of potato chips and a can of soda. "Some chips, soda pop, a few candy bars..."

Rarity placed a hoof to her forehead, disappointed, but somehow not surprised. "Oh, for goodness sake. We're not on a camping trip, Rainbow Dash. You can't just pack nothing but unhealthy junk food."

Dash lifted an eyebrow, holding out the can of soda. "Well, it's grape soda. Grapes are healthy."

Applejack simply gave a half-lidded, bemused stare. "Really...?" she deadpanned.

The pegasus pointed to herself defensively. "Why are you getting on my case? Pinkie Pie probably just packed a bunch of cupcakes and cookies and stuff."

"Actually, I got fruit salad," Pinkie said, removing a container of assorted, sliced fruit.

Rainbow Dash threw her hooves up. "Oh, come on. Even you have to make me look bad?"

The pink pony frowned slightly. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I do have a few cupcakes."

"Yeah, thanks..." Dash sighed, popping the tab on her grape soda with a sharp fizz.

"If you like, I can share some of my baby carrots with you," Fluttershy offered, holding out a resealable bag full of small carrots.

Rainbow Dash hesitated for a moment, wearing a disgruntled pout, but reached in and took out a few carrots without a word. Fluttershy simply smiled kindly.

"All things considered, what food we brought with us is not really what we should be concerned about," Twilight interjected as she used her pink aura to unwrap the plastic from a daffodil sandwich.

"Twi's got a point," agreed Applejack, biting into a granola bar—apple-flavored, of course. "We should be concernin' ourselves with a plan."

"That'd be Twilight's department," said Rainbow Dash, looking expectedly at the alicorn. "Whatchu got?"

Twilight nodded, swallowing a bite of her sandwich. "Right, well... I quickly went over some of the notes I've taken from Shade and Chamella over the past two years. The hive is deep, dark, and very labyrinthine."

"You keep using that word," grumbled Dash. "Laypony's terms, please?"

"Labyrinthine. Basically, it's a maze."

"I'm guessing it's not the kind of maze where you can get through it just by hugging the left wall the whole way, huh?" Pinkie Pie presumed.

Twilight shook her head. "Not likely. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. First and foremost, we have to get to the hive."

"From what I understand, all that lay between us and those mountains is a simple forest," said Rarity. "Chamella's never mentioned anything like treacherous terrain or dangerous animals being around here."

"'Cept the changelings themselves," Applejack pointed out.

"Right," Twilight said with a nod. "The changelings are pretty much the only thing standing between us and the hive, so it's entirely possible—I dare even say guaranteed—that we'll run into at least a few of them."

"Pfft. Nothing we can't handle," Rainbow Dash scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "We fought off tons of 'em in Canterlot."

"Actually, I agree," the alicorn said with a smile. "I don't think the changelings will slow us down too much. I'm confident in our strength as a group to be able to defend ourselves."

"Still, though, we're on their turf this time. We can't afford to let our guards down," Applejack cautioned.

"True. We need to stay alert and ready," Rarity agreed. "After all, not all of us are fighters by nature."

Fluttershy brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face with a sheepish, somewhat ashamed expression.

"So what are we doing once we get there?" Rainbow Dash asked once more.

Twilight neatly folded up the plastic film her sandwich had been in upon finishing her snack, and packed it back into her bag. "I think it's best if we get there and assess the situation for ourselves first."

Applejack smirked in amusement and mild surprise. "Princess Twilight Sparkle, lord of lists and queen of scheduling, is actually winging it. How do we know you haven't already been replaced by a changeling?"

Twilight simply shrugged as she stood up and slipped her saddlebags back on. "There's simply not enough documentation about the Changeling Kingdom to formulate a concrete plan of action, and what little documentation there is was written by me."

The other mares followed the princess's lead and finished up their meals, hitching up their bags as well.

"In any case, we need to get moving," Twilight continued. She glanced up at the sky. The sun was already beginning to make its decent towards the horizon, not that the daylight was going to be of any help once they reached the hive. What really bothered her was knowing how much of a head start Winter and Chamella had over them. "We have some ground to make up if we're going to find any of them."

The group marched forward, eventually reaching the hill that separated them from their destination. They paused for a moment to take in the sight of it.

"My, it really is quite beautiful, isn't it?" Rarity commented on the reds and oranges of the trees and gold of the grass.

"It is somethin'," Applejack agreed. She started making her way down the hill towards the golden plains and autumnal forest. "But we can't get distracted. A forest is a prime location for an ambush."

"It doesn't appear to be a very dense forest," said Fluttershy, noting the unusual space between the trees. "Certainly not as cramped and spooky as the Everfree Forest."

"Which means we'll be easier to spot," Twilight warned. "Stay wary."

The six mares quickly descended the hill, while Pinkie Pie opted to slide down on her bottom, getting in what fun she could before this expedition inevitably entered serious mode. The pink pony was first to reach the base of the hill, quickly hopping back up to her hooves. She was soon followed by the three winged ponies who had chosen to fly down, Applejack, who skid down the last several meters on her hooves, and Rarity, who was more preoccupied with not tripping and staining her alabaster coat.

"Hey, Pinks, you got a little something on you," Rainbow Dash snickered, pointing to the party pony's rear end.

Pinkie Pie looked back as best as her physiology would allow, noticing several green grass stains on and around her hindquarters. She blushed with an embarrassed grin, attempting to use her tail to cover it. "Whoopsie. Didn't really think that through."

"So do we just make a beeline fer the hive or what?" Applejack asked Twilight.

"The sooner we get there, the less likely we are to run into trouble. So, yes," answered the alicorn.

"Right. Let's hustle, ladies!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, taking to the air and flying at the front of the pack.

While they were certainly trying to save time, they also didn't want to expend all their energy so quickly. They kept their pace brisk, yet relaxed in an effort to conserve stamina. However, they kept their gazes fixed on the mountains jutting above the treeline, knowing that it was their destination.

But Fluttershy couldn't help but observe her unfamiliar surroundings as she flew slightly above her friends, her emotions conflicted. "I know this place is lovely and all, but I can't help but feel like it's a little bit... unsettling, too. Am I the only one who thinks so?"

Rarity shuddered as a timely, chilling breeze blew over her. "It is a touch cold. But if it really is autumn all year round here, then I suppose that's to be expected."

"That's not really what I meant. I just mean that it's kind of creepy how empty this place is. I can't see a single animal around. No birds; no bunnies; no mice. Nothing. Even the Everfree Forest has some wildlife."

"Shade has mentioned that there are, in fact, animals here," Twilight chimed in. "But it's likely they spend most of their time in hiding to avoid the changelings."

"Speaking of which, where are all the changelings?" asked Rainbow Dash, looking around. "I thought this place was supposed to be swarming with them. I figured we'd spend the entire time weaving and dodging around them to get to the hive."

"This place's probably bigger than we give it credit for," said Applejack. "Might even stretch all the way around them there mountains."

"Or maybe they're all inside," suggested Pinkie Pie. "It's probably at least a little warmer in there, right?"

"From what Shade's told me, that's probably not the case," Twilight said. "He said that even the changelings get lost in there sometimes, so most of them don't go too deep inside."

"Or maybe there aren't actually as many as we thought there were," said Fluttershy with a sympathetic tone. "The poor things have to struggle just to survive out here. Their population might be dwindling by the day."

Applejack stuck a hoof out to signal the group to stop, looking around warily.

Rainbow Dash touched down next to her. "What's up, AJ?"

"Y'all here that?"

They each perked their ears up, swiveling around to try and pick up on what Applejack was trying to point out.

"I think I hear voices," said Rarity.

"Is it changelings?" Fluttershy asked, cowering slightly behind the others. "Did they finally find us?"

"Oh, there they are." Pinkie Pie pointed a hoof off to their right.

Sure enough, some ways away, beyond the trees surrounding them, were two black figures; undeniably changelings.

"Ah don't think they've noticed us yet. If we're quiet, we can probably keep moving and not get spotted," Applejack suggested in a hushed tone.

"It's just two of 'em. I'm sure we can handle two," Rainbow Dash boasted dismissively.

"I'd like to avoid any altercations if at all possible, thank you," Rarity argued.

As her friends discussed a course of action, Twilight observed the two changelings closely. They appeared to be conversing about something, although from this distance she couldn't pick out what they were saying. "Actually, I want to speak with them."

The other five mares all turned to the alicorn in unison. "What?!"

"Ah thought the whole point of this mission was to get in and get out without causin' any trouble," Applejack reminded her.

"There won't be any trouble. Like Rainbow Dash said, there's only two of them. I believe they have the common sense not to try and attack us when outnumbered three to one."

"But there's six of us," Pinkie Pie said with a confused raise of her eyebrow, counting her friends.

"It's a math thing, dear. Don't worry about it," Rarity said, patting the pink pony on the shoulder.

"You sure about this, Twi?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I mean, we can always bust 'em up if they get aggressive, but do you wanna take that chance?"

Twilight waved the warning off dismissively. "I think it'll be fine."

With that, the alicorn started making her way over to the pair of changelings, her friends following closely behind, ready for when or if things went south. Nevertheless, the group approached stealthily, remaining as quiet as possible as they weaved through the trees.

As they got closer, the voices of the changelings became more clear, and they were beginning to pick out what they were saying.

"...right around here, I swear," said one, a female.

"How can you even tell? We've lived here our whole lives and even I can't tell where I am half the time," said the other, a male.

The female tapped the side of her head with her hoof. "I took a mental picture. I'm sure it was here. See? I remember that tree having that gnarled branch."

"So does that tree."

The female followed his pointing hoof. "Huh. Well, maybe it was over there."

The male groaned and rolled his eyes. "Look, just face it. She took her somewhere else after you threatened her. If you'd have just kept your mouth shut, maybe she'd have left some here."

"So this is my fault now?" the female snapped angrily.

The male leaned forward, unfazed by the smaller fangs of the female. "Yes. In fact, it's been your fault the whole time. I never said it wasn't. You never know when to shut up."

"I'll shut you up!" the female growled.

"Excuse me."

The two changelings turned to the source of the new voice, baring their fangs at the interloper. "What?!"

Immediately, the changelings' expressions shifted from anger and annoyance to shock, surprise, and confusion upon seeing the six multi-colored ponies now standing in front of them. Oddly, the purple one in front was grinning amicably, but the rainbow-maned pegasus and the earth pony in the hat stood in a defensive position, ready to fight back if the pair of changelings should try anything funny. The white unicorn and yellow pegasus stood back a bit, clearly wanting to avoid any potential violence, while the pink pony waved enthusiastically at the changelings with a friendly and toothy smile.

“The hay...?!” the male sputtered upon seeing the six mares and taking a step back.

“Where did they come from?!” the female yelped in mild shock.

“Hello there,” greeted Twilight, her smile persisting. “I was wondering if I could ask you something.”

The two changelings shared puzzled and disbelieving glances at the request. The female shook off her stupor, grinning maliciously. “You know what? This is actually perfect. I don’t really care why you’re here, but I’ve been craving pony meat since this morning.” She crouched down, ready to pounce on one of the mares.

Applejack adjusted her hat, glaring stoically in the face of the female changeling and her threat. “Ya sure you don’t wanna think about this fer a second?”

“Let her try and see what happens,” Rainbow Dash challenged, scraping her hoof on the ground as she prepared to retaliate.

The female changeling licked her lips, the thought of getting to taste blood today too much to pass up. However, just as she was about to attack, her male companion held her back, a look of panic in his eyes.

“What’s your problem? Let me go,” she complained, struggling against his grip.

“Are you insane?! Do you even know who these ponies are?!”

“Huh?” She took another look at the group of mares, who all stared back confidently. She was drawing a blank. “Should I?”

The male pointed at the mares. “They’re the ones from Canterlot! The ones we were supposed to stop from getting those Element things!”

The female blinked, then looked back at the mares. She was suddenly very unsure of what to do. “Uh... You sure?”

“Hard to forget,” he said, rubbing his chest. “The orange one gave me a pretty rough bucking.”

“And Ah can give ya another one if ya want,” Applejack goaded with a smirk.

Twilight held out a hoof to ease Applejack down. “We’re not here to fight anypony. Like I said, we just want to ask some questions.”

Pinkie Pie popped up behind the two changelings, startling them. “And your answers may decide your fate,” she declared ominously before returning to her friends’ side.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Don’t pay any attention to her.”

The male stared at them skeptically. “You’ll have to forgive me for being a little suspicious. What exactly are you guys doing here? What do want with us?”

“Some friends of ours came to the Changeling Kingdom to find somepony who’d been kidnapped by Queen Chrysalis,” explained Twilight. “You wouldn’t happen to have seen another pony come through here recently traveling with a female changeling, have you?”

The two changelings’ eyes widened a bit. The male raised an eyebrow. “Uh, this pony... Was it a pegasus mare. White coat, red mane?”

Twilight grinned optimistically. “Yes, that’s her. So you have seen them.”

The female smirked, chuckling darkly. “Heh. Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but that changeling she was supposedly traveling with made a meal of that mare.”

Fluttershy and Rarity both gasped. “What?! No, that can’t be right,” Rarity said in disbelief.

The male shrugged. “I don’t know what else to tell you. We saw it ourselves. I mean, it could’ve been a different changeling, but your pony friend is definitely dead.”

Applejack stomped a hoof on the brittle grass. “Consarnit! We’re already too late!”

“Why? I don’t understand...” Rarity muttered, having a hard time grasping the thought.

Twilight nodded at the changelings, still smiling. “Well, if that’s all you know, then I guess we’ll be on our way. Thank you.”

With that, the alicorn walked past the pair of shapeshifters, leaving them a little confused and a little worried.

“What the hay was that all about?” the male mumbled.

The other five mares, still in a stupor over the information they had just gathered, ran to catch up to Twilight.

“W-What do we do now?” Fluttershy stammered, shaking slightly. “Winter’s actually... Oh...”

“Man... That’s rough,” said Rainbow Dash, head hung low.

“Not to sound heartless or nothin’, but we don’t have time to mourn right now. As far as we know, Shade, Chamella, and Snowflake might still be around somewhere,” said Applejack.

“Didn’t you hear them?! They said Chamella ate Winter!” Pinkie Pie shouted in panic. “Maybe she’s gone native! What if she tries to eat us, too?!”

As the group attempted to cope with the current situation, Rarity couldn’t help but notice that Twilight was the only one who didn’t seem at all fazed by the news. “Twilight, I know we’re still on an important mission, but how can you still be smiling after hearing that? Winter’s gone... Chamella’s possibly responsible... This is all just so... dreadful!”

Twilight turned to Rarity, her knowing grin persisting. “Rarity, think about it for a moment. You know Chamella better than any of us. Would she really kill Winter?”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Why, the Chamella I know would never harm a fly.”

“Exactly. So are you really going to believe what those two told us? I don’t doubt that that’s what they thought they saw, but I have a feeling they didn’t fully grasp the situation.”

“So yer sayin’ that Chamella an’ Winter were playin’ them changelings?” presumed Applejack.

Twilight smiled proudly. “Chamella’s smarter than she gives herself credit for. Plus, she knows this place better than we do. I’m sure she had some sort of plan to protect Winter in case they were spotted. And judging by their conversation before we approached them, they seemed to indicate that they encountered our friends right back there. However, I saw no trace of blood in the grass at all.”

“That’s being awfully optimistic,” said Rainbow Dash.

“I just think that the scenario they described to us is too farfetched to be true. Even if it was another changeling that they saw, I doubt Chamella would simply run and leave Winter to die. The absence of a body is also a red flag.”

“I’m going to choose to believe that, if only to keep my mind at relative ease until we find them. If we find them...” said Fluttershy.

“Then we should probably pick up the pace,” suggested Rainbow Dash. “The longer we stop to chat with the locals, the further ahead they get from us.”

Twilight nodded. “Agreed. I doubt we’ll get much more information from the changelings anyway.”

“Then what’re we waitin’ for? Get the lead out, ladies!” Applejack commanded, breaking into a gallop.

They all ran or flew as fast as they could towards the mountains some distance away, knowing that that had to be where Chamella, Shade and Winter had gone. Thankfully, the rest of the trek went smoothly, with no other changelings having gotten in their way. It didn’t take too long for them to reach the jagged cliff face of the mountains, and they took a moment to take it in.

“Wow, it looks like a giant piece of cheese,” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, noting all of the burrows and tunnels dug into the stone wall.

“What kind of cheese have you been eating?” Fluttershy asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“It’s certainly quite imposing,” Rarity commented, a cold shudder running through her.

“Well, we didn’t come this far to chicken out now,” said Applejack, adjusting her hat to make sure it was tight and secure.

“Alright, let’s move. We can’t afford to hesitate,” Twilight ordered, gesturing for them to follow her inside.

It didn’t take long for them to become almost completely enveloped in darkness. Fluttershy made sure to keep close to her friends in fear of accidentally getting separated from them. Thankfully, they had two unicorns to help with visibility, with both Rarity and Twilight casting their blue and pink auras on the surrounding area.

Rainbow Dash had a look around by the light of her friends’ horns, looking rather unimpressed. “I mean, I know it’s dark and everything, but I was expecting the changeling hive to be a little... creepier. It looks like any average cave to me.”

“We haven’t exactly made it far yet, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity reminded her. “Honestly, though, the most dreadful part of this so far is the humidity. This damp, dank air is simply going to wreak havoc on my mane and coat.”

“Well, suck it up, Princess. We got bigger problems than yer hairdo,” quipped Applejack.

The unicorn turned her nose up at the comment. “Hmph. I’m well aware of that. I wasn’t suggesting that we stop so I could fix it.”

“Can I raise a concern?” Fluttershy asked meekly. “I know we’re going to do our best to avoid this sort of situation, but what do we do if we should somehow get separated down here? Without Rarity and Twilight, the rest of us won’t be able to see where we’re going.”

Rarity clapped her hooves, suddenly remembering something. “Ah, yes! That reminds me. I brought just the thing. Pinkie Pie, if you would, please.”

“Hm? Oh, right, the things!”

Pinkie tossed off her saddlebags, fished around inside them for a bit, and pulled out a set of five helmets stacked neatly on top of one another. Each one was colored differently—purple; pink; blue; yellow; orange—and they were all equipped with a headlamp on the front. Pinkie Pie began to pass the helmets around to her friends, delivering each one to it’s color appropriate pony. However, when only the orange helmet remained, Applejack grimaced at the sight of it. The orange helmet was decorated with several gemstones and had a large, blue bow tied to the back of it.

“You don’t expect me to where that thing, do ya?”

Rarity chuckled, waving her hoof dismissively. “Oh, perish the thought. No, no, that one’s mine,” she said daintily placing the orange helmet on her own head. “I use this helmet whenever I go spelunking for gems. I simply didn’t have time to decorate all of yours, unfortunately. But fret not, dear Applejack; I’ve taken your personal fashion sense into account.”

Rarity gestured to Pinkie Pie and the pink mare dug back into her saddlebags. This time she removed a headlamp sans the helmet, which Pinkie strapped to the top of the orange earth pony’s stetson.

Applejack adjusted it a bit to make sure it was comfortable, and passed a pleasantly surprised grin to Rarity. “Well, shoot. That’s mighty thoughtful of ya, Rarity. Thanks.”

“Think nothing of it, darling,” the unicorn said modestly, though with a hint of pride.

The six mares made sure to test that the lights worked, but turned them off again to save battery; there was no sense in using them right now when they had their own form of limitless light.

The group traveled further into the caves. After the light from the entrance vanished from view, it became difficult to determine just how deep they had already gone. It was eerily quiet save for their echoing hoofsteps and the dripping of moisture from the stalactites above. There had been multiple points already where the maze-like nature of the hive started to make itself clear. They had already passed several forks in the path, opting for one based on nothing but random choice. But even then, there were also many tunnels dug into the walls and ceiling, inaccessible to any creature without wings or the ability to climb walls.

The six of them came to yet another divide in the path, and that's where they stopped for a moment. Twilight shone her light down one path, then the other as she'd done for the previous forks, but, like the others, saw no discernible difference between them, making a choice difficult to make.

"I'm starting to think this is going to be much more difficult than we originally anticipated," said Rarity with a sigh, noting the same exasperated look on Twilight's face.

"Considering how big this place is, the chances of us actually finding anypony we're looking for down here are very slim," the alicorn said with a hint of defeat in her voice.

"Is there any way we could narrow it down?" asked Rainbow Dash. "There's gotta be some way to get an idea of which way they went, right?"

"Unless you have a sniffer as good as a bloodhound, Ah don't think that's happening," Applejack said with a shake of her head.

Twilight grimaced. A thought came to mind, but she was hesitant to suggest it. "Well, there is something we could do..."

Fluttershy's ears folded back, a bad feeling filling her gut. "Oh, no. Please don't say what I think you're about to say."

The alicorn turned to face her five friends. "We may have to split up."

Fluttershy let of a quiet groan. "That's what I was afraid of."

"But even if we split up, whatta we do if we find Winter, or Chamella, or Shade?" inquired Pinkie Pie. "How are we supposed to let each other know, or how are we supposed to find each other again? What if we can't even find the way out?!" The pink pony began to panic and hyperventilate in an exaggerated fashion.

"Now, it's not all bad. I actually planned ahead in case it came to this," Twilight assured her friends. "I looked up a few spells that might help us. One of them is a tether spell."

"A tether? You mean like a rope?" asked Fluttershy curiously.

Twilight nodded. "Pretty much. Rarity, I'm going to need your assistance with this."

"Oh? Well, alright. What do I have to do?" the unicorn asked, waiting for the order.

"Nothing really, but the tether spell only works between two unicorns—or alicorn in my case. Just hold still."

Twilight leaned forward, placing her horn close to Rarity's. The light the two of them had previously been radiating to illuminate the path went out for a moment to allow Twilight to perform the spell. When the alicorn's horn started to glow again, the pink aura shifted through the small space between hers and Rarity's, enveloping the unicorn's horn as well.

Twilight stepped back with a grin, switching on her aura again to light the area once more. "There. That should do it."

Rarity turned her eyes up toward her horn, feeling a slight tingle, but it dissipated after a few moments. "Um... What exactly did that do?"

"Focus you magic for a moment and imagine me in your mind's eye," Twilight instructed.

Rarity did as she was told, closing her eyes for a moment and picturing Twilight in her head as she focused her magic. When she opened her eyes, she and the others could see a shimmering and waving trail of pink and blue magic between the unicorn and alicorn.

"Oh, my. I did that?" Rarity said, surprised.

"We can both do that now. This way, when we need to find one another again, we just activate the spell and this trail should take us down the path of least resistance towards the other person."

"Ooh, that's handy," Pinkie said, waving her hoof through the translucent trail of magic.

"So Ah'm guessing we'll split into two groups of three then?" presumed Applejack.

Twilight nodded. "That makes the most sense. Any fewer and we may not be safe."

"And clearly you and I have to be in separate groups," said Rarity.

Again, Twilight nodded. "The tether would be useless otherwise."

"So who's going with Twi, and who's going with Rarity?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Good question," said Twilight, tapping her chin in thought and looking over her group of friends as she considered her options.

Pinkie Pie threw her hoof into the air eagerly. "Ooh, ooh! Pick me, Coach! I got gumption! I got moxie! I got... Uh, I got... I'm pink!"

Twilight couldn't help but smile at Pinkie's enthusiasm. "Alright, why not? Pinkie, you're with me."

The pink pony pumped her hoof triumphantly and hopped over to Twilight's side.

"Ah reckon I should go with ya, too, Twi," said Applejack. "Ya might need somepony who can handle a little close quarters combat."

"Then I guess Rainbow Dash and I will go with Rarity," Fluttershy said, walking over to the unicorn.

"Is that alright with you three?" asked Twilight. "We can reconsider a little more if you think you could use Pinkie or Applejack's help."

Rainbow Dash cantered confidently over to Rarity, wings outspread. "Uh, they have me. I think we'll be fine."

"Don't go gettin' too cocky there, Dash. Rarity an' Fluttershy probably ain't gonna be too fussed about gettin' in a fight. There ain't no shame in making a run for it if ya need to," warned Applejack.

Rainbow Dash nodded, letting out a quiet sigh. "Yeah, I know. I might be able to handle myself, but I'm gonna make sure to put their safety first."

Rarity huffed, somewhat insulted by being put into the position of damsel in distress. "Well, it's not like I couldn't defend myself if the need arose. I'd just prefer to avoid a tussle if at all possible."

"So we're all okay with this?" asked Twilight one more time. She received affirming nods from the other five mares. "Alright then. I suppose this is where we part ways for now. Good luck, you guys. And please be careful."

"Same to you," said Rarity as she, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy turned to head down the left path.

Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie went the opposite direction. Even though they were covering more ground, they all knew their chances of finding the missing individuals was still quite small. However, given where they were, any increase in probability was favorable.

They all took a deep breath to steady their nerves as they headed off into the darkness. There was no telling what obstacles would be in their paths, but whatever they encountered on the road ahead, they had to stay focused on their objectives. They could really only hope at this point that things went well.

***** ***** *****

Deep within the changeling hive, far underground and a place no normal changeling would risk venturing to, was the hive's dungeon. The dungeon, as one would expect, was where Queen Chrysalis imprisoned any of her subjects who did not follow her rule or opposed her in some way or another, or even changelings that were deemed mentally unfit to coexist with her other subjects; as violent as changelings sometimes were, even towards one another, rampant and unwarranted murder between her people was not something she was willing to tolerate.

Many of her subjects, including her own soldiers, often questioned why she would even bother to imprison them instead of just simply killing them and making sure they couldn't threaten her or the other changelings. Though they never received a definitive answer from her, many speculated that she kept them alive either to have them available in case reserve soldiers were necessary, or simply to break their spirits and teach them who was in charge. However, there were others who believed that the prisoners were simply there to be used as emergency rations in case food became even more scarce than usual. Although that theory was countered by the fact that they actually fed the prisoners; a waste of perfectly good food as far as the other changelings were concerned.

In actuality, the dungeon was not very populated. Over the years, Chrysalis's rule had gone relatively unopposed, and many changelings had considered her to be perhaps the best leader they've ever had, not that they remembered much about the previous monarchs. As a result of her strong and imposing leadership, few changelings stood to challenge her. As a result, the very prisoners that were held in the dungeon had either been there for a very long time, or were simply psychopaths that she didn't want running around her kingdom.

The halls of the dungeon were relatively unimpressive and basically the same as the rest of the catacombs of the changeling hive. The major distinction was the various alcoves in the walls that served as the prisoners' cells. Each cell was fairly roomy, giving enough room to fly around a little, but aside from that, was completely empty. As opposed to the iron bars that ponies used in their prisons, the cells of the changeling dungeon were sealed by a translucent, green wall of hardened mucus, similar to the substance that made up their egg sacs. These walls were much thicker and sturdier than egg sacs, however, preventing the prisoners from breaking through them with magic or their sharp horns and fangs.

But the prisoners weren't the only occupants of the dungeon currently. Walking through the halls, passing each of the cells and garnering the ire of the imprisoned changelings was the captain of the changeling soldiers. Wraith paid no heed to their glares and growls, the intensity of his echoing hoofsteps alone displaying his authority clearly. He looked over each cell and their unwilling residents, studying each of them briefly, but analytically. They could all tell he was contemplating something, but whether or not it was good news for them was still up in the air.

Wraith was not alone either, as with him was one of the other armored changeling soldiers, who looked a little more unsettled to be where they were.

"Is it really necessary for us to be down here?" the soldier asked, looking uneasy against the glares of the rogue changelings. "All of these guys give me the creeps."

Wraith didn't answer, instead doing what he had been doing and ignoring the complaint.

The soldier sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get a straight answer. "I mean, if we have any use for these guys, then I guess that's fine. But can we just do what we came here to do and leave?"

"Some of these malcontents will have their uses in the future. It's important to know what they can do and how they can do it," Wraith finally explained.

The soldier quirked a skeptical eyebrow. "And what makes you think they'll even help us at all? There's a reason they're down here after all. These creeps only think of themselves rather than the colony as a whole."

The imposing captain glanced down at the soldier. "Everyone has their price. If proper negotiations are made, you can will anyone to do your bidding."

The soldier looked over the prisoners again as they passed by their seemingly infinite, yet sparsely-populated cells. "Guess stuff like that is how you get to become the king or queen, huh? Queen Chrysalis is definitely smart enough to take advantage of that kind of thing."

Wraith seemed as though he were about to say something in response, but was interrupted by a voice calling out from behind them.

"Captain Wraith."

The captain recognized the voice immediately. Turning around, he saw Glory flying through the cave towards the two other armored changelings before touching down in front of them. "Glory, I said your assistance wouldn't be required here."

The brown-maned changeling raised her hoof. "First of all—and forgive my rudeness—but I still say you're wrong about that. Secondly, I didn't come down here for that. I just got some interesting news."

Wraith raised an eyebrow, curious. "Do tell."

"So, yeah, some drones have reported that we have some intruders in the hive."

The larger male furrowed his brow in displeasure. "Is that so? I assume that it must be somepony of importance to have it reported."

"More important than you think. It's the halfling's parents, plus the other deserter."

Though almost unnoticeable, Wraith's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "The parents? Hmm... These ponies care more for their young than we gave them credit for. Still, they've essentially sealed their fate by coming here."

"Actually, that's not all. The parents didn't come together. The two deserters arrived separately, with the female traveling with the mother. The father is by himself."

Wraith simply shrugged, not bothered by this information. "All the easier to deal with them."

"Well, it gets a little more complicated than that," Glory continued, looking a little uneasy. "The parents aren't the only ones concerned about the halfling. Those six mares from Canterlot were spotted in the kingdom not long ago, too."

Wraith grimaced at this news. "The Bearers of the Elements... I'll admit, this isn't something we'd considered. We'll need to take immediate action." The captain looked to the soldier with him. "Rally together the other soldiers. Tell them to be on the lookout for our intruders. If any of you should find them, kill them."

The soldier saluted. "Yes, Sir." With that, he flew back down the corridor, not needing any more reason to get out of the creepy dungeon.

Glory let out an annoyed groan. "Well, this is going to complicate things."

"I may need to push up my meeting with the queen," Wraith mumbled under his breath.

"If you want, I can deal with the deserters," Glory offered with an eager and sinister grin.

Wraith looked over his shoulder at one of the nearby cells. He held a hoof to his chin as a thought came to him. "Actually, that may not be necessary. Why have the knights do all the work when we have disposable pawns?"

Glory could see to what he was referring and grimaced in doubt. "Not a good idea. Releasing all of these prisoners is just asking for trouble."

Wraith slowly approached the cell he'd been looking at. Inside was a lone changeling, his backed turned to them. It sounded as though he were mumbling to himself, and laughing quietly. "Not all of them. Just a select few. Those who can get a job like this done reliably."

The female saw who was in that particular cell, which made her feel all the more doubtful of the idea. "This scum doesn't fit that description. He won't listen to us. Very few of these dirtbags would be willing to go along with this."

"We'll just have to see about that."

Wraith tapped on the solid, translucent wall barring the prisoner inside his cell. The confined changeling turned around, looking over his shoulder at the changeling captain with a menacing smile. He brushed the several strands of hair hanging from the front of his white mohawk out of his face.

"Ah, Captain Wraith. What an honor it is," said the prisoner, a scheming glint in his silver eyes. "I thought I heard your commanding voice and was worried you wouldn't stop to say hello."

Wraith paid no heed to his obviously false hospitality, choosing to get right to the point to avoid having to deal with him any longer than needed. "I'm here to make you an offer."

The prisoner's ears perked up, a curious, yet knowing look coming over his face. "Oh? Well, I suppose I'm in no position to refuse."

"Do you desire your freedom?"

The prisoner's face switched to a rather bemused expression. "A pretty pointless question, don't you think?" he deadpanned.

Glory looked up at Wraith. "Sir, I advise against this. This guy's a psycho."

Wraith chose to ignore the warning, continuing to stare down the prisoner. "You've been listening to us, correct?"

The prisoner's eyes widened a little in surprise. "Hm? Oh, well, maybe just a little," he chuckled. "Let me guess: you're looking for one of us 'disposable pawns' to send out and deal with these intruders you mentioned. That about right?"

"I'm offering you a chance to leave this dungeon. Should you perform your task well, you'll never have to return to this cell."

The prisoner's devious grin widened. "And... will I be free to do as I please with no repercussions?"

Wraith narrowed his eyes at him. "Your reward is your freedom, nothing more. If you continue to displease us, we will gladly return you to your confinement."

The imprisoned changeling breathed a disappointed sigh. "Hmm, probation, is it? Ah, well. Better than nothing, I guess. So, what exactly do you want me to do?"

"As you've been eavesdropping, you are no doubt aware of how many intruders we have. There is a group of two—a pony mare and a female changeling. I want you to target them. Can you handle that?"

The prisoner's sinister grin returned. "Can I... dispose of them how I please?"

"I simply ask that you deal with them. How you do so is of little relevance. Do whatever you wish."

The mohawked changeling rubbed his hooves together excitedly. "Fantastic. So can I go now?"

Wraith's horn lit up with bright green magic. After a moment, the viscous wall sealing the prisoner away began to melt and dissolve. For the first time in who knows how long, the changeling stepped outside his cell, taking a long breath through his nose.

"Ahh. It's not exactly fresh air, but it's better than stewing in there any longer." He cast a glance at Glory and licked his lips, his eyes looking her over. "Although, the view is certainly better out here."

Glory glowered at him, but said nothing.

"You have your objective. And you are not to leave the hive until it is complete. Now, go," commanded Wraith.

The prisoner simply bowed, though the action as well as his smile were blatantly disingenuous. He clearly had no actual respect for Wraith, or any of the soldiers, or any other changeling for that matter. But with freedom on the line, he was eager to get the job done. With a buzz of his wings, he took off and flew down the corridor in search of his designated prey.

Glory shuddered uncomfortably. "I still say this is a mistake. That creep doesn't deserve this chance. We can't trust him."

"It really makes no difference. Whether he succeeds or not, he'll be executed. But the promise of freedom—even a false promise—is required to convince him to aid us. Unfortunately, I have no more time to deal with these prisoners. I have to meet with the queen as soon as possible. Glory, ignore the rest of these miscreants and track down our uninvited guests."

Glory gave him an eager salute, accompanied by a sinister smirk. "Yes, Sir."

With that, Wraith made his way out of the dungeon, leaving Glory alone.

"So you're really gonna trust that maniac?"

At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, Glory turned around to the cell opposite the now open one. Another changeling lay inside on his back, lounging with his hooves resting behind his head; a futile attempt to get comfortable in the barren and unfurnished cells.

"I don't trust him as far as I can throw him," Glory clarified.

"Gotta admit, it was pretty ballsy to say it was a bad idea right to Wraith's face. Not worried about getting offed for your insubordination?"

"I was just saying my piece. Whether or not Captain Wraith chooses to listen to me is ultimately up to him. He knows me well enough to know that."

The changeling in the cell sat up, tilting his head to work the kinks out of his stiff neck. "Well, I'm not complaining. You have no idea how annoying it is to have to listen to that psycho's insane ramblings all day. At least now I'll have some peace and quiet."

Glory smirked. "I'm sure you'd rather have your freedom as well."

The other changeling glanced toward her. "What, looking to recruit me, too?"

Glory shrugged. "That's up to you. Frankly, I'd rather have the lot of you rot down here. Better yet, you should all be axed to save us the trouble of keeping you alive."

The prisoner lay down on the floor again, looking disinterested. "So you can bribe me with hopes of freedom only to kill me off anyway later? No thanks. I'm not as naïve as that incessant idiot."

"Well, you'd only be killed if we found you afterward. No one's stopping you from just fleeing after the job is done."

The male quirked an eyebrow, clearly skeptical. "You think Wraith would be happy if he found out you said that?"

"As if you're going to tell him," Glory said with a confident grin.

The prisoner closed his eyes. "I certainly wouldn't if I decided to go along with this, but it's not really like I have a lot of motivation here. Why risk getting myself killed for a very unlikely chance at freedom? At least down here I get food regularly instead of having to scrounge for it. Could do with some larger portions, though, but you know..."

"Motivation. Hmm... Come over here."

The male opened his eyes again, once more looking suspiciously at Glory. With a reluctant groan, he rose from the floor again. Admittedly, he was curious about what she wanted, so he sauntered over to the green wall separating the two.

With a grin, Glory leaned as close as she could, staring the prisoner straight in the eye. Her horn, as well as her own eyes, began to glow an eerie green. After a few moments, the prisoner's eyes began to glow faintly as well. He felt an uncomfortable tingle run through his skull, as though something were crawling around his brain, and he found himself unable a think clearly for a few moments. However, this all came to an end rather quickly, and he shook his head once Glory stopped doing whatever it was she was doing.

"The hay was that?" he asked, massaging his temple to assuage any remaining discomfort.

Glory's grin grew even more confident. "You said you wanted motivation. Well, I've found you some. Obviously, if you were to agree to help us, you'd be tasked with tracking down one of the intruders in the hive."

"Just one? I thought you said there were a bunch of 'em."

"Then one would be easy for you. I'm giving you the easy job. Kill one intruder, and you're free to go."

"And that's my motivation? That I'm getting an easy job?"

"You're motivation is not that you have to kill one person, it's who that person is. You're familiar with a certain changeling named Shade. You two have history."

The other changeling's eyes widened at the mention of the name. "Shade?"

"So you're job is to find and kill Shade, who happens to be wandering around the hive as we speak. I'd be willing to bet that that's more than enough motivation for you."

The prisoner's mouth curled into a sinister grin, his blood red eyes glinting with excitement at the prospect. "Lady, you just said the magic word."

Chapter 15 - Blight

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 15: Blight

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The Changeling Kingdom was a place that Shade had never wanted to see again. But given the circumstances, he really had no choice but to return. It was full of nothing but selfish, power-hungry, bloodthirsty and frankly stupid creatures. If the other changelings weren't smart enough to see how easy it was to just make friends and find better lives for themselves, then maybe they just deserved to rot here. Shade honestly didn't care anymore whether or not peace was ever achieved between them and the ponies; he just wanted to live his life like a normal person.

But apparently he wasn't allowed to do that. Shade had thought that his involvement with the changelings and Chrysalis was over, that he wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. Wraith showing up at his house was the last thing he expected in his day-to-day life. As if being a parent weren't stressful enough, now his son had been kidnapped by those loathsome insects, forcing him to take action and try and find him.

Shade played the moment over and over in his mind on his way to the Changeling Kingdom. Was there anything he could have done to stop it? If the rumors he'd heard about Wraith held any water, then the answer to that was no. Compared to the average changeling, Wraith was much stronger and significantly more intelligent. He was certainly physically stronger than Chrysalis, though the difference in smarts was arguable. There was a reason why he was the queen's right hoof.

Still, though, Shade was kicking himself for not even fighting back. Perhaps he was being a little hard on himself considering he was basically incapacitated by Wraith's first strike, preventing him from retaliating at all. But he still wished there was more he could do. It was the first major crisis he faced as a parent and he utterly failed to protect his son.

If that weren't bad enough, Winter and Chamella were nowhere to be seen as well since they brought him to the hospital. After he'd snuck out, he immediately went home to prepare for the rescue operation, but found that the house had already been pretty much cleaned out of provisions. He could only assume that Winter and Chamella had beat him to the punch and went on to the Changeling Kingdom ahead of him. That worried him even more. Now, not only was his son out here, but his best friend and girlfriend as well.

Shade slowed to a stop within the dark cave of the changeling hive. He felt his head throb painfully and he placed a hoof against his temple to massage it. Wraith really did a number on him, and it was starting to slow him down. After being brought to the hospital, he could barely stay conscious for more than a few minutes at a time. After resting for a night, the constant, throbbing pain dulled to occasional headaches, but it was definitely enough to affect his judgment.

He was starting to regret coming by himself. He blamed himself for letting this happen, and being forced to spend the night in a hospital bed knowing his son was in great danger was more than he could endure. As soon as he felt able enough, he snuck out of the hospital and hightailed it for the Changeling Kingdom without thinking. If it was any consolation, Winter and Chamella might have asked Twilight and the others for help anyway, so maybe they were already here somewhere. Still, even if that were the case, it was unlikely he'd run into them.

Honestly, he didn't really even know where he was supposed to be going. Shade rarely ever went into the hive back when he lived here, and even when he did, it wasn't very deep. He would usually just go deep enough to find some edible mushrooms that he knew grew in the caves. If he were to choose a destination now, it would probably be the throne room; that was his best chance to find Chrysalis and get some answers. Hopefully Chamella would have had the same thought and they'd meet up there or on the way.

Of course, Chamella and Winter weren't the only ones he had to worry about. Shade had no idea what Snowflake might be going through right now. He had to be alive. Why would Chrysalis go through the trouble of having him kidnapped if she were just going to let him die? It was just one of the questions he was going to have to ask when—or rather if—he encountered her.

If there was any fortune to come from this so far, it was that there hadn't really been anything in Shade's way. Being a native of this land, it wasn't any trouble for him to traipse through the forest and into the caves without rousing suspicion. The other changelings weren't going to bat an eye at him, and any of the ones that would recognize him weren't likely to be randomly wandering around.

Shade had to stop for a few minutes, sitting down on the cold, stone floor of the cavern and leaning against the equally uncomfortable wall. He sucked down a deep breath of the damp, cave air—as close to fresh as it was going to get. He needed a rest. He'd been walking or flying nonstop since this morning, and considering he'd just been hospitalized, he wasn't quite feeling one hundred percent at the moment. Unfortunately, in his rush to save Snowflake he hadn't taken the time to find what Winter and Chamella had left behind, so he was also getting pretty hungry and especially thirsty. Thankfully, he knew there were sources of fresh water as well as things like mushrooms and insects around that he could use for nourishment. The problem was he needed to be lucky enough to happen upon them.

"You're looking cozy there."

Shade jumped to his hooves at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, ready to defend himself against this potential threat. Not far away, coming from the direction he himself had been going, was an armored changeling; a female with hazel eyes and wearing a rather smug grin.

Chrysalis's soldiers were the ones Shade had been hoping to avoid. No doubt they expected him to come after his kidnapped child, so they were likely told to be on the lookout for him. He was lucky it wasn't Wraith this time at least. He wasn't entirely sure he was in well enough health to deal with the captain right now. However, he found it strange that it was just the one soldier. There was no sign of any others with her, unless she was setting up some sort of ambush. He was going to have to be on guard.

"You need something?" he asked her, hoping to play himself off as just an average changeling. He could at least hope that this soldier didn't recognize him.

The armored changeling smirked at him knowingly. "No point in trying that, I'm afraid. We're all looking for you, Shade."

Shade took a more defensive stance, scowling at the mare. He didn't want to have to fight his way through this, but it was looking inevitable. "Just give him back and I'll leave quietly."

The female shrugged. "Sorry, can't do that. I've got my orders. Right now, those orders are to kill you."

Considering the situation, Shade was going to have to deal with this changeling one way or another, so he figured now would be as good a chance as any to try and get some answers. "What does Chrysalis want with him anyway? What use does she have for an infant pony?"

The soldier sighed with a roll of her eyes. "Look, I get you want an explanation, but we both know it wouldn't make any difference. No excuse is going to be good enough for you to accept, so there's no point in wasting my breath. But I will say that I don't agree with it."

Shade quirked an eyebrow. "What? You don't want to go along with it?"

"I didn't say that. Like I said, I've got my orders. What they want to do with that larva is their business. I just say it's not worth the effort of taking it for ourselves. Case and point: now we have to deal with you lot."

That seemed weird. Shade wasn't used to seeing the soldiers question authority. Usually, a drone was chosen to be a soldier based on their strength, skills and unwavering loyalty. Still, though, at least he wasn't the only one who was questioning the act. And from the sound of it, it seemed his hunch about Winter and Chamella being here, as well, was correct.

"So why can't you just help me get him back? That way I'll be out of your hair," Shade asked.

She sneered at him in annoyance. "You have ears, try using them. I'm following orders. What I have to say about this whole scenario is moot. I'm here to deal with you. After that, I'm just going to go about my day."

Shade stood confidently, hoping to intimidate her into changing her mind. "Who even are you? Why would Chrysalis send one random soldier to deal with me?"

The other changeling groaned in exasperation. "Geez, you're dense. You're pretty dumb if you think we know exactly where you might be." She grinned once more, seeming proud of herself. "I'll admit, I got lucky finding you out here. But to answer your questions: First, my name's Glory. Second, I'm not some 'random' soldier; we don't need any more than me."

Glory. For some reason, the name sounded familiar to Shade. Like Wraith, she may have been one of the soldiers he'd heard others talking about. There were a few soldiers that were considered exceptional, though Shade was always certain most of those rumors were exaggerated. Wraith himself seemed to be the only one who could probably back up the claims, and even then, Shade had never actually seen any hard evidence for himself. At least, not until last night. There must have been more to this Glory than he gave her credit for. He was going to have to be careful.

Glory saw the anticipation in Shade's expression and stance, and smirked. With little warning, she lunged forward, her wings carrying her quickly towards Shade. The male managed to barely evade a hasty tackle, ducking to his left and causing Glory to overshoot her target by several feet. The armored changeling pulled a u-turn, preparing for a second pass at her quarry. Shade simply repeated his previous action and dodged again. However, as Shade sidestepped, Glory came to a quick stop in midair, redirecting herself to Shade's new position.

Glory tackled Shade roughly with her shoulder, knocking her victim to the ground. Shade shook off the hit, quickly rising to his hooves again. But as soon as he did, Glory hit him again, grabbing him and pinning him to the stone floor.

Shade, unable to move with his hooves held down by his assailant's, was forced to struggle to get free. She was stronger than she seemed, or perhaps he was still weak from his previous injury. He stared up at her, baring his fangs. She was gazing intensely into his emerald eyes, her self-confident grin having never left her face.

"Before I kill you, I'd like to get to know you a little better," she said, her voice disturbingly nonchalant.

Before Shade had time to think about that strange statement, Glory's eyes began to glow a vibrant green. Not just her irises, but even the normally-sky-blue sclera were emitting the eerie light. Shade felt as though her gaze were physically penetrating his own eyes, digging into his skull and groping his brain. The throbbing pain suddenly came back with a vengeance and his head felt like it was filling with liquid and about to pop.

In a desperate attempt to escape whatever it was Glory was doing to him, Shade let loose a small burst of magic from his horn. Glory barely managed to recognize the incoming attack and pulled away before it caught her square in the face, instead watching it fly up at the ceiling.

With the soldier now off of him, Shade staggered back to his hooves. He winced as the pain in his skull pounded against his temple. Whatever she did, it made the headaches even worse. What was more, the pain had also caused his vision to blur momentarily.

"Ngh... What... What did you do?" Shade stammered groggily, holding a hoof to his temple.

"Just a little research. But I gotta admit, not many people have the willpower to keep fighting back under my gaze. Wraith was right about you; you are special."

Shade stared at her, confused, but more wary about her words. "'Special'?"

Glory shrugged. "Not that it'll matter when you're dead anyway. And, sure, you cut me off before I could dig too deep, but I've got enough."

Before Shade could contemplate what that was supposed to mean, Glory's horn lit up. In a flash, her body was enveloped by green flames, leaving somepony different where the changeling soldier once stood.

Shade's eyes widened. She had shapeshifted into the spitting image of Rainbow Dash. Of course, the ability to disguise themselves as ponies was the one thing all changelings knew how to do. The surprising part was how she was able to do it without having ever seen Rainbow Dash. As far as Shade knew, a changeling needed to have a memory of the pony they were impersonating. How was she able to transform into somepony she's never met? He was pretty sure she wasn't there during the invasion of Canterlot, just like Wraith.

Still, though, Shade had to wonder what advantage this would give her. It's not like he was dumb enough to actually believe this was the real Rainbow Dash, so what reason would Glory have to change her appearance in the middle of a one-on-one fight?

Without a word, the disguised changeling flapped her new, feathered wings, lifting herself into the air. She stared down at Shade, her confident grin never faltering. Once she had nearly reached the ceiling, Glory suddenly dipped down, letting gravity drag her downward while her outstretched wings propelled her even faster toward Shade.

Shade barely had time to register his dive bombing adversary barreling at him, rolling out of the way, though doing so rather clumsily as he was still recovering from the pain in his head. He felt the air blow over him as Glory zoomed by and curved upward to avoid colliding with the ground.

That must have been it: Glory changed into Rainbow Dash not as an attempt to confuse or trick Shade, but to access her above average stamina and aerial prowess. It now made sense that she would choose to mimic a more physically fit pony. So now not only did he have to deal with Glory's cunning, but now Rainbow Dash's speed as well.

Glory circled around, preparing to make another pass at Shade. If nothing else, her method of attack was pretty predictable, and Shade knew for a fact that pegasi didn't have quite the same degree of aerial control that changelings did. So as long as he had the reaction speed to dodge out of the way, he shouldn't be in too much trouble. Although, that's where Rainbow Dash's stamina was going to come into play; in her current form, Glory was likely to outlast him in that regard, especially given Shade's subpar physical condition at the moment.

However, instead of diving straight at him like Shade had been anticipating, Glory swept around to his right and began flying in low circles around him. With the speed granted to her by her borrowed body, Shade was having trouble keeping an eye on her, not to mention he was already feeling a little dizzy from the headaches.

After flying countless circles, Glory finally seized her moment, altering her flight path and charging straight at Shade from his left. But just before she made contact, the green flames transformed her body again, and instead of Rainbow Dash crashing into Shade, it was the more muscular and physically stronger Applejack, hat and all. The weight of the orange earth pony combined with the momentum of Rainbow Dash's speed resulted in a heavy impact that sent the two changelings rolling along the hard, stone ground.

Glory managed to regain her footing mid-tumble, while Shade kept rolling another several feet, too shocked by the sudden impact to even attempt to stop himself. Once he had come to a stop, Shade rose back to his hooves with a pained groan. He shot a glower in Glory's direction, the other changeling standing rather haughtily and tipping the brim of her fake hat.

"I was expecting more from you," Glory said condescendingly in Applejack's voice, though lacking the earth pony's distinguishable, country accent. "I was told you were an actual threat to us, but that's what I get for putting stock in the words of others. This is why I only trust my own information. There's no point in sharing anything that you're not absolutely sure of. Rumors and gossip aren't worth paying attention to. I said I should have been one of the spies sent to that little town to keep an eye on you. At least I would've gotten my facts straight."

Shade pushed aside the pain, ignoring it to focus more on the obstacle in his way. He was starting to get more than a little aggravated by Glory's boasting. It was time to start fighting back. Shade grit his teeth before lunging toward Glory, doing much the same as she had been doing and charging through the air at her.

Glory simply smirked at the hasty attempt to retaliate. With another flash of green, the form of Applejack was quickly replaced by Fluttershy. She shrunk back with a frightened yelp, cowering and whimpering as Shade bore down on her.

Shade came to a halt in midair. Somehow, even though he knew it wasn't actually Fluttershy, the sight of the timid pegasus cowering in fear still dissuaded him from pressing the attack.

Seeing that her ploy had worked, Glory grinned devilishly—which looked quite jarring considering whose face she was currently wearing—and took advantage of Shade's moment of hesitation by changing back into Applejack and delivering a swift and forceful buck to his exposed stomach. Shade collapsed back down to the ground, holding his midsection as he doubled over in pain. He didn't have any time to catch his breath either, as Glory gave him a another kick to the chest, forcing Shade onto his back. He tried to get back up, but Glory firmly planted a hoof on his chest, using the farm pony's strength to hold him down.

"You know, as one-sided as this is, it's actually kind of fun. Been a while since I've gotten a chance to cut loose like this," Glory gloated, working a kink out of her neck with an audible pop. "I do have a job to finish, but I'd like to play with you just a little longer." She stomped her front hooves roughly onto Shade's own, pinning him down as she had before.

"Get... off... me!" Shade growled as he struggled beneath her. "I don't have time for this! I have to—"

"Save your kid, yeah, I get it," Glory interrupted with a roll of her eyes. "Thing is, that ain't happening. And it's not because I'm going to stop you. In fact, after all of this, I can see that you can't save anypony. Not the larva, not that pegasus, not your changeling friend... You couldn't even save that one guy."

Shade raised an eyebrow. "What? What guy?"

Glory grinned. In a flash, the body of Applejack was once again wrapped in emerald flames. Who was standing in its place was definitely not who Shade would have ever expected. Glory had taken the form of a unicorn stallion with a white coat and blue mane; a person that Shade hadn't seen in almost two years, and the last time he saw him, he was burying him in his grave. Glory had perfectly replicated the injured unicorn that Shade had encountered in the Everfree Forest when he first abandoned the Changeling Kingdom; the same unicorn that Shade himself had posed as for an entire month when he arrived in Ponyville.

Shade was too flummoxed to even say anything right now. It wasn't just the shock of seeing that face again after all this time, but once again Shade found himself wondering just how Glory knew about him. He could at least believe if she somehow had seen Rainbow Dash and the others, but there was absolutely no way in Tartarus she could have possibly known about that stallion. Even if she were one of the spies Chrysalis had stationed in Ponyville to keep an eye on Shade, the unicorn was long dead before they would've been sent there.

And now, here he was, staring that same stallion in the eyes once more. Even though Shade knew it wasn't really him, that didn't make it any less shocking. And the sinister grin on his face made it clear that Glory was taking great pleasure in Shade's reaction.

"You didn't do anything," she said in his haunting voice. "You just stood there and watched him die as he cowered in fear of you."

"I... I wanted to help him," Shade argued, his voice shaky. "He thought I was going to hurt him. He was afraid of me."

"And he had every right to be. You are a changeling after all. And so soon after the whole Canterlot debacle, too. His fear killed him. You killed him."

Shade grit his teeth, anger beginning to boil up within him. "I didn't do anything!"

Glory's sadistic smirk persisted. "That's exactly what I said. If you really wanted to help him, you could have ignored his protests and brought him to safety anyway. But instead you did nothing. No, actually, you did do something. You let him die and then stole his face for your own use. Deny it all you want, but you are, and always will be, a changeling. A lying, deceitful changeling."

"Don't lump me in with all of you," Shade growled. "I may have done some bad things in the past, but I owe my own life to that pony. I'd repay him if I could, which is more than you would have done."

"And yet still you live a life of luxury, with a roof over your head and a family and friends that love you, while he rots in his grave. Doesn't sound fair to me."

Shade let out a furious growl. He was sick and tired of hearing other changelings tell him he wasn't any different. He knew they were wrong. He knew he was better than them. And it was things like this that only solidified the idea that they were all irredeemable in his eyes. Shade had had enough.

Shade felt a pounding in his head as his rage focused itself in his horn, sparking and flashing with green magic.

"Get... off of me!"

With a blinding flash, Shade let loose an involuntary pulse of magic. This time, however, no reaction on Glory's part was going to allow her to avoid it. The surge of energy not only blasted Glory off of Shade, but propelled her up toward the roof of the cave until she slammed roughly into the side of a large stalactite. She let out a pained yelp, the impact having interrupted her shapeshifting spell and forcing her back into her natural body before she unceremoniously collapsed back onto the stone floor with a loud thud.

Shade grunted in pain, holding his head with both hooves and writhing on the ground. That surge of magic gave him the worst headache he'd had yet. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears. Regardless, he knew he wasn't out of danger quite yet. Shade laboriously rolled over and sat up, gritting his teeth and tensing his muscles in an attempt to offset the pain in his head. He turned towards the more immediate problem lying several feet away.

Glory was in perhaps just as much pain as Shade was, though hers was much more physical. The set of harsh impacts she had just endured had knocked the wind out of her, and she coughed violently, spitting up a little blood before gradually getting her breath back. However, she didn't seem to be in any shape to fight back now, staggering and falling over again as she tried to stand up.

This was Shade's opportunity. He had said before that he didn't have time to deal with her. With that in mind, Shade mustered what energy he could, flittered his wings, and took off down the caves, leaving the injured Glory behind without a word.

Glory groaned, wiping away the blood that was trickling from the corner of her mouth as she watched Shade disappear further down the tunnel and cursing herself. "Dammit... Wraith's not gonna be happy about this."

***** ***** *****

Chamella took a bite of one of the sandwiches she had packed, a simple sandwich consisting of just some iceberg lettuce, mayonnaise, and shaved turkey. Rarity was never too comfortable with having meat in her refrigerator, but chose to let it go for Chamella's sake; she never wanted anypony to think she was judging. The changeling washed down the bite with a sip of apple juice from a small bottle.

Sitting down and having a snack was a nice respite considering the circumstances Chamella and Winter were in. The dark, humid caverns of the changeling hive wasn't exactly a prime spot for picnics, but the food they'd packed was the only real homely comfort they had with them. They had to find solace wherever they could.

Chamella looked across from her spot next to the stone wall of the cave to where Winter was seated, leaning against a sizable stalagmite. The pegasus was busy munching on a juicy, red apple, but was staring off to the side and at a random spot on the floor. She looked to be lost in thought. Not surprising, really. Winter obviously had a lot on her mind. Even a tasty apple from Sweet Apple Acres wasn't going to distract her from her woes.

The two of them had honestly already lost track of how long they'd been gone. All they knew was that they entered the caves during the early hours of the morning. Their best guess was that it was at least sometime in the evening by now, and it felt like they hadn't made any progress yet at all. It was hard to even estimate how far they'd come so far when all the caves looked pretty much the same.

What might have been worse was the added tension that accompanied the stagnant air of the hive. Despite having traveled for what felt like hours, Chamella and Winter hadn't really said much to each other since entering the caves. It was true that Winter was keeping good on her promise to at least try and tolerate Chamella, but the changeling wasn't sure if the lack of conversation was due to the pegasus having more important things on her mind, or if she actually just didn't want to talk to Chamella. Honestly, as much as she would like to attempt to lighten the mood and pass some time, Chamella was a little apprehensive about trying to strike up a conversation herself, worried that something she might say would set Winter off.

Chamella took the final bite of her sandwich, making sure to savor it as that was the last one she had brought with her; from here on out it was going to be all store-bought snacks and prepackaged meals. Simultaneously, Winter finished her apple, tossing the core away. They both put the caps back on their drink bottles, saving the rest for later, and packed them back into their saddlebags.

"Let's get going," was all Winter said to break the thick silence. Her voice was quiet, but carried well through the spacious caverns. Her voice was also notably devoid of any enthusiasm, though that much was to be expected; neither of them wanted to be here after all.

Chamella followed behind Winter as they continued through the caves. The changeling knew that was odd considering how she was supposed to be the one leading the way, but it wasn't like there were any branching paths around, and the light she was casting from her horn was enough for Winter to see even with Chamella trailing a few feet behind.

Winter cast a glance over her shoulder. "So... Any idea how far we have left to go?"

Chamella lowered her head a little. "Um... No, not really. I'm not even really sure how far we've come yet."

The changeling noticed the pegasus's brow furrow slightly. Just as she feared, she'd said one thing and already upset Winter.

Winter let out a exasperated sigh. "So when you said you were going to guide me, you were just trying to convince me to let you come along, right?"

"To be fair, I said that I wasn't entirely sure how to get to the throne room from the get-go."

The pegasus went silent for a moment. She was trying her hardest not to say something to berate Chamella for her lack of foresight, though the irony of that thought was not lost on her, which was part of the reason she didn't comment on it.

"Is there any way we can tell where we're going?" Winter asked.

"I might recognize some areas. A lot of this place looks the same, but there are a few stand-out locations. If we wind up in one of them it could give me an idea of where to go next."

"Given how big and maze-like you say this place is, do you think it's likely that'll happen?" inquired Winter skeptically.

Chamella knew it wasn't the answer Winter wanted, but it was the only one she had. "I don't know. I guess we just have to hope."

The changeling heard Winter let out a long breath through her nose, but the pegasus said nothing. It was obvious that going in practically blind—in both the knowledge and visual sense of the word—was wearing on her. She was visibly frustrated. Chamella wasn't going to pretend that she knew exactly how Winter felt, but she had an inkling.

Honestly, Chamella wished she could be more useful. She did offer to go along as a guide, but as Winter suspected, that was more or less just a way of convincing her to let her come along, although the empty threat was probably the clincher. That being the case, Chamella really didn't feel like she was contributing much being there, at least when it came to navigation. Obviously, Winter wouldn't have even made it this far without her, but the pegasus seemed less than grateful. Chamella wasn't going to hold it against her, though, especially in this emotionally fragile time for the new mother. Right now, their focus was Snowflake. She could deal with any emotional problems once he was home safe and sound.

Winter stopped for a second, squinting as she tried to pierce the darkness herself. Chamella could more easily see what she staring at. There was a faint light further down the tunnel.

"It's probably an open cavern," the changeling surmised, not wanting Winter to get her hopes up that it might be an exit—not that they were looking for a way out right now.

The two of them hurried their pace a little, both of them somewhat eager to get a glimpse of natural light again. At the end of the tunnel the cave opened up into a large chamber, just as Chamella said. The cave was actually quite picturesque, like something one would see in a geology textbook. Small amounts of light streamed in through tiny gaps in the walls and ceiling; not big enough for anypony to squeeze through, but enough to provide enough light to see where they were going without the need of Chamella's magical illumination, although it supported their theory that it was getting late as the sunlight was rather dim. The chamber was actually even bigger than expected, stretching probably one hundred feet up and even wider than that. However, there wasn't actually a whole lot of room to move on the ground comparatively. Chamella and Winter currently stood on a cliff side overlooking a deep ravine on their right. The path continued forward along the left wall of the cavern, but was wide enough that even flightless individuals would have no worries about falling; perhaps thirty or so feet wide. Several large stalagmites decorated the precipice, as well as a few towering columns of stone connecting the floor to the distant ceiling, although it was uncertain and unlikely that they were load-bearing given how sparsely spaced they were.

Winter cautiously stepped over to the edge, looking down into the abyss below. Although her wings kept her from being in any actual danger, the sheer depth of the chasm was more than a little unsettling. Even with the light they were given, she could not see the bottom. For as high as Winter has ever flown, she was always able to see the ground beneath her, but seeing nothing but empty blackness made her gulp nervously. One small misstep that resulted in her perhaps injuring her wing or hitting her head before she could catch herself in flight could easily end her life. It kind of made her think of whether or not there were pegasi out there that had a fear of heights. If so, this might be what it feels like.

"I think I recognize this place."

Winter looked backed at Chamella. The purple-maned changeling was glancing around, analyzing the chamber carefully. She turned to Winter with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure the soldiers lead us through this cave when they would guide us to the throne room for Queen Chrysalis's addresses."

Finally, there was a glimmer of hope in Winter's amber eyes. "So we are on the right track?"

Chamella nodded confidently. "Yup. I mean, it's still a bit of a trek, and there's still plenty of chances for us to get lost, but hopefully I can remember the way from here."

Winter grimaced slightly, but shrugged. That didn't exactly inspire confidence, but it was something at least. It also begged the question: "Why is Chrysalis's throne room so deep in the caves? That seems really inconvenient."

"I think that's the point. As hard as it may be to believe, Queen Chrysalis knows these caves like the back of her hoof, same with most of the soldiers. It makes it harder for potential enemies to find her. The maze-like nature of the hive is like a built-in security system."

"Does it normally take this long to get to one of these meetings?"

"Uh, well, no. The soldiers know the shortest path there, plus we usually just fly all the way. It doesn't typically take that long."

Winter noticed the slight look of embarrassment and shame wash over Chamella's face. "We got here completely by accident, didn't we?"

Chamella looked away, rubbing her leg sheepishly. "Um... Maybe." She straightened up, attempting to look more sure of herself again. "But the important thing is that we made it somewhere familiar. It should be a little easier for me to figure out where we're going from here." Her expression fell a little again, and she muttered, "But I guess I shouldn't make any promises."

The pegasus took one last look at her surroundings before heading back down the path along the cavern wall. "No time to admire the scenery, I suppose. We should keep moving." She let out an exhausted sigh. "But I am getting a little worn out."

Chamella nodded in agreement, breathing a sigh of her own. "We've been walking since this morning, only stopping long enough to have a bite to eat. We're going to have to deal with the fact that we may need to get some sleep soon. We didn't exactly get much last night." The changeling punctuated her sentence with a tired yawn.

Winter was visibly reluctant upon hearing that. "Every minute we spend resting is another chance for something to happen to him. But I know we're not going to be able to do much without any energy. Maybe should have brought some coffee..."

"Let's see if we can find a safe place to get some shuteye up ahead," suggested Chamella. "We're kinda out in the open he—."

Chamella stopped, holding out a hoof to stop Winter, as well. Using the limited light filtering in through the small gaps in the stone ceiling, Winter was able to barely make out a moving figure further up ahead. Based on the size and shape, as well as the dark skin, it was undoubtedly a changeling. There appeared to be only one, and the lack of glowing, blue eyes indicated that its back was turned. However, neither of them could quite make out what it was doing. It was hunched over, but that was about as much as they could discern.

Winter leaned in close to Chamella, whispering quietly to her. "What should we do?"

"Well... There is just the one, but that doesn't mean there's no danger." Chamella squinted, trying to see if she could make out any other details about the changeling from this distance. "I don't see any armor, so I don't think it's a soldier. I might be able to distract them long enough for you to sneak by." She thought about it for a few more moments, her eyes briefly looking over to a sizable stalagmite to their left, then to the seemingly-bottomless ravine to their right, before deciding on a course of action. She slipped off her saddlebags, passing them to Winter. "Tell you what, take my stuff and hide behind that stalagmite for a bit. I'll see what they're doing and figure out if they're going to leave. If I take too long, you might be able to get by unnoticed by flying into the chasm."

"Why don't we just both fly into the chasm," asked Winter.

"My wings make too much noise. They'll hear me and probably investigate. We just need to make sure they don't see you. Think you can carry both our bags while flying?"

Winter glanced back over to the ravine, looking a bit apprehensive. "Honestly, I'm not sure I want to risk it. We packed a lot of stuff, so these bags are a little heavy. Plus, I don't want to accidentally drop them down there."

"Then I guess you'll just have to hide until they leave. Give me a minute."

Winter took Chamella's saddlebags and silently crept over to the nearby stalagmite, ducking behind it to conceal herself. Once the pegasus was out of sight, Chamella started making her way over to the changeling, who was still hunched over and doing whatever it was they were doing. As she got closer, she felt her stomach begin to tighten, a nervousness building up within her. She could smell blood. A lot of blood. Chamella had a feeling she knew now what that other changeling was doing.

Sure enough, once Chamella was close enough, she could make out the object the changeling was leaning over. It was hovering over the corpse of another changeling while eagerly tearing into its flesh with its sharp fangs. Blood pooled around the body and its innards were spilled out onto the cavern floor.

Chamella suddenly felt as though confronting this changeling was a very bad idea. Of course, she was familiar with the idea that some changelings chose to cannibalize their own kind, but she'd never actually seen a changeling kill and eat another. She assumed that it was an act of desperation, the attacker having to resort to such cruelty due to their impending starvation, but even then, where was the line? If cannibalism solved the hungry changeling's problem, what was to stop them from doing it again? Chamella was starting to have doubts about this plan. Maybe it was a better idea to just try and sneak past. She decided to abandon the plan and started back towards Winter.

"What's wrong? Lose your nerve?"

A chill ran up Chamella's spine when she heard the voice speak up behind her. The other changeling must have known she was there the whole time. Perhaps they heard her hoofsteps on the stone floor. With a nervous gulp, Chamella slowly turned around to face the changeling again.

The cannibal was now stood up, looking over his shoulder at Chamella. He was a male changeling with a white mohawk and silver eyes that glinted rather deviously. He was still lapping up the blood that dripped from his fangs, wearing an unnerving grin.

"Uh... N-No, I was just... I-I was going to ask if you knew the way to the throne room from here, but you seem busy. I, uh... didn't want to bother you," Chamella stammered, attempting to hide her uneasiness behind an unconvincing smile.

The other changeling chuckled rather casually. "No bother at all. I do enjoy company."

Chamella's eyes fell upon the half-eaten corpse behind him.

"Don't mind him. He's not going to interrupt. If I'm being honest, though, I didn't come here for him. He just happened to show up while I was waiting."

"W-What were you waiting for?" Chamella asked, unable to fight her curiosity.

The inquiry prompted a devilish smirk from the cannibal. "Why, you, sweetie."

Chamella felt her heart rate quicken. "M-Me? W-Why were you waiting for me?"

"Not just you, darling. Your friend, too."

Chamella gulped. "W-What're you talking about? There's nopony with me—I mean, no one... Oops."

"Voices carry in these big caves, you know." He looked past Chamella scanning the area behind her. "So where's your friend hiding? I've just been dying to meet them."

The female didn't respond, not wanting to give away Winter's hiding spot.

Seeing that she wasn't going to tell him, he shrugged. "Well, why don't I just go have a look around?"

With a buzz of his wings, he took to the air, flying over Chamella and in Winter's general direction. Her hiding spot wasn't really going to do much if he went looking for her. However, there was also the issue of their supplies. If he found Winter, he'd also find their saddlebags. They needed that stuff. If he already knew Winter was here, and he was probably going to find her anyway, the least she could do was keep the presence of their supplies unknown.

"W-Wait! N-No need for that!"

The male stopped short, touching down once more. "Hm?"

With a reluctant sigh, Chamella called out. "Winter, you might as well come out."

From behind the stalactite Winter had been listening in on the whole exchange. The moment she heard that the changeling was coming to look for her, she began to sweat. But as much as she didn't want to confront him, she'd already been outed. Winter pushed the two sets of saddlebags against the wall, trying to conceal them as well as possible before stepping out from her hiding spot.

A pleasantly surprised grin appeared on the cannibal's face upon seeing the pegasus. "Well, well, they weren't kidding. There really is a pony wandering around down here."

"Who's 'they'?" asked Chamella.

The male shrugged his shoulders. "I probably shouldn't say. I've already violated one of the conditions of my release. Wouldn't want someone snitching on me," he said, glancing back at the disemboweled changeling on the floor.

"You said you were waiting for us. Just who are you?" Chamella inquired.

"And what do you want?" Winter added. She tried to look undeterred by the changeling, but the sweat on her forehead and the slight twitch of her wings belied her defiant expression.

"Both good questions, and I'd be happy to answer them," he said with an amicable, yet rather sinister smile. With a flourish of his hoof, he bowed to the pegasus. "My name is Blight..." His eyes glanced up from his bowed position, his eyes glinting maliciously. "And I'm here to kill you."

Chamella flew over to Winter's side, ready to fight for both their lives. She knew something like this was going to be unavoidable. It was only a matter of time before another changeling caught on to Winter's presence. The problem was, she had always relied on Shade to get her out of situations like this. Could she hold her own if she was actually forced to fight back?

"So you were sent here to kill us? But you're not a soldier. Why do you care?" asked Chamella, more as an attempt to stall than anything else; this Blight guy seemed like the type who liked to run his mouth.

"Because my freedom is on the line here," he answered, although the question seemed to elicit some impatience as he knit his brow slightly. "See, when you've spent as many years as I have cooped up in a cramped, smelly cave, any opportunity to get out feels impossible to pass up." His bloodthirsty grin returned. "So when I was told that all I had to do to earn my freedom was kill a couple of outsiders—one of them a pony no less—that was just a bonus. 'Hey, do the very thing we put in here for and we'll let you go.' Well, who am I to argue? Besides, having nothing to eat but unripe berries, half-eaten rats and apple cores, I've been developing some desperate cravings. And looking at who I was sent to deal with, I think I'm starting to get a hankering for some..." He licked his still bloodstained lips. "...flank steak."

Chamella and Winter both shuddered at the disgusting way he had said that. Blight took notice and chuckled darkly.

"And you can interpret that whatever way you like. Either way, you're probably right."

"You're a sicko," Winter said with disgust.

"And you're awfully chatty for an evening snack," Blight quipped back. His insidious smirk immediately vanished, being replaced by an impatient scowl. "And I don't like to let my food go cold."

Without any more warning, Blight lunged forward at Chamella, fangs first. The female changeling managed to react quickly enough to dive out of the way, tackling Winter in the process to get her out of harm's way, too. Blight stumbled, having not expected his prey to move so deftly.

Once they recovered, both Winter and Chamella immediately took to the air, attempting to put some distance between themselves and this psychopath. They had been about to just fly down the tunnel in the direction they'd been headed in the first place, hoping to perhaps lose Blight once they got back into the maze-like catacombs. However, Winter came to a stop, looking back over her shoulder. Chamella stopped to see what she was doing. Not wanting to let Blight in on anything, the pegasus discreetly pointed a hoof to the stalagmites she'd been hiding behind before. Chamella understood immediately. She was gesturing to their saddlebags. They couldn't very well risk going too deep into the caves without food and water, but they also couldn't let that maniac find out about it. Which meant they were going to have to deal with him in some way.

But before either of them could formulate any sort of plan, the sound of frantically buzzing wings grew closer. Looking down, they saw Blight barreling toward them from below, coming straight for Winter this time. The pegasus dipped out of the way in the nick of time, feeling the speeding changeling brush past her in the air.

Winter started heading back toward the ground. As much freedom as she had in the air within this open cavern, she didn't have the aerial maneuverability of a changeling. She came to a skidding stop once she touched down, quickly turning around to make sure Blight wasn't right behind her. Instead, Chamella had followed her lead, landing with a slight stumble next to her.

Oddly, Blight was nowhere to be seen. Neither of the mares could spot him anywhere above them where he had been last. Chamella looked to the cliff overlooking the ravine. It was really the only place he could have been where they wouldn't be able to see him. The female changeling carefully crept over to the edge, cautiously leaning her head over the side to see if she could spot their attacker down there.

However, before she could even peer into the endless void below, Blight sprung up, fangs bared. His bite barely missed their mark as Chamella pulled back with a surprised yelp. But the maniac still managed to tackle her to the ground, preparing himself to lunge his bloodthirsty fangs into her slender neck.

Just as he was about to chomp down on her, he was struck from the side by the full brunt of a shoulder tackle from Winter, sending him rolling along ground before deftly righting himself and sliding to a stop. He chuckled maniacally, his pupils narrow like a tiger on the prowl, and he licked his lips eagerly.

"Heheheh, this is starting to get fun. It's always so much more satisfying when the prey tries to fight back. Don't get too worked up, though, or your meat'll be all tough and chewy."

"Just leave us alone!" Winter snapped at him. "I don't care about your stupid mission or whatever! You're already out, so why not just leave?!"

Blight's grin widened, contorting his face into one of pure madness. "I can't very well leave now that I've been given this challenge. For as many changelings as I've devoured, I've never had the pleasure of even tasting a pony."

"You're insane!"

"And you're as good as dead!"

Once again, Blight lunged toward Winter. The pegasus braced herself. She was starting to feel the effects of this journey taking its toll on her. Her legs were sore and she had little energy left. Her adrenaline could only push that back for so long. She didn't feel like she had the reaction speed to get out of the way unharmed this time, so instead she was going to meet him head on.

However, just as Winter was about to leap forward and intercept her attacker, a burst of bright green magic blasted Blight in the side, sending him reeling and rolling until he came to a stop near the edge of the chasm.

Surprised, Winter looked to where it had come from. Chamella was standing nearby, panting and her horn glowing faintly. The pegasus was stunned. She knew that Twilight had taught them some basic spells, but she'd never seen Chamella use any sort of offensive magic spell before, let alone one that strong; she felt the blast blow her mane back.

"Okay, gotta admit, that one caught me by surprise," Blight grumbled as he rose back to his hooves, apparently none the worse for wear aside from a few mild burns and scrapes. His psychotic, silver eyes locked onto Chamella, his grin returning. "Guess I've been focusing on the wrong target. Sorry, sweet cheeks, but if that's the way you're gonna play, I'll just have to deal with you first."

With that, Blight launched another assault, this time aiming for the other changeling. Chamella was quick to respond, her horn glowing once again, but this time erecting a bubble of green energy around herself. Blight payed it no mind, viciously slamming all four of his hooves into the barrier in the hopes of shattering it with brute force. To his surprise, the shield held up surprisingly well, although Chamella clearly felt the force of the impact on her horn as she flinched in pain. Blight chuckled. He was surprised that another changeling other than Chrysalis could create a barrier that could withstand any amount of physical stress, but he could see that she was obviously struggling to maintain it. He continued to cling to the force field, pounding on it with his front hooves. Each strike caused a jolt of pain to shoot through Chamella's horn as she desperately tried to keep the spell going.

Blight lifted his hoof for another blow, but felt something small strike him in the side of the head. He halted his assault to look bemusedly over at the pegasus, who was preparing to throw another pebble. Winter's confidence faltered the moment he looked in her direction, thinking that that may have been a mistake.

The mohawked changeling smirked. "On second thought..."

He lifted off the bubble barrier, flittering slowly towards the pegasus with his menacing grin. Winter took a fearful step backwards as he approached.

Chamella saw her opportunity. Blight's back was now turned. This was her chance to strike back. She dropped her defenses and rushed at Blight from behind.

Without a moment's hesitation, Blight shot a glance over his shoulder, his wide, fanged grin still flashing. "Gotcha."

Blight shot backwards quickly, meeting Chamella halfway with a swift and forceful buck of his hind legs directly to her chest. The female, caught off guard, fell to the ground, rolling over in pain. Satisfied that she was incapacitated for the moment, Blight turned his sinister gaze back on the pegasus.

Winter could only watch as Blight touched down onto the floor, cantering slowly towards her. She knew she didn't have the energy to outrun him, and she was starting to think that fighting back was only going to result in getting herself killed. But what else could she do? If she did nothing, she was dead anyway. All she could do was back away and delay the inevitable. However, after just a few steps, she found herself bumping into a stone column at the edge of the ravine. She looked back to see nothing but the black abyss below. If she fell, would she even have enough energy to fly out?

An ebony, hole-riddled hoof struck the column of rock just inches from Winter's head, and she quickly tore her eyes away from the chasm to find Blight now standing right in her face. She began to slink down onto the ground, instinctively attempting to get as far from this psychopath as she was physically able. This, however, only resulted in the changeling towering over her, staring down at her victoriously with his unnerving smile. Blight leaned down, growling hungrily as he hovered his fangs near her throat, the pungent smell of blood still fresh on his breath. Winter shut her eyes tightly and clenched her teeth, letting out an involuntary whimper.

"It's too bad I don't have time to..." Blight ran his tongue up Winter's alabaster neck. "...savor you, but I'll be sure to enjoy this as much as I can." He lifted his head, licked his fangs one more time, and readied himself for the killing blow.

Blight suddenly felt a strong weight land on his back, though he managed to keep his footing. Never letting his grin fade, he cast a look over his shoulder to find Chamella latched onto him.

He chuckled in amusement. "I think you've got it backwards, love; I'm supposed to mount you. But I like your enthusiasm."

Ignoring his perverted comment, Chamella threw her head back, bore her short fangs, and plunged them into Blight's back, at the base of his wings. Blight, surprised and shocked, winced in pain, his muscles tightening instinctively. However, Chamella wasn't finished. With one jerking motion, she ripped a chunk of flesh off his back, taking his right wing with her.

Blight shrieked in agony, bucking Chamella off his back and sending her down onto the floor. The searing pain in his back blinded him momentarily and he stumbled off of Winter, inhaling sharp breaths between his tightly clenched teeth. He didn't even allow himself enough time to think about the pain, shooting a venomous glare back at the other changeling. But the moment he did, all he saw was the female hurtling towards him before tackling him over the edge of the cliff. As Blight began to plummet, he instinctively attempted to flutter his wings to catch himself only to feel the return of that burning pain as he tried to flitter a wing that was no longer there. Unable to achieve flight with just one wing, Blight fell, screaming furiously the whole way down until he and his voice were both swallowed up by the darkness.

Chamella hovered above the gorge, watching their assailant drop into the void. She was a little shaken herself, staring with some disbelief that she had actually managed to get rid of him. But even with Blight out of the way, she knew that they were far from out of the woods. With some modicum of relief, Chamella returned to solid ground, breathing a sigh as she made her way over to retrieve their hidden saddlebags.

Winter simply sat in stunned silence, her eyes wide as she watched Chamella walk past. Sweat was running down her neck and her heart was still pounding in her chest. She couldn't think of anything to say. She was still reeling from that whole experience.

The pegasus was snapped from her stupor suddenly by the low thud of her saddlebags being dropped next to her. She looked up to see Chamella standing there, her expression oddly relaxed for somepony who had just been assaulted by a psychotic, cannibalistic changeling.

"Come on, we should probably get going. We don't know how many others like him they recruited to hunt us down."

Winter was quiet for a moment, continuing to stare at her changeling companion rather incredulously before finally managing to form words again. "Uh... Yeah, right." She stood up, her legs still shaking a little, and hoisted her bags onto her back.

Just like that, the two of them were on their way again, as if nothing had just happened. Silence thickened the air between them, but it wasn't the same as the earlier tension that had built up. It was more like a contemplative silence where the two of them were simply thinking quietly to themselves. The sound of their hoofsteps was practically deafening within that silence, which only encouraged them to at least try and break it so that they didn't have to dwell on everything that just happened.

Chamella decided to start, a thought having come to her. It wasn't exactly going to move them forward, thought-wise, but it was something. "Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I've heard of that Blight guy before."

She looked at Winter from the corner of her eye, expecting at least a curious glance. However, the pegasus continued to gaze ahead, her expression unreadable. Against her better judgment, Chamella figured she'd finish her thought anyway.

"I think I remember hearing rumors about him when I used to live here. Apparently he went around violating and killing other changelings. And not because he was desperate for food or anything, but just... for fun, I guess. Given what we just went through, I'd say it's probably a safe bet that that was the same guy. From what I heard, Queen Chrysalis wasn't too pleased to hear that her subjects were being slaughtered by one of their own kind, so she had him thrown in the dungeon. Actually, you know what, I think it was Shade who told me about all this. He overheard a lot of stuff from other changelings when he was off looking for food and stuff."

Chamella chanced another glance at Winter. Her gaze hadn't shifted at all. It was like Winter was somewhere else entirely. Chamella wasn't even sure if she was listening to her. However, she decided to continue anyway in the hopes that she would contribute at some point, forcing a smile as she recounted the rumors she'd heard.

"You're probably wondering why Queen Chrysalis didn't just execute him. From what I've heard, she believed he had some kind of sickness and was worried that killing him might... I don't know, release it or something and infect her other subjects. I dunno, it all sounded kind of weird back then, too. But, hey, he's gone now, right? We just took care of maybe one of the Changeling Kingdom's most notorious criminals. That's pretty cool, huh?"

Without warning, Winter collapsed onto her haunches, shaking and sobbing. Chamella stopped, caught off guard by the pegasus's sudden shift in demeanor.

"W-Winter? What's wrong?" Chamella asked, concerned.

Winter stared down at the cold, stone floor, tears beginning to run down her cheeks. "What am I doing?"

Chamella quirked an eyebrow, barely able to hear her quiet and shaky muttering. "What?"

Winter finally looked up at Chamella, her distraught expression making the changeling all the more worried and curious. "W-What am I doing?" she repeated, her voice a little louder, yet also more shaky. "That guy was going to kill me. It wasn't like with those other changelings. He was actually just a second away from tearing my throat out. A-And..."

Chamella watched the realization hit her like a hydra falling from the sky.

"...I was going to come here alone. Without telling anypony where I was going. I could've been dead right now and nopony would know. What was I thinking?!"

Winter held her head in her hooves, tears dripping from her fear-filled eyes onto the unforgiving stone. Chamella wasn't sure what she should say, or even if she should say anything at all. All she could really think to do was just let her be, silently waiting as Winter had her emotional breakdown.

"I... I'm an idiot," she admitted quietly, almost talking more to herself than to Chamella. "I was so focused on just proving that I can be a good mom when I should've been thinking about Snowflake. A 'good mom' doesn't run headfirst into danger to save her child; she does everything in her power to make sure they're safe, even if that means asking for help..."

As happy as Chamella was to finally hear Winter admit that, she couldn't help but pity her in the state she was in. Winter was completely defeated, the possible ramifications of her behavior and actions finally dawning on her.

"I'm going to die down here... Snowflake is going to die down here. All because I was too stubborn and selfish to ask for help! I'm not a good mom... I'm a horrible mom..."

Winter's eyes clenched shut with no discernible end to the remorseful tears that flowed from them. Hearing her come down on herself so harshly, Chamella finally decided to interject.

"Well... I mean, we've come this far already. There's not much point in turning back now. We might as well see this through."

Winter looked up at the changeling. "That's easy for you to say. You're from here. The changelings aren't going kill you on sight. And even you suggested we ask for help. You're a better mom than me! I'm just..." Winter let herself fall to the ground, wallowing in her own self-pity. "I'm just a failure... I don't deserve to be a mom."

"Sitting around moping isn't going to change anything," said Chamella, perhaps a little too bluntly, she realized. "Like you said, we should be focused on Snowflake."

"How can you be so calm?" Winter asked, sitting up again and wiping the moisture from her cheeks. "We might end up dying here. You keep saying that you were always weak and helpless. Aren't you afraid of dying?"

Chamella was a little caught off guard by the question, raising an eyebrow. "Of course I am, I just... Well, I guess growing up here I've just gotten used to the idea that every day could be my last. And part of the reason I insisted on coming along was to protect you. And the other reason is the same as yours. As long as we're doing this, I'm going to do everything I can to help you, whether you want my help or not."

Winter turned her gaze back down to the floor, contemplating her situation before looking back up at Chamella. "I think I'm starting to understand why Shade was so insistent on making you Snowflake's godmother."

Chamella tilted her head in confusion. "Huh? What's that got to do with anything?"

"You admit you're weak and helpless, and Shade is the only reason you're alive today. But maybe that's because you were never given the opportunity to help anypony yourself."

"What do you mean?" asked Chamella, not quite comprehending.

Winter looked into Chamella's eyes with the softest expression she'd seen the pegasus cast in her direction. "You don't give yourself enough credit. You think you're powerless, but when somepony you care about is in trouble, you don't hesitate to stick your neck out for them, even putting yourself in harm's way. I think Shade must realize that, too. Maybe that's why he thinks you'd make a good godmother; you don't really think much of yourself, but you care so much about the people close to you. You're even willing to put your life on the line to help me, even though I've been treating you like dirt."

Chamella said nothing. Frankly, she was stunned to hear this coming from Winter, but she was touched and a little relieved to see that perhaps she was beginning to win Winter over.

"You've been thinking about me, and Snowflake, and Shade this whole time... And all I've been thinking about is proving I can be a good mom. What's wrong with me?"

The changeling hesitated, trying to find the right words without inadvertently insulting Winter. "I can't really say I know exactly what you're going through, but maybe this isn't the time to be beating yourself up. You can worry about fixing your problems when we get Snow home safe, okay?"

The pegasus looked away for a moment before turning back to Chamella, her amber eyes conflicted with hope and doubt. "You really think we can find him?"

The changeling relaxed a bit, offering a comforting smile. "If we work together. We are on the right track."

The ivory mare wiped away the rest of her tears, finally standing back onto her hooves and trying her hardest to push back the fear and doubt. "Alright, I'm not exactly brimming with confidence, but I know as long as Snow's stuck down here, I can't just give up. Still, though, I'm starting to really wish we'd at least left a note or something."

Chamella rubbed her foreleg, her cheeks blushing with embarrassment. "Well, actually, I know I said I wouldn't tell anypony, but I... might have mentioned this trip to Sweetie Belle. Sorry."

Winter was silent for a moment as she decided how she felt about that. "I don't really have a right to be mad at you. Actually, it's probably a good thing. If she happens to mention it to Rarity, who knows, they might come looking for us." She let out a regretful sigh. "I've got a lot of apologies to make when we get home. And while I'm at it, thanks for saving me back there, Chamella."

The blush in Chamella's cheeks went from embarrassment to bashfulness. "Oh, um, don't mention it. You had my back, too, though. But I'll step in for you as many times as I need to. I've got some things I need to make up for anyway."

Winter looked ahead as best she could. The faint light streaming into the open cavern was starting to fade into night and they still had a long road ahead of them from the looks of it. She could barely make out another smaller passageway leading away from the ravine. "Guess we should get a move on, huh?"

Chamella nodded, and with that they pressed forward. Whether or not they were ready to deal with whatever awaited them was yet to be seen, but, like Chamella had said, there was no point in turning back now.

Chapter 16 - Spores

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 16: Spores

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The quiet of the changeling catacombs could almost be considered peaceful for somepony who was ignorant of the dangers present there. Although it was pitch black, the rhythmic plops of water dripping from the overhanging stalactites echoed throughout the caverns, almost as though they were trying to lead any stray travelers through the darkness. What little sound there was did much to provide at least some modicum of ambiance in an otherwise dreary place.

That ambiance was disturbed by the sound of a long and tired yawn escaping the lungs of one exhausted changeling.

Following her sleepy yawn, Chamella stretched her back a bit. She and Winter had been wandering the caverns since daybreak and were understandably tired. Right now, they were looking for a safe place to rest and get some sleep; sleeping in the middle of a random tunnel was just asking for trouble, and they didn't want to risk a run-in with another changeling like Blight.

"Any idea where we can stop?" asked Winter, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"There's gotta be a spot somewhere nearby," Chamella surmised, looking around at her surroundings.

The purple-maned changeling had a general idea of where they were going now thanks to her recognition of the large ravine where they encountered Blight, but that didn't mean she knew exactly what lay ahead.

"Um..."

Chamella glanced over at Winter's utterance, who was looking back at her somewhat uncomfortably. "What?"

"You've, uh... got something on you face," Winter pointed out.

The changeling lifted a hoof to her lip where Winter was pointing. She wiped the blemish off her face and had a look at her now stained hoof with a slight grimace. As she suspected, a drop of blood. Chamella wasn't too proud of having to resort to such barbaric methods to defend themselves, but during their altercation with Blight, she couldn't think of any other way to get the maniac off of Winter. The taste of Blight's blood still lingered in her mouth.

Winter could clearly see the disdainful look in Chamella's eyes. "You alright?"

The question snapped Chamella out of her thoughts. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry, it's just..." She let out a quiet sigh. "I've never tasted changeling blood before. It's... weird to think about."

"Well, look at it this way: you did it to save my life. Considering everything you've said, I'd imagine that makes it worth it for you, right?"

Chamella grinned weakly. "Yeah. I don't really regret doing it, I just wish I didn't have to do it, you know?"

Winter nodded. "I get it."

There was a bit of awkward silence following that short conversation. Winter found herself glancing discreetly in Chamella's direction a few times before she finally decided to speak her mind.

"So... What's it taste like?"

Chamella gave the pegasus a disgusted look. "What? Why do you want to know that?"

"It's not like I want to try it myself," Winter responded defensively. "Believe me, I've been down that road. I was just wondering, you know, since you do eat meat anyway, does changeling blood taste good to you?"

Chamella scowled with her lips pursed, feeling rather insulted. "Whether it tastes good or not, I'm not a cannibal. I did it out of defense, not because I wanted to eat him."

"I know, I know, but since you had to taste it anyway..."

The ruffled changeling huffed, turning her gaze forward once more as she contemplated whether or not she even wanted to answer the question. "It doesn't have a particularly distinct taste compared to other animals. It was still a little gross, but maybe part of that is just the thought of it."

The taste in Chamella's mouth seemed to become all the more noticeable the more they talked about it, so she quickly used her magic to pull a bottle of water from her saddlebags and cleanse her palette.

Winter actually felt a little bad, but not so much for bringing it up as it was for finding some amusement in how flustered Chamella had gotten. But she had a promise she was supposed to keep, so she decided to drop the subject there and let the silence take over once again.

The two eventually came to yet another fork in the road, but it was less a fork and more like a web. Paths split off in practically all directions, even into the floor, walls and ceiling.

Winter was a little discouraged by the sight of the various tunnels surrounding them. "Please tell me you know which one to take."

Chamella stayed silent for a moment as she looked over their options. She hadn't been to the throne room very often, so her memory of the path there was pretty limited. She was looking for anything that might trigger her memory. After analyzing the caves carefully, something managed to catch her eye. She hurried over to a tunnel leading to their right, spotting a small, luminescent, blue mushroom growing near the wall.

Curious, Winter walked up behind her to see what Chamella was looking at, raising an eyebrow at the tiny fungus. It glowed with a soft light; not enough to light the path for them, but enough to make it noticeable even in the dark.

"This way," said Chamella with a confident smile, pointing down the path nearest the mushroom. Without another moment of hesitation, Chamella started down the tunnel with an oddly eager spring in her step.

Winter hurried to catch up, trotting up alongside her again with a confused expression. "Wait, do you actually know where we're going? Is this really the right way?"

"Well, not exactly, but I'm pretty confident we can find a spot to rest up ahead," Chamella answered assuredly.

"And how do you know that? You recognize this area?"

"I think I remember it vaguely, but I'm actually just following something I remember Shade telling me once."

Chamella stopped, pointing around to the walls of the tunnel. Winter hadn't noticed until now, but there were more mushrooms growing around the cave. They were pretty sparsely placed, but their glow was hard to miss.

"Okay, what about them?" asked Winter with an uncomprehending raise of her eyebrow.

"Shade told me about this once when he came to the caves looking for food. He noticed that when you see mushrooms, they tend to lead to places where they grow in big numbers. Those spots tend to be out of the way, so it's probably safe for us there."

"So there's a dead end up ahead? You sure that's safe?"

"Safe from the soldiers anyway, since they'd know it was a dead end and might not bother to check there."

Winter gave Chamella a rather skeptical look.

"Look, it's probably as safe as we can hope for. And we're using the term 'safe' pretty loosely when we're talking about the Changeling Kingdom."

The pegasus breathed a resigned sigh. "Fair enough. Let's just go; I'm getting pretty tired."

Chamella shared the sentiment with a nod and the pair continued with as hurried a pace as they could manage given how exhausted they both were. Fortunately, it didn't take long for them to reach the destination that Chamella had determined with confidence was there.

The changeling and the pegasus slowed their pace slightly as they reached the end of the mushroom-decorated path and entered into a more spacious room. If Winter had thought the giant gorge they had just passed was picturesque, then this particular room was an actual work of art. All around them—more so than even the tunnel leading there—were countless glowing mushrooms of varying sizes; some as tiny as buttons, while others were the size of their heads. The glow they gave off was actually barely enough to make their surroundings visible without the aid of Chamella's magic. It was actually a nice change of pace to be illuminated in a soft, blue glow rather than the neon green of changeling magic. There were a few columns of rock connecting the floor to the ceiling that were covered in mushrooms as well, making them look like some type of exotic Hearth's Warming tree.

Winter took a moment to take in the sight of it. "Wow. This is actually... really pretty. Who would have thought something this beautiful would be in the Changeling Kingdom?"

"And nourishing."

Winter quirked an eyebrow at the comment, glancing over at Chamella who was busy plucking a mushroom from the ground. "'Nourishing'? Wait, you're not planning on eating these, are you?"

"Well, why not?" Chamella asked with a tilt of her head.

The pegasus was honestly a little shocked she had to explain. "Wha—? Because you don't just eat random mushrooms. They could be poisonous!"

Chamella simply grinned and giggled. "It's fine. These are perfectly edible. Shade and I used to eat 'em all the time. Or at least when we were desperate enough to brave the hive."

"Really? Hmm..."

The changeling noticed the skeptical look she was receiving. "You don't believe me?"

Winter shook her head with a sigh. "No, it's not that. It's just..." She plucked a mushroom for herself, staring at it. "Ponies don't usually eat things that... glow. That's kind of a red flag."

"Need proof?" Without waiting for a response, Chamella took a bite of the mushroom's cap, chewing the fungus up and gulping it down. She then gave Winter a reassuring grin. "See? Nothing to worry about."

Winter looked back at the mushroom in her possession, gulping nervously. Chamella seemed pretty confident that they were safe, so maybe there wasn't anything to be concerned about after all. Summoning all of her courage, Winter opened wide and chomped down on the mushroom. She was expecting some sort of stinging, bitter taste to assault her tongue—anything that would make her believe that eating these things was a bad idea and convince her to spit it out. But, to her surprise, there wasn't really anything unpleasant about it.

Chamella watched Winter's apprehensive facial expression shift to become more relaxed as the pegasus chewed. "Well? Not bad, right?"

"It's a little bland," Winter said as she munched, the tastelessness leaving much to be desired. She finally swallowed the bite. "But I guess it could've been worse."

"We should pack some of these in our bags so we don't run through our supplies as quickly," suggested Chamella as she started picking a few of the small mushrooms and stuffing them into her saddlebags.

"Alright, but if these things do end up killing me, I'm coming back to haunt you," Winter joked, joining Chamella in picking their new provisions.

As the two mares walked around, plucking only the choicest of mushrooms for the trip, Winter stopped for a moment when she noticed something on the other side of the room, barely illuminated by the iridescent glow of the fungi.

"Uh, I thought you said this was a dead end."

Chamella looked up to see Winter pointing towards another tunnel on the opposite end of the chamber from which they entered. "Huh. Well, to be fair, I never said it was definitely a dead end."

"But that's probably not the way we need to go, is it? You said these types of spots were usually out of the way."

"The key word being 'usually.' If there's another path here, then it's entirely possible the other changelings might come through here."

"Again, though, it's probably not the fastest route, right?"

Chamella pondered for a moment. "Mmm... Probably not, but it might actually be safer. We'd be less likely to run into trouble if we veered off the beaten path."

Winter grimaced slightly at the suggestion. "I don't know if you've picked up on it, but I'm kind of in a hurry. My son is trapped here, remember?"

"And who's gonna save him if we're dead? Like I said, I don't think Queen Chrysalis is going to hurt him, so we have time to be careful about this."

The pegasus wasn't too keen on the idea of delaying her son's rescue, but considering what they had both just went through, it would be preferable to avoid any more life-threatening experiences. "Yeah, you've got a point, I guess. But what if this isn't the right way? What if this just takes us further away from Snowflake?"

"You could say that about any path down here. Chances are that all of these paths will eventually lead to the throne room; it is the most important room in the hive. Queen Chrysalis wants her subjects to be able to find her if they need her."

Winter stopped foraging for a moment, looking rather vexed. "Why do you keep calling her that?"

Chamella blinked, confused by the question. "Um... Because it's her name?"

Winter shook her head. "No, I mean why do you keep calling her Queen Chrysalis?"

Again, Chamella was a little puzzled. "That's her title. She's Queen of the Changelings."

The pegasus dragged a hoof over her face, breathing a sigh of exasperation. "That's not what I meant. Why do you keep referring to her as 'Queen' Chrysalis even though she's not really your queen anymore? Shade just calls her Chrysalis because he's no longer her subject."

Chamella's ears drooped slightly and she broke eye contact with Winter. Throwing Shade into the question just reminded her of a conversation they'd had some time ago. She sat down, leaning against one of the stone columns in the room. "Oh, that. Well, I guess it's because I still have some respect for her."

Winter sat nearby, raising an eyebrow. "Why? Chrysalis is an evil dictator who kidnapped Princess Cadance and tried to take over Equestria."

The changeling stayed silent for a moment as she tried to find the words to explain it. "She might seem that way to the ponies, but to us she's a leader. I know she's done some bad stuff, but she only did it because she cares about her people. I mean, I'm sure power was one of the reasons, but still..."

"So you're going to defend her even though she just had my son kidnapped?"

Chamella shook her head. "I already told you that there's something off about that. Remember: Queen Chrysalis let Shade and me live in Ponyville. She was happy to see that we found happiness. She didn't want to take that from us. And that's why I'm saying we need to find her. I don't think she'd do that to us without a reason."

"And how can you be so sure about that?" asked Winter.

"Because, like I said, she cares about her people. Queen Chrysalis was... Well, she's the closest thing any of us have to a mother. She wasn't just some bossy ruler who used her subjects as tools to achieve her goals. She knew all of us by name. Every decision she made was made with us in mind. Sure, her thirst for power may have lead to her more... aggressive approach to Equestria, but I'm sure she did it because she also felt there was no other way."

"I really feel like you're giving her a little too much credit," Winter said with a slight scowl.

"Well, maybe, but I guess that's just because I don't want to hate her. I genuinely believe that's she not as bad as you think she is, at least from my perspective. It's hard to hate the person who basically raised you, or as close to raising as we could hope for." Chamella lowered her head, her gaze falling to the floor. She mumbled under her breath, "It's more respect than Shade gives her..."

Winter's eyes widened curiously. "Hm? What does that mean?"

Chamella looked up again, looking at the pegasus with a little surprise. "What? Has Shade not told you how he feels about Queen Chrysalis and the changelings?"

"Not lately. Last I heard he just hoped they could find a way to make peace with us."

"Oh, well... He doesn't feel that way anymore."

Winter was surprised to hear that. "What? Why would you say that?"

"Because he told me. A few months ago he told me that he's lost all faith in the changelings. He believes that if they aren't smart enough to see how easy it is to find happiness, then maybe they just don't deserve it. He seems to think they're irredeemable now and wants nothing to do with them."

The ivory mare frowned upon hearing that. "That doesn't sound much like him."

Chamella shrugged, giving Winter a somewhat judgmental look from the corner of her eye. "I guess people change. Apparently it doesn't take much to make a person start acting out of character."

Winter grimaced at the remark. "That's uncalled for. I already realized what a jerk I've been and apologized for it." She held a hoof to her chin in thought. "But it still seems strange that Shade would start thinking like that. I should probably talk to him about it when we get out of here."

Chamella shifted self-consciously. "You don't think less of me for still respecting Queen Chrysalis, do you?"

The pegasus let out a long yawn, stretching her legs as she did. "Look, I know all too well how much difficulty you seem to have changing how you feel about things. But as long as it doesn't cause any problems for us, I guess it's not a big deal. Now, I'm really tired. I think it's about time we try and get some rest."

"Do you want me to stay on lookout for a little while? You know, just in case?" offered Chamella.

Winter curled up on the cold ground, resting her head on her fetlocks. "Nah. I doubt I'll sleep very well anyway, even considering how tired I am. You might as well hit the hay, too."

Chamella followed Winter's example and lay down, letting out a sleepy yawn of her own. "Okay. Not sure if I'd be able to stay awake very long anyway."

After a long day, the pair of mares finally closed their eyes for some much needed rest. Hopefully they'd be able to doze off quickly enough to refresh themselves at least a little. If nothing else, they'd managed to have a decent meal before bed.

***** ***** *****

"Look, all I'm saying is that you two could at least try to help out if we get into trouble."

Rarity rolled her eyes at Rainbow Dash. The two of them had been arguing nearly nonstop since splitting up from the rest of the group. The cyan pegasus was doing very little to mask their presence in the changeling hive, speaking rather loudly and her voice carrying through the spacious caverns; if there were any changelings nearby, they were now certainly aware that there were ponies in their territory. Thankfully, they'd yet to run into any opposition, but Rarity knew it was only a matter of time before Rainbow Dash's loud mouth gave them away, which tied into their current argument.

"If I recall, you were the one who said, and I quote, 'They have me. I think we'll be fine,'" Rarity reminded the chromatic mare. "Was all of your boisterous posturing simply you blowing hot air, or do you intend to actually take on entire groups of changelings on your own?"

Rainbow Dash huffed at the accusation. "I mean, I'm not saying that I can't take 'em on if I need to, but I was really just saying that to make you girls feel a little more at ease, you know?"

"Um, if it's any consolation, it made me feel a little better," said Fluttershy, speaking up quietly for the first time in two hours as she trailed slightly behind her two friends.

"See? Fluttershy has faith in me," said the cyan pegasus.

"Yes, and that's all well and good, but what good is faith if you can't back up your claims?" Rarity asked rhetorically.

Rainbow Dash breathed an exasperated sigh. "So are you offering to step in if I need help, or what?"

"While I would certainly rather avoid engaging in violence, I would be willing to throw my hat in the ring should the need arise," the ivory unicorn claimed confidently.

"Yeah, okay, if you say so," Dash said, stifling a snicker.

Rarity glared at the pegasus, insulted. "And what exactly does that mean?"

"Nothing. It's just kind of funny since you were just talking about being able to back up your claims."

"And you think I couldn't?" said Rarity with a furrowed brow.

"I mean, come on. You said yourself that you aren't a fighter."

"I was more so referring to Fluttershy than myself," the unicorn clarified.

"Okay, so let's say we come across some changelings. I know you put a lot of effort into making yourself look good and junk, but as far as I've noticed, you don't really work out or anything. I fly pretty much all day, rounding up clouds and flying long distances. And I was a part of three different sports teams in flight school and high school. I've got the stamina and strength to handle myself in a fight. What do you bring to the table?"

Rarity scoffed at Rainbow Dash's insinuation. "Well, I must admit I never knew you had such a low opinion of me."

"Hey, I'm just talking about stuff you can use in a fight. That doesn't make me think less of you or anything. You usually do your own thing, and that's cool, but what can you do when it comes time to get a little physical?"

"I'll have you know that I do jog regularly," Rarity informed her. "You probably never noticed since I do so in the mornings when you're usually still sound asleep. That being said, strength is not the only factor one can utilize in a tussle. And for your information, I, too, partake in a sport."

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? What sport?"

"Fencing."

The pegasus actually looked a little impressed. "You mean, like, sword fighting?"

"I prefer to think of it as sword dancing," Rarity corrected with a whimsical lilt in her voice.

Dash shrugged. "Whatever makes you feel better about stabbing stuff."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, you make it sound so barbaric. Fencing is not about 'stabbing stuff,' as you put it. It is about finesse and reflexes, poise and precision. It is a sport of wits, reading and outmaneuvering your opponent. In that regard, it is not really so much different from other, more physical sports." She glanced around the empty and featureless tunnel they traipsed through, looking a touch embarrassed. "That being said, I would require a weapon in order to utilize those skills. Sadly, I never thought to bring one."

"What, you just have a sword lying around your house?" inquired Rainbow Dash.

"Of course not. I usually just use the ones supplied to us at the rec center where I take part. Oh! Now that I think of it..." Rarity turned around to the yellow mare following behind them. "Fluttershy, you should join me some time. It's actually quite therapeutic."

Fluttershy was quite caught off guard by the request. "Huh? O-Oh, I don't know. Swinging a sword around sounds pretty dangerous. I wouldn't want to accidentally hurt somepony... Or, more likely, myself."

Rarity waved her concerns off dismissively. "Oh, you needn't worry, darling. Everypony wears padded gear and masks, and all the rapiers are capped to ensure there are no injuries. As I said, it is more like a dance than an actual fight. You simply point out the flaws in each others movements with a touch of your sword."

The meek pegasus still looked a little unsure, but forced a small grin to appease her friend. "W-Well, if you really want me to, I guess I can give it a try."

Hearing that, Rarity added an extra spring into her step and gave a pleased smile. "Wonderful! I assure you, you'll enjoy yourself."

"Getting a bit sidetracked here, aren't we?" Rainbow Dash interjected. "Instead of making plans for the weekend, do you wanna focus on the here and now?"

Rarity snapped back to reality, having briefly forgotten where they were. "Oh, yes, of course. In any case, the point I was trying to make was that I do indeed have skills I can offer if we find ourselves unable to avoid an altercation. Whether or not I can properly use those skills in an actual combat scenario is still up for debate, however. But I will most certainly try my best if need be."

"I think I'll still hang back, if that's okay," Fluttershy chimed in.

"No problem," said Dash with a reassuring grin to the other pegasus. "I'm still pretty confident I can handle a few changelings myself anyway, so hopefully you two won't have to get involved at all."

"That would be ideal, yes," agreed Rarity. "Although it would have been nice to at least have one more person accompany us that can handle themselves in a fight."

"Yeah, I'm sure Twilight's group'll be able to handle pretty much anything they come across," added Rainbow Dash. "Even Pinkie's unpredictability would be helpful."

"If it really comes to it, I can try and fight," Fluttershy offered. "But I can't promise I'll be much help."

"You don't need to put yourself in harm's way if you don't want to, darling," Rarity told her, not wanting to see her frail friend get hurt.

The quiet pegasus stood up a little straighter, putting on a comparatively tougher face. "If I wasn't willing to put myself in harm's way, I would have stayed in Ponyville. I came to help, and if that means I have to fight changelings, then... I guess I'll fight changelings."

"That's the spirit," Rainbow Dash said encouragingly, patting her feathered friend on the back. "Just remember: if things look dicey, you can always duck out."

Fluttershy smiled confidently. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Heavens, if we're this concerned over dealing with these brutes, I can only imagine what poor, little Snowflake must be going through," Rarity expressed with deep worry.

"No kidding," agreed Dash, grimacing at the thought. "For all we know, he could be dead already."

"Rainbow Dash! Don't even suggest such a thing!" the fashionista balked. She lifted a hoof to her face, shaking her head. "Oh, I simply could not handle the thought of such a fate befalling that sweet child."

Fluttershy tilted her head, pondering something. "Do you think they'd go through the trouble of kidnapping him if they were just going to let him die?"

"Yeah, that's a good point," said Rainbow Dash with a nod. "I know they're not the smartest group in general, but they should at least know that they have to feed an infant foal."

"I do have to wonder: why in the world does Queen Chrysalis even need an infant foal?" Rarity questioned.

"It must have something to do with him being half changeling," Fluttershy postulated.

"You think maybe she plans on using him to create, like, an army of crossbred soldiers or something?" Rainbow Dash suggested.

"If that was the case, she'd have to wait a few years for Snowflake to mature," said the unicorn. "Besides, I don't see the tactical advantage of raising an army of halflings. As far as we're aware, Snow doesn't have the ability to shape-shift. He doesn't even have a horn, so he can't use magic at all."

"And, according to the doctor, he's probably not gonna be able to fly either," added Dash.

"Maybe it's a psychological thing then," said Fluttershy. "Maybe she plans on raising it like one of her soldiers and eventually having him take part in the next invasion. I know I'd be confused if I saw a pony fighting alongside the changelings."

"You think he'd recognize anypony?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"If he was raised here, perhaps not," answered Rarity. "He's still so young, after all. If he would recognize anypony, it would most likely be his parents, but even then we can't say for sure."

Fluttershy's ears dropped and she lowered her head slightly. "Just imagine how horrible that would be for Shade and Winter."

Rainbow Dash stomped a determined hoof firmly on the ground. "All the more reason we gotta find him, right? We're not letting Chrysalis do this to our friends, and when I find her, I'm gonna teach her a lesson by whooping her sorry flank."

"Let's not get carried away, Rainbow Dash," said Rarity. "We don't need to deal with Chrysalis at all, so long as we can find Snowflake, as well as Winter, Chamella and Shade."

"I get the feeling it's not going to be that simple," Fluttershy assumed. She let out a tired yawn. "Not to mention I'm getting pretty tired. I don't think I could handle a few drones right now, let alone Chrysalis."

"Fluttershy makes a good point," agreed Rainbow Dash, stretching her legs and wings. "We've been walking all day. It's probably getting kinda late."

Rarity looked around, appalled by the insinuation. "You aren't seriously suggesting we sleep here, are you?"

"What, you didn't bring alone some kind of giant, impractical tent to spend the night in?" Rainbow Dash asked with a sly smirk.

Rarity turned up her nose with an insulted huff. "Hmph. I was told to bring only the bare necessities. Bringing a tent alone with us would have been impractical on its own since we already brought so much with us."

"Then why are you acting so surprised that we have to sleep in the dirt?"

The unicorn let out a sigh. "Truth be told, I was hoping somepony else would have brought a tent. I just didn't want to have to carry one myself."

"Well, tough. You're just gonna have to suck it up, Princess," Rainbow Dash teased.

The two pegasi removed their saddlebags and the helmets provided to them by Rarity, and lay down on the ground, not taking much time to be choosy with their location. Rarity hesitated for a moment, noting the dirt and moisture on the cold, jagged, stone floor.

"Ugh, as if this humidity wasn't already bad enough, now my coat is going to be absolutely filthy." Against all of her instincts, Rarity lowered herself down, laying next to Fluttershy. She shuddered in disgust the moment her body touched the ground. "I am going to take the longest bubble bath of my life when I get home."

"I'm gonna stay up a bit longer to keep watch," Rainbow Dash offered. "And we should be ready to make a brisk pace tomorrow. We have no idea how far ahead Shade, Winter and Chamella are. We've really gotta get moving if we hope to catch up to them. For all we know, they might not even be taking the time to sleep."

"That is, if we're even going the right way," said Fluttershy, referring to the maze-like nature of the caves.

"I suppose we just have to operate on the assumption that we are and hope we find them before something happens," added Rarity. She let out a sleepy yawn, laying her head against Fluttershy to avoid having to lay it on the ground.

Fluttershy rested her head on her own fetlocks, closing her eyes. "Hopefully, we can all get some decent rest, too. Goodnight, girls."

"Goodnight, dear," Rarity returned.

"'Night," Rainbow Dash quietly bid her sleepy friends.

As the only one who was staying up, the cyan pegasus leaned back against the wall. She was pretty exhausted herself, and she knew it was only a matter of time before she nodded off. She wasn't really worried about getting to sleep; she could fall asleep pretty much anywhere without a problem. She just offered to be on watch to make Fluttershy and Rarity feel a little more at ease. Still, though, having come this far and not having accomplished anything yet, she was starting to feel the pressure of this rescue. Like she suggested, they were going to have to really get a move on in the morning.

***** ***** *****

Winter tossed and turned, the uneven, stone floor digging into her as if to intentionally agitate her. As a result, sleep eluded her, though that was expected from the beginning. But even though she couldn't manage to doze off, she didn't dare open her eyes on the off chance that her much sought after journey into unconsciousness was but a few minutes away, and she didn't want to squander that. She was tempted to grab one of the larger mushrooms she knew was nearby and use its soft, round cap as a makeshift pillow, but something about laying her head on a damp, glowing fungus wasn't really too appealing.

The pegasus rolled over onto her back, letting out a quiet, exasperated sigh. She found it rather irritating that she had been so exhausted and sleepy before she lay down, but now she felt like she had just had a hot cup of espresso. But, again, she elected to keep her eyes clamped shut. She was starting to regret not bringing a clock or something, as impractical as that would have been. In this situation it would have allowed her to determine exactly how long she'd been laying there. But, then again, did she really want to know?

Winter was contemplating checking to see if Chamella was having just as much difficulty sleeping as she was. Chamella had grown up here, so perhaps she found it easier, although, according to her and Shade, she never actually spent much time in the caves and likely never spent a whole night there. Winter would at least feel a little better knowing she wasn't the only one who had to endure this sleepless torment.

"Chamella, you asleep?" Winter whispered.

She received the response she really didn't want: nothing.

Maybe it was for the best. If at least one of them managed to get a good night's sleep, perhaps that was good enough. All Winter really had to do was follow Chamella's lead anyway. But, at the same time, she wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to tolerate this. It was time to give in.

Winter finally caved, laboriously heaving herself up onto her haunches. Her own body taunted her as she let out a long yawn. She opened her eyes, finding that there wasn't really anything to which they needed to adjust given the near pitch darkness. She rubbed her tired eyes with her fetlock, an action she immediately regretted as she felt all the sweat and dirt that had accumulated in her coat rub onto her face. She felt the bags under her eyes weighing her head down, her gaze forced upon the cold, grey floor.

Winter managed to lift her head high enough to look around at the mushroom-filled chamber they had chosen to rest in. It's not like she expected there to be anything different about it, but part of her wished something had changed to give her an excuse to get up and wander around. That may not have been the case, but she was going to do it anyway. The somnolent pegasus stretched her legs and wings, and worked an uncomfortable kink out of her neck. She chanced a look over to where Chamella had been sleeping to confirm just how cozy the changeling was and how jealous she should be.

But Chamella was nowhere to be seen.

Winter looked around frantically, hoping that maybe she was just looking in the wrong spot, or maybe Chamella had ducked behind one of the stone columns to use the bathroom. But no matter how hard she searched, she couldn't find hide nor hair of her companion. What was more was that both of their saddlebags were missing as well.

The pegasus's knee-jerk reaction was to assume that Chamella had turned her back on her, took their stuff and left her to fend for herself. However, she shook her head. She didn't want to believe that to be the case. If Chamella had planned on stabbing her in the back the whole time, there were plenty of opportunities to do so before now. She could have just done nothing when Blight was upon her and she'd be dead right now. The only other explanation was that something had happened to her. Perhaps some soldiers had found them and took Chamella and their stuff. But then why would they leave her—a pony in changeling territory—behind? Furthermore, she figured that that couldn't have been the case; Winter hadn't gotten a wink since she lay down here, so there's no way she wouldn't have noticed something like that.

"Chamella!"

Winter's voice rang out through the cavern, but the only response she received was her own voice echoing back at her. Now she was really starting to worry. What was she supposed to do without Chamella? Winter had no idea where she went or what might have happened to her. Did she turn back the way they came, or did she keep going forward? Either way, Winter did not want to wait around to find out if Chamella was coming back. She needed to go look for her.

She had no intention of leaving the Changeling Kingdom without Snowflake, so Winter decided to keep moving deeper, hoping that that would be the direction Chamella went—or was taken. She exited the mushroom infested chamber and headed down the other path she'd pointed out earlier. However, she was only just realizing that navigating the pitch-black tunnels was going to be incredibly difficult and dangerous since she no longer had Chamella's magic to light the way, and her flashlight was in her missing bags. She briefly looked back at the glowing mushrooms, but figured their luminescence would prove to be inadequate against the deep blackness. She was just going to have to risk it. Winter took a deep breath, then proceeded forward.

Winter walked cautiously, staying near the wall with her wings outstretched, allowing her feathers to brush along the stone surface to feel her way along the tunnel. For a brief moment, she wondered if this was what it was like to be blind.

There was nothing else to do as she tried to luck her way through the hive but think about the situation she'd found herself in. And now that she thought about it, the idea that Chamella willingly abandoned her was unlikely for the same reason as her being taken by other changelings; Winter certainly would've heard her up and about, no matter how hard she tried to stay quiet. But if neither of those scenarios were likely, then what did happen? None of this made any sense.

Already Winter felt like she'd been walking for ages. The tunnel she was carefully treading through seemed to be unchanging. Most of the paths she and Chamella had navigated were winding and often had several alternate paths splitting off from them. This tunnel just went perfectly straight and didn't appear to have any distinct features as far as Winter could tell in the darkness. In fact, as she walked further, the walls grew gradually smoother, almost as though the changelings had actually put some effort into carving it out properly.

Surprisingly, the longer Winter spent delving into the darkness, the more her eyes seemed to adjust. She could now faintly see her own hooves beneath her and her outstretched wings, as well as the smooth surface of the wall next to her. She wasn't exactly sure how her eyesight was coming to her, but she wasn't about to take such a blessing for granted. After enough time, her vision had recovered enough to no longer need to use the wall to guide her, and she could now see within several feet of her.

The pegasus used her newly restored eyesight to look around the cave. As she thought, the cave walls were surprisingly smooth, but there were still several stalactites and stalagmites decorating the tunnel. Oddly, though, those spikes also appeared to have been carved to be smooth and to a fine, sharp, needle-like point. Did this path lead to some area of significance within the hive, perhaps the throne room? No, that couldn't be it. If they were that close this whole time, Chamella certainly would have known.

Winter wiped her forehead with her hoof. The air within the cave was becoming gradually more humid, and the warm moisture was beginning to collect on her coat, mixing with the sweat she was beginning to exude. It felt like there was a light breeze blowing through the tunnel every few seconds, too, adding to the building heat. She was starting to feel like she was back in the sauna at the spa.

If that wasn't strange enough, the normally-hard-and-rugged stone floor was starting to feel somehow softer beneath her hooves, not to mention moist. She'd already trodden through a few shallow puddles of warm—and oddly viscous—water, which felt more than a little gross. The warm gusts of air that had been periodically blowing against her face were becoming stronger, not to mention louder. The low, hollow sound and the rhythmic pattern of the wind almost sounded like the cave was breathing.

Winter froze in place, a sudden feeling of dread overcoming her. She looked more closely at the walls and floor of the cave. Upon closer inspection, it didn't seem to be made of stone at all. It was almost... fleshy, and those stalactites and stalagmites looked practically like giant fangs.

The cave was breathing.

The tooth-like spikes, the breath-like wind, the warm, viscous water and the fleshy walls. Had she somehow managed to wander into the maw of some kind of colossal monster?

The moment Winter's mind had arrived at that revelation, the entire cave began to rumble and shake, accompanied by a deep, guttural grumbling sound all around her. The floor and walls started to undulate in a disgusting manner and more of that gross liquid dripped from the ceiling in long strands.

The pegasus, having a bad feeling about what was happening, didn't feel like sticking around any longer to contemplate the bizarre circumstances she'd found herself in. Winter whipped around the direction she'd come from, intent on returning to where the cavern was normal. However, she hadn't made it even a few feet before she noticed that the passageway behind her had been blocked, the fleshy walls having clenched shut. What was more, the tunnel was continuing to close up, the blockade quickly growing closer and threatening to crush her within its gross walls.

Winter turned back to keep going the way she had been and started sprinting. Each step she took, her hooves sunk a few inches into the floor, like trying to run on a waterbed; a nasty, sticky waterbed filled with saliva and had sprung several leaks. Winter was having difficulty maintaining her balance on the unstable, wet and wriggling floor. While she never outright tripped, each minor stumble gave the enclosing walls just a little more ground to catch up on her. Desperate to escape just about the worse fate she could possibly imagine, Winter began flapping her wings, taking to the air and flying as fast as she was physically able. It was working at least. She was managing to outrun the imminent danger behind her, but she had no intention of slowing down. Winter kept pressing forward at top speed, unfortunately catching a few globs of sticky saliva dripping from above on her face and in her hair, but she didn't let that hold her back.

She stared straight ahead as she flew. She was hoping to the bright sun above that there was an exit somewhere. At this point, she didn't really care about what the implications of an "exit" were within a giant monster's body, she just wanted out. Thankfully, she spotted something up ahead. The cave—or, let's face it, esophagus—appeared to end some distance down the way, opening out into a larger chamber. Winter hoped that she was approaching the creature's mouth and not actually entering the stomach, but the razor sharp, teeth-like spikes lined the top and bottom of the opening; it was about as mouth-looking as she could hope for.

The problem was it was beginning to close in from that direction, too. The jaws of the titanic beast were starting to slowly shut, her exit growing smaller and smaller by the second. If Winter was too slow, she'd be swallowed and ingested, or, more horrifyingly, impaled and chewed up by those monstrous teeth. But it wasn't like there were any other options available. Winter kicked it into overdrive, flapping her wings until her muscles began to burn and her joints felt like they were going to separate. She wasn't even looking anymore, her eyes clamped shut so she wouldn't have to witness herself becoming a snack for this beast if that wound up being her fate. She simply flew and hoped she'd make it.

Winter felt something sharp graze the fur of her fetlocks, then, suddenly, the intense humidity had suddenly disappeared, the air around her becoming much cooler in an instant. Her body felt relief faster than her brain was able to process it and her wings instantly gave out. Winter dropped out of the air, falling about half a dozen feet until she collided roughly with the hard ground.

Winter panted, exhausted and sore. She ran her hooves over the ground slowly. Never did she think she'd be so relieved to tumble onto a surface of solid stone. Finally, she opened her eyes, confirming that, indeed, she was once again back in the caves proper. She lifted her head, but shuddered as a thought hit her. She spun around, peering behind her for the beast from which she had escaped.

But she saw nothing. There was no creature there. No flesh, or teeth, or anything hinting that a giant monster is, or ever was, there. Just the dark, stone tunnel she'd been traveling through from the start.

Winter stood up, taking a few more tired breaths as she tried to wrap her mind around all of this. She lifted a hoof to her mane, running it through the crimson locks. She shuddered in disgust as she felt something warm and wet adhere to her hoof. She held her hoof out, covered in nasty monster spit, and did her best to shake it off without flicking it back at herself. She also noticed a small cut on her fetlock where she must have scraped it against one of the beast's many fangs. She looked back down the tunnel, baffled even further. The creature was nowhere to be seen, but evidence of its presence still remained. What in Celestia's name was happening?

But standing around wondering about it wasn't going to give her any answers. She was out of the frying pan for now, but time would only tell if she wound up in the fire. Winter had a mission to focus on, and she didn't intend to delay that for anything.

Just as that thought returned to her mind, Winter was distracted by a droning buzz coming from behind her, down the way she'd been going. Given her experiences, she immediately recognized the sound as changeling wings. Not surprising, certainly, but she was a little concerned that it seemed as though she'd get no respite after that harrowing event. On the other hoof, there was always the possibility that it could be Chamella. A long shot to be sure, but at this point Winter was trying to hold onto whatever hope she could muster.

Seeing no other option other than to press onward, Winter continued with determination decorating her face. She knew she was possibly walking straight into the lion's den, but considering she had just escaped the maw of some enormous monster, it probably couldn't get much more dangerous.

The further she walked, the louder the buzzing became. It was evident that there was more than one changeling up ahead. In fact, it was getting so loud that Winter was beginning to shiver in fear. The sound was very reminiscent of a certain other life-threatening situation she'd once found herself in, and it was making her more than a little apprehensive.

Winter slowed down, attempting to avoid detection as best as possible. She hugged the wall as she inched toward the source of the buzzing. She could see that the tunnel opened into a larger chamber not too far ahead, and she could barely make out moving objects inside. A lot of objects. Winter approached the chamber, finding a large stalagmite near the entrance to hide behind as she assessed the situation.

The pegasus felt her heart rate jump up. The chamber was abuzz with countless changeling larvae, flittering around like a swarm of vicious hornets. Just the sight of it was enough to nearly paralyze her, incurring the memory of the last time she found herself inside one of the hive's nurseries. Winter wasn't entirely sure what to do now, either. Surely if she were to go straight in there she'd be torn to shreds by the ravenous newborns. Should she just cut her losses and head back? It seemed too risky to brave the nursery.

But that's when she remembered something. Chamella had said that, chances were, Snowflake was being kept in one of the hive's many nurseries. Granted, there were purportedly innumerable nurseries within the caves, so the chances of her just happening to stumble upon the one her son was in was very slim, assuming he actually was in one of them to begin with.

Winter peered into the chamber once more, weighing her options carefully. However, something caught her eye. Amongst the countless larvae buzzing about, there was a lone, stationary figure, no bigger than the rest, simply sitting in the center of the room. But, aside from its size and its translucent wings, it wasn't like the others; it appeared to have no holes in its legs, possessed no horn, and its body also didn't give off the same sheen as the other changelings' smooth, chitinous skin.

Winter's eyes went wide in disbelief. It couldn't actually be him, could it? There was no way that she would be lucky enough to find him in the first nursery she happened upon.

As if by divine intervention, the swarm of larvae suddenly spread out, each and every one of them exiting the chamber through one of the many connecting tunnels leading out.

All except one.

There were no larvae left. The room was completely empty, save for the lone figure sitting in the middle. Winter stared silently for a moment. Nothing was stopping her from checking to see if it really was just her imagination. She stood up, slowly making her way towards the little creature. Something about this seemed too good to be true. It was entirely possible that she was walking straight into some kind of trap, but at this moment in time, Winter was blinded by the idea that she may have finally found her missing baby.

After a slow and cautious approach, Winter was finally standing right behind the small figure. There was no mistaking it; up close it looked less like a changeling and more like a pony foal. With his black coat, short tail of dark green hair, larger ears, along with the aforementioned lack of any distinguishable changeling traits, there was nopony else it could have been. It was a pony foal with changeling wings. It had to be him.

Winter pensively reached out a hoof, still trying to discern whether or not this was actually real. "Snowflake? Is it really you?"

Just as she was about to offer her motherly touch to ease her son, the foal spun around to face her, standing up and hissing viciously at Winter.

The pegasus pulled back in shock. Her eyes almost began to start welling with tears, but not from the relief of finally being reunited with her son. It was undoubtedly Snowflake, but at the same time, she almost couldn't recognize him. For one thing, Snowflake had never shown any signs of being unruly outside of when he was just trying to have fun. Hissing was definitely not something she ever expected from him. On top of that, two pointed fangs were sprouting from his upper jaw, and his bright green eyes were now the same soulless sky blue as all the other larvae.

Winter began to shake as she stared, shocked and frightened at what they had done to her baby. "S-Snow?"

The baby snarled at her, crouching defensively.

Winter was too scared to move, but she desperately held onto hope that her son could still be saved. "Sweetie, it's me, Mommy. Don't you recognize me?"

Snowflake did nothing but continue to hiss and snarl at his own mother, causing the pegasus to tremble as she was forced to see her son devolve into one of the very creatures that had taken him from her.

"W-What did they do to you?" Winter said shakily, trying to fight back the tears in her eyes.

"We saved him."

Winter nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the voice speaking from the darkness. She stepped back, spotting a figure through the dark veil behind Snowflake. Winter recognized the voice, and it sent a chill down her spine. It had been a long time since she'd heard it, but she would never forget it. And she watched as the figure emerged from the blackness, revealing the tall, slender figure of the changeling queen herself: Chrysalis.

Winter was too frightened to say anything, but at the same time, anger roiled inside of her. This was the very person they'd been seeking out from the beginning. Winter finally had her chance to get some answers. "Wh-Why...? Why did you take him from me?" the pegasus stammered, her voice lacking courage.

Chrysalis stared down at her haughtily, a smug grin creasing her fanged lips. "I was taking him back. He is a changeling after all."

"You said we had your blessing! You were going to let us live peacefully!"

Chrysalis simply shrugged. "I changed my mind." She cast a disgusted glower at the pegasus. "Besides, I had to step in after seeing how he was living."

Winter went silent for a moment, confused. "W-What does that mean?"

"You think I 'did something' to him? I'll have you know I did nothing." Chrysalis held out her hoof rather daintily. Snowflake, in spite of what the doctor had said when he was born, fluttered his wings, rose upward and latched onto the queen's leg, nuzzling into her affectionately.

Winter's ears fell and her eyes widened. At that moment, it felt as though her heart had just been put through a shredder and the remains thrown into an incinerator.

Chrysalis lifted the tyke up to her face, pressing her nose gently against his lovingly. "Little Snowflake here was more than happy to join our colony."

"That's a lie!" Winter shouted, furious and with tears running down her cheeks. "I'm his mother... H-He would never..."

Chrysalis scowled at her. "What right do you have to call yourself a mother? I've raised thousands of larvae with all the love a changeling can muster, and even that is more than you can offer. I could not just stand by and watch as one of my subjects was raised by somepony so selfish and irresponsible. He'll be far better off under my care than he ever would be with you."

Winter was trembling, unable to believe what she was hearing. Even the queen of the changelings was calling her a horrible mother. Was she really that bad?

The emotional mother reached out to her son once more, desperate for some sort of sign that he still loved her. "Snow... I..."

Once again, she received only a hateful hiss from her child. Never in her life had she felt so devastated. Even the feeling of betrayal she'd felt upon finding out Shade was secretly a changeling couldn't compare to the heartbreak of being rejected by her own newborn son.

"You're beginning to agitate my little one here," Chrysalis stated, pulling the baby close to her chest. "I think it's time for you to leave."

The moment the queen said that, a thousand blue eyes lit up in the darkness surrounding them. Countless changeling larvae flittered in with a deafening buzz, hungry looks on all of their faces as they slowly began to converge on the lone pony cowering and crying in the middle of the room.

"I suggest you run," Chrysalis said with a devilish grin.

Despite her heart being in pieces and her mind still unable to comprehend the crushing revelation that her son no longer loved her, Winter still somehow had the wherewithal to take the changeling queen's advice and flee for what was left of her life.

Winter didn't know where she was going, nor did she particularly care at this moment. Her mind was muddled by the emotional trauma, and it was only by pure, animalistic instinct that she was even running away to start with, leaving a trail of tears behind her. Her entire life felt like it was crumbling around her. All the pressure she was putting on herself to be a good mother having turned against her in the worst way imaginable. Her own son had forsaken her. She still couldn't believe that he would rather live here as a changeling than continue being raised by her.

The pegasus's sprint slowed to a halfhearted trot before stopping entirely, collapsing onto the stone floor of the cave and sobbing loudly into her hooves. How was she supposed to just go back to her normal life after all of this? How was she supposed to live with herself knowing that she was the one who drove her baby away? But she had already given up. No doubt the pursuing larvae would be upon her in mere moments to take away her worthless life.

Winter waited silently for several moments, hiccuping and whimpering. Finally, she lifted her head. She couldn't hear the sound of buzzing wings barreling down on her. She glanced over her shoulder, finding nothing but darkness. It seemed the larvae hadn't bothered to actually come after her. Winter had to wonder if this was a blessing, or just Chrysalis toying with her, trying to torture her as much as she could before killing her. She didn't know what to do anymore. What did she have left now?

"Winter!"

The pegasus jolted her head up. Another familiar voice beckoned to her, but one she was much more thankful to hear, not to mention shocked. Winter stood up, staring, wide-eyed, as she watched none other than the father of her child gallop toward her from the darkness of the cave.

"Shade!?"

Shade slowed down as he approached, panting with exhaustion and breathing a long sigh of relief. "Winter, thank Celestia I found you. Are you okay?"

Despite her confusion and surprise at seeing him here, she was still happy to see him. Though, that didn't last long. She had to break the news to him. "Shade... Snow, he..."

Shade raised an eyebrow, looking worried. "What about him?"

"He—"

Before she could get another word out, another changeling leapt from the darkness and tackled Shade to the ground. Without even a moment of hesitation, the attacker pinned Shade down and lunged at his neck, tearing into him like a rabid animal.

It happened so fast. Winter never even had a chance to react to it. All she could do was stare in horror, listening to the disturbing sound of teeth ripping through flesh and watching blood splatter onto the floor. Winter's throat went dry, her vision began to grow fuzzy and she felt like she was going to vomit.

"Shade!" she screamed in terror, her voice echoing in her own ears. The tears began to flow anew, her heart having practically stopped.

The attacker lifted their head from the now corpse of the unsuspecting changeling. They just sat there for a moment, looming over the body with their back to Winter.

It was only now that Winter noticed the assailant's long, dark purple mane.

The changeling slowly turned their head, leering over their shoulder at the pegasus, their bright pink eyes contrasting the narrow, predatory slits of their pupils.

"Ch-Chamella...?" Winter's voice was so quiet, even she could barely hear herself. Her horror and shock had almost completely taken her senses from her as she stared, unable to pry her gaze away from the changeling staring back at her.

Chamella opened her mouth slowly, her jaw lined with long, dagger-like teeth, making her look like some sort of deep sea monstrosity. "If I can't have him, nopony can." Her voice grated against Winter's eardrums like claws on a chalkboard. The changeling stood up, slowly and menacingly walking toward Winter, like a predator to its cornered prey.

Winter was in shock. Her son had abandoned her, and her lover was dead at the hooves of the mare they had chosen to be Snowflake's godmother. Now she truly had nothing left. All she could do now was simply stand there and wait for her own life to end.

Chamella was just a few feet from her now, and what was left of Winter's fight-or-flight instincts kicked in enough for her to take a step backwards. However, her uncontrollable trembling and addled state of mind caused her to stumble and fall onto her back. Within a moment, Chamella was upon her, leaning over her and gazing down with pure malice and hunger. Winter clenched her eyes shut, not wanting to endure anymore pain.

"Winter..." the changeling growled.

Winter felt Chamella's breath on her face, saliva and blood dripping from her mouth and onto the cowering pegasus's ivory coat.

"Winter..."

The pegasus whimpered fearfully. Despite everything, despite having lost her son and her beloved, she still didn't want to die. But there was nothing to stop it. Nopony was going to save her, and the only person who could was the one who was about to deliver the killing blow. She tensed her entire body, only wishing that her death was quick so that she could be reunited with Shade as soon as possible.

"Winter!"

Winter's eyes shot open, her senses feeling suddenly dulled as if having just snapped out of a trance. Her gaze was directed once more at the changeling hovering above her. However, the monstrous set of dagger-like teeth and narrowed, hungry eyes were replaced by a couple of short fangs and pink eyes wide with concern. It was the face that Winter had become familiar with.

"Are you okay?" Chamella asked softly.

The pegasus was silent, save for her heavy breathing. She was befuddled by everything that was happening and had no idea where to start asking questions. Winter managed to remove her gaze from Chamella for brief moments at a time—she still wasn't convinced she was safe—to take a look at her surroundings. To her shock and confusion, she found that she had somehow wound up back in the chamber of glowing mushrooms, where she and Chamella stopped to rest for the night. Even their saddlebags, which she thought had gone missing, were there once more.

Winter finally managed to speak, having thought for a short time that she may have lost her voice. "Wh-What's happening?" she asked, her voice subdued and still shaky with fear.

Chamella gently placed a hoof on one of Winter's, speaking to her quietly and compassionately. "Calm down. You were screaming and crying in your sleep. You must have been having a pretty rough nightmare."

Winter blinked. "'Nightmare'?" She sat up, still making sure not to keep her eyes off of Chamella for too long. She raised a hoof, wiping it over her face and through her mane. Sure enough, the blood that she had felt drip onto her face just moments ago was not present, nor was the monster saliva that had gummed up her mane. On top of that, the small scratch she had received on her fetlock earlier was gone as well.

Was that all it was, a nightmare? Winter had a hard time believing that. She couldn't recall even a moment where she felt like she was comfortable enough to doze off. And everything she had just experienced had felt so real. The thought that it was nothing but a dream never even occurred to her, despite the bizarre, giant creature she had somehow found herself inside and was then suddenly gone.

Winter's ears perked up, her eyes widening with hope. She quickly looked around the immediate area. Shade's body was nowhere to be seen. She let out a sigh of relief. If it was really was just a nightmare, then that meant that Shade was safe and Snowflake hadn't abandoned her...

Yet...

The concerned mother stood up, grabbing her saddlebags and throwing them onto her back. Chamella was surprised to see her acting so determined after she had just witnessed the pegasus crying out in her sleep.

"Where are you going?" the changeling asked.

"To find my son. Every second we spend waiting around is another second he could—"

Winter was interrupted when she felt Chamella's hoof upon her shoulder. The changeling was giving her a rather disapproving stare with her pink eyes.

"Don't so this again, Winter. We talked about this; rushing ahead is just a better way to get ourselves killed. We have to worry about ourselves first. I know that's hard right now, and I'm sure that, whatever nightmare you were having, it was about Snow, but don't get careless again, okay?"

Winter paused for a few moments. Chamella's words rang through her head, reminding her of the chat they'd had after their encounter with Blight. She rubbed her eyes lightly. She knew Chamella was right. She'd been briefly blinded by everything she saw in her nightmare and almost lapsed back into the mindset she said she'd move away from.

The mother let out a tired groan. "Right... Sorry. Guess I'm not thinking straight."

Chamella looked her in the eyes, concerned for Winter's well being. "You gonna be okay?"

Winter managed to crack a small, reassuring smile. "Yeah, I think so. Well, hopefully."

"That nightmare looks like it did a real number on you. Wanna talk about it?"

The pegasus considered it for a second, but just looking Chamella in the eye and remembering what happened, she shook her head. "I'd... rather not. You probably don't want to know anyway."

Chamella shrugged, not wanting to push the issue when Winter was obviously in a fragile place. "You feel alright to keep moving? We can try and get a few more hours if you still feel tired."

Winter stretched her legs and wings with a moan and a sigh. "Actually, I feel surprisingly rested. How long were we asleep anyway?"

"No idea. But I guess if we're not tired anymore, that means we can keep making headway, right?"

Winter nodded, rolling her neck to work out the kinks from her sleep before the two of them started making their way forward once more. She was still pretty surprised that she actually managed to fall asleep. She could have sworn she never lost consciousness that whole time. Honestly, it was difficult to tell if she even was awake right now considering how real that had all felt. But since nothing strange or terrifying had happened since "waking up," she was just going to have to run on the assumption that she was, in fact, awake.

Still, it was going to be tough to get those thoughts out of her head. As they walked, Winter found herself glancing discreetly at Chamella. She shook her head, attempting to distract herself from the imagery that had bore itself into her mind. She was going to have to just focus on the task at hoof and not worry about what could happen.

Chapter 17 - Reunion

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 17: Reunion

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"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with... 'R.'"

Applejack let out an exasperated sigh. "Is it 'rock'?" she answered with no enthusiasm.

Pinkie Pie beamed happily. "You got it! Wow, you are really good at this game, Applejack."

The orange earth pony glanced around at the rather featureless caverns they were navigating, seeing nothing but rocks. "Yeah, go figure."

Pinkie hopped eagerly. "Okay, okay, your turn! Gimmie a tough one!"

Applejack groaned quietly, looking pleadingly at the alicorn walking alongside her. "Twilight."

The pink pony frowned slightly. "You're not supposed to tell me what it is. Come on, pick something else."

"I think that's enough games, Pinkie," Twilight told her. "There are only so many things here you can spy anyway."

"What about... 'stones,' or 'stalactites'?"

"You did both of those already. Can we please give it a rest?" Applejack begged her exuberant friend.

"Alright, fine," Pinkie agreed, though reluctantly. "You know, you've been awfully grouchy today, Applejack. Not much of a morning person?"

Applejack took off her hat for a moment to run a hoof through her blonde mane, breathing a sigh as she did. "Actually, it's the exact opposite. Ah usually get up early so Ah can get a head start on mah chores. But it's kinda hard to enjoy the morning when we can't even tell if it's morning."

"It certainly doesn't help that we had to sleep on the jagged, stone floor," Twilight added, stretching to work out the kinks in her neck and back.

Pinkie Pie waved off their griping dismissively. "I don't know what you're talking about. I slept like a baby."

"Says the gal that grew up on a rock farm," Applejack deadpanned. "Y'all probably slept on a mattress filled with rocks."

Pinkie quirked an eyebrow. "What, you don't?"

Twilight simply shook her head, ignoring Pinkie. "I have to admit, this whole rescue mission hasn't exactly been encouraging either. We still haven't seen any sign of anypony we've been looking for. I'm starting to get very worried."

"It ain't gonna be easy to find anypony down here," Applejack said in an attempt to be reassuring. "And, if Ah'm bein' honest, I figured we'd've found 'em an' brought 'em home by now. Guess we brought supplies fer a reason, but still..."

"I'm sorry, girls," Twilight apologized. "Maybe it would've been for the best to tell somepony we were coming here. It may have been foolhardy to think just the six of us could handle the entire changeling colony."

Pinkie Pie placed a hoof on the alicorn's shoulder comfortingly. "Aw, don't beat yourself up, Twilight. If we're gone for too long, Spike will probably let Princess Celestia know. He's a reliable little guy."

Twilight managed a small smile. "I suppose that's true. I know we can count on Spike to get help if he really thinks we need it."

"Ah think Ah'm a little more worried about Rarity's group," expressed Applejack. "Ya gotta wonder how well they'll handle themselves when they get into a tight spot. But even worse 'n' that is Snowflake and his parents. Chamella, too, o' course."

"No kidding," agreed Twilight. "Shade and Chamella might be fine here on their own, and Snowflake must've been taken for a reason, but Winter is the one in the most danger, for sure."

"An' with how she's been actin' lately, Ah'm afraid she's gonna run headlong into trouble."

Their conversation had to be put on hold for the moment, as the trio had found themselves at a juncture. Shining their headlamps around, they spotted numerous tunnels and passageways hollowed out into not just the walls, but the ceiling and even a few in the floor.

"Well, this is a dilly of a pickle," Pinkie Pie stated, scratching her head as she looked at all of the options in front of them. "What way should we go, Twilight?"

The alicorn was a little caught off guard by the question. "Huh? H-How should I know? I've never been here before."

"Ah 'spose it's just as well to pick one at random, huh?" Applejack surmised. "Ain't like we know where we're going anyway."

The stetson-wearing mare was about to just head down the tunnel directly ahead of them, but Twilight reached out to stop her.

"Hold on. We may not know where we are, but that doesn't mean we should just haphazardly choose a path."

Applejack raised her brow curiously. "Ya got any suggestions then?"

"Actually, there may be a way we can narrow down our options."

Upon saying that, Twilight lit up her horn. After a moment, a stream of pink energy began to flow out in a long strand, curving and swirling around before it began making its way to one of the tunnels on the group's left.

Applejack observed the magic trail, slightly confused. "That yer tether spell, or whatever?"

Twilight nodded. "It is. This should help us a little bit."

"Wait wait wait, hold up," Pinkie requested, waving her hooves as she attempted to comprehend Twilight's intention. "I thought the tether was supposed to lead us back to Rarity. Why's it going that way? Shouldn't it be leading us the way we came?"

"Actually, the tether spell will lead us down the shortest path to its other anchor. Apparently, that path is down that way," Twilight explained, pointing to the tunnel where the magic trail was leading them.

"So that means that that path joins up with the path that Rarity an' the others are on," Applejack inferred. "Not that I wouldn't mind regrouping, but wouldn't that kinda defeat the purpose of splittin' up in the first place?"

The alicorn shook her head. "That's not what I'm suggesting. What this tells us is that there's no need for us to go down that way; Rarity and the others are that way, so it's probably better for us to pick another path," she elaborated, her horn dimming and the trail fading away.

Pinkie clapped her hooves enthusiastically. "Great! So that just leaves..." Her ears drooped a little as she noted their many remaining options. "...all of this... How exactly did that help?"

Twilight, too, pondered their choices thoughtfully. "Well, since we know the general direction of our friends, we can focus our attention away from the left side. And considering I'm the only one of the three of us that can fly, we can probably rule out the vertical routes."

"So we'll pick somethin' on the right." Applejack had a gander at what that left. On the right side of the crossroads were only three tunnels of varying size that were easily accessible to the two earth ponies. "How do we decide which one?"

Pinkie Pie threw her hoof up eagerly. "Oh! I know! I'm thinking of a number between one and three..."

Applejack groaned. "Fer pete's sake, Pinkie, another game?"

"Well, it's not like I have any ideas as to how to narrow it down any further," said Twilight with a shrug. "Go for it, Pinkie."

The pink pony hopped in place, tickled that she was given the opportunity to help out in her own unique way. "Okay, so, if Applejack guesses it, then we go down the leftmost path. If Twilight guesses it, we go down the rightmost path. And if neither of you guess it, we go down the middle path."

Twilight scratched her ear with a reluctant sigh. "This isn't exactly scientific, but, whatever. I guess three."

"Ah'll take one."

"Okey dokey, the votes are in! Drrrrum roll, please!"

Pinkie began to mimic the sound of a snare drum with her tongue, causing Applejack to furrow her brow impatiently.

"Could you just get on with it? We don't have all day, Pinkie," the orange mare insisted.

"The results are in! The number actually waaaas... two! Da da-da daaaaa!" Pinkie shouted exuberantly.

"Alright, middle path it is," said Twilight, already heading for their decided route.

The chosen tunnel wasn't really any more distinct than any of the other paths, and it almost just felt like they were back on the same path they'd been walking all along. Applejack had a look around as they trotted, taking note of the one distinguishing feature of the cave.

"Ain't seen them mushrooms around 'til now," the orange earth pony commented, gesturing to the glowing, blue fungi growing around the passage. "Must mean we're gettin' pretty deep in the hive."

"It looks like somepony strung up some Hearth's Warming lights," Pinkie said with a touch of whimsy. "Granted, the spacing is a little... well, it's a lot; a lot of spacing. The changeling's could use somepony to decorate for festive occasions. You think they'd hire me?"

"Don't think they had anythin' to do with how they're placed, Sugarcube," Applejack replied. "Plus, Ah don't know if it'd be a good idea to leave yer contact information 'round these parts."

Pinkie lolled her head back and forth as she hummed in thought. "Mmm, maybe when things are a little more peaceful between us. These caves could use some serious redecorating. Whadda you think, Twilight?"

The lavender mare didn't respond. She was too busy eyeing the mushrooms analytically as they passed by. Pinkie noted the look of suspicion on the alicorn's face. However, before she could inquire as to what was going through Twilight's head, Applejack interrupted.

"Hey, check it out."

Pinkie Pie and Twilight followed Applejack's pointing hoof, noticing a faint, blue glow coming from further down the tunnel. Rather than speculate as to what it was, the trio simply hurried their pace to see for themselves. They quickly found themselves within a chamber brimming with more of the same mushrooms, but of much larger size for the most part. The walls and the stone columns in the room were absolutely plastered with them.

Applejack tilted her hat back as she took in the view of the luminescent room. "Well, ain't that a sight."

Pinkie Pie reacted similarly, but with an awestruck grin as she twirled around slowly. "Whoa. Maybe they don't need an interior decorator after all."

"Can't say Ah was expecting to see something like this down here," said Applejack in mild amazement.

Pinkie prodded a particularly large mushroom cap with her hoof, taking delight in its soft sponginess. "They're so soft. You could probably use 'em as pillows." She lay down on her back, resting her head against the mushroom to test that theory. "Mmm, not bad. Pretty cozy actually." The pink pony hopped back up, eyeing some of the smaller fungi, plucking one and looking it over. "Y' know, they actually look like they'd be kinda tasty." Without even a moment of hesitation, Pinkie tossed it into the air, opening her mouth as she prepared to catch it.

"Pinkie, stop!"

At Applejack's warning, the mushroom inexplicably halted in midair just inches from the pink pony's waiting maw. Pinkie looked over at Applejack with a quirked eyebrow, at which point the mushroom succumbed to gravity's grasp once more, bouncing harmlessly off the mare's muzzle.

"Don't you have any common sense?! You can't just eat random mushrooms!" Applejack scolded her. "What if they're poisonous?"

Pinkie's eyes widened a bit at the realization of the mistake she had nearly made. "Oh, whoops. Guess I wasn't thinking," she giggled with embarrassment.

Applejack simply shook her head and sighed in exasperation. "Well, think before you act from now on, okay? I mean, just lookit these things." She picked up the one Pinkie had nearly eaten. "The way they glow, they might not just be poisonous, they could be, like, radioactive or somethin'. Right, Twilight?"

"Actually, their bioluminescence is the result of an interaction between a compound called luciferin and the luciferase enzyme in the presence of oxygen." Twilight looked up from the mushrooms she was examining to the uncomprehending looks of her friends. "That is to say, no, it has nothing to do with radioactivity."

"But they're probably still poisonous, right?" assumed Applejack.

Twilight held one of the them up with her magic, looking it over scrutinously before answering. "In a sense, yes."

"You know what these mushrooms are then?" Pinkie presumed.

"If I'm not mistaken, I believe I read about this particular species of fungus in a book once. Their called the phobia amanita."

Applejack tilted her head in confusion. "The... phobi-what-now?"

"Phobia amanita, and their very presence here is a huge discovery; they supposedly went extinct a few hundred years ago. Apparently their spores are a rather potent hallucinogen."

Pinkie clamped her hooves over her mouth, holding her breath fearfully.

"Relax, Pinkie. You'll only feel the effects if you ingest large amounts of the spores."

"So if you eat 'em," Applejack inferred, casting a reprimanding glance at the pink mare.

Pinkie let out her breath again, relieved at the news.

Applejack looked over the mushroom she was holding. "These seem like the kinda thing some shady types might deal with in back alleys."

Twilight shook her head. "From what I've read, not even drug dealers wanted to risk dealing with these mushrooms. They don't offer any sort of euphoric high like other hallucinogens. Instead, they target the subconscious while the victim sleeps, inducing incredibly lucid dreams."

"Well, that doesn't sound so bad," Pinkie commented. "I wouldn't mind running around my dreams feeling like it was real."

"It's not as simple as that. The name of these fungi—phobia amanita—should say it all. They specifically target the darkest reaches of your mind, pulling out your deepest fears and manifesting them in the form of nightmares. They were even more commonly known as fear 'shrooms."

Pinkie deflated a little upon hearing that. "Oh. Yeah, that does not sound pleasant. I wouldn't want to have to live out that one nightmare I had where my pastries were trying to eat me."

"Exactly," the alicorn said with a nod. "Those nightmares were said to feel so real, it was next to impossible for those affected to tell it was a dream, even after waking up. There were actually several cases of these mushrooms' effects causing serious and sometimes irreversible psychological damage. Some victims even had to be admitted into psychiatric hospitals as a result."

Applejack found her jaw hanging open a bit after hearing all this. "Dang. Guess it wasn't so bad that these things went extinct then, huh?"

"That was actually Princess Celestia's doing," Twilight explained. "Having heard the reports, she ordered that any of these mushrooms that were found were to be destroyed immediately. They were simply too harmful." She looked around the chamber they were currently standing in, noting just how many of the supposedly-extinct mushrooms were surrounding them. "But I suppose they couldn't all be eradicated. I guess it makes sense that they would continue to thrive in areas where ponies never go."

"You think the changelings eat them?" Pinkie asked. She pointed to a spot nearby, pointing out a small mushroom that looked as though something had bitten it. "Looks like something does anyway."

"Shade and Chamella did say that mushrooms were one o' their more consistent food sources, right?" Applejack cited.

"True, but they've never mentioned anything about nightmares," added Twilight. "I suppose it's possible that, over time, changelings could have built up an immunity to their effects. I just hope that Winter would have the common sense to avoid eating them."

"Yeah, I mean, who would be dumb enough to eat something so obviously dangerous?" Pinkie snickered, earning an eye roll from Applejack.

The orange earth pony cast a grin in Twilight's direction. "Well, hey. Ah reckon you must see this as the opportunity of a lifetime, eh, Twi? Ain't every day you stumble on a species that was supposed ta be extinct. You gonna pack up some specimens to study when we get back?"

Twilight hummed quietly. "Admittedly, that thought had occurred to me." She hesitated for a moment, staring intently at the mushroom in her magical grasp. However, she shook the thought from her mind, dropping the fungus on the ground. "But Princess Celestia ordered their eradication for a reason. I don't want to be the one responsible for them popping up in mainland Equestria again."

"So does that mean you're gonna get rid of 'em instead? Y' know, follow the princess's order?"

Again, Twilight mulled over the suggestion. "No, I don't think I should. These mushrooms are an important form of sustenance for the changelings. Since they don't seem to be affected by them, and since they haven't appeared to spread outside of these caves, I see no harm in letting them be. I'll be sure to let Princess Celestia know of their existence, though, just in case."

Applejack adjusted her hat and started for the other end of the chamber. "Well, as educational as this has been, we should probably be hittin' the road. We can't lollygag too much when our missing persons already have such a big head start on us."

"Agreed. Let's keep moving," said Twilight following behind her.

Applejack paused, noticing that somepony hadn't caught up yet. She glanced back to find Pinkie Pie attempting with difficulty to uproot one of the larger mushrooms. "Pinkie!"

The party pony glanced in Applejack's direction, noting the disapproving expression on her face.

"No mushroom pillows."

With a huff and a pout, Pinkie released the fungus and trotted over to her friends. "Fine, but sleepovers would be so much cooler with glow-in-the-dark pillows."

***** ***** *****

Shade felt like he was making no progress whatsoever. As many times as he'd entered the hive, either to attend an address from Queen Chrysalis or to scavenge for food, he still didn't really know his way around. Thankfully, he was able to get a little sleep the previous night, and Glory hadn't shown up again after he left her behind. He figured it would be difficult to pursue anypony down here considering how many routes he could have taken. In any case, the few hours of rest he was able to get seemed to help with his headaches; the pain had died down a bit, though was still noticeable. After what happened during his encounter with Glory, he decided it might be a good idea to avoid using magic if he could help it.

But headaches weren't his only problem right now. Shade was starting to get pretty hungry. He figured it wouldn't be too difficult to find something to snack on, but he'd apparently overestimated his luck. He hadn't happened upon any of the mushrooms that were known to grow within the caves, so his only sustenance since returning to the Changeling Kingdom had been a few random bugs he had found crawling around. Not exactly filling nor appetizing, but it was all that was available. He was now confronted with a dilemma: he wanted to find Snowflake, or Winter and Chamella, but right now, it may be for the best if he were to focus on finding something to eat. He knew how to locate where mushrooms grew in large numbers, the only problem was stumbling upon the telltale signs.

Shade slowed down for a second, perking his ears up. He could hear buzzing. There wasn't exactly anywhere to hide, so Shade was going to have to either get ready to run if it happened to be more soldiers, or just hope it was some random drones that wouldn't know who he was. Although the chances of a group of other drones being this deep in the hive were unlikely, and Shade wasn't exactly in the mood for another fight. He needed to be ready to escape at a moment's notice.

As Shade crept closer to the source of the buzzing, he found himself nearing a considerably large chamber. He immediately recognized the room as a nursery. The ceiling and floor were littered with egg sacs, all of them broken. Of course that meant that the buzzing was coming from the newborn larvae flittering about. They must have hatched recently since the fluids from the egg sacs had yet to completely dry and there were still a few hatchlings loitering around the chamber. Thankfully most of them had moved on in search of food. Shade wasn't as concerned when there were only a small number of them. Had he arrived sooner, they likely would have had no qualms about attacking him the moment he entered, but even these infantile creatures knew better than to attack an adult changeling when there were so few of them.

A couple of larvae flew over to Shade curiously as he entered the chamber. He simply gave them an authoritative glare to assure them that he wasn't above fighting back if they decided to get violent. The hatchlings wisely kept their distance, but continued to eye him, hissing and growling quietly. It was hard to believe now that he once feared his own son would turn out like these creatures.

Ignoring the larvae, the question now became which direction should he go from here? Like most nurseries, there were many entrances and exits to make it easier for the females to find one when it came time to lay eggs. Shade figured his best bet was to just keep going in the direction he was going, so he started towards the opposite end of the chamber.

As he made his way toward his chosen exit, Shade paused for a moment. He heard something through the endless buzzing. He couldn't identify what it was over the noise, but it was certainly strange. Shade looked to his right, from where he thought he could hear the sound coming. He noticed a narrow crack in the far wall somewhat concealed by a few large rocks laying around it. Shade cautiously crept closer to the crack. There was definitely something in there, and the closer he got, the more clear it became.

It sounded like... whimpering.

Careful not to let his guard down, Shade approached the crevice. The possibility still existed that this was some kind of trap; he knew the soldiers were looking for him, so it was entirely possible that they had set an ambush. Shade peered inside, lighting up his horn to illuminate the crevice and finally discovering the source of the sound.

A sobbing pegasus mare, her alabaster coat and crimson mane stained with dirt.

Shade's eyes widened in shock and he had to force himself to keep his voice down. "Winter?!"

The pegasus's head shot up at the sound of Shade's voice, staring in disbelief for a few seconds before her brain was able to accept the fact that what she was looking at was real. "Sh-Shade?!" She wiped the tears from her eyes, attempting to stand as best she could in the cramped crevice. "I-Is that really you? What are you doing here?!" she stammered in a hushed tone.

Shade glanced over his shoulder back into the chamber. As time went on, the larvae's numbers thinned more and more. At this point, there weren't enough left to really pose much of a threat even if they decided to attack all at once. "In a minute. First, we have to get somewhere safe. Stay behind me."

"What?! Are you crazy?! Those little monsters'll tear me apart!" Winter stated fearfully.

"They won't do anything as long as I'm in the way, and I can protect us with a barrier if that'll make you feel better. Come on."

Winter hesitated, but trusted Shade, following him out into the chamber. The moment she was exposed, the few hatchlings that remained immediately locked their sights on her. A few of them noticed the adult changeling standing there and thought better of attempting anything. However, a few of them we brave enough to have a go at them.

The pegasus cowered behind Shade as the few larvae beelined toward them. Shade didn't hesitate to do as he said he would and erected a bright green shield around the two of them. The little changelings slowed down when the barrier went up, looking a little confused. After a brief moment, they all backed off, assuming that the pony had already been claimed as a meal by the older changeling.

Shade shook his head lightly, the throbbing in his temples having resurfaced for a few seconds after casting that spell. Winter didn't seem to notice the brief moment of pain on his face, focusing instead on the larvae as they flittered away. Gesturing with is hoof, Shade lead Winter to the nearest tunnel, going deeply enough down to ensure they were safe from the larvae. Once they were in the clear, Winter collapsed to her haunches, shaking and breathing heavily.

Shade tenderly placed a hoof on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Instead of answering, Winter threw herself at him, wrapping her hooves around him and nuzzling into his neck as tears of relief started to run down her cheeks. Shade couldn't help but grin. He was just happy to see that she was alright. Of course, he knew that their troubles were far from over, but seeing her again at least took some of the weight off his mind.

The pegasus finally pulled back, wiping the moisture from her face with a grateful smile. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you. I thought I was gonna die."

"What happened anyway?" asked Shade curiously, wondering how Winter had found herself in that predicament.

"Chamella and I just happened to wind up in that nursery right as the eggs were hatching."

Hearing the name suddenly caused Shade's heart rate to jump in worry. "Where is Chamella? She didn't get..."

Winter shook her head, alleviating that concern. "She managed to get away, but I was too scared. That crack in the wall was the closest place to hide. I figured I could lay low for a while until all the larvae left." She let out long sigh. "I must have been in there for a couple of hours. I was starting to think I was never gonna get out of there alive."

"Guess it's a good thing I showed up when I did. You certainly have a penchant for getting saved from changeling larvae at the last minute, huh?"

Winter glared at him, her cheeks lighting up slightly. "Is this really the time to be making jokes at my expense?"

"Sorry, sorry. Anyway, do you remember what way Chamella went? We should try to find her."

"Oh, actually, it was this way," she said, indicating the tunnel they were currently in.

Shade quirked an eyebrow, surprised at the convenience of that answer. "Really? Well, I guess we should get going then. We don't know how far ahead she might have gotten," he suggested, making his way down the path with Winter following behind him.

"She could've waited for me," Winter grumbled. "Or try to save me, or something. But instead she just took off and left me to fend for myself."

"Something must've happened. She'd never just leave you to die. Maybe some soldiers spotted her, so she had to run."

Winter simply shrugged. "Maybe."

The changeling stayed quiet for a moment, expecting Winter to say something else. Instead, she also went silent, walking quietly behind him with a mildly upset grimace. Shade had to wonder if something had happened between Winter and Chamella since they got to the Changeling Kingdom. He knew the two of them had a rather... fragile relationship, so he wouldn't have been surprised to hear that they had had an argument or disagreement at some point. Though he certainly didn't believe it could get so bad that Chamella would be willing to abandon her. There had to be some sort of explanation.

The silence was suddenly broken by the sound of a low rumbling. Winter turned her gaze to Shade, specifically his stomach.

"You sound hungry," she surmised.

Shade let out a long sigh. "Yeah, I didn't really take the time to pack any supplies, and I haven't had much luck finding anything in here." He looked pleadingly at the pegasus. "You brought some food with you, right? Where're your bags?"

Winter turned away slightly, letting out a sigh of her own. "Chamella had them. Truth be told, I'm a little hungry, too."

"Guess we just have to hold out hope that we find her then." He stared at Winter for a few seconds. There was a question on his mind, but he was pretty sure he knew the answer already. Regardless, he figured he'd ask anyway. "I don't suppose you've got any leads on Snow."

Winter blinked, hesitating. "Snow? Uh, no, nothing."

Shade shook his head. It was the answer he was expecting, but that didn't make it any less discouraging. He then furrowed his brow, glaring forward into the darkness. "I don't care what Chrysalis wants with him, we're getting him back. I'll make her pay for taking him if I have to."

"Try not to let your thirst for vengeance get out of hoof, okay? I don't want you to get hurt," Winter requested compassionately.

Shade lifted an eyebrow at her. "No offense, but that sounds kind of hypocritical coming from you. I figured you'd want her head more than anypony."

Winter cleared her throat awkwardly, straightening up a little. "Well, obviously I want her to get her comeuppance, but I don't really think we're the ones who can really do that. Maybe we can ask Twilight and her friends to help out once we get out of here."

Shade groaned, his hindsight taking the forefront once more. "Wish we would've thought to do that before coming out here."

Winter's eyes drifted to the floor, her ears drooping with them. She didn't say anything, though, the silence between the two speaking volumes. Shade knew they had both messed up. They made bad judgment calls and now all the people they cared about most were in grave danger. They were both going to have to take a long, hard look at themselves and their priorities when they got back home, assuming they even make it out of the Changeling Kingdom alive.

Shade snapped out of his thoughts for a moment, stopping in his tracks and staring forward, his expression one of great confusion. Ahead of them was nothing but a solid wall of rock; a dead end. It wasn't as though there had been any signs of a cave in, this was actually the end of the road. Shade didn't recall seeing any branching paths on the way there, so it wasn't like Chamella could have veered off somewhere. Winter must have been mistaken about which path she took.

"I think you might have made a mistake, Winter," Shade informed her, carefully looking around for any cracks or crevices that weren't immediately noticeable. "Chamella couldn't have come this way. There's nowhere to go from here."

He didn't receive an answer from Winter, but before he could turn around to question her, he was suddenly tackled to the ground from behind. Shade found himself on his back, with none other than Winter pinning him down, a smug smirk on her face. It didn't take anything else for Shade to figure out what was happening. He'd been duped. It wasn't Winter at all. Glory must have gotten ahead of him somehow and lay in wait for him.

Shade struggled against the disguised changeling, but wasn't able to loosen the pressure on his pinned legs. "Ugh, I should've known it was too good to be true."

"Well, it's not all bad," the changeling said, Winter's voice sounding just wrong to Shade with that patronizing tone. "After all, we get see each other again after all this time."

Shade ceased his struggling, his eyes locking with those of the fake Winter on top of him. The beautiful amber he was so familiar with had been replaced by blood red. Shade felt his blood beginning to boil. The red eyes; the patronizing tone; the self-satisfied smirk. Shade's pupils narrowed like a tiger ready to pounce and he bore his fangs furiously. Without another moment of hesitation, he wrenched his right hoof free and swung it straight at his attacker's jaw.

With a pained grunt, the disguised changeling staggered backward, bringing their hoof to their cheek. Shade quickly stood up, glaring icy daggers. He was going to have to deal with the mental image of punching Winter later. Right now, he was too focused on the unbridled hatred seething through him.

"Winter" turned back to face him, an expression of mock hurt on their face as they rubbed their injured cheek. "Geez, is that how you greet old friends? You need to work on your social skills." Their pursed lips curled into that recognizable smirk once more, and the imposter was then wreathed in green magic to reveal who Shade had already known it was.

Guise. Just seeing his face again was enough to make Shade's stomach churn with disgust.

"What are you doing here?" Shade asked, his voice dripping with venom.

Guise ran a hoof through his spiky, red mane, scoffing at the question. "What kind of question is that? I've been locked up in the hive's dungeon for who knows how long because of you," he answered, his voice equally disdainful.

"I figured Chrysalis would've executed you for planning to usurp her."

"If she killed every changeling that wanted the throne for themselves, there'd be none of us left. Honestly, I almost wish she had. Being locked up down here is enough to drive a guy crazy. Trust me, I've seen it for myself."

"So what are you doing out now? You manage to escape somehow?" Shade inquired.

Guise flashed his signature devious grin. "As luck would have it, I was given a proposition. My release for your life. Two birds with one stone as they say. How could I pass on that?"

Shade grimaced. If it weren't enough to have the soldiers after him, they've even sicced Guise on him, too. As if he needed any more trouble as it was. "So that's it then? You're here to kill me, is that it?"

Guise simply smirked.

Shade breathed an exasperated sigh. "Guess some things never change. Unfortunately, I don't have time for your crap right now. I have bigger fish to fry."

Guise's smirk vanished, his eye twitching ever so slightly. "'Don't... have... time'?" He grit his teeth, growling angrily as he spoke. "Don't talk to me about time. I know I never really had much of a life here to begin with, but being locked in a dungeon for... How long exactly?"

Shade hesitated for a brief moment before answering reluctantly. "About two years."

The other changeling's red eyes twitched again, continuing through clenched teeth. "Two years... Well, there's not exactly much to do other than think. And among the things I've thought about were all the ways I could exact my revenge on the guy who got me put in there. I'm a little single-minded right now, you can understand that, right?"

"So am I, which is why I don't intend to entertain you or your murderous fantasies."

Guise scowled at Shade's nonchalant attitude. However, he discreetly glanced over his own shoulder, peeking behind him. His grin returned. "That's too bad, because as you pointed out, this is a dead end. If you want to get back on track, you have to go past me, and I think we both know I'm not about to stand aside without a fight."

As much as Shade hated to admit it, Guise had a point. He was cornered. The tunnel was certainly quite large, but it still wouldn't be difficult for Guise to cut him off if he tried to fly past him. But Shade wasn't only in no mood, nor did he have the time to deal with Guise, but he wasn't exactly in any condition to fight him, health-wise. His headaches, while not as bad as they once were, were likely to get worse if he tried to fight back, especially if he was forced to use magic. Not to mention he had gotten a few scrapes and bruises that were still pretty sore from his encounter with Glory.

With all of this in mind, Shade made a decision. Not wasting anymore time talking to Guise, Shade took to the air, flying up high and as fast as he could to try and get by Guise. The other changeling hadn't been expecting such an abrupt escape attempt, but immediately flew upward to cut Shade off in the air. Shade darted left to avoid him, but Guise quickly caught up, tackling Shade in midair to send both of them hurtling toward the ground again. They both got back to their hooves quickly, staring each other down and waiting for the other to make a move.

"What did I just say?" Guise growled. "You're not getting out of this, Shade."

"Look, if you're this hung up on it, fine. But can we put it off for a while? Like I said, I've got stuff to do."

Guise snarled furiously, his pupils narrowing like a rabid animal. "Don't brush me off like I'm not worth your time! You think you're better than me?!"

Shade stared at him, clearly annoyed, yet still calm, unfazed by Guise's roiling anger. "You know what? Yes. Yes I do. Because look where being you got you; locked up in the dungeon for two years, fixating on some dumb vendetta, while I've been enjoying my life with people who care about me."

Guise nearly popped a blood vessel he was fuming so much, his teeth threatening to crack from how hard he was gritting them. He lunged forward, drawing back a hoof and taking a swing at Shade with an enraged cry. Shade sidestepped out of the way, Guise's hoof slamming hard into the solid stone wall. Shade took the opportunity after evading the attack to flee once more, continuing to hold true to what he said about not wanting to waste time. Guise himself wasted no time chasing after him, having no intention of letting Shade escape his grasp after waiting for this moment for so long.

Before long, Shade found himself back in the nursery they had left just a short time ago. He came to a quick stop midair in the center of the chamber, glancing all around him. There were even fewer larvae left here now than there were before, but that wasn't really here nor there; the problem of which way he should go now arose. There must have been at least twenty different tunnels branching off from the nursery, and he wasn't sure which path he had come from in the first place anymore. He was just going to have to pick one at random and hope for the best.

However, before Shade could start toward any of the available passages, he heard the frantic buzzing of wings quickly coming up from behind him. He didn't even have a chance to turn around before Guise rammed him once more, wrapping his forelegs around Shade's midsection and dragging him down to the floor.

The two changelings hit the ground rather hard, both of them wincing in pain as they recovered from the impact. Guise fought through the pain, immediately jumping on top of Shade before he could get up. Guise reared his head back, opening his mouth wide. Shade throw a hoof over his face in defense, with Guise lunging down at him fangs first. Thankfully, his aggressor's pointed fangs wound up harmlessly slipping through the naturally occurring holes in Shade's leg, but Guise bit down hard regardless, enough to draw blood. Shade saw an opportunity to retaliate, jerking his bitten hoof to the side and pulling Guise with it, causing him to roll off of the green-eyed changeling. Shade quickly followed up by rolling with Guise, kicking him in the gut with one of his hind legs. The blow knocked the wind out of Guise for a moment, forcing him to release his toothy grip. Shade scrambled to his hooves again, rubbing his fetlock where Guise had chomped down on him.

Guise coughed from the strike he'd received as he started to stand up. However, the vengeful changeling didn't even bother to catch his breath before swinging around, horn first, to continue his relentless assault. Shade only barely managed to take a step back, the pointed tip of Guise's curved horn missing his throat by an inch. The unexpected attack caused Shade to stumble backward, falling onto his haunches. Guise took that moment to leap at him, knocking him onto his back again with a full force tackle. Guise roughly slammed Shade down onto the stone floor, grinning maniacally now that he had his quarry right where he wanted him.

"By the way, like the new look you've got going there," he said with a sadistic chuckle, indicating Shade's broken fang. "But how about I even that out for you?!"

Shade raised his forelegs to protect himself as Guise began to mercilessly beat down on him with his hooves. The bruises he'd received from Glory were starting to become more noticeable as Guise repeatedly struck him, giving Shade no room to counter. He didn't want to use magic on account of his headaches, but at this point, he really didn't have any other recourse.

As Guise pulled back for another blow, Shade took that moment to attempt to strike back, firing a beam of neon green magic straight up. Guise managed to assess the sudden threat in time to lean back, barely avoiding it. The beam shot upwards, striking the ceiling and carving an erratic gouge in the rock. Guise reeled a bit, caught off guard by the attack, but having successfully rendered Shade's attack pointless, he prepared to continue his blunt force assault.

The sound of pebbles hitting the floor diverted their attention. The two changelings managed to pull their hardened gazes away from one another long enough to notice the dust and small rocks falling on and around them. Guise turned his gaze up again to where Shade's beam had struck in time to see a portion of the stone ceiling break loose, a pile of large, jagged rocks falling free and dropping straight towards them. Guise leapt off of Shade to avoid being crushed, however, Shade's legs were currently in too much pain to move quickly enough. Instead, he lit up his horn once more, covering himself in a barrier. The stones crashed on and around the shield, some of them shattering on impact while others bounced off, piling up until the barrier was completely buried.

Guise stood motionless, staring at the mound of rocks incredulously. After several seconds, the pile began to move, the stones being pushed aside as the bright green of the magic shield rose up, clearing a gap for Shade to stand up. The barrier fell, leaving the exhausted changeling standing amongst the rubble. Guise continued to stare with a baffled look on his face. Shade seemed to be struggling to keep his balance, the pain in his forelegs causing him to wobble a little. The navy-maned changeling also held a hoof to his head, clenching his eyes shut and firmly massaging his temple.

Guise, though confused by Shade's reaction, saw an opening as he was still recovering. However, rather than capitalize on the opportunity, he furrowed his brow and spoke to Shade with ire in his voice. "Oh, I see how it is now."

Shade looked at Guise through one open eye, his head still throbbing painfully. "What?"

"You really do think I'm not worth your time, don't you? Can't even be bothered to properly fight back even though you know full well you can overpower me."

Shade raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Guise sighed in aggravation. "No point playing coy anymore. I figured it out."

"No, seriously, I have no idea what you're on about," Shade reiterated.

Guise stayed silent for a few seconds, analyzing Shade's expression. "Wait, really?"

He simply received a confused shrug in response.

"Did you not see what you just did?" Guise pointed to the ceiling, a scar running through the area that Shade had blasted with the beam and a crater left where the rocks that were currently scattered on the ground once rested securely. "The average changeling can't do that. You're telling me you've been feeding off of that mare's love and you didn't expect you'd be able to do something like that?"

Shade glared at Guise, taking offense at the assumption. "I haven't been feeding off of anypony's love. I've got no interest in power like that."

"Maybe you haven't been feeding directly, but the evidence speaks for itself," Guise stated matter-of-factly. "Siphoning love comes as naturally to a changeling as breathing. Whether you realize it or not, it's been happening. You remember the last time we saw each other, right? You had quite a bit a power back then, too, and I'm assuming you weren't feeding off of her then either."

Shade blinked, the realization settling in his mind. Certainly he'd noticed an improvement when it came to his skill with magic, but he had attributed that to the occasional teachings from Twilight. It hadn't even occurred to him that he was absorbing love involuntarily.

"Two years, huh?" Guise continued with a slight smirk. "Chrysalis was able to overpower Princess Celestia after just three days of love from that guard captain. You might not have been getting a lot of it at a time, but you have to have gotten more power than she had back then by now."

"What's your point?" Shade asked bluntly.

Guise grinned slyly. "My point is that you have more than enough power to kick Chrysalis out if you wanted. You could easily become king of the changelings."

Shade simply stared at Guise, bemused.

Guise waved off Shade's silent retort. "Yeah, yeah, I know, no interest. I'm just saying you could if you had a mind to. I mean, if you were king, couldn't you lead the changelings toward peace with the ponies? That's what you want, right?"

"I want nothing to do with you lot anymore. I just want to live my own peaceful life. This place can burn to the ground for all I care."

Guise was slightly taken aback by that reply. "Wow, harsh. But fine, whatever. I know I probably can't sway you. My original point was that you could have easily blown me away with that power. Now, you can't say you didn't want to resort to violence because you didn't even hesitate to give me a wallop back there. So what gives? Tell me straight: am I really not worth the effort to you?"

Shade didn't answer right away, unsure if that was information he really wanted to share with someone he knew wanted to kill him. "That's not it. I'm just... not in proper shape to be using my magic excessively."

Guise lifted an eyebrow, but recalled seeing Shade in pain after using the beam and erecting that barrier. "What, like, it hurts when you use magic?"

"Wraith gave me a once over and my head's been a little rattled ever since. And I just had an unpleasant encounter with Glory yesterday, so I've been trying to avoid getting into anymore fights."

"So basically what you're saying is: if I want to kill you, now's the time to do it."

Shade waited for Guise to make a move. However, the other changeling didn't budge. In fact, the notion he had just brought up didn't even seem to excite him. He just stood there as if contemplating something.

"What's wrong? Not going to take the chance?" Shade realized as he said it that he was poking the hornet's nest, but he was admittedly curious about Guise's sudden attitude shift.

"I want to ask you a question."

Shade stared quizzically at him, curious still, but suspicious. "What is it?"

"What are you even doing here to begin with? If you want nothing to do with us anymore, then what reason do you have to come back?"

There was a moment of hesitation. Again, Shade debated whether or not he should share that sort of information with Guise, but at the same time, he had to wonder where this would go if he told the truth.

"Because they kidnapped my son."

Guise blinked, clearly not comprehending what he had just heard. "Uh... I'm sorry, I must have misheard you. I could have sworn you just said 'your son.'"

"I did," Shade said with the utmost seriousness.

Guise's jaw dropped a little, visibly confused by this information. "Wha—? Like, you and the pegasus? A kid? Together?"

Shade rolled his eyes with a quiet sigh; how many times had somepony had that reaction now? "Yes, and we were just as surprised, trust me."

"Huh. Oh, so is that that 'Snow' person you mentioned before? That's the kid's name?"

"Snowflake, yes."

Guise scoffed, amused, yet disgusted at the same time. "Dumb name for a changeling," he muttered under his breath.

Shade knit his brow at the comment. "He's half-changeling."

"Whatever. Either way, it's weird," Guise said with a shrug.

"So, wait, you didn't know about him?" asked Shade.

Guise shook his head. "How was I supposed to? I've been in isolation for two years, remember?"

"They never told you why they wanted you to kill me? Why I came here in the first place?"

"Look, I already told you: they offered me a chance to get my revenge, I didn't question it."

"That still your focus?" Shade asked, still on guard in case his adversary tried something.

Guise went silent. There was a conflicted look in his blood red eyes as he stared at Shade. "I said killing you was one of the things I had to think about for the past two years. The logical progression there being what I was going to do after that."

"And?"

Guise inhaled deeply through his nose, closing his eyes for a few seconds as he contemplated. "I was never one hundred percent sure. At least, not until I actually got out. I've got little doubt that once I finish the job they give me, they're just gonna kill me anyway despite promising me freedom. The longer I stick around, the better the chance I'll never really be free."

For what felt like the first time in his life, Shade could hear the utter seriousness in Guise's voice. For all the snark and back-hoofed compliments he's given over the years, this was the first time Guise sounded like he actually cared about something enough to be worried about it, even if it was his own well being.

"So you're going to leave the Changeling Kingdom?" Shade surmised.

Guise looked straight into Shade's eyes with no maliciousness whatsoever. "I've got another question. I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but I'll ask just to be sure: this life you've made for yourself. Is it worth it?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

Guise nodded. "I figured."

"Wait, are you actually planning on... befriending ponies?" The simple notion was almost enough to make Shade start laughing. After everything Guise had said over the years, imagining him actually becoming a normal member of pony society like he was was a bizarre and amusing thought.

Guise grimaced, breaking eye contact and scoffing. Shade could have sworn he was blushing. "Don't jump to conclusions. It's... an option. I'm not really interested in changing my outlook. I just figure that if you can make a life for yourself, how hard could it be?" His trademark smirk spread across his muzzle again. "You've already done all the hard work for me. It probably wouldn't be too difficult to convince the ponies to let me in. I'd be in the perfect position to get the power I—and every other changeling—have always lusted after."

Shade glared harshly at him. "If you do that, you know I'm going to tell Princess Celestia."

Guise chuckled at the threat. "She'd still have to find me."

"Can we get back to my question now? Are you still determined to fight me or not?"

"Don't get me wrong, I still hate your guts. But right now, I think I might have to focus on number one. Besides, I know you said you're not really at peak condition at the moment, but I've seen what you can do with just a month's worth of love. Even if it would give you a bit of a headache, you could still probably blow my head off with that magic. The way I see it, I need to level the playing field before I can get back at you, which ties into what I said before. I'll come back for you some day. Count on that."

Guise turned his back to Shade, casually making his way towards one of the many exits out of the nursery. Shade wasn't entirely sure if he could trust Guise, but as he had told himself on several occasions already, he had more important things to focus on, and Guise was giving him an opportunity to get out of this confrontation.

However, before Shade could be on his way as well, Guise called out to him again. "Hey."

Shade glanced over his shoulder.

"Just so you know, your pony friends are here somewhere."

Shade's eyes widened in surprise. "What? You mean Twilight and the others?"

"Apparently. I overheard one of the soldiers telling Wraith about them. Since I know now that you didn't ask them to come with you, they probably came looking for you. I'm only telling you because the troops are seeking them out, too, so there may be more to worry about than just your family."

A wave of relief washed over Shade. "That's good to know. Thanks, Guise." An odd feeling ran up Shade's back. He was pretty sure he'd never said that before.

Without another word, Guise went on his way again, casting only a discreet, disdainful sneer in Shade's direction. Shade himself waited until Guise vanished into the darkness, still unsure if this was all some elaborate ploy to get him to drop his guard. But now he had some helpful information at least. Knowing that Twilight and the others were looking for them took a load off his mind, even if that meant they had put themselves in danger as well. In fact, it was even a possibility that they may have already found Chamella and Winter.

All in all, Shade's unexpected reunion with Guise was shocking in more ways than one. In a way, he seemed like a somewhat different person than he was used to, but perhaps that was to be expected from being imprisoned for two years with nothing to occupy his mind but the thought of revenge and reflecting on his actions. At the very least, Shade could be thankful for Guise's inability to cooperate with anyone for once, and he'd worry about his intentions later once he ensured the safety of his friends and family.

As the adrenaline finally died down, Shade felt his stomach rumble once more. Of course, he was going to have to worry about himself first and foremost.

Chapter 19 - Strength in Numbers

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 19: Strength in Numbers

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Glory breathed a sigh of resignation as she reluctantly traipsed through the halls of the hive. She felt like she was being forced through an exercise in public humiliation, despite the fact that there were no other changelings to witness her walk of shame. Never in her life had she felt so thoroughly degraded as she did right now.

After her failure to kill their intruder, Glory had returned to report her encounter to Captain Wraith, too injured to continue her pursuit of Shade after he had slipped from her grasp. Of course, her superior was none too pleased to hear of her failure. Having decided now that Glory was too incompetent for such a simple job, she had been assigned a new function, one she was less than enthused about.

That's where she was headed now; to her new post. Glory was mentally kicking herself for letting Shade escape. She personally insisted that she was more than capable of killing Shade if given a second chance, especially now that she knew what kind of power he possessed. She underestimated him, that's all. She let her confidence pour into overconfidence and she got reckless. It was a mistake she was embarrassed to admit, but one she intended to correct. At least, she would if she had been allowed. Wraith was too quick to call judgment on the matter. One attempt does not provide ample enough evidence to inform a decision like that. She knew that if she were to have another go at Shade, the result would be different.

But that just wasn't the case. Whether she liked it or not, she'd been pulled off the job. It had been decided that leaving one changeling to pick off Shade was not reliable enough of a plan. At least Glory had managed that much. With her intel they now knew to send a squad of soldiers after him to ensure the job gets done. However, that didn't quell her desire to prove that she could succeed, and Wraith knew that. Glory could tell from the intense way he looked at her after she'd told him that he was fully expecting her to ignore her new orders and seek out Shade again without his say so. Whether or not she was actually going to do that she hadn't decided yet.

Glory inhaled a deep breath through her teeth, rubbing a hoof over her chest gently. Even after a night of rest, she was still feeling the injuries she'd sustained. Her back and her chest were sore, and she feared she may even have a broken rib from her fall. She should have expected Shade to be as powerful as he was. With two years of love to feed on, he was bound to be a force to be reckoned with. She had relied too much on her own unique abilities to outsmart him. She wasn't expecting him to outright overpower her. If she was going to make another attempt on his head, she'd need to devise a plan of attack.

Glory was snapped from her thoughts of self-loathing and frustration at the sound of a shrill, high-pitched squealing in the distance. It was still some distance away, though, the noise sounding as if it were echoing through the entire hive. Glory shuddered, her reluctance building. As painful as that sound was to her ears, she knew that that was where she was headed; the location of her new post. Glory was feeling a little conflicted right now. On the one hoof, she hoped she never managed to get there, that the path she was walking was somehow infinite. But on the other hoof, she certainly didn't want to be subjected to that aural nightmare for eternity. The closer she lumbered to her destination, the louder the shrieking got. She was certain the noise was going to cause her ears to bleed if she had to be subjected to it much longer. If there was any consolation, once she got there, perhaps she could find a way to put a stop to it.

After what felt like hours of having to endure it, Glory finally saw the first sign of relief: a pair of green flames flanking a passageway up ahead. Those flames indicated important areas of the hive. For the most part, they were usually only seen in and near the throne room, but Glory knew she was headed for the soldiers' quarters. It may have been called that, but most of the soldiers elected not to spend their time this deep within the hive if they could help it, as food was scarce down here. They really only gathered there when preparing for something, or during a private address from the queen.

Right now, it was being repurposed.

Glory could see a single armored soldier sitting outside the entrance. He looked to be in pain, gritting his teeth and cradling his head in his hooves. Of course, Glory could sympathize; she herself was being subjected to the same torture as he, though he was forced to be in much closer proximity to the incessant wailing. But that just made this much more loathsome for her, as it was about to be her in his position.

Glory sauntered up to the soldier, rubbing her temple from the headache she was already developing. "Hey," she addressed him brusquely, raising her voice that so he could hopefully hear her over the noise.

The soldier's head shot up, as if shocked and relieved to hear a sound other than the shrill shrieking. However, his relief turned to wariness when he laid eyes on the armored female. "Glory? What do you want?"

With a disdainful groan, Glory gestured for the soldier to stand. "I've been ordered to take over this post. You can leave."

The soldier stood up instantly, his eyes widening with the deepest of gratitude, practically on the verge of tearing up. "Really?! Oh, thank you! You have no idea how great it is to hear that."

"Trust me, I do," Glory muttered under her breath, accompanied by a roll of her hazel eyes.

The soldier made to trot happily past her, but stopped to give her a sly smirk. "Don't know what you did to get this job, but it must've been bad. Sucks to be you." He didn't wait for her to respond and simply buzzed down the corridor in the direction from which Glory had come. He wanted to get away from there as quickly as he possibly could.

Glory let out a long sigh. "Yep. Sucks to be me..."

With her head down, she stepped into the soldiers' quarters to assess the situation and start getting a feel for her new position. Contrary to what one might expect, the area was not very spacious for a place where all of the soldiers were intended to gather. That wasn't necessarily a problem considering it was rare for more than a half a dozen changelings to be present at once. Despite that, there were several shoddily made beds of dry grass and dead leaves erratically positioned on the floor around the perimeter of the room. Those beds would hardly do anything to provide comfort, but most soldiers weren't desperate enough to sleep here anyway. The one luxury the room did have was a small pool of water against the right wall. Water poured in from the ceiling, into a small, hollowed out bowl in the floor, before seeping out through the cracks where the wall met the floor. It was mostly clean, so that was a plus.

But, right now, the state of the room was the least of Glory's concerns. Sitting in the middle of one of the several grassy beds was the source of Glory's current headache: a tiny pony foal with a pair of changeling wings bawling its little eyes out.

With an irritated grimace, the changeling stepped over to the foal, punctuating each hoofstep with authoritative force. As she approached, the infant stopped wailing long enough to look up at the new face. His bright, green eyes were glistening with tears, and his bottom lip curled out as if attempting to sucker his new caretaker into feeling sorry for him. He was going to have to keep trying because Glory was having none of his sour and needy attitude.

"Stop that," she commanded firmly.

It was only two words, but the foal immediately broke out into a fit of crying once more. Glory clenched her eyes shut, gritting her teeth with an aggravated growl. If she was going to have to put up with this new position, then the first thing she was going to have to do was find a way to silence that incessant shrieking. She noticed the fresh leaf laying beside the foal. It was decorated with a healthy pile of various berries and a half-eaten apple that was starting to brown quite heavily. For the most part, the food seemed untouched, suggesting the foal hadn't bothered to stop crying for a bite to eat; the chunk taken out of the apple was far too big to be from him and was likely a result of his previous attendant's own hunger. Clearly hunger wasn't the issue, so it must have been something else.

The only other thing Glory could think of is that he must be hurt or sick. So, using her magic, she lifted the tyke into the air. The sudden action startled the foal and he instantly started flailing around and screeching even louder—something Glory didn't expect was possible.

"Be. Quiet," she ordered, her voice teeming with annoyance.

Of course, he didn't listen, so Glory had to examine him as he was. It was a difficult and frustrating task, but she managed to determine that he did not have any wounds or injuries. This only proved to further Glory's annoyance.

"I'm getting fed up with your attitude, grub. If you don't shut up, I'll—"

"He probably misses his parents."

Glory nearly jumped out of her chitin at the sound of the voice speaking up from behind her. She spun around, fully prepared to lunge, fangs first, at the uninvited intruder. However, she paused when she saw who it was. Standing in the entryway with a smug grin on his face was Guise.

Glory straightened up, gently placing the crying foal back onto the bed before turning back to Guise. "You should know better than to sneak up on people. You could get hurt." It sounded less like a warning and more like a threat.

Guise shrugged, his smirk persisting. "What, didn't sense me coming?"

The female ignored the sarcastic comment, instead choosing to address her own thoughts. "I see you weren't able to kill him either."

"What makes you think that?" Guise responded mockingly.

"You wouldn't still be here if you had."

The red eyed male chuckled. "Well, you got me there. Actually, it doesn't matter if I kill him or not anymore. I'm taking your suggestion and leaving regardless."

"Then you went in the wrong direction. There's no exit this way." Glory made sure that her tone relayed the fact that she didn't have the patience to deal with him right now, but she was also admittedly curious as to why he'd come this way.

"I know that, but I learned something interesting when I ran into Shade, so I figured I'd tail you to see for myself."

Guise turned his gaze down onto the weeping foal. The tyke stopped crying for a moment and practically drew back when their eyes met, as if instinctively wanting to avoid this new person. Glory observed Guise's expression. He appeared to be experiencing a mix of surprise and amusement, but also seemed a little off-put.

"So this is the little abomination of nature, huh?" Guise leaned in to look the foal over more closely. The increased proximity of the changeling's blood red eyes and sharp fangs set off the child's danger instincts and he immediately started screeching again. Guise pulled away, folding his ears back with a pained wince. "Noisy little brat, isn't he?"

"You don't need to tell me that," Glory said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm trying to figure out what his problem is." It was then that she remembered what Guise had said when he arrived. "You said he missed his parents. You don't just suggest something like that without some knowledge of the situation."

Guise shrugged, seeming a little uncertain himself. "Just a shot in the dark actually. I spent a little time around the ponies a couple of years ago. Real family people apparently," he explained with a touch of disgust. "Can't say I know much about foals, but I feel like separating him from his parents is probably pretty jarring for the little half-breed."

"Then as much as I hate to admit it, you know more about the subject than I do. Feel free to make some suggestions."

A self-satisfied smirk stretched across Guise's smug face. "Are you asking for my help again, Glory?"

Glory furrowed her brow at the accusation. "I'm not asking you for anything. If you have nothing to contribute, then you can kindly leave."

He raised his hooves to diffuse Glory's clearly rising impatience. "Alright, alright, but I don't see why you would want me to help out. Can't you just do your little 'mind-reading' trick?"

There was a moment of silence between the two, offset only by the foal's unending bawling. Guise could see Glory was staring at him disdainfully, and his smug smirk returned in full force. There was something oddly rewarding about figuring out something before she did, even more so when he knew she would never admit it.

Reluctantly, though knowing it was her best course of action, Glory placed her hoof atop the child's head, turning him so that they were eye to eye. The foal's crying dulled to quiet whimpering and hiccuping, unsure of what this strange person was doing to him. Glory's eyes lit up with an eerie, green glow, and the child sat, unmoving, staring deep into her eyes as if entranced.

Guise observed curiously. He'd been on the receiving end of whatever this was once, but now he had the chance to see her do it to someone else. "So, what exactly is this spell you're—"

"Shut up. I need to concentrate."

Guise rolled his eyes impatiently, but continued to watch in silence. Glory stared at the infant for nearly a minute, notably longer than when she had rooted around in his skull. As the seconds passed, the child looked to be becoming more and more uncomfortable, fidgeting and whining, but unable to turn his gaze away from Glory's. Guise knew how it felt and could certainly sympathize with the young halfling; it was in no way a pleasant experience.

Glory herself was starting to look visibly frustrated, as well, but continued to stare for another minute.

"There a problem?"

"I told you to shut up," Glory snapped at him.

Guise was beginning to find her bossy attitude a little irritating. The only reason he didn't continue to bother her out of spite was due to his own curiosity.

After almost three minutes, Glory finally released the foal, who seemed a tad dazed at first, but eventually went back to sobbing. Guise could tell the little guy was still feeling the discomfort in his head and was surprised he wasn't wailing even louder.

Glory leaned back, closing her eyes and letting out a long sigh. "Alright. That's about as much as I can hope for."

"Then can I finally inquire about that spell? Is it even a spell, or do you, like, have psychic powers or something?" asked Guise.

The female shot him a look that said that she didn't really have any reason to tell him anything. However, Glory removed her midnight blue helmet and ran a hoof through her short, brown mane, letting out a groan of resignation. "You're obviously aware of the changelings' hypnosis spell."

Guise smirked, recalling his own past usage of the spell. "I'm familiar, yes."

"Then you know about our ability to implant false memories to make it more difficult for our victims to discern the truth."

"Yep. I've dabbled."

Glory simply shrugged. "It's just a modified version of that spell. While I'm rooting around in their mind the way you would when implanting false memories, I just peruse their existing memories."

Guise's curious grin dropped. He found that explanation rather underwhelming. "What, that's it? If it's that simple, why don't other changelings do it?"

"Because it's not simple. It's not easy to cast a hypnosis spell on someone you're not siphoning love from. It took me years to perfect that spell. Not even Captain Wraith or Queen Chrysalis know how to do it. As far as the colony's concerned, I'm the first changeling to ever do it, and it's the reason why I'm one of the highest ranking soldiers."

"And yet somehow you wound up on foalsitting duty," Guise quipped with a smirk.

Glory shot an irate glower in his direction, which only caused his smirk to widen.

Guise shrugged, looking to get back on track. "Anyway, what about the kid? See anything interesting in there?"

The soldier turned back down to the bawling infant, staring at him with frustration, but also a hint of intrigue. "I can't say I've experienced anything like him before. I've only ever used the spell on other changelings, and even then only adults. He's still a larva, so his mind's a little... unorganized. There weren't many proper memories, but more like a series of random images. Thankfully, because he's so young, there wasn't much to sift through."

"So what did you find?"

Glory stayed quiet for a moment as she stared at the crying foal. "Something that will shut him up for a while. If I'm going to be stuck looking after him, I'm going to need some peace and quiet occasionally."

Guise sat down to observe in silence, wondering what exactly it was she saw in the little guy's memories. Glory's horn lit up and the green flames of shapeshifting magic enveloped her. Guise was pretty surprised to see the form of Shade's love bug, Winter Maple, in the changeling's place. Intriguingly, the crying foal instantly went quiet, staring up, bewildered, at the sudden presence of his mother. The disguised Glory then reached down gingerly, picking up the foal in her hooves. Amazingly, the tyke didn't fight her, but continued to gaze in mild disbelief at the amber eyes of who he thought was his mom. Glory hesitated for a moment, looking to be thinking about something. She then gently cradled the child in her fabricated, ivory fetlocks, looking into the foal's green eyes with a surprising amount of softness for a changeling soldier. She then began to slowly rock him back and forth and, even more surprisingly, began to sing.

"Hush now, quiet now,
It's time to lay your sleepy head,
Hush now, quiet now,
It's time to go to bed.

Drifting, drifting off to sleep,
Exciting day behind you.
Drifting, drifting off to sleep,
Let the joy of dream land find you..."

Guise couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had never heard a changeling sound so motherly, so caring in his life. Even Queen Chrysalis, who claimed to love each and every one of her subjects, had never displayed that level of care, at least not publicly. Even more shockingly, it was working. As Glory sang the song, presumably verse for verse as she'd seen in the child's memories, the foal's eyes began to slowly and sleepily drift shut. Even Guise was feeling the effects of Glory's falsified voice, letting out an involuntary yawn of his own.

Glory sang as much of the song as she could get from the foal's memory, but thankfully it was enough. By the time she had run out of verses, the baby had fallen fast asleep. Glory breathed a deep sigh of relief, and gently set the foal down on a bed of leaves to let him snooze peacefully before returning to her natural form.

"There. Much better," she said, running a hoof through her mane.

"That's... impressive," Guise admitted with a little surprise on his face.

"I'm just glad it worked. I got lucky that that was one of his most vivid memories, and it popped up a few times. His mother sings to him regularly and he certainly enjoys it."

Guise looked over the soundly sleeping infant, a slight grimace creasing his lips. "He's disgustingly cute, isn't he? If he didn't have the wings, I wouldn't believe he was half-changeling."

Glory was silent for a solid minute, just staring at the foal as if in deep thought. Guise watched her with a raised eyebrow, wondering what was going through her mind. However, before he could inquire, she spoke up quietly.

"Snowflake..." she muttered quietly. "Dumb name for a changeling."

Strangely, despite the comment, Guise couldn't detect any sort of disdain in her voice, but thought nothing of it and simply added to her comment with an amused grin. "At least we can agree on that."

***** ***** *****

Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie had been walking down the same tunnel for what felt like hours now. Along the way they had passed a few branches in the path, but Twilight dictated that it was more likely their friends—assuming they had come this way—would have kept on the straight path forward as opposed to risking looping around on themselves or going in the wrong direction; going straight seemed like the safest bet to ensure they wound up... anywhere really, as long as it wasn't backwards.

Applejack let out a long sigh, brushing her blonde and frayed bangs out of her eyes. "Anypony else feel like we ain't gettin' nowhere fast?"

Twilight, walking ahead of the two earth ponies, glanced over her shoulder at the stetson-wearing mare. "Shade said this place was—"

"A maze, yeah, Ah know," Applejack interrupted with a roll of her green eyes. "Ah'm just sayin' that we ain't seen anything that even points to there bein' other changelings down here. Somethin' was eatin' those mushrooms from before, but how're we supposed to know that was changelings? Coulda been mice."

Twilight breathed a sigh of her own. "I understand where you're coming from, Applejack, and you're right. We don't know if we're actually getting anywhere. But we have to keep looking. Our friends are down here somewhere looking for Snowflake. How deep they've gone and which direction they went, we can't know. We knew going into this that we were going to have to rely heavily on luck."

Applejack hung her head wearily. "Ah know, it's just... not great for morale, y' know?"

The alicorn nodded in agreement. "Believe me, I'm feeling the effects, too. I don't have a lot of confidence that we'll actually get that lucky, but all we can do is keep trying and hope."

Their short exchange was interrupted when Applejack heard an odd, wet smacking sound coming from behind her. Peering over her shoulder, she spotted Pinkie Pie chewing on a mouthful of cupcake, her muzzle smattered with blue frosting and rainbow sprinkles.

"Pinkie, what're you doin'?"

The pink pony paused, an uncomprehending look on her food-stuffed face. "Hm?"

"We're supposed to be rationin' food carefully. We have no idea how long we're gonna be out here. You can't just snack on something anytime you want," the orange mare scolded.

Pinkie's bright blue eyes widened sadly and she lowered her head. "I wash humbry," she whined through a mouth full of cupcake.

Applejack glared at her, unwavering, but still feeling a slight twinge of guilt as Pinkie stared at her with her puppy dog eyes. She groaned at the pathetic display. "Whatever. You've already started eatin' it, so just go ahead. Try not to make a habit of it."

Pinkie perked up instantly, a grateful, toothy grin spreading from ear to ear. "Thanks, Mom!" she chirped, tossing the remainder of the cupcake into her waiting maw.

With Pinkie Pie's craving sated, Applejack hoped they could continue to preserve their supplies for this inevitably long endeavor. She turned her head forward once more, her headlamp revealing that Twilight had gotten a little ahead of them during their short conversation. She was about to hurry her pace to catch up, but happened to shine her light down for a moment and came to an abrupt stop. She was just a single step away from a hole in the floor. Had her talk with Pinkie gone a moment longer she may have fallen straight down into it. Applejack was surprised that Twilight had managed to avoid it.

The problem now was, while Applejack was being attentive, Pinkie Pie was not. As the peppy pony happily chewed away on her cupcake, she didn't have time to react to Applejack's sudden stop, bumping right into the orange mare's rump and sending both of them tumbling into the hole.

"Gaaaaaah!"

Twilight spun around at the sound of her screaming friends, but could no longer see them. Rushing back, she saw the hole, hearing her friends panicked shouts echoing up through it, along with some thumps and thuds before one final loud thud, followed by a moment of silence.

Twilight shone her headlamp down into the hole, eyes wide with panic. She couldn't see the bottom, but the hole seemed to curve into a steep slope, acting as a slide for her friends. Regardless, she was still incredibly worried. "Applejack! Pinkie Pie! Are you okay?! Can you hear me?!"

There was a worrisome period of silence, but thankfully a voice called back.

"I'm okay!" the cheery voice of Pinkie Pie echoed up through the hole. "I landed on something soft, yet oddly firm!"

"Get off me, Pinkie," came an annoyed groan from Applejack.

Twilight held a hoof to her chest, taking a deep, grateful breath. "Oh, thank Celestia. Well, are you two hurt? Can you walk?"

She heard a grunt from Applejack. "Just some scrapes, maybe a bruise or two. But otherwise Ah'm fine."

"Same here!" Pinkie called out, as well. "Actually, it was kinda fun! Can we do it again?"

"I don't suppose you can get out of there, can you?" asked Twilight.

"Uh... Gimme a sec," said Applejack.

Twilight heard the sound of hooves clomping against stone, along with a few grunts from the orange pony. But after only a few moments, she also heard the distinct sound of hooves scraping against those same rocks, followed by a pained "Oof."

"That's a big negative," Applejack groaned.

Twilight nodded, having figured as much. She had a backup plan anyway. "Alright, I'm gonna come down there and teleport us back up. Just sit tight."

"Actually, there's a path down here," Pinkie Pie told her. "Maybe we should check it out."

"It's probably better that we stick to the main path," the alicorn argued. "I doubt our friends ended up down there."

"You say that, but we ended up here," Pinkie pointed out. "And that hole's too narrow to fly back up. So, who knows? Maybe they did wind up down here."

Twilight sighed with a shake of her head. "I doubt it, but now that I think about, it's possible that this could be some sort of shortcut made by the changelings to get... somewhere. I guess it's worth a shot."

"'Sides, if it's a dead end or somethin' we can just come back," Applejack added. "Now get yer flank down here."

"Alright, I'm coming down."

Twilight slowly and carefully lowered her hind legs into the hole, planting her hooves against the walls to try and control her descent. But, as one of her hoofholds crumbled under her, the princess suddenly found herself careening downward much more quickly than she intended. With a panicked shriek, Twilight slid all the way down until she landed unceremoniously at the bottom and fell over onto her back. Taking a moment to compose herself, Twilight looked up at the upside-down faces of her two earth pony friends staring down at her in amusement.

"Glad you could join us," Applejack greeted with a chuckle.

Twilight rolled over and stood up, dusting herself off and shaking off the mild pain of gliding down a stone chute. She took a look around at her new surroundings, noting the vastly smaller size of the area compared to the tunnel they were traversing before; roughly large enough for the three ponies to walk side by side, but not much more. Afterward, she shone her light down the pathway that she'd been informed of. The path stretched on further than her light could illuminate, suggesting that this tunnel probably did lead somewhere, they just had to find out if that was going to be helpful.

"Well, let's not waste any time," Twilight suggested, brushing past her two friends to take the lead once more.

Pinkie Pie skipped forward to Twilight's side, raising an eyebrow when she saw the alicorn trying to work a kink out of her back. "You okay, Twilight? The fall hurt?"

The princess shook her head. "I'm fine. Like you two, I think it's just a few scrapes."

"Why didn't you just teleport down?" asked the pink pony curiously.

"I need a visual representation of where I'm going in order to ensure a safe teleport. If I'm going to teleport myself—or, more dangerously, other people—I want to make sure I know exactly where I'm going to end up, or the result could be... messy. Any scenario where I've teleported somewhere I've never seen before has always been to fairly open areas with minimal risk."

Applejack grimaced a little as the implications of a botched teleport manifested in her imagination. "Fair enough, Ah suppose."

"Can you teleport all the stuff in my room into my closet?" inquired Pinkie with a pleading grin. "I can't seem to fit it all inside without it all spilling out again."

Twilight just stared blankly at the party pony's odd request. "That... sounds less like a job for magic, and more like a trip to a furniture store."

Applejack simply chuckled quietly at Pinkie's childlike perception of a teleport spell, but in her mirth hadn't noticed what was in front of her. The disgusting sound of hard crunching and wet squishing forced the three ponies to halt in their tracks, their attention being diverted to Applejack's hoof. The orange earth pony lifted her hoof, covered in a viscous, greenish-yellow slime.

"Eugh... What in tarnation...?"

"Eeeeew! Did you step in a giant booger?" Pinkie said, retching in disgust.

Twilight turned her gaze down to the ground, spotting the brittle remains of a translucent, green object covered in the slime. "I think that's an egg sac."

Pinkie's disgust instantly shifted to horror, gripping the alicorn tightly with her eyes darting around in paranoia. "Like some kinda parasite that's gonna lays eggs in our bellies?!"

Twilight rolled her eyes at the pink mare's overreaction. "I doubt it. It's more likely the egg of a changeling larva. What's more, judging by the consistency of the fluid, it seems to have hatched recently."

"That only makes it more gross," Applejack groaned as she attempted to wipe the gunk off against the stone wall.

With a thoughtful hum, Twilight stared at the shattered egg sac that Applejack had stepped in. "This is strange."

Applejack quirked an eyebrow. "What's strange?"

"Chamella has told me a little about changeling reproduction—"

"Whoa! Keep it PG, Twilight!" Pinkie urged her with a panicked wave of her hooves.

The alicorn pushed Pinkie aside and continued her train of thought. "And she told me that female changelings typically lay their eggs in designated nurseries."

Applejack glanced around at the narrow tunnel they were in skeptically. "So this is a nursery? Awfully cramped for a place where you leave yer unborn young."

"That's just the thing. She said the nurseries are all large, open caverns. I doubt this is supposed to be a nursery."

"So why is there an egg here?" asked Pinkie Pie.

Instead of standing around contemplating, Twilight gestured for her friends to keep moving forward as they speculated, walking deeper into the tunnel. "I suppose it's possible that one expecting mother laid her egg here to keep it safe, as changeling larva are supposedly very violent. But then again, changeling's also don't normally show any sort of parental instincts, with Shade being the obvious exception. It could be that a nearby nursery was perhaps a little overcrowded, so one of the mothers had to find somewhere else to lay an egg without having to find another nursery."

"Ya know, we can throw around theories all day, but we ain't gonna get any real answers," Applejack interjected.

Twilight responded with an earnest smile. "I know, but theories are what lead you to answers. You don't get an answer if you don't ask a question. That's how you learn new things. You don't think it's fun to theorize?"

With the alicorn's eager grin bearing down on her, Applejack found herself regretting opening her big yap. "Uh, sure, but let's focus on our mission for now, yeah? You can ask questions later when we get our friends back home."

Twilight straightened up, clearing her throat and attempting to restore her more professional air. "Right. Sorry. Let's—"

"Whoa!" Pinkie held out a hoof to stop her two companions.

Just in front of them, only a few steps away, was another slope in the tunnel leading even further down into the depths.

Applejack breathed a loud and relieved groan. "Geez, Ah really need to look where Ah'm going."

"So I guess this is the point where we make a decision: turn back, or keep going forward," Twilight said as she gazed down the path before them.

Pinkie shot a hoof into the air excitedly. "Oh! I vote slide! The first one was fun, so this one might be even better!"

"It could be dangerous, Pinkie," warned Applejack. "What if there's just razor-sharp spikes down there?"

Pinkie just rolled her eyes at the other earth pony. "Pfft. What do you think this is, a video game? The changeling's probably didn't build traps like that."

"As backwards as that sounds coming from Pinkie, I have to agree," said Twilight. "Based on everything I've seen and heard of the Changeling Kingdom, there probably aren't many paths here that don't lead somewhere. I say we chance it. Besides, if worst comes to worst, I can teleport us out of harm's way."

Applejack let out a reluctant sigh. "Well, Ah guess Ah've been outvoted."

"Alright, but we should stick close together to make the teleport easier for me, assuming I have to use it."

"Got it!" Pinkie grabbed her two friends and held onto them tightly, practically cutting off circulation. And without any sort of warning, made a haphazard dive into the deep. "Geronimo!"

Twilight and Applejack's only reaction was the most expected one when forced to leap head first into a potentially life-threatening situation while held in the excited death grip of an overactive party pony: terrified screaming, contrasted by the pink mare's exuberant laughter.

***** ***** *****

Shade breathed a deep sigh of relief, his stomach growling eagerly as well. Finally, after wandering around for ages, he had stumbled upon the telltale signs of food in the nearby vicinity. The hungry changeling spotted a few glowing mushrooms on his path and knew there must have been a veritable treasure trove of edibles up ahead.

It felt a little strange to him actually. Shade had only been back in the Changeling Kingdom for a little over a day and a half—at least that's what he presumed—and was already feeling as though he were about to starve. Back when he had lived there, he would sometimes go two or three days without food, his hunger being exacerbated by the fact that he shared most of his findings with Chamella. It was entirely possible that the two of them may have been even more malnourished than the average changeling because of that. Nowadays, though, Shade had easy access to food. Not just that, but any sort of food that took his fancy. So now, even going half a day without eating was practically debilitating. It was an oddly humbling thought and actually made him feel a little ashamed of himself. But it wasn't like that was going to convince him to leave his new life behind. If losing a little humility was the price of happiness, he wasn't going to complain.

But now he finally had a chance to silence his noisy stomach. Seeing as he was desperate, he even picked the tiny mushrooms that were guiding him to the real meal. They were still just as bland as he remembered, but not offensive. As long as it helped fill the void...

Shade paused as he chewed a small mushroom, perking his ears up. Buzzing. There were most certainly changelings up ahead. He breathed a sigh through his full mouth. He really was not in any mood to deal with more of this crap right now, but he didn't really have any other way to go. He was just going to have to hope that it wasn't soldiers that would recognize him.

It didn't take long to find the source of the noise, and Shade had a moment of disappointment when he did. Thankfully it wasn't soldiers, but rather larvae. About a dozen or so larvae were buzzing about in a moderately sized chamber. Shade wasn't really concerned about the relatively low number of hatchlings, though if they did decide to get violent with him, he wasn't sure if he'd have the energy to fight back.

The bigger problem was that the chamber they were in was the location of Shade's expected food source; a chamber full of sizable, glowing mushrooms. However, the ravenous larvae had already made a feast of the fungi, leaving very little in their wake. The tiny changelings noticed Shade immediately, but most of them were too bloated on food to bother making any sort of threat towards him.

Shade dejectedly sauntered over to one large mushroom that only had a few tiny bites taken out of the cap, but there was enough left over to suffice for now. He sat himself down next to it, tearing off chunks of the fungus's flesh with his magic to start chowing down. He had to figure, considering how many larvae were present, that there was probably another nursery nearby. He began to wonder exactly how deep he was into the hive, since he didn't think many females would bother coming as deep as he felt he'd gone to lay their eggs. Then again, it was pretty close to a large food source, making it a pretty ideal place to leave young. And, who knows, maybe this was the nursery where they were keeping Snowflake. Probably not, but he was going to check it out anyway.

Not wanting to waste time, Shade got back up after only a minute, levitating a few small mushrooms along with him to eat along the way. There were a few different ways out of the room, but Shade chose to go down the way that the larvae seemed to be going in and out of; that was likely the way to the nursery.

The sound of the buzzing behind him gradually got quieter, but it was starting to worry Shade that there was an even louder buzzing coming from up ahead. Really, he should have figured as much. With food being so close by, it was likely that a large number of larvae were still in the vicinity, and it was also likely that they weren't desperate enough to attack one another to get a bite to eat. With that in mind, Shade had to mentally prepare himself. It was entirely possible that he was going to have to put down a swarm of vicious hatchlings.

Shade could hear the flittering wings of the larvae clearly enough now to know that they were very nearby. In fact, he could see the opening to the nursery now. Shade popped the last mushroom into his mouth, heading forward resolutely. As much as the other changelings turned his stomach, and knowing how violent and animalistic the larvae were, he didn't want to have to hurt them if he didn't have to. Perhaps that was the influence of the ponies he chose to spend his life living with. Guise would probably accuse him of getting soft. In any case, the plan was to protect himself with a barrier and hopefully just slip through the nursery without any issue. His headaches had been becoming much less frequent, so he felt like just making a shield for a few minutes at most wouldn't be too difficult. If he were being optimistic, maybe the larvae wouldn't bother with him at all. He'd gotten lucky with them up until this point after all.

Shade made it to the nursery, taking one step inside, and then immediately freezing, regretting this decision entirely.

As expected, there were many changeling larvae buzzing about recklessly, but they weren't the big issue. The problem was the twenty or so armored adults staring at him from the center of the room.

Another trap. They must have figured that, given where he had already been, it was likely that he'd go the way where food could be found. Unfortunately for Shade, they were right. And it looked like they were taking his presence seriously now, as Queen Chrysalis had sent more than one person after him this time. Guise may have had a point about him having more power than he realized, but even with that power there was no way he could deal with twenty soldiers at once. His only option was to flee.

Without bothering to say a word to the soldiers, Shade turned tail with the aim of darting back the way he came and maybe head down one of the other routes in the larva feeding ground. But before he could take more than a few steps backward, his escape route had already been blocked by another four soldiers that had descended from above the passage.

Shade furrowed his brow and grit his teeth, turning his attention to the larger group behind him. There was no two ways about it now. He was going to have to fight his way out, and between the soldiers and the larvae, he did not have a lot of confidence. His only hope was that he could find a moment in the inevitable chaos to book it out of there, but he was not at all expecting to escape unscathed.

One of the soldiers in the center of the room looked Shade straight in the eye with the utmost seriousness, speaking bluntly and authoritatively. "Nothing personal, but we've got orders to kill you."

Another, one of the ones blocking the exit, tittered sadistically. "But feel free to fight back a bit. Wouldn't be any fun if you just gave up."

Shade didn't bother to respond. Considering his words did little to dissuade both Glory and Guise, he doubted he could talk his way out of this.

Several of the soldiers prepared to charge forward, intent on simply overwhelming him with their sheer numbers. Many of the larvae seemed content to just act as onlookers, buzzing about erratically and only pausing for a few seconds to see what the adults in the area were up to. Shade was about to just launch a blast of magic into the crowd to hopefully disorient them and give him an opening to escape, but before he could, he suddenly paused.

It wasn't just him, but the soldiers, too, were distracted by something. A sound. It wasn't buzzing, and it wasn't coming from inside the nursery. It sounded like... screaming?

As the sound got louder, all eyes turned to Shade's left, toward one of the tunnels in the nursery wall, a dozen feet above the floor. The last thing any of them expected was for three pony mares to spill out of the tunnel, shrieking loudly until they landed with a loud, collective thud onto the floor.

One of the mares, pink with a bouncy mane, shot upright with her hooves in the air and an enormous grin on her face. "That was awesome! Even better than the first one!"

"Pinkie, can you please stop usin' me as a landing pad?" groaned the orange mare that the pink one was sat upon.

"And a little warning before you do something like that would be appreciated," added the lavender alicorn.

The pink mare giggled with an embarrassed blush. "Whoopsie. Sorry about—" She paused, finally noticing through the light of her headlamp the swarm of armored soldiers who were staring in utter bewilderment at the source of the sudden interruption. The pink pony pointed in panic. "Changelings!"

The orange and purple mares accompanying her shot up at the shout, throwing the pink one onto her back comically. They immediately took up defensive postures despite the shock and confusion of the changeling squad.

Shade blinked, his jaw hanging open. He had to wonder if this was actually happening. "Twilight?!"

The alicorn's ears perked up at the sound of the familiar voice. Shining her light towards the voice, she finally noticed that among the armored soldiers was one unarmored changeling; one she recognized immediately. "Shade?!"

"Oh, hey, we found him," Pinkie Pie stated matter-of-factly with a point of her hoof.

It didn't take long for the astute princess to piece together what was happening. Without a moment's hesitation she teleported herself and her two companions with a bright flash, reappearing beside Shade and quickly throwing up a pink dome of magic around the four of them.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie wobbled a bit as their equilibrium readjusted from the sudden magical displacement. The orange mare shook her head to try and compose herself. "Geez, maybe a 'heads up' before warpin' us around would be nice, sugarcube."

"My mouth tastes like purple..." groaned Pinkie as her eyes rolled around in their sockets.

Shade cast aside his disbelief for the moment, turning his attention back to the swarm that had ambushed him. "I'd ask you what you're doing here... but I guess that's pretty obvious."

"This doesn't really seem like a great time to chat anyway," Twilight responded, turning her own eyes to the surrounding changelings.

"Yep, looks like you could use a little help," Applejack offered with an eager grin. "Not to sound like Dash or nothin', but I've been itchin' for a good fight. Wanderin' around these caves got boring fast."

One of the changelings outside the barrier chuckled. "Well, that was lucky, huh? Saves us the trouble of looking for you ponies."

"Now, if you'd be so kind as to get rid of this shield, we can get to killing you lot," added another.

The four inside the barrier ignored their goading. They knew full well that Twilight's magic was strong enough to hold them off, so they could sit in safety and prepare for the inevitable battle. They all took up formation in the center of the bubble with their backs to each other.

Shade cast a glance at his comrades through the corner of his eye. "You guys sure you're up for this? Changelings kind of have an advantage in the dark, and the lights are only going to do so much."

Twilight cast a confident smile over her shoulder. "Don't worry, I've prepared for this."

Without another word, her horn lit up with a white light which was followed by a bright flash. When all individuals present opened their eyes again—including the soldiers—they all looked around in awe as the entire chamber had been fully illuminated and dozens of small orbs of light floated around the room.

Pinkie Pie stared in bright-eyed wonder. "Oooh, pretty."

"An illumination spell. That should help level the playing field a little," Twilight explained. "And while I'm at it, I should teleport our supplies somewhere safe for the time being."

Twilight lit up her horn again in preparation for the teleportation spell. However, she was interrupted by Pinkie Pie.

"Actually, Twi, can I hold onto mine?"

The alicorn quirked an eyebrow at the pink mare.

"See, you've got your magic, and Applejack's got her brute strength. Some of us have to bring our tools with us," Pinkie explained with a smile, patting her saddlebag.

Twilight smiled back, catching her meaning and giving her a nod before popping hers and Applejack's saddlebags out of the area.

"Are you just about done in there?" one grumpy soldier asked, tapping the barrier impatiently.

Pinkie gave the changeling a battle-ready grin, removing a pair of small, colored balls—one blue, one pink—from her bag. "I certainly am. What about you guys?" she asked her friends.

"Ready and willing," affirmed Applejack.

"Don't let your guards down, everypony. They still outnumber us six to one," cautioned Twilight.

"I think we can handle it," said Shade, staring down the squad of changelings. He felt a sudden surge of confidence, finding himself grinning with his friends. He may not have been able to do much on his own, but with some very capable companions by his side, this was looking doable.

"Alright! Then let's do this!" Pinkie Pie declared, rearing up on her hind legs and brandishing the two balls. "Bring it on, chumps!"

At Pinkie's bold taunt, Twilight immediately dropped the barrier and the pink pony chucked the two orbs toward the horde of changelings. Upon impact, the orbs broke in half, spraying a cloud of multi-colored glitter all over the several soldiers in front. Disoriented and partially blinded by the vivid and sticky assault, the changelings were caught off guard, and one was quickly tackled by Applejack, knocking him back into one of his comrades. Following that, the farm pony leaned back to avoid a changeling flying at her from the side, retaliating by biting down on his short tail and swinging him around like a flail before tossing him into the crowd. The soldiers gawked at the earth pony as they watched her effortlessly take down three of them in a matter of seconds, to which Applejack simply responded with a tip of her hat and a boastful smirk.

"Who's next?"

Knowing that attacking one at a time was only going to result in a procedural defeat, five more soldiers rushed at her simultaneously. Applejack's smirk merely persisted, but she didn't engage immediately, instead breaking away from the group to lead them away and help divide their numbers.

Meanwhile, Twilight was managing to hold off several changelings herself using expertly timed barriers and pinpoint accurate beams of magic. Her attackers weren't able to get anywhere near her. Seeing that they weren't getting anywhere, even with their superior numbers, a couple of the soldiers turned their attention instead to the one unarmored changeling, who was currently dealing with two individuals. Twilight noticed that a few of them had shifted their attention, changing her own to aid Shade before he got overwhelmed.

Shade forcefully bucked one of his attackers in the chest, but wasn't ready for the one charging him from behind. However, a timely beam from Twilight saved his skin and she rushed over to his side.

"You okay?" she asked, her back to him so they could collectively keep an eye on the swarm.

"I'm fine. Thanks," Shade grunted.

It was only now that Twilight noticed how worn Shade seemed to be, with several bruises and cuts around his body. It was certainly too soon for him to have gotten all of them from this encounter. "You're not in great shape. You should stick close to me."

Another changeling was about to rush Shade from the side, but thankfully Applejack leapt in to grab him out of the air, pinning him to the ground.

"Less talky, more fighty," she suggested quickly before getting back up to continue evading the group chasing behind her.

Out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie jumped in beside them with a big smile. "Actually, let's keep talking! It could be fun!"

Shade quirked an eyebrow at her, but before he could inquire about the strange suggestion, Twilight blasted her with a beam of magic, causing Shade to flinch in shock. He didn't even need to ask before "Pinkie Pie" suddenly transformed into a changeling as she rolled along the ground. Twilight silently pointed out that Pinkie was actually some distance away, dealing with changelings of her own with her patented party cannon.

And Pinkie wasn't the only one being imitated. Several of the changelings had shapeshifted into Applejack and Twilight, as well, even going so far as to copy their head wear.

"We're going to have to pay attention to ensure we don't attack the wrong target," Twilight said, looking for the real Applejack. "We should probably—augh!"

Before she could finish her thought, a fake Applejack had tackled her to the ground. Fortunately, Shade was able to act quickly enough and fired a burst of magic at the imposter, knocking them off of her before hurrying over to help her up.

"Regroup!" the alicorn shouted.

Upon hearing the command, the real Pinkie and Applejack rushed over to her side and Twilight quickly threw up another barrier to protect them. She gave the two earth ponies a skeptical glare at first, shining a magic glow over them before coming to the conclusion that they were, in fact, the real deals.

The four of them inside the barrier stared out at the changeling swarm, which, at this point, was actually just a cavalcade of pink, orange and purple ponies.

"Ah don't suppose changelings can see through those disguises, can they?" Applejack asked Shade.

"No such luck, sorry," he answered with an apologetic shake of his head. He turned to Twilight. "You can disrupt the disguises with your magic. Can you handle that, Twilight?"

The alicorn hesitated as she looked over all of the fakes attempting to break down the barrier with brute force. "With this many, I don't know. Even if I systematically hit each one, they would probably just be back up before I could make any real progress."

"Then we'll just have to hit 'em all at once," Pinkie said with a smile that suggested she was actually serious.

Twilight gave a shake of her head. "They're surrounding us. I can't focus the spell in all directions at once."

"Sure you can," the pink pony chirped reassuringly. "C'mere."

Pinkie pulled Twilight over to her, draping a hoof over her shoulder. The lavender mare gave her a quirked eyebrow as Pinkie whispered into her ear.

"When I give the signal, I want you to drop the shield."

Twilight hummed reluctantly. "What are you—?"

"Shhh! It's a surprise," Pinkie interrupted with a giddy giggle.

With a defeated sigh and a shrug, Twilight gave in and decided to simply trust her friend.

Pinkie lifted her hoof for a moment, looking over the crowd of disguised changelings closely. "Mmm... Now!"

At Pinkie's signal, Twilight dropped the barrier. And before the aura could even fade from her horn, she felt a hoof roughly slap her on the rear. The alicorn let out a shocked whinny, jumping with a start and inadvertently firing off a bolt of magic straight into the air. All eyes, including the changelings', watched as the bolt flew almost to the ceiling before exploding like a firework. To accompany the spectacle, a storm of smaller magic bolts began to rain down from above, peppering the ground with a series of pops and zaps. In the ensuing chaos, many of the changelings were unable to avoid the deluge of magic. It not only managed to tear apart the disguises of those struck, but also even managed to knock a few of them unconscious. The sudden assault of bright lights and loud noises even managed to scare off what larvae remained lingering in the nursery.

There were a few moments of silence as everyone attempted to compose themselves after the unexpected assault. Almost every changeling had been reverted back to their original forms, and the ones who hadn't changed back of their own will to avoid another such attack.

Twilight, still panting from the panic that had suddenly shot threw her, turned to Pinkie with not just an indignant glower, but a blush from the embarrassing noise she made. "Pinkie! You could have just told me to do that!"

Pinkie snickered into her hoof. "But where's the fun in that?"

"Hate to interrupt, but we ain't done yet," Applejack pointed out.

Indeed, while about ten or so changelings had been rendered unconscious, there were still more than a dozen left standing, although looking a little worse for wear. And it wasn't likely they were going to be caught off guard by another attack like that.

Shade nodded his head. "Right. Don't get complacent yet, girls."

Pinkie smirked confidently. "Oh, I'm far from complacent. I'm just getting serious."

The pink mare reached into her bags and pulled out a yellow and blue wrestler's mask, tossing off her helmet and pulling the mask over her face. She stood up on her hind legs, flexing one of her forelegs and pointing at the remaining changelings with the other.

"Prepare yourselves, amigos! You're about to get the beat down of your lives from El Pinko Loco! Wa-ta!"

Without any more warning, Pinkie leapt into the air, crashing down onto one unsuspecting soldier with a flying elbow drop.

Shade simply blinked, still a little unsure if this was actually happening. "What is...?"

"Trust me, it's best not to ask questions," Twilight said with a sigh.

Following Pinkie's lead, Applejack ran forward as well. One soldier rushed to intercept her, but the earth pony spun on her front hooves, using the momentum to deliver a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of the changeling's head and knocking him out cold. Another managed to get the jump on her from behind, latching onto her back and preparing to bite down on her neck. Applejack managed to keep her footing despite the extra weight, and the soldier was caught by surprise when the orange mare countered by leaping backwards, falling onto her back and flattening the changeling with her own weight.

Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, was busy staring down a group of four with an animalistic growl from behind her colorful mask. They all seemed hesitant about challenging the seemingly crazy mare after seeing her unorthodox fighting style. However, one of them stepped up, baring his fangs and flying swiftly forward. Pinkie responded with a smirk and, in one fluid motion, deftly dodged to the right while also grabbing the changeling by the midsection with both forelegs as he passed, bringing him to an abrupt stop. The soldier cast a fearful look over his shoulder at the goofy mare, who flashed a menacing grin before she lifted him up, bending over backwards and suplexing the terrified changeling into the solid stone floor. The other three could only watch in horror as their comrade was left incapacitated with his rump in the air and his hind legs dangling to either side of his head. Pinkie stood back up, brushing the dirt off of herself before staring down the remaining opposition again, gesturing for them to take their turns. They were understandably reluctant.

On the other side of the chamber, Twilight and Shade were busy fending off attackers from all directions with beams of magic, standing side by side to cover each others blind spots. Shade was beginning to notice that the soldiers definitely seemed to be focusing on him. Not surprising considering none of them even expected the three ponies to show up. The fact was even more noticeable since Shade was starting to feel the headaches coming back from having to use his magic so much.

Twilight chanced a glance over her shoulder at Shade. He was wincing in pain and didn't seem to notice one soldier coming in from his right. The alicorn covered him with a blast of magic to knock the attacker out of the air.

Shade quickly looked in the direction of the unseen attacker before turning back with an apologetic look to Twilight. "Sorry, I'm not exactly in prime condition right now," he admitted, intercepting a soldier that charged him from the front with another blast.

Twilight acknowledged Shade with a nod, continuing to talk to him while fighting off more changelings. "I've gathered that. I think it might be for the best if we wrapped this up. Think you can help me out?"

Shade raised an eyebrow, but kept his focus on the fight. "What do you need?"

"I can tell it hurts for you to use magic right now, but I was wondering if you could send out a pulse of magic with me."

Shade grimaced. He did that when he fought Glory, and that hurt like crazy. But if Twilight was certain this would get them out of this, he was willing to try. Besides, his injury wasn't quite as bad as it once was. "Alright, just say when."

Twilight watched each of the many changelings as they continuously charged at them. Each one she and Shade knocked down only got up a few moments later. They were stubborn and predictable, making the alicorn wonder how they came to become soldiers. But, if anything, they were persistent and relentless, and their sheer numbers made it difficult to properly deal with them. She was waiting for the ideal moment, and she knew it was coming soon. The soldiers were slowing down the more they got blasted, and now they had stopped entirely. They were all looking between one another, repositioning themselves in a circle around the two, obviously preparing to just all attack simultaneously so their two targets couldn't possibly hit all of them. The entire group rushed forward in unison, intent on sinking their teeth into their quarry.

And that was the moment Twilight was waiting for.

"Now!"

Shade and Twilight let their magic explode outward as forcefully as they could, creating a large flash of green and pink all around them. The attacking changelings attempted to stop themselves, but couldn't react quickly enough to avoid the rapidly expanding energy blast. The whole group was tossed away effortlessly, throwing them into the air and some of them into the walls.

When the light died down, Shade and Twilight remained standing at the center, panting in exhaustion. They looked over their attackers, finding they had all been knocked for a loop. The force of the pulse was strong enough on its own to incapacitate most of them. The ones who were still conscience were too disoriented or injured to get back up and continue the fight, leaving Shade and Twilight a moment of respite.

Twilight breathed a tired sigh. It had been a while since she'd had to expend this much magic, but at least she wasn't too worse for wear. "Alright, that should do it," she said, satisfied that the soldiers were in no condition to retaliate. She turned her attention to Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be cleaning up nicely on their end as well. "You two finished?"

Applejack gave one final buck to the changelings that had dared challenge her, adding him to the pile of soldiers she'd easily dispatched. She took off her hat for a moment to wipe the sweat from her brow. "Phew. Yep, just dandy over here."

"Gimme a minute!" Pinkie Pie shouted back.

The pink mare was busy grappling a poor, hapless soldier in a headlock with her hind legs wrapped tightly around his neck and bending one of his hind legs painfully with her foreleg. He was struggling to no avail to free himself, his face slowly turning blue and he sputtered for air.

"Tap out, muchacho. I don't want to have to break you," she warned half-jokingly.

Taking the crazy mare's advice, the soldier frantically tapped his hoof on the stone floor, and Pinkie immediately released him. He let himself go limp, taking in a deep breath of much-needed oxygen. He didn't bother getting back up; he wasn't nuts.

Pinkie hopped up jovially, pulling off her mask and stuffing it back into her saddlebags. "Okey doke! All done!" she announced as she skipped over to where she'd discarded her helmet.

Twilight nodded, popping her saddlebags back onto her back with a flash of magic, as well as Applejack's. "Great, then let's get out of here before these guys reconstitute themselves." She turned to Shade. "Do you know which way to go, Shade?"

The changeling had a quick look around. As with all nurseries, there were a multitude of possible paths to take, though, considering Pinkie Pie and Applejack's inability to fly, that narrowed down their options. He didn't really have time to think about it too hard, since, like Twilight said, the soldiers might get back up and want another stab at them. With that in mind, he opted for the simplest solution.

"I'm not entirely sure what the 'best' path is exactly, but since we both came from the same general direction, I'd suggest we go that way," he said, pointing to a tunnel opposite the direction of where Shade had entered. While the three mares came in through another passage, it was still on the same side of the room as Shade's entry point, so it made the most sense to keep moving forward.

There was no argument from the mares as they agreed with affirming nods and followed Shade out of the nursery. With the danger behind them, they all had a chance to breath a sigh of relief. Twilight noticed that Shade was rubbing a hoof against his temple, wincing in pain once more.

"You've been using your magic a lot, haven't you?" the alicorn surmised.

Shade raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah. Only because I had to. How did you know?"

"The doctor at the hospital said you may have a mild concussion. I've heard about unicorns who have suffered concussions, and they're often advised to avoid using magic excessively until they recover."

The changeling looked a little worried upon hearing that. "Am I making it worse?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, it's just causing pain and slowing the recovery a little. You should be fine eventually."

Shade breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear. The headaches have been getting better since I left."

"Which brings us to the next point of order," Applejack interjected sternly. "The hay were you thinkin' comin' all the way out here by yerself?! And after gettin' yer head bashed in to boot."

Shade groaned and grimaced at the scolding he expected to receive. "Look, I know it was stupid. I realized that pretty much as soon as I got here. Maybe it was the blow to the head, maybe it was my overwhelming concern for my son and my anger over the whole situation, but I wasn't thinking straight. All I could think about was finding Snowflake. I should have asked for help, but it was a little too late for that by the time I realized it. I don't need you girls to get on my case about it, alright?"

Applejack scowled slightly, but figured it best to put the lecture on hold and focus on what was important. "Ah get it. We didn't just come out here to find you after all; we wanna help get Snow back, too."

Shade managed a smile. "I appreciate that. I actually feel a lot better about this knowing I have capable friends helping me out." A quizzical expression crossed his face. "Speaking of which, where are the others? Did Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash not come with you?"

"We decided to split up to cover more ground. You aren't the only one we're looking for," explained Twilight. "We know that Winter and Chamella came here earlier than you, so it made sense that you wouldn't be together."

"Was that wise?" Shade questioned. "How are you supposed to join back up with them again?"

"Rarity and I are connected via a tether spell. It should lead us straight to them should we need to find them."

"Oh! Why don't we do that?" Pinkie suggested. "We found Shade, so we should regroup, right?"

Twilight shook her head in disagreement. "I don't think that would be wise. We'll still be covering more ground if we stay separated. We're heading for the same place anyway, right? Wherever they're keeping Snowflake?" she asked, looking at Shade.

"I don't really know where he is, but I've been looking for the throne room to find Chrysalis. If anyone will know where he is, it's her. I figure Chamella would probably follow the same train of thought."

"So, hypothetically, we should meet up there. But, just out of curiosity..."

Twilight lit up her horn, a thread a pink magic extending and swirling upward before curving backward and going back the direction they had just come from.

"Looks like we're ahead of them," Applejack noted. "So we probably should keep movin' forward. We don't wanna lose ground."

"'Ahead' might not be the right word, but, whatever," Shade commented with a dismissive shrug.

As they continued down the empty path before them, Pinkie Pie glanced over at Shade, noting his current condition. "You're looking pretty rough, Shade. Guess this hasn't been a picnic for you, huh?"

The changeling breathed a long sigh. "No kidding. I haven't really had much time to catch my breath."

"What're they after you for?" asked Applejack with a quirked eyebrow. "Yer a changeling, too. Why would they attack their own kin?"

"Because they apparently see me as a threat. I guess they didn't expect me to try and save my son for some reason, so now that I'm a 'deserter,' that makes me an enemy."

Pinkie Pie had a look of worry on her face. "Does that mean their gonna come after me, too?"

"'Deserter' doesn't have anything to do with desserts, Pinkie," Applejack said with a roll of her eyes.

"In all fairness, they have a right to be concerned about you," said Twilight matter-of-factly. "I never said anything about it before now because I trust you, but I have certainly noticed a steady increase in your magical power over the time that I've known you. Our battle back there even gave me an idea of just how much."

"Honestly, I never even noticed until Guise pointed it out to me," Shade admitted.

He received a trio of surprised glances.

"Guise? As in, that one guy from that one time?" Pinkie Pie vaguely inferred.

"The 'old friend' who impersonated you to take advantage of Winter? He's still around?" Twilight inquired worriedly.

Shade replied with a dismissive nod. "Yeah, they apparently let him out to help hunt me down, figuring his vendetta against me could be useful to them. But I don't think we need to worry about him. He seemed... different. But I guess that's what two years in a dungeon will do to you."

"So you've gotta target on yer back, and were wanderin' around down here on yer own. Sounds like yer lucky to be alive at all," Applejack commented.

"And you didn't bring any food. You must be starving," added Pinkie, her voice full of concern. "Do you want a cupcake?"

Shade couldn't help but smile a little. "You know what? That actually sounds pretty good. I managed to find some food earlier, but I'm by no means full."

Happy to help out a friend in need, Pinkie pulled a cupcake with pink frosting and a generous helping of sprinkles from her seemingly bottomless saddlebags and eagerly passed it to Shade. The changeling was more than a little excited to bite into something sweet and tasty after eating nothing but random bugs and mushrooms since arriving in the Changeling Kingdom.

Shade took a big bite of the pastry, chewing contentedly as the sugar rushed through him almost immediately. "Mmm... Perfect as usual, Pinkie. Thanks."

"Gotta wonder how Winter and Chamella are doin' on their own, too, huh?" Applejack mentioned solemnly.

"I think Chamella will be fine," Shade remarked, though his expression fell as he continued. "It's Winter I'm worried about. Not to mention that I know she and Chamella don't exactly get along. I just hope they're not at each others throats."

"If they went together, then they must have put their differences aside for the time being," Twilight surmised. "After all, they have a common goal: save Snowflake."

"I guess. I'll just have to trust them, I suppose," Shade said, though with not a lot of confidence.

"An' how're you holdin' up, Shade?" asked a concerned Applejack. "You ain't got no serious injuries or nothing', do ya?"

Shade rolled his shoulders and his neck at the mention. Now that she brought it up, he wasn't exactly feeling up to snuff. "Been better, in all honesty. I've been in a few scraps since getting here, got a few bumps and bruises, but otherwise I think I'm okay. No broken bones as far as I can tell."

"Well, if you think you need medical attention, we brought first-aid supplies with us," Twilight let him know.

"Just don't be a tough guy and try 'n' fight through the pain, alright?" Applejack warned. "If you feel like somethin's really wrong, you let us know."

Shade nodded with a grateful smile. "I will. I won't exactly be any good to anypony if I collapse from pain."

"Okay, so now that we've got all of our concerns and worries out of the way, I wanna ask what they want Snowflake for in the first place," asked Pinkie Pie. "He's just a cute, widdle baby boo. What could they need him for?"

The change of subject elicited a scowl from Shade as he thought about it once more. "Wraith said it was because he was the 'property of the hive.' As far as I know, that's the only reason, and it's a load of crap," he growled, his ire rising with every word. "There's no point in going out of their way for a half-changeling that probably won't even survive here for more than a week."

"So, who's this Wraith anyhow? He one o' the soldiers 'round here?" asked Applejack.

"More than that, he's Chrysalis's right hoof. And you don't get to be the queen's confidant without a reason."

"He sounds like a tough cookie," Pinkie Pie commented.

"That's understating it by a lot. Listen to me, if we end up running into him, don't treat him lightly. He's—"

As his eyes focused forward, Shade stopped cold. His eyes went wide, his expression conflicted between fear and anger. When the three mares pointed their lamps ahead to where he was looking, they saw why.

Trotting towards them was another squad of armored changeling soldiers, though notably smaller than the last, consisting of only half a dozen individuals. The bigger difference was with one particular individual. Leading the other five was a noticeably taller changeling; not quite as tall as Chrysalis, but certainly more muscular compared to the very lithe queen. If his size weren't intimidating enough, his expression only added to it. He cast forward a steely gaze through his piercing, violet eyes as he and the squad gradually closed the distance before coming to a stop several meters from Shade and the three mares.

Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie stood their ground, tensing defensively. Shade was frozen in place, battling with his instinct to flee and his urge to lunge forward in a rage. Twilight could infer from Shade's narrowed pupils and clenched teeth the seriousness of this encounter.

"Let me guess: this is Wraith," Twilight surmised.

"Guess his ears musta been burnin'" Applejack said quietly as she remained on guard.

Pinkie hunched over and snarled like an angry dog at the large changeling.

Wraith looked over the four analytically, moving only his violet eyes. Eventually, his unreadable gaze fell on Shade, eliciting an instinctive flinch from the former drone. "You're proving to be a rather irritating pest. However, I should have presumed you'd be a fly who wouldn't be so easy to swat." His sight went back to the mares, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "And your allies merely complicate matters. Twilight Sparkle, is that right?" he asked, staring directly at the lavender alicorn.

Twilight was hesitant to respond. Just staring directly into his eyes was unnerving, like locking eyes with an apex predator. "We didn't come here to start a conflict," she said as calmly as possible. "We only want to find our friends, retrieve the foal you kidnapped, and go home."

"And if y'all would be kind enough to give 'im over nice and quiet, we won't have to rough you up like we did them other guys," Applejack threatened.

Wraith lifted his nose at the request. "I don't believe you're in any position to be making threats, pony. You are all trespassers in our kingdom. If you wish to leave, I'd suggest you do so immediately. Otherwise, I can't guarantee your safety."

"Hey! You snuck into our kingdom first! So we're not leaving without our friends, or Snow!" Pinkie declared.

Wraith closed his eyes for a moment, tilting his head to the side until there was an audible pop in his neck before staring the four down once more. "I'm not above sullying my own hooves, if that's what's necessary."

The five soldiers accompanying him stood at the ready, only awaiting the captain's order.

Applejack leaned in Shade's direction, but didn't dare take her eyes off Wraith. "So, you were in the middle of sayin' something, right? What exactly are we dealin' with here?"

Shade allowed himself a moment of reprieve from his conflicting emotions, turning his concern to his friends. "I can't say for sure. I've never actually seen anything first hoof, only hearing rumors. From what I've heard, he once took down a manticore with his bare hooves without a scratch. I don't know how much truth there is to that, though."

"It's probably better to err on the side of caution in this case," Twilight suggested.

As he looked over the three mares again, Wraith seemed to appear slightly more aggravated. "I have no particular quarrel with you ponies—at least not under the current circumstances." His eyes then locked back onto Shade, his brow furrowing. "The traitor is the one I'm here for."

Shade raised an eyebrow. "'Traitor'? If you think I have any interest in trying to take the throne, you're sorely mistaken."

"You've chosen to side with the enemy. That makes you a traitor," Wraith stated quite bluntly. "And we don't tolerate traitors in our colony."

Shade raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you keeping them in the dungeon? I figured you'd just execute any traitors you caught."

"That's Chrysalis's decision," Wraith explained, his voice lowering an octave. "Were it my decision, those traitors wouldn't even receive the privilege of becoming food for the larvae."

That only proved to further Shade's confusion. "And yet you ask Guise of all people to help you hunt me down?"

Wraith paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow himself. "Guise? I don't recall enlisting the aid of that miscreant." The captain looked off to the side, muttering to himself. "Sounds as though I have more business to deal with. What a nuisance..." He returned his attention to the intruders. "But one thing at a time. For now, we'll focus on the four of you."

Wraith took one step forward with the intent of initiating his squad's attack on Shade and the ponies. However, he was stopped in his tracks immediately by a pink wall of magic that extended the entire width and height of the tunnel, completely separating the two groups. The captain cast an irritated glower at the purple alicorn, whose horn was glowing brightly.

"Uh, Twi, nice thought 'n' all, but we can't exactly fight 'em like this," Applejack pointed out.

"We don't have to fight them. We can cut them off and get away."

Wraith narrowed his eyes contemptuously. His patience seemed to have reached its limit as he furrowed his brow and raised his voice. "I am not allowing that."

With firm and aggressive stomps, Wraith approached the barrier. His curved horn lit up brightly as well, and he thrust the sharp tip against the wall. Twilight visibly winced, feeling the impact of the strike in her horn as a shower of green and pink sparks began to spray from the point of impact around Wraith's horn. Twilight groaned in pain as she attempted to maintain the wall under the surprising pressure of Wraith's magic.

"Yeesh, he's just going straight at it, huh," said Pinkie Pie, observing the violent look in the large changeling's eyes as he assaulted the barrier. "Well, whatever. He's no match for Twilight's magic."

Pinkie's confidence in her friend was called into question when Twilight staggered slightly. The princess's eyes were clenched shut, and beads of sweat were already beginning to roll down her forehead.

Applejack stared at Twilight as she struggled. "Twi? You alright?"

"Ngh... His... His magic's a lot stronger than I expected," she managed to get out between pained groans and sharp inhalations. "I... I'm not going to be able to hold him off for long."

Applejack looked back at Wraith, shocked. "Wha—? But how's a changeling get that strong without love?" She turned to Shade for an answer.

The changeling looked just as confused as she did. "Don't look at me, I have no idea."

"Just drop the shield so we can fight 'em already," Applejack insisted to Twilight. "Don't waste yer strength on this."

"No!"

Applejack was taken aback by Twilight's sudden outburst.

The alicorn looked at Applejack through the corner of her eye, barely able to open it enough under all the pressure bearing down on her. "We don't need to fight him! He's after Shade!" She shifted her gaze at the changeling in question. "You need to get away from here! I think I can hold them back long enough for you to escape."

Shade's mouth fell open, unsure how to respond. "What?! I'm not leaving you three to fend for yourselves!"

"We don't have time for this!" Twilight shouted. She managed to muster enough strength to look around the immediate area until she directed her eyes upward. While there was no branching paths in the walls nearby, there happened to be a narrow passage in the ceiling above them, illuminated by the flashing sparks being emitted by Wraith's horn and the shield. "Up there! Just go! We'll be fine!"

"B-But—"

"We're not arguing about this! Go!" Twilight commanded with uncharacteristic authority.

Shade hesitated. His eyes darted between Twilight and Wraith before shifting to Applejack and Pinkie Pie. The two earth ponies simply gave him a nod that suggested he trust Twilight. As much as he didn't want to leave them with Wraith, he knew Twilight must have had a plan of some sort, so he decided to heed her command and quickly flew up and into the ceiling passage.

Wraith could only watch as his target disappeared from sight. He bore his fangs in anger and annoyance, jabbing his horn as hard as possible against the barrier until it outright pierced the magical wall, sending a web of cracks out from the point of penetration. The cracks quickly crawled outward until they reached the very edges of the wall, and then it shattered into pieces before the shards dissipated in the air.

Twilight let out a cry of pain as she stumbled backward from the raw force of the attack, the feeling of her spell being forcibly severed sending a sharp, painful surge through her horn. Applejack leapt to her side to keep her from falling over and helped her maintain her balance.

The three ponies cast their eyes at Wraith. The captain did not looked pleased, glaring disdainfully back at them. However, he turned his eyes back up towards Shade's escape route, then shot a commanding look over his shoulder at the soldiers behind him. "Occupy them!"

Without another word, Wraith took to the air to pursue Shade. Twilight had a moment of panic as she realized that Wraith wasn't planning to take the time to deal with them first. In a split-second decision, she opted to take flight to help Shade fend off Wraith. However, she didn't even get halfway up the cave before she was cut off by three of the soldiers blocking her path. She was still feeling the effects of her struggle with Wraith, so she was forced to alight once more and take up defensive positions with her friends.

"Shoot. And we just found him, too," Pinkie Pie groaned dejectedly.

"We'll just deal with these guys real quick and Twi can go after them," Applejack suggested as they stared down the soldiers.

Twilight shook her head. "No. I... I want to go after him, but that's probably a bad idea. I'm needed for the tether spell. We can't risk getting separated."

"But he's in trouble!" Pinkie argued in a panic.

The alicorn looked back up at the hole in the ceiling, allowing herself to feel more assured. "Wraith is strong, but so is Shade. I think he can handle it. At least, I hope he can."

"We'll find him again," Applejack said confidently. "But right now, we gotta deal with these jokers."

The three ponies stared down the five soldiers. There was little doubt in their minds that they could handle this minor obstacle, but their thoughts were going to be on Shade as they fought. They could only hope that Twilight's trust in him was not unfounded...

Chapter 20 - Unlikely Alliance

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 20: Unlikely Alliance

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Fluttershy let out a long yawn, brushing the errant strands of her slightly disheveled mane out of her eyes. It was impossible to tell what time it was, but based on how sleepy she was starting to get, it felt like it may be getting late. It looked like she and her friends would have to spend another night in the frightening caves of the Changeling Kingdom.

Then again, maybe it wasn't that late. While Fluttershy and Rarity hadn't managed to get much sleep, trudging along as though their bags were stuffed with rocks, Rainbow Dash was full of energy. Granted, not bouncy and peppy like Pinkie Pie would be, but she frequently wound up having to wait for her two companions to catch up. Neither of them would ever understand how the cyan pegasus could possibly get a good night's sleep on a dirty, uncomfortable, stone floor.

While Fluttershy had said very little since their arrival in the Changeling Kingdom, Rarity had been quite vocal of each and every grievance that she had. Currently, the issue was her hooves.

"I wonder what is the most intensive hooficure treatment the spa offers. I know I'm certainly going to need it after all of this. Ugh, I think I may have even chipped my hoof. Oh, this has just been an absolute nightmare!" the ivory unicorn whined.

Walking ahead of them, Rainbow Dash breathed an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. "We haven't even seen any changelings since we got here and you've already found every possible complaint you can come up with. Complaining about it isn't going to fix it."

Rarity turned her nose up at the pegasus's attitude. "Hmph. I'm simply trying to fill the air. The silence is a touch unsettling, if I'm being honest. I just can't think of any topics of conversation that don't involve how unpleasant this all is."

"I think I'd rather the silence over your moaning and groaning."

Rarity scoffed, insulted by the comment. "Well! Perhaps you should have just gone with Twilight, then."

Fluttershy lowered her head, interjecting before this went too far. "Could you two please not do this? The last thing we need is to be fighting with each other."

Rainbow Dash flashed an apologetic smile over her shoulder, but to Fluttershy rather than Rarity. "Don't worry about it, Fluttershy. Rarity knows I'm not serious."

"Yes, just as airing grievances is my way of breaking the silence, arguing is Rainbow Dash's method," Rarity added with a derisive giggle.

"Are you complaining about my arguing?" asked Dash with a smirk.

The unicorn challenged her smirk with one of her own. "What if I am?"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Fluttershy interrupted with a quiet giggle. "I didn't realize you two were so playful."

Rainbow Dash faced forward again with a grimace and an embarrassed blush. "I wouldn't call it 'playful,' more like, uh..."

"Harmless banter," Rarity finished.

"Yeah, that."

The conversation was cut short when the trio found themselves approaching what looked like a fork in the road. Reaching the end of their current path, they stepped out into yet another straight tunnel that ran off to the left and right, but not quite perpendicular to the path they had come from; their route intersected with the new tunnel that put them facing toward the left. The new tunnel also appeared to be some sort of junction for other paths as well, as there were multiple tunnels that joined to this one in the nearby vicinity.

"Goodness me. More choices..." moaned Rarity with exasperation. "Honestly, would it do any harm to at least put up some signs?"

"The changelings probably can't read," Fluttershy pointed out, reminding her that Shade and Chamella were also illiterate when they first arrived in Ponyville.

"All of these tunnels are running toward that direction," Rainbow Dash noted, pointing a hoof to the left of the tunnel they'd entered through. "I'd say that way is our best bet."

Rarity nodded, not wasting anytime heading off in that direction. "Agreed. If that's where these paths are leading, then that must mean there's something in that direction. So, let's not daw-dle!"

Rarity stumbled suddenly, her bejeweled helmet clattering onto the stone ground ahead of her as her hoof slipped off of the edge of a lip in the floor, causing her to fall forward into an unseen hole in the floor. Thankfully Rainbow Dash reacted quickly enough to catch her before she completely slipped out of sight, grabbing the unicorn by the tail with her teeth and keeping her hindquarters out of the hole.

Fluttershy rushed over to their sides, peering into the hole at the hanging unicorn. "Rarity, are you okay?!"

"Is there no end to the torment this place brings?!" Rarity cried out in a combination of fright and anger.

"Jusht hang in there..." Rainbow Dash said through clenched teeth as she held Rarity's purple tail tightly.

"Is that supposed to be a joke?! Just pull me out!"

Rainbow Dash managed to wrap her hooves around Rarity's withers and began to remove her from the hole, not without a few yelps from having her tail tugged on as well. Once she was able, Fluttershy leaned down to help Rarity get her front half out safely until the fashionista finally fell backwards onto her haunches, panting and looking more than a little frayed. Fluttershy picked up her friend's helmet and returned it to her.

After taking a moment to compose herself, Rarity put her helmet back on, taking a deep breath and standing up as straight as she could manage in an attempt to maintain some shred of dignity. "Well, that was an experience I certainly did not need right now." She pushed her annoyance of the situation to the side for a moment to give her two friends a grateful smile. "Thank you. Who knows what fate could have awaited me had you not jumped in?"

Rainbow Dash stifled a snicker. "Don't mention it. But you gotta admit, it was a little funny. Kinda like unclogging a pipe."

Rarity wretched at the thought, but didn't retaliate, although she was now even more aware of how unkempt her coat and mane had become. "Ugh, in all honesty, I feel like I've just crawled out of a sewer anyway."

Fluttershy tried, and failed, to suppress an amused snort. "That sort of reminds me of this one time when a chubby mouse friend of mine got stuck in the entrance of his burrow."

The unicorn grimaced at the implication, but didn't retaliate. "Can we just get going, please?"

The two pegasi wholeheartedly agreed, wasting no time pressing onward. The further they traveled down this new tunnel, the fewer connecting tunnels there were until it seemed there were none left entirely. But that wasn't the only noteworthy change. After some time, the three mares could hear the distinct sound of running water; the first thing they'd encountered that they could all agree was relieving.

The source of the sound soon became apparent when the three arrived in a relatively small chamber with a basin of water smack in the middle of the floor, being fed by several small streams of water running down out of the walls. But more eye-catching were the plethora of colorful gemstones decorating the walls of the room, eliciting the first genuine look of happiness and excitement from Rarity since they left Ponyville.

"Good heavens! Look at all of these gems!" the unicorn gushed as she admired how they sparkled under the light of their headlamps. She approached the water basin carefully, peering down to find even more jewels beneath. "It's too bad this place is so out of the way, not to mention dangerous. These gems appear to be of high quality. Although I'd need a closer look to confirm that. Rainbow Dash, be a dear and dive down for one of those rubies, will you?"

Rainbow Dash balked at the request. "Why me? You're the one who wants them so bad. Go down there yourself."

Rarity pouted in frustration. "My coat is filthy enough as it is. Who knows how disgusting that water is?"

"And you're fine sending me down there? Yeah, thanks, but no thanks."

"Why don't you just get one off the wall?" Fluttershy interjected quietly.

The unicorn paused for a moment as she looked around, not wanting to admit she didn't think about that. "I suppose I could." Rarity walked over to the left wall of the room, eyeing up a particularly large emerald. Using her magic, she carefully and expertly worked the gem out of the rock wall, popping it out like a cork from a wine bottle. She analyzed it closely, grinning with enthusiasm. "Oh, my, such beauty! I don't think I've ever seen an emerald this pure. I know Applejack will probably give me an earful about it, but I simply must take some samples to bring home. Would you mind helping me collect some, Rainbow Dash? That's not too much to ask, is it?"

The cyan pegasus rolled her eyes, but gave an apathetic shrug. "Yeah, sure. Just don't take too many, okay?"

With that, Rarity continued plucking jewels from the left wall, while Rainbow Dash flew up to the higher gems on the right side. Fluttershy, meanwhile, was beginning to realize that there was an imminent problem.

"Um, girls? I think this is a dead end," she pointed out, shining her light on what appeared to be a cave-in on the opposite side of the chamber.

"Great, now we gotta backtrack," groaned Rainbow Dash.

"That is disheartening," said Rarity, though her mood seemed unaffected as she removed a sapphire from the wall with a smile. "Let's just grab a few more of these lovely gemstones first."

Rainbow Dash eyed up two rubies about halfway up the wall. "They are pretty cool. Think they'll be more valuable since they're from the Changeling Kingdom?"

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that," Rarity exclaimed, her eagerness only heightening at the thought. "Just a few more then..."

Rainbow Dash reached out to try and jostle one of the rubies free. However, when she touched it, it seemed to sink into the wall and disappear, as well as the other ruby beside it.

"Huh?"

Confused, she retracted her hoof and the rubies emerged from the stone once more.

And then they looked at her.

It was only now that Rainbow Dash realized that what she was looking at were not actually rubies, but some creature's eyes. She shone the light of her headlamp down along the wall, noticing the odd shape of the area.

"Uh, guys? I think we should—gyah!"

Before Rainbow Dash could finish her thought, the creature suddenly lunged at her from the wall, snapping at her with diamond-like teeth. Thankfully she backed off quickly enough to avoid its powerful jaws and the creature dropped to the floor with a loud thud.

Spinning around to see what had happened, Rarity took one look at the crocodile-like animal before turning back to her wall and noticing the moving gemstones above her. She let out a shrill shriek as she saw two ruby-eyed crocodiles crawling down the wall toward her.

"Ahhhh! What are these things?!"

"I don't know, but I think we should get out of here!" Dash suggested as she leapt out of the way of another bite, stomping down on the crocodile's snout with her front hooves.

"Help!"

Rainbow Dash turned to a distressed Rarity, who had quickly gotten surrounded by the animals, one even emerging from the pool of water in the middle of the room. The unicorn shuffled in place, unable to find an escape route as one of the creatures opened its diamond-lined jaws. Rarity covered her eyes, not wanting to see what it was going to do to her. Just as it was about to bite down, Rarity felt herself being hoisted off the ground and carried away, followed by the loud snap of its jaw clamping down on air. Rarity finally opened her eyes to find herself being hastily dropped off next to the entrance, away from the vicious animals.

Rarity took a moment to catch her breath that she had expended with her screaming. "Oh, thank you, Rainbow Dash. You're literally a life saver."

"Don't mention it, but we've gotta go, now."

"Wait! Fluttershy!"

At the mention of the other pegasus's name, Rainbow Dash spun around to search for her mild-mannered friend, worried that she hadn't heard a peep from her since the crocodiles started attacking. It only took a moment to notice the light from Fluttershy's helmet, but on the opposite side of the room. If that weren't enough, she was being beset upon by two more crocodiles.

"Fluttershy, look out!" Rainbow Dash called out as she started flying over to her.

Fluttershy didn't even look away from the animals, raising her hoof to Rainbow Dash rather casually. "Just a moment, please, Rainbow Dash."

The cyan pegasus came to a stop midair, raising a puzzled eyebrow at Fluttershy's shockingly nonchalant attitude.

"One's a female changeling with a long, purple mane, and the other's a pegasus like me, but with a white coat and red mane."

Dash hung in the air, jaw wide open and brain uncomprehending. "Are you... talking to them?"

"Rainbow Dash!"

Spinning around again, Dash saw the crocodiles moving in on Rarity once more.

Fluttershy also took notice, her ears perking up as if she had just remembered something, looking back at the two next to her. "Oh, could you ask your friends to stop fighting, pretty please?"

Without a moment of hesitation, one of the crocodiles turned its head to the three across the room, letting out a low, hissing noise. The three immediately stopped just a few feet from the cowering unicorn before backing off.

Rarity watched, shaking and confused, as her attackers moved back toward the pool of water, but they didn't take their eyes off the ponies. "Wha...? What's happening?"

"That's it?!" Rainbow Dash shouted in disbelief. "They were about to tear us to pieces, and now they're cool?! What gives?!"

"They were just defending their territory," Fluttershy explained. "They're crystal crocodiles. They're very protective of the jewels in their caves."

One of them turned back to Rarity, causing the unicorn to flinch instinctively. Even though it couldn't really form actual facial expressions, she couldn't help but feel it was scowling at her.

"I think you should return the gems," the yellow pegasus suggested.

"They tried to kill us!" Rainbow Dash argued. "Don't get all buddy-buddy with them!"

Fluttershy furrowed her brow at Dash's attitude. "We are trespassing on their territory, and we stole their property. I'd suggest you apologize before they get mad."

"What?! But..." Dash looked around at the five crocodiles and one pegasus staring straight at her expectantly. She let out a long groan as she touched down next to Fluttershy. "Fiiiine. Sorry, or whatever..." she muttered begrudgingly.

Rarity tried to carefully maneuver around the room to join her friends, but was stopped when one of the crocodiles crawled in front of her, hissing at her. "Alright, fine!" she yelled in a panic, haphazardly emptying her saddlebags of all of the gems she'd collected. The crocodile backed out of the way, allowing her to hurry over to her friends. "I really don't need all of this stress right now."

Satisfied that the crocodiles were placated, Fluttershy smiled and turned back to the one she'd been talking to. "Anyway, have you seen them? I know it's a long shot, but I figured I'd ask."

The creature hissed quietly, but non-threateningly.

Rainbow Dash observed the odd exchange with a quizzical look. "So, you can understand them?"

"Their accents are a little thick, but I can get the gist of what their saying."

Once again, the crocodile hissed, and Fluttershy's eyes lit up happily.

"Really?!"

"What did he say?" asked Rarity curiously.

"She said that Winter and Chamella actually came through here!" Fluttershy beamed excitedly.

That news managed to perk up Rarity as well. "Oh, well, that's wonderful news! How lucky!"

"Don't get ahead of yourselves," Rainbow Dash interrupted pessimistically. "This is a dead end, remember? They would've had to turn around. Now we gotta go back and try and figure out which of those other paths they went down."

Once again, one of the crocodiles hissed, and the whole group of five turned toward the basin of water. Curious, Fluttershy stepped up to the pool and peered down into it.

"Wait, they went through here? So, there's actually a way forward through the water?"

"Good news, Rarity. Looks like you'll get to go for a dive after all," Rainbow Dash chuckled with an amused smirk.

The unicorn groaned at the idea. "Eugh... Now that I know what's been in that water, I'm even less inclined." She received an insulted hiss from a nearby crocodile, causing her to quickly backpedal with a forced grin and a nervous clearing of her throat. "Erm, yes, well... I-I was in need of a bath anyway."

"Oh, while we're here, have you also seen a male changeling with a blue mane?" Fluttershy asked the crocodiles.

She received some unsure sounding hisses and what could only be described as dismissive shrugs from the crocodiles.

"Oh, I see. Oh, well, couldn't hurt to ask."

"I take it they haven't seen Shade," assumed Rainbow Dash.

"Apparently not many changelings actually come through here. Winter and Chamella were the first people to brave this path in quite a while," Fluttershy elaborated.

Dash rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath. "Well, guess we should get moving then."

Fluttershy nodded. "Alright. Thank you very much for your help," she said to the crocodiles with a grateful bow. "We promise we won't be bothering you any more."

"You mentally prepared yet, Rarity?" Rainbow Dash asked with a sly grin as she looked around at the caved-in passage.

The unicorn huffed begrudgingly, but made an attempt to look stoic. "Quite." She then looked back at the pile of gemstones she'd given back, reluctant to leave with nothing. "Are you sure I can't have just one, teensy little—?"

As she was gingerly reaching for a particularly large ruby, one of the crocodiles snapped the air near her, forcing her to quickly withdraw.

Rarity turned her nose up to the animal's perceived greediness. "Hmph. Fine. They aren't so beautiful anyway."

"If you're done stalling, we need to get moving," Dash said again, having found a gap at the top of the cave-in through which to deposit her supplies while they swam through the basin. "Get your stuff through here and we'll pick it up on the other side."

As they made their preparations, getting all of their stuff safely through the gap and getting ready to take the plunge, they couldn't help but feel at least a little at ease knowing that they were on the right track. Now, they could only hope that Winter and Chamella weren't too far ahead of them.

***** ***** *****

Shade flew as fast as his wings could carry him, the buzzing of his translucent wings accompanying the sound of his rapid heartbeat in his ears. The near-vertical tunnel he was flying through was uncomfortably narrow, and the winding path it brought him down wasn't making it any easier to navigate. He'd chance a glance behind himself to see if he was being pursued, but he feared he'd scrape himself against the coarse, stone walls.

He didn't feel good about leaving Twilight and the others behind. He was so surprised and relieved to see them, but now he was forced to separate from them after only a brief time. Still, though, knowing they were even here at all was an easing thought. He just had to hope that they could find Winter and Chamella, or even Snowflake.

But that wasn't really the main concern right now. One of two things was about to happen: either his friends were going to be in trouble, or he was. Wraith did not look happy when he last saw him, but Shade wasn't entirely sure if he chose to chase after him or not. All things considered, Wraith probably was on his tail; Wraith had specifically shown up with the express purpose of hunting him down. At least he could rely on Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie to take care of a few grunts, but who knew if he was going to be able to reunite with them again?

Flying as hastily as he was, Shade didn't even notice right away that the tunnel had come to an end and he now found himself in a more open space. Unfortunately, it was yet another nondescript cavern, but at least there was a path forward. He touched down for just a few moments, surrounding himself in silence and keeping his ears attentive. He stared at the hole he'd come out of for only a couple of seconds before his heart rate picked up again. He could definitely hear the distinct sound of buzzing wings echoing up the tunnel and quickly getting louder.

Shade didn't waste another moment. Now he knew for certain that he was being chased, and the last thing he wanted right now was to find himself in a head-to-head with Captain Wraith. Taking to the air once more, Shade continued his attempt to escape by flying down the path ahead of him. Shade chanced a look over his shoulder as he flew. He still couldn't see Wraith, but he could most certainly hear him. Somehow, Wraith's wings sounded even louder than his own, despite the distance between them. He was gaining on him, which meant that it was only a matter of time before running was no longer an option.

The tunnel Shade was flying through was starting to develop more notable features as he flew. Particularly, there were rather large crystals growing out of the floor and ceiling like stalactites and stalagmites, but hexagonal in shape. The further Shade traveled, the larger those crystals became. Eventually, the tunnel widened considerably, and the crystal structures were basically large clusters of pillars reaching up or down more than a dozen feet; a few in particular were even larger, extending almost to the ceiling. The crystals didn't look particularly appealing from an aesthetic standpoint, as they were all of a yellowish-green color and the insides of them were very cloudy and practically impossible to see through to the other side of them.

This was about as much as Shade could take. The joints where his wings met his back were burning. He had to stop here, but he couldn't rest. Wraith was right behind him, but at least this cave offered Shade an opportunity. The changeling hurried over to the right side of the room and ducked behind a large cluster of crystals jutting up from the ground by the wall. He was choosing to hide, hoping that maybe Wraith didn't notice and kept flying by. That would not only give Shade a chance to catch his breath, but would also allow him to backtrack and rejoin Twilight and the others.

It didn't take long for Wraith to catch up, either, and the moment he arrived in the room where Shade was hiding, he came to a quick stop. Wraith flittered slowly to the ground, alighting unusually gently given his size. With narrowed eyes, he scanned the immediate area scrutinously.

Already Shade's idea wasn't going how he wanted. Wraith must have taken notice of the sudden lack of another set of wings buzzing. It was looking like it was only a matter of time before Wraith found him.

The armored changeling took a few slow steps forward, the clomping of his hooves echoing ominously. Wraith glanced from side to side as he passed by crystal pillars, checking behind them as he combed the area for his quarry. Ultimately, his patience was failing him. He knew Shade was here somewhere, and he wasn't about to waste his time checking every nook and cranny.

"I'd suggest you come out of hiding," Wraith ordered, his voice reverberating throughout the room.

Shade didn't budge, trying to keep his breathing quiet. He was holding out hope that maybe Wraith would decide he may have been mistaken and keep moving.

Wraith furrowed his brow, not particularly pleased with the lack of a response. "Have it your way..."

Wraith began to flitter his wings, but remained grounded. The buzzing of his wings gradually grew louder as he picked up the pace.

Shade stayed in hiding as he wondered what Wraith was doing. The pitch and volume of the buzzing only kept increasing, eventually overpowering what was typical for a normal drone; the sound would have drowned out any other noise in the area had there been any. Shade winced, and he felt a headache coming on all of a sudden. His ears were beginning to hurt as well. The high-pitched buzzing was getting louder still, and Shade could feel it beating on the inside of his ears like a snare drum. He lifted his hooves to cover his ears in the hopes of protecting himself from the aural onslaught. It didn't do much, as the sound was starting to feel like a physical force bearing down on him and putting pressure on his skull. Shade grit his teeth to fight the pain, doing his best to avoid making any noise despite the fact that it would certainly go unheard.

Shade was starting to feel like a drill was digging into his ears and boring into his brain. He even felt a small trickle of blood begin to run down the side of his head. If he had to endure this much longer, he was worried about the sort of damage it might cause, especially given his condition as it was. He was already feeling a little lightheaded.

Reluctantly, Shade gave in. He stood up and emerged from his hiding place. Wraith immediately turned in his direction, bringing his wings to a stop and locking eyes with the pained changeling. Even though the penetrating buzzing had finally been silenced, Shade could still hear a ringing in his ears, his hearing gradually returning to him. What was interesting to Shade was that Wraith's horn was aglow, and his ears, poking out through holes in his helmet, were encompassed by magic to protect himself from the sound of his own buzzing. Even so, Wraith also looked somewhat uncomfortable. Like how Shade had attempted to block it out with his hooves, Wraith did so with magic, but, likewise, it didn't seem to help entirely. Wraith was wincing slightly, too, and a bead of sweat rolled down his neck. Flittering his wings that quickly must have been strenuous, even for him. That also must have been why Wraith didn't just do that from the start; surely prolonged exposure to that kind of sound would eventually kill those nearby, but it could also cause irreparable damage to Wraith himself. It must have been a desperation move.

Even though Shade was now out in the open, Wraith said nothing. He only glowered in Shade's direction. The two changelings stared each other down in silence for a few moments until Wraith started walking towards Shade.

"I want to ask some questions," Shade said, unfaltering under Wraith's disdainful glare.

The changeling captain didn't stop moving towards Shade. "I have no reason to answer them. I'm merely here to kill you, so taking the time to chew the fat would only be a waste of my time."

Shade took a step back as Wraith continued to close the gap. It seemed his bid to buy time wasn't going to work, so it was time to go on the offensive. Without warning, Shade fired off a beam of magic from his horn at Wraith, hoping to catch him off guard. Wraith didn't even flinch, erecting a small barrier in front of him to block it as quickly as Shade could fire it.

Not wanting to give Wraith a chance to counterattack, Shade rushed at the larger changeling. However, once again, Wraith was fully prepared. Wraith quickly stepped forward, meeting Shade at the last second with a thrust of his hoof against the smaller changeling's chest. Shade felt the air being forced out of his lungs from the sudden impact, but had no time to register the pain as Wraith then slammed Shade to the ground, pinning him on his back with a hoof pushing firmly on his chest.

Shade coughed for air, but found breathing difficult with the immense pressure bearing down on his ribs. He stared up furiously at the changeling standing over him. Wraith didn't seem at all bothered by Shade's attempt to fight back, simply gazing down stoically. Shade felt like he'd been in this position a lot recently, and he'd managed to get out of those situations the same way. No reason not to try his luck again.

The moment Shade lit his horn up to fire another blast at Wraith, he felt the hoof on his chest press down harder, eliciting a pained shout from the pinned changeling. But the light of Shade's horn did not fade, and he glared back up at Wraith, practically snarling at him through his teeth. Through the pain, he managed to get off the bolt of magic, this time catching Wraith slightly off guard. The larger changeling only managed to shift his head to the side, but the shot still managed to graze the side of his face. It struck his midnight blue helmet and knocked it clear off his head, landing with a resonating clang and letting Wraith's long, fiery orange mane spill out.

With a small burn on his cheek and a newly ignited fire in his intense, violet eyes, Wraith finally looked like he'd reached the limit of his patience.

However, before Wraith could exact whatever form of violent harm he had in mind for Shade, he looked up from his prey, distracted by something.

"Shade!"

Although he was still pinned beneath Wraith's hoof, Shade managed to tilt his head back enough to see who it was that was calling out to him. Charging toward the two changelings from the direction that Shade had been fleeing towards earlier was none other than Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight stopped a short distance away from Shade and Wraith, glaring with fierce determination at the larger changeling. "If you know what's good for you, you'll let him go."

Wraith didn't appear to be bothered by the vague threat and was simply staring back with a cocked eyebrow. Shade, too, was staring at Twilight with a look of confusion. Any relief Shade had felt when he had heard her voice quickly evaporated. He would have been more than happy to have Twilight's help right now, the problem was he immediately noticed that something was off. This Twilight was missing the wings that had been given to her upon becoming a princess.

"What are you doing?" Wraith deadpanned, unamused by what was clearly an uninformed changeling in disguise.

"Twilight's" determined expression fell when she noticed the odd looks she was receiving. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Shade sighed with a roll of his eyes. It didn't take much thinking to determine who this actually was. There was only one changeling that Shade could think of that might be remotely willing to help him and wouldn't have known about Twilight's wings, not to mention that they had come from the opposite direction from where the real Twilight was. "I guess no one told you that Twilight's an alicorn now, huh, Guise?"

The disguised changeling tried to play dumb, but noticing that the other two weren't buying it, they grimaced, clearly disappointed that their plan didn't work in the slightest. "Uh, yeah, that would've been useful information. Oh, well, can't blame me for trying," they said with a shrug.

Since the jig was up, the fake unicorn's horn lit up green and emerald flames surrounded their body to reveal, as Shade had guessed, Guise. Despite the failure of his attempt to trick Wraith, the red-maned changeling still managed his signature smug smirk.

"What exactly were you trying to do?" Shade asked Guise from his position on the floor. "You're not anywhere near Twilight's level. Wraith would have slaughtered you."

Guise sneered at Shade. "Well, I was hoping that just her presence would be enough to scare him off. Isn't she supposed to be, like, the strongest unicorn, or something? Or alicorn, whatever."

"Even if you had been the real Twilight Sparkle, I would not flee with my tail between my legs like a frightened puppy," Wraith asserted.

Guise shrugged. "Maybe not, but even still, it's two on one now. I think we have the advantage," he stated confidently.

Wraith narrowed his eyes skeptically. "You honestly believe you possess the ability to sway this fight in your favor?"

Guise grinned wider. "Not exactly."

Before Wraith could even raise an eyebrow to question what Guise meant by that, he was struck by a blast of magic in his chest. Thankfully for him, his chest armor absorbed most of the force, but it was still enough to cause him to stagger backward, finally freeing Shade from his grasp.

"I make for a pretty good distraction, though," chuckled Guise.

Shade rushed over to Guise's side, giving the red-maned changeling a vexed look. "What are you still doing here? I thought you left."

Guise grimaced at Shade's ungrateful attitude. "You're welcome."

Shade rolled his eyes. "Look, I appreciate the help, I just don't understand why you want to help me."

"You saying you don't need my help? Guess you got a point; you looked like you had this pretty much under control," Guise quipped sarcastically.

"Could you stop being a snide jackass for two seconds and just answer the question?" Shade snipped, clearly losing his patience.

Guise lifted a hoof to diffuse Shade's rising temper. "Alright, chill out. The short answer is that I kinda need you for something."

Shade narrowed his eyes, glaring at Guise suspiciously.

"It's nothing heinous, I promise, for as much as my promises are worth."

"I swear to Celestia, Guise, whatever crap you're trying to pull, I'm not buying it," Shade stated testily.

"Okay, maybe I'm not exactly trying to turn over a new leaf here, but I mean it when I say I want your help in return."

"'In return'? Do I have to remind you that you tried to kill me?"

"Are you still harping on about that? You won, remember? I got locked up in a dungeon for two years because of that."

"I'm harping on?! The first thing you did when you got out was try to kill me again! And now you have the gall to ask for my help?!"

"Hey, you're supposed to be the nice guy. I thought those pony friends of yours would've taught you to forgive and forget, or whatever schmaltzy 'love and friendship' crap they try and push on people."

"Are you two quite done?!"

The two bickering changelings froze when they remembered that they weren't alone. Wraith's voice boomed throughout the crystal-laden cavern, his ever-growing anger making itself very much known. The captain glared fiercely at the two of them, his slotted pupils narrowed and staring venomous daggers at the two he deemed traitors. If Wraith hadn't completely lost his patience before, it was out the window now.

"Uh, talk later?" Guise said with a nervous chuckle.

"Sounds good. Provided we make it out of this," Shade agreed, taking a defensive stance.

Wraith's eyes shot back and forth between the other two changelings. As furious as he was with their inane arguing, he couldn't deny the convenience of the situation. "Perhaps I shouldn't complain. At least this will save me some time tracking you down, traitor," he said to Guise with a low growl. That being said, he still glared ferociously at the two of them. "And if you two have any disillusions about escaping with your lives, I'm sorry to inform you that you are sorely mistaken."

Wraith's long horn began to glow brightly. Leaning forward, he launched a magic beam straight at Guise, who managed to fly upward and out of the way. Shade charged forward toward Wraith, earning the captain's attention. Keeping in mind what happened last time he rushed in head first, Shade lead his charge by lifting into the air and firing a burst of magic. Wraith reacted by raising a barrier, however, Shade's projectile instead struck the ground in front of Wraith, kicking up dirt and shards of stone which partially obscured Wraith's vision. Wraith scoffed at Shade's attempt at a tactical approach, retaliating with a quick pulse of magic around himself to push all of the debris away.

Shade was still flittering in the air, and Wraith wasted no time unleashing another beam, sweeping it horizontally and forcing Shade to duck low to avoid it. Still focused on Shade, Wraith wasn't able to react quickly enough to the other adversary flying in from his right.

With a devious grin, Guise rushed Wraith, delivering a straight punch to the larger changeling's cheek. But his smirk didn't stick around long. Despite the solid blow to the face, Wraith didn't budge, glancing at his attacker aggressively through the corner of his eye while Guise's hoof was still planted firmly into his cheek.

Wraith lifted his front leg, elbowing Guise in the barrel and immediately following up by swinging his head underneath him and using his curved horn like a rhinoceros's to toss Guise to the side and into a nearby crystal formation.

Guise collapsed to the ground with a long groan, pain shooting through him from both his chest and back. Through one open eye, he glared at Wraith with bared fangs.

Wraith was about to walk over with the intent of crushing Guise's skull beneath his hoof, but noticed the smirk suddenly return to the fallen changeling's face. Assuming the implication of that, Wraith spun around in time to catch Shade charging him again from the air, thrusting his horn up as he turned in an attempt to impale him. Shade shot up a shield in time to block the sharp horn, but was forced to a stop by the impact. Just as he had done to Twilight's barrier earlier, Wraith lit up his horn and thrust even harder against the neon green force field. Unlike Twilight's barrier, cracks began to appear in Shade's instantly, and the smaller changeling had to back off before Wraith shattered it.

Capitalizing on the opportunity as Shade tried to put some distance between them, Wraith flew up after him, tackling Shade midair with his shoulder and causing him to fall to the ground. Shade managed to right himself as he fell, landing on his hooves and watching as Wraith touched down as well. Wraith fired off another beam at Shade, but this time Shade didn't evade and instead protected himself with a barrier. However, while his shield did its job, the force of Wraith's beam was enough to push Shade back until he was up against the wall of the cave.

Shade started to realize what Twilight had had to deal with when Wraith assaulted her barrier. He had to use every ounce of his strength and concentration just to keep the barrier up, and even then it was starting to wear down and crack. Shade clenched his eyes shut as the pain started shooting down his horn, but after a few more moments, the powerful force suddenly let up. But now the cracking sound was coming from something other than his shield.

Opening his eyes, Shade looked across at Wraith. The captain's horn was still lit up, but instead of focusing his magic into a beam, it was wrapped around the large crystal growing out of the ground next to him, about twelve feet high and six feet in diameter. The cracking was coming from the yellowish-green crystal as Wraith used his magic to break off shards of it. About two dozen razor-sharp shards, ranging from six to eighteen inches in size, were now floating around Wraith.

While Wraith's eyes were locked onto Shade, he briefly glanced to his left. Guise had gotten back up and was running at him. Wraith didn't even bother to give Guise his full attention, simply launching one of the crystal shards in his direction with pinpoint accuracy, threading through one of the holes in Guise's left front leg with enough force to embed itself firmly into the stone floor. The back end of the shard was larger than the end in the floor, preventing Guise from lifting his hoof and effectively pinning him to the ground momentarily while the sharp edges of the crystal dug into his chitin. Any attempt to wrench his hoof free only resulted in the edges cutting him deeper, his blood beginning to drip and pool on the ground. Guise glowered furiously at Wraith, but the captain barely looked back at him for a moment longer. If being pinned to the ground, helpless and bleeding, wasn't infuriating enough, Wraith's dismissive glance, as if he wasn't worth Wraith's time, was the clincher.

Wraith turned his full attention back to Shade. Shade was still recovering from his assault just now and hadn't moved. With impeccable coordination, each of the remaining shards floating around Wraith were rotated, their pointed ends all taking aim at Shade. After only a moment, the entire salvo of crystals were hurled toward him. Given their erratic formation, any attempt to evade them would likely result in at least one of them hitting their mark. So, instead, Shade took a different gamble and erected his barrier again. Thankfully, the shards plinked harmlessly off of the round shield, although Shade felt the sharp force of each strike as several deflected off the barrier and others dug into the wall around him.

But, apparently, Wraith wasn't finished yet. With his magic enveloping the large, splintered crystal again, the base of it began to crack, the split quickly crawling around the circumference. With no lack of visible effort on Wraith's part, the entire column of crystal came loose from its base, the sound of shattering crystal echoing loudly throughout the cavern.

Shade barely had any time to react as Wraith hurled the huge chuck of gemstone lengthwise towards him. Shade dove to his left and the crystal slammed into the wall, breaking away large chucks of rock from the wall. The impact practically shook the cavern, the other crystal formations growing out of the floor and ceiling shaking and clattering from the force.

Shade reeled for a moment as he stood back up, his back now against an enormous crystal embedded partially in the wall that stretched almost up to the ceiling—perhaps the biggest one in the cavern. He was in awe of the raw strength of Wraith's magic. Again, he found himself wondering just where a changeling without access to love could get that kind of power.

Wraith wasn't about to give Shade a moment to compose himself, though. Continuing his feats of impressive magical power, he wrenched several smaller, more narrow crystals—yet still sizable—that had been clustered around the larger one, tossing each of them end first at Shade like blunt, oversized arrows.

Shade wasn't confident enough in his barrier to attempt to block them like he did the shards. He managed to hop out of the way of the first, it's end crashing into the huge crystal behind him and taking a chunk out of it. He was about to keep running alongside the wall when the second crystal crashed in front of him, cutting him off. Seeing no other course of action, Shade flew upwards. Wraith followed his movements by tossing the remaining crystals, each of them bashing the larger crystal on the wall and barely missing Shade.

Wraith scowled up at his airborne target. Unfortunately, he'd run out of ammo, and the shards that had scattered on the floor had already proven themselves to be ineffective. But as long as his quarry was on the defensive, he knew he had the upper hoof; it was only a matter of time before Shade slipped up or got worn out.

Wraith levitated a group of scattered shards around himself again, preparing to launch a second flurry anyway. However, his attention was diverted by the sound of buzzing wings to his left. Of course, he knew it was Guise, but what he didn't expect was for the red-maned changeling to charge at him brandishing the shard of crystal Wraith had used to pin him to the ground.

In an effort to thwart Guise's haphazard attempt at a sneak attack, Wraith swung his front leg outward, expecting Guise to either dodge, or simply take the hit. But neither happened. Instead, a sinister grin played across Guise's lips as he thrust the shard into Wraith's swing, driving its sharp edges into one of the holes on Wraith's legs as he had done to him before.

Wraith winced in pain as the shard dug into his skin, wedging itself in the hole. However, that didn't stop his swing, and Guise still felt the full brunt of it, being knocked out of the air and rolling across the ground.

Despite the solid and rather painful blow, Guise's devious smirk persisted as he rose back to his hooves, though there was a notable amount of fiery rage in his blood red eyes. "Thought you could just ignore me, did you?! Save me for later because you think I'm not a threat?! I've got more killer instinct in me than he does!"

Wraith didn't respond. He merely glowered viciously at Guise as if the injury he'd sustained were nothing more than a bothersome mosquito bite. With his magic, he torn the shard free from his leg, drawing out a small splash of blood as he did so and throwing the bloodstained shard to the ground, shattering it to tiny pieces. "I was willing to give you a few extra moments to breathe, but if you want to die that badly, I can certainly oblige," he practically snarled. "But first, tell me who it was that released you."

Guise smirked mockingly. "Oh? Did you not give the order?"

"As if I would allow a traitor like you to roam free."

"And yet you asked that Blight creep for help."

"Blight is mentally unstable, but he has no intention of assaulting the throne," Wraith clarified. "And he'll be executed when his job is done regardless. Now, tell me who released you," he demanded.

Guise shrugged, but maintained his cocky smirk. "You've got a lot of soldiers wandering around. You think I know all their names? Maybe Chrysalis ordered them to let me out."

Wraith narrowed his eyes. "I very much doubt that. And you are trying my patience."

"Why should I bother telling you? You probably plan to kill me either way, so I may as well have a little fun messing with you while I can."

Wraith scowled at him, clearly irritated by Guise's nonchalant attitude in the face of someone who was clearly stronger than him. "Then I'll make sure your mirth is short lived."

Guise chuckled darkly as Wraith closed the gap between them. The captain raised an eyebrow.

"Do you find your imminent death amusing?"

The red-eyed changeling grinned deviously. "Hey, remember when I told you I make for a good distraction?"

Wraith halted. It was only now that he started to notice an odd sound coming from behind him. A cracking noise, like when he broke off those crystals. He spun around, spotting the source.

Shade was using his own magic to crack the giant crystal on the wall, its integrity already having been weakened by the several smaller columns Wraith had chucked at it before. With all the strength he could muster, Shade focused his magic on the damaged parts of the crystal, the cracks snaking outward. With one last forceful push, the towering column could no longer support its own weight and snapped off at the center. The enormous chunk of crystal toppled over, its sheer size smashing against several other crystals growing out of the ceiling, sending rocks and gemstones raining down as the colossal crystal fell with them.

For the moment, Wraith was no longer concerned with Shade and Guise, instead focusing on the stones and gems falling all around him and threatening to crush him. He was about to move out of the way, but was suddenly struck in the back of the head by a kick from Guise. The weaker changeling's blow wasn't enough to really cause much harm, but it did reinforce Guise's claim of being a good distraction, as well as continue to boil Wraith's anger.

Guise and Shade flew out of the way of the falling debris, but Wraith was forced to ignore Guise's incessant sucker punch and escape in the opposite direction due to the large boulder falling beside him and cutting him off. He even threw up a barrier just in case an errant piece of debris managed to strike him.

The entire cavern shook, the sheer force of the quaking enough to shake several more rocks and crystals loose from the ceiling. Shade and Guise could both tell that remaining in the area any longer would likely result in them being buried alive, and with Wraith concerning himself with his own safety, they decided now would be a good time to make their escape.

Wraith found himself back where he had entered the cavern, now cut off from where Shade and Guise had gone by the debris that continued to pile up, the floor still shaking from the weight of it all. With all of the large crystals and boulders that had fallen free from the walls and ceiling, the area had been effectively caved in.

Wraith scowled, gritting his teeth furiously as he retrieved his fallen helmet. It would take far too much time for him to clear all of this away in order to give chase. They had escaped, and he was not happy about it. Any minor injuries he had sustained during the battle were not nearly as painful as the humiliation of being bested by two traitors, one of them being no better than a common drone.

That being said, Guise's presence brought to light a situation Wraith had not anticipated. Now that his quarry had managed to elude him, this may be a good opportunity to do a little investigating.

***** ***** *****

As the quaking in the caves died down and debris stopped raining down from the ceiling, Shade let himself fall back onto his haunches, out of breath and exhausted, both physically and mentally. He and Guise had managed to get out of the cavern of crystals without being buried alive and, all things considered, no worse for wear. Shade felt a throbbing in his head, but it wasn't so much like the headaches he'd been experiencing recently as it was centralized around the base of his horn. It took a lot of effort to topple that huge crystal, and he likely wouldn't have been able to do it at all if Wraith hadn't conveniently created several weak points.

"Ahhh, that'll get the blood pumpin'," Guise exclaimed with a satisfied grin as he sat down nearby Shade. "Who would've thought we'd make such a good team?"

Shade managed to give Guise a bemused glare as he continued to catch his breath. "Alright, so what's this 'help' you were talking about?"

Guise's smirk dropped. "Just like that, huh? Jeez, you're all business nowadays, aren't you? I'd've thought you'd mellow out a bit with your new, laid-back life style," he quipped, gently rubbing his bleeding leg.

Shade let out a long sigh. "Look, I'm not in the mood to deal with your attitude right now. Can you just answer the question, please?"

As much as Guise liked to mess with Shade, considering everything that's happened, he decided to cut him some slack for once. "Well, I don't need your help per se, but if I'm gonna ditch this poor excuse for a kingdom, I'm gonna need a fall back plan."

Shade raised an eyebrow skeptically. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"The ponies already know there are good changelings out there, so it shouldn't be too hard to insert myself into their society. Especially if I have someone to vouch for me," Guise hinted with a bob of his brow.

Shade grimaced at the implication, groaning and getting up to keep moving deeper into the hive.

Guise rose to go after him, confused by his reaction. "What?"

"Do you honestly think I'm going to defend you after all the crap you've done? You already told me you plan on just finding somepony to siphon love from. I am not condoning that."

Guise rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, what if I promise not to cause too much trouble? I do realize that if I start acting maliciously, I'm probably gonna get found out."

"I already said that if you do decide to live with the ponies, I'm informing Princess Celestia that you're there. Plus, I'm gonna be keeping tabs on you."

Guise scoffed. "Tch, as if I'm going to hang out in that podunk town with you. No, no, no, I'm not gonna be kept on a leash. I'll do my own thing, thank you very much."

"Then you're really not giving me any reason to vouch for you," Shade deadpanned. "If I back you up and you do something stupid, I'm gonna get lumped in with you. I've got too much at stake to risk on you and your power fantasies."

"Sheesh, this is how you treat someone you've known literally your whole life? I know we were never exactly 'friends,' but how did we manage to tolerate each other growing up? You used to hate the ponies as much as any of us."

Shade stared forward, his voice growing quieter and more solemn. "Because I'm not the same person I was back then. I've changed, but you haven't."

Guise remained silent for a moment. He couldn't deny that, certainly, but a part of him knew that Shade was his only real chance of making it outside the Changeling Kingdom. He managed a smirk once more. "How about if I sweeten the deal?"

Shade glanced at him curiously, but suspiciously. "What?"

"Okay, so, I'll promise to try not to cause any trouble in pony country. In return, you bail me out if I mess up in some way."

Shade was about to interject with another refusal, but Guise held up his bloody hoof to stop him.

"If it's a minor slip up. I won't expect you to help me if I royally screw up, and you don't even have to associate with me until I make some kind of mistake. That way, you can decide whether or not you want to help me out."

Shade took a moment to think about it. He breathed a reluctant sigh. "Guise, I don't trust you. It's as simple as that. It's gonna take much more than that to convince me to help you."

Guise chuckled. "Funny you should say that. I think I have just the ticket."

Shade waited for what he expected to be an underwhelming argument.

"I know where your kid is."

Shade came to a halt, his eyes widening in surprise and disbelief. "What? You know where Snowflake is?!"

Guise nodded. He knew he had Shade's attention now. "Yup. Met the little half-breed myself."

Shade narrowed his eyes skeptically. "And how do I know you're not lying?"

Guise rolled his deep crimson eyes, getting a little tired of all the mistrust. "Fine, I'll prove it to you."

With a quick flash of green fire around his body, Guise suddenly vanished. Shade had to look around for a second before he turned his gaze down to the floor. He was shocked to see the spitting image of his own son staring up at him. The green tuft of hair and bright, emerald eyes; the pitch black coat; the translucent wings. He was telling the truth.

"Good enough?" Guise said in a high-pitched, squeaky voice.

Shade had to admit it was a little surreal to hear his infant son talk to him, but there were more important things on his mind right now. "Uh, yeah, okay. You've got a deal."

Satisfied with that answer, Guise returned to his original form with a grin.

"So, where is he?" Shade asked desperately.

"He's being kept at the soldiers' quarters, somewhere near the throne room."

"How is he? Is he okay?" Shade's voice was dripping with concern.

Guise pulled back, off put by Shade's desperation. "Yeah, he's fine as far as I could tell. Glory's looking after him now."

"Glory?" The mention of the name put Shade on edge. "Why is she looking after him?"

Guise chuckled. "Apparently she got demoted to foalsitting duty after she failed to kill you. I wouldn't worry too much; she seems like she can take good care of him."

"Do you know what they even want with him?"

"No clue," Guise answered with a shake of his head. "I'm not even sure if Glory knows."

Shade shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter. Just lead the way."

Guise hesitated for a second, looking a touch embarrassed. "Uh... Actually, I only know where he is. I didn't say I knew how to get there."

Shade stared at him, baffled. "What? But you said you were there."

"And you've been to the throne room before, but do you remember how to get there? The only reason I found the soldiers' quarters was because I followed Glory there. And I followed a squad of soldiers to get here. I'm not just randomly wandering around in here, ya know?"

Shade let out a disappointed sigh. It wasn't a good feeling to have his hopes raised like that only to come crashing down. He could tell that Guise didn't intend to do that, though, and, after everything, he felt like he finally owed Guise something. "I'm never thought I'd have to say this once, let alone twice, but, thanks, Guise."

Guise's eyes widened a little. He was actually surprised to hear that. It caught him off guard. "Oh. Uh, well, I'm still not doing this for entirely selfless reasons. Maybe save your thanks for when this is all over."

"I guess that means you're going to be tagging along with me for the time being, huh? Can't let anything happen to your contingency plan, right?"

"Don't get me wrong. If I have to step over you to save myself, I will."

Shade nodded with a roll of his eyes. He figured he shouldn't have expected too much. Whatever the case, he had some sort of lead now. It might not even be entirely necessary to confront Queen Chrysalis if he could just find Snowflake and leave. But that still left Winter and Chamella, not to mention Twilight and the others; thanks to that cave-in, he didn't even have the option of going back to meet up with them. All things considered, there was still going to be a lot of luck involved, but at least he had something, and that gave Shade a newfound confidence, especially since they had put some distance between themselves and Wraith.

***** ***** *****

With a heavy sigh, Glory trudged back through the caves to her new post. She was feeling a little tired and somewhat exhausted. Slung over her back was a makeshift sack made of dehydrated leaves, their ends tied together to hold what she had gone to fetch. It wasn't easy to find leaves that were both big and healthy enough to use in this manner in the Changeling Kingdom, so she counted herself lucky. She could have carried everything with her magic, but considering the distance she had to carry them, she'd rather not.

It was pretty ridiculous the distance she had to travel just to get this stuff. Even though she was well acquainted with the winding passages of the hive, it was still some ways away to the nearest exit, and this task just ate up a few hours of her life. Yet another reason to despise her new station.

If that weren't enough, she couldn't even enjoy the silence anymore. News quickly got around that she'd been delegated as the new foalsitter for their newest prisoner, and the other soldiers were certainly relishing in her misery. She used to command respect from the soldiers; some were even uneasy in her presence. But one simple order from her superior and now she was the butt of everyone's joke. Now, every time she made her way through the caves, she'd have to put up with snickering and degrading comments from every soldier she passed. If the plan was to demoralize her, it was working.

Glory's ears swiveled forward slightly. There was a sound coming from up ahead, one she was starting to get familiarized with, whether she liked it or not. The sound of whiny sniffing and sobbing. At this point, she was just happy she was about to have a chance to sit down and relax for a little bit. At the very least, taking care of the halfling wasn't an entirely strenuous job. She was starting to realize how well suited for the task she was, too, as much as she hated to admit it. Being able to see the tyke's memories made it pretty easy to figure out what was wrong with him.

As she approached the green flames flanking the entrance to the soldiers' quarters, Glory inhaled deeply and walked inside.

Snowflake was sitting in the middle of the room, just where Glory had left him. He was whimpering and hiccuping with tears running down his cheeks and snot dripping from his nose. But the moment the foal heard hoofsteps, his sobbing ceased and he turned to the entrance.

Glory raised an eyebrow at the little colt's expression. Even though she hadn't spent that much time with him yet, he seemed to recognize her. He didn't seem to be afraid at all like when he first saw her. If anything, he stared at her pleadingly. Of course, the whole reason she left in the first place was resting on her back.

Glory removed the leafy sack from her back and tossed it unceremoniously in front of the foal. The impact caused the leaves to unravel on their own, revealing all the food that she had gathered from the forests and fields outside. There wasn't much, but that was to be expected, especially since half the stuff Glory had found she ate herself. She had saved all the small stuff for the tyke. She was lucky enough to happen upon a rather bountiful bush of blueberries, but also left half an apple that had started to brown, and even picked up a few glowing mushrooms that she passed by on her way back.

With the food platter laid out before the kid, Glory let herself drop down to the floor, removing her helmet and letting out a long moan as she stretched out. "There. Have at it."

Snowflake's sobbing was diffused the instant he laid his eyes on the food. He eagerly crawled over to the spread, looking over the options before him. With a big, playful grin, he swung his hooves down onto the pile of blueberries, splattered them all over the leaves and the floor around it and staining his little, black hooves purple. He then began to suckle on his juice-soaked hooves, loudly slurping down the sweet berry mush.

As odd a display as that was, Glory couldn't help but grin in amusement. "Can't say I've ever considering eating them like that."

Glory observed the foal as he indulged in the meal she had brought him. It was strange how quickly he could go from frightened and lonely to cheery and playful. He likely didn't really understand his circumstances, but as long as he wasn't screeching and blubbering, Glory wasn't going to complain. The happier the foal was, the easier her new job was.

Glory let out a long yawn. After trekking around for several hours and having seen the sun starting to disappear beyond the horizon in the time she'd been outside, she was starting to feel the night approaching. She was looking forward to getting a little shuteye. In preparation, Glory slipped her metal chest plate up over her head and set it aside with her helmet, scratching an itch on her chest that had been bugging her for a while. After a quick stretch, she lay down on her stomach with her front legs crossed. She closed her eyes for a few moments, but didn't lay her head down just yet; she wanted to let her muscles relax a little first, otherwise the aching would keep her awake.

Just as she was starting to get comfortable, Glory felt something lightly hit her leg. Opening her eyes and looking down, she saw Snowflake with his little mouth stuffed with a mushroom while he was playfully shoving another mushroom into one of the holes in Glory's leg. Apparently the tyke still had quite a bit of energy; it probably didn't help that she'd already put him down for a nap earlier, but it wasn't likely she was going to get much rest until the halfling wore himself out.

A green glow surrounded the mushroom lodged in Glory's leg, as she popped it back out and dropped it next to Snowflake. "This stuff's for eating, not playing," she told the young pony, her tone soft as opposed to scolding.

As if heeding her words, Snowflake chomped down on the mushroom in his mouth, chewing with packed cheeks. Glory noticed his enthusiasm as he munched away. She'd always found those mushrooms pretty bland herself. They weren't necessarily satisfying to eat, but he seemed to enjoy it greatly. Glory didn't know if mushrooms were a part of the ponies' diet or not, but the way he was eating it seemed to suggest they might have been. That, or his changeling genes gave him a natural tolerance to them.

After he'd finished the first mushroom, Snowflake started looking around. He wasn't looking for food since there was still another mushroom and half an apple within hoof's reach. Not wanting to spend time playing guessing games, Glory gently placed her hoof under the foal's chin, turning him to her and staring straight into his bright, emerald eyes to figure out what he wanted. Just like the last couple of times she'd done this now, Snowflake looked a little uncomfortable after the experience. Unfortunately, he was going to have to put up with it since this was the closest thing they were going to get to communication.

After a moment of perusing, Glory determined that he was simply thirsty and was searching for something to drink. Without getting up, Glory used her magic to levitate one of the leaves she'd brought the food in over to the small pool of water by the wall. She used the leaf to scoop up a little water and carefully brought it back over to the foal. At the sight of the water, Snowflake reached out and held either side of the leaf, letting the water run down the center and into his open mouth. He got more of it on himself than in, but he seemed satisfied afterward anyway.

Watching the little one eat and drink and play, Glory found herself lost in thought. She was able to do something that no other changeling could do by seeing the halfling's memories. As a result, she knew what he wanted when he wanted it. And in doing so, she was starting to realize how similar her job here was to what his parents did for him back home. She was feeding him, keeping him calm, putting him to sleep. She wasn't just watching him, she was taking care of him. It was a strange feeling to actually take care of another creature.

Glory was snapped from her thoughts when she felt something press up against her shoulder. The tiny pony was leaning into her, suddenly letting out a long, squeaky yawn. Apparently, while she was silently pondering, he'd eaten the other mushroom and even got started on the half apple, though he'd only taken a few small bites. With his little tummy full, it didn't take long for him to doze off, his head nestled up against Glory.

Her first thought was to wake the foal up and put some space between them. However, his soft, thin coat felt pretty nice and warm against her chitinous skin. Maybe just this once she'd let him have his way, but she was going to make sure this didn't become a habit.

Now that things had gotten quiet, Glory finally laid her head down on her hooves and followed Snowflake's example, shutting her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

Chapter 21 - Breaking Point

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 21: Breaking Point

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It must have been late by now. It hadn't just felt like hours, but days since they had woken up that morning—or what had been assumed to be morning. Chamella and Winter were not just tired, but exhausted and sore. At least they weren't hungry or thirsty, they had that much. Right now, they wanted nothing more than to find a suitable place to sleep.

Their current location was not ideal.

The pegasus and the changeling found themselves carefully navigating a precarious ridge overlooking a narrow, but very deep ravine. The path ran along the left wall, but they only had about three feet of space to work with, so Chamella was taking the lead to light the way. The right wall was only around ten feet away from them, making the overall area rather cramped. The gorge they were walking alongside extended downward far enough that they couldn't see bottom, however, they could still hear the sound of rushing water coming up from the darkness, suggesting that they were still traveling with the river they had last rested at a few hours ago.

Even though the two of them had since dried off from their watery "excursions," neither one of them believed they'd be able to survive if they were to fall into the ravine. With how worn out and sleepy they were, Chamella and Winter both doubted they'd have the energy to fly out. They were desperately hoping that they would find someplace safe soon, though they'd been hoping that for hours now. They were starting to regret not turning in back at the waterfall.

Chamella turned her head slightly, not wanting to take her eyes off of the dangerous path, but curious about her companion following behind her. "You okay, Winter?" she asked softly.

The pegasus gave a slow nod. "Yeah, just... tired."

Pretty much the response Chamella was expecting. She just wanted to ask to ensure that Winter hadn't passed out from exhaustion and possibly fallen off.

"Probably no point in asking, but any idea if we're getting anywhere?" Winter asked.

Chamella breathed a remorseful sigh. "No idea, sorry."

Winter could hear in Chamella's tone that she was feeling pretty bad about this. There were multiple routes they could have taken after leaving the waterfall area, but they ended up in this one. "Try not to beat yourself up, Chamella. I know you wanted to be a guide, but there's no way anypony could memorize the layout of this place."

Chamella inhaled a quiet breath through her nose, smiling slightly. She still found it a little unbelievable that Winter had finally forgiven her transgressions, and to hear the pegasus trying to cheer her up was quite refreshing after everything they'd been through. "Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm just as exhausted as you is all."

The silence quickly encroached once more, but, not wanting the boredom to set in and possibly wear them out further, as well as simply pass the time, Winter decided to keep the conversation alive with whatever came to mind. "So, let's think ahead for a second here. What's the plan when—or if—we find Chrysalis? You seem pretty convinced that she'll be cooperative."

Chamella tilted her head slightly as she thought about it. "Um... That depends on the circumstances, I guess. I've said before that I think something's up with all of this, and I just want to know why this had to happen."

"And what if she says that she specifically wanted to get her hooves on Snowflake for whatever reason? Are we supposed to fight her for him?"

"That all depends on how you feel at the time, I suppose. Are you willing to go hoof to hoof with Queen Chrysalis?"

Winter hesitated for a second, looking conflicted. "I don't want to, but if I have to... Whether or not I could actually win is another story."

"If she's not going to let us take him back, then the best course of action would probably be to just run away and try to find him ourselves."

The pegasus breathed a sigh at the prospect. "That probably means we'd be here a lot longer. This is starting to seem like a hopeless effort. I mean, more hopeless than it already felt."

Chamella flashed a reassuring smile over her shoulder. "I still highly doubt that'll be the case. Maybe I'm just trying to be optimistic, but I think if we just talk to her, we might get somewhere."

Chamella's words of encouragement didn't do much to lift Winter's spirits. "Didn't Blight say he was let out of the dungeon specifically to kill us? Somepony had to give him that order, right?"

"Just another question we'll have to ask her," Chamella responded with a shrug. "It's probably best if we don't think too hard about all of this. The more we think about it, the harder it'll be to adapt if it doesn't go as planned."

"So, we're just going to wing it then? I guess we've survived this far doing that, but only barely."

Chamella kept her eyes trained forward. She knew coming here was going to be dangerous from the beginning, but they'd already had several life-threatening encounters. She would have said that they had simply gotten lucky, but the truth of the matter was that they had survived this long because they were together. That was a big form of motivation for Chamella; she was eager to save Snowflake not just because she was his aunt and godmother, but because she wanted to return home with a new friend. She didn't want Winter's forgiveness to go to waste. She wanted to strengthen that new, budding friendship.

Finally, after walking for ages in this cramped crevice, Chamella could see a wall in the distance. There was a brief moment where she was worried that it was simply going to be a dead end, but thankfully she could see that there was a passage that traveled into the wall.

"Looks like we can finally get out of here," Chamella said, her voice as peppy as she could manage.

"That's good news. But where are we gonna end up?"

The path into the wall was even more compact than the ravine. The two mares could barely squeeze through so they had to remove their saddlebags and carry them in their mouths. Chamella had a slightly easier time in the cramped quarters due to her more slender frame. Winter's wings were brushing up against the walls of the crevice, and her flanks were being uncomfortably squeezed in the tight space. The worry now was that this path lead nowhere, as there wasn't any room to turn around if they needed to head back. Admittedly, they were both feeling a touch claustrophobic.

Fortunately they only had to navigate the narrow passage for a few minutes before Chamella could see the exit up ahead. The changeling cautiously approached the exit, poking her head out to ensure there was no danger in the vicinity. Thankfully the coast was clear, with not a thing in sight except the larger space that seemed to lead even deeper into the hive.

Chamella slid out of what any person on the outside would think was just a random crack in the wall, emerging into the more open area beyond and dropping her bags. She had a quick look around while she waited for Winter to catch up. As luck would have it, the area was peppered with several paths leading in various directions. Anyone passing through this area might not have even noticed the crevice that Chamella had just come from as there were certainly more notable directions to choose from.

Chamella heard a strained grunt coming from behind her, and she turned around to see Winter had dropped her own bags and was struggling to get out of the crevice, her flanks being firmly gripped by the walls of the tight passage.

After several failed attempts to pull her caboose free, Winter groaned in defeat, staring at Chamella with a pleading look and an embarrassed blush. "A little help?" she requested sheepishly.

Chamella found it difficult to suppress an amused snicker. Even Winter knew how comical the situation must have looked, as she found herself with a small grin as well. The changeling grabbed Winter's front hooves. "Guess all the sweets are catching up to you."

Winter pouted in offense. "It's got nothing to do with diet. I'm still working off the baby weight."

"Tell yourself whatever you need to," Chamella said with a giggle.

"Just shut up and pull."

The changeling pulled on Winter's front legs, and the pegasus even planted her wings to either side of the crevice to get as much leverage as possible. She began to feel the crack's hold on her loosening as she started to wiggle herself free, though the rough stone was a little painful against her skin. Eventually, Winter popped loose from the crevice, the force applied by both mares causing her to fall forward suddenly with a surprised yelp, inadvertently knocking Chamella to the ground and falling on top of her.

Winter propped herself up with a pained groan, reaching a hoof back to rub her sore rump. She then remembered that Chamella was underneath her, and looked down at the changeling. Chamella was still trying to stifle her childish giggles, earning a furrowed brow from Winter, though the pegasus couldn't hide her own smile either.

"Don't you dare tell Shade about that," Winter ordered.

"Are you kidding? I'm telling the whole town."

There was a moment of silence, but instead of reprimanding Chamella, the two of them simply broke out into laughter as Winter rolled off the changeling and onto her back next to her. Really, they needed a little laughter; something to brighten the dreary mood that came naturally in this place. After everything they've had to deal with, having even a little fun was a novelty.

After the light laughter died down, Winter sat up and had a look around, taking note of all the passages surrounding them. Where there were now reminded her of the last major junction they'd found themselves in that eventually lead them here. "So, what's the plan from here?"

Chamella stayed on the ground, taking the opportunity to stretch. "Well, junctions like this means that there's probably something around here."

"That's good, right?" Winter said with a hint of optimism.

Chamella nodded. "Probably. I think we ended up off the beaten path, so it's at least a little relieving to know we could be back on track. I have a feeling we're even getting close to the throne room."

Winter almost couldn't believe that. "Seriously?"

"I'm not guaranteeing anything. But I'm going to leave the decision to you: do you want to keep going?"

Winter paused for a moment, biting her lip hesitantly. "If we are close, then it's definitely tempting. But if you're not absolutely sure, then it's probably too risky to keep going in the state we're in."

Chamella nodded in agreement, rolling over onto her side lazily. "I don't really want to keep looking for a better place to rest. I say we just stop here and get some sleep. We can think about which way to go when we wake up."

The pegasus stretched her legs, back and wings herself before letting herself flop over backwards. At this point, the cold, uncomfortable, stone floor was the least of their concerns. Both of them felt exhausted enough to just drift off at the drop of a hat, and that was what they planned to do. They only slid their saddlebags under their heads to act as makeshift pillows for at least a modicum of comfort before closing their eyes for the night. Hopefully this was the last night they'd have to spend in this unforgiving place.

***** ***** *****

Glory let out a long yawn as she started to wake up from her night's rest. She'd slept surprisingly well. She couldn't explain why, but she already felt like she was in a good mood, even though she'd just woken up.

She was about to stand up and stretch her legs, but felt some weight on her right front leg. Looking down, she found a tiny foal laying against her, his little head and front hooves draped over her leg as he continued dozing.

Glory stared for a moment, a little confused, but quickly remembered. She'd almost forgotten that she was put in charge of the tyke. Had they really spent the whole night lying together? Glory had peered into Snowflake's memories a few times, and she'd seen multiple instances of the foal crying in the middle of the night and seemingly causing much frustration for his parents. As such, she was fully expecting to have to deal with the same thing, but for some reason he hadn't made a peep.

As peaceful as Snowflake looked snoozing away on her leg, Glory had things she wanted to do; namely, finding some breakfast. She gently nudged the foal with her free hoof. "Hey, get up."

The prodding only prompted Snowflake to moan in his sleep and hold onto Glory's leg tighter. The changeling rolled her eyes with a groan and made another attempt to wake him up. Again, she got no positive response. Not having the patience to deal with this right now, Glory resorted to lifting Snowflake carefully with her magic. No longer having another warm body against his, Snowflake's beady, green eyes finally cracked open, accompanied by a cranky and sleepy pout. He stared grumpily at Glory, who stared back sternly.

"Nap time's over," she informed flatly.

Snowflake obviously didn't understand what Glory said, but he seemed to react to her tone, struggling a little in her magical grasp. Glory set the foal down, letting him get his bearings as he shook off his sleepiness with a yawn.

Glory finally stood up and got her stretching in. Snowflake was staring up at her somewhat expectantly, and she had a feeling she knew what it was he wanted. He was hungry, too, no doubt. It was just as well; Glory was planning on making a food run anyway, and now that she knew the small pony liked the mushrooms that grew in the caves, she wouldn't have to go far to find them a meal.

"Just sit tight for a few minutes. I'll be back with something to eat soon," Glory told him in a soft voice.

Snowflake sat still as he watched Glory disappear from sight, letting out a lonely whimper as he was left by his lonesome. Glory didn't pay it much heed; she knew she was only going to be gone ten minutes at most.

Glory knew of a nearby area where those mushrooms grew, so it didn't take long for her to get there and gather up a healthy amount of food for herself and the halfling. But even the short trek gave her the time to think about her circumstances. She wasn't expecting her days to be particularly eventful from here on out. Based on what she knew from Snowflake's memories, he had the potential to be quite a nuisance. So far, aside from the incessant bawling, he'd been relatively well behaved. At least, as far as she knew. She hadn't bothered to learn what her predecessor had to deal with aside from the screeching. She simply inferred that he didn't have any idea of how to take care of the tyke, just putting food in front of him in the hopes that he'd shut up.

But what was going to happen from here? Glory was irked by the fact that she didn't fully know what the plan was for the halfling. Whatever it was, she had made it abundantly clear that she believed it was a waste of effort. And what of Shade and the other intruders? She could very well be helping in the soldiers' efforts to rid the hive of them, but even if they did, would she still be relegated to foalsitting duty until the child was old enough to fend for himself? She wasn't finding the task to be difficult as of yet, but she found herself questioning whether or not Snowflake could even survive in the hive long term.

Glory shook her head in frustration. There was nothing she hated more than being plagued by questions for which she could get no answers. The only thing she could do was attempt to put them out of her mind for the time being. Perhaps she'd be made privy to such information in due time; that's what she hoped.

Glory paused for a moment as she made her way back to the soldiers' quarters, detecting the now familiar sound of crying echoing through the caves. With about two dozen small mushrooms in tow with her magic, Glory hurried her pace back to her post to see what was the matter. Surely Snowflake wasn't simply lonely; she'd been gone for several hours yesterday and all he did was sniffle and sob quietly.

She skidded to a stop at the entrance, stepping inside to see what the problem was. As it turned out Snowflake wasn't alone. Along with the foal crying fearfully on the floor, there was also another changeling soldier present, baring his fangs aggressively at the small pony.

"Get away from him," Glory commanded with a hiss.

At the sound of Glory's voice, Snowflake's crying simmered down to quiet sobbing and hiccups.

The armored soldier cast a glance over his shoulder at Glory, sneering derisively. "And whose gonna make me? The nanny?" he scoffed condescendingly.

Glory narrowed her eyes. Even when staring her right in the face, the soldiers gave her no respect, and it was starting to irritate her. "I shouldn't have to remind you that I was put in charge of his well-being. If you plan to hurt him, then I reserve the right to hurt you."

The soldier looked hesitant to continue with the threats, but still glowered at Glory. "Why do you care? I've heard you complain to Wraith about how pointless this kid is. If we just kill it, we won't have to take care of it anymore."

"You say 'we' as if this is your problem, too. I'm the one who was told to look after him. But if you want to ignore orders, fine. You'll just incur the consequences."

The soldier simply smirked. "Sounds good to me. After all, you're the one whose gonna get the flak for it, being his caretaker and all."

Glory wasn't about to give him the chance to threaten Snowflake, stepping in between him and the foal. Snowflake held onto her hind leg, attempting to shield himself from the stranger.

The other changeling stared her down, but didn't make a move. Regardless of her current status, Glory was recently one of the highest ranking soldiers in the colony. So instead of confronting her, he simply gave her a disrespectful glare and turned toward the exit. He cast a quick glance at the foal from the corner of his eye, smirking slightly. Wanting to get just a little enjoyment out of this, he spun back around, stomping his hooves and hissing loudly at the foal. Snowflake jumped with a start and immediately began bawling in fright.

The soldier was barely able to get a quick chuckle out before he felt Glory's hoof connect squarely with his jaw, knocking him to the ground. Shaken, he held a hoof to his cheek, looking back up at Glory in shock of the sudden assault. Glory was glaring down at him with absolute disdain in her hazel eyes.

"I warned you. Leave. Now!"

Without wasting a moment, the soldier scrambled clumsily to his hooves and ran out of the room.

Glory let her rage die down with a long sigh before turning back to the weeping foal clinging fearfully to her leg. Glory suddenly felt something in her chest, as though she'd been hurt. She found herself staring sympathetically at the foal. He was crying, but it wasn't because he was lonely, or hungry, or tired, but because he was scared. Glory didn't know how to explain it, but somehow she could tell this was different from the way he'd cried before, even without reading his memories.

"Alright, he's gone now," Glory said soothingly, leaning down to the crying foal on her leg.

Snowflake opened his eyes, looking up at his caretaker with tearful eyes and sniffles. Again, Glory felt a sudden pain in her chest as the tyke gazed pitiably at her. Snowflake released her hind leg and crawled over to her front leg and grabbed onto it instead.

Glory sat down, quietly letting the foal calm himself down. She still didn't understand it. Why was this foal seemingly so comfortable around her, but other changelings terrified him? Not only that, but she also couldn't explain what was going through her head when that soldier frightened him. She attacked without a moment's thought or hesitation, and the odd part was that it didn't have anything to do with her job. She lashed out because Snowflake had been threatened, and now she found herself thinking about the soldier's words: why did she care?

Glory looked down at the little pony as he cuddled into her leg for comfort, finding herself with that tight pain in her chest again. She knew he didn't belong here, but she was starting to wonder if he wasn't the only one.

***** ***** *****

Chamella felt herself returning to consciousness. It was nice to get a little escape from the issues that they were having to deal with, if only briefly during sleep. Chamella couldn't particularly remember if she had had any dreams during the night, but she felt like she must have considering it took a few seconds to realize where she was.

She did feel reasonably rested at least, probably on account of just how exhausted she and Winter were the previous night. She must have conked out the moment she closed her eyes. Chamella may have felt rested, but she still felt sore in some areas. Her legs were still feeling a little weak, and she could feel the stone floor digging into some of her bruises.

However, at the moment, it was the rumbling in her stomach that garnered the majority of her attention. A little breakfast would hit the spot right now, but she wasn't craving anything in particular. Seemed just as well to browse what was left in her bag.

Chamella finally lifted her head off of her saddlebags, which she was using as pillows, and rolled her neck and flittered her wings a little to loosen herself up. She hoisted her bags up and flipped one open to have a look inside.

But something was off. Not the food, but something else. Chamella felt like something was wrong, and she soon realized what.

She turned to where Winter had been sleeping to wake her up, only to find that Winter was not there. Chamella quickly rose to her hooves in panic. Winter was gone, but her bags were still there, right where she had left them. It was possible she had already woken up and had simply gone to look for a place to use the bathroom.

"Winter?" Chamella called out, hoping the pegasus was within earshot.

She received no response, heightening Chamella's panic. Certainly if Winter needed to relieve herself, she'd pick a place relatively close by, which probably meant that something had happened.

Chamella looked at the many paths diverging from her current location. If Winter had gone anywhere, then that meant she could literally have gone anywhere. How was she supposed to track her down?

"Winter!" she tried calling out again, but louder.

All she got in return was her own voice echoing back at her in the spacious caves, which, again, only served to worry her further.

Amidst her panicked looking around, Chamella paused for a moment when she smelled something. She was all too familiar with that scent. Blood, no doubt about it. After a quick look around on the floor, she spotted a stain of red alarmingly close to where Winter had been sleeping. Chamella attempted to keep her cool and prevent her mind from assuming the worst.

Leaning down, she inspected the blood closely. It was still fresh, that much she could tell. That at least gave her hope that, whatever had happened, she could figure it out and find Winter before it was too late. And as luck would have it, Chamella spied more small pools of blood leading away from her location and down one of the many connecting tunnels.

Chamella didn't want to waste anymore time. In the event that they didn't end up coming back this way—assuming she found Winter—she threw her saddlebags onto her back and took Winter's with her mouth before hurrying off in the direction that the blood trail was leading.

***** ***** *****

Winter's heart was beating like a jackhammer and beads of fearful sweat dripped down her forehead. She wanted to scream, but she could not. She wanted to struggle, but she could not. All she could do was whimper pathetically.

Her mouth was covered by the ebony chitin of a changeling's hoof, preventing her from calling out as she was not lucky enough for her assailant to give her access to one of his leg's many holes. What made it worse was that the leg was covered in bloody cuts and gashes, and the foul taste of blood was violating her lips and tongue. She was being dragged backwards, her withers scrapping against the coarse, rocky floor and only adding to her pain and discomfort.

Winter let out a muffled cry as she felt a particularly sharp rock dig into her backside as she was dragged over it. Her captor obviously had no regard for her well being, but considering she knew who it was, that wasn't surprising.

"That's it, keep screaming, sweetie. It only makes this more fun," her captor breathed next to her ear in a disgustingly perverted tone.

His voice only made this situation all the more distressing. That familiar voice sent chills down her spine, especially since she was at his mercy with nopony around to help her this time.

This was how Winter woke up; being dragged through the caves by a bloodthirsty psychopath. She'd been so exhausted from her travels the day before that she didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. Even now she could do nothing. He'd already told her that if she were to struggle, he'd kill her right then and there. A part of her was tempted to try anyway, as he appeared to be quite injured. But even so, this was Blight, back again after having a wing torn off, thrown into a ravine, horn snapped off, and dashed about the rocks in a raging river. His pain tolerance must have been incredibly high. Winter had hoped he'd been carried far away by the river, but apparently not far enough. He'd somehow managed to not only survive the rapids, but track them down again, as well.

Winter couldn't even tell how far she'd been dragged. It already felt like an eternity as her fear wracked her mind. And the putrid scent and taste of Blight's blood on top of his sickening voice only made the situation that much more dreadful.

Before Winter could concern herself with her whereabouts any further, she found herself being thrown violently to the floor on her back. Finally, Blight had removed his hoof from her mouth and Winter had a chance to get her bearings. Although it was very dark, Winter could at least make out enough to tell that she'd been taken to an empty chamber somewhere, likely out of the way so that it would be harder for somepony to find them. The room was a dead end, but heavily calcified, giving the walls and many large stalactites and stalagmites of the cavern a dirty, off-white coloring, which at least helped Winter identify her surroundings in the pitch blackness.

Winter flinched when Blight stomped a hoof to the right side of her head. He was hovering over her, staring down at her with that same psychotic grin. Winter had known it was him that had dragged her away, but even so, seeing his face again somehow unsettled her even more. The pupils of his silver eyes were narrow like needles, and along with the delight in his expression, there was also a mixture of his usual sadism and suppressed rage, the latter evident by how his normally sky blue sclera were quite bloodshot.

Despite his wide, toothy grin, Blight looked to be in considerably bad shape, even more so than Winter had assumed. His white mohawk still looked wet from his dip in the river, drooping flat against his head. His body was covered in bloody gouges that were still oozing even now. His right hind leg looked like it was hanging by a thread, the holes in the appendage brutally cut and torn, leaving very little to hold it together; Winter had to wonder how he was able to walk on it.

Blight chuckled darkly as he gazed uncomfortably into Winter's fear-filled, amber eyes. "You and your little friend have caused me quite a deal of trouble. I'm usually a 'live-in-the-moment' kinda guy, but after all of this, I'm actually worried about how I'm going to get along from here."

"If you had just—"

"Shut up!"

Winter winced in fear as Blight snapped aggressively. The grin dropped from his face in an instant, the pegasus's voice roiling untold anger within him. He brought his face alarmingly close to hers, his vile breath making Winter want to gag.

"You don't get to talk anymore," he whispered with a hiss. "If you say another word, I'll tear out your vocal chords. The only sounds your allowed to make are your terrified and agonized screams."

As much as it pained her to do so, Winter heeded his warning, but did her best not to satiate his sadistic desires by choking back her frightened whimpers. She hated being at his mercy. As easy at it might have looked to overpower him in his injured state, Winter simply feared that one little slip up and Blight would not hesitate to take her life.

Blight's grin returned, watching with sadistic glee as Winter clenched her eyes shut, squeezing out the tears that were starting to form. "I know what you're thinking, but I assure you that I'm not going to kill you as long as you're a good little pony. See, even though I was released with the sole purpose of killing you and your adorable friend, I want to relish it. All I wanted to do was have a little fun until I got bored with you."

His grin faded once more and he glared vindictively at Winter. "But that didn't exactly go how I wanted, did it? Because you and your friend had to be incessant buzz-kills. So, now, here I am, flightless and without magic because my prey decided to fight back. It's not just frustrating, it's humiliating! This was supposed to be fun, but now you've gone and made it personal."

Once again, he curled his fanged mouth into a psychotic smile. "But I just have to look at the bright side. The more my urge to just tear your throat out rises, the most satisfying it'll be in the end. After all, pleasure is greatest when it's denied. So for all the suffering I've had to deal with because of you two, I'm going to make sure you suffer in kind."

He leaned down slowly and menacingly, his eyes full of rage and excitement as he breathed in the cowering pegasus's face. "I. Am going. To break you. Physically and emotionally. I don't want to spoil what I'm going to do exactly—the surprise is part of the fun. But I'm going to do my best to keep you alive through as much of it as I can so I can savor your agony. Then, when you've got nothing left to give me, I'll do the same to your friend."

Blight licked his lips eagerly, then slowly ran his tongue up Winter's neck, making sure his fangs brushed against her coat. Winter wanted to wretch at the gross sensation of his vile tongue against her fur and skin. She closed her eyes tight; she didn't even want to think about what sick, depraved things he was planning to do to her, much less see them.

The changeling pulled away, taking a moment to watch his prey's tears run down her cheeks. He knew this was going to be enjoyable, but he wanted to make sure it was perfect, and it just wasn't going to be quite as fun if he couldn't see the emotion in her eyes. He placed a hoof under Winter's chin, making sure to apply enough pressure to her neck to indicate the threat.

"I'm gonna need you to open those pretty eyes of yours."

Fearing for her life, Winter did as she was told and opened her tear-filled eyes again. The more she had to stare into his maniacal, silver irises, the harder it became to keep her composure. She just wanted to scream, but knew that that would only encourage him.

Blight chuckled at his obedient victim. "That's it. You don't want to miss out on the fun either, do you?"

With that, Blight let out a long, throaty hiss as he opened his mouth and bared his fangs. As he leaned down to begin the torment, he paused. He noticed something odd. Winter's pupils, which had until now been narrow like pins in her fear, widened slightly, if only for the briefest of moments. Moreover, he caught her eyes glancing very quickly to his right. Had he not been so focused on her eyes at that moment, it might have slipped past him. He knew it wasn't just a random twitch. He knew what that split-second glance meant. And the clincher was the barely noticeable green light in the reflection of her eyes.

But before he had a chance to assess what he believed to be the situation, Blight suddenly felt something large, heavy and solid strike him in the center of his back. A barely audible crack could be heard, followed by the loud clattering of the rock that had been dropped on him and Blight's own chilling scream of agony. The changeling's hind legs went limp underneath him, and he collapsed on top of Winter, shaking in shock and pain.

Winter finally found her opportunity, not wasting a second in pushing the psychopath off of her, quickly getting back to her hooves and hurrying over to where her savor was standing. Chamella had arrived in the nick of time, and Winter threw herself at her with a grateful hug.

Winter wept openly into her shoulder, holding Chamella tightly. "I have never been so happy to see you in my life. Thank you." She pulled away, wiping the moisture from her eyes. "Alright, let's... Let's just get out of here."

The pegasus picked up her saddlebags that Chamella had brought with her and had laid on the ground nearby. Chamella was about to do the same, but paused, looking back over her shoulder.

Blight was still laying on the ground, unable to stand up and clearly suffering from a great deal of pain and panic. He was shaking and grunting in pain through tightly clenched teeth. He even appeared to be desperately holding back tears.

Chamella turned back and started walking toward Blight.

Winter looked back, confused and a little concerned. "Chamella? What are you doing? We need to get out of here."

Chamella ignored her, stepping up to the severely injured psychopath. When Blight noticed she'd approached him, his response was very different than either of the mares would have assumed. Blight drew back, cowering like an injured puppy beneath the female changeling's apathetic glare.

"Stop chasing us," Chamella insisted, her voice eliciting a frightened wince from Blight. "This only happened because you wouldn't leave us alone. So, please, just... stop."

Blight didn't respond, merely trembling in fear and unable to tear his eyes away from Chamella's authoritative gaze.

Chamella breathed a sigh. Even if he wanted to keep coming after them, he was certainly in no shape to do so anymore. Chances were he would end up dying here eventually, whether it be from bleeding out from his many wounds, or starving to death. Chamella felt no need to say any more, turning back to join Winter and leaving the pitiable maniac to his fate.

The moment Chamella turned away, Blight's pupils narrowed once more, clenching his teeth not in pain, but in unbridled anger. Using every ounce of strength he had left in his mutilated body, Blight leapt up with his front legs and grabbed onto Chamella's hindquarters, abruptly dragging her down to the ground with his weight. Chamella was only barely able to get a surprised yelp out before Blight opened his mouth wide and chomped down on her left flank with his long, pointed fangs.

Chamella shrieked in shock and pain as the fangs dug down into her chitinous skin and through her muscles until they were forced to a hard stop against her pelvic bone.

Finally, Blight was able to taste blood. The feeling of pure ecstasy as Chamella's blood splashed onto his tongue and down his throat was beyond satisfying after everything he'd gone through to get it, and Chamella's agonized cries were the spice that made it even tastier. Even if he was only able to get his fangs halfway into her flesh, after how much his bloodlust had been fermenting, it was more than enough.

However, Blight wasn't able to enjoy it for long. After only a few seconds of indulgence, he was suddenly tackled from his right, forcibly having his blood-soaked fangs removed from his prey. He was violently pinned to the ground by the ivory pegasus after rolling several feet away from Chamella, reversing the situation they'd been in just a few minutes ago. And conversely to their previous exchange, Winter's face was not full of fear, but incensed rage.

Before Blight could even think about fighting back, Winter delivered a painful punch down onto his face with her right hoof, followed by another with her left, alternating back and forth as she continued her violent, repeated assault.

Now free from Blight, Chamella managed to rise shakily back to her hooves, but found it painful to put any pressure on her left hind leg thanks to the deep wounds Blight had inflicted. But that wasn't quite what was concerning her at the moment. She could only watch in bewildered awe as her friend brutally attacked Blight, delivering blow after blow, grunting loudly and aggressively with each punch to the psycho's face.

"Winter?"

Chamella's voice went unheard as the pegasus continued her vicious pummeling.

"Winter," she repeated, raising her concerned voice.

Again, Winter tuned her out, mercilessly hammering away on Blight with no indication of letting up.

"Winter! Stop!"

With that shout, Winter froze mid-swing. The fury left her instantly, leaving the pegasus sitting atop Blight looking a little uncertain, as if she'd been snapped out of a trance. Coming back to her senses, she gazed down upon the changeling underneath her.

Blight's face had quickly become bruised and swollen. Several teeth, including his two long fangs, had been broken or knocked out, and blood splattered his face and the ground around his head. Moreover, he'd stopped moving, laying completely motionless on the floor.

Winter sat equally still on top of him, her hoof still raised as if she were unable to move from her position. She waited for some sort of reaction from Blight, for him to lunge back at her violently, but received none. The cavern had gone dead quiet. She couldn't hear Blight breathing, nor could she feel his chest heaving, or his heart beating.

Winter finally lowered her hoof slowly. She was finally able to tear her eyes away from Blight when she saw her hoof. Both hooves had had their alabaster fur stained and splattered red with Blight's blood, the dark liquid soaking into her coat.

Winter staggered backward off of Blight in the shock of the realization of what she'd done, her body trembling and her breaths shaky. She felt her stomach tighten and knot up as if something was trying to claw its way up her throat. Unable to fight it back, Winter could only turn away from the bloodied and broken body of Blight before vomiting in disgust.

Chamella stood by silently, turning away as Winter emptied the contents of her stomach onto the ground. She wanted to get back on track as soon as possible and put this ugliness behind them, but she allowed the pegasus a moment to hopefully compose herself.

Finishing with a few loud coughs, Winter wiped her mouth clean against the fur of her leg, avoiding any bloodstains that were already soiling her coat. She sat still for a few moments longer, catching her breath.

Chamella stared sympathetically, but knew they had to keep moving. "Winter?" she said quietly. "We should go."

There was a brief silence at first, but then Winter nodded her head. She stood up and walked toward the exit, grabbing her saddlebags along the way. She made no eye contact with Chamella as she passed by.

The changeling hobbled up alongside Winter as they exited the calcified chamber and back into the tunnels to return to the junction where they had spent the night. Chamella still kept a respectful distance, however; Winter was obviously in a very fragile place right now. The pegasus was walking fairly slowly, but Chamella didn't know if that was because Winter was taking her injury into account, or that she was simply burdened by her thoughts. All things considered, it was probably the latter. Winter was staring at the floor in front of her as she walked, clearly not paying attention to where she was actually going, and her ears were folded back and her face was a mixture of worry, shame, guilt, and even fear.

Finally, after about ten minutes of walking, Chamella felt the need to break the silence. She cast a sympathetic look over to her distressed companion. "Winter? You okay?"

"No. No, I'm not okay," Winter replied without looking up. "I... I killed him... I never thought when I came out here that I'd ever kill somepony."

"Well, not somepony..." Chamella corrected in an attempt to alleviate some of the guilt.

"It doesn't matter. I killed a person. It doesn't matter if it was a pony, or a changeling, or whatever. I still..."

Chamella watched as Winter's emotional state only seemed to be worsening. She wanted to do something to help. "You didn't really have a choice, right? You didn't just do it for me, you did it for both of us. If we had left him alive, I wouldn't have been surprised if he found some way to track us down again."

"That's not the point! I have to live with the fact that I took a person's life! That image is gonna be stuck in my head forever!"

"Well... Just try not to think about it too much. We've gotta focus on what's important, right?"

"That's easy for you to say! You're a changeling! You've killed plenty of things!"

Chamella was taken aback at the unexpected accusation. Even though she knew that the only things she'd ever killed were small animals, she still couldn't help but feel a little guilty when Winter put it that way, her ears flattening down and turning away from Winter.

The pegasus suddenly realized what she'd said, looking apologetically at Chamella. "Sorry. I-I didn't mean to bring you into it. I'm just..."

"It's okay, I get it."

"No, you don't. I... I don't even know what happened. He jumped you, bit you, you screamed, and something in my head just... snapped."

Winter slowed to a halt. Chamella stared at her worriedly as tears started to form in the pegasus's eyes.

"After all the crap we've had to deal with, all the worry and fear and anger and... everything. I..." Winter fell back onto her haunches, breaking down completely as the tears flowed openly down her cheeks. "I can't take any more of this. I-I don't want to be here anymore. I just want to find Snowflake and go home," she sobbed, a noticeable hitch in her voice as her tears dripped onto the cold, stone floor. "I want this nightmare to be over..."

Chamella let Winter cry herself out for a short time, unsure of what to say or do from here. "Um... O-On the bright side, we know for sure we won't see him again." She realized almost immediately that that probably wasn't the best thing to say right now, but she had no idea what else to do.

Winter's weeping eventually died down and she wiped the moisture from her eyes, adding to the other stains of blood and vomit on her fur. Chamella tried to sit down beside her in an attempt to be comforting, but inhaled sharply as a pain shot through her flank, standing back up to take the pressure off of her wound. The pegasus lifted her head when she heard the sound, quickly getting back to her hooves.

"Oh, shoot! I-I'm sorry! You're hurt, w-we need to do something about that," the pegasus insisted, trying to overcome her own emotions to focus on the more immediate problem.

Chamella looked back at the bite Blight had given her. It wasn't bleeding incredibly heavily, but a trail of the crimson liquid still ran down her left hind leg. "I don't think we're far from the junction. I can't walk very well right now, but we can probably fly there pretty quickly."

Winter nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's hurry then."

The two mares made haste for their day's starting point, finding themselves back there in just over a minute by flight. Feeling a little more comfortable there as opposed to some random tunnel, Winter and Chamella touched down to address Chamella's wound.

"Um..." Winter hesitated for a moment as she looked at the bleeding wounds. "I'm starting to realize that I didn't pack any medical supplies. I don't suppose you did."

Chamella frowned and gave a shake of her head.

Winter thought for a little longer before coming up with an idea. "Okay..." She hastily threw off her saddlebags, dumping out their contents onto the ground. She then simply held the bags themselves against the wounds to absorb the blood and hopefully at least slow the bleeding.

Chamella hissed in pain as Winter held her makeshift bandage against her flank, and the pegasus reduced the pressure she was applying.

"Sorry."

"It's fine," Chamella assured with a grateful, albeit pained, smile, still wincing with one eye closed.

There was a bit of an awkward silence as the two of them simply stood there, Chamella standing, unmoving, while Winter sat beside her and held the bags in place as they were gradually stained red.

"Guess we didn't really think this through, huh?" Winter said ashamedly. "I don't know how long it'll take before it's good enough for us to keep moving."

"I think we both need a little time after that anyway, so it's just as well."

Winter glanced at Chamella's face curiously. "You know, you seem to be taking this pretty well. Does it hurt much?"

The changeling grinned awkwardly. "Honestly, it hurts like crazy. It's taking everything I have to just fight back tears right now."

Winter couldn't help but smile at Chamella's sheer willpower. "I guess it could be worse. You're pretty skinny, so there wasn't as much flesh to go through. I'd probably be in much worse shape if he'd bitten me."

"I think he hit the bone, too. I'm not really sure if that's a good thing though."

"I hope it doesn't get infected. Blight's breath was pretty rank. I can't imagine a bite from him is very clean. Like being bitten by a rabid animal."

"That's probably more accurate than we realize. At least he's gone now." Chamella looked back at Winter, again, unsure if she should have said that. "Are you holding up okay?"

Winter closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. "I'm not comfortable, if that means anything." As she continued to hold the bags in place, she stared at the blood that stained her trembling hooves. "I don't know if I'll get over this. I'm still shaking a little. I'm going to have to live the rest of my life with the knowledge that I took another person's life."

Chamella furrowed her brow resolutely. "Well, I don't know how much it means coming from me, but I don't think you did anything wrong. Whatever you're telling yourself, I'm not judging you for what you did. You helped me, and I'm extremely grateful. Especially because it only happened because I showed him pity."

"Don't go turning this around on yourself. It's not your fault. I didn't have to—I mean, I could've just got him off you and left him, but like I said, I snapped. All the pressure, the emotions... It all came to a head, and I took it out on him..."

The two went silent again. Winter pulled the bags away from Chamella to check the status of the wound. The bleeding seemed to have slowed, but the wounds were obviously still open. It was probably dangerous to keep going without treating it properly. Unfortunately, they had no real way to do that.

Winter looked at her bloodstained saddlebags with a revolted grimace. She had enough blood on her hooves that she didn't want to deal with any more. She turned back to all the remaining supplies she'd dumped onto the ground. There were only a few usable things left—some food preserved in plastic wrap and a few bottles of water—everything else was mostly empty, plastic containers. Given the circumstances, she wouldn't feel bad about leaving behind a few containers if it meant lightening the load. And that thought gave her an idea.

"Well, since we can't really do anything about your wound, the least I can do is take some of the strain off."

Winter took Chamella's saddlebags off of her back and proceeded to remove any empty containers and used up plastic wrap and tin foil. She then started stuffing her remaining provisions into the changeling's bags and tossed her own blood-soaked bags aside. Thankfully, everything managed to fit in well enough, though she had a little difficulty fastening the clasps on the flaps.

The pegasus flashed Chamella a considerate smile. "Since you're probably going to have to fly from here on out, I think it'll be better if you don't have to deal with the extra weight. So I'll carry our stuff."

Chamella grinned gratefully. She wanted to argue against it, but had a feeling Winter wasn't taking no for answer in this instance. "You'd really do that? Thanks. I appreciate it."

Winter started glancing around at the many tunnels that surrounded them. "Hmm... I guess we've got another dilemma to deal with. What way should we go?"

"I think we must be getting close now. I say we just keep going the way we were—"

Chamella suddenly went silent, her ears perking up. Curious, Winter listened intently, too. They could hear something. Voices. Multiple voices coming from one of the nearby tunnels. Both of them turned towards the path that they believed the voices were coming from. Surprisingly, it wasn't just voices that they noticed, but shining out of the darkness further down they could see a trio of lights moving around.

Winter and Chamella stood motionless, frozen in disbelief as the voices became more clear. More familiar.

And then there was a loud burp.

"Would it kill you to say excuse me?" came a sophisticated sounding voice.

"Why? Who am I gonna offend in here?" replied a fairly high-pitched, yet somewhat raspy sounding voice.

"Me, for one. Honestly, it's like you were raised by pigs."

"Actually, I know some pretty well mannered pigs," a quieter, softer voice chimed in.

"So she's worse than pigs. To say she was raised by pigs is an insult to pigs."

"Don't you think you're being just a little over-dramatic? It was just a burp. Are you saying you've never burped after having something to drink?"

"While I admit to nothing, I would at least have the common decency to excuse myself. It certainly doesn't help that you chugged that can of soda so hastily."

Winter and Chamella could only stare in shock as the familiar voices soon became familiar faces as they got closer. Approaching them were three mares wearing what appeared to be mining helmets, too caught up in their own conversation to notice the two staring in disbelief at them.

Chamella felt her chest nearly burst with shock, confusion, and overwhelming joy when she recognized the approaching mares. "Rarity?!"

The three mares all stopped in their tracks and their chat was brought to an abrupt end. They shone their lights forward, illuminating the ivory pegasus and the changeling.

Rarity gasped in shock. "Chamella! Winter!"

"Holy crap! We actually found them!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed in joyous surprise.

The three mares quickly hurried over to the pair, Rarity wasting no time giving the changeling a relieved hug.

Fluttershy breathed a deep sigh of relief and smiled. "Thank goodness. I was so worried something horrible had happened to you two."

Chamella was still bewildered by the sudden appearance of their friends, glancing between them repeatedly and trying to discern whether or not this was real. "Wh-What are you guys doing here?!"

"Why, we came to find you, of course," Rarity clarified with a wide grin.

"How—? How did you know we were here?" asked Winter.

Rarity turned her attention to Chamella with an apologetic frown. "Sweetie Belle told us what happened. Please don't be mad at her, Chamella. She wanted to keep your secret, but we forced it out of her. If you're going to be upset with anypony, be upset with me."

Chamella sighed with a grin. "I'm not mad. Actually, I'm relieved she wound up telling you."

"Yeah, considering the stuff we've had to deal with since we got here, we pretty much regretted not asking for help from the get-go," Winter admitted with an embarrassed chuckle.

Rainbow Dash looked over the ivory pegasus with a grimace, noting the dirt, grime, and unidentifiable stains in her coat. "Yeah, looks like you've been through the wringer. Uh, is that blood?"

Having pointed it out, Rarity and Fluttershy both turned their attention to the deep red stains on Winter's front hooves and fetlocks, looking worriedly at her.

Winter turned away, her ears folding back in remorse as her mind went back to what she'd done. "It's, um... not mine..."

It took a moment, but seeing the deep regret upon Winter's face, Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy quickly came to their own conclusions.

Rarity hesitated a moment, unsure of what to say. "Oh..."

"Damn," was all Rainbow Dash could manage in response.

Fluttershy, in an attempt to cut the tension, tried to get things back on course. "Well, a-at least you're not hurt. That's what counts."

Winter awkwardly inhaled through her teeth and pointed to Chamella. "Uh, actually..."

Curious, Fluttershy shone her headlamp onto Chamella, the light reflecting off of the crimson liquid running down her slightly elevated hind leg. The timid pegasus gasped loudly. "Oh, my goodness! Chamella, what happened?!"

"I was, uh, bitten by another changeling," Chamella explained. She turned to the side, giving the other mares a clearer view of the wounds.

Rainbow Dash winced at the sight of it. "Yikes. That looks pretty nasty."

"Gracious me!" Rarity exclaimed in deep worry, her face suddenly becoming paler than it already was at the sight of the blood. "Are you alright, dear?! How bad is it?!"

"I-I don't think it's as bad as it looks," Chamella answered, though with a notable lack of confidence.

Fluttershy threw off her saddlebags immediately and started rifling through them. "Lie down," she ordered firmly.

There was a moment of hesitation, but Chamella followed the request and laid down on the ground with her hind legs out to the side. Fluttershy sat down alongside her and removed a small first-aid kit and some bandages from her bag.

"How long since you've been bitten?" Fluttershy asked quickly, but rather calmly.

"Um... Probably twenty minutes at most."

Fluttershy nodded, looking a little relieved. "Good. Not long ago. Let me get this cleaned up and I'll disinfect and dress it for you."

"Geez, you girls really did have a rough time, huh? We haven't seen a single changeling since we got in these caves," Rainbow Dash said with a hint of envy.

"Luckily enough," added Rarity. She turned her attention back to Winter—particularly the state of her soiled coat—and grimaced. "I'm not going to ask about the origins of those stains, but I can only imagine how tough it's going to be to clean that all off."

Winter solemnly stared down at her fetlocks again. "It's going to take more than soap and hot water to wash this away, trust me..."

"I don't doubt it," said Rarity with a nod.

Chamella inhaled sharply as Fluttershy applied disinfectant around her cleaned wound, clenching her teeth as the stinging pain shot through her. The yellow pegasus briefly glanced up. "I've got some strong shampoo at home that I use to clean up my animals. Some of those critters get really filthy, so I need strong stuff to make sure they're coats, or feathers, or what-have-you are spic and span."

"I know all too well the struggle of maintaining a pristine, white coat," Rarity said sympathetically. "Everything shows on white. You can't really hide any sort of stains."

"What about mayo?" Rainbow Dash chimed in.

"Or liquid paper?" added Fluttershy.

"Or glue?"

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Yes, you're all quite intelligent individuals," she groaned sarcastically. "In any case, blood in particular is quite difficult to deal with."

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "When do you get blood on yourself?"

"I'm a seamstress, darling. I work with needles."

"Yeah, but don't you, like, use your magic to handle them?"

"Trust me, it happens from time to time. When you're in 'the zone,' as they say, sometimes you can get a tad absentminded. Right, Chamella?"

Chamella looked up in confusion, surprised that she'd been dragged into the conversation. "Huh? Oh, uh, actually that's never happened to me."

Rarity scowled and let out a defeated groan. "Anyway, the point I'm trying to get to is that I've had to deal with stubborn, unsightly stains before. When we return home, I'll help you get cleaned up."

Even though Rarity obviously wasn't grasping the emotional implications of the stains, Winter still smiled gratefully. "Thanks. I appreciate it, Rarity."

Fluttershy finished dressing Chamella's wounds, applying a patch of gauze to the area to absorb the blood and wrapping medical bandages around the stifle of her left hind leg. "There you go. It should heal up in time, but you should probably avoid doing anything strenuous so you don't hurt yourself."

"I can't really make any promises," Chamella responded as she stood up again, moving her leg around slightly to make sure the bandages were fastened tightly enough. "We still need to find Snowflake after all."

Rarity's ears perked up at the mention of the name. "Oh, that's right! I don't suppose the two of you have any leads as to the poor child's whereabouts, do you?"

Winter lowered her head. "No. Nothing."

"We've been trying to find the throne room so we can ask Queen Chrysalis," Chamella elaborated.

"That's what we figured," said Fluttershy. "So I guess we just go from here until we get there, right?"

Chamella nodded. "I was saying to Winter before you girls got here that I think we have to be getting close by now."

"Hey, maybe if we're lucky we'll meet up with the others on the way," said Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah, I've been meaning ask about that," Winter interjected. "Where are the others? Did you guys get separated?"

"We split up early on to cover more ground," Fluttershy explained.

"Was that a good idea?" Chamella asked with an unsure and concerned look. "How are you supposed to find each other again?"

Rarity chuckled in amusement. "Oh, Chamella, darling. Do you honestly believe that Twilight, of all ponies, would agree to split up in this labyrinth without some sort of plan? She and I are connected via a magic tether spell. All I have to do is trigger the spell and a trail will lead us right to them."

There was a glimmer of hope in both Winter and Chamella's eyes upon hearing that.

"Really? So we could go find them right now?" Winter inquired enthusiastically.

"I suppose we could, although it depends on where they are in relation to us," Rarity said. "Let's check, shall we?"

Rarity lit up her horn with her powder blue aura. Within moments, a trail of blue magic swirled up from her horn before extending down one of the many passages surrounding them. The path that it pointed to happened to be on the opposite side of the crack in the wall from which Winter and Chamella had originally emerged.

Chamella was pleasantly surprised by the fortunate happenstance. "Oh, that's the way I was going to suggest we go anyway."

Winter quirked an eyebrow. "Wait, does that mean Twilight and the others are ahead of us?"

"Not necessarily," Rarity corrected. "It just means that this is the quickest route to meet up with them. It probably means we're at least keeping pace with one another. And it's even more convenient considering this means we don't have to backtrack."

"So we might run into them after all," Dash said with a reassuring grin. "And if we're really lucky, they might've already found Shade, too."

Winter and Chamella turned to the pegasus with shocked and confused expressions.

"Shade?" Winter echoed. She suddenly became more tense and worried as the implications struck her. "Wait, you're saying Shade's here?!"

Rarity frowned with a disappointed sigh. "We assume so. Apparently he snuck out of the hospital."

"Since he wasn't home, the only logical conclusion we could come to was that he went to the Changeling Kingdom, too," Fluttershy added.

Winter fell to her haunches, craning her neck back and staring at the ceiling with a long groan. "Great... As if we didn't have enough to worry about."

Rainbow Dash gave Winter a somewhat judgmental glare. "You're not exactly in any position to be giving any lectures. You two ran off without telling anypony, too. I mean, except Sweetie Belle."

The ivory pegasus gave the three other ponies a deeply apologetic look. "Yeah, I know. And I just want to apologize for the way I've been acting. I promise I'm going to straighten up and do things right when we get home."

Rarity gave her a sympathetic smile and a pat on the shoulder. "Don't fret over it, darling. We need to focus on what's important right now."

"So are we gonna get a move on, or what?" Rainbow Dash asked, practically ready to get going down their designated path.

"Actually, can we hold off a little longer?" Chamella requested, glancing back at the bandages around her flank. "I'd like for the pain to die down a little before we keep moving. Plus, I don't know about you girls, but I haven't had anything to eat since I woke up."

Winter breathed a deep sigh as her gaze was once more directed to the stains on her hooves. "Honestly, I don't really have much of an appetite, but I guess it would be better to get some food in me now rather than stopping later."

The request was met by accommodating smiles from the other three mares, and they removed their saddlebags and all sat down.

"That's not unreasonable. I could go for a light snack," said Rarity.

"Do you two have much food left?" asked Fluttershy.

"I think we have enough to last us, assuming that we are close to the throne room and this is the last day we're going to have to spend here," Winter answered.

Rainbow Dash waved off the answer dismissively. "Whatever, we brought plenty if you wanna share."

Winter and Chamella gave grateful smiles.

"We appreciate that," Winter said. "And thank you guys so much for coming all the way out here to help us. It means the world to us."

"We couldn't just stand by when our friends are in danger," Fluttershy responded with a grin. "And especially poor, little Snowflake."

"We're gonna find him," Rainbow Dash stated with a resolute expression. "I don't care how much changeling butt we gotta kick, we're bringing him home safe and sound."

Feeling more than a little reassured, Winter and Chamella took the time to fill their bellies in preparation for the path ahead. While learning that Shade had come the Changeling Kingdom was indeed worrying, knowing that they had reliable friends to help them out filled them with newfound confidence that they hadn't felt since their arrival.

***** ***** *****

"Did you hear what happened to the squad they sent after the deserter?"

The male changeling soldier glanced to the armored female sitting beside him. He quirked a curious eyebrow as he chewed on the flesh of a small rat he'd recently caught. "Why? What happened?"

"They got roasted. Hard," she told him with a mildly amused giggle, taking a bite of a particularly large, glowing mushroom.

The male's eyes widened in surprise as he swallowed a chunk of rat meat. "Seriously? By one guy?"

The female shook her head. "Nope. Apparently some of his pony friends showed up and kicked their butts. Wish I coulda seen that," she snickered.

"Didn't Captain Wraith go after him, too? What happened with him?"

The female looked up toward the ceiling of the corridor they were having their lunch in, humming in thought. "I dunno. I'm not sure if he even came back yet. Must've spent the night out there somewhere. That, or the ponies spanked him, too." She didn't laugh at that thought, finding the idea of Wraith being bested a little worrying.

"Tch, not likely," the male scoffed. "I'm not going to say that I'm any tougher than the soldiers that got beat up, but Wraith is on a whole other level. Have you heard if the deserter and the ponies are dead or not?"

"The ponies are alive, but I don't know about the deserter. One of the soldiers that went with the captain got out of there before they could whup him."

"That who you heard this from?" the male presumed.

She nodded. "Yep. And apparently the deserter bailed on his friends and Captain Wraith chased after him. No clue what happened to them after that."

The male let out a sigh. "Man, I hope they don't make me go after them. I'm not in any hurry to get blasted by that 'Element of Magic' chick, or whatever."

"Could be worse. We could've been put on foalsitting duty like Glory was," the female laughed. "Boy, I do not envy her. Have you heard that little freak cry? It's like metal scraping in your ears."

The male shuddered. "No kidding. I haven't even been to the soldier's quarters since Wraith brought it here, but I've heard it echoing through the halls. Sounds like an actual nightmare."

The female took another big bite of her mushroom lunch, leaning back casually against the stone wall. "I wonder what the point of it is. There must be some kinda plan for the thing, right?"

"The rumor I've been hearing is that it's going to be some kind of secret weapon to use against the ponies or something."

The female's ears perked up curiously. "Really? That's actually kinda cool."

The male shrugged dismissively. "Like I said, it's just a rumor. I don't think anyone except Wraith knows what's actually going to be done with it."

"Not even Queen Chrysalis?"

The male quirked an eyebrow at the question. "Uh, you haven't heard?"

The female blinked uncomprehendingly. "Heard what?"

"Captain Wraith had a little 'meeting' with the queen a couple of days ago. I guess not all of the soldiers've been informed yet."

"Informed of what?" the female asked with an annoyed glower. "Stop being so cryptic and just—"

She stopped herself short, her attention being diverted elsewhere. Curious, the male followed her gaze past where he sat and down the corridor they sat in.

As if summoned by their very conversation, Wraith himself was making his way towards them. He trotted with purposeful speed and the slight scowl upon his brow seemed to suggest that he was not in a good mood.

The two soldiers immediately stood at attention in the presence of their superior, not wanting to appear as though they were slacking despite the presence of their half-eaten meals.

As Wraith approached, the male addressed him with the question that had been brought up during their chat. "Captain Wraith, you're back. Did you find the..."

The pair of soldiers watched as their captain ignored them and simply walked by without so much as slowing down or even giving them a passing glance.

"...deserter? Uh, Sir? You okay?"

The changeling captain suddenly came to a stop, his ears standing up straight as though he had realized something. He looked back over his shoulder. The two soldiers flinched under his clearly displeased gaze, hoping that they hadn't done something to receive his ire. Wraith turned around fully, slowly walking back over to the pair. It was only now that the two of them noticed the blood around one of the holes in the captain's left front leg, as if he'd been cut by something, as well as a couple of small dents in his helmet.

"Would the two of you know anything about the release of a prisoner named Guise?" he asked tersely.

"Uh, n-no, sir," the male stammered nervously. "I've never actually been to the dungeon before."

"Same," added the female.

"Hmph." Wraith simply turned around and continued on his way, having expected that answer.

The two soldiers exchanged confused glances before following after the captain, hoping to get some sort of explanation for the seemingly random question, in addition to his sour mood.

"Is something going on?" the female asked as they followed behind Wraith. "What does this 'Guise' person have to do with anything?"

Wraith was silent for a moment, initially having no intention of engaging in inane conversation on the way to his destination. However, he elected to answer the question regardless. "On his own, nothing. However, he seems to have sided with Shade for some inexplicable reason, despite the history of animosity between the two."

"Is he a threat?" asked the smaller male.

"As I said, on his own he is nothing to be concerned with. But given recent developments, he may become a thorn if left to his own devices long enough," Wraith elaborated. "That being said, he is not my immediate concern."

"Then what is? Where are you going anyway, i-if I might ask," the female inquired.

"The issue that has arisen is to do with Guise's release. I ordered no such thing, which means another changeling is responsible."

"Is it that big a deal, though?" questioned the male. "I mean, didn't you let that Blight guy out? One of the soldiers probably just thought we could use a little extra help. They couldn't have known he was gonna side with the deserter."

Wraith shot a glower over his shoulder, eliciting a nervous gulp from the other male. "If I thought I needed his help, I would have released him myself. My grievance comes from one of my subordinates acting without my say so."

The two soldiers lowered their heads submissively. It sounded less like an answer to their question and more like a warning.

Wraith turned forward again, focusing once more on the path and his destination. However, he addressed the pair again. "Have either of you seen Glory recently?"

They were a little caught off guard by the question, especially considering the hint of venom in Wraith's voice.

"You made her the halfling's caretaker, didn't you?" said the male. "So shouldn't she be in the soldier's quarters with it?"

"Ideally, yes."

The two soldiers glanced at each other, unsure of what exactly that answer was supposed to mean. However, it did seem to answer the female's earlier question. They both knew now that they were actually headed for the soldiers' quarters. It made sense really; Glory had always been one of Wraith's more reliable subordinates, and with her bizarre "mind-reading" ability that was notorious amongst the soldiers, if anyone would know anything about Guise's release, it would be her.

Before long, the flickering, green flames that indicated the soldiers' quarters came into view. The initial reaction to their arrival there was confusion from the two soldiers accompanying the captain. The last time either of them had been in this area, they were inundated with the halfling's ear-splitting shrieking. However, now everything was quiet. The only sounds they could hear were the clomping of their hooves on the stone, and the crackling of the torches as they approached the entrance.

Wraith was the first to enter the rather small chamber, but stopped just as he passed the threshold. The two soldiers poked their heads in as well to see what the problem was.

The soldiers' quarters were completely empty. No Glory. No halfling. The only things that remained were a few scraps of half-eaten food and a soldier's dark blue helmet and chest plate laying on the floor.

The two soldiers cautiously chanced a glance at Wraith. The captain was completely motionless, save for his face, which contorted into an uncharacteristically furious scowl. He grit his fangs, his pupils narrowed, and he let out a low, contemptuous growl as he glared at the discarded armor.

Chapter 22 - Defector

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 22: Defector

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"Oh, my. I had no idea you've been through so much," said Fluttershy sympathetically.

Winter walked with her gaze turned downward and her ears folded back. She and Chamella had just finished regaling everything that had happened since they had arrived in the Changeling Kingdom, up to and including their last unpleasant encounter with Blight. Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had inferred what had happened to the psychotic changeling based on the dark crimson stains on the fur of Winter's fetlocks, but hearing about it was still a touch unsettling. Winter herself was hesitant to mention it, having wanted to forget it ever happened, but she hadn't been able to shake the image of herself committing the act since. She started to think that perhaps talking about it might help somehow.

Rainbow Dash could see the guilt and remorse in the ivory pegasus's expression as they all made their way into the deepest recesses of the changeling hive. The cyan mare offered a reassuring, albeit somewhat forced, grin. "Hey, don't beat yourself up. It's... not a big deal." She discreetly cast an uncertain look to Rarity and Fluttershy. "Right?"

Rarity cleared her throat awkwardly. "Hm, yes, well... It was self-defense most assuredly. I won't argue against that."

Fluttershy's wings twitched slightly, tearing her eyes away. "I can't say I would know how I would react in a situation like that. I've jumped into action to help my friends before, but..." She trailed off, not wanting to say any more for fear of making Winter feel even worse.

"I can hear it in your tones," Winter said quietly. "You're all judging me for it. Believe me, I understand; I'm judging myself, too." Her expression managed to fall further. "None of you are going to be able to look at me the same anymore. I should've just kept it to myself..."

"Oh, no, don't say that, dear," Rarity quickly continued, hoping to alleviate whatever doubts were beginning to fester in Winter's mind. "We aren't judging you, trust me. If anything, had I been in your position, I fear I might not have been able to do much of anything."

"Yeah, I think what's important here is that you did something," added Rainbow Dash. "And if he was beaten as badly as you say he was before that, he probably wasn't gonna make it much longer anyway."

"I suppose in some way, some people might consider what you did a mercy," said Fluttershy, though she herself sounded uncertain about that.

Hearing that didn't make Winter feel any better, an uncomfortable grimace appearing on her face. However, she shook her head, lifting it up again and looking her friends in the eyes for the first time in a while. "Alright, that's enough. I... I don't want to talk about this anymore."

The three other ponies silently shared concerned looks at her dismissive attitude. However, the lone changeling of the group, flittering slightly above them to avoid having to walk on her injured leg, chimed in.

"I know I already made this clear, but I'll keep telling you that you didn't do anything wrong," Chamella reiterated adamantly. "I'll be forever grateful for what you did. And if there's anything I can do to repay you for saving me from that maniac, just name it."

Winter let out an exasperated sigh, but also managed a small grin as she glanced up at Chamella. "You saved me first, remember?"

Chamella blinked, having apparently forgotten that fact for a moment. "Uh, well... Where does that put us then?"

"I've lost track," Winter said with a quiet giggle. "Let's just make it simple and call it even now, okay?"

Rarity smiled at the two mares. "Well, this is certainly a nice surprise. I'm not sure I've ever seen the two of you act so amicably."

"Now that you mention it, neither have I," said Fluttershy with a smile of her own. "I was under the impression that you may not have liked Chamella."

"To be honest, I didn't," Winter admitted with a regretful frown. "At least, not until all of this. The only reason Chamella is here is because she insisted. If I had my way before we left, she'd still be back in Ponyville." She passed a grateful smile up at the changeling, who returned in kind. "But I wouldn't even be alive right now if it wasn't for her."

"I think it goes both ways," Chamella said with a giggle.

"Well, at least you're coming out of all of this with something," Fluttershy said with a relieved smile. "And I can't say a new friendship isn't worth all of this trouble."

"And you've got some incentive to make Chamella into a great godmother, right?" added Rainbow Dash.

Winter grinned awkwardly, an embarrassed blush reddening her cheeks. "After the way I've been acting, I don't think I'm in any position to teach anypony how to be a mother."

Rarity shrugged dismissively. "We all learn from experience, darling. Nopony's perfect. But this gives the two of you a chance to learn together."

Winter's grin faded, but her remorseful blush remained. "So everypony does think I'm a bad mom, huh?"

"'Bad' might be a strong word," said Rainbow Dash. "Obsessive; desperate; a little crazy maybe, but not bad. You put in the effort, that's for sure."

"Thanks," Winter deadpanned with a grimace, though she wasn't going to argue.

"Rainbow Dash, have a little more tact," Rarity scolded.

"No, no, it's fine," Winter interrupted. "She's right anyway. But I've gotta say, I never thought it would be for the better for me to put in less effort."

"It's not about how much effort you put in," Fluttershy corrected. "You still have to put in the work, but like we've been saying from the beginning, you can always ask your friends if you need help lightening the load."

The ivory pegasus flashed a grateful smile. "And I'll be sure to take you up on that. Especially when this is all over. Seriously, I'm gonna need a vacation after this."

"Well, actually, you did kinda ditch work to come out here," Rainbow Dash reminded her. Her comment elicited a corrective glare from Rarity, and the cyan mare chuckled awkwardly. "You know what, nevermind. Take whatever time you think you'll need."

"Probably not a good idea to suggest another spa day, huh?" said Fluttershy.

Winter and Chamella shared amused glances with one another, giggling knowingly. Although Fluttershy was a little confused by their reaction, she shrugged it off and was just glad that Winter wasn't offended by the comment.

The yellow pegasus faced forward once more, but slowed slightly as she stared down the seemingly endless darkness via the light of her helmet. She could see something in the distance. "What's that?" she said, squinting.

The others followed her gaze, spotting what looked like some sort of green light some distance ahead of them.

"Is that... fire?" Rainbow Dash presumed, given how the emerald light seemed to flicker and sway.

"Green fire? Reminds me of changeling magic," said Rarity curiously.

Chamella's eyes went wide in disbelief, and a large, ecstatic smile soon graced her fanged lips. "That's it!"

The four ponies were slightly startled by the changeling's sudden, enthusiastic outburst.

"Why, whatever is the matter, dear?" asked the white unicorn.

Chamella flew a few feet ahead impatiently, turning back to her friends and unable to flitter in one spot without moving about excitedly. "The throne room! We made it! We actually made it!"

Winter felt her heart practically stop. They'd been wandering around down here for so long now that she was beginning to wonder if they'd ever get to where they were trying to go. "Are you serious?! That's really the throne room up ahead?!"

Chamella nodded fervently. "Yeah! Those torches mark important places in the hive! And..." She turned around again, staring at the torches in the distance. Past the one they'd spotted were certainly more lining the left wall of the tunnel. "Judging by how many there are, this is definitely the throne room!"

Chamella was about to eagerly fly down the corridor, but was halted when Fluttershy called out.

"Hold on! What happens when we go in there? Assuming Queen Chrysalis is there, do we have some sort of plan?"

"I want to try and talk to her. I know you girls don't have much reason to trust her, but I think she'll be reasonable. You know, if she's there."

"And if she's not?" Rainbow Dash posited.

Chamella's expression fell slightly at the question. "We just have to hope she is. There's really nothing we can do but keep looking if she isn't."

"Well, I don't want to stand around here wondering," Winter said impatiently, starting toward the throne room herself. "If there's any chance that we can put an end to all of this, I just want to do it and get it over with."

With that, the five of them galloped onward in a hurry, following the green torches along the wall until they came across a passage on the left. The four ponies in the group were a little caught off guard by how simple the entrance was, if it was indeed the throne room as Chamella claimed. If it weren't for the torches leading down the walls on either side of the passage, there would really be no indication that there was anything of importance here; it just looked like another branching path. However, that made them thankful for the visual indicators; it certainly made things easier for them.

The group entered the tunnel, which extended a little further down, though it was a rather short distance to walk. Before long they found themselves arriving in a very spacious chamber illuminated by many more green torches decorating the perimeter of the vaguely circular room. Of all of the chambers they'd been through that clearly weren't naturally formed, this one was by far the largest, with the ceiling extending quite high above them. It was amazing to them that there were stone columns tall enough to connect the floor and the ceiling near the walls of the chamber. But aside from the torches, the most defining trait of the area was the large, raised, stone platform on the far end of the room. A rather long and uneven set of stairs lead up the front of the rock formation, and at the top was a jagged and rather imposing stone throne bathed in emerald light.

"Yep. Definitely the throne room," Rainbow Dash stated as she stared up at the throne looming over them. "Ya know, for people that don't bother to decorate their kingdom, they put in a surprising amount of effort to make this place look like an evil lair. Makes you wonder why they bothered when it's this deep in."

"Actually, if you know where you're going and what entrance you use, you can get here pretty quickly," Chamella clarified. Her ears drooped slightly as she felt a little ashamed. "I can't say I know the hive well enough though. Would've made this a lot easier on all of us."

"As interesting as it is to see the throne of the changeling queen, I'm noticing a distinct lack of the queen herself," Rarity pointed out.

Sure enough, the room and the throne were empty, the only sound the crackling of the magical, green flames. There didn't appear to be any indication that anypony had been to the throne room lately at all.

Winter let out a disappointed sigh. "I guess it was too much to hope for. Just because she's the queen doesn't mean she spends all of her time in the throne room."

"Are there any other areas she might be?" Fluttershy asked Chamella.

The changeling tilted her head as she thought, clearly lacking confidence. "I suppose there's her personal chambers, but only a select few know where that is, like Captain Wraith."

"But it's gotta be near the throne room, right?" Rainbow Dash assumed. "I mean, if I were a queen, I'd want my bedroom close to the throne room."

"Yes, but not everypony is as devoted to lethargy as you, dear," quipped Rarity with a roll of her eyes.

Winter turned around with her head hung low and breathing a long, demoralized sigh. "Let's just go. We need to keep looking."

The other four were about to follow suit, however, Fluttershy chanced one more look at the intimidating throne, craning her neck up to take in the sight of it. In doing so, something caught her eye.

"Wait! Look!"

The others turned back curiously, following the quiet mare's pointing hoof up toward the ceiling. They all stared, puzzled, for a few seconds when they spotted what she had. Attached to the ceiling far above the throne was something green, oblong, and seemed to give off a faint glow of its own.

Winter squinted up at it as she tried to identify the object from this distance. "Is that... an egg sac?"

"Who would lay an egg in the throne room? Is that normal?" asked Fluttershy.

Chamella stared at the sac, her eyes widening when she noticed the shape of something inside of it. "That's... not a larva in there. It's too big."

Without another word, Chamella started flying up toward it. Once she was close enough, she could make out the creature inside much more clearly. It was a changeling, most certainly, suspended within the sac upside-down, but it was a very lithe, tall changeling; one with a long, dark teal mane and a large, crooked horn.

Chamella was transfixed at the sight, bewildered and confused. She managed to compose herself long enough to turn back to her friends on the ground. "It's her! It's Queen Chrysalis!"

"What?!" Rainbow Dash was quick to zip up there with her, and she was shortly followed by Winter and Fluttershy.

The three pegasi stared in surprise at the form of the queen herself encapsulated within the large egg sac. Her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving much, her only movements likely a result of the viscous fluid surrounding her.

"Whoa, it is her," Dash said in surprise. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this isn't normally how changelings sleep."

Chamella shook her head. "A changeling wouldn't be able to do something like this to themselves."

"So another changeling did this?" Fluttershy inferred.

She received a nod from her changeling companion.

"She's, uh... alive, right?" Winter asked worriedly.

"Yeah, she should be," Chamella informed.

After she said that, the group of mares noticed Chrysalis's eyes open ever so slightly before closing again.

"Is she okay in there?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"She's fine. Queen Chrysalis did this to Princess Celestia when we invaded Canterlot. Shade and I have told Twilight about this kind of thing before, too. I think she took our description and interpreted it as, um... 'a state of suspended animation.' Or something like that," Chamella explained, though sounded a little unsure herself. "Basically, the magic of the cocoon slows down brain activity and heart rate, conserving energy and keeping the victim alive for a long period of time."

Fluttershy's ears perked up at the explanation. "Oh, so it's kind of like hibernation. Well, a forced hibernation." The timid pegasus shuddered at the thought. "Oh, dear. That's a scary prospect. The changelings can just do that?"

"It's not that simple," Chamella corrected. "I've made these kinds of cocoons in the past to lay eggs in. It takes time to make one of these with magic. You're not going to capture a conscious or able-bodied person inside one of these very easily, and definitely not voluntarily."

"So that probably means she was overpowered and put in this thing," Winter presumed. "Do you think it was Shade?"

Chamella raised an eyebrow. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, it would have to be a changeling strong enough to overpower her, right? In the time we've spent together in here, I've seen you do some pretty impressive stuff with your magic. Shade's probably just as strong, don't you think?"

Chamella went silent for a few seconds. She hadn't thought about how her magic had gotten stronger, but now that Winter mentioned it, perhaps there was some credence to that thought. "Um, maybe," she replied, looking back at Chrysalis in the cocoon. "But I don't think Shade would do this. I'm not even sure if Shade knows how to make these sacs; he's never had to do it before like I have."

"But if it wasn't Shade, then who was it?" Fluttershy inquired.

"Would you girls mind hurrying things along?" Rarity called out from the base of the throne platform. "I'm starting to feel a little left out down here."

Rainbow Dash nodded to the group. "Right, let's get back on track. We still have to find Snowflake, right? So let's get moving."

"Rainbow Dash, we can't just leave her like this," Fluttershy scolded her.

"Why not? Somepony—er, changeling—did the work for us. Now we don't have to deal with her."

"Have you forgotten that the whole reason we were looking for the throne room in the first place was to find Chrysalis?" Winter reminded her. "We need to find out if she knows where Snowflake is."

"And why do you think she'd help us?" Dash asked skeptically. "We haven't exactly had many pleasant encounters with her. Or, you know, any."

"Look, it doesn't matter," Winter groaned in exasperation. "We're getting her out of there one way or another." She turned to Chamella, raising an eyebrow. "Uh, we can do that, right?"

The changeling nodded. "These cocoons aren't very tough. I'll just cut through it with my horn. You three get ready to catch her."

With that, Chamella carefully pressed the sharp point of her horn against the outer shell of the cocoon. As she said, it didn't take much pressure for her horn to cut into it, the combination of the shell slowly cracking open and the liquid inside beginning to ooze out of the newly-formed crevice creating a rather off-putting noise. The viscous fluid began to leak out as Chamella cut upward along the cocoon. Down below, Rarity had to hastily take a step back as a large glob of the liquid splattered onto the stairs in front of her, followed by the rest of it as Chamella opened a large split in the front of the pod.

With the fluid draining from the cocoon, Chrysalis's body began to slip down along with it, gradually sliding out of the opening that Chamella had made. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Winter each moved in to grab the queen before she fell, each of them wincing in disgust as the gross liquid coating her body stained their coats. With firm holds of her legs and midsection, the three pegasi carefully carried the unconscious changeling queen down to ground level, setting her down gently on her side.

The five mares stared down at Chrysalis in silence. Rarity and Fluttershy looked a touch uneasy, still unsure if Chrysalis could be trusted. In the same vein, Rainbow Dash stood at the ready in case the queen was playing possum and planned to sucker punch them. Winter and Chamella, on the other hoof, were both a little concerned for her, unsure if she was okay or when she might wake up again.

After a few minutes of tense silence, Chrysalis finally began to stir, moaning quietly as her eyes slowly opened and she regained consciousness. The changeling slowly lifted her head from the floor, wincing in discomfort and rubbing one of her temples.

Once she had fully reconstituted, Chrysalis finally noticed that she wasn't alone, being met with the faces of five familiar mares. She was quite surprised by their presence, but made sure to relay some displeasure with an annoyed scowl. "Well, can't say this was what I expected to see when I woke up," she groaned.

"Are you alright, Your Highness?" Chamella asked compassionately.

Chrysalis wiped some of the gross gunk from her face with an irritated grimace. "No worse for wear, I suppose." She looked back at the other changeling, raising an eyebrow. "Chamella, was it? What are you doing back in the Changeling Kingdom." Her curious expression became a glower as she shifted her gaze to the four ponies, addressing them with venom oozing from her voice. "For that matter, what are you all doing here?"

"You know dang well why we're here," Rainbow Dash shot back with an aggressive stomp of her hoof. "Where's Snowflake?!"

Chrysalis simply blinked, unamused and vexed by the question. "I have no idea who or what that is. And, quite frankly, I don't care," the queen said, laboriously rising to her hooves. She was still a bit shaky in the legs, but managed to carry herself well enough to stand and used her magic to clean most of the goo from her body. "I have problems of my own I have to deal with. I don't have time for whatever asinine drivel you ponies think I'm responsible for."

"Your Majesty, wait! We came here to find you because we need your help," Chamella pleaded.

That had Chrysalis curious, though a touch skeptical. "Help? With what? Why would ponies need my help?"

"You know we wouldn't come here for no reason," Fluttershy told her.

Winter stepped up to the queen, a pleading look in her eyes. "I just want to ask you a few questions."

Chrysalis stared down at the ivory pegasus with narrowed eyes, but said nothing, waiting for her to proceed.

Winter gulped nervously. She'd been waiting for this moment since she had set out for the Changeling Kingdom, intent on getting information from the queen. But now that she was actually face to face with her, Winter was feeling more than a little intimidated. "I-I just need to know... Did you order your soldiers to kidnap a half-changeling foal from Ponyville?"

Chrysalis took a second to process the inquiry, clearly confused. "Okay, first of all, why would I bother going to all the trouble kidnapping a foal? Second, half-changeling? What...?"

Chamella breathed a sigh of relief and managed a small smile as she turned to her friends. "See? I told you this wasn't her doing."

The queen let out a groan, but seemed to relax a little as she gave in. "Alright, I'm going to need some clarification on all of this." She looked back down at Winter, the pegasus's face finally jarring something in her memory. "Oh, yes, I know you. You're that pony that Shade fell in love with, aren't you?"

Winter nodded, though her unease did not dissipate. "Y-Yeah, that's me."

There was a rather curious and surprised look on Chrysalis's face. "So, are you telling me that the two of you actually had a foal together? That's possible?"

"The short answer is yes," Rarity replied. "But that's not the point right now. One of your soldiers kidnapped the poor child and brought him here. We were hoping you'd know where he is."

"Well, as I said before, I had no idea this was even a thing," Chrysalis huffed. "So, to answer your question, no, I don't know where he is."

Dejected expressions blemished the faces of the five mares, particularly Winter.

"So much for that..." the crimson-maned mother muttered pessimistically.

"I'm sorry, everypony," Chamella apologized with her head hung low. "I thought this was our best bet. I guess I was wrong."

Fluttershy gingerly placed a hoof on the changeling's shoulder. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have known. It was worth a shot at least."

Chrysalis glanced between the sullen looks on their faces. "You all came all the way out here for a lone foal? He must be important to you."

Winter looked up hopefully into the queen's eyes. There was almost a hint of empathy in the tall changeling's voice. "Of course he's important; he's my son. I'd do anything to protect him."

Chrysalis nodded knowingly. "I can respect that. Though perhaps not quite the same as the feelings between ponies, I, too, care for my subjects a great deal. I'm not saying I'd go out of the way to save their lives or anything, but, you know... What's a queen without subjects?"

Chamella raised a curious eyebrow. "Speaking of subjects: who was it that trapped you in that cocoon?"

With the change of topic came Chrysalis's memories, a sudden, infuriated glower creasing her brow as it all came back to her. "Wraith..." she growled, more to herself than anypony.

"What? Wraith?" Chamella repeated, confused. "But... isn't he the captain of your soldiers?"

"Hang on, that's the guy who took Snowflake, too, right?" Winter interjected.

Chrysalis looked down at the mares again, breathing a resigned sigh. "So I'm not the only one he's accosted then? Figures."

"Uh, sorry, I'm a little lost here," Rainbow Dash interrupted, looking a bit confused. "Can somepony explain what's going on exactly? Who's this 'Wraith' guy?"

Rarity rolled her eyes at her cyan companion. "They just answered that, Rainbow Dash. Captain of the soldiers and the one who kidnapped Snowflake. Pay attention."

Dash snorted in annoyance. "I know that. What I mean is, why is this guy important? What does he have to do with all this?"

Chamella looked up at Chrysalis sympathetically. She could tell from her expression that the queen was not only upset, but hurt by this turn of events. "Why would Wraith betray you? I thought he was your most trusted subject."

Chrysalis let out a long, solemn sigh, her ears folding back as she mumbled quietly. "So did I..."

The five mares shared concerned and puzzled looks before returning their attention back to the changeling queen as she continued.

"Wraith has been a loyal and reliable confidant to me for almost as long as I've been queen. Or at least, that's what I thought." Her brow furrowed. She was clearly angered by the turn of events that had occurred, but there was still a very noticeable sadness amongst the green hues of her eyes. "As it turns out, Wraith had been using me from the beginning. He had worked his way up the ranks of the soldiers until I had appointed him captain, all in an effort to get close to me. I have to admit, his patience is impressive; to stay by my side and keep up his charade of care and compassion for all these years..."

"Wait, you said he was 'using' you," Winter interjected. "Using you how exactly?"

Chrysalis looked away from her, a slight hint of an ashamed blush in her ebony cheeks. "I made the mistake of actually thinking he cared about me, and as such, I started to care for him."

Chamella's eyes widened as she caught on to what Chrysalis was implying. "He's been feeding off of your love."

"And for years you said?" Rainbow Dash gawked.

"No wonder there are so many rumors about his power," mumbled Chamella.

Chrysalis grit her teeth. "I should have known he was up to something from the beginning. I received no power from him the entire time I've known him. That should've tipped me off. I trusted him too unconditionally and as a result I let that love blind me." She shot a haughty, condescending look over the mares. "Do you see now what love gets you? You lower your guard and let someone into your heart only for them to take advantage of you. You're only setting yourself up to be hurt. It's humiliating that I, the Queen of the Changelings, made that error."

"You're wrong."

Chrysalis glared down at the alabaster pegasus. Winter was staring back up at her, the reluctance that had been present in her eyes before having faded to make way for confidence, determination and belief.

"Love can cause pain, it's true, I know that first hoof. But as long as you find the right person, love is the best thing that can ever happen to a person. Love is the reason I'm here right now."

"Tch. Was that supposed to be motivational?" Chrysalis scoffed. "If it wasn't for love, you wouldn't have to be here. You could be at home, living your mundane, everyday life."

"Love is what makes the mundane interesting," Rarity added. "It's the spice that adds flavor to life."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Save me your moral life lessons. Believe me, I've learned my lesson about love. I won't be making that mistake again."

Winter shook her head in defeat. Obviously they weren't going to get through to her, at least not right after she had had to deal with her heartbreak. "Whatever. If you want to make war, not love, that's your problem."

"So what are we going to do about Wraith then?" asked Fluttershy worriedly. "If he's been feeding on your love for so long, he must be incredibly powerful."

"He's certainly strong, there's no doubt about that," Chrysalis said with a nod. "However, he's only fed on my residual feelings."

Rainbow Dash quirked a confused eyebrow. "Uh, what's that mean exactly?"

"You mean just like Shade and Chamella," Winter inferred.

Chrysalis nodded in confirmation. "They grew stronger simply by being within proximity to people who cared about them. Wraith did that with me. But the effects of residual love is only a fraction of what a changeling would get from siphoning love directly from a victim. On top of that, there are diminishing returns when it comes to how powerful a changeling can get; the more you feed, the less effective it becomes. At this point I suspect that Wraith has hit a proverbial ceiling in terms of how much his magic power has grown, which may be why he's chosen to turn against me now."

"So why is Chamella stronger, too? She doesn't have a boyfriend or anything to get love from," Rainbow Dash inquired, eliciting an awkward and embarrassed blush from Chamella.

"Love comes in many forms," Chrysalis informed. "Love between friends and family, or respect from one's peers. 'True' love, as you might know it, between two individuals who have devoted their lives to one another as Shade and this mare have..." she explained, glancing at Winter, "...is certainly more potent, but significantly harder for a changeling to come by. I originally built my power on the respect I received from my many subjects." Her expression fell once more as she once again considered the state of her position as queen. "Though that power has faded considerably since..."

"Then in this regard, who would be more powerful? Shade or Wraith?" Rarity wondered. "Shade does indeed have true love, and the respect of his friends and neighbors. However, Wraith has supposedly been absorbing power for quite a lot longer at this point."

"I suppose we can't be certain," Chrysalis said with a shrug. "Although I'd be willing to bet that Wraith is physically stronger. Even without magic, Wraith is a force to be reckoned with."

"Sounds like you could've used his help in Canterlot," Rainbow Dash commented.

"Wraith was the one who elected to stay behind," the queen informed with a huff. "He claimed it was to quell any worry in the changelings who chose to stay home and not put their lives at risk. Of course, now I know better; he clearly used my absence as an opportunity to sway a group of my subjects to his side."

"This is all very interesting, but it also sounds like its not our problem," Winter asserted bluntly, prompting an insulted glower from the changeling queen. "I'm not concerned about what's going on with you and your dysfunctional colony. I only came here to find my son and leave."

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes at the pegasus, fighting back the urge to snap back aggressively. "I'm sorry, but didn't you say Wraith was the one who took your foal in the first place? I think that qualifies it as 'your problem.'"

Winter's stoic expression faltered under the queen's logic.

"You're also not thinking about this in the long term," Chrysalis continued. "Wraith made his intentions very clear to me before he imprisoned me in that cocoon. He may be a changeling, but infiltration and espionage are not his style. If he were to successfully usurp me, he fully intends to launch a full scale invasion of Equestria. And participation would not be optional for his would-be subjects. The force that I brought with me to Canterlot two years ago was but a fraction of our population, and we nearly succeeded. Now, imagine every... single... changeling swarming not just your capitol, but other towns and cities, as well. And he would not show mercy either. Your lives mean nothing to him."

Fluttershy audibly gulped as she pictured the horrifying scenario in her mind, the sun and the sky blotted out by a black cloud of ravenous and bloodthirsty changelings, like a swarm of locusts in a field of crops.

"If you're so sure that he'd win with that plan, why didn't you just do that?" Rainbow Dash asked, practically goading her.

Chrysalis glared disdainfully at the cyan mare, leaning her head down closer to her and causing the pegasus to take a step back. "Because I wanted you ponies to suffer like we have for countless years. Had I taken Equestria's throne, I'd have exiled the lot of you to these very lands to experience our struggles. Wraith would simply have you all killed and likely served as dinner. Which would you prefer?"

"And she does care about us," Chamella interjected. "We didn't have to go to Canterlot if we didn't want to, since there was a very real chance we could die. I only went because Shade and Guise did..." she muttered.

"So, to sum up: Wraith is your problem," Chrysalis reiterated. "If you want your foal back, chances are you'll have to deal with him at some point."

Rarity stepped up to the queen, holding her head up in authority despite the changeling's much taller frame. "Then it appears we have a common enemy. Might I recommend a truce for the time being so that we can solve this together?"

Chrysalis grimaced and hummed to herself, pondering the suggestion reluctantly. She responded after a resigned sigh. "As much as I'd hate to admit it, it would be in my best interest to take you up on that offer. I lack the strength to deal with Wraith myself, so this is actually a very fortuitous opportunity. Out of curiosity, is Twilight Sparkle here as well?"

"She and Applejack and Pinkie Pie went a different way so we could cover more ground," Fluttershy answered. "But, yes, she is here somewhere."

Chrysalis nodded. "Good. Her participation would certainly be helpful. Although finding her might be a little difficult."

"Great, so you help us find Snowflake, and Twilight and her friends will help you deal with Wraith," Winter recapped.

"We can handle that," Rainbow Dash claimed with a confident grin.

Chrysalis shot an offended glare at Winter. "Let's not get ahead ourselves. Quite frankly, I haven't been appreciating the attitude you've been giving me. If you're going to devote yourself to one of my subjects, I think you should show his queen some proper respect. So before we make this truce, I demand an apology."

Winter gawked, vexed by the command. "What?! For your information, he's not your subject anymore."

Fluttershy leaned over, whispering to her. "Winter, just apologize. We came here to ask her for help, remember?"

Winter hesitated, looking up at Chrysalis. The changeling queen was smirking smugly as she waited patiently for the pegasus's apology. Winter breathed a defeated sigh. Fluttershy was right, and they'd already wasted enough time as it was. Reluctantly, she looked apologetically at Chrysalis. "Fine. I'm sorry. I've just... been through a lot recently and want all of this to be over."

Chrysalis's smirk faded as she watched the mare's gaze fall to the floor. She actually hadn't expected the apology to sound genuine. And it was only now that the queen noticed the deep crimson stains around the mare's fetlocks. Not wanting the ponies to think she actually felt bad for them, Chrysalis played it off coolly with a dismissive scoff. "Good enough."

With that out of the way and everything back on track, Rainbow Dash asked once again, "So you really have no idea where Wraith might have brought Snowflake?"

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow for a brief moment. "Who? Oh, the foal. Well, I can't say for certain. But if he intends to keep it alive for whatever reason, he'll probably keep it somewhere out of the way where the hungry larvae won't find it, most likely the soldiers' quarters."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get the little rascal!" Rainbow Dash declared as she started back towards the throne room's entrance.

"We should probably rendezvous with Twilight first, in case Wraith is standing guard with the child," Rarity suggested. "Last we checked it seemed like she wasn't far from us, so it shouldn't take us too far out of the way."

"Let's just hurry this up. I don't want to have to partner with the lot of you any longer than I have to," Chrysalis insisted begrudgingly as she accompanied the group of mares out of the throne room.

"Um, Your Highness?"

Chrysalis looked down at the only other changeling in her company. Chamella was smiling at her.

"Thank you for helping us."

Seeing the grateful look in her former subject's eyes made Chrysalis's heart swell a little. It had been such a long time since she'd received any sort of respect from another changeling, and it was strange to her that the only one that did was one who no longer lived under her rule. She didn't respond, but simply smiled back at Chamella softly, almost motherly.

***** ***** *****

Shade felt a chill run through him as he and Guise continued deeper into the caverns, but it wasn't a result of unease or fear. It felt like a cool breeze was wafting through the hive's corridors. It wasn't cold enough for them to want to find some warmth, but within the humid confines of the caves, the minor, albeit sudden, change in temperature was certainly noticeable.

"Feel that?" said Guise. "We must be close to an exit." He glanced to Shade in the hopes of encouraging him. "You know, we could probably bail right now."

Shade only cast a dismissive look out of the corner of his eye before shifting them forward again.

Guise let out a dejected sigh. "I'm just saying. Look, I wanna get out of here as quickly as I can, but like I told you, I kind of want you to stay alive."

"Then we can leave when we find Snow and Winter and Chamella," Shade stately flatly. "Not to mention Twilight and the others."

Guise threw his head back with a groan. "We've got our work cut out for us, huh? Starting to regret signing up for this," he mumbled with a shake of his head.

"I'm not forcing you to do anything," Shade reminded him. "But I do appreciate your help, despite the selfish motivation."

"Yeah, no problem," Guise said halfheartedly. "But for the record, if something happens to me, I'm blaming you and your lovey-dovey ideals."

Shade chuckled quietly with a shrug. "Yeah, yeah."

As things between them went quiet for a moment, Guise looked around the corridors they were heading down. It didn't look any different than anywhere else, but Guise still felt unsure about one thing. "I don't know if this is the way to the soldiers' quarters or not. I'm pretty sure I didn't feel any sort of breeze when I went looking for you."

Shade raised an eyebrow, but he couldn't say he was surprised. "Got lost already?"

Guise scoffed at him. "Come on, cut me some slack. I may have spent the last two years in here, but it's not like I was traipsing around and taking in the lack of sights."

"Relax, I'm not trying to get on your case," Shade said in an attempt to diffuse him. "I've been just as lost as you. Honestly, I've been going with the mentality of 'just keep going until I find something.'"

"Well, I can't really say if that's been working in your favor or not."

Shade wasn't going to disagree. He's had run-ins with several soldiers, including Wraith himself, so that might have been an indication of something.

Eventually the two changelings came across another tunnel on their left that ran perpendicular to the corridor they were currently in. Taking a moment to look down that tunnel, it quickly became evident that the breeze they'd been feeling was coming from that direction.

"Looks like the way out's down that way," Guise pointed out.

"Then I guess we keep going the way we were going. I'm not interested in leaving yet."

Guise sighed quietly, a little disappointed that Shade didn't give in to the temptation, but not entirely surprised. "Just making sure we make note of it for when we—"

"Shade! There you are!"

Shade and Guise were drawn to the sound of a familiar, female voice coming from further down the path they were on. Approaching them rather hurriedly appeared to be Glory, although she was without her armor.

Shade glowered at the approaching female, instinctively taking a defensive stance. His reaction to her presence caused her to slow to a stop, leaving a respectable distance between them.

"Great, this is just what I need right now," Shade growled. "Get out of the way, Glory. I'm not in any mood to deal with you again."

Glory remained at a distance. Shade noticed that she didn't appear to be acting aggressively. There was no vindictive glare, nor did she even bother to take up any sort of stance for a confrontation. If anything, there was a pleading, apologetic look in her hazel eyes.

"No, you don't understand. I didn't come here to fight you again," she claimed in a hurried tone.

Guise raised an eyebrow. This whole thing was odd to him. Not only was Glory without her armor, but she had even seemingly abandoned her post.

Shade, on the other hoof, wasn't concerned with any of that. "Then what do you want?"

Glory didn't have a chance to respond. Instead, the head of a tiny, green-eyed colt poked out from behind Glory's head.

Shade felt his heart jump as the shock of seeing the foal shot through him. "S-Snow?!" After all this time, he was finally able to see his son again and confirm for himself that he was alive and well. Shade was overcome with pure joy and relief, and was about to rush over to embrace his son. However, he stopped himself, glaring aggressively at Glory. "What are you trying to do? If you hurt him, I swear—"

"No!" Glory quickly interrupted. "Listen, I'm not here for anything like that!" she pleaded desperately. She took the foal off of her back, holding him against her shoulder in much the same manner as Shade or Winter would. "I came to give him back to you."

Shade remained skeptical, narrowing his eyes at her. "And how do I know this isn't a trick? That foal could be another changeling in disguise."

Snowflake stared over at his father with a big smile, reaching a hoof out towards him. Shade's skepticism wavered slightly, a shred of hope remaining that this was actually real, but he refused to believe that Glory would just hand him over.

Guise, on the other hoof, viewed the situation differently. "Hey, I think she's serious."

"What makes you think that?" Shade asked.

Guise looked over to Glory, the expression on her face one of uncharacteristic regret. "Because she knows more about you and that kid than any other changeling. Right, Glory?"

Glory stayed quiet for a moment and sighed. "I've had to take care of Snowflake since you and I last met." She looked down into the beady, green eyes of the foal, the softness of her expression catching Shade off guard. "I've been looking at his memories pretty frequently, and as a result, I've been given a rather in-depth look at what life outside of the Changeling Kingdom is like. Not just from him, but you, as well. I'm... envious."

Shade lowered his guard, taking interest in what he was hearing. He wasn't sure if he wanted to believe this; after all, he was the one who told Chamella that other changelings weren't worth helping.

"You're lives are so... carefree," Glory continued. "I mean, I already knew that, but we believed you sat around and reveled in your comfort and luxury. I could see that it wasn't easy for you to make the life you have now, but any hardships you endured ended up paying off in the long run. I've been given a glimpse of what happiness really is and..." She gave Shade that pleading look once more. "I want it."

Shade blinked, taking in what she was saying and trying to find some sort of ulterior motive within it. "Are you saying...?"

Glory nodded. "I'm done with the Changeling Kingdom. I've lost all the respect of my peers and my superior. I'm sick of struggling every day. I've got no reason to stick around this dump any longer." She briefly looked back into Snowflake's eyes. "And I've gotten to experience what it actually feels like not only to have someone care about me, but to care about someone else, and not for the sake of power, but just to... care. I know I can't expect you to trust me right away, but I'm willing to earn it if you'll allow me to try. I want to go with you to Equestria. I want to give this whole 'peace and love' thing a chance. I want this feeling of mutual respect and compassion. I want to be happy for once in my life."

Shade was silent as he analyzed Glory's expression. She certainly appeared to be genuine, almost a little nervous even as she awaited a response. Something about her expression reminded him of Chamella. Shade briefly turned his attention to his son. Snowflake was looking back at him still, but was clinging to Glory rather comfortably. He made no attempt to escape from this stranger's hold.

Guise watched as Shade contemplated the scenario laid out before him. The red-maned changeling rolled his eyes with an impatient sigh. "If you want my two bits, I don't think there's anything fishy going on here."

Shade only gave another skeptical quirk of his eyebrow.

"Look, take it from me, no changeling wants to disguise themselves as some cutesy, little runt, much less sit cradled in another changeling's hooves. Changelings might be deceitful, but we've got some dignity."

Shade took a moment to mull over Guise's opinion on the situation. There was really no way to prove that the foal Glory was carrying wasn't a changeling in disguise without use of force, and obviously Shade didn't want to risk that. Despite the struggle in his head, Shade's judgment was steadily swaying toward the option that would get him his son back. If that meant trusting Glory for the time being, so be it.

"Maybe I'm making a mistake here, but... I'll trust you for now."

Glory managed a grateful smile, a relieved breath escaping her nostrils. "Thank you. I'm only asking for a chance."

"And if you waste that chance, you're not getting another one. Understand?" Shade declared with a resolute scowl.

Glory nodded. "I do. Anything I can do to earn your trust, I'll do it. In fact, I'll start by letting you know that you can find an exit to the caves down that way," she informed, pointing down the tunnel the cool breeze was coming from.

"Yeah, we kinda figured that out ourselves," Guise deadpanned.

"Besides, we're not going anywhere until we find the others," added Shade. "If you want to earn our trust, you can help us find them."

Glory let out a reluctant sigh. "I don't want to be here any longer than I need to. But if that's what I have to do, then I can't exactly say no." She walked toward Shade, moving somewhat slowly to assure Shade that she meant no harm. Once she was close enough, she held up Snowflake, staring into the tyke's bright green eyes one more time before holding him out to his father. "You'll want him back, I'm sure."

Snowflake gave his daddy a big grin, reaching his hooves out eagerly to feel his father's embrace again. Shade was almost overcome with emotion as he was finally about to hold his son after these last few stressful days. He was practically on the verge of tears.

Just as Shade was about to take the foal in his hooves, a neon green aura enveloped Snowflake, lifting him up and out of Glory's grip.

Shade reacted first with confusion, but quickly shot an angry glower at Glory. "Hey, what are you doing?!"

Glory was just as surprised as he was, drawing back and clearly showing that her horn was not lit up. "I-It's not me!"

Snowflake started floating back toward where Glory had come from. As the distance between him and his father increased, panic began to set within the foal and he started to cry. Glory turned around, intent on retrieving Snowflake and returning him to his father. However, she came to a cold stop, a sudden dread overwhelming her. Snowflake floated some distance away, frightened and bawling, stopping beside the source of the magic that surrounded him. Shade and Guise grit their teeth viciously, while Glory could only look on in horror.

Standing there with his horn alight with magic was the culprit: an armored and none-to-pleased captain of the changelings.

"Wr-Wraith!" Glory stammered fearfully.

Wraith glared daggers at Glory, but briefly turned his attention to the crying infant in his grasp. The green aura shimmering around the foal became more solid, but still malleable, effectively muting the wails with a soundproof barrier. He then looked back at Glory. Though his expression remained mostly stoic as usual, there was a seething anger and venomous hatred in his violet eyes.

"I never expected that you, Glory, of all people, would turn against me," he said in a low, rumbling tone. "Though I suppose, given my own circumstances, I should have planned for it."

"Don't you dare hurt him, Wraith!" Shade bellowed, flashing his fangs furiously.

Wraith's eyes darted to Shade for only a moment, clearly suppressing his boiling rage. "This is none of your business. And if you or Guise so much as move or speak, the larva dies." To punctuate the point and prove he wasn't bluffing, Wraith applied just a little pressure with the bubble of magic holding the infant. Although he could not be heard from within it, Snowflake was clearly being hurt, and his crying and struggling became more frantic. "Have I made myself clear?"

Shade could only do what was in his power to hold himself back from rushing down the large changeling, gritting his teeth almost hard enough crack them. Guise only cast a sidelong glance at Shade. He couldn't care less about the foal, but he needed Shade to trust him, and as much as he wanted to tear into Wraith himself, he refrained, as well, and stayed quiet.

Satisfied that the two other males were going to be obedient, Wraith loosened his grip on Snowflake and returned his attention to Glory, his pupils narrowing the moment they lay on her. "Not only did you act without my express permission by releasing that cretin, but now you go against my direct orders by freeing the larva and even helping the enemy."

Glory stepped forward, desperately attempting to explain herself. "S-Sir, if you would just let me—"

"There will be no room for excuses, Glory."

The female winced at Wraith's agitated interruption.

"I've become accustomed to hearing your own opinions on matters, and even though you may not agree with me at times, you had never in the past shown any actual signs of insubordination. You should know better than anyone that those who turn their backs on the colony are considered traitors and enemies. You've unfortunately now put yourself in that camp."

"I can explain!" Glory insisted. She briefly cast a glance over her shoulder at Shade. Her eyes looked apologetic, but also panicked. She was grasping at straws, but she wanted to diffuse this situation in any way she could. "I-It was a ploy! I was tricking them into trusting me so I could infiltrate their—ghk!"

Glory was quickly cut off when her neck was suddenly surrounded by a ring of green magic, gripping her tightly and pulling her closer to Wraith. The captain lifted Glory up by the neck until her hooves no longer touched the ground, leaving her dangling in the air and grasping in futility at the incorporeal noose that was holding her. She could still breath, but only barely, each breath sharp and panicked. She was hovering slightly above Wraith's line of sight, forced to stare down into his eyes as he bore a hole through her with his glare.

"I'm not stupid, Glory," Wraith growled. "I don't need to be able to view the memories of others when I can already tell when they're lying. Such a desperate attempt to save face is unlike you, and as such, clearly a bluff. Even if that were the case, once again you're acting of your own accord without my say so. Mercy is a weapon, Glory; one that can be easily used against one's self. By showing mercy, you turn a blade on yourself. I'll be the first to admit that I've made that mistake myself." Wraith passed a cursory glance at Shade. "That mistake has caused me more trouble than I suspected." He pulled Glory in closer, narrowing his eyes. "I'll not be making that mistake again."

Glory began to struggle harder against Wraith's magical grip, again to no avail. She knew what was coming, but wanted desperately to avoid it. "Please..." she managed to choke out. "I-I can still..."

The furious scowl on Wraith's face faltered slightly as he watched Glory struggle and plead. "I am not without a heart, Glory. I am hurt that you chose to betray me, and I wish this could have been avoided. But as long as these traitors have planted the seed of doubt in your mind, I cannot trust you." Having made his feelings known, his brow furrowed in displeasure once more. "But as hurt as I am, I am far more enraged than I am remorseful. Treachery will not be tolerated. You've always known that and yet still you betray me. That fact makes this easier for me."

"I-I'm sorry..." Glory wheezed, fearful tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Wraith only proved to become more frustrated by the pathetic apology. "It's too late for that now," he told her. He drew her close again, forcing her to stare into his violet eyes. "Look into my eyes, Glory. Tell me what you see."

Glory hesitated as she continued to inhale sharply for air through clenched teeth. "B-But you told me... never to look at your—"

"I am giving you an order, Glory," Wraith hissed. "Do you intend to defy me to the very end?" He watched as one lone tear rolled down Glory's cheek, his glare more venomous than ever. "Tell me. What you see."

Against her better judgment and only in the hopes that this would somehow save her, Glory did as she was told, staring straight into Wraith's eyes. Her own eyes and his began to faintly glow green as Glory entered Wraith's thoughts for the first time. What she saw only served to cause her tears to flow more freely.

"Well?" Wraith inquired knowingly, unfazed by the feeling of the mare rooting around in his memories. "Describe what you see."

"I-I..." Glory struggled just to form words, the combination of Wraith's tight grip on her throat and the images she was seeing making it difficult for her to compose herself. "I-I see me... lying on the ground... I-I'm alive, but I... can't move. There are larvae surrounding me... e-eat—" Her voice caught in her throat for a moment. "E-Eating me alive." Her breaths became more rapid and panicked and her tears trailed freely, dripping from her chin. "Please... Please, don't do this. I-I'm sorry, Wraith."

"I already told you: it's too late for apologies," Wraith repeated coldly.

Glory felt Wraith's grasp tighten on her neck, prompting a half-yelp from the mare that was cut short by her own lack of oxygen. "P-Please... I... I was wrong... I don't—"

Glory's neck was tilted slightly to the left, and a cracking sound echoed through the cavern. The mare's voice went silent and her limbs went limp.

Shade could only watch in silent horror as Wraith released his hold on Glory's neck, letting her body drop unceremoniously to the floor with an indignant thud. Even Guise was aghast at what he had just witnessed.

Wraith stared down at the motionless changeling at his hooves. "I took no pleasure in this, Glory. I want you to know that." With his first grievance dealt with and without a second thought, Wraith once more turned his attention to the two males staring in his direction. "Now then, to deal with you two."

Shade's own anger reached a boil as he stared down Wraith. "You..."

"I'd watch your words if I were you," Wraith warned, hoisting Snowflake up as a reminder. "The fate of this larva rests on the choice you make from here. If you want to discuss your options, I'd suggest you follow me."

Without another word, Wraith nonchalantly started making his way down the connecting path where the exit supposedly was with Snowflake in tow, continuing to cry and scream in silence within his soundproof prison.

Shade watched as Wraith disappeared into the darkness ahead, growling furiously the whole time. He took a moment to look over his shoulder at Guise. The red-maned changeling was staring over to Glory's prone body, seething with anger himself.

Even though Snowflake was at the forefront of his mind, Shade allowed a moment to worry about Glory. "Is she...?"

Concerned himself, Guise wandered over to the female. He stared down silently at Glory. Although her body was completely motionless, her hazel eyes were still open and staring back up at him, dim and frightened. Her tears still continued to flow.

Guise looked back at Shade with the most concern he'd ever seen him show, but mixed with his incensed rage. "I'm going to kill him," Guise stated matter-of-factly and with an aggressive snarl.

For perhaps the first time since he'd known him, Shade felt as though he and Guise were finally on the same wavelength. Shade could tell from Guise's expression that Glory was alive, and it appeared as though that he intended to do something for the sake of someone else for once in his life. But as much as Shade wanted to help her, he didn't know what he could do.

Guise saw the conflicted look on Shade's face, walking back over to him and giving him a resolute look. "We're coming back for her after we deal with him."

Shade took a deep breath through his nostrils and nodded. He looked to Glory one more time, though she could not see him trying to reassure her with his eyes. Not wanting to waste any more time, Shade started heading after Wraith with Guise following close behind.

Chapter 23 - The Would-Be King

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 23: The Would-Be King

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Light began to fill their vision as Shade and Guise pursued Wraith. As they had suspected, and as Glory had confirmed, there was an exit straight ahead. They both found themselves having to squint their eyes as they rapidly approached the conduit that would lead them out of the hive. They had to slow to a stop when they finally took their first steps out into the open air for the first time in what felt like ages—even more so for Guise, who hadn't seen the outside world in two years.

Shade held up a hoof to shield his eyes from the comparatively higher light levels, though the holes in his leg didn't help in that regard. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust, but it soon became evident that they weren't going to get the sights they were expecting.

It wasn't even as bright as it could have been outside. The sky above them was heavily overcast; not exactly the relieving view Shade was hoping for when he finally made it out. The sun was still evidently high enough to shine through, however, leading them to believe it must have been around noon. What was more, they expected to at least get a breath of fresh air for once after having to put up with the stagnant, humid air of the caverns, but even the air outside seemed to taste stale.

Shade and Guise took a moment to look at their surroundings, their jaws dropping slightly in surprise and mild horror. They were not back in the autumn forests that they were familiar with. There were no trees decorated with reds and oranges, no dry and golden grass beneath their hooves. In fact, there was basically no color at all. The ground they stood on was devoid of all moisture, gray and cracked. Any semblance of life that had existed here was only represented by a few leafless trees, their color drained like the dirt and likely having petrified years ago.

But none of that was as shocking as the countless bones that littered the lifeless wasteland. As far as they could see, the skeletons of innumerable creatures were strewn about haphazardly, making it difficult to even take a step without some poor, unfortunate creature's bones snapping under hoof. Upon a cursory glance in the immediate area, it appeared that the majority of those remains were those of changelings as opposed to their victims, with many fanged skulls and rib cages, but almost no leg bones.

This was The Boneyard; a valley secluded in the middle of the mountain range that the changeling hive was built into. In the distance, Shade and Guise could both see the jagged mountains they'd been traipsing through surrounding them on all sides. They had both heard of this place, but had never seen it with their own eyes. It was simply a graveyard where the corpses of dead changelings or animals that had been picked clean of their meat were dropped off so that they weren't littering the ground where those who were still alive were living. Seeing it for themselves, Shade and Guise were starting to realize that, as much as they complained about how difficult it was to live in the Changeling Kingdom, it could have been worse.

But the environment was of little concern right now. Shade tore his eyes and his thoughts away from the countless bodies, fixating instead on one of the only living creatures present.

Some distance away, Wraith was staring them down, Snowflake still held firmly in his magical grasp. The changeling captain appeared to be somewhat annoyed, but at the same time, was exuding confidence.

Shade grit his teeth. "Alright, Wraith, we played your little game and followed you out here. What's the plan?"

Wraith lifted his nose slightly at Shade. "While I do wish to kill you and get you out of my way, you've already proven to be quite a hassle to deal with, especially with him accompanying you," he said with a quick glance at Guise. He then turned his sights on the foal in his possession with an irate glower. "I've already gone through a great deal of trouble because of this larva, and I've grossly misjudged the strength of your convictions. I didn't expect you to come all the way out here just to save one foal. I'm beginning to wonder if the effort was worth it."

"Then just give him back and we'll leave," Shade suggested.

"Unfortunately, I can't do that," Wraith responded with a shake of his head. "I'm not about to waste that effort, and you are a threat so long as you still draw breath. If I were to kill the larva now, what would have been the point in taking him in the first place? And killing it would only prompt you to attack me anyway, seeing as you seem to have grown attached to it."

"What good is he to you anyway?!"

"Whoa, you sure you wanna give him any ideas there, Shade?" Guise cautioned him.

Wraith closed his eyes in thought for a moment. "In truth, I could probably do without him. But every drone can have a purpose, and we need every drone we can get for when the changelings eventually assault Equestria once more."

"Chrysalis let us live our lives peacefully!" Shade reminded him. "Why is she going back on her word now?!"

Wraith narrowed his eyes, glaring harshly at the mention of the name. "Chrysalis has nothing to do with this."

Shade blinked, confused by that response. "What?"

Wraith took a step forward, ire in his voice and determination in his eyes. "It was my decision to take this larva. Chrysalis knew nothing of this. In fact, 'Her Majesty' is imprisoned within a cocoon in her own throne room as we speak."

"What, so all this time you've been calling us traitors, while you were the one betraying her?!" Guise growled contemptuously.

"Chrysalis betrayed us!" Wraith's booming voice practically shook the brittle bones surrounding him, stomping a hoof and cracking the fragile soil underneath him. "I am merely doing what she couldn't! Assembling all the forces I can to attack those incessant ponies, even if it means having to take this half-breed brat!"

Wraith allowed himself a moment to compose himself, taking a deep breath before staring back at Shade and Guise resolutely. "It was always my intention to take the throne from Chrysalis, but with the support of the entire colony behind her, I lacked the power to do so. So I did what changelings are wont to do: I got close to her and manipulated her into caring about me, all so that I could grow more powerful from her misguided love. In truth, had she succeeded in taking Equestria's throne, that would have put me in an awkward position. It would have been nearly impossible for me to usurp her at that point, which is why I opted to not participate in the invasion under the pretense of keeping the remaining population at ease. However, her success would not necessarily have been a bad thing; at that point, I'd really have little reason to take her place. Perhaps it would have lead to her actually earning my respect."

Wraith narrowed his eyes, his voice beginning to drip with venom. "But she failed. Not only did she fail, but she made it much more unlikely for any future invasions to have any chance at success, seeing as the ponies are now aware of our presence and prepared for us. And what does she do after her failure? Mope and sulk like a lost child! She is not deserving of that crown! I will lead the changelings to victory and I will become the most powerful and feared being in Equestria!"

"And you think my son is going to turn the tide in your favor?!" Shade argued.

"All changelings are my subjects to rule! Even your bastard halfling!"

And with that Shade had heard enough. With a furious snarl and a glare that could melt ice, the enraged father lunged forward, making a beeline straight for Wraith. The armored captain didn't flinch, throwing up a barrier in front of himself to stop the other changeling in his tracks. Shade didn't bother to slow down, focused only on getting at his target. He jabbed his horn directly against the shield, the pain of the impact doing nothing to deter him. Wraith didn't budge, and neither did the barrier, so Shade upped the ante by adding his own magic to the mix. The clash of magic created a flurry of sparks and pops, but the shield held fast. However, the additional force was making an impact as Wraith visibly winced. That didn't escape Shade's notice, and he kept the pressure on.

"This is a considerable risk you're taking," Wraith warned Shade from behind the safety of his shield. "Didn't I warn you that the larva's life is in my hooves?"

"And didn't you just say you'd rather not kill him?!" Shade shot back over the loud snaps and pops of magic. "Sounds like you're bluffing."

Wraith lifted an eyebrow, intrigued. "Are you certain you want to test that?"

"You just broke the neck of your best soldier for him! Why should I take stock in your threats?!"

Wraith's brow furrowed at the mention of her. "That had nothing to do with the halfling. Glory's fate was a direct result of her betrayal, and any changeling who doesn't adhere to my rule or gives me any reason to mistrust them will be made an example of."

"And why would any changeling want to live under that kind of rule?!"

"Because they have no other choice! Chrysalis has squandered her right to rule, and without her a proper ruler must step in, one who no changeling would dare oppose!"

"I might not care about what Chrysalis wants to do anymore, but at least she ruled for the changelings. All you want to do is use them for your own benefit!"

"As any ruler should! Absolute power is how I will maintain my crown! You obviously know nothing of how to run an empire."

Shade briefly glanced to his left, then back to Wraith with a smirk. "Do you need to be stubborn and never learn your lesson?"

Wraith glared quizzically at Shade before he put the pieces together. Taking a moment to look behind Shade, he found that Guise had vanished. He knew where this was going, and spun around to where Snowflake was hovering only to find the foal within the grasp of the red-maned changeling, although still wrapped in his green magic.

With Guise once again playing the role of distraction, Shade took the opportunity while Wraith's attention was diverted to let up on the barrier and quickly fly around to Wraith's side, blasting the captain with a bolt of magic. Wraith reeled from the impact, the shock loosening his hold on Snowflake, finally freeing him and allowing his panicked and frightened cries to be heard once again.

Infuriated at Guise's continued meddling, Wraith delivered a swift kick to Shade's chest with his hind leg, knocking him away and sending him rolling several feet away, scattering bones about as he skidded through them. Wraith wasn't about to let Guise distract him anymore. The captain set his sights on Guise, who was still holding the crying infant.

Given the difference in strength, not to mention the child now in his charge, Guise knew he was in no position to fight Wraith. Instead he decided to flee with Snowflake in tow, hoping that Shade could handle himself on his own.

But before Guise could even get off the ground, he felt something wrap around his throat and hold him back. With his free hoof, he clutched at his neck to free himself, only to find that it was not a physical object that bound him, but a ring of green magic. He looked over his shoulder glaring with a mix of worry and anger. Wraith's horn was aglow with magic, and his eyes alight with rage. With a violent yank on his esophagus, Guise was pulled backward, the sudden jerk causing him to lose his grip on the foal. Snowflake slipped from his hoof and onto the ground, thankfully without too much of a fall, though his cries did become more frantic.

Guise tried with all his might to fight against the pull on his throat, his hooves scraping the ground and leaving gouges in the dried dirt. He was suddenly spun around, finding himself face to face with Wraith, the two exchanging icy glares.

"I am not one for indulgence," Wraith growled as Guise struggled within his grip. "But I am going to enjoy killing you far more than I have any right to."

Without even waiting for Guise's no doubt snarky response, Wraith immediately began applying more pressure to the smaller changeling's neck, just as he'd done to Glory. However, Wraith quirked a vexed eyebrow when Guise showed no change in reaction. He squeezed harder, eager to crush the life out of Guise once and for all, but again, he continued to breath.

With a quick glance, Wraith noticed that the aura around Guise's neck was brighter than normal, and seemed to ebb and flow more inconsistently. He shot a look behind himself to find Shade back on his hooves, horn glowing brightly as well. Shade was holding Guise's neck himself, creating a protective barrier between his throat and Wraith's crushing aura. He appeared to be struggling to repel Wraith's grasp, however, wincing in pain as he tried to maintain his barrier under all the pressure Wraith was applying.

Seeing that they had hit yet another stalemate, Wraith tossed Guise aside, slamming him into a nearby dead tree and snapping the petrified trunk in two with the changeling's weight. But instead of focusing his attention on Shade, Wraith turned to the foal lying helpless on the ground. All this trouble for that insipid larva, and now Wraith had made his decision. He stomped over to Snowflake, raised a hoof above the foal's head, and brought it down.

But his attempt to kill the larva was thwarted by a dome of green magic. Shade was able to act quickly enough to protect his son, and he had no intention of releasing the shield now that he knew Wraith had done away with his reluctance to kill the foal. However, using other spells while maintaining Snowflake's protection was going to prove difficult, if not impossible. From this point onward, he was going to have to rely solely on his teamwork with Guise to outwit and hopefully overwhelm or wear down Wraith.

With a groan, Guise pushed aside the scattered debris of gray bark and dried wood and got back to his hooves, staggering over to Shade's side. He gave Shade a sidelong smirk as he glanced between him and the enraged changeling captain. "I don't care what you say, you are going to owe me one for helping with this."

Shade didn't take his eyes off of Wraith. "If we make it out of here, fine."

***** ***** *****

There had been a rather awkward silence permeating the air ever since Winter, Chamella, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had left the throne room. Everypony clearly had something they wanted to say, but elected to keep their thoughts to themselves. Of course, there was a very obvious reason for that silence: the tall changeling who walked along with them, leading them down one of the hive's many nondescript corridors.

Rainbow Dash kept a mistrustful grimace on her face, casting sidelong glances at Chrysalis every few seconds and ready for if the changeling queen decided to suddenly double-cross them. Rarity and Fluttershy watched the queen, not with suspicion, but more with worry. If Chrysalis did turn on them, they weren't sure how'd they respond. Winter and Chamella, on the other hoof, were a little less concerned with Chrysalis and more focused on finding Snowflake, which was where Chrysalis was supposedly leading them, although she had made it clear that she wasn't guaranteeing anything.

Finally, Fluttershy was the one who would be brave enough to cut through the silence, looking up at the queen sheepishly. "Um..."

That was all she was able to get out before Chrysalis shot an icy glare over her shoulder, forcing the pegasus to nervously swallow the rest of her words. After a moment of watching Fluttershy shy away, even slow her pace a little to put some distance between them, Chrysalis smirked in amusement. "Relax, I'm just toying with you," she assured the pegasus. "With everything that's happened, I just wanted to know if I could still be intimidating. Anyway, you sounded like you were about to say something, little pony."

"Um, i-it's Fluttershy..."

Chrysalis scoffed dismissively. "As if I care. Get on with it."

Before Fluttershy could continue with her thought, Rainbow Dash butt in aggressively, flying up to eye level with Chrysalis. "Hey! If we're gonna work together, you're gonna have to treat me and my friends with a little respect, got it? Don't make me regret teaming up with you."

"With all of your incessant babbling, I'm already starting to regret it," Chrysalis snapped back with a flash of her fangs. "Besides, you're lost without me. One wrong turn and you'll never find your missing foal."

Rainbow Dash growled at the queen, but didn't continue arguing, alighting back on the ground and once more keeping a watchful eye on Chrysalis.

With an exasperated roll of her eyes, Chrysalis again looked back at the meek, yellow pegasus. "Well?"

Fluttershy lowered her head, turning away slightly. "N-Nevermind..."

Rarity noted the annoyed scowl that appeared on the queen's face and gave Fluttershy a gentle nudge. "Go ahead, dear. Don't let her get to you."

Fluttershy looked back up at Chrysalis, hesitating for a moment before asking her question. "How... How much further?"

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. A part of her wanted to snap at the pegasus for asking such an inane question, but another part wanted to laugh that that was what their argument had been leading to. "Is that all you wanted?" she responded, hiding a smirk.

"S-Sorry... I-I was just curious a-and worried, is all," Fluttershy mumbled.

Their was a stiff moment of silence once more, offset only by a long sigh through Chrysalis's nose. "Not much further. We'll be there in a few minutes."

"Well, that's a relief," said Rarity with a small smile.

"The tether lead us this way, too, right?" Winter chimed in. "Are we still on track to meet up with Twilight?"

"We haven't passed any other tunnels since leaving the throne room, so I would assume so. But if it'll put your mind at ease, I'll—"

As Rarity was saying that, Chrysalis stopped walking, staring curiously ahead. Following her gaze, the other mares spotted what appeared to be a trail of pink magic swirling towards them gradually from around a corner up ahead and to the right, eventually stopping in front of the white unicorn.

"That's weird," Rainbow Dash commented. "I don't think the spell's ever come to you before."

"It's also normally blue, right?" added Fluttershy.

Before anypony could speculate further, they all saw some other lights shining from around the same corner where the magic trail had originated. These lights were white and much brighter, not unlike those of the headlamps worn by Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

Rarity quickly put the pieces together, grinning ecstatically. "Twilight!"

At the sound of Rarity's voice, the trio of lights immediately turned in their direction.

"Rarity?! Is that you?!" called a voice from down the way.

"Yes! We're over here, darling!"

The pink trail of magic dissipated and the cave was filled with the sound of clomping hooves on the stone floor as three mares dashed over to the group. Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Applejack were all overjoyed and deeply relieved to see their friends again, especially when they saw that Winter and Chamella were with them. However, the celebrations were quickly put on hold when the three of them spotted the additional member of their party.

Twilight, Pinkie and Applejack weren't able to greet their friends with hugs and smiles as they skid to a halt several feet away. They each stared up at the changeling queen, flabbergasted and upset by her presence. Chrysalis simply cast a bemused glower down upon them.

"Ah! Look out! It's Chrysalis!" screamed Pinkie Pie.

"Yeah, we're aware, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash deadpanned.

"What is she doing here?" Applejack asked, glaring at Chrysalis aggressively.

Chrysalis scoffed at the asinine question. "Given the circumstances, I should be asking you that, don't you think? This is my kingdom after all."

Twilight analyzed the situation, noting that Chrysalis didn't appear to be threatening any of her friends. "I take it there's an explanation for this."

Winter nodded. "Long story short, the guy who took Snowflake is trying to overthrow Chrysalis, so we have a reason to work together. For now anyway."

Twilight stared up at Chrysalis, who stared back down in return. There was some obvious skepticism and reluctance from both of them as they exchanged displeased scowls.

"Don't try anything, Chrysalis. I'm not in the mood to deal with you," Twilight warned.

Chrysalis raised her brow slightly, surprised by the alicorn's attitude. "Are you threatening me, 'Princess'? Well, I suppose you had to grow a spine in order to support those ridiculous wings."

Pinkie lifted a hoof to her mouth. "Oooooh, snap."

Twilight narrowed her eyes at the changeling queen. "At least I didn't need my wings or my crown to earn the respect of my peers."

Pinkie inhaled sharply through her teeth. "Dang. Gonna need some ointment for that burn."

Chrysalis leaned down toward Twilight with an icy glare. "Do you think you're threats scare me? If I recall, you and your friends were helpless last we met, and it was Cadance and Shining Armor who ultimately defeated me with their love. I don't suppose you've found a 'special somepony' to help you do that, have you?" she smirked knowingly.

Pinkie opened her mouth to react, but was stifled by Applejack's hoof as she grabbed the pink pony and reigned her in.

"Alright, can we nix the insults before this turns into a rap battle, or something?" Applejack suggested in exasperation.

Chrysalis simply shrugged, smiling a little as she had been enjoying the exchange. "Yes, yes, I suppose we have more important matters to attend to. We can save the squabbling for later."

Twilight nodded with a sigh. "Agreed. If we're going to be working together—however briefly—we can't waste time with arguing. So..." She smiled again as she returned her attention to her friends that she hadn't seen in a few days. "It's good to see you all again. I'm glad you're safe."

"Ditto," said Rainbow Dash. "But, uh, can't help but notice that Shade's not with you. No luck?"

"Actually, we did find him," Twilight explained.

Winter's eyes widened, stepping forward desperately. "You did?! Is he okay?! Why isn't he with you?!"

"Whoa, there, little missy, calm down," Applejack interjected, placing a hoof on the alabaster pegasus's shoulder. "To be honest, we're not sure where he is right now. He was fine when we found 'im, but we ended up getting separated again after a run in with that Wraith feller."

"So you've met Wraith, have you?" Chrysalis interjected. "I don't suppose you know where he is now, do you?"

"We were gonna take him on and beat his buns, but he took off after Shade instead," Pinkie told them. Her ears drooped a little. "We dunno what happened to them after that."

"We felt the cave start to rumble, and when we finished dealin' with the other soldiers, Twi went to see if she could catch up ta Shade," Applejack elaborated.

"It looked like there had been a cave-in, but there was no sign of Shade or Wraith," added Twilight.

Winter and Chamella's hearts sank. The pegasus looked worriedly at Twilight. "Y-You don't think he..."

"We have no way of knowing for sure," Twilight responded stoically. "But we should concentrate on finding Snowflake for now. Shade would have likely done the same if he was on the other side of the rock slide."

Chrysalis pushed past Twilight, deliberately bumping her shoulder as she did. "Then let's not waste anymore time chatting and go. The soldier's quarters are just up ahead."

Twilight gave the changeling queen a displeased glower as she walked ahead. Winter walked up alongside Twilight, giving the alicorn an apologetic, yet pleading look.

"We just need to put up with her for a little while, okay? She's our best chance of finding Snowflake and getting out of here," Winter said quietly.

Twilight managed a reassuring smile as she and the group of mares made to follow Chrysalis. "I understand. I just wish she didn't have such an attitude about it."

Chrysalis lead her "visitors" further down the path to where Twilight's group had come from. However, while they came from the right at the junction, Chrysalis turned left. And further down that way was the indicators they'd been looking for: a pair of torches burning with ethereal, green flames, much like those near the entrance of the throne room.

Chrysalis pointed a hoof toward the torches. "That's it up there. If your foal is anywhere, it's—"

The queen didn't even have a chance to finish before Winter bolted ahead, quickly followed by the rest of the ponies and Chamella. Chrysalis simply rolled her eyes and sauntered the rest of the way.

Winter turned the corner to enter the soldiers' quarters. She didn't think about the risk involved, that there could be guards standing by. She could very well have been immediately attacked by changeling soldiers, but she didn't care. All she wanted right now was to see her son again.

The worried mother screeched to a halt. She looked around the surprisingly small chamber, seeing makeshift beds, some leftover food, and even a set of changeling armor on the floor. But that was it. There were no changelings, and no Snowflake. The room was completely empty.

Winter felt her hopes come crashing down around her. Her heart sank and she fell back onto her haunches, totally demoralized. She had made the mistake of getting her hopes up and now she was paying the price. She should've known better. She should've known it was too easy. He wouldn't just be sitting there waiting for her to come and save him. As much as it tore away at her heart and mind, she couldn't help but think that she had lost him.

Chamella hurried in behind Winter, discovering the same thing she had. Twilight and the others followed suit, each of them giving Winter sympathetic looks when they saw that the foal was nowhere to be seen.

"Hm. Seems it isn't here after all," commented Chrysalis as she pushed past the ponies and into the room.

Rainbow Dash pointed an accusatory hoof at the changeling queen. "You said he was here! I told you not to mess with us, Chrysalis!"

"Calm down," the queen spat. "I said this was the most likely place he'd be. I never guaranteed anything."

Chamella approached Chrysalis, gazing up at her pleadingly. "Your Majesty, is there anywhere else he could be? Anywhere at all?"

Chrysalis breathed a somber sigh through her nose. "Honestly, I don't know. It's possible Wraith could have taken him somewhere I wouldn't think to look. Not to rain on anypony's parade, but he could very well be dead for all we know. This place isn't exactly hospitable for an infant pony."

Winter's expression only dropped further, her ears falling flat as she was fighting back defeated tears.

Rarity, seeing the hope quickly draining from the poor mother, stomped a hoof. "Well, I, for one, refuse to believe that. Until we see irrefutable proof, I will continue to search for the little darling."

"Ya got that right," Applejack agreed with a tip of her hat and a confident smile. "I didn't come out here just ta give up when things looked bleak."

"I think our best course of action at this point would be to find Wraith," Twilight suggested. "As strong as Chrysalis says he may be, I doubt he could handle all of us on his own."

"A fine idea, but how exactly to you expect to find him if we can't even find your foal?" asked Chrysalis.

Twilight stared at her with a determined glare. "We're just going to have to keep looking until we do."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "You ponies are quite tenacious, aren't you? It's sickening, but I must admit, a little admirable," she said with a slight smirk.

"Wait, you hear that?" Fluttershy spoke up, turning back toward the entrance.

Their was the distinct sound of hoofsteps coming from outside, clearly approaching their location. The group stood at the ready, remaining quiet and prepared to fight in case it happened to be Wraith.

A voice came from outside, speaking as they approached the entrance. "Hey, Glory, still on diaper duty or—"

A changeling soldier turned the corner to enter the soldiers' quarters, but stopped cold when he saw the group of ponies staring him down. But it wasn't so much the ponies that had him on edge as it was the glower from the changeling queen that towered over them.

The soldier took a step back, gulping nervously. "Oooh, this isn't good..."

Chrysalis stepped through the group of ponies, exuding authority as she looked disdainfully down her nose at the soldier.

The changeling forced a crooked smile as he attempted to diffuse the clearly unhappy queen. "Q-Queen Chrysalis, haven't seen you around in a while. N-Nice to see you up and about again. Heh heh..." His forced smile faltered under Chrysalis's icy glare. The soldier's armor clattered slightly from his visible shaking, knowing that he was in deep trouble.

"Wraith. Where is he?" Chrysalis demanded in a low, venomous tone.

The soldier lifted a hoof shakily, pointing further down the corridor in the opposite direction from where the mares had come. He didn't hesitate to answer her question, desperate to evade the queen's wrath. "I-I passed him back that way. H-He seemed like he was in a hurry and he didn't look happy. Please don't hurt me!" he begged, shielding his face and clenching his eyes shut fearfully.

Chrysalis looked back at the ponies, gesturing for them to leave and chase after Wraith. The soldier stood frozen in place as they all rushed past him, waiting for Chrysalis to punish him for working against her with Wraith. However, when he heard her walk by him, he lowered his guard, watching in confusion as the queen followed after the ponies. She stopped for a moment, giving him a rather dismissive, yet intimidating stare, causing him to flinch again.

"Tell the other soldiers that their queen has returned, and if they wish to remain in my kingdom, they had better be ready to beg for my forgiveness."

With that, Chrysalis disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel, leaving the soldier bewildered, frightened and a little relieved that he was still breathing.

As much of a rush as she was in, Winter had to slow down, prompting the others to slow as well. Just knowing the general direction that Wraith was in wasn't exactly going to ensure she found him. They waited for Chrysalis to catch up and allow her to lead once more. As the queen took up the head of the group, she cast a sidelong glance at Winter.

"I hope you're willing to accept the fact that your child may be gone," Chrysalis said bluntly. "The more you get your hopes up, the more it'll hurt. Yet another of the many drawbacks that come with loving somepony."

Winter didn't look her in the eye, her gaze simply lowering to the floor silently.

"You're not helping," Rainbow Dash said in a reprimanding tone.

Chrysalis stuck her nose up haughtily with a huff. "On the contrary, I'm trying to warn her so that she has to suffer as little as possible should the worst come to pass. Besides, I only promised to help find the foal. Whether it's alive or not is none of my concern."

"You could stand to show a little compassion, Chryssi," Pinkie chimed in. "Everything's easier when you do it with a smile." She punctuated the statement with a big, toothy grin.

Chrysalis grimaced at the pink pony. "Forgive me if I'm not in much of a smiling mood. And call me 'Chryssi' again and you won't have much to smile about either."

Pinkie was undeterred by the threat, her grin holding strong as she reached into her saddlebag. "Aw, don't be such a downer. You know what always makes me happy?" She pulled out a cupcake with blue frosting and rainbow sprinkles, holding it out to Chrysalis. "A nice, tasty cupcake."

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at the confection, glancing between it and the genuine and innocent smile of the party pony. As much as she didn't want to show any sort of weakness, she was admittedly too curious to pass it up. She snatched it from Pinkie, eyeing it up for a moment before taking a small, quick bite.

"Sorry if it's a little stale. It's been in my bag for, like, three days," Pinkie giggled.

Chrysalis shrugged indifferently. "Mm, not bad. Though given my typical diet, that's not saying much."

"But you feel a little better now, right?" Pinkie said with a bob of her eyebrows.

Admittedly, it had taken her mind off of her problems, if only for a moment, so she couldn't honestly say no. However, she had no intention of saying yes either. "I'll concede you may have a point, but bare in mind I'm only accepting this because I'm hungry," Chrysalis told Pinkie before shoveling down the rest of the cupcake.

"Whatever boats your float," Pinkie chuckled. She then removed another cupcake and offered it to Winter with a sympathetic smile. "I think you need one of these more than anypony."

Winter found it difficult to not smile back at Pinkie's gift, taking it graciously. "Thanks."

The group spent another fifteen minutes or so just walking down the same corridor, seeing no signs of branching paths or other changelings, much less Wraith, Snowflake, or even Shade. But eventually Rainbow Dash spoke up, her wings twitching after feeling something odd in the air.

"Hey, you guys feel that?"

The other mares went quiet as they tried to pinpoint what the cyan pegasus was talking about.

"Feels like it got a little colder all of a sudden," Fluttershy commented.

Dash flew up above the group to get a better feel for the sudden cold current. "That's definitely a breeze coming through."

"Does that mean we're near an exit?" Winter asked with a touch of optimism.

"It might not be what you're hoping for," Chrysalis interjected with a knowing grimace.

"And what's that supposed ta mean?" asked Applejack, eyeing up the changeling queen suspiciously.

Before Chrysalis could elaborate, Chamella spotted something up ahead, flittering forward slightly. "Hang on, there's something over there."

Everypony stopped to see that she was pointing to something on the ground. With all of the headlamps shining their beams towards it, it quickly became evident that it was the form of a changeling lying on its side.

Chrysalis furrowed her brow, feeling both anger and worry. This was either one of the many drones that had turned their backs on her, or another victim of Wraith's merciless authority.

"Are they... dead?" Rainbow Dash inquired, a little pensive about getting any closer.

Chrysalis was the only one to approach the fallen changeling. It was a female. She had short, brown hair. She wasn't moving, but appeared to be breathing, albeit barely. The queen lowered herself down to get a better look at her, moving the changeling's face so that she was looking at her.

She was conscious, but her eyes were hazy and listless. The moment their eyes met, the motionless changeling's eyes seemed to light up just a little.

"Chry... -salis..." she managed to choke out, her voice barely audible.

Chrysalis recognized her. Despite the lack of armor, she knew this mare to be one of her higher ranking soldiers. "Glory? What happened to you?"

The rest of the mares cautiously approached the two changelings, but still remained a respectful distance away. Glory's eyes managed to move between each of them. There was a hint of shock and surprise to see Chrysalis accompanying all the intruders that she herself had previously been ordered to kill.

"I-Is she okay?" asked Fluttershy with deep concern.

Twilight stepped forward, laying on her stomach next to Glory. "Give me a moment."

Twilight's horn lit up and a soft, pink glow began to run along Glory's body as if scanning her. While the alicorn concentrated with her eyes shut, Glory's breathing sped up ever so slightly, fearful of what she was doing to her.

After a moment, the pink aura faded and Twilight opened her eyes again, a disturbed frown appearing on her face. "Um... H-Her neck is broken. I think she's paralyzed."

The news elicited uncomfortable gulps from the other ponies.

"Y-You wouldn't happen to have some kinda spell that can...?" Applejack inquired, but trailed off.

Twilight gave a slow shake of her head as she stood up again, looking down at the changeling sympathetically. "I have some medical spells, but they're mainly for minor wounds and alleviating pain. I... I can't fix broken bones, or, um... spinal cords..."

Chrysalis placed a hoof on Glory's chin gently—almost motherly—returning her attention to the queen. Chrysalis gazed into her dim, hazel eyes with the utmost seriousness. "Who did this?" she inquired, the venom in her low tone implying she already had a good idea of the answer.

"Wr-... Wraith..."

It was all Chrysalis could do to suppress the rage inside of her, barely able to hold back a low, incensed growl. "It's not enough that he betray me, but now he's even picking off those who could possibly oppose him. Where is he now?"

"The B-... Bone... yard..."

Chrysalis turned her head and the other mares followed. There was an adjacent tunnel just next to them, and it appeared to be from where the breeze they'd been feeling was coming. Chrysalis looked back at Glory, her expression unreadable, which frightened the injured changeling. "Were you working with him?"

Glory remained silent for several seconds, but never tore her gaze away from Chrysalis's. "I'm... sorry... Please..."

Chrysalis nodded compassionately and stood up. Despite the fact that Glory had been working against her, it was evident to the queen that there was more going on than it seemed. Unfortunately, there was no time to get the full story. Wraith was nearby, and she intended on taking back what was rightfully hers. Without another word, Chrysalis began making her way toward The Boneyard. Although there was some reluctance and uncertainty amongst the rest of the group, the others started off to follow her, each of them giving the paralyzed changeling a sympathetic frown.

"He-... Help..."

The mares stopped as they were passing by Glory, looking back one more time. Fluttershy walked over to her side, leaning down to her comfortingly and looking back at her friends. "I... I think I'll stay behind and see if I can help her in some way."

Glory looked up pleadingly at Fluttershy. "N-No..."

The yellow pegasus was confused by the reaction.

Glory's eyes managed to shift to Winter. Even though the two of them had never met, Glory knew who she was, and knew how important she was. With one more pained, laborious breath, Glory made a request.

"Help... Snow... -flake..."

Winter was taken aback at the request, but she could see the seriousness in the changeling's eyes. However, she wasn't able to ask why, as the last bit of light remaining in the changeling's already dim, sky blue sclera faded, her eyes frozen half-lidded, and the last breath left her lungs.

The mares all stared in mild shock and horror, the cavern going completely silent save for the gentle whistling of the cool breeze blowing through. Chrysalis turned away from her departed subject, her ears folding down. Fluttershy stood up shakily, finding it hard to tear her eyes away from Glory's own now-lifeless eyes. Rarity placed a hoof on the pegasus's shoulder, leading her away gently.

Winter was left to quietly contemplate what she'd just witnessed. This changeling had had her neck broken by Wraith, even though she supposedly worked for him. And now, with her dying breath, she wanted them to help Snowflake. Winter was understandably confused. She had no idea what this changeling had to do with her son, but if her last request was any indication, Snowflake might very well be alive.

"I don't know who she is, but you can bet Wraith's gonna get what's coming to him," Rainbow Dash declared vengefully.

Chrysalis stared down the path before them, fury and determination in her eyes. "I'll see to that personally."

Chamella looked around at the sullen faces of her friends. It was clear that this was an experience that none of them had actually considered before coming out to the Changeling Kingdom. She was about to suggest to Winter that they hurry along since it sounded as though Wraith and Snowflake weren't far away. However, Winter quickly brushed past Chamella before she could get a word out, spreading her wings and taking off down the corridor at full speed.

"Winter! Wait!" Chamella called out before giving chase after her.

Applejack started galloping after them as well with an exasperated groan. "Dangit, Winter, ya can't just run off on yer own again!"

"You're gonna get yourself hurt!" Rainbow Dash warned as she pursued, too.

The rest of the group gave chase quickly afterward, all of the ponies with the hope that Snowflake was nearby as Glory had implied, and Chrysalis intent on removing a bothersome cockroach from her hive.

Winter no longer had anything on her mind except her son. The risks and the danger posed by this Captain Wraith she'd been hearing about made no difference to her anymore. After all this time and everything she'd been through, she didn't care if Wraith was going to kill her as long she got to see her baby one more time.

Winter had to squint her eyes as a light became visible down the tunnel. An exit; something she was beginning to think she'd never see. But even the idea of freedom didn't occupy her mind for more than a moment. Without any hesitation, she shot out of the caverns and into the open air. The first thing she noticed was her environment: a drab wasteland covered in countless bones. The second thing she noticed were the only other living creatures in the immediate area: a trio of changelings.

Despite still adjusting to the increase in visibility, Winter's eyes shot wide in shock and elation. "Shade!"

The three changelings all looked in surprise in her direction. Shade reacted much the same as she had. "Winter?! Thank Celestia you're—augh!"

Winter gasped in fright. In his moment of distraction, Shade was blasted by a beam of magic from the larger of the three changelings and knocked to the ground.

Winter heard a buzzing coming from behind her, and Chamella quickly caught up to her. She was quick to notice Shade's presence as well, but was a little more concerned to see the armored soldier glaring in their direction.

"Wh-What's going on here?" Chamella stammered, confused and worried.

"You two might not wanna be here right now!" Guise shouted.

Chamella was shocked to see Guise of all people here. "Guise? What are you—?"

"We really don't have time for this!" the red-maned changeling interrupted.

Wraith glowered at the two interlopers. "It seems Blight couldn't handle one simple task, which only makes matters more complicated for me."

Winter practically shuddered under the gaze of the armored changeling. "Wh-Who's that?"

"That's Captain Wraith," Chamella answered fearfully.

Winter was starting to understand why this guy was such a big deal. She could tell he was dangerous just by looking at him. But along with her pensiveness came anger. This was the changeling who had taken her son away from her in the first place, and now she could finally put a face on the person she hated more than anything right now.

But as that thought occurred to her, her anger turned to worry. Shade was here, and so was Wraith. There was only one thing missing. "Wh-Where's Snowflake?! Is he okay?!"

Shade staggered back to his hooves. Despite the blow, his horn was aglow with green light. He pointed a hoof in Wraith's direction. "He's fine. For now anyway."

Winter followed his hoof to a small dome of emerald magic on the ground behind Wraith. Winter had to suppress her elated tears when she saw her baby safely tucked inside the barrier, though he was bawling his little eyes out. Without even thinking, she started galloping toward her son, desperate to hold him again.

"Stay right where you are!"

The pegasus was halted by the booming command of the furious changeling captain. The fire in his eyes as he glared daggers at her kept Winter from reuniting with her crying child, too worried to approach for fear of what he might do to her or her son.

"If the two of you value your lives, you'll leave now," Wraith declared.

"I thought you wanted to kill all of the intruders?" Guise pointed out. He received a rough jab in the ribs from Shade.

"Shut up, he's giving them an out," Shade whispered.

"I've had to deal with more complications than I care to admit," Wraith told them with an aggravated growl. "At this juncture, I'm willing to cut my losses. Besides, these two mares are little threat to me."

"Winter!"

All eyes now trained on the tunnel exit from which they had all emerged. Wraith was almost sent into a state of panic upon seeing a group of seven individuals galloping their way from within the cavern. While the six technicolor ponies alone were alarming, the real shock came from the presence of the changeling queen herself. In an act of desperation, Wraith set his horn alight, hastily erecting a magical barrier over the entryway to block the ponies and Chrysalis and barring them within the cave.

Twilight and the others were quick to assess the situation, noticing both Shade and Snowflake's presence. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both immediately started an assault on Wraith's barrier, kicking and ramming it in an effort to bust through it. Twilight joined them by firing a beam of magic at it, but even their combined efforts didn't seem to be enough to break through.

"Just hang in there, guys! We'll bust this thing down!" Rainbow Dash assured as she tackled the shield again, but only proving to build a steady bruise on her shoulder. "Oof. Eventually."

As the mares continued their assault, Chrysalis stared down Wraith through the green barrier with red-hot ire. Her presence elicited an enraged, yet distressed snarl from the captain.

Despite not having the use of his magic while protecting Snowflake, Shade managed a confident smirk now that Wraith was in the same boat, not to mention having to deal with the constant force being applied to his barrier. "Seems like the playing field's been evened out."

Wraith once more returned his attention to Shade, his irate glower never faltering. "Don't think for a moment that I can't kill you all without the use of magic."

"Try it, tough guy," Guise goaded.

Shade and Guise both rushed Wraith simultaneously, but the armored changeling didn't budge. However, once they got within striking distance, Wraith reacted instantly, hitting Guise with a powerful right hook to the shoulder and knocking him harshly to the ground. Having chosen to attack Guise, Wraith was left open for Shade to strike, tackling Wraith in the chest with the intention of dragging him down. However, the larger changeling barely reacted, holding his footing. He grabbed Shade by the withers and tossed him to the ground on top of Guise.

"Shade!" Winter yelled instinctively. She didn't want to sit idly by while she watched Shade get beaten down by this brute, but what could she do? If she tried to jump in, Wraith would snap her in two. But if she couldn't help one of the important men in her life, then perhaps she could help the other.

While Wraith's attention was focused on Shade and Guise, Winter hurried over to where Snowflake was, curled up and crying loudly inside the small dome of magic. She placed her hooves on the shield—the closest she was going to get to holding him right now—and tried to talk to him.

"Snow, sweetie! It's okay! Mommy's here!"

At the sound of his mother's voice, the tyke's crying died down to sobs and hiccups as he looked up to finally see her face again. His eyes widened briefly, a sparkle of hope and happiness in his beady green eyes. Instinctively, he reached his hooves out to her and started bawling again, desperate for his mother's comforting embrace, but was also stopped by the emerald barrier separating them.

Winter couldn't fight back her shaky smile and joyous tears to see her son again after all this time. "Shhh, don't cry, sweetie. We're gonna get you out of here and back home soon, okay?" she reassured him in a quiet, soothing voice.

Hearing the more fervent wailing of the foal, Wraith turned in Winter's direction. But the moment he did, any thought of what he was going to do to her was forgotten when he was blasted in the side by a burst of magic, the impact causing him to stagger. Shade and Guise were both still recovering, so he looked to the lone female changeling standing some distance away.

Chamella's horn was glowing fiercely, and her pink eyes were even fiercer as she glared and bore her short fangs at Wraith. "Don't touch her," she snarled in a low voice.

Wraith was a touch surprised by the female's ferocity. From the intelligence gathered by the spies in Ponyville, he had figured her for a meek and rather helpless changeling. And considering the force of the blow she'd given him just now, it was also possible that he had underestimated her power. The captain let out a low growl. As if the situation weren't frustrating enough, now Wraith had yet another wrench in his plans, and his patience was stretched to its limit.

"I have had quite enough of this!" Wraith bellowed viciously.

"What's the matter, Wraith? Can't handle a couple of 'pests' like us?" Guise taunted as he and Shade rose to their hooves.

"I've worked too hard biding my time and serving that poor excuse for a queen to let an incessant group of pony sympathizers stand in my way! I will become king of the changelings, and I won't just conquer Equestria and its complacent populace, I will bury them!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Shade interrupted. "Even if you kill us, there are still people here that will be more than happy to take you down." He pointed a hoof toward the six ponies still blocked behind Wraith's barrier.

Wraith sneered at the group of mares for a moment before turning back to Shade. He certainly had a point, but right now, Wraith was far too incensed to care about them. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

Not seeing a reliable way to deal with three other changelings at once without his magic, Wraith straightened up with a furious grimace. He began to buzz his large, insectoid wings, beating them faster and faster as the high-pitched drone grew louder and louder.

Shade already knew what Wraith was doing. If he couldn't kill them individually without any hassle, he would resort to trying to kill them all at once using just the eardrum-piercing wail of his wings. It must have been a desperate gambit as this time Wraith couldn't use his magic to protect himself. He must have been confident that this play would do the job.

Within seconds, Wraith's wings were beating so fast that they had practically become a blur, and the sound was reaching a pitch so high that it became less of a sound and more like a silent, invisible force bearing down on the insides of his victims' ears.

Even without the reverberation provided by the spacious caverns, Shade, Guise, Winter, and Chamella had doubled over in pain, covering their ears in a futile attempt to block out the sound. Even with the pain pulsing in his head, eclipsing the headaches he'd had to deal with, Shade retained the wherewithal to not only maintain the barrier protecting Snowflake, but strengthen it to hopefully save his son from the aural onslaught.

Winter collapsed to the ground with her hooves over her ears, groaning in pain. She managed to keep her focus on Snowflake, praying to Celestia that he'd be okay. She tried to reassure him, but found her voice was being entirely overpowered by the ringing in her ears.

Even from the relative safety of the cave entrance, Twilight and the others could feel the effects of the violent sound, though the combination of distance and Wraith's barrier prevented them from being incapacitated by it.

"They need help!" Fluttershy cried out in panic. "If Wraith doesn't stop, they'll be killed!"

Applejack gave the barrier a particularly violent buck, only resulting in her wincing in pain and shaking her hind leg to alleviate the vibrations running through her. "Credit where credit's due, he must be pretty tough to put up with this and keep his shield up."

"Move aside, ladies, I got this!" declared Pinkie Pie, replacing her spelunking helmet with a dark green, army helmet.

The other mares cleared a path as Pinkie took aim with her flowery party cannon, launching a high-speed salvo of party favors and an entire three-tiered cake at the barrier. However, her attempt only resulted in a colorful mess of icing and confetti splattering on the barrier.

Pinkie took off her helmet, staring at the mess in genuine bewilderment. "Huh. I was sure that'd do the trick. Maybe I need to up the caliber..."

Rainbow Dash wiped away some of the gunk to watch the unsettling scene unfolding before them with a defeated growl. "Rrrgh... If I were out there, I'd show you why you don't mess with our friends!" she yelled at Wraith, though he obviously couldn't hear her.

"Is there anything we can do?" Rarity asked Chrysalis, her voice dripping with worry.

Chrysalis simply grimaced and sighed. "I doubt that Wraith can maintain his barrier for long. Even he has to succumb to this pain eventually. The question is: can your friends hold out until Wraith decides he can't take anymore himself?"

Sure enough, they could see from their vantage point that even though Wraith was the only one standing, he looked to be in great pain himself. A thin trickle of blood was starting to run from his ears, down the smooth surface of his helmet, and onto his neck.

Wraith watched intently through one open eye as Winter writhed in pain, but still huddled close to her encapsulated son. He contemplated stopping his assault, as he was unsure if the damage he was causing to himself was worth the effort, but he was so livid at the moment that he wanted nothing more than to put an end to these annoyances.

Wraith suddenly felt something heavy land on his back, and his wings were forced to stop buzzing, giving his victims some much needed reprieve from the noise drilling into their skulls. Wraith scowled over his shoulder, finding Guise sitting upon his back with blood leaking from his ears and a firm grasp of the larger changeling's wings. Somehow the former prisoner had managed to work up the willpower to fight through the pain and jump Wraith while his back was turned. Unfortunately for Wraith, the high-pitched wail of his wings had prevented him from hearing Guise's approach, but he wasn't about to let this minor setback deter him.

"And what do you think you're doing, traitor?" Wraith inquired with a bemused glare.

Guise chuckled darkly. "Hello, pot. I'm kettle." He leaned in close to Wraith's bleeding ears and whispered threateningly. "You're black."

Without a moment of hesitation, Guise yanked on Wraith's wings, effortlessly tearing them from their joints with the disgusting sound of ripping flesh and splashing blood. Wraith flinched as the shock of his dismemberment shot through him, gritting his teeth and choking back a pained shout. Shade, Chamella, Winter, as well as the others stuck at the cave entrance could only watch in awe as Wraith struggled with the pain, all the while Guise grinning sadistically upon his back.

Every muscle in Wraith's body tensed, both from the intense pain and his ever-growing rage. He shot icy daggers back at Guise, his slotted pupils narrowing and the normally-blue sclera of his eyes becoming bloodshot. Wraith leapt backwards, falling to the ground and dragging Guise with him, crushing his attacker beneath him with his superior weight.

The wind knocked from his lungs, Guise coughed for air, but his victorious smirk persisted regardless. Wraith quickly got back up, ignoring the pain in his back and delivering a fierce kick with one of his hind legs to Guise's midsection, causing the red-maned changeling to roll several feet away and forcing him to hack up some blood from his mouth.

"Impudent gnat!" Wraith snapped at Guise, gnashing his teeth furiously.

Guise managed to rise from underneath a small pile of bones and shakily get back to his hooves, spitting a glob of blood and saliva onto the dry, cracked dirt, giving the gray landscape a spot of color. His haughty grin irritated Wraith to no end. "See that, Wraith? Even the smallest pests can give you a pretty nasty bite, huh?" Despite his cockiness, Guise's legs gave out on him and he fell to his knees.

With Wraith thoroughly ticked off with Guise, Shade saw an opportunity to have another shot at him. Not really seeing any other form of approach without the use of magic, he rushed headlong again, intent on lodging his horn into Wraith's throat. However, his buzzing wings alerted the captain and he turned in Shade's direction with an icy glower, lifted his head, and brought it back down with perfect timing and precision to headbutt Shade on the top of his head just as he came within reach.

The blow stopped Shade cold, dropping him violently to the ground at Wraith's hooves. The ringing in Shade's ears came back with a vengeance, along with a blunt, pounding pain in his skull. His vision went blurry, his thoughts were suddenly muddled and he felt very disoriented, wobbling drunkenly as he tried to stagger back to his hooves.

But Wraith wasn't about to give him the chance to compose himself. Giving him similar treatment to Guise, Wraith delivered a blow to Shade with his hind leg, striking him in the temple, much like he did back in Ponyville. Shade didn't even have time to register that he'd been struck and his disorientation quickly became full blown unconsciousness as he collapsed to his side on top of a few dry, cracked bones.

"Shade!" Winter cried out in horror, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She then noticed that the barrier surrounding Snowflake had suddenly dissipated, leaving the crying foal exposed; with Shade out cold, he wasn't able to keep the shield up anymore. But Winter took the opportunity to finally wrap her hooves around her son and hold him again after all this time. Snowflake snuggled into the fur of his mom's neck, whimpering quietly and wiping his own tears away in her soft, yet dirtied, coat. Despite the harrowing circumstances, Winter found herself with a shaky smile, happy just to hold her baby in her hooves again.

Winter shuddered suddenly. She felt a presence boring a hole into the back of her head. Turning around, she instinctively held Snowflake tighter when she saw Wraith glaring in her direction. Now that the foal was no longer protected, Wraith had set his sights back to him.

"An ultimatum," Wraith growled ominously as he threateningly walked toward Winter. "If you want the halfling to live, give it to me. Otherwise, he dies along with the rest of you. At this point, I don't care which choice you make."

Winter didn't respond. She could only sit there, shaking. She had her son in her hooves now; she could fly to safety and Wraith could not pursue. However, her fear rendered her immobile, her wings too shaky to even extend them. But still, she defiantly held her child, shielding him from Wraith.

Wraith wasn't surprised by her reaction, but with his patience having long since run out, he had no qualms about killing her and the halfling.

However, before Wraith could get too close, Chamella ran out in front him and cut him off. Wraith stared at her, bemused. Chamella stared back. Anger burned in her pink eyes. Any fear she had felt up until now vanished the moment that Wraith threatened Winter and Snowflake. After everything they'd been through—earning Winter's forgiveness and finding the resolve to accept her role as Snowflake's godmother—Chamella wasn't going to stand idly by and allow Wraith to let all of that go to waste.

With all of the emotion Chamella could muster, she glared viciously at Wraith and flashed her fangs. "Don't hurt my family!"

Chamella's horn glowed intensely, her aura not soft and shimmering like normal, but sharp and erratic. In an instant, a surge of magic shot from her horn like a bolt of emerald lightning, latching onto Wraith's horn like a lightning rod and creating an arcing wire of magical electricity between the two changelings.

Every muscle in Wraith's body tightened involuntarily, effectively immobilizing him. Rapid shocks of magic pulsed through his body, sending pain through him that eclipsed the pain of having his wings torn off. He felt as though his insides were being fried, as though his blood was being boiled. Wraith's eyes practically rolled back into his head, letting out sharp grunts of agony.

Winter, still tightly clutching Snowflake, watched in shock and awe as Chamella, of all people, had Wraith completely incapacitated and writhing in agony.

Even though he was wracked in intense pain, Wraith managed to focus his eyes forward. Through sheer willpower, he managed to move again, slowly raising his right front leg, though trembling greatly. He lifted his hoof to his head, gripping his horn. With no lack of effort, Wraith let out a fierce shout as he snapped his own horn off with a loud crack.

With the conduit through which her magic bolt was attached removed, the connection between Chamella and Wraith was severed and the magic energy dissipated instantly, leaving only a few green sparks splashing off of Chamella's horn.

Chamella fell back onto her haunches, a quick, sharp pain shooting up from the bandaged wound on her flank. She lowered her head, panting from exhaustion. She felt completely drained; she'd never output that much magic before, and now she was totally worn out. Chamella lifted her head slightly, and her eyes widened in shock.

Despite everything, Wraith was still standing, but he, too, was panting, out of breath himself and clearly in great pain. His wings torn out, his horn broken, and now blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. But more than anything, he was mad. The violet of his eyes was almost completely unnoticeable among the bloodshot red. It was clear that nothing occupied his mind more at this moment than killing everyone that opposed him. With what strength he had left, Wraith started stomping toward Chamella with bloodlust in his eyes.

Chamella didn't move; she couldn't move. She could only sit, exhausted, as Wraith laboriously approached her, the only magic she had left a green vapor wafting from her horn like steam.

But Chamella noticed something walk up alongside her. Winter stood next to her, still holding Snowflake. The mother and her son both had tears in their eyes, but stared down Wraith regardless.

"Don't... Don't come any closer," Winter warned, though her shaky voice belied her attempt to be threatening. "I-I'm not going to let you hurt anypony else."

Snowflake added to the statement by blowing a disdainful raspberry at the changeling captain.

Wraith didn't even react to the threat. He simply walked up to the pegasus and raised his hoof with the intention of striking her with all the strength he could still muster.

But before he could start his swing, Wraith was struck from the side by an incredibly fast, rainbow streak and was dragged through the dry, dusty dirt and bones until coming to a stop a few dozen feet away.

From the dust cloud that had been kicked up, Rainbow Dash flew up into the air, glaring harshly down to where she'd left Wraith. "I told you not to mess with our friends!"

Winter and Chamella were soon met by the other five ponies, as well as Queen Chrysalis. Along the way, it seemed Applejack had briefly stopped to pick up Shade's unconscious body, bringing up the rear as she caught up to the group with the changeling father draped over her back. Winter was quick to rush to Applejack's side and check Shade's condition, relieved just to know that he was still breathing.

"Are you two alright?" Twilight asked Winter and Chamella thoughtfully.

Chamella gave the alicorn a weak smile. "A little drained, but otherwise okay."

"How did you all get past Wraith's barrier?" Winter inquired.

"Well, he doesn't have a horn anymore, darling," Rarity explained.

"While it's still possible to use magic with a broken horn, spells become much more unstable," Twilight added. "Maintaining a barrier under such duress is very difficult, much less with a broken horn."

Applejack tipped her hat up slightly, staring in Wraith's general direction. "Gotta say, Ah was not ready fer the things Ah've seen today."

Fluttershy leaned in close to the tiny foal cradled in Winter's foreleg, gently tapping the tyke on the nose with a giggle and a smile, to which Snowflake responded in kind. "I'm so glad you're okay, cutie. This whole experience must have been just awful for you."

Rainbow Dash fluttered back down to rejoin the group, but didn't take her eyes off of the pile of bones she'd left Wraith under. "Don't get comfy yet, guys. We're not done."

The mound of splintered bones began to shake and rise slightly, falling away and exposing the changeling captain again. Even after Dash blindsided him, Wraith still managed to get back to his hooves. His long, fiery orange mane fell down around his face, his helmet having gotten knocked off and ended up who-knows-where. He glowered at the group of mares some distance away, the fire in his eyes not having died down in the least. The rest of the fire he had harbored, however, was extinguished. Taking only one step toward them, Wraith's legs gave out and he collapsed back to the ground. The adrenaline was finally dying down, and all of the pain—his wings, his horn, his everything—hit him all at once.

Seeing his condition, Winter, Chamella, Twilight and the others felt as though the threat had been alleviated, at least enough to take a breather.

"So what are we going to do about him?" asked Chamella.

Chrysalis pushed her way to the front of the group. "There is no 'we' in this scenario. This is my kingdom, and loathe as I am to say it, Wraith is still one of my subjects. I'll deal with him."

With that Chrysalis began making her way over to where Wraith lay, still fighting to rise to his hooves, but to no avail. When he noticed that she was nearing him, he cast an icy glare up at her as she towered over him with a disdainful look in her eyes. Wraith let out a low growl, but said nothing.

"Well, isn't this a bizarre sight?" Chrysalis started, her voice level and sounding of indifference. "The 'mighty' Captain Wraith, beaten and broken. This must be a new feeling for you, hm?"

Wraith didn't respond, only gritting his teeth angrily.

"I suppose now we at least have some common ground. How does it feel to have years of planning come crumbling down around you, Wraith?"

"Do not compare yourself to me," Wraith snarled. "Your failure was a result of your own hubris."

"And yours was a result of your greed and thirst for power. You could have simply chosen not to interfere with the lives of these people, but you just had to have one more potential soldier to throw themselves into battle for you."

"It's not about numbers," Wraith retorted. "It was about what's rightfully mine."

Chrysalis narrowed her eyes, leaning her head down. "And exactly what makes you believe that you have any right to this crown, or to the changelings? You have no respect for the people of this kingdom. They don't deserve a king like you."

"And you don't deserve to be queen!"

Chrysalis raised her head again, her expression softening slightly. "You're right, I don't."

Wraith went quiet, somewhat confused by the response.

"But this position has never been about who deserves it. It's about who's willing to step up and lead their people to better lives. You had only yourself in mind, controlling the weak-willed drones and soldiers with fearmongering and threats. The power you built came solely from the love I foolishly provided you over the years. The soldiers never respected you; they were afraid of you. And once I was out of the way, what was your plan then? Without my love your power would have slowly dwindled anyway, and it would only be a matter of time before another changeling stepped in to usurp you as well."

Chrysalis stared down her nose at the livid changeling beneath her, her eyes full of hatred, but also hurt. "You took advantage of me, Wraith. As if taking my subjects away from me—even killing them on your own whims—wasn't bad enough, you manipulated me and lead me to believe you actually cared about me. And that is unforgivable. I was more than happy to go through life not knowing the pain of heartbreak. And I never would have thought that love could so easily turn to hatred," she hissed, venom oozing from her voice. However, her disgusted grimace quickly shifted to a snide grin. "But I think I'll get over it. If anything, I suppose I should thank you. This whole affair has made me realize that if I want to earn back the respect of my subjects, I need to get out of this slump. So, thank you for giving me the kick in the flank I needed to resume my duties as Queen of the Changelings."

"Do you think you've earned back that title?" Wraith argued. "You only stand over me now because you had the help of the deserters and those ponies."

Chrysalis smirked. "True, but the other changelings don't need to know that. After all..." She leaned down again, staring menacingly into Wraith's bloodshot eyes and whispered in a dark tone. "...you're not going to be around long enough to tell them." Chrysalis straightened up again and set her horn alight with bright green magic, her expression returning to one of indifference. "We may have a long history together, Wraith, but after everything you've put me through, don't expect a goodbye."

Wraith glowered fiercely up at Chrysalis. Every fiber of his being wanted to stand and lunge violently at her, but his muscles betrayed him, too overcome with pain and weakness from his injuries. And as Chrysalis stared down at him, her stoic, yet somewhat remorseful expression was the last thing he saw before his vision was overcome by a vibrant, green flash of magic.

Chapter 24 - Where the Heart is

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 24: Where the Heart is

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The group of mares briefly watched from a distance as Chrysalis took her time speaking with her no doubt former captain. Wraith was now in no condition to fight back, and now, after three days of stress and turmoil, the group of Ponyville residents could finally take a much deserved breather.

"I guess this is it, huh?" Rainbow Dash commented as she looked in Chrysalis's direction.

Winter fell back onto her haunches with a long, loud sigh, managing a smile as she cradled her rescued baby in her forelegs. "Yep. We can finally go home now. You guys have no idea how badly I want to just lie down in bed right now."

"Well, I know the first thing I'll be doing when we get home is take a long, hot bubble bath," Rarity said with a wistful sigh.

"Are you guys nuts?!" Pinkie blurted out in disbelief, startling the group. "We just pulled off a crazy rescue mission! We gotta celebrate! A 'Welcome-Home-Glad-Your-Safe-Have-Some-Cake' party!"

"No offense, but a party is the last thing I want right now," Winter told the excitable mare with a bemused look. "Although, a big slice of cake sounds pretty good right about now."

"Ugh..."

Everypony turned their eyes to the changeling draped over Applejack's back. Shade was finally beginning to stir from his state of unconsciousness, his green eyes groggily opening. As his vision came back to him, he noticed the several mares staring at him—some with relieved smiles, some with worried frowns.

"Rise and shine, lazybones," Applejack said to him with a smirk as she helped him down and onto his own hooves.

"How are you feeling?" asked Fluttershy compassionately.

Shade held a hoof up to his head. "A little lightheaded," he answered. His condition was made evident as he kept one hoof over Applejack's shoulder to keep himself upright. He forced a lighthearted smile at seeing everypony safe and sound, assuming that everything must have gone well. "Word to the wise: you don't get used to being kicked in the head."

Shade had a quick look around, still a little worried about Wraith. However, it didn't take long for him to notice Chrysalis some distance away talking to him. As he stared at the two changelings, he felt something gently rub against his neck. Winter was nuzzling into him lovingly, not only happy to see that he was okay, but happy to see him at all; she hadn't had a chance to show her relief until now. With a warm smile, Shade nuzzled back, making sure to give his son a little love, too.

Winter pulled away—though reluctantly—to gaze into her lover's eyes like she so enjoyed doing. "We're going home soon."

Shade managed a quiet laugh. "About time. I'm sick of this place."

"You guys just about done with all the mushy stuff?"

Everypony turned to see Guise hobbling his way over to the group, though keeping a safe distance as he wasn't entirely comfortable around the six ponies that were giving him suspicious glares.

Chamella looked at Shade curiously. "So, can you explain what Guise is doing here? And why was he helping us?"

"I'm curious about that myself," Twilight added as she stared imposingly at the red-maned changeling. "Last we saw him, he was trying to brainwash Winter and then tried to kill you."

Guise simply rolled his eyes at her suspicious tone.

"It's... kind of a long story," Shade told them. "But the gist of it is that he wants to leave the Changeling Kingdom, and he agreed to help me find Snowflake if I agreed to bail him out if he gets himself into trouble."

Applejack raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Now, when you say 'leave the Changeling Kingdom,' what exactly does that entail?"

"I'm not going living anywhere near you lot," Guise said disdainfully. "I don't need a bunch of goody-goodies breathing down my neck. I'm going to try not to cause trouble, but I can't really make any promises."

There was a moment of silence as the group exchanged looks of skepticism. Twilight then looked to Shade. "Can we trust him?"

"'Trust' is a strong word, but he did basically save my life. So I owe him one," Shade said.

"Don't you think that you guys, of all people, should be willing to give him a second chance?" Chamella pointed out. "Even if he has selfish motives, he still helped us out."

"I agree with Chamella," Winter added.

Rainbow Dash gave the ivory pegasus a quizzical look. "After what he did to you? Are you sure?"

A genuine, happy grin creased Winter's lips. "After everything I've been through—everything we've been through..." She sidled up next to Chamella and pulled the female changeling in close with her wing. "I think anypony can earn a second chance."

Shade was a little caught off guard by how friendly Winter was being with Chamella. Obviously they must have been through just as much as he had, if not more; it wasn't too farfetched to think that they might patch things up for the sake of saving Snowflake.

"I think that's a good point," Fluttershy agreed. "I mean, if we can give Discord a second chance, why not, right?"

Twilight nodded with a welcoming smile. "Then I guess that's settled."

Once again, Guise rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah, thanks. You have no idea how much this means to me," he groaned sarcastically. "Look, I'm not gonna be holding hooves with anypony, or standing in friendship circles, or any crap like that. I'm gonna live how I wanna live. Just making that clear." He was about to head on is own way back toward the hive's caverns, but as he looked at the dark, menacing entrance, Guise's crimson eyes suddenly shot wide as he remembered something. "Oh, crap, Glory!"

Shade stood at attention at the mention of the name. "Oh, right! We promised to go back for her! We have to—"

As Shade and Guise were about to start hurrying back toward the cave, Chamella reached out and stopped them. They stared at her, confused, worried, and, in Guise's case, a little upset that she was preventing him from going to her. Chamella gave the two a silent, somber, and remorseful frown, shaking her head slowly. The tension slowly lifted from Shade and Guise as they caught her meaning, their worried expressions quickly becoming depressed and defeated.

"Damn it..." muttered Guise through clenched teeth.

"Who was she?" Winter asked curiously.

Shade stayed quiet for a moment, staring at the ground. "She's... the reason Snow is safe. She even wanted to come with us back to Ponyville when this was all over."

"Until Wraith..." Guise growled, but trailed off, staring back to where the object of his ire and Chrysalis were.

"Was she... someone important to you?" Fluttershy asked Guise.

Guise looked at the yellow pegasus briefly, but turned his eyes back downward. "No, it's just... She was the one who let me out of the dungeon. I... I never got around to thanking her, that's all."

Winter looked down at Snowflake, who was snuggled into the fur of her neck. The little guy seemed worn out and sleepy, but as far as she could tell, he was completely unharmed through all of this. At least Winter knew now who was responsible for his well being. "Now I wish I would've thanked her, too," Winter said quietly and solemnly.

The conversation was interrupted by a flash a bright, green magic from Chrysalis and Wraith's direction. By the time the light died down, Chrysalis was already on her way back toward them. Her expression was difficult to read and most of the ponies couldn't tell if she was angry or distraught. Once she had rejoined the others, she let out a long sigh.

"So, what's Wraith's punishment, huh?" Pinkie inquired. "Are you gonna lock him up in the dungeon? Exile him from the Changeling Kingdom? Make him eat a bowl full of pine cones?"

"I killed him," the queen stated bluntly.

Pinkie's expression dropped quickly, looking a little awkward and uneasy now as she stared up at Chrysalis's stone-faced visage. "Oh..."

"That's a little... extreme, isn't it?" Fluttershy commented, instinctively taking a step away from Chrysalis.

"Your princesses can rule their way, I will rule my way. If left alive, I have no doubt that Wraith would continue to cause me trouble—and you all as well. He obviously wouldn't want to stick around here after this, so he'd very likely try and worm his way into your homes to get his power back. Though I can't say how well he'd be able to keep up a disguise without his horn. The point is he's too dangerous to just lock up, and after what he did to me all these years, he got exactly what he deserved. My kingdom and my people will be better off with him dead, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't try and force your own sense of morality on me."

Twilight lifted a hoof to interject. "But—"

Chamella lifted a hoof of her own to stop the alicorn. "Just let it go, Twilight. Please? She helped us out. Besides, it's really none of our business."

Twilight lowered her hoof again, reluctantly backing off.

Chrysalis gave Chamella a smile. "At least one of you understands. You're a rare breed, aren't you, Chamella? I wish more of my subjects were like you."

Chamella was a little caught off guard by the compliment. "Oh, uh... Thank you?"

"Now, I suppose you'll all be needing someone to guide you back to the forests so you can go home," Chrysalis inferred, showing her impatience with their continued presence.

"That'd be mighty kind o' ya," Applejack said with a tip of her hat.

"Um, how long is it going to take to get back?" Winter asked pensively, recalling the struggles she'd had to deal with over the past three days.

The queen thought for a moment before responding nonchalantly. "Should take maybe an hour or so."

"An hour?!" Rarity gawked. "We've been navigating these tunnels for days, and you say it'll only take an hour?!"

"Give or take fifteen or twenty minutes, but, yes. It certainly helps when you know these caverns like the back of your hoof."

Chamella rubbed her foreleg awkwardly, feeling more than a little embarrassed as she looked apologetically at Winter. Thankfully, the pegasus gave her a forgiving and reassuring grin.

Hearing the groans of annoyance and haggard eye rolls amongst the mares, Chrysalis muttered thoughtfully to herself. "Maybe I should make the path to the throne room a little more pronounced..."

***** ***** *****

Shade, Chamella, and Guise never thought they'd be relieved to see the oranges and golds of the forests of the Changeling Kingdom, but here they were, smiling involuntarily to finally be out of those stagnant and humid caves. Their pony companions were equally relieved, breathing in the comparatively clean air. All of them were very eager to get back home, but none more than Winter.

"Well, here you go," Chrysalis said impatiently. "Now if you'll all kindly get out of my kingdom..."

Chamella turned around to give the queen a grateful smile. "Thank you for helping us, Your Majesty. It means a lot."

Chrysalis rolled her eyes at the praise, trying desperately to hide a bashful blush. "You have no reason to thank me. I really didn't do anything but point you in the right direction."

"Either way, we're still really grateful," added Winter with a soft smile.

Chrysalis stared at the pegasus, unsure how to feel. She certainly wasn't accustomed to receiving thanks from ponies. Her gaze shifted slightly to the half-changeling colt cradled in her foreleg. Snowflake held tightly to his mother as he looked up uneasily at the changeling queen. "I suppose I could argue that I did it for his sake. He is a changeling after all, even if he doesn't look it." Chrysalis leaned down closer to the foal with the intention of giving him a light pat on the head. However, Snowflake buried his face into his mother's crimson mane in an attempt to hide himself from the tall, imposing queen. Chrysalis straightened up again, scoffing at the child's reaction. "Fine, if that's how you want to treat your queen. I didn't want you as my subject anyway."

Shade turned to Guise. The red-maned changeling was staring off into the distance, seemingly at nothing in particular. "Do you have any ideas as to where you want to go?"

Guise inhaled a deep breath through his nose, but didn't look at Shade. "Nah, not really. Figured I'd just look at any place I wound up at, maybe sneak around in disguise to get a feel for the place before making a decision." Shade glared at him, which Guise noticed from the corner of his eye. "Don't look at me like that. We already talked about this. I'm not letting you or anypony else rein me in."

"We have a deal, remember?" Shade reminded him sternly.

Guise waved him off dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, I remember, give it rest. But if things go well, we won't have to see each other again, so chill out." He took a few steps forward, spreading his wings in preparation to leave.

"Guise."

He paused for a moment, glancing over his shoulder to see Winter and Chamella looking at him. They seemed a little conflicted, particularly Winter.

"I'm pretty sure I still hate you," Winter said with a slight glower.

Guise rolled his eyes with a scoff. "I'll try not to lose sleep over it," he responded sarcastically.

"But..." Winter continued, pausing for a second. "I appreciate your help."

Guise simply stared at her for a few silent moments. Her face was an uneasy mix of gratitude and disdain, but considering what he did to her in the past, he couldn't really blame her for still not trusting him. Snowflake was staring at him, too, though in much the same way he had with Chrysalis. Guise breathed a long sigh. "Whatever. I had my own reasons for helping out, so don't be too thankful."

"Take care of yourself, Guise," Chamella said with a small smile.

Guise didn't respond to her, only staring at her quietly. He didn't really see any reason for Chamella to be so warm towards him, but decided to leave it alone. Flittering his wings, Guise took off, weaving up past the tree canopy and disappearing through the autumn leaves and branches.

"Wasn't he a prisoner?" Rainbow Dash pointed out to Chrysalis. "You sure you wanna just let him leave?"

Chrysalis shrugged indifferently. "As long as he's not in my kingdom, I couldn't care less. Besides, he did have a hoof in bringing down Wraith, so I suppose I owe him at least his freedom."

"Speaking of which..." Chamella said, looking curiously up at the queen. "What are you going to do now, Your Highness?"

Chrysalis remained quiet for a moment, her lips turning down in a dejected frown as she thought it over. "I've been pondering that myself. After my failure in Canterlot, I sort of fell into a mild depression. I began to question whether or not I was fit to continue ruling." Her expression and tone suddenly became more resolute and confident as she continued. "But now I've seen what failure brings: cocky individuals who think they can do better than me, and who think of nothing but themselves. And if I want to regain and maintain the respect of my subjects, I need to ensure that this doesn't happen again. So, that being said, I think I need to plan another invasion." Noticing the several reprimanding scowls she was receiving from the six multicolored mares, she cracked a smug smirk. "What? Did you think that I was going to change just because you helped me out of a bind?"

"You don't have to do this, Chrysalis," Shade told her, earning a haughty glare as she looked down her nose at him. "It really wouldn't be difficult to just sit down with Princess Celestia and work something out."

"I thought I made it abundantly clear last time we met that I have no intention of forming any sort of allegiance with those insipid ponies," Chrysalis hissed, paying no mind to the fact that those ponies were within earshot. "I still fully intend to take Equestria's throne for myself. I'll not be satisfied with simply giving my people the lives they deserve. I want the changelings to stand as Equestria's dominant and most feared people, with me at the head."

"You know we're not going to just stand by and let you do that," Twilight warned her, her friends standing alongside her militantly.

Chrysalis rolled her eyes at the ponies' attempt to be threatening. "Oh, please. I won't be making the same mistakes I did back then. And besides, these plots take time to concoct. It'll likely be some time before I'm ready to actually do anything, especially since you'll be expecting us this time."

Twilight and the others lowered their guards slightly, but continued to watch her diligently.

Chrysalis smirked playfully. "Or maybe I'll launch an attack tomorrow. Who knows? We're changelings; we could be right under your nose and you wouldn't even know it." Seeing the bemused and aggressive stares she was getting, Chrysalis's mirth quickly made way for annoyance. "Alright, I have a kingdom to rebuild, so get lost while I'm still in a gracious mood."

With that, Chrysalis gave her two former subjects a well-wishing smile before turning her back to the group and returning to the caves.

"We'll be ready for her when she shows up again," Twilight stated to Shade, Chamella, and Winter.

Chamella shook her head in disappointment. "I really wish she'd just see things our way." She turned to Shade, who was watching as Chrysalis disappeared into the darkness. "I guess you don't really care either way, do you, Shade?"

Shade inhaled a deep breath through his nose, his expression difficult to read. "I think there's some good in her. She might come around some day."

Chamella's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? I thought you said the changelings were irredeemable."

Her childhood friend gave her a soft smile, though there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Maybe some of them are, but I know now there must still be some changelings who are willing to take a chance at peace."

Chamella and Winter both had a feeling they knew who changed his mind about that, but didn't say anything, only silently thanking her for what she did.

"I think we should get back to Ponyville soon," Fluttershy interrupted. "You three aren't exactly in great shape right now, and it's going to take a few hours to get back home."

Now that she had said that, Shade and Chamella in particular started to become a little more cognizant of their physical discomfort from their injuries. Winter held Snowflake tenderly, the colt beginning to grow tired as he nestled into her neck for a nap. Finding the idea of putting all of this behind them quite appealing, they all agreed with Fluttershy's suggestion and started making the long trek home.

***** ***** *****

It was approaching evening in the small town of Ponyville, but the weather was fair and the atmosphere rather peaceful. Folks were just starting to make their way home from a long day's work, and would likely be looking for some other activity to eat up the rest of this picturesque day. Children were outside playing, couples going for romantic walks, others just taking in the scenery.

It was as if none of them even knew what had transpired in the past few days.

Ponyville never looked so beautiful, so inviting, as it did at this very moment. Shade, Chamella, Winter with Snowflake, and Twilight and her friends all stood with longing and relieved smiles as they crested the hill overlooking the quaint town they called home. It was hard to believe that this was real. Shade and Chamella almost felt like this was their first time coming here all over again.

As much as they were all enjoying the view, Rarity took up the lead, glancing over her shoulder to her friends. "Let's not dawdle, everypony," she said, her nonchalant tone belying the excitement and impatience they knew she was suppressing. "I'm sure we'd all like to get back to our homes and get ourselves tidied up."

Without a word from anypony, they all followed her lead, descending down the hill with smiles on their faces. Once within the town limits, the group of ponies, changelings, and one half-changeling foal started receiving a few curious looks from passersby. It certainly must have been an odd sight to see the lot of them all together like this, even though they were friends. Or perhaps it was the state they were all in, with dirtied coats, disheveled manes, and a few of them with visible cuts and bruises, not to mention Chamella's bandages.

The crowd's confusion may have also stemmed from the fact that they had all been missing for several days. Twilight and her friends were pillars of the community and local heroes; their absence for any noteworthy length of time would certainly not go unnoticed, particularly the princess. As a result, the group was met with quiet murmurs amongst the crowd of gawkers, a few even being bold enough to approach Twilight and asked where she'd been, to which she simply replied by saying that they didn't have time to elaborate.

As much as they all wanted to return to their houses and get some well deserved rest, they decided it may be best for Winter, Shade, and Chamella to stop by the hospital first—at the behest of their concerned friends—so that they may have any injuries looked at. However, as they begun to approach the Ponyville Hospital, they were suddenly stopped by a voice calling out from above.

"Winter!"

The group barely had time to look up before Winter was suddenly blindsided by a hug from her mother Autumn Maple, being careful not to come in too hot and risk hurting her grandson.

Winter was quite caught off guard by the unexpected embrace, her mother sobbing joyous tears into Winter's dirty coat. At first, she was confused, but quickly assumed that her mother must have figured out—or at least presumed—what had happened. Winter smiled lovingly, hugging her mother right back. "Hi, Mom. You have no idea how much I've missed you."

Autumn's relieved sobbing never ceased long enough for her to respond, but she had willpower enough to release her daughter and instead take hold of Snowflake, who hugged his grandmother tightly.

"So, um... Do you know what's been up, Mrs. Maple?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"We certainly do."

Instead of Autumn answering the question, their attentions were directed to the grandmother's husband, approaching with his usual stern and corrective gaze. Oddly, he was accompanied by Spike, Derpy, and Sweetie Belle who, in contrast to the tall stallion, were smiling ecstatically.

Sweetie Belle immediately leapt at Chamella to give her a hug, which the changeling happily returned. "I'm sorry, Chamella. I couldn't keep your promise."

"It's okay," Chamella assured her. "You did the right thing. You basically saved all our lives by telling them."

Nimbus walked up to his daughter, his expression unmoving as he stared into her amber eyes. Winter felt all the remorse and regret double back on her, her ears folding back in shame as she turned her own gaze away from her father's.

However, instead of receiving a stern talking to as she was expecting, Winter found herself pulled into another relieved hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay, sweetie," he whispered compassionately, running his hoof over her messy, crimson mane.

Although a little surprised by his sudden display of affection, Winter had the wherewithal to wrap her hooves around her father's back. "You're not mad?"

Nimbus pulled away, keeping his hooves on Winter's shoulders and inhaling deeply through his nose to discreetly force back his tears. "Oh, I'm livid, absolutely."

Winter's smile dropped pretty quick.

"But now's not the time for scolding. Although, I want you to promise me that you will never do something so reckless and irresponsible ever again," he commanded with authority, though there was certainly care and worry evident in his voice.

His daughter nodded. "You don't have to worry about that, Dad. Trust me, I've learned my lesson."

Nimbus let out a sigh, letting his blood pressure level out. "Good. You had me worried sick, Winter. I'm just glad that you and Snow are okay."

"And me, sir?"

Nimbus cast an instinctive glower in Shade's direction, making the changeling instantly regret his curiosity. But much to his surprise, Nimbus grinned at him. "Yes, I'm glad to see you're alright, too."

Shade managed a smile, feeling a touch of camaraderie between him and his girlfriend's father.

"After all, I told you I'm not letting you get out of being a father to my grandchild."

Shade's smile persisted despite the comment. As intimidating as Nimbus was trying to be, he was still grinning, though Shade suspected there was still some seriousness to the comment.

"So how did you figure it out?" Winter asked, though now that she thought about it, there were some pretty obvious hints. "Well, I guess we haven't been home for a while. Plus, our house is probably still a bit of a mess."

Spike stepped up to fill in the gaps. "Yeah, they rushed over to the library pretty quick when they saw the state of your place. They wanted to ask Twilight for help, but obviously she wasn't home sooooo..."

"You had no other choice but to tell them, right?" Twilight inferred.

"I had to try and calm them down," Spike told them, defending his decision. "I know you didn't want Princess Celestia to get involved, and they probably would've went to her if they couldn't get you."

"Honestly, as horrified as I was by the news, I did feel a little better knowing that you and your friends were helping them, Princess," Autumn added with a grateful smile as she cradled her weary grandson.

"And what are you doing with them, Derpy?" Rainbow Dash asked the wall-eyed pegasus accompanying them.

"Spike asked for my help in tracking down the changeling spies," Derpy answered proudly.

"Oh, that's right!" Twilight chirped as she remembered the task she'd given her draconic assistant. "How did that go?"

Spike dusted his knuckles with a smug smirk. "Do you even have to ask?"

"We got 'em all locked up at the police station," Derpy elaborated. "We even got Nimbus and Autumn to help out."

Winter stared at her parents incredulously. "Really?! You guys went after the changelings?"

"Well, I'm certainly not dumb enough to go running off to the Changeling Kingdom," Nimbus replied with his signature reprimanding glare, prompting Winter's ears to droop slightly. "But I wasn't going to stand idly by and do nothing when those miscreants were hiding among us. Uh, no offense," he said, seemingly directing that last part to Chamella more than Shade.

"Yeah, you should've seen it," Spike continued with an amused chuckle. "We had one of 'em caught, and Autumn and Nimbus did the whole 'good-cop-bad-cop' thing to get him to tell us where the others were. And you'll never guess who was the 'bad cop,'" he said, looking at a bashful Autumn.

"You're kidding," Winter responded with a surprised smile.

"Hey, I'm a mother. I know how to get misbehaving troublemakers to fess up. You know that better than anypony, don't you, Winter?" Autumn stated with a giggle and a knowing grin.

"Well, however your goal was accomplished, good job, Spike. And thank you all for helping him out," Twilight thanked the dragon and the three pegasi with a grateful smile. "But we're sort of in a hurry. We'd really like to get to the hospital."

Autumn suddenly looked worried. "Oh, no. Winter, you said you were okay."

"I am," her daughter responded. "At least, I think I am. It's more for Shade and Chamella." She pointed out the bandages around Chamella's left flank and the fact that the female changeling had been keeping that leg off the ground.

"Are you sure you're not hurt?" Nimbus insisted. "That looks like an awful lot of blood on your hooves."

Winter's expression quickly turned sullen. "I... I'll explain later..."

Her parents exchanged concerned and worried looks, but chose to trust that their daughter wasn't hiding anything for their sake. In any case, they didn't want to hold them up any longer. If they had injuries that needed tending to, then the sooner they made it to the hospital, the better.

***** ***** *****

The hospital lobby was not as quiet as one would figure. Despite repeated shushes from the irritated receptionist, the group of colorful ponies and one dragon loitering within the lobby were surprisingly energetic and rambunctious. The receptionist would have expected such behavior from impatient foals, but not a bunch of adults. Although, given who exactly these people were, perhaps it shouldn't have been too surprising.

Pinkie Pie was enthusiastically regaling the events that had occurred in the Changeling Kingdom to Winter's parents, as well as Spike and Derpy, focusing specifically on the large group of soldiers that they had encountered when they met up with Shade. Unfortunately, since their time with Shade had been brief, she couldn't really elaborate on what happened with him after that until they found him again, embroiled in his skirmish with Wraith.

It was at that point that Rainbow Dash had eagerly took over narrative duty, detailing the ensuing battle as they had seen it. Despite the annoyed looks she and her friends were receiving from the receptionist and the other ponies waiting in the lobby, the cyan pegasus swooped and twirled around in the limited airspace of the lobby as she playfully reenacted specific moments of the fight, shadowboxing and kicking the air while Pinkie Pie interjected with occasional sound effects. Of course, Rainbow Dash was sure to mention that she had gotten the final blow in before leaving Wraith to Queen Chrysalis.

The whole while, as they listened to the two exuberant mares' retellings—no doubt with some minor exaggerations—Autumn and Nimbus found their reactions ranging from curious, to worried, to scared, and even a little excited. Despite his previous scolding, Nimbus couldn't help but feel proud of his daughter for actually surviving the whole thing and accomplishing what she had set out to do. Of course, that didn't mean she wasn't still going to get a stern talking to about her recklessness, but he was certain now that his little girl was tougher than he'd ever given her credit for.

As the excitement was dying down, the storytelling was interrupted when the doctor entered the lobby through the wooden double doors leading further into the hospital. He was also accompanied by Chamella and Shade, as well as Winter, who was holding a smiling Snowflake. Their friends and family all rose to get the news. It was difficult to ascertain how well their examinations had gone based on their facial expressions; they didn't seem particularly enthused, but also not too upset.

"So, how did it go?" Autumn asked, the suspense starting to get to her.

The unicorn doctor adjusted his glasses, going over the notes on the clipboard he carried within his magical grasp. "All things considered, it went well. Given everything they've told me, their injuries could have been much worse."

"They also could have been killed outright," Nimbus made sure to mention.

The doctor nodded. "Which is why they should consider themselves extremely lucky. First off, Chamella's injuries, for the most part, are minor. Some negligible cuts and bruises, with the wounds from the bite she received being the worst of it. But even that isn't as bad as it looks. It'll heal just fine in due time, I just recommend avoiding putting pressure on that leg where possible."

"That's what I've been doing," Chamella said with a relieved grin.

"And I don't see it being too much of a hindrance at the boutique," Rarity added.

"I guess it's probably worse than I bite from Opal, huh?" Sweetie Belle commented, shuddering at the thought of a changeling's sizable fangs digging into flesh.

"Shade probably received the worst of it," the doctor continued as he glanced at his notes again. "He has a couple of cracked ribs and suffered another blow to the head." The doctor gave the changeling a reprimanding glower, still none too please about how he had snuck out of the hospital. "To err on the side of caution, Shade will be staying here for a while so that we can monitor him to see if his condition worsens. Personally, I don't think we have much to worry about on that front, but you never know."

"And what about my babies?" Autumn inquired.

The doctor grinned as he playfully tousled the tuft of green hair on the head of the tyke in Winter's possession. "Snowflake is perfectly fine; no injuries whatsoever. He is a tad malnourished, but nothing that a good meal can't fix." His expression suddenly became more serious. "Winter hasn't suffered many physical injuries either, just the usual scrapes and bruises. Mentally, on the other hoof, is another story."

Autumn and Nimbus exchanged worried looks before turning back to the doctor. "Wh-What does that mean?" Autumn asked pensively, noticing how Winter's expression had fallen as she turned her gaze away.

"Based on what Winter has told me, it's possible that this whole ordeal may have caused her some psychological trauma. I'm concerned about the long term effects she may experience as a result. It's possible she may suffer from a case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the future."

Autumn looked at her daughter with deep worry. "That's... Oh, my. Winter, are you alright, dear?"

Winter managed to force a weak smile. "I'm... I'm fine, Mom. I think I can get over it."

"What exactly happened to you out there?" her father asked.

Winter rubbed the side of her neck apprehensively, looking away again and noting the crowd of people present in the hospital lobby. "Like I said, I'll tell you later."

"I've arranged, with Winter's agreement, for her to see a psychiatrist once a week for the next few weeks," the doctor explained. "Hopefully that will help her cope with any emotional issues that she might be dealing with. I've also recommended that she talk with her friends and family in order to receive their emotional support; keeping these things to one's self could lead to further problems."

Autumn tenderly approached her daughter and grandson, wrapping her hooves around her lovingly. "We're here for you, sweetie. You don't have to deal with these things alone."

Winter closed her eyes as she returned her mother's embrace. "I know. Thanks, Mom. But right now, all I want to do is get some grub."

Autumn gave a soft smile. "If you want, I can cook you all up a big dinner. I think you've earned that much."

"No offense, Mom, but I need something to eat, like, now." Winter told her with a giggle. "Anypony wanna join me for Hayburger?"

"Sounds good to me," Twilight agreed as she and her friends started heading for the exit.

"Ah reckon we should all head back to our homes and get ourselves cleaned up first," Applejack suggested, noting the dirt and grime that was still present in all their coats.

"A most welcome idea," agreed Rarity.

"Guess I'll have to pass on dinner," said Shade with a hint of disappointment. "I'm supposed to stay here."

Winter gave Shade a quick kiss before she made to follow the others. "I'll come right back to see you, okay?"

***** ***** *****

Shade stared silently up at the ceiling, the glow of the florescent lights barely noticeable and not offensive to his eyes in the slightest. They weren't the only light source in the room, however, as the iridescent, orange luminescence of the sunset softly bathed the pristine, white walls in a beautiful glow of color. It almost reminded him of the colors of the Changeling Kingdom, though right now, he wasn't too sure how he felt about that.

Shade exhaled a long breath, sighing deeply. This wasn't exactly how he was hoping to spend his time after he got home. Being confined to the firm, thin mattress of a hospital bed wasn't nearly as inviting as his own plush, cozy bed. But worse than that was not being able to spend his first night home in bed with the pony he loved. Served him right, he figured; this could simply be considered his punishment for his reckless behavior. But all in all, he really had no room to complain. He counted himself lucky that he managed to get out of the Changeling Kingdom with only a couple of cracked ribs and a mild concussion.

There was a quiet knock on the door to Shade's hospital room, and it slowly opened immediately afterward. Shade cracked a grin when he saw a stroller roll into the room, his little, halfling son strapped securely into it, sucking contentedly on a pacifier and tightly clutching a ragged, plush bunny in his tiny hooves.

Pushing from behind was, of course, the tyke's mother and the love of Shade's life. Winter had gone off for something to eat with the others a couple of hours ago, but Shade could see exactly why she'd been gone so long. Winter's mane and coat were looking pristine, her alabaster fur shining brighter than the walls of the hospital, and her scarlet mane groomed to perfection and gleaming like silk. She almost looked like a completely different person compared to the one he'd left the Changeling Kingdom with. She obviously spent a lot of time tidying herself up to get rid of the dirt, grime, and stains. Shade had only taken a quick soak in the hospital's shower, but then again, he didn't have a coat of fur to maintain and work knots out of, or feathers to preen.

"Hey," Winter greeted softly and with a loving smile. She extended her right wing, using her ivory feathers to hold a somewhat greasy, brown, paper bag with a picture of a yellow oval and horseshoe on it. "I brought you some Hayburger."

Shade smiled fondly. "Thanks. The food they give you here isn't really filling. Or appetizing."

Winter rolled Snowflake over to the left side of the bed as Shade propped himself up in preparation for his meal. After spending the last few days eating nothing but bugs and bland mushrooms, some greasy fast food was sounding pretty good. Winter passed Shade the tray on which he had eaten the meal the nurse gave him, putting the contents of the bag onto it: a cardboard container of small, horseshoe-shaped fries, a medium cup of cola, and a namesake hayburger, complete with tomato, lettuce, cheese, ketchup, and of course, hay. Shade was quick to take a bite of the burger, and although he wasn't as fond of hay as his pony neighbors, the melding of flavors created by the other ingredients was leagues above anything he'd eaten recently, including the hospital food.

Winter giggled in amusement hearing Shade's blissful moan as he chewed, mostly because she and the others had done much the same at the restaurant. She pulled over a nearby stool to sit on, then reached into the bag once more, removing a plastic spoon and a small container of applesauce with Hayburger's logo on it. She popped out Snowflake's pacifier and started feeding her son his dessert while Shade ate his supper.

"Where's Chamella?" Shade asked with a mouthful of food. For a second, he wished he hadn't asked that. He didn't want Winter to think he needed her to be there, especially since he knew there was—or had been—some tension between them. However, much to his relief, Winter's smile persisted unwaveringly.

"She went back home with Rarity. I asked her if she wanted to come with, but she wanted to give us some privacy."

Having not actually gotten all of the details about it on their way home, Shade decided now was as good a time as any to ask about that. "What exactly happened between you two? I don't think I've ever seen you so friendly with each other."

Winter chuckled quietly. "Oh, you know, when you're constantly saving each others lives, you tend to grow a little closer. You don't have to worry about us, Shade. I know I haven't really treated Chamella with much respect since I've known her, but that's gonna change from here on out."

Shade looked down at the little colt with applesauce smeared on his chin. "And are you okay with her being Snow's godmother?"

The pegasus grinned widely. "I can't think of anypony I'd rather pick."

A happy and relieved smile creased Shade's fanged lips as he popped a few fries in his mouth. Second to everypony getting home safe and sound, he was pleased to hear that the two mares had resolved their differences. He never wanted to be put in a situation where he'd have to choose between them, and if they hadn't made up, it was entirely possible that that scenario may have popped up at some point. Thankfully, it looked like he'd be able to avoid that now.

"So, how are you feeling?" Winter asked Shade, a loving grin on her face, but with some noticeable concern.

"Been better," Shade said with a chuckle as he lightly rubbed his chest. "But the pain and discomfort is well worth it."

"And your fang is looking a little better."

"Hm?" Shade lifted a hoof to his mouth. He'd almost forgotten that Wraith had broken his left fang off. But Winter was right; the jagged and sharp remains of the tooth had since begun to wear down and smooth out, turning the uneven edges into soft bumps as it gradually grew back and would eventually taper back into its characteristic pointed shape.

"Call me crazy, but I think you look better with the fangs," Winter giggled.

"What about you? How are you doing?"

Winter's mood suddenly shifted when the topic was turned to her, a melancholy look on her face. She saw the sympathetic look Shade was giving her, knowing by his quiet and careful tone exactly to what he was referring. He was in the room when she explained to the doctor the things she'd seen and the things she'd done, so it was only a matter of time before Shade inquired about it further. The pegasus let out a quiet sigh. "I'd say I don't want to talk about it, but I know I shouldn't bottle it up. Still, I'd rather not go into detail."

"Don't worry about it," Shade told her understandingly. "If you're not comfortable talking about it right now, you don't have to. I just want to make sure you're not beating yourself up over it. As far as I'm concerned, you didn't do anything wrong."

Winter couldn't help but smile weakly. "Chamella said the same thing. And, honestly, once I finally saw Snow again, I feel like I was able to put it out of my mind for a while. But like the doctor said, who knows how this might affect me in the long run? I mean, P.T.S.D.? That's a scary thought."

Shade was quiet for a moment, not really sure what it all actually meant, but he just wanted to reassure her right now. "Well, just remember that you have people around you to support you. Not just me, but our friends, too."

"It's easy to say that, but there's really no telling if it'll actually help. I'm gonna try not to think about it too much, but I can't really guarantee anything. Hopefully the therapist the doctor recommended can give me some useful advice." Winter spooned another mouthful of applesauce to her son, the colt happily clamping onto the plastic utensil with a contented moan. She and Shade both stared curiously at Snowflake. "You think this is going to have any effect on him?"

Shade eyed the baby up for a moment as he thought about it. "I don't know. He looks pretty content. Is he even old enough to realize what happened?"

Winter shrugged uncertainly. "I guess he's only a couple of months old. He might not ever remember any of this when he's older."

Shade watched Snowflake eat, but had a sullen expression had his face. "It's probably better if he doesn't. After what happened to Glory... I don't even want to remember that."

An air of silence fell over the family of three as Winter fed their foal the last spoonful of applesauce. Both Winter and Shade contemplated the events of the last few days. It was hard to believe it was only a few days, and not just because their sense of time was skewed within the dark caverns of the changeling hive. Winter let out another sigh.

"You know, I was worried about a lot of things when I was pregnant. 'What's the baby going to be like?' 'Will I be a good mom?' 'Am I ready to be a mom?' Even after he was born, I started telling myself that I had to act a certain way and do certain things to prove that I could be a good mom. But now I know that that was pretty much the exact opposite way I should have been doing things."

Shade gazed at her silently and sympathetically. He didn't say anything. He waited for her to finish her thought.

"Even with all the things I was worried about, I was not prepared for what ended up happening."

"None of us were," Shade assured her. "And you can't act like it's your fault. Even if you were acting a little..."

Winter stared at him as he paused, clearly trying to choose the least offensive word he could think of. Winter chose to finish the thought for him. "Crazy?"

Shade shrugged, a little relieved that she was the who said it, not him. "Yeah, let's go with that. That really had nothing to do with Wraith showing up out of nowhere."

Winter rocked her head back and forth uncertainly. "Yeah, but it was my dumb and reckless attitude that made it so difficult. If I had just had the common sense to ask Twilight for help, it would've been so much simpler."

"We both share blame on that front," Shade admitted ashamedly.

"At least Chamella had the sense to not listen to me and tell somepony before we left. She could very well have saved all our lives. Yet another reason for me to be grateful to her."

The two of them once more went back to simply staring at the oblivious colt carelessly playing with his stuffed rabbit. All the trouble they went through for him, all the times they could very well have lost their lives, and Snowflake was just playfully going about things as if nothing had even happened.

Winter looked back up at Shade, her face serious and concerned, not just for herself, but for both of them. "I know I've asked this plenty of times, and it might be a bit late to ask, but do you still think we're ready to be parents?"

Shade didn't really take much time to think about it, flashing a reassuring smile. "After everything we've been through, after the lengths we've had to go to protect him, I think we're pretty much ready for anything," he said with a laugh.

Winter smiled back. As much as she wished none of this had actually happened, she couldn't deny that some good did come of it. And she couldn't disagree with Shade either. She may have gone to the Changeling Kingdom with one mindset and come out with another, but her objective and purpose were the same throughout. Her shame and remorse for the way she'd acted never overrode how much she cared for and loved her son, and if she had to, she'd do it all over again if it meant keeping her baby safe. Shade may have had a point; maybe they really were ready for anything.

Winter looked at Shade, gazing deeply into his emerald irises as if looking for something as he stared back into the amber eyes he'd fallen in love with. Shade could tell there was definitely something on her mind, but she wasn't smiling. If anything, her face was deadly serious with a hint of hopefulness and even some uncertainty. Shade could only stare back at her in silence as he waited for her to speak her mind. And after a few minutes of silence just gazing into one another's eyes, and with no hint of jest, she finally asked the question that was on her mind.

"Do you wanna get married?"

Epilogue Part 1: Exclusive

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Epilogue Part 1: Exclusive

=====================================================================

Shade stood perfectly still. Not moving, barely breathing, not even really looking at anything. He was uncomfortable, his hooves starting to get sore, but regardless, he was smiling.

The changeling stood upon the mirrored stage within the lobby of Carousel Boutique, staring off at the far wall. He was being intently observed by the business's proprietor, clad in her fancy, orange spectacles she wore when she worked and carrying a sewing needle within the powder blue aura of her magic. This whole scenario brought back memories of when Shade first came to Ponyville. Rarity was among some of the first ponies he had met, but as much as he respected her now, he didn't exactly get a good first impression when she had dragged him into being a temporary model for a tuxedo she was making. But despite Shade's displeasure and less than enthusiastic attitude back then, he was much more willing to stand there for an extended period of time today, mostly because the tuxedo Rarity was making now was actually for him this time.

It also helped that it wasn't pink.

"What do you think?" the unicorn seamstress asked, trepidation in her voice. She knew that Shade wasn't much for fashion and was admittedly concerned that he wouldn't like anything she designed for him.

Shade had been motionless for quite a long time by now, however, that was only evident when he was finally given permission to move again. To him, it still felt as though he'd just arrived, but after Rarity's inquisitive voice snapped him out of whatever daydream he was in, he glanced down in mild confusion at her as she looked up curiously from below the stage. "Huh?"

Rarity gestured toward the mirrors surrounding him. "I'd like to know how you feel about this design."

Shade finally remembered why he was there in the first place and grinned apologetically and with slight embarrassment. "Oh, right. Sorry, my head was somewhere else."

Rarity giggled upon seeing the wistful smile on the changeling's face. "I'd imagine it was. Honestly, I can barely hold back my own enthusiasm. Now then, your opinion, if you please."

Shade nodded, turning to the trio of mirrors. He was never one for fancy dress—or dress in general—but given the circumstances, he really had no choice. He eyed up his reflection, focusing particularly on the pure white tuxedo over his front. Rarity watched with some worry as Shade's face expressed uncertainty at his garment.

"Are tuxes usually white?" he asked.

Rarity waved her hoof confidently. "Oh, yes, although not nearly as common as black. However, in your case, I thought white would complement your natural colors rather than going black on black."

"Whatever you say," Shade said with a dismissive shrug. "I'm just gonna trust your expertise on this."

"Well, your request was 'something simple,' if I recall, and this is about as simple as I can get. Although, do bear in mind that 'simple' doesn't exactly give me any opportunity to flex my creative muscles," the fashionista stated with a disappointed huff. "But all things considered, if you're satisfied, then I suppose that's what matters."

"Yeah. I mean, I'm probably only gonna wear it once anyway, so no need to get too fancy with it."

A part of Rarity felt hurt by that comment, knowing that one of her creations was simply going to be buried in the back of a closet forever, but she soldiered on, choosing to focus instead on the reason for its existence. "Oh, this is exciting, isn't it?" she chirped eagerly. "The very first pony-changeling wedding! And I get to design the dresses!"

"And tuxes."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, everypony knows that weddings are all about the bride. You just have to stand there and wait for her. Winter is the one who has to capture everypony's attention. After all, the song isn't called 'Here comes the Groom.'"

Shade went quiet for a moment, not because Rarity was talking down his importance in this whole thing, but because he still couldn't believe this was happening. He was quite caught off guard when Winter had suddenly popped the question a few weeks ago, but he was admittedly a little excited to take part in this respected pony tradition of unifying two people who loved one another, though also a touch nervous. Like Rarity said, this was going to be the first official marriage of a pony and a changeling, and they'd been repeatedly informed that news like that was going to spread pretty quickly. As eager as Shade was to take this step with Winter, he was somewhat uneasy about having so many eyes on him. He could only hope that Rarity's statement about the bride being the star of the show was true.

"So, have you started on Winter's dress, then?" Shade asked out of curiosity.

"Are you kidding?" Rarity laughed as though the question were the most absurd thing she'd ever heard. "I began drawing up design ideas the moment she asked me to make it. Chamella and I have been working on it everyday."

Shade raised an eyebrow. "And you're not finished yet? What's taking so long?"

Rarity cast an insulted glare at the changeling. "You cannot rush perfection, darling. And believe me when I say that her dress will—nay, must—be perfect. And if I cannot perfect it in time for the wedding, so help me Celestia I will make you reschedule."

"Alright, alright, I get it," Shade responded, holding his hooves up defensively. "Then I guess it's a good thing that the wedding's not for a couple of weeks."

Rarity bit her lip. "Oh... Now that you say that, I wish it were sooner. The wait is simply torturous!"

Before their conversation could proceed further, the two heard the chime of the boutique's entrance bell. With amicable smiles, they both greeted the visitor, who happened to be Twilight Sparkle. She appeared to be carrying something underneath her right wing, but neither Shade nor Rarity could determine what it was under her feathers.

"Good afternoon, Twilight," Rarity greeted cheerily.

"Hello, Rarity," the alicorn returned, though her voice was notably less enthusiastic. However, she perked up slightly when she saw Shade step down off the mirrored stage in his blindingly white tuxedo. "You're looking dapper, Shade."

The changeling couldn't help but grimace a little as he looked himself over again. "Uh, thanks. I'll take your word for it, I guess. I'm not really the best judge for this kind of thing."

Rarity rolled her eyes with a giggle. "Don't let his uncertainty fool you. He's quite excited about his upcoming nuptials."

"I'd imagine so. To be the groom at the first pony-changeling wedding is a big deal, especially considering that he's the changeling."

Shade shuffled his hooves a bit nervously. "Rarity claims that all eyes are gonna be on Winter. You really think people are going to put the spotlight on me?"

Twilight frowned slightly. "I have a feeling that'll be the case, unfortunately."

"Do you really think so?" Rarity questioned. "I would have thought the first pony to marry a changeling would be the center of attention."

"Well, let's be fair, they're both going to get a lot of attention, especially once word gets out."

Twilight finally revealed the object she'd been carrying, removing a tube of rolled up newspaper from under her wing and unfolding it with her magic. The front page of the Foal Free Press displayed in large, bold letters, "An Unexpected Union: The First Pony-Changeling Wedding." Along with the headline was a picture of Shade and Winter that Shade was certain he didn't remember agreeing to have taken.

Rarity waved off Twilight's concerns with a confident grin. "Oh, it's a local newspaper, darling, and one printed by school ponies. I highly doubt that word is going to spread because of that."

Twilight was skeptical of Rarity's assertion. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. It only takes one person to relay information to somepony else, who then in turn tells somepony else, and it can just snowball from there."

"And what's the big deal anyway?" the unicorn argued. "Everypony already knows that there are friendly changelings among us. Princess Celestia herself confirmed that at the Grand Galloping Gala when everypony still thought it was just a rumor."

"Yes, but she never said where they lived. Don't you think that if people knew Shade and Chamella were here in Ponyville they would have come to see it with their own eyes?"

"Maybe they're scared," Shade postulated. "I mean, I can't say I wouldn't blame them."

"But I would wager that there are also plenty of people out there who would simply be too curious," Twilight argued. "Look, I'm just saying that you should be prepared for if, or when you and your family end up in the public eye."

"Honestly, if that were going to happen, wouldn't it have happened when Snowflake was born?" Rarity insisted. "I'd argue that a half-changeling foal is more newsworthy than a pony and changeling getting married."

Shade thought about that for a moment. "Come to think of it, I don't remember the newspaper ever mentioning Snow."

Twilight shrugged. Although she was the one to bring up the topic, she'd said her piece and was ready to move on. "In any case, I just wanted to give you a heads up, Shade." She flashed a well-wishing smile as she turned back to the open door. "And good luck with the wedding." With a wave goodbye, Twilight left the boutique once more.

Shade lolled his head back and forth as he contemplated what Twilight had said. "Well, it's something to take into consideration, I guess."

Rarity passed him a soft, reassuring smile. "Don't let it discourage you, dear. Love conquers all, as they say. And I think you know that better than anypony."

Shade smiled back at her encouragement. "No kidding. Anyway, are we done with this or...?" he asked, gesturing to the tuxedo he was wearing.

Rarity nodded with a sigh. "Yes, yes. I'm sure I can make any finishing touches on my own. Just take it off and hang it on the rack over there."

Shade did as instructed, making sure to take care and not crease the fabric too much—he got an earful about that once already.

The changeling was about to prepare to leave, but the door opened again before he reached it. Shade put on a fond smile when he saw Winter and Chamella stepping inside, with Snowflake strapped in his stroller and sucking on a pacifier. To his surprise, it was the latter that was pushing the colt around, and not the child's mother. Even though it had been a few weeks since their little expedition to the Changeling Kingdom, Shade was still a little surprised whenever he saw the two mares just hanging out and conversing with genuine smiles. He'd also noticed how much more involved Chamella had started becoming with Snowflake, dropping by their house unannounced occasionally just to spend time with the foal. It seemed like she was warming up to the idea of being his godmother and was beginning to take the role seriously.

"Why, hello, Winter," Rarity greeted eagerly. Every time the unicorn had seen the other ivory mare since they announced their engagement, Rarity couldn't help but gush and turn the topic of conversation toward the wedding. One would think she was more excited about the wedding than the actual bride. "Did you enjoy your stroll, dears?"

Winter nodded with a grin. "Yeah, of course. We stopped off for something to eat and had a good chat." She turned toward Shade with a reprimanding look, though her grin still persisted. "You know, there are a lot of things you haven't told me about when you and Chamella were kids."

Shade raised an eyebrow, a little worried about what exactly she was smiling at. "Why? What'd she tell you?"

Chamella and Winter shared sly looks, stifling their childish giggles. The pegasus shook her head dismissively. "No, nothing. I mean, if it wasn't important enough for you to tell me, why should it bother you?"

Shade grimaced at her passive-aggressive tone, and the amused, yet slightly apologetic smirk from Chamella seemed to suggest that she had shared something embarrassing, but Shade couldn't think of what exactly. And that worried him.

Rarity wasn't at all bothered by the girls' supposed gossiping, continuing to flash her friendly smile. "Well, it's certainly nice to see the two of you bonding. And while you're here, we can update you on the progress of your dress."

"Actually, about the wedding..." Winter interrupted. "I wanted to let you know I've made up my mind about my bridesmaids."

"Oh! Wonderful!" Rarity exclaimed with a gleeful clap of her hooves. "I've been simply dying to get to work on the bridesmaid's dresses, but I need to know who they'll be to get the measurements right. Now then..." She stared excitedly and impatiently at Winter. "Do tell."

Winter started by giving Rarity an apologetic frown, not wanting to hurt her feelings. "Well, first of all, I'm going with four bridesmaids. And don't take this the wrong way, Rarity, but I'm not going to ask you to be one. I considered it, but since I'm asking you to make the dresses, I figured you'd want a break after all of that and not have to stand with us at the alter."

Rarity waved off her concerns with an understanding smile. "Oh, pish. I take no offense at all. Just having the opportunity to make the dresses is honor enough for me. Plus, I think I'll enjoy the ceremony even more if I can sit in the audience and see all of you in the gowns I created."

Winter let out a breath of relief. "Okay, good. I felt a little bad."

The unicorn leaned in, her curiosity continuing to rise. "Then who did you choose?"

"I'm going to go with my mom, Derpy, and Twilight, assuming they accept, of course."

"I'm sure they'll be overjoyed," Rarity assured confidently. "But, er... That's only three, dear."

At the mention of that, Winter's smile widened. "Right, because the last one is going to be the maid of honor."

Rarity laughed knowingly. "Oh-ho, I think I already know where this is going."

Just as the unicorn suspected, Winter turned to the female changeling standing beside her. Chamella looked rather confused and somewhat flabbergasted at the implication.

"M-Me?" Chamella questioned in surprised, looking much the same as she did when asked to be Snowflake's godmother.

Winter smiled at her fondly. "After everything we've been through together, I can't think of anyone I'd rather have standing at my side when I get married."

Chamella gulped nervously, but forced a shaky smile to hide her reluctance. "U-Um, that's great. B-But as honored as I am, I-I don't know if I want that kind of responsibility. Don't you think you should pick somepony more reliable?"

Rarity smirked at Chamella's vain attempt to suppress her uncertainty. "Do you even know what a maid of honor does, Chamella?"

The female changeling blinked, her panic subsiding slightly. "Er, well... No. But it sounds like an important job."

The unicorn shook her head. "Well, it can be in some instances, but I doubt Winter wants to put too much pressure on you."

Chamella turned to Winter hopefully for confirmation, to which the pegasus nodded.

"Don't worry about it. Sometimes the maid of honor is a little more involved than the other bridesmaids, but I really just want you to be there for me during this important moment," Winter assured her.

Chamella closed her pink eyes, breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank Celestia. Don't scare me like that."

Winter draped a hoof over Chamella's shoulder, pulling her in close. "You can be as involved as you wanna be. But if you want to help Pinkie Pie with the invitations, or the bachelorette party, feel free."

"She's already helping design and make your dress. That in and of itself should be considered a great honor," Rarity added. "You could also give a speech at the reception..." Rarity could already see the sweat drops forming on Chamella's forehead at the notion. "...but I suppose you'd rather not."

Winter gave her changeling friend a hopeful smile. "So? Whaddya say? Will you be my maid of honor?"

Chamella took another moment to think it over. A part of her still believed that she didn't deserve such an honor, but she also felt like she couldn't, in all good conscience, say no to Winter when it clearly meant so much to her. Chamella smiled back at her, still looking a little unsure, but willing to accept Winter's trust in this request. "Okay. I'll do my best."

The alabaster pegasus immediately pulled her new maid of honor in for a tight, grateful hug. "Thank you. This means a lot."

Shade chuckled quietly with amusement. "Geez, you're making more of a spectacle out of this than when you proposed to me."

"And on the topic of you..." Rarity said as she turned to Shade with a quizzical look. "What are you going to do about your groomsmen?"

Shade blinked uncomprehendingly. "Uh..."

Winter tapped her chin in thought as the realization dawned on her. "Oh, yeah, you don't really have a lot of guy friends, huh?"

"Is, uh... Is that gonna be a problem?"

Rarity waved off his concern with a dismissive flick of her hoof. "I doubt it. It's not entirely necessary to have groomsmen, dear; you can get married without them."

Shade took a few seconds to think it over. "Well, I guess there's Spike. And there's some guys at work, like Horte, although I wouldn't exactly say I'm all that close with them."

Again, Rarity dismissed his thinking. "Don't concern yourself, darling. It'll be fine."

"You think Guise would agree if he were here?" Chamella wondered.

Winter gave a disgruntled grimace. "I'm grateful that he helped us and everything, but he's still not someone I want anywhere near my wedding."

"Gotta agree with Winter," Shade said with a similar expression on his face. "In any case, if I don't need groomsmen, then I probably won't bother. Maybe I'll ask Spike, but that'll probably be it."

"That sounds fine," Rarity said with a nod. She then turned to Chamella with an eager grin. "Well, then, if you have no other plans, would you like to help me get started on designing the bridesmaid dresses?"

Chamella gave an enthusiastic nod, wheeling Snowflake's stroller to Winter, but not before giving the colt a quick nuzzle.

"Guess we should get going and let them work," Winter suggested as she looked to her fiancé.

Shade nodded with a silent grin, saying goodbye to Chamella and Rarity before he and Winter started on their way back home with their son.

As the loving couple trotted down the road, Shade looked down at the stroller Winter was pushing to see Snowflake reaching a hoof out to him. Shade gave the tot a grin, playfully rubbing his head and eliciting an amused titter, though muffled by his pacifier.

Winter let out a quiet chuckle of her own. It just seemed so much more heartwarming to watch simple, little interactions like this since they got home, even if they've been given ample time to get back to their daily lives. Admittedly, Winter couldn't push the thought of something like that happening again at some point out of her mind, but that would be something to bring up during her therapy sessions. Right now, she wanted to focus on the wedding.

"You know, Twilight was saying earlier that this wedding is gonna attract a lot of attention," Shade spoke up, jostling Winter from her thoughts as though he'd been reading her mind.

The pegasus wasn't surprised by the notion, simply offering an indifferent shrug. "So? Let 'em gawk. Love can be found in the most unexpected places. I'm just happy to have found my special someling," she said affectionately, nuzzling up to Shade.

The changeling gave her a raise of his eyebrow. "'Someling'?"

Winter blushed a little at being called out for the little pet name. "Uh, yeah. Like 'somepony,' but your a changeling, sooooo... What, you don't like it?"

Shade waved a hoof when he noticed the slightly disheartened look in Winter's eyes. "No, no, it just... caught me by surprise. Might take a little time to get used to it."

Winter turned her nose up with a huff, feigning insult. "If you think it sounds dumb, just say so."

"What?! No! I-It's fine! I like it!" Shade quickly argued as he forced an uneven grin, thinking he'd offended her.

Winter couldn't help but snort in amusement at his backpedaling, passing him a dismissive smile. "Relax, I'm messing with you. And I was just trying it out. I won't make a habit of saying it." She watched him breath a sigh of relief, though she couldn't tell if it was in regards to her decision to limit usage of the word, or that he simply hadn't hurt her feelings.

Having gone off on a tangent, Winter figured it best to bring the topic back on track. "So is Twilight worried about us, or something? I mean, I get it, you haven't exactly been in the public eye since you moved here, but if people really wanted to find you, they'd have probably found you."

Shade shrugged uncertainly. "Maybe. But to be honest, I can see where she's coming from. If people start showing up to see us, it could get kind of hectic." He glanced down to Snowflake, the colt oblivious and uncomprehending of the conversation. "I mean, we have a family to manage. Considering everything that's happened, I'd just like things to quiet down a little."

The air went silent for a minute as Winter observed the difficult-to-read expression on Shade's face. He looked a little wistful, but at the same time, apprehensive. A thought had suddenly occurred to her: she had asked Shade if he wanted to get married, but did he say yes for her sake, or because of the moment? Winter was a little hesitant to mention it, but given the topic of conversation and quiet tone of his voice, she felt the need to assure him of his options.

"Shade, we don't have to get married right now."

The changeling gave her a confused and concerned look. "What? What do you mean by that?"

Seeing and hearing his worry, Winter made sure to make herself clear. "I understand that this wedding is putting a lot of pressure on you. If you're uncomfortable with this whole thing, we don't have to get married yet. We can put it off for a while. Alternatively, we don't have to get married at all."

Shade wasn't sure how to react to that, but, thankfully, Winter continued with a soft smile to put his active imagination at ease.

"I don't need a big ceremony, or some dumb marriage certificate to convince myself that I love you. I only proposed because..." Winter looked away for a moment, her ears flattening to her head as the realization slowly dawned on her. "I guess I want to get married before something else horrible happens to us..."

Shade watched her face become crestfallen, the expression hurting him as well. He tenderly placed a hoof on her shoulder, prompting her to look into his emerald irises as he smiled lovingly at her. "I get where you're coming from, Winter. But regardless of whether or not we have to get married, I still want to."

Winter's amber eyes lit up with hope, but she was still a little unsure. "Even if all the extra attention interferes with our family life?"

Shade shrugged his shoulders with a smirk. "Hey, we don't even know if that's gonna happen. Like you said, if they really wanted to find us, they would have."

The pegasus grinned fondly. She couldn't even remember anymore which one of them was actually the one that was worried about it, but at least now she knew that they were both on the same page. Winter sidled up next to Shade comfortably as the two of them and their child closed in on their house, ready to sit back and enjoy a relaxing afternoon together.

***** ***** *****

Shade let out a tired yawn, stretching out on the couch as he relaxed. He could hear Snowflake enjoying himself in his playpen, but he couldn't actually see him what with the pen being behind the couch. Shade wasn't worried about not having a constant view of his playful son. There was nothing but stuffed and plastic toys in there with him; no choking hazards and no sharp objects.

A part of Shade figured that he'd be scolded by Winter for not keeping a constant, vigilant eye on their baby, but he couldn't decide if that would have been the Winter from before their visit to the Changeling Kingdom, or the Winter from after. On the one hoof, the "before" Winter was incredibly overbearing and—as Winter had said herself—a little crazy. However, the "after" Winter, while certainly more responsible and calm, has been showing that the whole experience has left her a little paranoid. Shade definitely preferred the "after" Winter; a little paranoia was manageable, but he wasn't sure how much longer he'd have been willing to put up with "before" Winter's nonsense.

Regardless, Winter wasn't around at the moment, so it was a moot point anyway. Winter had to get up early on this new morning, as the weather team had scheduled heavy rains and needed every available pair of wings they could get to round up all the rambunctious storm clouds. She'd been out there all morning, and it was nearly lunchtime. Shade was starting to wonder if she would be given time to come home for something to eat, what with how busy the team supposedly was. At least Shade had the day off today, so he didn't need to slog to work in this deluge and could stay home with his little colt.

Shade suddenly jumped with a start when he heard a knock on the door. Although the rain was pounding on the walls of the house like liquid hail, the sound of somepony's hoof rapping roughly on the wooden door was loud enough to be heard throughout the house.

There was a moment where Shade froze up on the couch, his mind recognizing this familiar scenario and instinctively forcing him to carefully think this over. A short time had passed before a second series of knocks resonated through the living roof, slightly louder than before. Shade breathed a sigh. Now he was being just as paranoid as Winter. Wraith was dead; with him gone, who would bother coming all this way to cause him trouble?

With a shake of his head to rid himself of any worry, Shade rolled off the couch and made his way to the door. It was pouring buckets out there; whoever was at the door was likely not going to stick around much longer without reason.

Remaining cautious and keeping his guard up anyway, Shade slowly opened the door. He let himself relax when he saw a pony standing outside, though raised a puzzled eyebrow. He didn't recognize the unicorn mare. He was pretty sure she wasn't from Ponyville. Her coat was a light beige color, while her mane was striped with brown and white, though the rain's aqueous assault made it difficult to tell how she normally styled it, as it was currently weighed down by the heavy moisture and matted to her face and neck. Shade could barely see her cutie mark from his position: a microphone with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of it. She was wearing a black blazer with a white undershirt, though both were thoroughly soaked through. Additionally, she was carrying a black satchel over her shoulder which, while wet like the rest of her, did at least appear to be waterproof, the water drops rolling harmlessly down it's smooth surface and the flap protecting its contents.

The moment Shade had opened the door, the unfamiliar mare took a step back, her eyes widening in slight shock. She stood motionless for a few silent seconds, only her eyes moving and looking over the creature that had answered the door. It was evident from her reaction that she hadn't met a changeling before.

"You... must be Shade," she said, still looking him over.

Shade raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Yeeeah... Can I help you?"

She managed to compose herself somewhat and straightened up, though there was still a hint of disbelief in her maroon eyes. She cleared her throat as she introduced herself. "My name is Daily Scoop. I'm a freelance journalist from Manehattan. I heard recently that there were changelings in a small town called Ponyville, so I thought I'd investigate." Her eyes ran up and down the changeling once more. "Guess the rumors were true."

A journalist. Twilight did warn Shade about the attention they'd be getting, though he didn't expect it to start so soon. "Well, you picked a great day for it," Shade said with a joking smirk as he looked out at the downpour still actively bearing down on Daily Scoop.

The unicorn groaned in annoyance as she brushed a few strands of wet mane out of her eyes. "Yeah. I should've checked the forecast before coming out here. Small towns and their miserable weather... They don't schedule storms like this often in Manehattan."

There was a moment of hesitation from Shade as he recalled Twilight's warning. However, he was a member of a community that was well renowned for its hospitality, so he wasn't about to let somepony in need suffer. Shade stepped aside, offering a friendly smile. "Do you wanna come in?"

Daily Scoop was a little caught off guard by his hospitality, perhaps not expecting such kindness from a changeling. But given her state, she wasn't in much of a position to decline such a generous offer. "Uh, thanks." Before walking inside, however, she looked herself over, water dripping freely off her body and her hooves caked brown with mud. "But I'm afraid I might make a bit of a mess."

Shade smirked as he made for the stairs, waving her concerns off dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I'll get you a towel."

Daily Scoop managed a grateful smile as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She felt a little guilty about getting mud and water on the carpet, but if he was insisting, then she wasn't questioning it.

With Shade out of the room, the unicorn planned to take a look around the area, though only from her current vantage point as she didn't want to track mud all over the house. However, before her analysis of her environment could even begin, she immediately spotted a baby's playpen set up just in front of her, in the middle of the living room. And through the mesh sides of the pen, she could see the baby in question, which was perhaps more surprising to her than meeting a changeling face-to-face. But even more baffling than that was what the foal was exactly. It appeared to be a baby pony, however, it had a pair of small, translucent, insect-like wings sprouting from its back. Daily Scoop blinked as she stared at the colt, who was curiously staring back at her as he quietly sucked on his pacifier. She wasn't entirely sure if those wings were real or not, but she wasn't about to approach a stranger's baby without permission.

Shade casually sauntered back down the steps, holding a yellow towel with his magic before passing it to his guest. Daily Scoop graciously accepted it and wasted no time in drying herself off and doing as much as she could to clean up the mud on her fetlocks.

"Want something to drink?" Shade offered. "Something hot maybe?"

"A cup of tea sounds pretty good, thanks," she requested as she toweled off her mane. But as Shade headed for the kitchen to fix up her beverage, Daily Scoop felt the need to ask the burning question in her mind. "So, uh... Is this your kid?"

Shade couldn't help but smirk at the question. "Did the wings tip you off?"

Daily Scoop approached the playpen curiously to get a closer look at the colt. There was an equally curious look in the foal's bright green eyes as he stared up at her, though he also seemed a bit wary of the stranger, clinging tightly to a stuffed rabbit. "So he's..."

"Half-pony, half-changeling, yes," Shade responded. "And before you ask, yes, that is possible, and yes, we were just as surprised to find that out."

The unicorn looked back down at the colt. For supposedly being half-changeling, he certainly looked to be mostly pony, save for the wings. "What's his name?"

"Snowflake."

Daily Scoop raised an eyebrow, taking particular note of the foal's jet black coat. "Cute name, but he doesn't really strike me as a 'Snowflake.'"

Shade shrugged as he brought her her cup of tea. "There are personal reasons behind the name. I won't get into it."

"Fair enough," she said with an understanding nod.

Snowflake started reaching up to his father with quiet whines. Shade reached down into the pen and picked the needy colt up, recognizing Snow's behavior and figuring the tyke was hungry. He brought his son into the kitchen, grabbing a small jar of puréed carrots and a spoon before carrying him back into the living room where his guest was still standing around.

Shade noticed the way that Daily Scoop was watching him, like an animal at the zoo. She was clearly surprised to see a changeling just doing normal, pony things. It seemed as though she were waiting for him to do something distinctly non-pony. "So what exactly were you looking to do once you got here? Did you just want to see a changeling with your own eyes, or what?"

The unicorn seemed to snap back to her senses when the question was asked. "Huh? Oh, right. Actually, I was hoping that, once I found you, we could perhaps do an interview. I'd like to write an article about the changelings that have supposedly been accepted into pony society. Also this..."

She opened her satchel, using her dull red magic to remove a folded newspaper and presented it to Shade. It was the same issue of the Foal Free Press about his upcoming wedding that Twilight had shown him the day prior. Shade was honestly a little surprised and impressed; for a paper printed by schoolponies, it had certainly gotten around quickly.

"I take it from this that you're getting married," Daily Scoop inferred.

Shade nodded. "Yup."

The journalist took another look at the photo on the page. "And the pegasus with you in the picture is the bride?" She looked at the foal cradled in Shade's hooves as he fed him his baby food. "Aaaand the mother of this colt, I presume."

Again, Shade nodded to confirm her assumptions. "That's right. Her name's Winter."

Daily Scoop looked at Snowflake once more, the colt's name making a little more since after learning his mother's name. She then had a quick look around, noticing how quiet the rest of the house was. "I'm guessing she's not home right now."

"She and the rest of the weather team have been pretty busy all morning, but I'm sure you're well aware of that," Shade informed her with a slight grin.

"I see. I was hoping I'd get to speak with her, too. And there was a second changeling as well, is that right?"

"That'd be Chamella, yeah."

"Does she live with you?"

Shade shook his head. "No, she's living and working at Carousel Boutique."

Daily Scoop looked at Shade curiously, discreetly removing a notepad and pencil from her satchel. "How do you two know each other? Are you related, or did you wind up in this town by complete coincidence?"

Shade stopped feeding Snowflake for a moment to give the unicorn a raise of his eyebrow, watching as she enthusiastically jotted down notes. "Is the interview starting now, or something?"

The mare paused, looking as though she'd been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar. "Oh... Is this not a good time for you?"

Shade gave her a somewhat displeased grimace. "Considering I haven't actually agreed to an interview yet, kind of, yeah."

Daily Scoop looked down at her notepad, staring at it for a moment as if she hadn't realized she'd even taken it out. "Oh, right..." She quickly replaced the pad and pencil back into her bag, giving Shade an apologetic look. "Sorry about that, force of habit. I didn't mean to pry. So? Can we do an interview, then?"

Shade took another moment to eye her up silently. "I'll have to think about it."

The journalist's jaw dropped a little, having not quite expected that response. "Wait, what? Why?"

"Well, I'd like to get Winter's opinion on this first. I'm not just gonna go and discuss our relationship without consulting her first."

Daily Scoop nodded, feeling a touch guilty. "That's understandable." She passed her cup of tea—which she had only taken a few sips from—back to Shade, then turned back toward the front door with visible disappointment on her face. "Then I guess I'll get out of your way for now. Please let me know when you make a decision."

"Do you have a place to stay?" Shade asked.

Daily Scoop opened the door, reminding both of them of the utter deluge pouring down on the town. Through the relative darkness caused by the overcast sky, the unicorn pointed to a fairly small wagon parked not far from the house, large enough to provide shelter for one person, but not much more. "I've got my carriage. I'll find a suitable place to set up somewhere in town. You find that, you'll probably find me."

"Alright. I guess I'll see you later, then," Shade bid her as he gave a quick wave goodbye. Daily Scoop bid him farewell, too, before bracing herself to deal with the relentless storm while she attempted to find a place to set up her wagon.

As the door shut and the journalist disappeared behind it, Shade let out a sigh, as though he'd been holding his breath without realizing. Snowflake had finished his lunch by now, so the father wiped his muzzle clean and gently lay the child back into his playpen. Shade wasn't entirely sure how he felt about this interview. Twilight seemed worried about just a local paper reporting about the wedding. Daily Scoop was a journalist from Manehattan, one of, if not the biggest city in Equestria from what Shade had heard—even bigger than the capitol of Canterlot. If she published an interview in a Manehattan newspaper, it would likely be read by thousands of ponies. The more he thought about it, the less comfortable he became with the idea.

Shade shook his head, attempting to jostle the nervousness from his mind. He said he'd talk to Winter about it, and he still planned to do that. Maybe her input would help him find a viewpoint on the whole scenario.

***** ***** *****

"An interview?"

Winter blinked curiously as she took another bite of her macaroni and cheese, glancing across the table at her fiancé in interest.

Shade nodded as he, too, swallowed another mouthful of his own lunch.

The pegasus hummed in thought. "Hmm... Wasn't expecting the tabloids to show up so soon." She chuckled a little, though there was hint of uncertainty in her voice. "I guess we're kinda like celebrities now, huh?"

Shade stared at her hopefully, looking for an answer from her. "So? What should we do? Should we do this interview, or not?"

Winter took a moment to think, turning to her son—perched in his highchair next to her—and wiped the milk he'd been drinking from his chin. "I guess that's up to you."

The changeling raised a confused eyebrow. "Me? I figured you'd want to have a say in it."

"Well, I do, sure, but she's here to see you; I think the decision should ultimately be yours. Are you ready to be exposed to the public eye?"

Shade grimaced at the question. "When you put it like that, I'm not entirely sure. I didn't think much of it when Twilight mentioned it, but now that it's actually happening, I'm a little nervous. I found myself being a little suspicious of her. I'm not quite sure if I trust her."

"Do you want my opinion?"

He nodded.

Winter leaned forward onto the table, closing her eyes for a moment. "The way I see it, this is going to happen one way or another. If you don't do an interview now, how long do you think it'll be before another journalist shows up to do the same?"

"So you think I should do it," inferred Shade.

Winter shrugged. "Again, I'm leaving that choice to you. But you're the one who wants to be accepted, right? You've wanted that since you moved here. Do you really want to hide in the shadows forever?"

Shade let his fork lay against his bowl of macaroni, looking away as he contemplated his lover's words. First of all, he was surprised to hear Winter of all people speak so saliently. It wasn't often she managed to provoke such deep thought. But she had a strong point. When Shade first left the Changeling Kingdom, he had fully intended to arrive without a disguise, hoping that the ponies would accept him for who he was, not what he was. Essentially, he was dealing with the same dilemma now. Did he allow the people of Equestria to see him for who he was, or continue to hide behind the vague rumors? There were certainly pluses and minuses to both options. His choice to hide his face when he arrived in Ponyville started well enough—enough to get his hoof in the door—but it resulted in nearly losing the love of his life when she found out the truth.

Shade looked up and across the table. Winter was staring at him curiously as she patiently waited for him to come to a decision.

A small, involuntary smile—unnoticeable by the pegasus across from him—creased his fanged lips. He nearly lost the love of his life, yet here they sat, together, still in love, with a child, and a wedding in the works. As painful as it was when she found out he was a changeling, it all worked out in the end. And he remembered having a similar revelation during a conversation with Chamella some time ago. There would be some consequences and unpleasantness if he did the interview, to be certain, but maybe it was for the best to get everything out in the open.

"I think I'm gonna do it," Shade decided with a confident grin.

Winter grinned, pleased by his answer. "Great! I figured you would. But it's not like there aren't gonna be problems. The paparazzi might be all over us for a while, prying into our personal lives, our family, your past and the Changeling Kingdom. They might even ask about Chrysalis."

Just as Shade had come to terms with his choice, he suddenly felt uneasy once again. Winter took notice of how his expression gradually fell, but waved it off with a dismissive grin.

"But the media has a short attention span. We'll be the highlight for a few weeks, but after a while, we'll be old news and they'll move onto something else. We just have to endure the early onslaught of reporters and articles. I'm sure we can manage."

Shade couldn't help but laugh at Winter's rather nonchalant attitude. "You're awfully calm about this. I figured with everything we've been through, you'd be reluctant to do something like this."

Winter leaned forward, smirking across the table. "After everything we've been through, a few reporters and potentially slanderous articles are nothing. I say 'Bring it.'"

Before the conversation could continue further, Winter and Shade heard a knock on the door. However, the visitors didn't wait for them to answer and simply let themselves in, not that the two residents minded considering it was Rarity, Twilight, and Chamella, all escaping from the torrential rains outside, but kept mostly dry by a combination of their umbrellas and a little of Twilight's magic. The three mares didn't greet Winter and Shade with amicable smiles, though. Rarity quickly hurried to the kitchen where they sat, a panicked look on her face.

"Dreadful news!" the ivory unicorn exclaimed in distress. "The press have shown up! They're looking for you! You two should stay home and not engage them!"

Shade and Winter stared at her blankly. "Uh, yeah, we know," Shade told her. "I talked to her earlier."

Rarity grabbed Shade by the shoulders, startling the changeling. "What did you tell her?! What did she ask?! You didn't tell her anything incriminating, did you?!"

Shade grabbed hold of Rarity's hooves firmly, staring her in her deep blue eyes. "Calm down, I haven't really told her anything yet."

Rarity, who had been practically hyperventilating in her panic, managed to slow her breathing, straightening up and taking a long, deep breath. "Oh, I see. Thank goodness."

"Why are you so up in arms about this, Rarity?" asked Winter.

"Yeah, just yesterday you said there was nothing to worry about," Shade reminded her.

"I was referring to tourists and gawkers; people who would come just to see changelings. The media is an entirely different beast."

Chamella stepped forward with an expression of deep worry. "Is this something we need to be concerned about, Shade?"

"I don't—"

"Of course it is!" Rarity insisted loudly. "The press are ruthless, ravenous vultures who have no qualms about dragging poor, innocent people through the mud with lies and exaggerations if it means getting the attention of the masses and selling their papers. They care not for you, only for themselves and their ratings."

Shade and Winter simply shared a look between one another, more in concern for Rarity herself rather than her words of warning. "Don't you think your being a little melodramatic?" Winter said. "Can you talk some sense into her, Twilight?"

The alicorn gave Winter a slight, remorseful frown. "While I agree that Rarity may be overreacting a little, I do think she has a point. Some tabloids have a tendency to embellish the truth to make their stories sound more interesting or shocking, even at the expense of those being written about."

"Well, Daily said she was freelance. She doesn't actually work for any particular paper," Shade informed them.

"All the more reason to be concerned," Rarity continued. "Freelance journalists are the most vicious, making their stories as appealing to potential publishers as possible so that they get more lucrative offers. Their indifference for your feelings knows no bounds."

"I feel like your view of the media is little skewed," Winter commented.

"Have you girls actually spoken with her yet?" asked Shade.

"She stopped by to meet me," Twilight replied. "She seemed like she wanted to interview me, too, although I've started getting used to that kind of treatment. But she did ask if I knew anything about you."

"What'd you tell her?"

Twilight shook her head. "Nothing. I told her I wasn't going to comment unless you approved."

"You're not actually going to do this interview, are you, Shade?" Chamella inquired pensively.

"Actually, Winter and I were just discussing it, and I think I am."

"Are you sure about this?" Rarity asked, hoping to make him reconsider.

Shade let out a long sigh, feeling exasperated by not just the conversation, but with himself. "The longer we keep ourselves hidden, the more the people of Equestria will start to think we have something to hide. Well, I'm done hiding. If she tells everypony else that I can't be trusted, or that I'm up to no good, who cares? I don't know those people. Everypony I care about is here in Ponyville. My life right here is what matters most to me. I'm not going to let some false rumors get under my skin, if that is what she plans to do."

Although Twilight still seemed apprehensive about it, she nodded in acceptance. "If that's what you want, then I won't argue. Just... be careful what you say, okay?"

"If you wish, we could be there with you during the interview for support," Rarity offered, some concern still evident in her tone.

Shade smiled at her kind suggestion, but shook his head. "I think we should handle this ourselves." He then turned to Chamella. "But I think you should join us, Chamella."

The female changeling's eyes widened slightly, surprised and reticent. "Me? Why?"

"She came here to see the three of us. I figured she'd like to hear from you, too."

Chamella shrunk back a little, hiding behind her long, purple mane. "U-Um..."

Shade gave her a warm grin, understanding her reluctance. "You don't have to if you don't want to. Just thought I'd throw it out there."

Chamella breathed a quick sigh of relief. "Think I'll pass. Sorry."

"Well, then I hope it goes well," Twilight said, offering an amicable smile to Shade and Winter as she, Rarity, and Chamella turned back toward the door, retrieving their umbrellas. "We'll talk to you later."

Winter waved as they opened the door to leave. "Bye."

"If you run into Daily Scoop on the way home, tell her she can come over whenever she's ready," Shade requested before they left, to which he received an affirmative nod from Twilight.

***** ***** *****

As the front door opened, Shade and Winter greeted their expected guest. Daily Scoop had been informed of Shade's decision to proceed with the interview, and seeing as how the heavy rains had let up in the past few hours—lessening to a light drizzle and even letting the sun shine through the gaps in the clouds—she didn't have any problem making the trudge over to the couple's home.

Now that she wasn't soaked through with rainwater, Shade noticed how Daily Scoop normally wore her mane: the brown and white stripes of her mane were done up in a small beehive, almost resembling a chocolate and vanilla soft serve ice cream.

This was actually the journalist's first time meeting Winter. First impressions, based on their quick introduction upon being let into the house, were somewhat tepid; the pegasus seemed nice enough and perfectly normal for somepony who was apparently in love with a changeling, but Daily Scoop couldn't quite shake the feeling that she was being judged.

Shade led their guest to the couch, gesturing for her to sit in the adjacent armchair while Shade and Winter took up spots on the couch. Snowflake had been put down for a nap upstairs, evidenced by the presence of a baby monitor sitting on the coffee table.

Daily Scoop removed her satchel, laying it on the floor beside the chair, but not before taking out her notepad and pencil. She offered a grateful smile to her hosts. "Thanks for agreeing to this. I was a little nervous that I might have come all this way for nothing. Although seeing the changelings for myself would have been a nice consolation anyway." She adjusted herself in her seat, ready and eager to begin the interview as she held her pencil to pad with her magic in anticipation.

"Before we start, I want to ask you something," Winter said.

Daily Scoop's ears swiveled forward at attention. Winter's tone and expression were serious, which may have been why she had felt odd about their introductions. She waited for the pegasus's request.

"What's your objective with this interview?"

The unicorn blinked in confusion, but noticed Shade give Winter a sidelong glance. "My... 'objective'?"

Winter shook her head slightly, her expression easing up a bit. "It's just that my friends seem to think you have some selfish motive to do this interview, that you just want to write something to get people's attention with no regard for Shade's feelings. I just want to let you know that, for their peace of mind, if you start asking questions we don't like, we may ask you to leave."

Daily Scoop grimaced slightly at the accusation, though she wasn't upset. "I get it. The media can be harsh sometimes, but I assure you that I came here to write only what I hear. I'm interested in actually learning what your life here is like, and I feel like that information will grab the attention of the public without the need for 'creative embellishment.' And if it makes you feel any better, I intend to write up my article and maybe poke around in this little town for a while longer. So if you want to have a look at what I write before I find a publisher, be my guest."

Hearing that put a relieved and more amicable smile on Winter's face. While all of that could very well have been a convincing fabrication of empathy, Winter chose to do what Rarity and Twilight apparently weren't willing: give the journalist the benefit of the doubt. "Alright then. I guess we can start."

Shade gave Winter a quick smile, to which she smiled back.

Satisfied that Winter was satisfied, Daily Scoop once again prepared to take notes.

"So where should we start?" Shade curiously asked his interviewer. "I suppose you want to know a little about where I come from."

"I do, but this article is going to focus on your integration into pony society and the relationships you've developed here. That's really what the public wants to hear about."

"Makes sense," said Winter with a shrug. "Put their worries at ease first, then learn the backstory later."

"Well, there's that, plus I've heard that Princess Twilight plans on publishing her own research about changelings. I don't want to step on the princess's hooves."

Shade raised an eyebrow. "Has she still not published that yet? It's been a while since she's asked Chamella and me about ourselves and the Changeling Kingdom. I figured she was already doing that."

"She probably wanted to put that stuff on hold. You know, let us focus on being a family for a while," Winter presumed.

"That's actually where I'd like to start," Daily Scoop interjected, looking specifically at the pegasus. "I want to know how you two met; how two seemingly different people from different worlds wound up falling in love and starting a family."

Winter chuckled awkwardly. "Heh, well, I hope you have enough pages there, because that's kind of a long story."

Shade looked away slightly, a small grimace blemishing his fanged lips. "And it's not all pleasant. I've had to do and witness things I wish I hadn't."

Hearing that only proved to interest Daily Scoop more, though out of respect, she attempted to suppress her enthusiasm. "I'll reserve judgment for when I get the whole story. So, start wherever you see fit."

***** ***** *****

The rain had since ceased its deluge on the small town of Ponyville, a new shift of weather pegasi casually starting the process of clearing the now drained storm clouds. The sun had begun its descent for the approaching evening, though it was still high and bright enough to pierce through the remaining cloud cover. However, the rains had left Ponyville's roads and paths rather moist and soft and quite muddy. Splashing around in the mud may appeal to playful foals, but to the adults in town, it was somewhat of a nuisance.

Chamella watched as Rarity paced worriedly, practically tracing a path through the damp dirt and grass. The unicorn was muttering to herself the whole time, but Chamella couldn't really pick out most of what she was saying. Rarity didn't seem too bothered by the muddy terrain, but at least had the forethought to equip her hooves with some purple galoshes to protect her dainty fetlocks. And even though the rains had died down, she had also taken an umbrella to shield herself from what little mist the clouds had left to dispense. Her two companions had also dressed similarly, but they, too, were not exactly preoccupied with the weather.

Like Chamella, Twilight was concerned about Rarity's behavior as well, but watching her carve a muddy trench in the ground with her pacing was beginning to look pitiful. "I'm sure it'll be fine," the alicorn tried to assure her with a small—though somewhat uncertain—smile. "They know there may be privacy risks, so I'm sure they'll be careful what they say."

Rarity finally stopped dragging her hooves around in the mud long enough to let out a sigh. "I know, but I simply can't help it. I just don't want them to wind up in a situation they might regret. They've been through so much recently; they don't deserve all the harassment that this might create."

"Maybe I should've agreed to join them," Chamella said with some regret. "I'll admit, I'm a little worried myself just standing out here and not knowing what's going on." She looked at the house of her best friend that they were currently all gathered in front of, respectfully, but impatiently, waiting for Shade and Winter to finish up their interview with Daily Scoop.

"If it makes you feel any better, there probably isn't much you could say that Shade can't," Twilight reassured her.

"It's really the things that Shade would say that you can't that concerns me," Rarity voiced with worry. "What if he says something about that stallion he was impersonating? She might start making rash assumptions."

Chamella's own worry began to heighten at the mention of it, and she was starting to feel panic coming on. She bit her lip nervously as she stared at the house. After a few moments of deliberation, she made a decision. "I can't leave them alone in there. I'm going in to help."

Chamella hastily headed for the door, intent on simply barging in whether Shade and Winter liked it or not; she wasn't about to let this stranger throw out accusations and spread lies and rumors about her best friends. However, just as Chamella reached the door, it opened of its own accord quite suddenly, the large slab of wood striking the female changeling firmly in the muzzle. The surprise of the impact knocked Chamella onto her haunches, creating an audible splat as her hindquarters landed in the mud.

From the other side of the door came a shocked gasp, the journalist they'd been talking about hurrying out to the fallen changeling's side with an expression of deep apology. "Oh, shoot! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't know you were there!"

Chamella squeezed her eyes shut as mild pain shot up through her nose, pulling her front hooves out of her boots to gently rub the offended area. She was prompted to open her eyes again at the sound of the apologizing voice, seeing the journalist looking remorseful and holding a hoof out to help her up.

"Are you okay? I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?"

Chamella stared at her apologetic face for a moment before accepting her hoof and allowing the mare to help her out of the mud. "I'm alright. It was just a little bump."

"Chamella?"

The female changeling glanced over Daily Scoop's shoulder to see Winter and Shade standing in the doorway behind her, peering outside to investigate the minor commotion. The two then noticed both Twilight and Rarity were there as well, and Shade let out an exasperated sigh.

"Have you guys been out here the whole time?"

"We just wanted to make sure things went smoothly," Rarity said defensively, a little embarrassed to have been caught.

Daily Scoop let out a sigh of her own, knowing what she was insinuating. "Look, I'm aware that some media outlets operate on shock value and baseless gossip, and I'd be lying if I said I haven't done a bit of that myself in the past. But for matters like this, I want to make sure Equestria understands the situation fully and truthfully. Shade and Winter both said they hoped there would be peace between ponies and changelings someday, and I honestly feel the same way. I certainly don't want another invasion."

Twilight noticed the slight smiles on Shade and Winter's faces. "I take it it went well, then?"

"Aside from one or two questions that may have been prying a little too deep into our personal lives, yeah, it went well," Shade answered, his comment eliciting a blush from both Winter and Daily Scoop.

"She mostly asked about Shade's life here and his relationships with the ponies who live here," Winter elaborated.

"To be perfectly honest, it was a little more mundane than I was expecting," Daily Scoop admitted. "Aside from his initial arrival when he posed as a pony, everything else was fairly normal. But I guess that's a testament to how well he's integrated into our society. The public might be relieved to hear that."

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to look over the notes you took at some point," Twilight requested.

Daily Scoop knew that the request had to do with their previously mentioned concerns, but the princess had a rather intrigued smile, perhaps simply interested in comparing them with her own notes. "Well, I can't exactly say no to a princess. And if it's not too much to ask, would it be possible to maybe see what you've learned from living with changelings? It's not my focus right now, but if this article does well, I plan on following up with something that goes more into their culture in general."

"Now that I can certainly help with," Twilight giggled. "Though I'm not going to share everything; you'll have to wait 'til I publish it to get all the details I've learned."

"Fair enough," Daily Scoop said with a gracious grin. "Now, I'm getting a little hungry. Any place where I can get some good eats around here."

"My boss might get upset if I didn't recommend the café I work at," Shade replied, pointing in the general direction of the place.

"Sounds good. And maybe I can get some more info from your coworkers. Thanks."

With that, Daily Scoop went about her business, leaving the three ponies and two changelings behind.

"So, you really think you can trust her?" asked Rarity.

Shade shrugged indifferently. "We won't know until we see the article. And she said she'd let us look it over before she published it anyway."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, recalling something that the journalist had said as odd. "You didn't mention our recent visit to the Changeling Kingdom, did you?"

Winter shook her head. "No, we decided not to mention Snowflake's kidnapping at all. Figured that would be a little much for the first interview."

Chamella tilted her head in slight confusion. "'First interview'? You're going to do more?"

"Sure, if the first article goes over well," Shade responded.

"Well, I suppose we'll see how that goes in due time," Rarity said with a nod. "Now, I do believe Chamella needs to get herself cleaned up."

The purple-maned changeling turned her head back at her muddied hindquarters, grimacing in mild disgust. "Ugh, no kidding. Okay, I guess I'll see you guys later. Bye."

With a pair of waves goodbye, both Chamella and Rarity left to head back to the boutique so Chamella could have a shower.

"And I suppose I'll leave you two to enjoy the rest of your day," Twilight bid them with a wave.

"Later, Twilight," Winter called out with a wave as the alicorn left. She then turned to Shade as the two went back inside. "You know, I'm actually a little excited about all this. Nervous, but excited. You think the wedding will get flooded with reporters because of this?"

Shade quirked an eyebrow at the grin spreading across Winter's face. Given the concerns that their friends had expressed about reporters and the media, Winter's reaction to this hypothetical was somewhat baffling. "What, you want our wedding to be bombarded by them?"

Winter tried to straighten out her face, though her smile was difficult to suppress. "I mean, no, not really. I just... I guess I kind of want my fifteen minutes of fame, you know? I'm going to be the first pony to marry a changeling. I might be famous because of this, so I might as well get used to the paparazzi following me around."

Shade rolled his eyes, but found himself unable to not smile at his fiancée's child-like exuberance. "You're a wacko, you know that?"

Winter giggled and sidled up against his side. "No, I'm your wacko."

Epilogue Part 2: Honor

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Epilogue Part 2: Honor

=====================================================================

As Ponyville's local pastry shop, Sugarcube Corner was usually a hot spot for the small town's residents, stopping by to get their sugar fix, or requesting the organization of an upcoming party. As such, the establishment and its three-pony staff were typically high energy and constantly busy, running to and fro as they put together orders and managed customers with utmost efficiency.

However, today was somewhat slow for the shop's standards. Or perhaps "slow" wasn't the right word; "quiet" may have been more appropriate. That was the first thought that ran through the heads of the two mares who happened to walk in on this calm and beautiful afternoon.

After stepping inside Sugarcube Corner, Winter glanced around curiously. She immediately noticed a distinct lack of people—customers, or otherwise—but she could hear movement from the kitchen in the back past the front counter. Chamella walked in behind her, making the same observations. It was unusual for the place to be so quiet. Typically, whenever either of them would pay a visit, they would be quickly greeted by an excitable pink mare, eager to greet them with a toothy grin and offer of free sample cupcakes or other confections. It almost felt like they had walked into the wrong building when Pinkie Pie didn't jump them immediately, the only confirmation that it was indeed the correct location was the distinct candy-themed design of the building, both inside and out, as well as the powerful, sugary scents wafting through the lobby.

Winter approached the counter where the register was, trying to peek over it and through the door to the kitchen to see if she could spot somepony. She could hear the sounds of pans clattering and hooves clomping on the wooden floor, so she knew somepony was there. "Hello? Mrs. Cake?"

Her name having been called out, the face of the portly, blue-coated mare poked out from the kitchen, a pleasant grin appearing on her batter-stained cheeks. "Oh, hello, dears. Sorry, I didn't hear you come in," she greeted as she stepped out of the kitchen. She lifted the apron hanging around her neck to wipe the stains on her face. "How can I help you girls today?"

Winter put on a friendly smile of her own. "We were actually looking for Pinkie Pie. Is she around?"

"Oh, here on wedding business, I assume," Mrs. Cake surmised with a hearty chuckle. "She's actually down in her 'Party Planning Cave' working on it right now. Honestly, it feels like she's been spending more time down there than actually working lately." As she said that, the trio of mares heard a loud bang coming from beneath the floorboards, as if something large had fallen over. Mrs. Cake laughed it off. "She's been pretty excited about the wedding, if you couldn't tell."

"Seems like everypony is," Winter said with a roll of her eyes, though smiling regardless. "If you're not too busy, could you tell her we're here."

"Sure thing," Mrs. Cake said with a nod. She then startled the two mares by aggressively stomping a hoof on the floor three times. "Pinkie! Your wanted!"

Her call was quickly followed by a series and clatters and thuds and a surprised yelp. The three mares in the lobby waited patiently as they listened to the sound of hurried hoofsteps moving around, followed by a creaking noise and what sounded like a door shutting, before the pink mare in question skipped down the stairwell on the left; how she had managed to go from underneath the building to the second floor, they weren't even going to bother questioning. Pinkie was covered in confetti and streamers and also a few sticky notes adhered to various parts of her body, but despite her messy appearance, greeted her guests with her signature pearly whites.

"Oh, Winter! Just the pony I wanted to see!" she exclaimed excitedly as she hopped over to the pegasus's side. She reached into her cotton candy-like mane and pulled out a beige folder with some papers inside, removing one sheet in particular and showing it to Winter. "I was just going over some possible designs for the cake, and I wanna get your input on them. Whadda ya think of this one?"

While Winter was a bit caught off guard by the sudden question, she gave the paper a quick glance, but promptly and respectfully pushed it aside. "I'm not actually here for any of that stuff right now. Besides, I'm sure whatever you come up with will be fine."

Pinkie closed the folder and deposited it back into her void of a mane, though with a hint of noticeable disappointment. "Oh, okay. Then what brings you here?"

Winter gave the pink pony a grin and pointed to the changeling standing beside her. "I brought Chamella by to help you out."

"Really?!" Pinkie chirped eagerly. Despite her excitement at the prospect, Chamella didn't seem very enthused herself. "Hmm... That doesn't look like the face of somepony who wants to help."

At the accusation, Chamella straightened up and attempted to defend herself. "N-No, I do! I just... don't really know how I can..." she explained, shuffling her hooves sheepishly.

"Being my maid of honor, she said she wanted to do something to really earn the title," Winter told Pinkie. "I figured simply chipping in to help with the cake design or reception planning wouldn't be too stressful for her."

Pinkie quirked an eyebrow. "Isn't she helping to make your dress? That sounds pretty important."

"Well, yeah, but that's kind of her job anyway."

"I'm willing to step outside my comfort zone for a bit if it means making this wedding the best it can be," Chamella stated resolutely.

Pinkie held up a hoof and smiled. "Say no more. I'm sure you can help me out. Wanna come with me now? I could use some input on the stuff I'm working on."

"Oh, um, sure."

"Great. But, hey, I gotta get going," Winter informed them, already heading toward the door and waving over her shoulder. "My mom and dad are coming for a visit soon and I gotta meet up with 'em. Have fun, you two."

"Bye Bye," Pinkie waved backed with a big grin. Once the door shut, she turned to the changeling. "Alright, let me show you my seeeecret laaaair," she said ominously before gesturing for Chamella to follow her upstairs.

Mrs. Cake stepped forward quickly as Pinkie and Chamella ascended the stairs. "Uh, Pinkie? I could kind of use your help in the—" But she was cut off by the sound of Pinkie's bedroom door slamming shut. "—kitchen..." She let out a sigh of exasperation, but managed a smile regardless. "Oh, well. At least what she's doing is work related."

***** ***** *****

Despite her intentions, Chamella didn't feel like she was helping much. She'd been with Pinkie Pie in her apparent "Party Planning Cave" for the better part of the past hour and hadn't really done much of anything but take in the bizarre surroundings.

True to its name, the secretive chamber underneath Sugarcube Corner—yet somehow accessible from the second floor—was, indeed, a cave. The walls were entirely comprised of solid stone; an aesthetic that Chamella would have been fine not seeing any more of. But the stone walls were the only similarity to the labyrinthine passages of her homeland. The fairly spacious cave was decorated with all manner of things, from giant, novelty lollypops, to colorful streamers strung up over everything, to several disco balls hanging from the ceiling. Those particular items were among the expected for Pinkie Pie decor, however, what weren't were the filing cabinets and cork board. Pinkie was surprisingly organized, with party plans filed away years in advance, and all sorts of papers pinned up for plans in the works displayed on the board.

Chamella found herself looking over the contents of the cork board a few times, noting that they were plans for parties coming up soon. Most appeared to be birthday parties for some of Ponyville's residents; names Chamella recognized, but nopony she was particularly familiar with. However, there were several pieces of paper with plans for Shade and Winter's wedding, including alternate cake designs aside from the one Pinkie had shown Winter, as well as reception plans, and even the bachelorette party. That last one had Chamella somewhat curious and confused, though she hadn't bothered to ask about it yet.

In contrast to how Chamella was simply standing around doing basically nothing, Pinkie Pie was bounding here and there, jumping back and forth between the filing cabinet, the cork board, and a desk with even more papers and plans. She had been spouting off the details of everything she was going over, but Chamella couldn't actually discern whether or not the pink pony was talking to her, or simply rambling her thoughts off to herself. Either way, Chamella could barely catch any of it due to how quickly she was talking.

Finally, the quiet changeling decided to throw her voice into the underground chamber. "Um, is there anything you actually want me to do?"

Pinkie halted mid-bounce, hanging in the air for a moment before dropping to the floor and turning her head to Chamella as if she had just realized something. "Oh! Whoops, I kinda forgot you were here. Sorry about that," she apologized with an embarrassed blush. "I can get kinda caught up in all this stuff when I really get 'in the zone.'" Pinkie tapped her chin as she looked around at the various aspects of the wedding she'd been planning out. "How about the cake? Any input on the design or anything?"

Chamella frowned slightly as she looked at some of the samples on the cork board. "I don't really know much about baking."

Pinkie waved the comment off. "You don't have to bake it, silly. I just thought that, since you design and make dresses with Rarity, maybe some of that creativity and flair could translate to cake design."

Chamella's attitude lifted a little as she took another glance at the papers. "I hadn't thought about that. But... These designs all look pretty good as they are. I don't really know if there's anything I can add."

"Good!" Pinkie chirped, eliciting a confused look from Chamella. "Even having that input from a design expert is helpful. See? You're helping already!"

While the compliment was welcome, Chamella still didn't exactly feel like she helped much. She felt more like a child being patronized while the parent does all the actual work.

Pinkie could see that her temporary associate wasn't quite satisfied, so she began to look around for something else. "Okay, so what about... Hmm... The reception? You could help plan the seating arrangements."

"That's the dinner after the wedding, right?"

Pinkie nodded. "Yep. Although..." She grabbed the paper outlining the details of the reception. "I already kinda set that up... Caterers, entertainment, seating... Huh. Guess there's not much more to do with that, then. Oh, wait! Since you're the maid of honor, you can give a speech at the reception!"

Chamella tensed up suddenly. "I-I've already said that I probably won't be doing that."

The pink pony seemed disappointed to hear that. "Really? Oh, well, that's a shame. I was kinda hoping to hear what kind of heartfelt stuff you'd come up with, especially given how much your relationship with Winter has changed over time."

Chamella was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Is that what those speeches are usually like?"

"Yeah. Talking about the good times, and the rough times—I know you've had a lot of those lately—maybe some good-natured ribbing and roasting," Pinkie giggled. She noticed that Chamella had gotten quiet again, and her gaze had fallen away as she stared at the floor, though Pinkie couldn't read her expression. Interpreting that as a sign that Chamella wanted to shift the subject, Pinkie did just that. "Anyhoo, I get that that would be uncomfortable for somepony as shy as you, so I won't push it. Let's see if we got anything else for you here... Ooooh, what about the bachelorette party?" she suggested, stifling a little laughter.

Chamella raised an eyebrow, having been a touch curious since noticing it on the cork board. "What is that anyway?"

"Oh, it's just a fun little get-together for the bride-to-be's girl friends. Just one last chance to enjoy her freedom before slapping on the ol' ball and chain."

The changeling wasn't any less confused by the explanation given to her. "What?"

Pinkie let out an exasperated groan as she elaborated. "Basically, just doing the sorts of things somepony would normally do if they were single. But Winter's gotta be a buzzkill and say she wants to keep it 'low key,'" Pinkie complained with a roll of her eyes. "Which is kinda lame, because I know this one hunk of a stallion for these sorts of things who'll come over and do this thing where he—"

"So it's basically like the baby shower she had, then?"

Pinkie was jostled from her unsanitary thoughts and nodded with a slight shrug. "For what Winter wants, basically, yeah. Oh, right, you didn't actually go to the baby shower, did you?"

Chamella shook her head. "That was back when she didn't like me, so she didn't want me there, I guess."

"Well, it might be fun for you!" Pinkie reassured her. "Although, I guess that doesn't really put you in much of a position to plan the bachelorette party, huh? Eh, it's not really something worth planning anyway; they're better when you wing it!"

"Alright, so what options do I have left?" Chamella asked, though her hope of finding something worthwhile was quickly dwindling.

"Um..." The party pony glanced around, she, too, running low on suggestions. However, something quickly came to mind. "Oh! Invitations!" Pinkie grabbed a stack of cards held together by a rubber band and passed it to Chamella. "While I've already done up the actual details and everything, these things still need to be delivered. The wedding's in a couple of weeks, and everypony on the guest list needs their invitations A.S.A.P. so they can get in their meal orders for the reception and stuff. Think you can handle that?"

Chamella looked over the invitation at the top of the stack. The cards were printed on thick paper with a gold, embossed trim around the edges. The writing was written in elegant cursive, far from what Chamella would have expected from the silly mare who had made them up. The top card in particular had Rarity's name on it, giving Chamella an easy place to start.

The changeling managed a small smile. "Okay, that sounds easy enough."

"Great! But gimme a sec..." Pinkie snatched the stack of cards again, then grabbed a stack on envelopes with similar gold trimming. She pulled the rubber band off of the invitations and tossed them all into the air. But instead of creating a mess on the floor, each card dropped perfectly into the open envelopes, each one slipping into the envelope with the same name on it as the invitation. Pinkie then wrapped the rubber band around the stack of now-sealed envelopes and passed it back to Chamella. "Here you go."

Not about to question the logistics of what she'd just witnessed as it saved her an inordinate amount of time, Chamella happily accepted the envelopes and turned to take her leave so she could get started on her errand. "Thanks, Pinkie. I know it's not much, but I'll do my best."

"That's all anypony can ask of you," Pinkie chirped as she waved goodbye.

Chamella was about to leave, but her eyes fixated on the colorful playground slide that she had slid down when first entering, extending up into the ceiling of the underground chamber through the only entrance or exit she could see; a gap that looked a little too narrow to safely fly through. "Um, how do I get out of here?"

***** ***** *****

The door to Carousel Boutique opened with the familiar chime of its entrance bell. Chamella casually sauntered inside, though wasn't really paying attention to where she was going. Rather, her attention was focused on the stack of sealed envelopes that Pinkie Pie had just entrusted to her.

There were a lot more than she was expecting. Chamella wasn't aware that Winter actually knew this many people, even in such a small and tightly knit community. Now that she was looking them over with the large number of them in mind, the task of handing them all out was starting to feel a little daunting, especially considering that she wasn't exactly a social butterfly. But she wasn't going to back down; if she was too intimidated by something as simple as delivering invitations, what good was she as Winter's maid of honor?

"What's that you have there?"

Chamella looked up from the stack of envelopes. Rarity was cantering over to her with a curious expression as she eyed up the bundle of rectangular papers. The changeling had been so focused on her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed that Rarity was there, despite the fact that she had only come home to deliver the unicorn's own invitation.

"Oh, these are the wedding invitations," Chamella answered. "I'm trying to find something to help out with the wedding, but this is the best I can come up with that isn't too... important, I guess? I mean, it's important, but not, like, um..."

"It's hard to mess up?"

Chamella felt a little ashamed of herself when Rarity had said that. It was pretty much exactly what she was thinking, but hearing it said out loud made her feel a touch incompetent. "Pretty much. Oh, here."

The top envelope on the stack floated over to Rarity in an aura of neon green magic, transitioning to powder blue once the unicorn took hold of it.

"Well, you're certainly doing a good job so far," Rarity giggled, though quickly realized how patronizing that sounded. She decided to move on and open the invitation, grinning as she observed its elegance. "Pinkie certainly did a fine job with the design."

"Do you think this is enough?"

Rarity looked up from the invite curiously. "Hm? Well, it is quite a large stack. Plus, from what I've heard, Winter said that anypony in town can come to the wedding if they want. Those are probably just a bunch of people that Pinkie figured she'd invite herself."

Chamella frowned slightly and shook her head. "That's not what I meant. I mean, is delivering these invites enough to earn being Winter's maid of honor?"

Rarity sighed and rolled her eyes, though smiled at her friend. "This again? Chamella, darling, we've told you not to worry so much about it. It's just a title; more a sign of Winter's respect for you than anything. If anything, you've already earned it. You wouldn't even be the maid of honor had the two of you not become so close during your time in the Changeling Kingdom."

Chamella managed a smile, her doubt starting to melt away. "I guess you have a point. But still, this is the least I can do to actually contribute to the wedding."

"You mean aside from helping with the wedding dress," Rarity reminded with a playful smirk.

Chamella chuckled. "Yeah, but Winter said herself that that's actually my job, so I want to try something else, too."

"Well, then you should hop to it," the fashionista suggested. "Plenty of daylight hours, and I did give you the day off today."

The changeling grinned and nodded, turning back toward the door. "Right, then I'll get going." She glanced back down at the stack of envelopes, the one that had been below Rarity's having a name on it she didn't recognize. "Although, I might have to ask somepony for directions for a few of these. Oh, well. Bye, Rarity."

"Ta ta, darling."

With a quick wave as she closed the door, Chamella stepped outside and went on her way to start her errand. However, she didn't get far from Carousel Boutique before bumping into a familiar face.

Literally.

Chamella had taken a moment to quickly look at the name on the first envelope again, and in her moment of distraction had smacked barrel-to-barrel with a mare just outside of the boutique's front door. It happened to be Daily Scoop, the freelance journalist who had recently come to Ponyville to meet its two changeling residents.

After briefly readjusting the satchel slung over her shoulder, Daily Scoop offered a friendly, yet apologetic smile to the insectoid mare she had inadvertently bumped into; she couldn't help but find the situation a little amusing. "Whoops, sorry. We've really gotta stop meeting like this," she chuckled.

Chamella met her apology with a slightly surprised expression. "Oh, uh, hi. Um, Daily Scoop, right?"

"Daily's fine."

"I didn't know you were still in town. I thought you went back to Manehattan to publish your article."

The beige unicorn shook her head. "Nah, I've been here the whole time. And I plan on sticking around to see the wedding. I don't want to publish my article and invite other journalists to swoop in on the wedding. That scoop's gonna be mine."

Chamella gave her a suspicious look. "Do you think Shade and Winter will let you?"

Daily gave her a confident smirk. "I've actually already got their permission to cover the event. Winter's actually pretty excited about it."

The changeling's expression lightened a bit upon hearing that. "Oh. Well, okay, then. So, um, anyway, I'm a little busy, so I've gotta get going. Nice to see you."

Chamella started to walk past Daily, however, the other mare only turned and followed alongside her, making the changeling a touch uncomfortable.

"Actually, I came over here to talk to you," Daily explained, her smile indicating that she was unaware of Chamella's discomfort. "So I hope you don't mind if I tag along."

Chamella involuntarily gulped nervously. "Me? What do you want to talk to me for?"

"Because you're a changeling," she answered frankly. "I've gotten Shade's side of the story, so I wanna get your story."

If Chamella's nervousness wasn't evident before, it was becoming more noticeable now. Her pupils shrunk slightly at the other mare's implications. "Y-You want to write an article about me, too?"

Daily waved her inference off. "No, no, I've got pretty much all the information I need for that from Shade already. He's told me a bit about you, but I actually just want to talk and get to know you a little better myself."

Chamella felt her muscles loosen a bit, her pensiveness dissipating as she let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Oh. I guess that's okay."

With permission to engage given, Daily first aimed to get an answer to the question that was at the forefront of her mind since they bumped into each other. "What's that you have?" she asked, pointing to the stack of envelopes held in Chamella's bright green aura.

"These are all the wedding invitations. I'm delivering them to everypony."

"Oh, right. Winter mentioned that you were her maid of honor. Guess you two must be pretty close, huh?"

Chamella grinned awkwardly with a slight chuckle. "I guess you could say that. I know it's probably hard to believe considering I kidnapped her before."

Daily came to a sudden stop, prompting Chamella to do the same. The unicorn was staring incredulously at the changeling with mouth agape in shock and disbelief. "Uh... You what now?"

Chamella suddenly felt her stomach knot up, her eyes widening as she realized what she'd just inadvertently done. "They... didn't tell you about that, did they?"

The journalist slowly shook her head, her face still adorned with shock, but with a hint of intrigue. "No. No, they did not." As if on instinct, Daily Scoop used her magic to remove a notepad and pencil from her satchel.

Chamella was quickly overcome with panic, accidentally releasing the stack of envelopes from her magical grasp and littering them all over the ground. "Y-You're not going to put that in your article, are you?"

"It seems like a pretty big detail to leave out," Daily stated.

"You can't!"

Daily was taken aback by Chamella's sudden outburst as the changeling took a desperate step toward her. The changeling's face was awash with worry and fear.

"Th-That was a long time ago! We've made up since then, really!"

Daily raised an eyebrow at Chamella's extremely defensive behavior, giving her a look that showed some sympathy for her situation, but also suspicion towards the circumstances behind this unexpected revelation. "That's true, I suppose, but the fact that you did it at all might concern some people. How are we supposed to trust you knowing you did something like that?"

"It was a mistake! I was in a vulnerable place and I wasn't thinking straight! It took me two years to earn her forgiveness! Please, you can't put that in your article! I don't want her to hate me again!"

Daily quietly observed the desperation on Chamella's face and in her voice, tears even beginning to well up in her pink eyes. While she was attempting to maintain an air of apathy, Daily's conscious prompted her to let out an exasperated sigh as she reluctantly replaced her pad and pencil back into her satchel. "Alright, fine. I guess the fact that you're her maid of honor is evidence enough that it's a thing of the past. Plus, information like that is likely to sow mistrust throughout the populace, even if we say you've been forgiven. And like I said, I'm not looking to start a panic."

Chamella let out a long sigh as though she'd been holding her breath the whole time, and wiped the moisture out of her eyes. "Thank you. I don't want people to mistrust us because of my dumb lapse in judgment."

In a bid to apologize for worrying her, Daily Scoop started helping Chamella in sweeping up the envelopes the changeling had dropped in her panic. "I am admittedly curious as to the 'how' and 'why' behind that, though. Any chance you want to talk about it?"

The request made Chamella visibly uncomfortable again. It seemed no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't really escape from her past sins. She shook her head in response. "I'd really rather not. If Shade and Winter purposefully left that out, then I don't think I should talk about it either. It's not exactly something I like thinking about."

Daily nodded in understanding as she passed the envelopes she'd picked up to Chamella. "If I had to guess, they probably left that out for your sake. I guess you guys have been through a lot more than I originally thought."

"You don't know the half of it..." the changeling muttered, turning away from the journalist.

From the somewhat disheartened expression on Chamella's face, Daily figured that she was hoping for a change of topic and decided to oblige. "How about we try talking about something less... traumatic, then? So, you're a seamstress, right? I mean, I know you work at that boutique back there."

Chamella managed to compose herself again, putting on a friendly smile as she nodded. "Mm-hm. Rarity was nice enough to offer me a job and a place to live when I first got here."

"What did you do to make her want to help you out like that?"

"Um..." Chamella paused for a moment, thinking hard about it. "I didn't really do anything. I didn't really know Rarity any better than anypony else here. She's just a very generous person. She saw there were things I needed and simply offered some help. Really, she's more than just my boss and landlady; she's one of my closest friends. And it's been pretty fun working on Winter's wedding dress together."

"Are you excited about the wedding, then?"

Chamella's smile faltered a little, but managed to persist as she blushed slightly. "I'm honestly a bit nervous."

"About being the maid of honor?" Daily presumed.

"Sort of. Winter keeps telling me that I don't need to take the title so seriously, so I guess it's not that stressful. But I'm just a little worried about what's going to happen after the wedding."

Daily nodded knowingly. "Ah, right. The press. Yeah, not gonna lie, this wedding is probably going to attract a lot of attention. And while Winter and Shade are gonna get the brunt of it, I'm sure there'll be some people looking to get some info from you, and they're not all gonna be as friendly and considerate as me, and I use those terms lightly."

The unicorn watched as Chamella went silent. She didn't seem necessarily discouraged by what she'd said, but rather appeared to have gotten lost in thought, likely thinking about how she could deal with the situation when or if it arose. Out of her aforementioned consideration, Daily left Chamella to her thoughts for a few moments.

As the two continued to walk, Chamella still aiming to deliver the first of the sealed invitations, Daily took notice of something as she discreetly looked the changeling over. On her left flank, Daily spotted two oddly discolored spots, almost unnoticeable against her dark skin if one weren't looking closely. She could tell that they weren't anything like birthmarks or blemishes, but she didn't want to stare too long, so she figured she might as well voice the question on her mind. "What're those spots there?"

Snapped from her thoughts, Chamella glanced back at her flank, grimacing slightly. "Oh, those are scars. I was bitten by another changeling."

Daily cringed a little at the thought of it. "Yowch. Shade wasn't kidding when he said growing up in the Changeling Kingdom was rough."

"Actually, the bite was pretty recent."

Chamella realized the moment that she'd said that that she probably shouldn't have. She could already sense the look of curiosity focused on her from her unicorn companion.

"Really? Have you been back to the Changeling Kingdom recently?" Daily Scoop inquired. "After everything Shade told me, I figured you two would never wanna go back there. Do you normally visit your homeland?"

The changeling hesitated awkwardly, biting her lip. "Um, no..."

"So why were you there?"

Again, Chamella hesitated, turning away from her. "I... can't tell you."

Daily quirked an eyebrow, staring at the sheepish changeling suspiciously. "Oh? And why is that?"

"Because we agreed not to talk about it yet..." Chamella mumbled quietly.

"'We'?"

Chamella flinched. Why couldn't she just keep her mouth shut? She looked Daily in the eye again. She was staring back at her with an inquisitive expression, similar to how she did earlier when she blabbed about her history with Winter, though this time with more suspicion.

"So you're not gonna tell me why you—and presumably Shade, if I had to take an educated guess—have been back to the Changeling Kingdom recently?"

Chamella shook her head with a self-reprimanding frown, but this time kept her lips zipped.

Daily held out a hoof in front of Chamella, stopping her. There was a rather serious look coming from her maroon eyes. "Alright, let me explain something to you."

Chamella gulped nervously at the sudden forcefulness in her voice.

"I shouldn't have to remind you that the goal of my article is to give the people of Equestria an idea of who these new changeling residents they've been hearing about really are. Now, before today I've heard nothing but good things, but since I've been talking to you, I've learned that you kidnapped somepony—"

"But I—!"

Daily held up her hoof to interrupt Chamella before she could interrupt her. "And while I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt on that one, other people might not. But now, you're actually keeping something from me—you and Shade both—and you refuse to tell me about it."

"I promised I wouldn't..." Chamella murmured, disheartened.

"And that makes me wonder what exactly it is. How are people—myself included—supposed to trust you if you're keeping secrets? If you keep refusing to give me information, I may be forced to add that to my article, and then the public will fill in the gap with whatever they can think of. Is that what you want, Chamella?"

Despite her concern and guilt, Chamella furrowed her brow at the journalist's threat. "Stop it!"

Daily took a step back at the sudden outburst.

"I know you're looking for information, but can you at least have some respect for our privacy?! There are good reasons why we don't want to tell anypony about it yet. We're focusing on the wedding and getting our lives back in order. We'll probably talk about it eventually, just... not yet. And I promise it's nothing to be suspicious about, it's just... personal stuff, but it's over and done with now, so don't worry about it."

Daily hummed to herself quietly as she listened to Chamella's defense. She was still a touch skeptical, but the only actual reason she would have to mistrust Shade and Chamella was solely the fact that they were changelings, and she didn't want to come off as prejudiced when she didn't have any actual proof against their characters. She continued to stare at Chamella, and while there was still a hint of suspicion, her expression softened slightly. "Okay, but I will be mentioning it to Shade. I want to know what all this is about to make sure I and the rest of Equestria can trust you. Plus, if it really is nothing big, then you have nothing to worry about, right?"

That notion did manage to make Chamella smile a little. "Right. Look, I'll talk to Shade and Winter and see if I can convince them to talk about it. If it means earning Equestria's trust, then I guess we probably should."

Daily nodded in agreement. "Well, like I said, I'm sticking around 'til the wedding anyway, so there's no rush."

Chamella's ears suddenly perked up, her expression shifting as she remembered something. She looked down at the stack of envelopes she was still carrying, not even one invitation lighter than when she'd left Carousel Boutique. "Oh, shoot. I completely forgot about what I was supposed to be doing. I-I should really pick up the pace." Chamella began to hurry off, leaving Daily Scoop behind, but glancing back at her over her shoulder. "Sorry, but I really have to pass these out! Maybe we can pick up later!"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Daily replied with a half-hearted wave. She was honestly a little surprised that Chamella was still interested in talking despite her behavior. She was worried her prying might have put the changeling off. But whatever the case, there were still plenty of people in town to talk to about the two changelings.

***** ***** *****

Chamella let out a tired yawn as she returned to Carousel Boutique, feeling the effects of a day of wandering around town starting to bear down on her, having alternated between flying and walking frequently until both her legs and wings were a little sore. She looked up at the sky as she approached her home. It wasn't exactly late, but the sun had started to descend toward the horizon; not enough to tint the sky orange, but enough for Chamella to realize she'd been on her errand longer than anticipated.

After noting the time, Chamella then turned down to the stack of envelopes still within her magical grip, a somewhat ashamed frown curving her fanged lips as she let out a disheartened sigh. Despite how long she'd been at it, she had only managed to deliver about half of the invitations. Ponyville wasn't exactly a large town, but it felt like a sprawling metropolis when she had to visit practically every house. She also hadn't thought about the notion that some people might not be home, though, if anything, that made things easier as she needed only drop the invite into the mailbox and be on her way. Still, this endeavor made her realize that she still wasn't entirely familiar with the town and its residents, having passed through parts of town that she rarely visited. As a result, she had wasted a lot of time trying to find individual homes and people and trying to work up the courage to ask people for directions.

On top of everything, she was getting pretty hungry, and a sandwich was sounding pretty good right now. Opening the door to the boutique, Chamella stepped inside and began sauntering toward the kitchen. However, before she could get there, a cheery voice beckoned to her from the stairwell to the second floor.

"Oh, Chamella, you're back," Rarity greeted as she descended the stairs. She quickly noticed the envelopes she was still carrying, raising an eyebrow. "Have you not finished yet? You've been gone for a while."

Chamella let out another sigh. "Yeah... It's taking longer than I thought."

Rarity could see the downtrodden expression on her friend's face, so she placed a hoof on the changeling's shoulder and offered a soft grin to comfort her. "Don't let it stress you out, darling. The wedding's not for a few weeks yet. You've still got plenty of time. Tell you what..." The unicorn took hold of the envelopes, replacing Chamella's neon green aura with her powder blue magic and placed them on a nearby desk. "Why don't you leave the rest of this for tomorrow and help me with the bridesmaids' dresses, hm? I know I said I was giving you the day off, but perhaps it'll take your mind off things."

Chamella nodded her head solemnly. Though that idea sounded good, she couldn't find it in her to feel reassured by Rarity's words. "Alright, but I wanna get something to eat first."

Rarity's comforting grin faltered as Chamella continued on her way to the kitchen. The unicorn followed her, intent on cheering her up. "Chamella, dear, I'm starting to wonder what exactly it is I need to say to help you understand that you're trying too hard."

Chamella wandered over to the counter, focusing on the breadbox and retrieving two slices of bread before turning to the refrigerator for ingredients for her sandwich. "I just... I just want to do something to show Winter how much I appreciate everything she's doing for me," she said with her head in the fridge. Rarity could hear her let out a long breath through her nose. "But I can't even handle a simple task like delivering envelopes."

"Well, you could have simply dropped them off at the post office."

Chamella looked over her shoulder, her face not looking any more assured.

Rarity blushed, chuckling awkwardly. "Sorry, forget I said that.

Chamella took her chosen ingredients—keeping it simple and vegetarian for Rarity's sake with some lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and cheese—and brought them all over to the counter.

"But my point is that it isn't something to get upset over," Rarity continued as Chamella put her lunch together. "Besides, if what you're really after is to show your appreciation to Winter, have you perhaps thought about doing something a little more personal?"

Chamella's ears perked up slightly, and she turned to look at Rarity. "More personal? Like what?"

Rarity shrugged, but smiled knowing that Chamella was at least listening. "Well, I don't know what exactly; by personal, I meant something important to you. I can't quite help much on that front. But it doesn't even need to be something like a gift or a favor. Maybe something as simple as saying 'thank you' would suffice."

The changeling looked down at her unfinished sandwich, but wasn't focusing on it. Rather, her thoughts were on what Rarity was saying, trying to figure out something that fell within those lines. "I've thanked her so many times already, but I just feel like it hasn't been enough."

Rarity let out an exasperated sigh. As much as she wanted to help Chamella, there was only so much she could do and say. "Well, I suppose it's up to you to decide what's 'enough.' But I think it's safe to say that Winter wouldn't want you to do too much. Just... do whatever you feel you need to do to get this off your chest."

"Get this off my chest..." Chamella repeated quietly to herself as Rarity's words echoed in her mind. Those words felt like they were activating something within her, as though they were just the series of words she needed to hear in order to properly motivate her. Those words also clicked with something else, something that she remembered Pinkie Pie say earlier. Her eyes suddenly widened as an idea finally came to her. She hesitated for only a moment as the idea cemented itself in her head, the thought admittedly a little daunting. However, she spent little time contemplating. She needed to do something, and this idea was just the 'something' she was looking for, even if it was a rather simple solution. "I think I know what I have to do."

"Hm?" Rarity tilted her head curiously. "Just like that? Oh, well, wonderful. I was expecting it to require a little more thought, but if you think you have it, then good for you."

Chamella quickly slapped together her sandwich, ready to hurry out of the kitchen and have her lunch in her bedroom. "Alright, I have to get started on this now while it's still fresh in my mind. I'll be in my room if you need me. Thanks, Rarity!"

Rarity yelped slightly as she was nearly knocked over by Chamella when she hurried past. The unicorn ran behind her, stopping at the stairwell and calling out. "But what about the dresses! You said—" But she was cut off by Chamella's bedroom door slamming shut. Rarity rubbed her temple gently with a quiet groan. However, she managed a smile. With how much Chamella had been stressing out over the wedding, one would think she was the one getting married. Rarity was just relieved that Chamella had found something to focus on rather than sulking and worrying about properly contributing. And now, she was quite curious as to what exactly Chamella had in mind, but was willing to let her be so she could concentrate. But she also had to wonder if this meant somepony else would have to deliver the rest of the invitations.

Epilouge Part 4: Whole

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Epilogue Part 4: Whole

=====================================================================

Winter looked herself over in the mirror, turning her head to the right, then to the left. Her ivory coat was shining like snow in the midday sun, and her crimson mane looked as though it had been pulled straight off the top layer of a rainbow. She didn't typically overdo it with beauty products, but the stuff that Rarity had offered her was clearly doing work. She was almost worried that she was going to blind everypony with how radiant she looked.

But by far the most noteworthy aspect of Winter's face right now was the smile across her lips. She'd been grinning ear to ear since she had awoken that morning. She was actually a little concerned that her persistent smile was going to cause permanent damage to her cheekbones, but she just couldn't stop herself; she was just too elated to not smile.

Because today was her wedding day.

Rarity stepped up beside Winter, looking at the pegasus's reflection as well. "You look positively stunning, darling! Just imagine how good you'll look when you put on your dress."

Winter could barely contain her excitement. She'd worn the dress a couple of times already, but only to help Rarity and Chamella while they were working on it. Today was the real deal. After she put it on today, she was going to get married.

The bride-to-be stepped away from the mirror, taking a deep breath to steady herself. Rarity—as well as three of Winter's four bridesmaids: Chamella, Derpy, and Autumn—watched as the mare started pacing circles around the living room of the Apple family's farmhouse, where they were preparing for the ceremony. But despite her seemingly nervous behavior, once more, the smile never left her face.

"Getting anxious, sweetie?" Winter's mother inferred.

"Sorry," Winter said with no attempt to suppress her glee. "But I just can't sit still! I'm too excited!" she exclaimed with a giddy hop.

Autumn nodded with a giggle. "I know just how you feel. I was pretty much the same way on my wedding day."

"I guess it's just a matter of time now," said Chamella. She looked out the window of the farmhouse, from where the alter that Applejack and Big Macintosh had built for the wedding was visible. The changeling noted that a rather large crowd had already begun to populate the area, taking up seats on the many folding chairs lined up on the grassy meadow. She could even clearly see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna amongst the other ponies. "There's a lot of people out there. And they just keep coming."

"You'd think the bride would be more nervous than the maid of honor," Rarity commented with a chuckle, noting Chamella's apprehensive tone.

Derpy walked up alongside Chamella, squinting to focus her vision on the crowd outside. She took notice of several ponies with cameras, some of which were speaking with Shade and the princesses near the alter. "From the looks of it, there are a lot of news ponies here, too."

Winter gave a simple, dismissive shrug. "Well, it's not like we weren't expecting that. We'll just have to deal with it."

"I'd imagine they're more interested in Shade and Chamella than anything else anyway," Rarity added. "Besides, if they get too pushy, we have royalty here to keep them in line. There are certainly benefits to having Canterlot's most elite attend your wedding. Oh, speaking of which, have you and Shade discussed where you'll be going for your honeymoon? Canterlot would certainly be a scenic locale."

Winter nodded with a grin. "We talked about a few places, Canterlot being one. I even thought about Las Pegasus."

"Oh, how exciting," Rarity remarked, though she looked unsure about the choice. "Although, I wouldn't exactly say that Las Pegasus is synonymous with romance. Excitement and thrills, most definitely, but perhaps not somewhere I'd see people going for a quiet and intimate trip."

"I only thought of it because it was the place Shade pretended to be from when we first met him," Winter elaborated. "I just thought it might be interesting for him to see it for himself. Not really a great reason to honeymoon there, but maybe we'll go there eventually."

"So where did you decide to go?" asked Derpy.

"Cloudsdale."

Derpy and Rarity both exchanged puzzled looks. The unicorn voiced her confusion. "Well, no offense to your hometown, but I wouldn't quite call it exotic, particularly because it's so close to Ponyville.

"Yeah, you can literally see Cloudsdale from Ponyville," Derpy said, pointing a hoof out the window.

"Plus, as I said, it's your hometown," Rarity continued. "Wouldn't you rather go someplace you've never been before?"

"Actually, it's more about Shade," Winter answered. "And Shade's never been to Cloudsdale. I figured it'd be nice to show him the place where I grew up. After all, I've been to the Changeling Kingdom twice; I think it's time he visit my home."

"And it's just convenient," Autumn interjected. "While they're out enjoying their romantic getaway, they can leave Snowflake with his grandparents."

Derpy tilted her head, a thought coming to mind. "Come to think of it, can Snowflake even walk on clouds? I mean, he has wings, but changelings can't walk on clouds, right?"

"Dad was pretty quick to put that to the test shortly after he was born," Winter clarified. "He can walk on clouds. I guess being half pegasus is good enough. But Shade'll need a cloud walking spell before we go."

"Well, it wouldn't be my first choice—again, no offense—but as long as you two enjoy yourselves, I suppose it'll be lovely either way," said Rarity.

At that moment, the front door of the farmhouse opened up and Twilight Sparkle entered to join the rest of the bridesmaids. However, she was not alone. Following close behind her was another alicorn, but not Celestia or Luna. It was Princess Cadance, her pristine, pink coat garbed in a fancy, blue dress. Her long mane of pink, purple and creamy white streaks was just as well maintained and silky smooth as Winter's was, if not more so, and topped with her golden crown.

Winter let out a surprised and elated gasp upon seeing the princess of the Crystal Empire. "Princess Cadance! I-I wasn't expecting you to be here. It's an honor."

"Twilight invited us," Cadance explained.

"Sorry I didn't ask first," Twilight apologized to Winter.

The pegasus shook her head fervently. "No, no, it's fine. This is amazing actually! Now my wedding is going to have all of the alicorn princesses in attendance! How crazy is this?!"

Cadance giggled in amusement at the other mare's child-like excitement. "Well, we were thinking that it might be a good idea for us to come. You know, given our history with the changelings. We thought it would be a nice gesture of good will and help people who might still be on the fence about you guys become a little more accepting."

"I'd certainly appreciate that," Chamella said with a bashful grin.

"And, to be honest, I've been curious ever since I heard that you and Shade were having a baby, so I've been looking for an excuse to come out here and see him," Cadance added.

"Have you seen him yet?" Autumn asked her.

The pink alicorn nodded. "We were just talking to Shade and got a chance to meet the little guy. And I must say, he is just too adorable," she laughed.

"Quite true," Rarity agreed with a giggle of her own. "So where is Shining Armor, then?"

"He's still talking to Shade and my aunts," Cadance responded with a tilt of her head in their general direction. "Speaking of which, I should probably get out of your way; you look like you're in the middle of getting ready. I just wanted to give you well wishes before the ceremony."

"Thank you, Your Highness. And you're free to stick around if you want," Winter told her.

The alicorn smiled amicably. "I appreciate the offer, but I just need to see Snowflake's cute, little face again. I'll leave you girls to it."

Cadance gave a friendly wave as she ended her brief visit and stepped outside again. The other mares bid her a temporary farewell as Twilight closed the door for her. The lavender alicorn then turned to the group with an eager grin.

"Now then, the ceremony'll be starting shortly. So, shall we get our dresses on, ladies?"

"Oh, actually, I want you to do me a favor first, Twilight," Winter requested. She made a brief trip into the farmhouse's kitchen, returning with a thin case lined with black velvet, and held it out to the alicorn. "I just want you to hold onto this for now."

Twilight raised a curious eyebrow. It was clearly a jewelry case, and was adorned with a large capitol "K" written in elegant cursive. "What's this?"

"It's something I want to give Shade. I'll let you know when I need it, okay?"

Although intrigued by what may be inside, Twilight pushed back her nosiness; if Winter wanted to tell her what it was, she probably would have. She gave Winter a friendly smile. "Sure thing." She then whisked it away with her magic, the case disappearing in a flash of pink.

Winter gave Twilight a grateful grin, then turned to the rest of her bridesmaids and Rarity. "Great! Then let's do this thing!"

***** ***** *****

The area around the alter was buzzing with activity as countless ponies were trying to find seats, or simply conversing about this historical event that they were attending. Winter had specified that, since Shade didn't really have any family outside of Chamella, there would be plenty of room to seat anypony who was interested in coming. And come they did. There were not only residents of Ponyville in attendance, but many people from out of town as well. Whether it was the pony-changeling wedding, or the presence of Equestria's princesses that attracted the crowd was debatable, though it was most likely a combination of both.

Shade had already been approached by many awestruck citizens; some of them excited to meet a friendly changeling, while others appeared to still be somewhat wary, but he was doing his best to be welcoming. Included amongst the guests were also many of Winter's relatives that had come from Cloudsdale. Shade had quickly become the center of attention within their circle, which was to be expected considering that he was about to become a part of that circle. That being said, the number of unfamiliar out-of-towners was definitely bigger than those of Winter's relatives. This wedding was starting to look as though it was a public affair as opposed to a family gathering as weddings more often were.

To accentuate that, there were a number of reporters and photographers present, as well. Shade had been dealing with them all day, having been bombarded with question after question and blinded by countless camera flashes. The only reason he was able to get any respite was due to the presence of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna; although that may have both been because of their natural authority and distracting the reporters who had questions for them, too.

Shade looked out over the crowd again from his elevated position at the alter. He was looking forward to this wedding almost as much as Winter was—or perhaps "almost" was relative in this case—but seeing all of these unfamiliar faces was admittedly making him a touch nervous. The last time he had been around such a large group of strange ponies was when they had been invited to the Grand Galloping Gala; that was over a year ago, and he was wearing a disguise back then. Shade couldn't help but notice that every time he looked out toward the crowd, it always seemed like there were several people staring back at him. Most of them would look away immediately upon meeting the changeling's gaze, though Shade couldn't tell if that was out of embarrassment of being caught staring, or because they were weirded out by him.

"Getting cold hooves?"

Shade turned his head to find Daily Scoop walking up the steps to the alter. He raised a quizzical eyebrow. "What?"

"Cold hooves," the journalist repeated. "As in, having second thoughts about this whole wedding thing. It can be stressful, I know. It's not uncommon for somepony to feel the anxiety hit a boil on the big day."

Shade let out a sigh, shaking his head. "No, it's nothing like that. I just... get a little uneasy in front of crowds."

Daily followed Shade's gaze over the large group of ponies, then back to the changeling, who was awkwardly adjusting the blindingly white bow tie of his blindingly white suit. "I guess that makes sense for a shapeshifter. Or former shapeshifter. Or whatever sounds least offensive. By the way, you haven't been talking to any of those other so-called 'journalists,' have you? This story's supposed to be my big exclusive."

"I haven't really had time to talk to them, especially when they're all asking me questions at the same time. Thankfully the princesses are here to play interference."

"That's for the best," Daily claimed, casting the stink eye at a few reporters who happened to be looking in their direction. "They're vultures, the lot of 'em."

Shade shrugged dismissively. "Well, I'm gonna try to ignore them for as long as I can anyway." A small smile spread across his lips, looking much more even now that his left fang had grown back. "I want to focus on Winter and me. That's what this is all about."

Daily couldn't help but smirk. "You're a real romantic, aren't you? I can see why she likes you so much."

The changeling blushed slightly. Trying to ignore the comment, Shade glanced over his shoulder to look behind him. Further back on the wooden platform of the alter was Nimbus holding baby Snowflake while he spoke with both Princess Luna and Shining Armor. The pegasus stallion was dressed up in a tuxedo of his own, though the traditional black as opposed to Shade's bright white tux. The baby colt in his hooves was also dressed for the occasion, though due to difficulties getting the rambunctious tyke into a pint-sized suit, he only wore a tiny, red bow tie around his neck. Luna was wearing a rather elegant, dark purple dress; with the starry pattern around the hem, it resembled the sky at dusk, matching her midnight blue mane and tail quite well. Shining Armor's outfit was the same red, decorated military uniform that Shade had seen him wear when they last met at the Grand Galloping Gala; Shade assumed it must have been something that Canterlot's soldiers wore at special events.

Shade had already been chatting with both Shining Armor and Princess Cadance earlier before the latter left with Twilight to go see Winter. They both seemed to take quite an interest in Snowflake, but Shade couldn't help but feel like there was more reason for their enthusiasm than just the fact he was a half-breed, but Shade didn't think much of it. He was happy to see them here, though, and they both agreed that it would be good for relations if they attended.

Wanting to take his mind off the crowd until the wedding began, Shade approached Nimbus, Shining Armor, and Luna. Taking notice, the alicorn gave Shade a smile.

"I trust you are excited, Shade," Luna inferred enthusiastically.

The changeling nodded. "A little apprehensive about the size of our audience, but yeah."

Shining Armor chuckled. "If you think this is a big crowd, you should've seen our wedding."

"I did," Shade deadpanned.

"Oh... Uh, right." The unicorn awkwardly cleared his throat. "I just meant that the size of this crowd is like a small dinner party compared to our wedding. Even barring the, you know... other 'guests.' No offense."

Shade let out a quiet, regretful sigh. "I don't think I'm in much of a position to take offense."

Shining Armor could sense yet another apology incoming, so he raised his hoof to interrupt. "You need to stop beating yourself up over that. Water under the bridge, right?"

Shade gave him a grateful grin. "Right. So how did you deal with your wedding jitters?"

"Jitters?" Shining Armor turned his gaze up as he thought about the question. "I don't really think I had any jitters. I guess after being brainwashed by a changeling queen and the whole city having to deal with an invasion, getting married was more of a relief from the stress. So, I guess I can't really help much in that department. You know, unless Chrysalis decides to crash your wedding, too."

"I'd rather she didn't," Shade chuckled. "Though she did help us out when we were out there."

Daily Scoop's ears perked up suddenly. "Uh, what? Chrysalis—as in, Queen of the Changelings, Chrysalis—helped you? Why? With what?"

Shade paused awkwardly, having forgotten for a moment that Daily was there and realizing his little slip up. He breathed a sigh of resignation, kind of tiring of all the secret-keeping. "Alright, fine. If you really want to know what happened in the Changeling Kingdom, you just have to promise to keep it to yourself for now. So no mentioning it to anypony, and no articles about it, got it?"

Daily hesitated for a few seconds, her eyes glancing to the other three ponies present. Luna and Shining Armor were giving her stern glowers, so it was safe to assume that they'd already been informed of the whole situation, and she certainly didn't want to upset the royals. With a disappointed groan, Daily nodded. "Okay, I promise."

"We went to the Changeling Kingdom because a changeling showed up in Ponyville and kidnapped Snowflake," Shade explained, finally coming forth with the information.

Daily looked surprised, quickly glancing to the infant in Nimbus's hooves. Just looking at him, one wouldn't tell such a thing had occurred, as he seemed perfectly content, though he was probably too young to really understand. Daily turned back to Shade. "Seriously? That's... pretty horrible. So what exactly happened out there?" she asked, resisting the urge to take out her notepad.

"I'll spare you the details, but the gist of it is that the changeling who took him was trying to usurp Chrysalis," Shade told her. "So we had a common enemy and helped each other out."

Daily waited eagerly for more, but when Shade stayed silent she quirked an eyebrow. "That's it?"

"Uh, yeah."

The unicorn grimaced, looking more than a little disappointed. "That's what you've been so secretive about? You guys went neck deep into changeling territory to save your kid's life! That's a story most people'd be telling their grandkids! Why were you so reluctant to talk about that?"

Shade was confused by her reaction, hesitating a little. "Uh, well..."

Luna stepped forward to interject. "Shade and Winter simply worried that the news of a young pony being abducted would incite panic and fear of another invasion. An understandable assumption to make, in my opinion."

"I suppose," Daily responded, though she sounded unsure herself. "But hearing that you went to such lengths for your child might convince people to trust you more."

"She has a point," said Shining Armor. "I was definitely impressed when I heard about it from Twilight. Sounded like it would make a good story for you, Ms. Scoop."

Daily shrugged, her disappointment still showing. "Eh, I'm sure it was harrowing and all, but I don't think anypony'd be interested in reading a story like that."

Shade raised an eyebrow, but wasn't going to argue with her. "Uh, if you say so."

Shining Armor looked past Shade and Daily, noticing Cadance coming back from the farmhouse. With a grin, he started toward her, giving a quick look back over his shoulder. "Hey, there's Cadance. I'm gonna go mingle with her until the wedding starts. Good luck, Shade."

"Thanks," the changeling responded with his own smile.

"I suppose the ceremony is going to be starting soon," Nimbus assumed. "Winter and the other ladies have had plenty of time to get ready, so I suspect they'll be coming out shortly. Are you ready, Shade?"

The changeling inhaled deeply, letting the breath out slowly before looking Nimbus in the eye with confidence. "Yeah, I'm ready."

Nimbus nodded, managing a small grin himself. "Good. If you're going to marry my daughter, I only want to hear the utmost certainty."

Shade smirked, casting an assertive look back at him. "With all due respect, I'd be doing this with or without your permission, 'sir.'"

There was a moment of silence between the two stallions as they stared at one another. Nimbus almost wanted to laugh at Shade's attempt at challenging his authority, but held it back. He'd never admit it, but he had come to respect Shade more and more since he met him. He was practically glad to know that somepony like Shade was marrying his daughter—but, again, he'd never say that to his face.

"Looks like they are indeed ready," Luna interjected, pointing a hoof toward the farmhouse.

Sure enough, the group of mares were exiting the building and starting to make their way over to the outdoor setup. It looked as though the four bridesmaids were huddled around Winter, doing a good job obscuring her from view. Rarity had told Shade previously that it was considered bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding, so he assumed that that was the reason for their odd formation. Although, at this point he had to wonder if that was entirely necessary considering they were just about to start.

Out in the crowd, Princess Celestia noticed the approaching mares as well and called out for everypony to take their seats. All of Winter's relatives sat to the left of the aisle, but didn't even take up half of the seats that were set up. Every other guest just found an empty seat and filled it.

"Pardon me," Nimbus said, mostly to Princess Luna, as he left the alter to go meet up with Winter. On the way, he passed Snowflake to Fluttershy since his parents and grandparents were all going to be up on the stage during the ceremony.

Daily Scoop made to hop off the stage and take her seat, as well, passing a smile over her shoulder. "Guess I'll take my seat. Good luck, Shade."

Shade nodded and smiled back. He took another deep breath in preparation. It was finally happening. He was getting married. It was only moments away now.

It took a few minutes, but everypony finally found their seats. Winter's family and close friends of her and Shade were seated up front, but the rest of the seats were occupied mostly by neighbors and the media. The only people not seated were Shade and Luna, who were still standing at their posts up on the stage, Spike and Nimbus, who would be walking with Twilight and Winter down the aisle respectively, and, of course, the bridesmaids and the bride herself. Additionally, there was the four pony ensemble from Canterlot that Pinkie Pie had hired to provide the music, who had now begun playing their instruments at Princess Luna's cue to begin.

With the music playing, the wedding had officially begun. The bridesmaids began making their way down the aisle toward the alter, with Derpy being the first. Admittedly, it looked a tad awkward to see the bridesmaids walking by themselves, as Shade didn't have enough groomsmen to walk alongside all of them. Regardless, Derpy had a big smile on her face. She and the other bridesmaids were all wearing the frilly, light pink gowns that Rarity had designed, with a flower motif around the collar and hem.

Following behind Derpy was Twilight, who was accompanied by Spike wearing a specially-made tuxedo, the two linked hoof and claw as they came down the aisle. Autumn was behind Twilight, and was already visibly holding back tears and her smile shaking.

Finally, there was Chamella. Although the maid of honor, she wore the same pink dress as the other bridesmaids. Her long, purple mane had also been styled into a braid hanging over one shoulder, likely at the insistence of Rarity. Interestingly, this was probably the first time Shade had seen her without having her face at least a little obscured by her hair, her pink eyes completely visible and accompanied by a small, fanged smile. She cast a few sidelong glances at the crowd on either side of her. She was garnering a lot of attention from the out-of-towners, which made her all the more aware of her more revealing hair style. Still, she managed to smile despite all the eyes on her, though couldn't keep a slight blush off her cheeks.

The bridesmaids stepped up onto the alter, taking their positions to the left side and opposite Shade, while Spike stood behind him. Shade took a brief moment to look across at Chamella. His best—and first—friend smiled happily at him. They didn't say anything to one another, but Chamella's expression made it evident that she wanted to say congratulations. There was a quick second where her eyes drifted away and down the aisle, as though there was something else on her mind, but she just looked back at Shade and smiled again.

The calm music that had been playing in the background went silent for a moment, but quickly started up again, louder and a different song. At the musical cue, everypony looked over their shoulders toward the far end of the grassy aisle.

And when Shade's eyes followed theirs, they landed on her.

Now standing at the end of the aisle was Winter, her foreleg interlocked with her father's. Even with the distance between them, Winter's beauty couldn't escape Shade's sight. Her white wedding gown was just as brilliant as her soft, alabaster fur, and certainly more pleasant to look at than Shade's tuxedo. The pristine whiteness of the dress almost made it look like a natural part of Winter's figure, and flowed along her body like a blanket of fresh snow on a gentle hillside. As they were holding the wedding outside, Rarity had ensured that the dress wasn't too long, the hem barely brushing against the tips of the blades of grass, but not enough to dirty the garment. Although subtle in its design, there were maple leaf outlines sewn in gold on the skirt of the dress; the thin threads were barely noticeable, but the golden stitching shimmered in the midday sun. Upon the bride's head was a white veil, holding her crimson mane back and out of her face, though the mesh of the veil was pulled back, giving the guests—and more importantly, Shade—a clear view of her face.

And that was where Shade's sight was fixated. As beautiful as she looked in the dress that Rarity and Chamella had made for her, nothing could compare to the beauty that Shade saw within her amber eyes. However, he did notice something odd; Winter wasn't wearing the necklace he'd given her. Even though she didn't wear it very frequently anymore in order to keep it safe, it surprised him that she wouldn't wear it at their own wedding.

Winter and her father began walking down the aisle together. The whole way down, all eyes at the wedding were focused on her. It felt strange to be the center of attention like this. Or, at least, it would have if that were something to which she was paying attention.

But while all eyes were on her, her eyes were on Shade. Not for a single moment as she walked down the aisle did their shared gaze disconnect, their eyes transfixed on one another. They may as well have been the only two people there, because at this particular moment, they were all that mattered.

The walk down the aisle felt like both an eternity and a fleeting moment, but eventually it came to an end. As they made it to the wooden stage, Nimbus escorted Winter up the short steps to the alter, making sure she didn't trip on her dress, even with how comparatively short it was. Before letting her go, Nimbus looked his daughter in the eyes for a moment. He said nothing, but smiled proudly and gave her a loving kiss on her cheek. The two could already hear Autumn amongst the other bridesmaids holding back her emotional tears and sniffling quietly. Nimbus finally let his daughter go, turning around to take his place behind Shade. But as he walked past the changeling, he paused and looked him in the eye, as well. Again, he said nothing. He didn't smile either, but placed a hoof on the groom's shoulder for a brief moment. Shade simply gave Nimbus a grin; he knew what the stallion wanted to say, and nodded to acknowledge it. Satisfied, Nimbus removed his hoof and took his place as one of Shade's two groomsman.

Shade's and Winter's eyes met once more. Even if they wanted to, neither one could keep the smiles from their faces. There was so much they both wanted to say to each other, but they knew that would have to wait for a short time. After all, Princess Luna had a job to do.

The bride and groom turned to face the alicorn. The princess smiled and nodded as she materialized the flash cards that Twilight had done up for her. She cleared her throat and opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated for a moment. With a slight blush, Luna discreetly moved the first card on the stack to the back, the nearly embarrassing slip up prompting a quiet, stifled giggle from the bride, and an amused eye roll from Twilight.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here on this most momentous of days to join Shade and Winter Maple in matrimony," Luna began, having decided to add her own flair to Twilight's writings. "Their union—that between a pony and changeling—will hopefully one day usher forth an everlasting peace between our peoples. But more than that, we are celebrating the unwavering and immeasurable power of love. Through circumstances both joyous and stressful, happy and harrowing, the love between these two individuals has proven to be not just strong, but unbreakable."

As Luna continued, Twilight couldn't help but feel a touch uneasy. She leaned over to Autumn, quietly whispering. "Is she ad-libbing? I didn't write most of that."

Autumn, who was still wiping away her unending stream of happy tears, smiled at the lavender alicorn. "Either way, it's beautiful," she sniffled.

The crimson pegasus managed to tear her eyes off of her daughter long enough to look across the way at her own husband. He was already staring back at her, looking awfully stern for somepony watching his daughter get married, though Autumn knew the look was simply meant to be a reprimanding glare for talking while Princess Luna was performing the wedding. Regardless, Autumn smiled at him, prompting him to smile back, both due to the memories that were stirring up, and how proud they were of Winter.

Thankfully the ceremony was running more smoothly than the rehearsal, though that wasn't to say it was going entirely smoothly. Despite how romantic it was for the friends and family of the bride and groom, there was still a fair amount of quiet murmuring coming from some of the other guests, not to mention some scribbling, note-taking, and camera flashes from the media ponies.

However, even though Twilight frequently glanced out at the somewhat disruptive crowd, Shade and Winter were completely unbothered, smiling happily as they listened intently to Luna, and occasionally casting loving looks at one another through the corners of their eyes.

Luna paused for a moment and grinned. "At this time, the bride and groom shall exchange their vows," she announced, followed by a quiet sigh through her nose now that she could finally take a break.

Shade and Winter turned to face each other. However, while Shade's smile held firm, he couldn't help but notice that Winter's seemed to falter slightly as she looked back into his emerald eyes, as though she were nervous about something.

Winter let out a long breath to compose herself. "I guess I'll go first. Shade..."

With just that one word, Winter's voice caught in her throat. Her excitement and nervousness were at odds, and the words she'd been going over in her head for the past several weeks had suddenly started to hide themselves from her. She took another breath, then took a moment to gaze into Shade's eyes as she had so many times in the past. She could tell from the way he was looking back at her that he knew something was bothering her. Regardless, he continued to smile comfortingly at her. Just that caring and loving expression was enough to help ease her mind, but staring into his eyes also reminded her of all the reasons that she loved him, all the reasons that they were getting married right now.

Winter's smile returned, her words coming back to her. "Shade, when I first met you, I never imagined how much my life would change. I didn't really know who you were, or even what you were, but still I felt something between us. We were both new to Ponyville, so it almost felt natural for the two of us to come together."

Her smile dropped for a moment as she continued. "But finding out you were a changeling was probably the biggest shock of my life—well, at the time anyway. But even though I felt heartbroken, it was the things you said to me that helped me realize that it didn't matter what you were, only who you were. And who you were was the person I loved more than anything." As her smile returned, there was a slight hint of amusement on her face. "You know, most people would have probably questioned whether this relationship was worth it after all the stuff we've had to deal with. I think I've had more brushes with death in the two years I've known you than most people would in their whole lives."

That comment elicited some curious whispering from the crowd, particularly from the reporters, but Shade and Winter had no issues ignoring them.

"When I thought about that, I was a little surprised, to be honest. Never once through all of that did I ever consider our relationship to be a problem, and I never will." Winter glanced out at the crowd, her eyes falling on her son sitting in his stroller next to Fluttershy before turning back to Shade. "We've been through too much for us to give up on this relationship now. Even if the people here were still unwilling to accept a changeling into their society, it wouldn't matter to me; we belong together, whether the world wants it or not. And with that in mind..."

Winter looked over her shoulder at Twilight. Understanding the silent gesture, the alicorn nodded with a smile. With a quick flash of magic, Twilight produced a thin, square, case lined with black velvet and passed it to Winter. Shade immediately recognized the case; it was the same one that Winter kept her necklace in.

Winter held the case out to Shade. Though she had a smile on her face, that nervousness that Shade had detected earlier seemed to have returned. "I have a little gift for you."

Shade grasped the case with his neon green magic, but Winter didn't let go, resisting his pull and preventing him from taking it. The changeling raised an eyebrow as Winter's smile fell and he released his grip.

"Before you open it," she started with a pensive gulp, "I need to explain something. I don't want you to interpret this the wrong way, so when you see it, just let me explain my reasoning, okay?"

Shade was confused, but he had no reason not to trust her. "Uh, okay."

Winter finally let him take the case, and he opened it carefully. What Shade saw was pretty surprising: it was, in fact, Winter's necklace. However, it wasn't just one necklace, but two. The diamond snowflake had been cut in half, separating the two asymmetrical halves, both now affixed to thin, silver chains.

Shade looked back up at Winter, surprised, confused, and a little shocked to see what she had done to the gift he gave her. "Winter, what did you—?"

Winter held up a hoof to stop him. "Just... let me explain. I know your first reaction is gonna be negative considering that you gave me that necklace to symbolize our relationship, and separating the two halves might seem like it goes against that, but... I think it's unfair that I'm the one who gets to wear that symbol. As the necklace represents, there are two halves in this relationship, and we share everything; the joys and the burdens. But on top of that, my thoughts behind this revolve around just how important we are to each other, because... I feel like when we aren't together, it's like a part of me is missing." Winter smiled passionately at Shade, holding his hoof in hers as she gazed into his green eyes. "And that feeling is why I did this. Because it's only when we're together that we're truly whole. Does that make sense? Believe me, I put a lot of thought into this before I did it, so I hope you understand."

Shade took a moment to let that sink in. Certainly he was shocked to see the gift he'd put so much thought into cut in half like that, but he knew Winter had to have a good reason for it. And after hearing her feelings, he couldn't really be upset with her. He returned her smile with equal passion. "I get it, Winter. Don't worry about it."

There was a look of relief in the pegasus's amber eyes. "You're not mad?"

Shade shook his head. "Of course not. After all, I feel the same way. I'm happiest when I'm with you."

"That's good to hear," she said as she breathed a relieved sigh. "I was pretty worried you'd take it the wrong way."

Shade held a hoof to her cheek, gazing deeply at her. "I appreciate the gesture, Winter, and I'll gladly accept it."

"Good. Because, let's be honest anyway: I don't really think the original meaning behind it actually holds anymore."

Shade raised an eyebrow at the statement. "What do you mean?"

Winter stared at him wistfully, remembering the evening that Shade had given her the necklace. The words he spoke to her that day were the words that helped her realize that she was in love. Those words were what convinced her that, even though he was a changeling, she could trust him. But now...

"'How two things that have no right being together can live in perfect harmony.' Do you really still believe, after everything we've been through, that we have no right being together?"

The changeling let his echoed words take root in his mind. Those words were spoken during a time when he cursed what he was and had resolved to renounce his life as a changeling. Despite the emotion he had put behind those words, perhaps Winter was right. As the two of them stood there together, under the flowery arch in front of dozens of ponies who now knew and accepted what he was, could he really say that they had no right anymore?

Shade said nothing, but simply gave Winter a smile to show his agreement, to which she smiled back. Enveloped in his green aura, Shade took one of the necklaces—the left half—and tenderly placed it around Winter's neck where it belonged. Winter then did the same for him, draping the right half around her beloved's neck. Shade took a moment to look down at it, its surface glittering in the sunlight. Winter knew this sort of thing wasn't really Shade's style, and didn't expect him to actually wear it everyday, but seeing the loving smile on his face was enough to validate her decision to split the jewel.

As though on instinct, the two began to lean toward one another, lips prepared to meet.

"Ahem."

The two lovebirds pulled away quickly when Princess Luna loudly cleared her throat, looking around as if they'd been in a trance and had just remembered where they were and what they were doing.

"Getting a little ahead of ourselves, aren't we?" the princess commented with a coy smirk.

Quiet giggles and chuckles could be heard from the audience, eliciting embarrassed blushes from the bride and groom.

"I believe the groom must recite his vows, as well," Luna stated, looking at Shade.

"Uh, right..."

Using his magic, Shade removed a folded piece of paper from the pocket of his tuxedo; he didn't want to risk fumbling over his words during such an important moment, so he made sure to write his vows down. He unfolded the paper and briefly looked over what he had written. His eyes then rose to meet Winter's. She appeared eager, as though greatly anticipating what he'd say. Shade glanced down at the paper again, and let out a sigh.

"You know what?" He crumpled up the paper and tossed it aside, confusing Winter. However, he smiled to reassure her. "There wasn't really anything I had written down that I haven't said before. Stuff about finding a place where I feel like I belong; finding something that makes life worth living. Cheesy stuff like that. But you've heard all that before. Honestly, the only thing I feel like I have left to say is, admittedly, also something you've heard before, but something that I'll never stop saying: I love you."

Shade was right about that; Winter had heard him say that countless times before, but no matter how many times he said it, it always melted her heart. "That's all I need to hear," she responded quietly with a soft smile. "Well, that and..."

Winter turned to Princess Luna expectantly. Recognizing the cue, Luna nodded and looked at Shade. "Do you, Shade, take Winter Maple to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, forever and ever, 'til death do you part?"

Shade looked Winter straight in the eye, and without a moment of hesitation, answered with an entirely certain, "I do."

Winter practically felt her heart skip a beat, as though hearing him say that had shaken off any doubts she may have still had that this was real.

Luna then turned to Winter. "And do you, Winter Maple, take Shade to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, forever and ever, 'til death do you—"

"I do!" Winter received a few odd looks, prompting the pegasus to blush in embarrassment before taking a breath to steady herself. "I-I mean... I do," she answered more calmly.

Princess Luna looked out to the crowd. "And if anypony has any objections to this union, speak now, or forever hold your peace."

This was honestly a moment that Shade had been worried about. With so many strangers in the crowd today, was it possible that at least one of them had come here with the specific intention of voicing disdain?

There was a rather long moment of silence, as though Luna half-expected somepony to speak up, or perhaps at least expecting Pinkie Pie to do something disruptive. However, everypony was doing pretty much what Shade was: just glancing around at everypony else. Seemed most of the people in attendance were expecting somepony to say something, but nopony did, or maybe if they wanted to, didn't due to the presence of royalty. Either way, the meadow stayed silent, though nopony noticed a rainbow-maned mare stealthily sneaking away from her seat.

Satisfied that there were no objections, Luna grinned widely at the bride and groom, knowing that they had arrived at the big moment. The midnight blue alicorn inhaled deeply, and loudly—but not too loudly—made the much anticipated declaration. "Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife! Now you may kiss the bride."

Shade and Winter took only a brief moment to share their elation through silent gazes and barely contained smiles before the happy couple leaned forward to share their first kiss as husband and wife.

The moment Winter's soft, ivory lips pressed against Shade's fanged, ebony lips, the crowd rose from their seats and erupted in cheers and applause. Pinkie Pie even pulled out her party cannon to fire off confetti which rained down over the scene in a rainbow of color.

But that wasn't the only rainbow, as another streaked through the sky overhead, culminating in a massive explosion of color in the sky above. The shock wave shook the wooden stage and the archway, as well as blowing back the manes of all the guests as they struggled to remain upright in their seats.

"Consarnit, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack yelled angrily at the pegasus zooming overhead.

Shade and Winter's lips parted, but remained in intimate proximity. They didn't even cast a glance at the boisterous audience as they reeled from the sonic rainboom, but simply took another moment to stare into one another's eyes, silently sharing in their disbelief that they were now married.

But the day was not over just yet. Finally managing to tear their eyes away from each other, Shade and Winter stepped down from the alter and began to make their way back down the aisle, hoof in hoof, passing by the enthusiastic onlookers who were shouting their congratulations and well wishes. The four bridesmaids and two groomsmen followed behind them, Nimbus taking a moment to retrieve Snowflake from Fluttershy, while Autumn could barely see where she was walking through the happy tears pouring from her eyes.

Twilight stopped to meet up with her friends, and Rainbow Dash touched down with them at the same time, earning herself a harsh scowl from Applejack. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as the crowd's excitement gradually began to die down and transition into casual conversation again as everypony prepared to make their way to the town hall for the reception. "Well, that went better than expected," the lavender alicorn said as she wiped a few beads of nervous sweat from her forehead. "Princess Luna went a little off script, and Shade and Winter almost did things out of order, but, all in all, that was efficient."

"Perhaps not a word I'd like used to describe my wedding, but it certainly was beautiful in it's own... unique way," Rarity said with a giggle.

"How do you feel about it, Chamella?" Fluttershy asked the maid of honor.

Chamella gave a confused look in response to the unexpected question. "Hm? Oh, uh, well... It was pretty nice to be able to see a wedding that I was actually, you know, invited to. And it was really beautiful and romantic and everything."

"No... regrets?" Rarity asked cautiously.

Judging by the concerned looks on her friends' faces, Chamella could tell what they were getting at. She smiled reassuringly. "I don't think I have any reason to regret anything. Everything that's happened to us has lead to this moment, and this is exactly how I want to see it. I want nothing more than to see Shade and Winter happy. Because they're my friends."

Rarity attempted to scrutinize Chamella's expression for any lingering doubts, but the changeling's smile was unwavering. With a grin of her own, Rarity nodded. "That's good to hear. Now then, shall we make for the reception?"

***** ***** *****

Ponyville's town hall was bustling with activity. The spacious interior of the round building had been set up for the wedding reception early that morning, with several tables positioned around the large room and each elegantly decorated with clean, white tablecloths and a vase of flowers. Similarly to the wedding ceremony, there was no particular seating assignments where there would normally be name cards to indicate who's seated where. One long table was positioned at the far end of the room for the newlyweds and the bridesmaids and groomsmen to sit, decorated similarly, but with the addition of the tall, four-tiered wedding cake that Mr. and Mrs. Cake had whipped up. It was even topped with custom made bride and groom cake toppers; one resembling a pegasus mare in a wedding dress, and the other a changeling in a tux. One more table was set up for all the food that had been prepared for the attendants, sporting an assortment of dishes, including multiple varieties of soups, sandwiches, and pastas.

Unsurprisingly, the hall was fairly crowded. While not all of the wedding's attendants chose to join the reception, as some simply wished to witness the marriage, there were still more people present than perhaps Twilight was expecting when she helped plan the set up; nothing that a few extra chairs couldn't fix, though.

Now that the ceremony was over, however, the curious folks who had shown up to witness it had now returned to trying to approach the newlyweds, as well as the maid of honor. But after the wedding, Shade and Chamella were in particularly good moods and decided to actually oblige and chat with some of them, though Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, having more experience dealing with the media, insisted on accompanying them in case they deemed any questions too personal or inappropriate.

On the other hoof, Winter was a little surprised—and admittedly a touch disappointed—that none of them had approached her. As the bride in the first pony-changeling wedding, she was expecting to get a little more attention. Perhaps it wasn't all that surprising considering most of these people really showed up because of the changelings specifically, but she still would've liked to be included.

"I know I'm probably not the first, but let me offer my congratulations, Winter."

The newlywed bride was approached by one of the journalists, though it happened to be the one she was already acquainted with. "Thanks, Daily," she responded with a giddy grin. "Honestly, I couldn't be happier right now."

Daily chuckled at the enthusiasm in her voice. "I can tell. It's hard to believe that you went through something as harrowing as having your son kidnapped so recently."

Winter paused and stared at Daily for a second.

"Shade told me," the unicorn elaborated. "And, look, I get why you'd want to keep it under wraps. You can trust me to keep my lips zipped on the subject."

"Thanks. Don't really want to cause any sort of panic."

"That's basically what Shade said." Daily glanced around discreetly, then spoke quietly to Winter. "But do you really think the changelings are gonna launch another invasion?"

Winter breathed a sigh. "It might be inevitable. Chrysalis seemed pretty motivated. Of course, she might've just been blowing hot air to intimidate us."

Daily shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, it's probably not a big deal anyway."

The pegasus quirked an eyebrow. "A potential invasion isn't a big deal?"

"Equestria's been prepared for another invasion since the changelings were kicked out of Canterlot the first time. Security's been beefed up over there ever since, so it's not like things would change much with this knowledge. Might be a bit of unrest, but nothing that the princesses couldn't handle with a few reassuring words. There weren't even any serious injuries to anypony when we weren't expecting an invasion. How do you think it'll go now that we're prepared?"

Winter managed a small smile. That actually made her feel a little better about the situation. "I guess you've got a point."

Daily looked at her with an eager grin. "So, does that mean I can report the kidnapping? It'd be great for my reputation as a journalist."

"Don't push your luck," Winter warned her with a slight grimace. "One thing at a time, okay? Why don't you just focus on your current article."

Expecting as much, Daily simply waved the warning off. "Yeah, yeah. Besides, I don't wanna nock all my arrows at once; gotta space out my shots, you know?"

Winter stared blankly for a moment at the metaphor, but ignored it. "Uh, yeah, whatever you say. Anyway, it was nice talking to you, but I'm gonna see if I can pull Shade away from the other reporters for a few minutes. Enjoy the reception, Daily."

"Congrats again," Daily said as Winter slipped into the crowd to locate Shade.

It wasn't difficult for Winter to pinpoint her new husband's whereabouts. There was a mild commotion originating from near the long table at the back, a sizable group of ponies seeming to have gathered around something, and it didn't take a genius to figure what—or rather who. Also, the tall stature of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna made for a useful point of reference, so Winter made her way over towards them, as she knew the princesses were accompanying Shade.

Princess Celestia spotted Winter approaching, her elegant, white wedding dress helping her stand out. She looked back at the paparazzi surrounded her and her company. "I think that's enough questions for the time being, everypony," the ivory alicorn informed them, her voice firm, yet maintaining the soothing comfort for which her subjects have come to know her, like a mother speaking to her children. "I'd advise everypony to find a seat so we can prepare for dinner."

There was a round of quiet and disappointed groans from the group of reporters as they began to disperse, but they weren't going to argue with Princess Celestia.

With the crowd thinned out, Winter could finally see Shade and Chamella, who had been obscured in the middle of the crowd. The two changelings both let out sighs of relief, no doubt glad to finally have some room to breath. "Regretting letting them question you?" Winter asked, giving him a quick, reassuring kiss.

"I didn't think they'd have that many questions," Shade groaned.

"They made talking to Daily Scoop sound pleasant," Chamella added, adjusting her mane so that it partially covered her face again.

"They were at least considerate enough to offer congratulations on your nuptials," Luna said. "But how could they have nothing to say about my performance as officiant? Surely my role in this was at least noteworthy."

"Perhaps they just wanted to spare your feelings," Celestia quipped, fighting back a snarky smile and garnering an insulted pout from her sister.

Winter looked out at the crowd. She noticed that people were starting to find seats and appeared to be eyeing up the spread on the food table. "I guess we should sit down so everypony can start eating. Now that the butterflies in my stomach are gone, I'm feeling a little hungry myself."

The two princesses agreed with a pair of nods, stepping away and taking seats at a table with Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. Shade, Winter, and Chamella promptly located the bridesmaids and groomsmen, and they each sat at the long table at the back. Winter and Shade sat beside one another at the middle of the table, while the four bridesmaids sat to Winter's right—Autumn with her grandson in her hooves—and the two groomsmen to Shade's left, which ended up leaving some empty space on the groom's side of the table.

After a few more minutes, everypony seemed to have found a table to sit at, though some conversations continued on. Winter stood up from her seat and lightly tapped the side of her drinking glass with a fork. The high-pitched ringing, though not obnoxious, was loud enough to grab the attention of the conversing ponies. Recognizing the aural signal, they quieted down and turned their attention to the smiling bride.

"Th-ank—"

Winter's voice cracked as soon as she began; apparently not all of the butterflies had vacated her stomach just yet, and she was just now realizing that she'd never actually spoken in front of an audience like this before. She said her vows in front of them earlier, but she had shut out pretty much everything that wasn't herself and Shade at the time. Now that she was staring at all of these eyes staring back at her, her stomach started to knot up again. She wasn't entirely sure if this was stage fright, or if she was just still a little overexcited about being married.

Winter took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and started again. "Thank you all for coming out to see our wedding, everypony. It really means a lot to us. I know some of you were still a little wary about Shade and Chamella, but hopefully, after today, you've seen what I see in them, and I hope you enjoyed the wedding." There was a brief silence, as though the crowd was waiting for Winter to continue. The pegasus fidgeted awkwardly as everypony stared at her, a light blush tinging her ivory cheeks. "Um... That's all I have to say. Enjoy your dinner," she said somewhat quietly, then sat back down.

At that prompt, the caterers began to retrieve the dishes from the food table, delivering the meals to the guests' tables. However, before anypony had a chance to take a bite of their food, the sound of a chair's legs scraping against the wooden floor caught everypony's attention. All eyes looked toward the bride and groom's table again, but this time staring at the female changeling beside Winter that had stood from her seat.

Chamella hesitated for a moment, feeling a touch uneasy about having all eyes on her now, but she managed to speak through her nervousness. "Um, actually, before we eat, I have something I want to say."

The crowd listened intently, but Shade and Winter gave her puzzled, yet curious looks.

Chamella shuffled her hooves bashfully, finding it difficult to look out over the crowd for more than a few seconds at a time. However, she cleared her throat quietly. "So, uh... I-I heard it's customary for the maid of honor to give a speech at the reception..."

Winter looked at Chamella sympathetically, the changeling's discomfort in this situation clearly evident. "Chamella, you don't have to—"

Before Winter could finish, Chamella smiled at her and shook her head. "I-I know I don't have to, but I want to. Ever since you asked me to be your maid of honor, I've been looking for a way to show you how much I appreciate it and really earn the title. But just doing things like delivering invitations, or helping to plan the wedding didn't feel like it was enough. So to show you how much this means to me, I have to use words rather than actions."

There was a short moment of silence as Chamella and Winter looked into each other's eyes. The pegasus gave a small smile, and the changeling smiled in turn. Chamella looked back out at the sea of eyes staring at her, but didn't feel nervous anymore. She had a lot to get off her chest, and no amount of the jitters was going to stop her.

"My name is Chamella," she started, introducing herself to the guests who may not yet know her name. "I came to Ponyville about two years ago now, and that was a scary time for me. Even though the people here were willing to give me a chance, just like with Shade, I still couldn't help but wonder if they were silently judging me."

Chamella could see several people in the crowd—namely, the locals who were already familiar with her—grinning amicably at her, which was helping her self-confidence.

The changeling smiled back at the friendly crowd. "But over time, those people started treating me like I was... well, normal; like I was a member of the community. Even back in the Changeling Kingdom, I had never felt like I was a part of any sort of community, even though I still considered it my true home. The other changelings, save for Shade, were rude, violent, and greedy. So you can't imagine how relieving it was to see how friendly and considerate all the people here were, even though to them I was one of those rude, violent, and greedy creatures. Everypony would greet me with waves and smiles whenever I passed by."

Chamella's smile faded, and her eyes turned down. "Except for one person..."

Winter suddenly felt a twinge of guilt tightening her chest.

"There was one person who seemed to do everything in her power to keep her distance from me. The two of us had barely said a word to each other for the first year that I lived here." Her ears drooped guiltily. "Not that I could blame her. I did some... bad things to her. She had every right to hate me. Even to this day, those things I did are the things I regret most, and probably will be for the rest of my life. And this was even before she outright told me that she hated me.

"It wasn't until recently that, um... certain 'circumstances' lead to us working together, but even then, she was reluctant to accept my help. I, uh... can't really go into what happened, but I will say that she wound up saving my life, and that was the moment that our relationship changed. Just a few weeks ago, that mare hated me with every fiber of her being." Chamella turned to Winter, giving the pegasus a fond and grateful smile. "And today I'm standing here as the maid of honor at her wedding. It's... still pretty unbelievable, to be honest. Lately I've sometimes found myself wondering when I'm going to wake up. So, um... I guess I just wanted to say... thank you. I'm happier now than I ever thought I could be." A slight blush appeared on Chamella's dark cheeks, and she giggled with embarrassment. "Oh, uh, sorry. I kind of made this speech more about me, didn't I?"

Winter shook her head with a dismissive grin. "It's fine." She stood up from her seat, putting a hoof around Chamella's shoulder and addressing the crowd. "I want everypony to know that, while Chamella has done some questionable things in the past, she's put a lot of effort into making up for them." Her ears flattened a little and she gave the changeling a guilty look. "I only wish I hadn't been so stubborn. We could have been a lot happier if I'd've been willing to give her a second chance sooner. And, to clarify, she saved my life more than once. If it weren't for her, I probably wouldn't be standing here right now."

Winter pulled Chamella in closer, giving the changeling a grateful hug.

"Maybe you should have married her!" a certain pink pony jokingly called out from the crowd, earning some amused laughter from the guests. Even Winter and Chamella got a kick out of it.

"Ahem."

The crowd's attention was drawn to the stallion beside Shade. With all eyes on him now, Nimbus rose from his chair, his expression rather unreadable.

"Not that I want to interrupt this heartfelt moment, but I believe the groom deserves some of the attention. And as the closest thing to a best man that Shade has, I have some things to say about him."

Shade found himself feeling a tad nervous on reaction. Even though he knew Nimbus had warmed up to him over time, his terse tone didn't inspire confidence.

"When I first met Shade, I despised him."

And that first comment didn't really help either.

"I refused to trust him, and was certain he was going to take advantage of a naive mare like my daughter."

"Thanks, Dad," Winter groaned sarcastically.

"And when he revealed what he truly was during a childish outburst, I was even angrier. But also confused. He was a changeling, one of the creatures that had recently attacked our kingdom, and yet my own daughter—and even my wife—were willing to trust him. I had a hard time wrapping my head around that." Nimbus's eyes shifted away from the crowd momentarily, looking somewhat guilty. "I'll admit, I may have been a pretty... No, very judgmental person at one point in time. But if there was anything or anypony I'd be willing to change myself for, it's my daughter. So, for her sake, I gave Shade a chance. I'll skip all the miscellaneous details and just say that, as I got to know him a little more, I began to see what it was Winter saw in him; somepony with morals and sensitivity that I imagined wasn't common among changelings, if not a little temperamental at times."

Nimbus looked over towards his grandson being held in Autumn's hooves, a fine crack of a fond smile creasing his lips. "But it really wasn't until I found out that Winter was pregnant that I started making an real effort to like him. After all, if he was going to be the father of my grandchild, I needed to make sure he was the best damn father he could be. I reluctantly accepted the fact that he was going to be a part of my family, and the apprehension and worry that was filling his head didn't exactly fill me with confidence."

Nimbus's gaze then fell to the changeling himself. Once more, Shade had difficulty reading his face, but he couldn't help but notice a slight glint in the stallion's eyes. Shade had seen that glint before on rare occasions; it was a hint of respect.

"But I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel the same way when I found out I was going to be a father. So it was more than just my love of my daughter and future grandchild that lead me to help him. I knew what he was going through, and it was the first time that I felt like I could relate to him. And today, Shade has not only quelled my worries, but exceeded my expectations by risking his life to save his son. Not to say that he doesn't have a long way to go, but he's taken several steps in the right direction."

Winter smirked at her father. "So that was basically the long-winded way of saying that if even somepony who hated Shade as much as you could learn to like him, so can everypony else, right?"

Nimbus turned his nose up with a huff. "I put a lot of thought into that speech, sweetie. I'd appreciate it if you didn't downplay it."

Winter nodded with a loving smile. "Sorry. That was very nice of you, Dad."

"I really appreciate that, Nimbus," Shade said with a grateful smile.

Nimbus gave him an acknowledging nod and sat back down in his seat. "I know I've given you a hard time in the past, but I believe in giving credit where credit's due."

Chamella let out a quiet sigh of relief, turning Winter's eyes towards her. "At least he took the attention off of me," she murmured. "It might've been hard to tell, but I was a nervous wreak during my speech."

"Trust me, I know how you feel," Winter chuckled.

The bride was about to announce that everypony could begin eating now that the unexpected speeches were done, however, out of nowhere, one of the many reporters sitting amongst the crowd stood from his seat with a hoof in the air. He didn't even wait for permission to speak.

"Excuse me, but what's this business about lives being saved and harrowing experiences? Is there something happening behind the scenes that we should know about?"

Shade and Winter exchanged concerned looks, not entirely sure how to respond to the sudden inquiry. It was true that Chamella and Nimbus's speeches had dropped a few hints about their little "excursion" to the Changeling Kingdom, but they still believed that this wasn't the time or place to talk about that publicly. The problem was how they could evade the question without arousing suspicion.

But it would seem their problem would end up solving itself as Princess Celestia addressed the reporter in a curt, yet gentle manner. "This is not a press conference, it's a wedding reception. If you have anymore questions that you haven't already asked, I suggest you hold onto them for later."

The bride and groom breathed sighs of relief. They would have to thank the princesses profusely afterward for all of their interference in regards to the media.

Unfortunately, it appeared the patience of the journalists had worn thin, as another stood up to voice his concerns.

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, it sounds like these people are hiding something from us. I think if they want us to trust them, they need to be upfront with us."

Chamella gulped nervously. That was pretty much what Daily Scoop had said to her some time ago, but now it was sounding even worse considering they had multiple reporters here to gang up on them. And if even the word of the princesses wasn't enough to diffuse them anymore, who could?

"Pardon me."

It looked as though another journalist was about to throw their hat into the ring, but much to Shade and Winter's surprise, it was Daily Scoop that had rose from her seat. For a moment, they were both a little upset. After showing them some sympathy, was she really about to side with the media that she herself had berated?

"My name is Daily Scoop, and as the official journalist appointed to cover this wedding, I've gotten a chance to get to know these folks a little over the past few weeks. And, I'll admit, I got a little forceful with my questioning, digging in places they would have rathered I left untouched. And believe me, I thought the same way as all of you," she said, pointing to the group of other reporters. "They sounded like they were hiding something, and I got pretty suspicious. But the thing about that is that it wasn't just the two changelings that were seemingly keeping information from me; it was their friends, their families, their neighbors. Everypony I talked to around here—including the princesses—seemed to be in on it, but refused to say anything. So unless this entire town is conspiring with Queen Chrysalis and the changelings, it sounds like they all trust them enough to want to protect them from people like us."

"That's exactly right," Rarity chimed in. "Shade and Chamella have done nothing wrong, and if we want to present ourselves as being better than Queen Chrysalis, we need to be willing to accept those who do not want to live under her rule anymore. If we don't give them a second chance, then are we really any different than the villains who attack us?"

Princess Luna nodded. "Well said. I, for one, am a strong advocate for giving second chances to those who truly desire change. Equestria will always provide refuge to those who seek it, so long as those individuals are willing to abide by our rules, laws, and way of life. That is to say love, care, and make friends," she said with a grin. However, that grin quickly transitioned into a judgmental glower. "If you cannot accept that, then perhaps it is you who does not belong here."

Celestia gently placed a hoof on her sister's shoulder. "Luna, there's no need for that."

The princess of the night took a breath to steady herself. "My apologies. It's just that I know how vicious the media can be towards those who were once considered Equestria's enemies. I simply ask that these people give Shade and Chamella the benefit of the doubt as they once did with me. Is that too much to ask?"

There was a moment of silence after that, but one reporter pensively raised her hoof despite Luna's previous outburst. "But what exactly is this secret they're keeping?"

"Private is what it is," Twilight answered from the bride and groom's table. "And we'd all appreciate it if you would all respect their privacy. Treat them as you would treat anypony else. Their lives don't have to be an open book for everypony to read."

The reporters were suddenly backed into a corner. Pretty much every local pony in attendance was giving the journalists the stink eye, making them feel more than a little outnumbered. The media ponies reluctantly sat back down, disappointment painting each of their faces. Whether or not they were actually moved by the words of Shade and Chamella's friends, or if they had simply given up and realized that they weren't going to get any information wasn't clear, but either way it was nice to see them give it a rest.

Shade cast a grateful smile out at the crowd. "Thanks for having our backs, everypony. It means a lot that you'd be willing to stick your necks out for us."

"We're simply protecting our own," Princess Celestia said with a motherly smile. "But I feel this little digression has caused more harm than good, as I'm worried the food has gone cold by now."

"Yes, we've been on this tangent far too long," Luna agreed boisterously. "Let us dine and celebrate the joyous union of these two individuals as we came here to do!"

Luna raised her glass, prompting everypony else to do the same, including the reporters. Shade and Winter did as well, but looked at one another as opposed to the crowd. As they clinked their glasses, the two newlyweds shared a kiss, and the guests finally received their meals. With everything said and done in regards to the bride and groom, the people gathered in the town hall began to engage in idol conversation as they enjoyed their food, leaving any reservations they may have had on the back burner for the time being.

***** ***** *****

It was an odd feeling: the day seemed like it had lasted ages, yet at the same time, only a few moments. It was hard for Winter to believe that her big day had practically come to an end already. She normally enjoyed the comforting, iridescent glow of the evening sunset, but on this specific evening it felt a little bittersweet. It was almost as though a part of her mind expected her wedding day to last forever, as illogical as that was. In a way, it was reminiscent of when she and Shade had first said they loved each other; it was wonderful and romantic in the moment, but then they were just expected to go back to acting normally. The moment was over, and now it was back to their day-to-day.

Winter let out a wistful sigh, leaning her head against Shade as the pair walked home from the town hall, and baby Snowflake having drifted off to sleep in his stroller after a long and noisy day. Despite her slight disappointment that the wedding had to end, she still found herself smiling. It wasn't like this day wouldn't be forever ingrained in her memory. She was elated to have done all this, even though she had made sure to tell Shade that they didn't have to do it at all. Really, all of this was just for show; she'd have been just as happy without a big, fancy wedding ceremony, and she didn't expect their lives to really change much just because they were husband and wife now, though the public might see otherwise.

And it was surprising to both of them that they weren't once more bombarded by questions from the intrusive reporters once the reception was over. They chose to believe that they were actually showing some respect for their privacy, though they noticed that none of the journalists seemed prepared to leave town, so they were expecting to be hounded again tomorrow after their supposed "grace period" was up. The two had had a quiet discussion during the dinner about whether or not they should just divulge what had happened in the Changeling Kingdom just to satiate the relentless hunger of the media, but elected to maintain their stance on it; their wedding day was not the time or place for that.

And in the end, it was for the best. All of the anxiety and excitement from the day's events had taken their toll. Though she hadn't done anything physically strenuous, Winter felt quite drained. And even though she didn't want the day to end, she found the idea of finally lying down in bed and getting some sleep oddly tantalizing; especially if it was next to her new husband.

"Shade! Winter!"

The couple hadn't gotten to say a word to one another on the walk home yet before somepony else called out to them from behind. Turning around, the pair saw Daily Scoop trotting briskly to catch up to them, and Chamella was flittering through the air behind her, though she appeared to be having a little difficulty with her bridesmaid's dress on.

Admittedly, both Shade and Winter were a bit exasperated upon seeing the unicorn again, as they really just wanted to get home. But being in a good mood, Winter cast a smile at her. "You need something, Daily?"

Daily shook her head as she slowed to a stop near them, Chamella alighting beside her. "Not really. Just wanting to offer my congratulations again and let you know that I'll be heading back to Manehattan tomorrow."

The two raised their eyebrows slightly, both a little surprised to hear that. She'd been around consistently for the past few weeks, so it was going to seem oddly quiet without her around.

"Really?" Shade said. "I figured you'd stick around as long as the other journalists were still here."

Daily scoffed with a smirk. "Are you kidding? I need to get back and find a publisher for this article before everypony else gets one out first. Besides, I had the privilege of getting some one on one time with all of you. Those other slowpokes don't have the kind of info I do."

Winter glared rather sternly at Daily. "You better not be thinking of saying anything about Snowflake's kidnapping in that article."

Daily flicked a hoof dismissively. "A promise is a promise, don't worry about it. I just mean all the details about your relationship and stuff. Trust me," she said looking between Shade and Chamella, "this article's gonna paint you guys in a good light. If people don't trust you two after this, I'll eat my notepad."

"I hope so," said Chamella with a touch of doubt in her voice. "Those reporters still seemed like they were looking for reasons to not like us."

"Hey, I did the same thing, remember?" Daily reminded her with not a drop of guilt in her tone. "But once they know what they wanna know, it'll all cool off. Guess you'll just have to tough it out 'til then."

Shade flashed her a grateful grin. "In any case, I wanna say thanks for sticking up for us at the reception."

"Yeah, I didn't want to have to sit there the whole time with their interrogating glares drilling into us," Winter added. "So, thanks."

"Don't mention it," Daily responded with another dismissive wave, though accompanied by an accomplished smirk. "Like I've told you guys already, I want peace with the changelings, too, and this is the first—" She paused glancing down at the snoozing infant in the stroller. "Er, second big step toward that."

"I guess all that's left is to see how well the article goes over, huh?" Shade surmised.

Daily nodded. "Mm-hm. Considering I have the blessings of both you guys and Princess Twilight, I have confidence that it'll go swimmingly. Besides, I feel like I'd be putting myself into some seriously hot water if I decided to write something slanderous at this point."

"I think we can trust you to do us justice," Shade reassured her.

"I'll hold my breath," Winter added with a touch of doubt, but smiled anyway.

Daily adjusted her satchel. "Well, I guess I should be going. I'm sure you two have a romantic night ahead of you, and I don't wanna bother you any longer," she said with a suggestive wink. The journalist gave the sleeping tyke in the stroller a light pat on the head, then waved goodbye as she turned to head back to her carriage. "I'll be sure to visit again soon. There's still a lot I want to ask the three of you. Congrats again, and I hope your lives are bit less stressful from here on out."

"Feathers crossed," Winter chuckled as she, Shade, and Chamella bid Daily Scoop farewell.

Chamella turned to her two friends and their son, grinning happily, but didn't say anything. Her expression elicited a curious eyebrow raise and a smirk from Winter.

"Something on your mind, Chamella?"

The female changeling's face shifted at the question, as though she forgot she was still there. "Oh, uh, not really. I really just wanted to say congrats again. And thank you again for... well, everything. I—"

Winter raised her hoof, stopping Chamella short. "I know, Chamella. You did a pretty good job explaining how you felt at the reception."

Her maid of honor smiled with a bashful blush. "Yeah, but I really can't say it enough. I know this was your big day, but it's still a pretty big deal for me, too. With us being friends now, and you choosing me as your maid of honor, and seeing my best friend get married to the mare he loves... I just feel so... lucky, you know?"

"I know how you feel," Shade said to her. "I've pretty much felt that way since I came here." He glanced at Winter with a fond smile, then to his sleeping son. "And even more the longer I've been here."

Winter rolled her eyes with a small grin. "Alright, Shade, everypony's gone home, you can cool it with the sappy stuff."

"Sorry," he chuckled with a light blush. "But on that note, I guess we should be getting home, too, huh?"

"Oh, sorry for keeping you," Chamella apologized. "I'll just head home myself."

As Chamella was turning back to return to Carousel Boutique, Winter reached out to stop her.

"Hold on."

Chamella gave her a quizzical look, and Winter wheeled Snowflake's stroller to Shade.

"You go on ahead, I'll catch up," the pegasus told her husband before looking back at Chamella. "I just wanna talk to Chamella a little, girl to girl, okay?"

Shade raised an eyebrow, but didn't question her. "Alright, but don't be too long." With that, he gave Winter a quick kiss and began pushing Snowflake home, leaving the two mares alone.

Even though she was more than happy to have Winter as a friend now, Chamella still couldn't help but feel a little pensive now that the two of them were alone. There was a somewhat serious expression on Winter's face, and Chamella had come to associate that with some sort of stern talking-to.

"Is something wrong?" Chamella asked, concerned not only for Winter, but herself as well.

Winter opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated, breaking eye contact. She was reluctant to speak what was on her mind, worried not only about possibly making the moment awkward, but also about the answer to the question she wanted to ask.

"I need to ask you something," Winter finally said. "And I want you to be totally honest with me. Do you... Do you still love Shade?"

Chamella blinked, staying silent for a few moments. That wasn't quite the question she was expecting. "I..."

She felt a little guilty that she wasn't able to provide an answer right away, and feared that Winter would interpret her hesitation as an admission. But now that she was asked the question, she couldn't just not give an answer, especially at such an important time.

Chamella's ears folded back slightly, and she glanced away. "I'm... not really sure anymore."

Winter tilted her head, a bit puzzled by the answer. Admittedly, that response did make her feel a little hopeful, but she still wanted a little more. "What does that mean?"

The changeling took a few seconds to find the words to express herself—something she'd been doing a lot lately. "Well, I do still love Shade, of course. But I can't tell anymore if I'm in love with him."

"Is that the honest truth, or are you just worried about how I'd react if you said yes?"

Chamella shook her head. "If I still felt that way about him, I think I wouldn't feel so happy about your wedding. I'm not jealous of you, like when I first saw the two of you together and—" She paused. The two mares stared at one another for a moment, neither feeling particularly pleased to recall the event to which Chamella was about to allude. "But... I don't feel jealous anymore. Now, seeing you two together makes me happy and a little envious."

"Envious? But you just said—"

"What I mean is... I don't want Shade, but I kind of want what you and Shade have."

Winter couldn't help but smirk, a little amused by the implication. "Wait, are you saying you want a boyfriend?"

The changeling's black cheeks flushed a dark red, flustered and embarrassed. "Uh, n-not necessarily. I want the sort of happiness you have, b-but I don't think that specifically requires..." She trailed off, taking a second to compose herself. "I guess I'm really just trying to say that I'm happy with the way things are. I still care about Shade a lot, I don't think I could ever stop caring about him, but I'm fine with just being a part of his—no, your lives," she declared with a smile. "I think I'll be happy as long as the two of you are happy. Is that the answer you were hoping for?"

Winter smiled back at her. "Not exactly the answer I expected, but one I think I can live with." She wrapped a hoof around Chamella's shoulders, pulling her maid of honor in for a hug, which the changeling happily returned. "Just remember: you might be done with your maid of honor duties, but your job as a godmother is gonna last for a long time. Think you can handle that?"

After the hug ended, Chamella looked Winter in the eye, her smile persisting. "I'll do my best. I promise."

Winter nodded, satisfied by that response. "Good. Then I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye. Enjoy your wedding night," Chamella bid her as she turned to leave.

As Winter watched Chamella head back home, she inhaled a long breath through her nose. Chamella still seemed a little unsure of her feelings; her response, while reassuring, still had some hints of uncertainty. Of course, she knew that a person wasn't just going to get over their feelings simply because somepony asked, but knowing the lengths that Chamella was willing to go to help and protect not just her, but Snowflake as well, Winter strongly felt she could trust her—something she definitely wouldn't have found herself thinking just a few weeks prior.

But on one's wedding night, one should be focusing primarily on their new spouse, and Winter had instructed Shade to return home without her. Thinking about it now, how awkward must Shade feel to cross the threshold of their home by himself on their wedding night? Winter couldn't help but blush with embarrassment at her own lack of forethought and made to catch up with Shade at a brisk pace and apologize.

Her wedding dress kept her from running as fast as she wanted to, but the house wasn't too far away. As she approached her home, she slowed down, breathing a sigh of relief and smiling as she looked toward the front door. Shade was standing there with Snowflake, watching her and waiting before going inside, wearing a similar smile of his own.

Winter's smile became more of smirk as she walked up to her new husband. "You just can't help yourself, can you? Always gotta be the romantic," she said to him, her somewhat mocking tone masking the fact that she actually greatly appreciated it.

"I was under the impression that crossing the threshold with your new spouse was one of the big moments of a couple's wedding night," he responded.

Winter giggled at him. "Rarity really gave you the full run-down, huh?"

Shade opened the door and gestured to the interior. "Shall we?"

The pegasus lifted her alabaster hoof, offering it to her husband who happily accepted, holding it in his own dark, hole-riddled hoof. Using his magic, Shade gently pushed Snowflake's stroller into the house first, with the newlywed couple passing through the doorway right afterward, hoof-in-hoof.

The two spent a few moments just staring into one another's eyes. As lovely and heartwarming as the moment was, they both couldn't help but feel a touch of awkwardness.

"Sooo... Do things feel any different to you?" Winter asked Shade.

The changeling hesitated. "Are things... supposed to feel different?"

She gave him a look of uncertainty. "I dunno. I thought they might, but to be honest, outside of how exciting this day has been, now that we're back home, it just feels... kinda normal again."

"That's a good thing, though. Right?"

Winter shrugged, but flashed a grin. "I suppose. I mean, I was the one who said that we didn't have to do all this. And I even told Twilight that the wedding was just something I wanted to do for the heck of it. I guess I never really expected our relationship to actually change at all—I already love you with all my heart and more. But I guess I do get to call you my husband now, and just saying it still makes me tingle," she said with a girlish giggle.

"Well, either way it was fun," Shade commented with a smile. "Too bad we only get to do this once, huh?"

"We could get a divorce and then remarry, if you want. But that's a lot more paperwork than I'm willing to deal with right now. Maybe in a few years," Winter joked with an amused smirk.

Shade glanced out the window. He noted the orange tint of the sky. It was certainly nice of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to perform a sunsetting in front of all of the wedding guests, but even so, the stars were only just starting to become visible. The smallest hint of purple and the bright, white glow of the top half of the moon could be seen past the green hills on the outskirts of town, signaling the coming night, but it wasn't quite what one would call "late" just yet.

"You know, there's still some time left in the day. Is there anything you wanna—mmph!"

Shade's question was cut off by a pair of lips suddenly pressing against his, their gentle softness offset by the vigor behind them. As unexpected as the kiss was, Shade made no effort to dissuade Winter, leaning into it himself as Winter wrapped her hooves around his shoulders.

After about thirty seconds, Winter finally broke the kiss, though made sure to maintain the mood she'd created by giving Shade a sultry gaze. "We're gonna need those extra hours," she whispered seductively.

That suggestion wasn't something Shade was willing to argue against. However, there was one thing he felt they should deal with first. He glanced at the stroller still sitting next to them. "I think we should get him to bed first," he said, tilting his head toward Snowflake.

Winter released Shade from her loving embrace, giving her sleeping son a loving look. "Right. Don't wanna get ahead of ourselves."

Unfastening the stroller's safety belt, Shade carefully lifted Snowflake up with his magic, and the two parents carried their baby up the stairs to the little tyke's nursery.

Shade gently lay his son down inside his crib, and the pair simply stared down at the snoozing infant with the utmost fondness. It was still unbelievable to both of them that the little guy had gone through so much hardship at just a few months old. His behavior was completely normal, and he didn't even have a scratch on him from the ordeal. To him, all of that nastiness may as well have not happened at all, and he wasn't even going to remember it when he got older. And now, after all of that, he just slept soundly with not a care in the world. And Shade and Winter couldn't be more thankful.

Shade cast a sidelong glance at his new wife. Winter was contentedly staring at their son with a motherly smile. She reached a hoof into the crib and tenderly stroked Snowflake's head as he slept peacefully. A question came to Shade's mind as he observed how much Winter had changed as a mother over the course of this experience. From her deep-rooted concerns during her pregnancy, to her overprotective approach after he was born, to the much more normal and tolerable mother she was currently, Winter had been put through the emotional wringer lately—so much so that she was actually attending weekly therapy sessions—and it seemed like Snowflake had become somewhat of a security blanket for her; she just seemed so much more calm when she had him with her.

Shade hesitated before asking his question, but felt compelled. "You... wouldn't be interested in having another one, would you?"

Winter gave Shade the harshest glare he'd seen from her in a long time. "Don't even. This one has resulted in enough trouble on his own. I'd probably wind up pulling all my hair out if we had another," she told him firmly as she started for the bedroom, Shade following behind her. "Which is also why you'll be using protection from here on out, and I don't wanna hear any complaining about it."

Shade simply chuckled quietly as they entered the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He had a feeling that would be the response he'd get, but just wanted to make sure.

Winter walked over to the vanity, removing her necklace to put it back into its case. She paused for a moment when she looked at it. There was a brief moment where she felt a touch of panic when she saw only half of the gemstone hanging off the silver chain, but quickly remembered that that was her doing. She also briefly wondered if she did the right thing by splitting it in two. Winter glanced at Shade, who was busy removing his white tuxedo. He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief upon pulling off his bow tie, as though it had been slightly choking him the whole time. But seeing the other half of the necklace hanging from his neck, Winter couldn't help but smile. She felt too strongly about her reasoning for doing what she did. She really did feel whole when she was with Shade.

Winter placed her half of the necklace inside its velvet-lined case, then retrieved Shade's half to join it. Then, following Shade's example, Winter removed her wedding dress. She took one more extended look at the gown before hanging it in the closet. It was still a little hard to believe that the wedding was over, but even harder to believe that she was actually married now.

The pegasus turned to the bed. Her husband had already climbed under the covers and she was eager to join him. With no lack of energy, Winter hopped into the air with a flap of her wings, landing directly on top of Shade and eliciting a surprised "Oof" from the changeling. Any complaints he may have had about her rather aggressive approach were stymied by Winter's lips, eagerly kissing him as she lay on top of him.

"You're getting a little worked up, aren't you?" Shade managed to say between forceful kisses.

"Hey, I'm just in a good mood after such a great day. It's our wedding night; how can I not be a little excited? Besides, I've really been needing this, so don't ruin the mood."

Shade held his hooves out defensively. "I'm not complaining, just making a comment."

Winter gave him a sultry grin. "Good, because we've got a looong night ahead of us."

She leaned down to plant another kiss on Shade's fanged lips, but the moment their lips touched, a shrill, high-pitched whine pierced through the baby monitor on the bedside table.

Winter's head hit the pillow under Shade's head with a groan, her body going limp with frustration. "You have got to be kidding me..."

Shade let out a quiet sigh, but couldn't help but smile with mild amusement. "I'll take care of it. Just wait here."

Winter reluctantly rolled off of Shade, allowing him to get up and tend to their wailing baby. She lay there with her hooves splayed out, staring up at the ceiling with a somewhat disgruntled glower. Yet she also couldn't help but smile a little as she watched her husband leave the room to do what a father does best.

"Guess this is why most people get married before they have kids."

The End

Chapter 1 - Life's Unexpected Surprises

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 1: Life's Unexpected Surprises

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Silence.

Something that was all too familiar in the Changeling Kingdom. But it was not the sort of silence that allowed one to find peace and be at ease. It was uncomfortable—no, more than uncomfortable; it was depressing, the air still and stagnant, void of any pleasantries. It was the type of silence that allowed one to ruminate on their past and the things they've done. The silence brought with it the memories of the mistakes that have been made and where one has ended up because of them.

Such was now the life of Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings.

The queen sat, motionless, inside her private chambers deep within the caves of the changeling hive. Despite how far into the cavernous catacombs her chambers were, she still had a view of the outside world via a gash in the wall of the room, too small for a changeling to fit through, but large enough to have a decent view of the outdoors beyond.

Not that it was a comforting view. Her "window" looked out into a valley located in the dead center of the mountain range that the hive was built into, surrounded on all sides by rocky cliff faces and overshadowed by depressing, grey cloud cover. Even the valley itself was devoid of anything pleasant. No grass, no flowers, and the only trees that were there were long dead, leafless and petrified. The ground was nothing but solid, grey stone, cracked and jagged.

But by far the most distinguishing feature of the valley—and also the reason why the changelings didn't spend much time there, if any—were the skeletons of countless creatures that were strewn about the entire place. One could hardly take a single step without hearing the sickening sound of snapping bones beneath their hooves. Thus they had named it The Boneyard. It was not a place where changelings could live, but more like a garbage dump, a place for changelings to dispose of their victims after they've had their fill of flesh. Of course, such meals were few and far between; it was very likely that the valley was covered in the bones of more changelings than anything else, the many bugs that had starved or frozen to death in the unforgiving ecosystem of the Changeling Kingdom, or even those that had been cannibalized by other desperate changelings. The countless remains of centuries worth of dead changelings was more than enough reason not to spend any prolonged time there.

And Chrysalis had to stare at it every night.

She tore her eyes away from the wretched sight, not needing any further reminders of her failures. She turned back to her chambers, electing to lay upon her bed.

Unfortunately, the view within her chambers was not much more pleasant. Despite what one would think the room of a queen to look like, her chambers were nothing more than a hollowed-out hole on the inside of a mountain; certainly not befitting royalty. Her "bed" was nothing more than a slab of rock covered in dead grass and leaves to at least offer some comfort. Aside from that, there was nothing. It was certainly a far cry from her throne room, which at the very least was large and imposing.

The only other thing in her room that there was to look at was a large leaf laid next to her on the bed. Upon it were less than a dozen red berries, an apple that was already starting to rot, and the carcass of a small rabbit. The latter was a rare luxury, even for the queen, and she was lucky to get that. Over the past year, it seemed like fewer and fewer of her subjects still respected her enough to deliver food to her. Had she not known who had delivered it, she would have been surprised that they hadn't kept the rabbit to themselves and simply not told her about it. Even still, she had barely touched her meal. She simply had no appetite as of late, as surprising as that sounds. No changeling in their right mind would turn down a chance to stuff their face with food were it presented to them.

But then, Chrysalis wasn't exactly in her right mind at the moment.

"Your Majesty?" came a deep voice from the entrance of her quarters.

Chrysalis lifted her head in an effort to look at least somewhat presentable, though she knew that wasn't necessary given who it was.

At the entrance was, of course, another changeling; a male much larger than your average drone, though not quite as tall as the queen. He was adorned with a spiky, dark blue helmet and matching chest piece, signifying his position as a member of Chrysalis's personal guard. His mane was completely concealed underneath his helmet, but the long, bright orange hair of his tail was in full view, looking clean and well-groomed for changeling standards. He stared with his piercing, deep purple irises, waiting patiently for his queen to respond to his address. There was a distinct look of concern in those eyes.

"Do you need something, Wraith?" Chrysalis asked, sounded slightly perturbed.

Wraith, becoming aware that his presence had disturbed the queen, offered a slight bow in apology. "Pardon the intrusion, Your Highness, but I simply wished to know if you needed anything else."

Chrysalis turned away from him, laying her head back down onto the bed. "No."

Wraith grimaced slightly at the reply. Obviously she was upset about something, but knew it was not his place to inquire without warrant, lest she become angry with him. However, it was only now that he noticed that she had hardly touched the food he had brought to her a little while ago.

"You haven't eaten your meal. Are you ill?" he said, his voice sounding more inquisitive than worried.

"I'm not hungry," was all she said, hoping that would suffice and she could return to her privacy.

"To say you aren't hungry is to say fish are not wet. I have a hard time believing that."

"Are you just going to stand there until I admit that something's wrong?"

Wraith held a hoof over his chest, bowing his head. "I would consider it my solemn duty as your captain to console you if you are distressed, Your Majesty. If you have grievances, I have ears."

Chrysalis stayed silent for some time. After about a minute or so of waiting, Wraith assumed that she had elected to keep her thoughts private, and so turned to leave.

"Am I a good leader?"

Wraith stopped just as he stepped through the archway. Her voice was quiet when she spoke up, barely intelligible, but still audible enough to catch his attention. "Your Majesty?"

Chrysalis sat up straight in a similar manner to how she would sit upon her throne. She looked Wraith dead in the eyes, her own eyes looking almost desperate for reassurance. "Am I a good leader?" she repeated at a slightly higher volume.

Wraith reentered the room, satisfied that she had decided to open up to him. He answered her question with steadfast loyalty in his tone. "You are the greatest leader the changelings have ever had."

Chrysalis scoffed at his response. "That doesn't quite answer my question. The changelings don't exactly have a great track record when it comes to rulers. Being the best leader the changelings have ever had does not equate to being a good leader."

"You were almost successful in dethroning Princess Celestia and taking it for yourself. Our past rulers cannot claim such accomplishments."

"Keyword: almost," Chrysalis said with a sigh, brushing her long, dull blue mane out of her eyes. "If it weren't for my own hubris I'd be sitting on Equestria's throne right now. Twilight Sparkle even found me out and I still would have gotten away with it. But one little mistake ruined years of planning and preparation." She looked up at Wraith, her eyes full of regret. "If only you had been there with me, Wraith. Perhaps things would have gone differently."

"I was needed here," the armored changeling reassured. "One of us needed to stay behind to ensure the changelings who elected not to participate in the invasion did not panic and do anything rash."

"I guess it doesn't matter now," Chrysalis said with a sigh of resignation. "The damage has been done. Not only were many of my subjects killed in the skirmish, but with each passing day the rest of them lose more and more respect for me. I'm beginning to think I'm no longer fit to lead them."

"Then you need to earn their respect and loyalty once more. Perhaps another siege is in order," Wraith suggested.

"Have you not been listening?" Chrysalis snapped in frustration. "My previous plan was years in the making; I'd been preparing, performing reconnaissance and learning as much as I could, so that my first attempt would be successful. Now Celestia knows we're out here. She's prepared for us should we ever strike again. My failure may have cost the changelings their only chance at a life without struggle."

She lay her head down, overcome by her own shame and disappointment, and her voice went quiet. "I've been feeling my power draining for some time. Even if I could stage another invasion, I'm nowhere near as powerful as I was before; I'd be no match for Celestia this time without the respect of my subjects to strengthen me."

Wraith took a step forward, his expression curious. "Then do you intend to step down as queen, Your Majesty?"

"I don't know," she responded in a quiet murmur. "I don't want to, but I may have no other choice. If I relinquish my throne, what will I do with myself then? And if I don't, I have little doubt that it would not be long before my people staged a coup in an effort to crown a new and better leader. Either way, there'll be no place for me within the colony anymore. It's already been more than a year since then. I fear my time as queen of the changelings may be winding down." Chrysalis rolled over, turning her back to Wraith. "Leave me. I need to think about this."

Wraith bowed obediently, taking a few steps back toward the entrance. "As you wish, My Liege." With that, Wraith exited the Queen's chambers, leaving her to mull over her thoughts in private.

Chrysalis simply lay there, the only sound being her deep, remorseful sigh. She wished beyond hope that she'd be able to come up with some way to restore her people's faith in her, but the only thing that occupied her mind was how big a failure she was and the consequences that would come with it.

***** ***** *****

"You're what?!"

The peaceful atmosphere within Ponyville's Golden Oaks Library was suddenly shattered, and Twilight Sparkle—rather, Princess Twilight Sparkle—sat there at the table in the foyer with mouth agape and a shocked, uncomprehending gaze. The subject of her disbelief sat beside her; a somewhat nervous and embarrassed pegasus, even more so after seeing the newly-crowed alicorn's reaction to the news she had just shared with her. Twilight was curious when the mare, with her pearl-white coat and bright crimson mane, had requested to have a private conversation with her. It's not as though she hadn't sat down and had tea with her before, but this time something seemed to be bothering her.

And now she knew exactly what, though knowing didn't make it any more believable.

Winter Maple, with her cheeks flushed slightly, held a hoof gently against her abdomen. "Pregnant," she repeated quietly.

Twilight's expression changed none. Again, even hearing it a second time made her reaction no different than the first. It was just fortunate that she hadn't been taking a sip of tea when she told her, otherwise her guest would have inadvertently gotten a face full of it. "But you're... And he's... You aren't... What?!"

Winter wasn't really surprised by the princess's response. After all, she herself had to come to terms with it as well. "I know. I was just as surprised as you, believe me."

Twilight took a deep breath, finally managing to compose herself and level out her thoughts before starting the laundry list of questions that were rapidly piling up in her head. Her first question was admittedly a little invasive, but she needed to narrow things down. "Have you been... using protection?"

Winter blushed deeply at the question. "Um... Well, I didn't think it was necessary. We've been together for over a year now and I didn't get pregnant, so I just thought it wasn't possible."

Twilight was hesitant to ask her next question, as it required a little tact. "It, um... It is Shade's, right?"

Winter was appalled by the question, clearly feeling a little insulted. "What?! Of course it is! I'd never cheat on Shade!"

Twilight held her hooves up defensively. "I-I know that! I just... had to make sure."

Winter breathed a sigh. "It has to be Shade's. He's the only person I've ever, you know... 'been with.'"

"I get that, but it doesn't make it any easier to believe." Twilight ran a hoof through her mane, her shock turning to curious fascination. "This is just crazy. I mean, a pony and a changeling? Who even thought we'd be genetically compatible?"

"And that's kinda one of the reasons why I came to you: should this even be possible?"

"Well, clearly it is. It's not so much about 'how,' but rather 'why.' Why is a changeling able to impregnate a pony?" Twilight tapped her chin in thought, eventually shutting her eyes tightly and humming to herself. "Come to think of it..."

Winter waited impatiently for Twilight's thoughts.

"...I do recall Princess Celestia having a theory about changelings. She said that she believes that, many years ago, changelings may very well have been ponies themselves, but changes in their environment, or perhaps even corruption by dark magicks, caused them to become the creatures that we know now. If her theory is accurate, then it's possible that the changelings still possess some pony genes in their D.N.A. Even so, it's amazing that those genes managed to linger for what must have been hundreds—even thousands—of years. After such a long time, I'd have thought those particular traits would have become diluted in their gene pool." Twilight opened her eyes again, giving Winter a smile. "But I guess, given the evidence, Princess Celestia's hypothesis may actually hold water. You're basically living proof, Winter. Or rather, your foal is."

"Oh. Well, glad I could help," Winter muttered.

Twilight, noticing how Winter didn't exactly look like she was feeling better about the situation, decided to try and lift the mood. "Why don't we try and move away from the shock and confusion, hm? You're having a baby, Winter! This is amazing! How far along are you?"

"Huh?" The pegasus was a little caught off guard by the conversation's sudden shift in tone. "Oh, um, a little over a month, I think."

"Really? That long and you haven't told me until now?"

"Well, there's been a lot going on. I only found out just a few days before we went to the gala, then you got coronated shortly after. You've had a lot on your plate recently."

Twilight conceded the point. "I suppose so. In any case, I'm happy for you. Congratulations."

Finally, Winter managed a smile, albeit small and a little forced. "Thank you."

"So I take it I'm the first person you've told about this, otherwise I have a feeling the news of a half-pony-half-changeling foal would have spread pretty quickly."

Winter rubbed one of her forelegs. "Yeah, but I think Princess Cadance might have figured it out, too."

Twilight waved a hoof with a dismissive grin. "Oh, don't worry about that. You can trust her. But taking a step back here, your foal is half-changeling. This is pretty big news. You're going to be the mother of the world's first pony-changeling hybrid! Your kid could be famous!"

Winter's apprehension only seemed to heighten when she heard that. "Uh, yeah, I guess you're right. I haven't really thought about that."

In contrast to the pegasus, Twilight was excited by the idea. "Just think about what this could mean for the relationship between ponies and changelings. Perhaps a cross-species child could help improve people's view of changelings. As much as I hate to admit it, there are some people out there who aren't too happy to hear that changelings live amongst us."

"Trust me, as somepony who's dating one, I'm well aware of that," Winter groaned.

"At the very least, I can only imagine how Shade feels about this. How'd he take the news?"

Winter shied away, lowering her head slightly in shame. "Um... Actually, that's the other reason I came to see you. See, I haven't... actually told him yet."

Twilight was taken aback. "What?! Why not?! He's the father of your child! Don't you think this is something he should know as soon as possible? You should have told him before you told me!"

"I can't tell him!" Winter shouted.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, her mouth opening to say something else, but she had a hard time finding the words after a response like that. "Why not?"

Winter sighed deeply, brushing away a few strands of her mane that had fallen out of place after her little outburst. "Because I'm afraid of how he'll react."

"But you have to tell him. This isn't the sort of thing you can hide for a long time. He's going to find out eventually. And what's he going to think when he learns you've been keeping this from him?"

"I-I know. But what if he doesn't like this? What if, when he finds out, he gets scared and leaves? He may have been living here for a year or so now, but he's still getting used to his new life here. This is a big change. What if it's too much for him to handle?"

"I guess there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" Twilight stated frankly. "Ultimately, the decision is yours. I can only offer my suggestion, and I suggest you tell him."

Winter's ears folded back. "I just don't want him to leave me. I don't want to just drop this kind of responsibility on him."

Twilight leaned forward, staring Winter dead in the eyes. "Winter, look at me."

The pegasus did as she was instructed, the worry and fear in her eyes clear as crystal.

"Shade loves you. The only reason he's even here right now is because of just how much he loves you and how much you love him. I have no doubt in my mind that Shade would do everything in his power to support you during this important time in your life. If anything, I think this news is more likely to keep him around than it is to scare him off, because he would never want to leave you to deal with this responsibility alone." Twilight leaned back again, but didn't break eye contact. "Now, what are you going to do?"

Winter sat in silence for a few moments, staring into Twilight's steadfast eyes. Even if she wasn't a princess now, Twilight still commanded a lot of authority. And she was smart. No doubt any advice from this mare was worth taking to heart. But somehow, even knowing that did not alleviate Winter's worries. Deep down she was still scared.

"I-I..."

Twilight raised an authoritative eyebrow at Winter's reticence. Despite the alicorn's words, Winter was starting to feel like she wasn't being given a choice in the matter.

"I only want you to do the right thing, Winter," Twilight said, her voice more comforting than her expression.

The pegasus bit her lip, then breathed a defeated sigh. "I'll try and talk to him. But I have no idea how I'm going to bring something like this up."

Twilight nodded. "It's understandable to be afraid. I just trust that you're smart enough to make the right decision." The princess smiled at Winter. "I know you two can get through this together. And whatever happens, you have friends here to support you as well."

Winter managed to small smile, running a hoof through her crimson mane. "Thank you. That makes me feel a little better. Sorry about dumping all this on you."

"Oh, it's no problem at all," Twilight laughed. "If anything, it's good practice. As a princess, I'm going to have to listen to the problems of the people and help them in any way I can, right? So maybe I should thank you."

Winter stood up, leaving her half-empty cup of tea on the table; it was probably cold by now anyway. She took a deep breath as she prepared to leave, knowing that when she stepped out that door she'd be inching ever closer to having the conversation that she dreaded. "Well, I guess I'll be going then."

"Good luck," Twilight bid her with a wave as her guest stepped out the door.

Winter let out yet another sigh as she closed the library door behind her. She took a moment to compose herself, staring up into the clear, blue sky above. The weather was certainly not complementing her mood today. Despite it being a bright, sunny day with barely a cloud to be seen, or even a breeze of wind, Winter felt like she was going to be sick. Whether that was a result of her "passenger," or the nervousness she felt about the situation she was in was difficult to determine.

She managed to start walking away from the library, though she had no idea where exactly her hooves were taking her. She knew Twilight was right; she had to tell Shade about this eventually. There was no way she couldn't. But at the same time, she was terrified of how he would react. Would he be supportive like Twilight said, or would he attempt to distance himself from her to avoid having that responsibility dropped on him out of nowhere? She still wasn't entirely certain what her decision was, but she figured her hooves were about to decide for her. Either she was walking straight home, or heading towards Horte Cuisine's café. Shade was at work at the moment, so if she found herself going there, she knew she was ready to talk to him about it. It was about lunchtime now anyway; perhaps she'd catch him on his break.

As she feared, however, she saw the café come into view. Winter gulped pensively, trying to argue with herself to find some excuse to put this off, but all that came to mind were Twilight's words telling her to do the right thing. But the "right thing" in her eyes was whatever made Shade happy, and at this point in time, she couldn't determine what that was. At the same time though, could she really live with herself if she hid this from the person she loved most? She was going to talk to him regardless, otherwise she wouldn't have brought herself to the café. Hopefully, this was, in fact, the "right thing." She'd find out in due time.

As Winter approached the café, she noticed that there was quite a crowd. The outdoor dining tables were full, and the line of people yet to be seated extended past the door, spilling outside. The usual peaceful atmosphere of the establishment was completely overpowered by the sound of countless conversations from the seated customers and impatient ones still waiting in line. Winter couldn't remember the last time she saw the place this busy.

The pegasus noticed somepony attempting to squeeze past the ponies clogging the doorway, resulting in some rather rude comments from the frustrated customers. But upon emerging from the door, the individual was not actually a pony, but rather a changeling dressed in his waiter's uniform. Normally the sight of her lover would elicit an involuntary smile from the pegasus, but at this particular moment, it only heightened her anxiety.

Shade looked rushed. After he had squeezed out of the doorway, he hurried over to a nearby table carrying a platter of food for the couple seated there. It was miraculous that he hadn't dropped anything given the difficulty of movement. The moment he gave the couple their food, he scurried over to another table, removed a notepad from his breast pocket, and began taking the orders of another group at an adjacent table. If his hurried movements weren't enough indication that he was in a rush, his dark, navy blue mane was looking more scruffy than usual and sweat gleamed visibly on his face and neck.

After finishing jotting down the new orders, he started back towards the door to drop it off, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Winter figured this was her best chance. Without really hesitating, she quickly trotted forward. "Shade!"

The changeling turned around at the sound of the melodic voice to see his beloved pegasus. "Oh, Winter. Hi."

As was his custom when she came to see him at work, he gave her a quick kiss. Winter had definitely gotten used to kissing a set of lips that were accompanied by a pair of long, sharp fangs, but she wasn't overly fond of the taste of sweat on them currently.

This was it. She was standing with him, ready to talk about this. It was just a matter of actually starting the conversation. Winter cleared her throat, trying her best to decide what words to use to begin. "Shade, can we talk?"

Shade barely had time to really consider her request before answering. "Look, now's not really a good time. We are swamped today. And on top of that, one of the other waiters didn't show up and we don't have anypony to fill in for him. It's been nonstop all morning. I haven't even been able to take a break yet, and it's not likely I will." He began backing up toward the café again, in a hurry to get back to work before he got in trouble for slacking off. "Listen, I've gotta get back to it. I might be working a little late tonight, but we can talk when I get home, okay?"

"Oh. O-Okay..."

"Great. Love you!" And with that he pushed his way back into the restaurant and disappeared.

That didn't go as planned. Winter just stood there for a few moments, thinking over what this meant. She finally worked up the nerve to tell him, but now this. To her mind this looked like an out, a sign perhaps suggesting to her that she shouldn't tell him.

But she wasn't quite out of the woods yet. This was simply a case of delaying the inevitable, as Shade was going to be expecting a talk when he got off work. At the very least, this gave her time to think this over and figure out how exactly to break the news to him. Until then, Winter figured she may as well head home and wait out the clock.

But the walk home felt longer than usual, perhaps because she was unconsciously walking slower in hopes of putting it off even longer, although no matter how slow she walked, she couldn't slow the flow of time. When she made it home wasn't going to affect when Shade made it home. And when Shade made it home...

Winter shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind of her worries. Maybe that's what she needed right now, to just take her mind off of all this. Just go home, have something to eat, maybe have a nap or something. Maybe, just maybe, if she actually managed to relax a little, she could approach this rationally and with a level head.

So that's what she was going to do.

When Winter made it home, she stepped inside and went straight for the kitchen. Admittedly, she was a little hungry; it was lunchtime after all. Perhaps a good way to clear her head would be to try something new. She did buy a cookbook a few weeks back, and she found it sitting on top of the microwave, took it down, and opened it up, flipping through its pages for something that looked good, but wasn't too complicated. So she picked something out, and gathered up everything she needed.

Even though she'd been practicing, Winter's cooking skills hadn't really been improving. Either she used the wrong amount of something, or she undercooked the food, or overcooked the food, or burned herself on something. No matter what amount of effort she put in, she'd always manage to overlook something. Of course, Shade was always there to help her clean up any mess she made. What did it say about her skill—or lack thereof—that Shade, a changeling who had spent his whole life living in the wild and surviving off of very little, someone who had only a little over a year to become accustomed to pony technology, had managed to become a better cook than her? Maybe it was just because he worked in the food service industry. At least, that's what she told herself to make herself feel a little better about it. But she had vowed to become a better cook, which is why she'd been practicing. But how long it would take to actually see some improvement was anypony's guess.

All in all, her plan seemed to be working. The longer she stood there cooking, the further away her mind got from her previous worries. Right now, she was too focused on making sure she didn't burn anything, and when something went awry—which would happen more than once—she'd try something else. Surely she'd eventually stumble upon some meal that even she could cook. The only downside to this was, even though she was thinking about her upcoming chat with Shade less and less, now she was getting frustrated with her cooking. But in her opinion, this was the lesser of the two and something she dealt with on a regular basis, so it was the more preferable option.

As time passed by, dishes piled up, and ruined meals got thrown out, Winter finally had a chance to sit down and have a break. She pulled a chair out and sat at the table, her final attempt at her lunch sitting in front of her, although now it may be more accurate to call it supper; she'd been cooking for hours and it was actually past supper time by this point. Celestia only knows how many failed dishes wound up in the trash due to her less-than-stellar skills, not to mention the mess she'd made of the kitchen itself as a result. But, at the very least, she had made something, even if it was simple.

Just as Winter was about to serve herself some supper, she heard the front door open, and her heart nearly stopped. There was only one person it could be, and suddenly, thinking about that, it seemed the last few hours of trying to take her mind off of things had all been for naught. She could already feel the sweat beginning to bead on her head and her face getting warm. Even her appetite, which had been steadily getting stronger the longer she cooked, had diminished in an instant. She leaned off of her chair a little to peer out through the living room and the porch.

Sure enough, Shade had come home, and in even worse condition than he was when she saw him earlier. His mane was completely damp with sweat and matted to his head, and his eyes looked tired and glazed, like he'd have trouble focusing on anything. He was utterly haggard. He didn't even say a word when he came in and simply dragged himself over to the couch and flopped down onto his stomach, resting his chin on the arm of the couch.

Despite her trepidation, Winter felt it necessary to tend to him and see if there was anything he needed, so she stood up to walk into the living room, looking at his tired face. He seemed like he was ready to fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

"You okay?" Winter asked tenderly. "You look a little worn out."

"Understatement of the year," he muttered with exhaustion.

"Do you need anything? I'm guessing you're probably hungry."

Shade let out a quiet groan. "Just give me a few minutes."

"Okay. Just let me know when you're ready. I made supper."

The changeling managed to open his eyes a little, giving Winter a look that passed as cautious curiosity in his current state. "Really?" There was a little more concern in his voice than perhaps he had intended. He hoped his tone hadn't insulted her, but he knew she was well aware of her sub-par culinary abilities.

He sniffed the air to locate the food's aroma. He smelled something, but it didn't really smell like anything he was familiar with. Secretly, he was hoping she wasn't trying to get too ambitious with her cooking; who knows what sort of disaster that would incur?

"What is it?" Shade asked.

Winter sighed a little, shrugging with her disappointment. "Mac 'n' cheese."

Shade's eyes managed to turn to the kitchen sink. He certainly wasn't surprised to see the mountain of dirty dishes piled up, as such was the norm when Winter tried to cook something. But something as simple as macaroni and cheese?

Winter could read Shade's expression, despite having to see through his exhaustion. "It... wasn't my first choice. But I had to settle for something simple after... well, that," she said, pointing to the pile of sullied pots and pans. She let out another disappointed sigh. "Still managed to burn it, though. Left it in the oven a little too long."

Shade shut his eyes again. "That's fine. I'll have some later."

Winter nodded, leaving Shade to rest as she returned to the kitchen to have her supper. She scooped out a large serving of macaroni from the glass baking dish and piled it onto a plate, taking a seat and digging in. She paused for a moment when the first bite made a loud crunch in her mouth from the over cooked cheese, but soldiered through it and continued eating.

But as she ate, her mind returned to Shade. How much longer would it be before he asked about what she wanted to talk about? It was only a matter of time before she'd have to tell him. Was she just supposed to sit there in anxious suspense for him to say something?

Winter swallowed another mouthful of burnt macaroni and cheese. She inhaled a deep breath through her nose, and exhaled through her mouth. Twilight was right; she couldn't put this off any longer. Shade needed to know. And she was going to tell him. Right now.

Winter pushed her chair out, the legs scrapping loudly against the tiled kitchen floor. With determination in her eyes, she trotted toward the living room. She was going to look Shade straight in the eyes and say—

"I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Winter halted just before she made it to the living room. She looked to see that Shade had rolled over onto his side, facing away from her and letting his legs dangle limply off the couch.

"I've never been so freaking tired," he said, his voice almost trailing off. "I didn't have a single moment of rest today. It was never-ending. Take an order, deliver order, pick up food, deliver food, rinse and repeat. All. Damn. Day. And apparently it's going to be that way all week. The restaurant's booked solid. Sometimes I just don't understand how you ponies do it. All this work and responsibility coming at you without warning. It's only been one day of this kind of work and I'm already totally drained."

Winter's ears folded back upon hearing that. It was like he knew what she was going to say. If a simple, exhausting day at work was putting this much strain on him, how could he handle the news she was going to share with him?

Winter turned away, the doubt in her mind more prevalent than ever. Shade had made her life so much more wonderful since he had entered it. Was it really fair to just lay this on him now when he was clearly already so stressed out?

But she had to, right? It was the right thing to do.

Winter took another deep breath, steeling herself. "Shade..."

He didn't respond.

Winter raised an eyebrow, walking around the couch to look at him. His eyes were closed and he was breathing softly through his mouth. He'd fallen asleep.

After all of this, it seemed as though fate itself was telling her to hold off just a little longer. For what reason, she couldn't hazard a guess.

Winter made a quick trip upstairs, bringing back down with her a thick quilt, tossing it gently over Shade as he slept. She then went back to the kitchen to begin cleaning up the mess that she'd made.

As she filled the kitchen sink with soapy water, she looked back at her sleeping lover, dozing soundly on the couch. She knew he had to know, and she'd tell him eventually. It was the right thing to do, just not the right time.

Chapter 18 - The Deep End

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 18: The Deep End

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Chamella rolled her neck around slowly, a few satisfying pops loosening her vertebrae. Those cracks sounded like they might have echoed through the whole cavern in the silence, seeming so loud to her that anypony could have mistaken it for the actual snapping of bones. She didn't really care whether or not it was actually heard, as long as the kinks in her neck were alleviated.

It had only really been about a little over a full day since they left Ponyville. Chamella had lived in the Changeling Kingdom for most of her life, only spending the past two years living in Ponyville, but it was strange to her that just being away from her new home for even a day made her miss the luxuries that she'd found there. Having come from humble beginnings, she never expected she'd be spoiled so quickly. She felt a little ashamed of herself. Chamella was starting to realize that she'd probably never survive if she had to return to the Changeling Kingdom again to stay, whatever the reason would have been. Going back to hunting down food instead of making a casual, weekly trip to the market would basically be torture.

Of course, the thing she missed most right now was her warm, cozy bed. Having spent the past two nights sleeping on the ground—the previous night on jagged stone—she craved the comforting embrace of cotton sheets, quilted blankets and a fluffy, down pillow under her head. She currently felt like her spine was tied in a knot, and it probably didn't help that they've been on their hooves almost constantly since leaving home, not to mention the saddlebags they'd been lugging around. One thing was for certain, though: when she got home, she was going to lie in bed for three days straight and just savor it.

But Chamella wasn't the only one suffering. She could hear the occasional, subdued sigh coming from the pegasus walking alongside her. If anything, Winter was having an even harder time than Chamella. Granted, that was to be expected considering Chamella grew up in the Changeling Kingdom, but the inherent dangers that came with the environment coupled with just the stress of the situation made for one distressed pony. Winter's hoofsteps were audibly heavy, and she wasn't keeping her wings flush to her side anymore, letting them droop slightly. Her fur was mottled with dirt, her feathers were ruffled and her mane and tail were looking mangy and knotted.

Not only that, but Winter seemed to be in a different headspace all day, unlike how she'd been since arriving, or even after coming to accept her mistakes. Every time Chamella glanced over in Winter's direction, she found the pegasus discreetly eyeing her, only to look away with an uneasy expression before they could make eye contact. Chamella had considered questioning her about whatever it was that was obviously bothering her. However, she decided against it. She tried enough times lately to get Winter to open up and figured she'd give her a little time to herself on this occasion. Chamella hoped that Winter would know by now that if she felt she needed to talk, she could. Whether or not the changeling could say anything that would help was another story.

Chamella looked over through the corner of her eye. Winter appeared to be doing the same, as she had been all day. The pegasus turned her eyes forward once more the moment she noticed she'd been caught staring again. Admittedly, Chamella was getting more and more curious about what was on her mind, not to mention a little frustrated. Clearly whatever it was that was bothering Winter had to do with her. Chamella knew Winter still didn't exactly have a high opinion of her, but the way she'd been acting made it seem like it was something else.

Chamella was about to finally speak up, but the moment her mouth opened she noticed Winter's ear twitch and swivel forward.

"You hear that?" Winter asked quietly, listening closely.

The two stopped walking so as not to overpower the sound with their clomping hooves. Chamella perked her own ears up to listen in, even extinguishing the light of her horn for a few moments to remove the magical hum it produced. There was certainly a noise coming from further down the cave; a steady, endless sound that was not the buzzing of insectoid wings, nor as grating.

"Is that... water?" said Winter, a touch of hope in her voice.

"Sounds like it. There must be a stream ahead."

As a nice change of pace, Winter finally managed a smile. "That's great. We can refill our bottles."

"I am getting kinda thirsty."

Despite the prospect, the two mares didn't bother to quicken their pace, not wanting to exert themselves anymore than they needed to. The source of the water sounded close, resonating through the cave as if to lure them towards it. The cave itself also appeared to be narrowing the further they went. Not enough to be uncomfortable, but enough to make flight difficult. If anything, that only further suggested that it would be unlikely that they would run into any changelings down this way, as Chamella had assumed the previous day.

Eventually the path lead them to another chamber, around the same size as the room full of mushrooms they had spent the night, and like that room, this one was almost equally as awe-inspiring. First of all, there was indeed a water source there. Water ran down from the left wall through several holes in the ceiling, indicating that there must have been some other water source above them; it gave them a relative idea of how deep underground they'd come. That water poured down the wall, across the ground and into a basin in the middle of the room, around ten feet in diameter and six feet deep, carved into the stone floor by years of erosion.

But it wasn't just the pool of water that grabbed their attention. Peppered in random spots along the walls and ceiling were a variety of many small gemstones. Rubies; sapphires; emeralds; even what appeared to be a few diamonds. Their uncut edges reflected the neon green glow of Chamella's horn, painting the walls with flickering, multi-colored lights.

Winter took a few slow steps through the room as she watched the dancing colors. "Wow. And I thought the mushrooms were pretty."

"I bet Rarity would love to be here right now," Chamella giggled.

The pegasus leaned in close to one ruby near eye level on the wall. "So are these valuable, or just common gems?"

"I... don't really know," Chamella admitted with a touch of embarrassment. "As much as I work with gems, I never really got a knack for appraising them. I haven't really gotten a grasp on determining purity and stuff yet."

"Hm. Well, whatever," Winter said with a dismissive shrug. "We don't really want to weigh ourselves down with this stuff anyway. Even if they are really beautiful..."

With that said, Chamella promptly removed her saddlebags, pulling out all of her beverage containers. She'd brought three bottles of water and juice with her for the trip, which she was now realizing was not nearly enough. The only liquid she had left was about a quarter of a bottle of apple juice, which she quickly downed now so she could replace the contents with water. Really, it was a stroke of miraculous luck that they happened upon this place; another day in the caves and they would have found themselves quickly becoming dehydrated.

Winter waited hesitantly as Chamella filled her first bottle. "Is this safe? Like, is the water clean enough to drink?"

Now that the question had been raised, Chamella, too, raised a curious eyebrow. The changeling lifted her now full bottle of water and examined the contents. There were a few particles floating around in there, but otherwise it was pretty clear. "Looks okay to me." She took a small sip to test it, not finding any real issue with it. "Maybe not perfect, but it's better than nothing."

Winter shrugged. She couldn't really argue when their options were as limited as they were, so she followed suit and proceeded to refill her bottles, too.

Now that they were sitting on the water's edge, the pair could see more jewels embedded in the stone at the bottom of the basin under the glow of Chamella's horn. Winter found the sight of it oddly calming, something she really needed after all the stress she'd been put through thus far. The beautiful jewels reminded her of the one Shade had given her back then. Of course, after what happened during her last excursion to the Changeling Kingdom, there was no way she was bringing her necklace with her this time. She wasn't about to risk losing it again, especially since it meant even more to her now than it did back then. She had already lost one of her precious "snowflakes," and that was the whole reason they were here in the first place.

Her train of thought now having come full circle, Winter packed her bottles away and prepared to move forward. "Let's get going."

Chamella breathed a quiet sigh, a little disappointed that they couldn't rest a bit longer. "Alright."

The changeling was about to join Winter as she left the chamber, however, the pegasus hadn't actually started going anywhere, only looking around, confused.

"Uh, where do we go from here?" asked Winter.

Chamella, too, had a look around. There didn't appear to be any tunnels leading out of the room aside from the one from which they arrived. Chamella approached the opposite side of the room to the only wall that was devoid of gemstones. Rather than an actual wall, it appeared to be a pile of boulders.

"It looks like there was a cave-in," Chamella surmised. She flittered up to the top of the pile, taking notice of a small gap in the debris. Through it she could see that there was indeed another room beyond, but the gap was too small for either of them to squeeze through, and the boulders were far too big to move.

"So, what, now we have to go back the way we came?" Winter inferred, aggravation rising in her voice. "The last time we saw any other paths was hours ago! Now we're going to lose even more time!"

Chamella's ears folded back in shame. "I'm sorry, Winter. It was my idea to come this way. I really didn't know this would be a dead end."

Winter was visibly frustrated, casting a slight glower in the changeling's direction. But she took a deep breath to calm herself so that she wouldn't lash out. "It's fine. We knew this could happen, it's just unfortunate that it did. At least we got some water out of it."

Chamella raised an eyebrow when Winter mentioned the water. She looked at the basin again. She was only now noticing that, despite the constant flow of water pouring into it, the basin was not quite full. On a whim, she looked back through the gap in the rocks, shining her magic more brightly to illuminate the barred off room. It looked similar to the one they were currently in, only there was a complete lack of gems. There was even another basin of water in the center, but this one was full and overflowing, the water draining further down the cave.

"Wait!" Chamella zipped down and hovered above the basin. "I think this pool is connected to the other side."

Winter stared down into the water, seeing exactly what Chamella was talking about: an underwater tunnel. "So you're saying we can get through by swimming down there?" she assumed, intrigued, yet wary.

There were a few moments of awkward silence as the two of them simply stared into the pool of clear water. Winter finally looked over at Chamella, gesturing to the pool.

"Well?"

The changeling jerked her head up, stammering in response. "Huh? Y-You want me to go?"

"It was your idea. I just figured, you know..."

The dark chitin of Chamella's face went a little pale and she swallowed nervously. "W-Well, when you put it that way..."

"There a problem?" asked Winter with a raised eyebrow.

"Um... Kind of. See, changelings don't exactly make for good swimmers," Chamella explained, lifting a leg to help get the point across. "These holes make it a little difficult. And if we can't fit through or something, it might be hard to get back."

With a sigh, Winter removed her saddlebags, rummaging around inside them. "It's not exactly far to go, but fine, I'll go first." She removed the flashlight she had packed, then passed the bags to Chamella. "Can you fit our stuff through that gap?"

"Wait, can you swim?"

"Yeah. I'm a pretty good swimmer, I'll have you know," Winter said, practically bragging. "There's a rec center in Cloudsdale that my parents would take me to every now and then when I was a filly. I spent a lot of time in the pool there. I can even use my wings for extra propulsion. A lot of people don't realize that pegasi are actually great swimmers in general. We're naturally lighter and more buoyant than earth ponies and unicorns."

"Alright, I get it. A simple 'yes' would've been fine," Chamella interrupted with a roll of her eyes and a hint of envy.

With a slight grimace, Winter ignored her tone, flicking on her flashlight to make sure it was working. "I hope this thing's waterproof. Otherwise I'm not going to see a thing down there."

"I can shine my magic onto the water through the gap so you can see where you have to go," Chamella offered, flittering up to the top of the rock pile with her bags. She sized up the gap, comparing it to the saddlebags. "I might have to take some stuff out to fit it all through."

"That's fine," Winter replied, having dipped her flashlight into the water to test it. Thankfully, it seemed to work fine when submerged. "Alright, I guess I'll see you on the other side."

Winter held the flashlight between her teeth from the end; a rather awkward way to hold it, but she didn't really have any other options since she needed her wings to help her swim. With that, she turned around, lowering herself carefully into the water, hind legs first. Her whole body shuddered as she gradually submerged herself, the cold water sending a chill through her. On the bright side, she was in desperate need of a bath anyway; her coat and mane were starting to feel kind of grimy.

With a deep breath through her nose, Winter plunged her head under, letting go of the edge of the basin to begin swimming. She found it a little awkward to keep her flashlight pointed straight forward, but thankfully she could see the green glow of Chamella's magic lighting up the walls of the opposite basin even from this side. The only thing she really had to be careful of was scraping herself on the rocks.

With a strong flap of her wings, she began to propel herself forward. The passage was a bit tight, but not enough to slow her down too much. It barely took any time at all for her to reach the other side. Once she was within the glow of Chamella's magic, she planted her rear hooves on the floor and pushed herself upward, grasping onto the rim of the pool and taking a breath the moment she splashed out, her flashlight dropping onto the ground.

"You made it!" Chamella cheered with a smile from the other side of the cave-in.

Winter pulled herself out of the pool, shaking off the excess water like a wet dog. "Nothing to it really. Although drying off is gonna be a problem," she said, wringing out her sopping wet mane.

"Can you grab this stuff?" Chamella asked, holding some of Winter's supplies that she had removed from her saddlebags.

Having gotten as much of the water out of her coat and mane as she was going to be able to, Winter sauntered over to the rock pile. When she was underwater, Chamella had apparently used her magic to gently place a few bottles and plastic containers of food on the ground at the base of the stone blockage. She hadn't gotten much through yet, but then again it didn't really take long for Winter to swim through to the other side. In any case, Winter grabbed some more containers and bandages and whatever else she had packed that hadn't already been discarded as Chamella passed them through, eventually leading to the changeling pushing the empty bags through as well before moving on to unpacking her own supplies.

After a few minutes of climbing up, grabbing stuff, and setting them down, Chamella informed Winter that they were finished. "Alright, that's everything."

Winter clambered up to Chamella, her damp wings preventing her from fluttering up. "Okay then, time to come over here."

Any enthusiasm drained away from the changeling's face. "Um, right." She glanced back at the pool, looking a touch nervous.

Winter couldn't help but smirk. "Are you really that scared of a little water?"

"I'm not scared, I'm just not a good swimmer."

"Don't worry about it too much. It's not far. You can probably pull yourself along the bottom on one breath without much difficulty."

"Easier said than done," Chamella muttered with a distinct lack of confidence.

Winter was starting to get a little irritated with Chamella's wimpy attitude. "Stop complaining and just get over here. This is hardly the most dangerous thing we've come across so—"

Winter paused mid-sentence, noticing something odd. Despite how many gemstones there were in that room she'd just left, she noticed a strange gap on the wall where there were none. She could have sworn they were more evenly distributed. Her attention was then suddenly drawn to the ceiling, where she could clearly see a series of gems actually moving. And under the glow of Chamella's magic, she realized it wasn't just the gems, but it looked like the rocks were moving, too, a pair of red rubies almost appearing to be staring at Chamella from behind.

"Chamella, above you!"

"Huh?"

Chamella spun around, turning her gaze upward and shining her magic over the ceiling. She only had time to see something open its mouth, the light reflecting off a set of razor sharp, diamond-like teeth, before whatever it was clinging to the ceiling dropped down to try and take a bite out of her.

With a surprised yelp, Chamella buzzed to the side, roughly bumping into the wall in her haste to avoid being chomped. She stared down at the creature as it recovered from its fall. Gazing back at her with eyes like rubies was some sort of crocodile-like animal, its scales practically identical in appearance to the rock around them, which explained how they hadn't noticed it. On top of that, its body was lined with the same kinds of jewels that decorated the walls, strengthening its camouflage.

Chamella's heart rate had jumped up significantly after that sudden scare, but aside from the knowledge that the creature could scale walls and ceilings, she felt at least a little safer now that she knew it was there and could keep an eye on it. The problem now became how she was supposed to join up with Winter with this thing on her tail.

"Look out!"

At Winter's warning, Chamella felt a sense of dread, turning around again to find a second crocodile clinging to the wall next to her and ready to take a bite out of her.

Chamella tried to dart out of the way, past the crocodile, but the animal managed to swat her with its long tail as it leapt off the wall, causing Chamella to collapse onto the floor roughly. She was able to reconstitute herself in time to see a third one crawl out of the water of the basin, inching menacingly toward her with mouth agape.

With fear in her eyes, Chamella scrambled to her hooves, galloping as quickly as she could to the room's entrance. Now standing in the dark corridor from which they entered, she chanced a glance behind her. The crocodiles weren't actually chasing her, but appeared to be standing guard in the room, staring at her as if waiting for her to make a move. And in the few seconds that she'd been running, another two of them had cropped up from somewhere, revealing just how few gemstones were actually embedded in the walls, as most of them were upon the creatures' backs.

Chamella seemed to be safe where she was, as the crocodiles didn't seem interested in pursuing her out of the chamber for some reason. But now regrouping with Winter seemed practically impossible; there was no way she was going to be able to out-swim five of them.

Winter had to watch on as Chamella panicked over what to do. She had no idea of how she could help, as swimming back through would just put them back at square one, but with five vicious reptiles trying to kill them. "You... You've gotta find a way past them!" she shouted, not knowing of anything else to say to aid her companion.

"You think I don't know that?!" Chamella shot back, her eyes darting between each of the animals. "But how exactly am I supposed to do that?!"

"I don't know, I'm just... I can't really do much to help from here! Use your magic! Can't you, like, zap 'em or something?"

"What?! I can't—"

Chamella paused, her eyes widening as a thought came to her. She didn't have confidence that her magic was strong enough to harm these creatures whose scales were seemingly made of stone. But just because she couldn't "zap 'em," didn't mean she couldn't use her magic another way. She had a plan, but whether or not it would actually work she had no idea. It was a gamble, but she really didn't see any other way around this mess.

Chamella took a deep breath, buzzing her wings and hovering into the air. Her heart was beating like a jackhammer; she knew that if this didn't work she was basically croc' chow. Quickly, she flew to the center of the room. She was caught off guard when one of the crocodiles jumped up in an attempt to bite her leg, but she was able to pull herself up quickly enough to avoid its bone-breaking jaws. Chamella flittered above the basin, frantically going over the idea in her head one more time before she executed it. She heard the hurried clattering of many claws on stone as one of the creatures expertly started scaling the walls. Chamella knew she had to act now before they got the drop on her from above.

"What are doing?! Get out of there!" Winter called out in a panic.

Instead of heeding Winter's warning, Chamella closed her eyes for a brief moment, then surrounded herself in a bubble of magic and dove straight down into the water.

She opened her eyes again, finding herself submerged in water as if that wasn't what she was expecting. Now that she was down there, she was suddenly struck by an intense feeling of regret and dread. The water created more resistance against her barrier than she had anticipated, making it difficult to push her way through. She had to fight just to prevent her bubble from floating back to the surface. Chamella flittered her wings as fast as she could to move herself forward, sweat already beginning to run down her face.

Chamella heard a splash behind her and didn't have to turn around to know that the crocodiles had jumped in after her. She couldn't move any faster, her wings were already burning as it was. She was starting to realize that her magic was much less reliable than she'd anticipated. She could see ahead of her that it actually wasn't much further to the other side, the problem was that she didn't know if the gap between her and the creatures was smaller.

The changeling let out a frightened yelp when she felt something prod the back of her shield. They were nipping at her heels, but thankfully that bump actually pushed her forward a bit. But now that they were right on her tail, she wasn't sure if she'd even make it. She needed one final push...

In her desperation, Chamella spun around, releasing a flash of blinding, green light from her horn. The crocodiles that had been chasing her flinched from the colorful deluge, becoming disoriented for a brief moment. Sucking in a deep breath of air, Chamella used that moment to drop her barrier, starting from the rear so that the water flooded into the air pocket she'd created from behind her, pushing her forward. Knowing she had little time, Chamella scrambled to pull herself along the bottom until she could see the surface above her.

The problem was, with all the panic, her frantically buzzing wings, and fighting against the water, she had already tired herself out. Chamella didn't have any strength left to climb out, clawing and clambering uselessly against the wall.

But Chamella saw a pair of white hooves reach down into the water, grabbing hers and pulling desperately. The changeling's head burst out of the water with a loud gasp and Winter helped pull her out and onto relatively-dry land. The pegasus then helped her put some distance between them and the water, in case the crocodiles were still in pursuit.

They staggered towards the direction that the overflow from the basin was running, opposite from where they originally entered the conjoined chambers. Having noticed a distinct lack of splashing aside from what they produced with their own hooves, they slowed down, chancing a look back.

They weren't being chased. Winter and especially Chamella paused to catch their breath, having found themselves out of immediate danger. The pegasus took a chance and crept cautiously back to the exit pool, picking up her dropped flashlight and hesitantly leaning over it and peering down to the bottom. She saw no sign of the creatures in the water, no reflecting light off the jewels on their bodies. Out of curiosity, she climbed up the pile of boulders congesting the passage and shone her light through it. Sure enough, all five crocodiles were present and accounted for on the other side, the final one climbing out of the basin as she looked in.

Winter let out a sigh of relief, climbing back down and approaching the supplies she hadn't had a chance to repack. "I think we're in the clear."

"They didn't follow me?" Chamella asked, still shaking slightly.

"Nope. They're all over there again. For some reason, they just don't seem interested in leaving that room."

Chamella, too, let relief wash over her like the water dripping from her smooth skin. She made to help Winter with their gear, packing her supplies back into her own saddlebags. As she did, she looked around the room they were in. She had noticed it earlier when she was looking through the gap, but once again she noted the utter lack of gemstones in the walls.

"Maybe they were protecting those jewels," the changeling guessed.

Winter simply shrugged. "Whatever the case, at least we can be sure there aren't any more in here. What even were those things? They looked like crocodiles, but... not."

Chamella shook her head. "I don't know, I've never seen them before."

"Which means we're probably lost again..."

Chamella didn't look at Winter. The shame was already welling up as much as the overflowing basin. "Sorry..." was all she muttered.

Her bags full up again, Winter slung them over her back. "Don't worry about it. Let's just go. I don't exactly feel like this is a safe place to take a break."

"Sure..." Chamella threw on her bags on as well, following behind Winter with her head down slightly.

After that it was pretty much just the sound of their hooves splishing and splashing in the shallow runoff that echoed through the rather narrow passage leading forward. The tunnel had gotten so cramped that Winter and Chamella couldn't walk side by side if they tried, especially with their bags on. Speaking of their bags, they were now feeling a little heavier, having gotten a little damp as they were packing away their supplies. With that combined with all the water that was still dripping from their bodies, they were starting to feel particularly exhausted. And if that wasn't bad enough, having wet wings meant that they didn't have an easy escape route if they were to have another encounter like that before they managed to dry off.

Winter glanced over her shoulder at the changeling following close behind her. Chamella wasn't looking forward, but was staring down at her hooves as she walked, looking rather sullen. Winter figured that it must have been due to the comment she'd made earlier.

"Listen, you don't have to feel bad about not knowing where we are. I was just... talking out loud. I wasn't trying to demean you or anything," Winter explained as comfortingly as possible. She figured her travel companion could use a little calming down after what she just went through.

That didn't seem to perk up Chamella at all. In fact, her ears drooped even more and she let out a long, defeated sigh. "I... I just wish I could be a better guide. If I'd been more familiar with these caves, we might have already found Snowflake by now. I wish I could be more useful in helping to find him..."

Winter frowned at Chamella's defeatist attitude, sympathizing with her feelings on their situation. She didn't say anymore. It felt as though they'd gone back and forth on this sort of thing enough times already; she didn't really feel like there was anything that hadn't already been said at this point.

As they continued to traverse the narrow passage, the sound of the gently running water underneath them steadily began to grow louder. And the more they walked, the more they started to realize that it wasn't the water running with them, but it was coming from up ahead. It was starting to sound less like a babbling brook and more like a rushing river. Inciting curiosity, the two mares shared equally unsure looks and hurried their pace through the crevice until they reached its end not far down the way. When they finally emerged from the passage and into a more open cavern, they got a good look at what the source exactly was.

They stepped out onto a ledge overlooking an enormous cavern, taking care not to get too close to the edge as their wings would be too wet to save them from such a long fall. But the fall wasn't what caught their eye, but rather the falls. To their right was a large waterfall pouring all the way down from the ceiling a fairly long distance above them. Several smaller water sources flowed through cracks in the rocks, and all of this water made it feel like they were in a cavern under the ocean right now. And all of it was feeding into one large stream down below where they stood, rushing off another ledge and running into a deeper part of the river with violent rapids that lead into the darkness of the cave. Winter and Chamella didn't know where that river would lead, but they assumed, judging by the jagged rocks and stalagmites, that it wasn't safe.

What did look safe, however, was the flat area below them. A sizable plateau with the water from the falls running over most of it, forming a shallow, but wide creek. The walls around the left and right sides of the plateau were lined with considerably large stalagmites, a result of the moisture building up and solidifying for who knows how long. But thankfully there were areas of dry land, the bank of the stream being smooth and flat and covered in coarse, dark sand from decades—maybe centuries—of erosion. There was certainly more than enough room on either side for them sit and take a breather. That was the plan right now, the only issue being getting down there. Flight wasn't an option at the moment, but as luck would have it, there was a narrow ledge that lead all the way down along the wall on their left, so they carefully shimmied their way down along it until they managed to reach the bottom.

With a loud sigh, Winter threw off her saddlebags and plopped herself down on the dry bank. "Finally. Wide, open cavern..." She scanned the walls, taking note of the distinct lack of gemstones. "No sign of those crocodile things. This definitely seems like a good spot to take a break." She started rifling through her bag to look for something to snack on.

Chamella wandered over to the stream's edge, gazing into the crystal clear water. "This probably would've been a better place to fill our bottles. Don't think those things were swimming around in here."

"Good point. Might as well do that then," Winter suggested as she opened a container of fruit salad she'd packed.

"Oh, my gosh!"

Winter nearly spilled her food all over the ground, startled by Chamella's sudden exclamation. "What?! More crocs'?!"

"Better," Chamella replied, a wide grin on her face as she stared into the creek.

The changeling looked like a cat ready to pounce, her eyes focused and fixed on the water. With one quick motion, Chamella plunged her head into the water and almost immediately retracted it with a small trout held between her teeth. She looked over her shoulder at Winter with wide eyes, like a pet looking for encouragement for a job well done.

Winter simply raised an eyebrow at Chamella's enthusiasm over a little fish. "A fish? That's what you're so excited about?"

Chamella seemed a little disappointed by Winter's reaction, removing the trout from her mouth and holding it with her magic. "Well, it's something I can eat. But I guess that doesn't really help you, huh?"

The pegasus shrugged disinterestedly as she ate a spoonful of chopped fruit.

Chamella was about to eagerly bite into her catch, but hesitated, casting a concerned glance at Winter. "You're not gonna be weirded out by this, are you?"

Winter smirked. "You do know who I live with, right? I think I'm one of the only ponies in Equestria who has meat in her fridge."

"Have you ever seen Shade eat a live animal?"

The smirk faded from Winter's face. "Um... No, I haven't."

Chamella raised her brow, wanting to be sure that Winter could handle the sight of it as the fish continued to struggle within her magical grasp.

Winter shrugged off her worries. "Just eat it. I'm sure I can tough it out. But if I might ask, how'd you catch that thing so easily? Fish are pretty quick."

"It's not my first time. I was never great at chasing down mice or rabbits like Shade, but sometimes I'd go to a nearby stream and wait for fish to swim by. It was pretty rare, but I did manage to catch something from time to time." She turned her attention to the flailing trout, licking her lips as she prepared to dig in.

Winter found herself unable to look away as Chamella sunk her sharp fangs into the fish's flesh, ripping a chunk of it's meat off and happily chewing it up. Despite having its innards now exposed and some of them missing, the trout continued to thrash, holding onto the last thread of life it had left, all the while Chamella smiling contentedly as her face and teeth were stained with meat and blood. It didn't look quite as gory as it would have been with some other kind of animal, but Winter felt a bit more unsettled than she thought she'd be; she had found herself suddenly losing her appetite.

Chamella gulped down the mouthful of tasty fish, licking the flaky morsels from her muzzle. She hadn't had fish in a long time. She normally leaned toward chicken or pork, but Chamella had forgotten how much she enjoyed fish, even raw like this.

The hungry predator prepared for another bite, but paused with mouth agape. Through the corner of her eye, Chamella noticed that Winter was staring at her. Her face looked uneasy—almost fearful. Chamella recognized that expression. She had repeatedly caught Winter casting that look in her direction since they'd woken up that morning. Now she was thinking it was time to inquire.

Chamella placed the now dead fish on the ground, looking at Winter as gently as she could to try and coerce the pegasus into opening up to her. "Winter, are you okay?"

Winter straightened up, surprised by the question. She hadn't realized she'd been so blatantly staring at the changeling. "Huh? Uh, I-I'm fine. Why?"

Chamella frowned at the obvious lie. "I know something's bothering you. You've been staring at me weird since this morning. Are you mad at me?"

"What? Mad? Well, no."

"Then what's up?"

"Nothing. Stop worrying about everything," Winter huffed defensively.

Chamella wasn't willing to accept that. She stood up and walked over to Winter, looking compassionately at her. Winter seemed to inch back instinctively as the changeling sat next to her, turning away tellingly. Chamella had a feeling this was about to go back to the previous quarrels between the two of them. "Please, Winter. If we're going to be working together on this, we need to help each other. And I want to help you."

Winter looked back at Chamella, unsure of herself, even with Chamella's harmless, pink eyes staring back at her softly. "You... probably don't want to know."

Just as Chamella thought: there was something bothering Winter. "Look, whatever it is, I can't help you if you don't share."

Winter stared silently at Chamella for a few moments. It was evident that she wasn't about to let up. She let out a reluctant sigh. "It's... about last night."

Chamella quirked an eyebrow. "Last night?" Her eyes widened slightly as she deduced what Winter was talking about. "Do you mean the nightmares you had?"

She received a silent nod in response.

"What happened that would make you act so on edge? Was it that bad?"

Winter was quiet for a moment longer before finally sharing the details. She knew it was probably something that Chamella didn't want to visualize, but she was insisting. "You killed Shade."

The changeling blinked. That wasn't quite what she was expecting.

"And then you were about to kill me, but that's when you woke me up. You said 'If I can't have him, nopony can.'"

Chamella felt her heart sink, not just because of the hypothetical scenario, but also at its implications. "You still don't trust me..."

"Look, I don't think you would ever kill Shade. I don't think you'd ever kill me, at least not on purpose. I know you're trying to make amends and everything, but I... I just can't forget the things you did."

Chamella looked completely crestfallen at hearing that, turning away from Winter and hanging her head with the shame of the mistakes that continued to haunt her. "So you're still not ready to forgive me?" she muttered.

Winter shuddered a little. "I haven't been able to get the image of it out of my head since I woke up. It felt too real. Every time I look at you, it flashes in my mind again."

The pegasus heard a quiet sniffle, her attention turning to Chamella. She had started to cry, a few tears welling up in her eyes. The changeling attempted to wipe them away, but they were just replaced by more a second later.

"I-I'm trying, Winter, I really am," Chamella said shakily. "All I want to do is make it up to you, but if helping to find Snowflake isn't enough, then I don't know what I can do."

Winter didn't say anything. Yesterday morning she might not have even cared about Chamella's feelings in this situation. To her, Chamella was the bad guy. She wasn't supposed to feel sorry for her or sympathize with her. She was an obstacle, something standing in the way of her happiness and well being.

At least, that's what she originally believed. But as she sat here next to Chamella now, listening to her suppressed sniffs and sobs, she couldn't help but feel guilty. And that was the weird part; why should she feel guilty? She hadn't done anything wrong...

...Right?

Chamella really had been making an attempt to reconcile. She'd apologized profusely and even willingly put herself in harm's way, not just for Snowflake, but for Winter as well. What was more, Chamella had already saved her life. Twice. Winter actually had to ask herself: what did Chamella have to do to earn her forgiveness?

Winter stared at Chamella, her conflicted expression evident. The changeling was still looking down at the floor, weakly drying her eyes with her hole-riddled leg. The worried mother hesitated for a moment before speaking the first thing that came to mind. "I... I don't know what to tell you. But for now, why don't we find Snowflake and see what happens?"

With one last sniffle, Chamella finally looked back at her, clearly still upset, but with a flicker of hope in her bright pink eyes. It wasn't exactly the answer she was looking for, but it was better than nothing. She could tell that Winter was at least trying to make an effort. "Alright," was all she said in reply, somewhat half-hearted and forcing a weak smile.

"So, um..." Winter scratched her head awkwardly, looking around the immediate environment. "Where do we go from here?"

Chamella followed Winter's example and had a quick glance around. True enough, there were no tunnel entrances anywhere around the plateau they were on, save for the one they came through. They had seen a few alternate paths between the mushroom chamber and the crocodile den, but that was several hours ago. Hopefully they wouldn't have to trek all the way back after coming so far.

Chamella cantered over to the edge of the plateau where the stream ran off and into the harsh rapids below them. Winter walked up alongside her, peering as best she could down the way the river flowed. The cavern was just as open in that direction as it was where they were, suggesting that perhaps there was a way forward somewhere in that direction.

"I'm not really interested in doing any white water rafting," said Winter, staring down at the splashing waters. It appeared as though even more water was flowing from underneath where they stood, making up the majority of the water flowing into the rapids. It was starting to feel like all of the water in the Changeling Kingdom flowed through here and collected in one place. That unfortunately made the waters that much more treacherous.

Chamella pointed a hoof toward the distance. "I think I can see some tunnels in the walls over there. If we can get over there, we can keep moving forward."

Winter stretched out one of her wings, taking note of the extra weight in them than she was used to, not to mention the moisture still dripping from them and the rest of her body. "Well, until we dry off, we're not getting anywhere. We can't fly in this condition."

"And I don't see any pathways along the walls we can walk on." Chamella shrugged as she turned back and trotted over to her bags. "I only had a couple of bites of fish anyway. I'm still a little hungry."

"Likewise. We could probably use a break anyway," Winter agreed.

Chamella managed a grin upon hearing that from her. "It's nice to see you're not rushing yourself anymore."

Winter let out a resigned sigh. "Not like we have a choice, so I might as well not argue."

After rifling through her bags for a few seconds, Chamella pouted at the selection of food she had packed. She cast a glance over to the stream again. Now that she had a taste for it, she couldn't help but crave fish. It was just as well; fish wasn't exactly something she could take with her, so having some now and saving what she already had seemed like a good idea anyway.

"I'm gonna see if I can catch some more fish," Chamella said with enthusiasm as she hurried over to the bank of the water to scope out her prey.

Winter sat herself down where their bags were, leaving Chamella to her hunt. Her appetite had steadily been coming back, and she had a fruit salad she hadn't managed to get through yet. Winter picked up her lunch again, not hesitating to take a mouthful of apple and pear slices. As she ate, she watched as Chamella stalked the water's edge, keeping her eyes open for more fish.

It didn't take long for Winter to finish her meal, almost too quickly for her liking; she must have been hungrier than she thought. But the issue really was that her wings hadn't dried off yet. So despite intending to take this time to rest, she decided to get up and walk around to try and pass the time.

Winter noticed that Chamella was still busy looking for fish and didn't seem to be having much luck. In spite of that, however, Winter was starting to smell a rotten odor. There was the one fish Chamella had caught earlier, but that hadn't been laying there nearly long enough to start smelling that bad. The pegasus had a quick look around the immediate vicinity, following the direction of the smell. It didn't take long to find the source as Winter approached the left side of the drop off to the river, holding her nose as she got close. There were half a dozen fish skeletons scattered around by a cluster of sizable stalagmites, picked clean of all their meat save for the heads and tails.

"Hey, Chamella, how many fish have you caught so far?" Winter called out.

Chamella turned her attention away from the water for a moment. "Hm? Only that one from before. Why?"

Winter directed her attention to the remains next to her. "There's a bunch over here that've already been eaten."

Chamella simply gave a dismissive shrug. "Some other changelings probably came through here at some point."

"Think they might still be around?" asked Winter with a touch of worry.

"Maybe, but what're we supposed to do about it? We can't really leave unless we go backwards, and I don't exactly want to do that." Chamella let out an annoyed groan as she looked back down at the water. "I wish I could have as much luck as they did, though. I haven't even seen another fish yet."

"Maybe I can help," Winter offered, stepping up to the water's edge and peering into the stream.

Chamella gave her a skeptical look. "I don't really know if you have the tools for hunting, but I appreciate the offer."

Winter let out a sigh. "I'm just looking for something to do, alright? Just let me help."

She only received a shrug from Chamella, so she began scanning for passing fish. A minute hadn't even managed to pass and Winter already began to get bored when nothing swam by, seeing nothing but her own reflection staring back at her. She got distracted from the water when she sat down on the sandy bank, tracing shapes into the coarse granules with her hoof. Winter cast a glance over to Chamella again. The changeling had begun wading through the fetlock-high water, scanning all around her for her quarry. Winter found herself grinning a little. Watching her diligently looking for fish was kind of like watching an animal hunting in the wild, like a dog or a bear scouring the creeks and rivers for a meal. She found it an amusing sight for some reason. Chamella even seemed to be having fun, despite not having much luck, and especially despite where they were and what they came here for.

Winter ran a hoof through her mane. It was still a little damp, but was gradually drying off. She could only imagine what a mess she looked like now. Chamella probably didn't have any issues with her appearance considering her long, straight mane always looked like it was a little wet, plus she didn't have a coat of fur to maintain. But now that she was thinking about it, Winter could feel her crimson locks matted to the sides of her face and a few small knots in her alabaster coat. And coincidentally she had a natural, reflective surface in front of her, so now was as good a time as any for a little grooming.

The pegasus leaned over the gently flowing water and immediately froze. She was expecting to see her own amber eyes staring back at her, but what she didn't expect was the reflection of an additional pair of gleaming, silver eyes looming over her, accompanied by a smirk of pearly white fangs.

"Ahhh!"

Winter shrieked in terror and leapt forward into the water with a loud splash. Chamella, hearing the commotion, spun around to see what was the matter, her eyes landing on the same thing as Winter's. Standing at the bank of the water was what they thought at first must have been a ghost; a changeling with a white mohawk, one wing, and a bloodthirsty look in his silver eyes.

Blight.

"This must be what they call 'fate,'" Blight said with a chuckle.

Winter stared in horror and disbelief, taking another step backwards in the water. "Y-You're supposed to be dead. Chamella dropped you into that ravine."

Blight, his smirk persisting, shook his head. "Like I said, this is fate. The rivers of the abyss spared my life and washed me all the way here. Besides, I can't just die when I have such an important mission to complete."

"You're still going to follow Queen Chrysalis's orders even now?" said Chamella. "Just leave. We won't stop you."

"Oh, this isn't about Chrysalis, or anyone else. This is a personal mission now," Blight clarified with a wide, maniacal grin. "I've been presented with a challenge, and I intend to overcome it by killing both of you. Of course, even if I wanted to leave, I can't. Because someone tore off my wing!"

Blight's demeanor had shifted from sinister to enraged in an instant, his vertical pupils narrowing to the size of needles.

Both Winter and Chamella took defensive postures. They both knew they were in trouble; even if Blight was trapped here, for the moment, so were they. They couldn't fly so long as their wings were still damp. Their only option was to deal with him.

Blight, seeing the looks in his preys' eyes, composed himself, grinning sadistically again. "Sorry, I lost my composure for a moment there. I suppose I shouldn't be angry. The more of a fight you put up, the more satisfying this is going to be." He took a step into the water, inching closer to Winter as the pegasus instinctively backed away. "I am going to enjoy this far more than you can imagine."

The vengeful changeling swatted a hoof over the surface of the creek, kicking up a spray of water in Winter's direction. The pegasus flinched as she was splashed, shielding her eyes. Before she even had a chance to open them again, she found herself tackled to the ground by Blight, being pinned on a sandbar in the middle of the stream. Winter found herself in an all-too-familiar position with Blight gazing down on her and licking his lips hungrily.

But before he could even ready himself to take a bite of his prey, his attention was diverted by rapid splashing heading his way. Without even looking up, Blight leapt backwards as Chamella attempted to tackle him off of Winter, resulting in the female changeling taking a clumsy spill into the water. Chamella lifted her head, spurting water from her mouth, but didn't have a chance to compose herself before feeling a hoof forcefully push down on the back of her head, dunking her under the water again. Chamella struggled to free herself, kicking her hooves around to no avail before she felt the pressure lift and her head shot back up with a sharp gasp of air.

Coughing, Chamella spun around frantically, trying to keep her attacker in view. She found him struggling with Winter, but Blight appeared to have the upper hoof, delivering a swift kick to the pegasus's withers. Winter collapsed on the bank of the stream in pain, and Blight was creeping toward her again with that same sadistic grin. Chamella hurriedly stood up and began to rush over to help Winter, but a sharp, piercing gaze over Blight's shoulder froze her in her tracks. The psycho turned toward Chamella, but glanced back at Winter one more time as she tried to stand up, giving her another swift kick, forcing a pained yelp and causing her to collapse again, clutching her bruised midsection.

Chamella let out a concerned gasp for her companion as she watched her writhe on the ground. She then turned her attention back to Blight with a furrowed brow, baring her short fangs. "Leave her alone!"

Blight chuckled darkly. "Oh, don't think this little birdie is my primary target right now. I know you're the one I've gotta keep my eye on, cutie pie."

Despite his smirk, Blight's voice was accompanied by a low growl. There was a distinct look of rage in his narrowed pupils. He clearly had no plan to forgive her for ripping off his wing and tossing him into that ravine.

Blight began closing the gap between him and Chamella. The female wasn't about to let her fear overwhelm her. She knew their lives were on the line and they had no viable escape route. If she didn't fight back with everything she had, they could very well die. Without any hesitation, Chamella fired a narrow beam of neon green magic from her horn, aimed straight at Blight's head. Unfazed by the attack, Blight simply leaned his head slightly to the left, the beam only barely grazing his cheek and leaving a minor burn. It was only then that Chamella realized what exactly was behind Blight, the errant beam zipping over Winter, missing the prone pegasus by only a few inches. Thankfully she was unharmed, the shot merely cracking off a small stalagmite behind her.

In the moment that Chamella lost her focus, having almost inadvertently hurt Winter, Blight leapt towards her, ramming her roughly with his shoulder and sending her rolling into the flowing water. Chamella started to stand up, but was blindsided by Blight once again as he gave her similar treatment as Winter, kicking her harshly in the shoulder. Chamella shouted as the blunt pain shot through her, gritting her teeth in an attempt to endure it. She didn't even have time to nurse the bruise before Blight clamped down on her long, water-soaked mane with his teeth, dragging her across the rocky riverbed and over to the sandbar in the middle of the stream, Chamella crying out in pain all the while.

Blight tossed the female onto her back, the front half of her body upon the sandbar while her hind legs remained submerged in the water. He then planted a hoof firmly on her chest and gradually increased the pressure he applied as though threatening to break her ribs. Chamella fought back as best she could, swinging her front hooves in a panicked bid to punch him off of her. That plan not exactly having much impact, Chamella fell back on her previous tactic, lighting up her horn for another blast at her attacker. However, her attempt was snuffed out when Blight violently smacked her with a backhoofed slap before gripping her horn tightly and forcing her to stare him straight in his sadistic silver eyes. Chamella could only gaze in utter terror at the malicious and bloodthirsty maniac, his fangs seeming to glint even in the darkness.

"You know, I think I'm starting to grow attached to you, sweet pea," Blight said in a low, disturbing tone. "No one's ever fought back as fervently as you. I'm beginning to relish the challenge you're presenting. It's..." He licked his lips disgustingly. "...exciting."

For a moment, Chamella stopped struggling. As stomach-turning as that sounded, there was a minute amount of hope present in her pink eyes as it sounded like he might spare her so he could continue to enjoy the chase.

Blight's toothy grin grew ever wider and more devious when he saw that tinge of hope. "That's why I'm going to take my time killing you. I want to watch the light fade from your eyes."

His horn lit up, and before Chamella could figure out what he was doing, her head was quickly encased in a bubble of water under the influence of Blight's magic. She didn't have a chance to take a breath, and with no air she began to panic immediately. Blight pinned her flailing hooves to the ground as he gleefully watched her struggle uselessly.

What little air was already in Chamella's lungs was forced up from her frightened and gargling screams, bubbling up to the surface of the watery sphere she was drowning in. The water began to flow down her throat and into her stomach and lungs. Her heart pounded as though it were trying to break free from her chest, working through the remaining oxygen in her body alarmingly quickly. Her building fear made it difficult to focus her magic. All she could do in retaliation was create a pathetic pop inside the water bubble.

The pain built in her chest as her lungs filled with water and her heart desperately tried to keep her alive. All the while she had to stare up at the psychopath holding her down, his maniacal grin and glinting, silver eyes still clear as day to her despite the distortion of the water and green glow of his magic.

Chamella's vision began to blur, and her thoughts started to become muddled. She started losing the strength to fight back, and eventually she didn't even recognize the horrific face gazing down on her anymore. It felt like she had been laying there for an eternity, as if she were being tortured, held at the brink of death so that her pain would never end.

But it was then that the pain began to subside. Chamella was no longer panicked, suddenly overcome with an unusual feeling of euphoria. The fear was gone, the pain was gone. Now she simply felt tired, like she had just pulled an all-nighter working on an outfit with Rarity. She couldn't fight the creeping somnolence, her vision clouded with moisture and her brain unable to form a complete thought before trailing off. All she really wanted to do right now was get some sleep.

Chamella let her eyes drift shut, and allowed the darkness to envelope her.

Blight chuckled menacingly as he felt the female cease her struggling, her body going limp beneath him and her eyes gently closing. "Oh, that was fun. I'd thank you, but, well... Heh heh. But don't worry, the fun's not over quite yet." He ran his tongue across his hungry fangs.

He was about to lean forward to take the first bite out of his victim, but paused. His ears perked up at the sound of splashing behind him. He'd almost forgotten about the pegasus. It appeared his meal would have to wait.

Blight looked over his shoulder, expecting to be tackled by the pegasus. What he saw instead was the mare standing on her hind legs and brandishing a broken stalagmite, and she swung it like a baseball bat at his head. His knee-jerk reaction was to duck underneath the attack, but he couldn't move quickly enough to completely avoid it. The solid chunk of rock struck his curved horn, resulting in a loud crack as it snapped off and flew into the air and was washed away by the coursing stream. With no conduit through which to focus his magic, the water surrounding Chamella's head splashed onto the ground.

Winter staggered back on all fours and dropped her weapon in the water. Her forceful assault resulted in a lot of pain from the bruises Blight had given her, but she wasn't about to let it slow her down. Blight was reeling, screaming out in pain of his own and he held his head with his hooves where the jagged stump of his horn was. Winter wasted no time, taking her opportunity to tackle Blight to the ground, then tackle him again as he attempted to get up. Blight didn't even get a chance to fight back before Winter pushed him back to the plateau's edge and, with one last aggressive shove, tossing him over and into the raging rapids below.

Blight managed to cling to the surface, flailing to stay afloat as he was tossed about in the river. He managed to get one more look at the pegasus standing at the stream's end before the current pulled him into the dark recesses of the cavern, letting out a furious bellow as he vanished from view.

Winter watched as Blight was swallowed by the darkness once more, panting for breath and pain throbbing in her midsection. But she let out a gasp when she remembered.

"Chamella!"

Winter rushed over to the changeling's side, shaking her by the shoulders desperately to try and rouse her from her state of what she hoped was unconsciousness.

"Chamella, wake up!"

She received no response.

Dread filled Winter's entire being as she stared down at her unmoving companion. She leaned her head down, holding her ear close to Chamella's mouth, then her chest.

No breathing. No heartbeat.

Her panic only heightened, but she wasn't about to accept this. Winter took a deep breath to compose herself. She thought back to her first aid training on Ponyville's weather team. She'd never had to use it before and hoped she'd never have to, but at this juncture she had no choice.

Winter straightened Chamella's head and held her mouth open. She then inhaled a lungful of air before leaning down to place her mouth over Chamella's. She blew two quick puffs of air into Chamella's windpipe, then sat back up, placing her front hooves on the changeling's chest and pumping her rib cage forcefully.

"One, two, three, four..." Winter counted along with her pumps, trying to recall exactly what she was told during training. Two quick breaths, followed by thirty chest compressions. She kept pumping and kept counting. "...twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty."

She took in another breath, passing along two more puffs of air to Chamella, then turned and listened. She still wasn't breathing. Winter felt her heart race even faster, but she returned to giving chest compressions.

"Come on, wake up. Please, you have to wake up." Winter stared up into the cavernous darkness as she performed CPR, hoping desperately that she'd awaken. "...twenty-nine, thirty."

Two more puffs of air, but still no response. Back to compressions.

Tears were beginning to well up in Winter's amber eyes as she continued her attempt at resuscitation. "Please... You can't die, Chamella. I can't do this without you. Get... up..."

Two more breaths. No response. More compressions.

The tears were flowing freely down her cheeks now. It took every once of willpower Winter had to put the necessary force into her pumps. "You can't... Sh... Shade needs you... Snow needs you..." Her tears dripped down onto Chamella's silent chest.

"I need you..."

She delivered two more puffs, still receiving no response, then returned to pumping. She wasn't willing to give up. She couldn't afford to give up. She knew, without Chamella, she had no hope of getting through the changeling hive, let alone finding Snowflake. She couldn't give up...

Winter gave Chamella two breaths, listened for a reaction, and when she received none, administered another thirty chest compressions. Then she repeated the process. And repeated it again. And again. With each failed attempt to revive her, Winter's hope drained more and more, and her tears flowed more and more.

"Please... Wake up..."

She had nothing left, but she refused to stop. Despite her shakiness, Winter managed to inhale another breath of air, placing her mouth over Chamella's again. She puffed one breath of air, and that was all.

Winter felt Chamella's body convulse suddenly, and water gushed up into the pegasus's mouth. She jerked back, her face covered in disbelief as Chamella started violently coughing up the water in her lungs. After what felt like ages, Winter's tear-stained face managed a relieved and elated smile.

The revived changeling hacked up the remaining water in her body, rolling over and starting to prop herself up weakly. She lifted her head, looking around in confusion until her glossy eyes met Winter's. "Winter? What happened?" she asked hoarsely.

Winter tried to answer and explain what just happened to her, but in her current emotional state she found it difficult to find words. Instead, Chamella found herself pulled in for a tight embrace, the pegasus's hooves wrapping tightly around her. Chamella was caught off guard by the sudden hug, and among the water that beaded on her smooth, chitinous skin, she could could feel the warmth of Winter's tears against her shoulder.

Chamella's eyes widened as it all came flooding back to her. Blight had tried to drown her. She thought he had drowned her. Did she die, even for a moment?

There was a tinge of panic in the changeling's eyes, and she looked around frantically, but couldn't spot what she was looking for. "W-Where's Blight?"

Winter leaned back from her hug, wiping the tears from her eyes with her fetlock; an ultimately fruitless effort considering how soaked her coat was. "He's gone. For now anyway," she answered, looking over to the edge of the plateau where she had last seen him.

Now knowing that the threat was no longer present, Chamella turned her eyes to Winter, staring at her in subdued disbelief. "Did... you save me?"

Winter hesitated at the slight surprise in the question. "Well, yeah." She could see the disbelief in Chamella's eyes. She had an idea of why the changeling might have a hard time believing that. Winter looked at her more softly and apologetically. "Chamella, I know I've said before that I didn't like you or trust you, but even then I'd never just sit by and let you die." She forced a somewhat lighthearted grin. "Shade would never forgive me if I did. Besides, I'm not about to let you get out of your godmother duties that easily."

Chamella was still a little rattled, visibly worn and shaking slightly after that frightening exchange. She looked at Winter reluctantly for a second before acting on what she felt she needed to do, leaning forward to give Winter a grateful hug in return. "Thank you."

Winter simply smiled, letting Chamella continue the embrace for as long as she felt was necessary. She felt a rather strong sense of satisfaction in saving somepony's life, but even more so given who it was. "Chamella, I want you to know that I didn't just save you because I need your help to find Snowflake."

Chamella pulled back, curious. "What do you mean?"

The pegasus's face became much more solemn as she elaborated. "When it hit me that you might actually die, I felt so much more terrified than I thought I would. I didn't just feel like I'd be alone down here without you, I felt like I was actually going to lose something important to me that I didn't know I had. Maybe I never treated you the way you deserved, but I know you always wanted me to consider you a friend. And that's what I felt I was losing: a friend."

Chamella was suddenly overcome with a warmth in her chest, and her cheeks were tinted a light red. "You... think of me as a friend?"

"You've put your life on the line for me even though I treated you like crap," Winter said, her ears folding back with guilt and breaking eye contact. But she looked up at her again with a small smile. "I don't deserve a friend like you, but I'm glad I have you anyway. The least I can do to repay you for protecting me is to do the same for you."

The changeling grinned bashfully. "You have no idea how much it means to hear you say that."

"And I'm not done yet. I know I said that when we get out of here we'll see if I'm willing to forgive the things you did, but considering that both of us could very easily die down here, I don't think it's fair to wait."

Chamella's pink eyes widened with hope.

Winter offered a warm smile to her friend. "So, you're forgiven. All that stuff, it's in the past now. Okay?"

After taking a moment to let that sink in, Chamella threw herself at Winter once more, her gratitude growing ever more. The emotions running through her were indescribable. For so long she'd waited to hear those words, and finally hearing them was like an enormous weight being lifted off her back. "Thank you so much," she sniffled, grateful tears streaming down her cheeks.

As relieving as it felt to make her as happy as this, Winter wanted to get away from the mushy stuff and try to lighten the mood a little. "Just remember: you owe me one now," she informed jokingly.

Chamella pulled away, tilting her head in confusion. "Huh?"

"Well, you kidnapped me, then kissed Shade. But you saved me twice since we got the Changeling Kingdom, so I guess that makes up for those. But now I saved you, so, yeah. You owe me."

Chamella observed the playful smirk on Winter's face, giggling herself and deciding to play along. "How about I buy you dinner when we get home?"

"Dinner to repay me for saving your life?" Winter pretended to think about it for a moment, then shrugged. "Sounds fair to me."

After sharing a lighthearted laugh together, a somewhat awkward silence fell over them as they looked around. Chamella looked down, realizing that they were both still sitting in the running stream.

"Guess it's gonna be a little longer 'til we can move on, huh?"

Winter let out a groan when the realization dawned on her, and both mares finally stood up and made their way over to the bank where their bags were. Their little tussle with Blight had undone all the waiting around they'd done to dry off. "Guess so."

"I still haven't really had a chance to eat." Chamella looked back at the stream, an apprehensive frown creasing her lips. "But I think I'll give up on the fish. Between Blight and those crocodiles, I think I've had enough water to last a lifetime."

Chamella sat herself down by her saddlebags, rummaging through for something that piqued her appetite. Winter just sat next to her, smiling fondly as her changeling friend decided on a simple granola bar and a small bag of potato chips. The pegasus still couldn't believe how relieved she was to see Chamella still alive. She knew now how much Chamella actually meant to not just her, but her family. Chamella was a part of her family, and she was done with trying to push her away.

Winter extended a wing around Chamella's midsection, pulling the changeling in for another surprise embrace. Chamella was a little caught off guard, but grinned happily as she chewed on her granola bar. After a near-death experience like that, she needed that positivity, and it meant so much to her to get it from the person she had wronged in the past.

Epilogue Part 3: Rehearsal

Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Epilogue Part 3: Rehearsal

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There were only a few days left until the wedding now, and the anxiety was beginning to reach its apex. But in which direction that anxiousness was weighted was entirely dependent on the person. For people like Autumn Maple and Rarity, they couldn't be more excited, awaiting the day with the impatience of a child whose birthday was coming up. And unexpected to most was the fact that Winter—the bride-to-be—was also in that camp. Most of her friends and family had expected her to be a nervous wreck about what was not only one the most important days of her life, but a very significant day for Equestria itself. But Winter was absolutely giddy, which only became more apparent as the big day crept closer.

But, of course, there was the flip-side of the coin. Some individuals were actually quite stressed out about the whole thing. Chamella had had the title of maid of honor thrust upon her and had been actively—perhaps over-actively—trying to make sure she earned it. Thankfully, in the last couple of weeks, she'd managed to level her head a little, though still always seemed a tad pensive, admitting that she was nervous, but when asked why by Rarity, or Shade and Winter, would always be vague and never give a specific reason.

Shade himself didn't seem to lean one way or the other. When anypony would ask him how he was feeling about the wedding, he'd usually say he felt a mix of nervousness and excitement. He had been told before that this was more so Winter's day than anypony else's, but being a changeling meant getting a fair share of the attention himself, so that was a bit worrisome.

However, one person that nopony really expected to be anxious was Twilight Sparkle. Although Winter had chosen the resident alicorn to be one of her bridesmaids, it wasn't that title that had concerned Twilight. The princess had taken it upon herself to make sure that this wedding was special, and had volunteered to assist Pinkie Pie with the planning of the event. But while Pinkie had been handling things like catering and seating arrangements for the reception, Twilight was focused more on the actual ceremony, overseeing its preparation and staging the rehearsal. But Winter had noticed that, over the weeks leading up to the wedding, the lavender alicorn had gotten increasingly stressed, and that may have had something to do with a special request she had put in for the wedding, which would come up at the rehearsal.

And the rehearsal was what Shade and Winter were currently on their way to attend.

A day as clear and as serene as this day was perfect for the wedding rehearsal, especially considering it was to be an outdoor wedding. The set for the wedding should have currently been under construction in a clearing near Sweet Apple Acres, the farm's proprietors kindly offering to build it for them free of charge. If Shade and Winter had to guess, Applejack and Big Macintosh were probably working on it at this very moment as the couple-soon-to-be-wed walked the dirt path to the farm.

Once the recognizable, large, red barn came into view from between the surrounding trees, it didn't take long for the changeling and pegasus to spot the site of their wedding. Not far from the barn—but far enough to ensure the smell of the barnyard animals wouldn't be detected—was a square, wooden stage placed upon the vibrant, green grass of a flat meadow. Upon the stage was a large, white arch of lattice. As soon as Winter saw it, a smile crept onto her lips. She knew that in a few days time, she'd be standing underneath that arch, tying the knot with the changeling walking beside her. The ivory pegasus had to take a long, shaky breath to prevent herself from squealing excitedly, an effort that didn't go unnoticed by Shade, who grinned himself at her enthusiasm.

As they approached the site, the two lovebirds took notice of who was present at the time. As anticipated, Applejack and Big Macintosh were busy piecing everything together, but from the looks of things, it was nearly finished. However, it appeared that they had enlisted Rainbow Dash to help out, who was stringing up vines and flowers along the lattice of the arch. Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Chamella were present as well, each participating in setting up the many folding chairs where the guests were going to sit.

Considering they were supposed to be holding the rehearsal here soon, Shade and Winter were expecting there to be more people there already. Twilight wasn't present yet, which was surprising considering her aversion to tardiness, and Winter was also expecting her parents to be there, too. Nimbus and Autumn had taken their grandson out for a stroll some time ago, and Winter figured they would just end up at Sweet Apple Acres for the rehearsal, but apparently they were still out and about somewhere.

Once the pair were close enough, they were privy to a conversation going on between Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Though perhaps "argument" was more accurate.

"Come on, just picture it: they say 'I do,' then there's a huge rainbow filling up the sky! It'd be totally awesome!" exclaimed the cyan pegasus as she fluttered above.

"You'll shake the whole dang place to pieces!" the orange earth pony argued. "And this close to the farm, too. Ah ain't keen on the idea of havin' ta rebuild the barn again. Right, Big Mac?" she said, turning to the large, red stallion just off the platform.

Big Macintosh nodded his head, giving Rainbow Dash a similar disapproving glare. "Not unless she's offerin' ta help."

Dash scoffed, flicking her hoof dismissively. "You guys are such buzzkills." As she was rolling her magenta eyes at the two siblings, she happened to spot Shade and Winter approaching. She put on a confident smile before quickly flying down towards them, though remained airborne. "Hey, look, they're here now, so we can ask them." Dash looked at the two of them excitedly, though there was an almost pleading look in her eyes as well. "What do you guys think about letting me do a sonic rainboom at the end of the wedding? You two say 'I do,' you kiss, and then BOOM! Rainbows streak across the sky! That'll make your wedding a real spectacle, don't ya think?"

Winter's eyes widened with whimsy. "A rainboom? You'd really be willing to do that?"

Dash gave a modest flick of her hoof, though her self-satisfied smirk belied that attempt at modesty. "Psh, you say that like it's difficult."

Winter tapped her chin as she thought about it. "Hmm... I haven't really thought about, like, effects and stuff. A sonic rainboom would look pretty cool."

It was all Rainbow Dash could do to hold herself back from celebrating openly. Instead, she opted to rub it in Applejack's face. "Ha! Hear that?"

Applejack hopped down off of the wooden platform with a stern expression. "Now, don't go lettin' her sell ya something ya don't need. The shock wave from a sonic rainboom'll not only ruin the stage we're buildin' here, but our barn, maybe our house..."

"Not ta mention shaking all o' the apples outta the orchard," added Big Macintosh.

"It's dangerous, and it ain't practical," Applejack said with a firm stomp on the grass.

As appealing as the idea sounded on paper, Winter had to admit that Applejack had a point. She shook her head to clear the thought from her mind. "Okay, you're right, you're right. It might be a little much. Sorry, Rainbow Dash, but I'm gonna have to decline."

Dash let out a disappointed sigh, lowering her head slightly. "Alright, fine. No rainboom. We could make you're wedding even more awesome, but if you're okay with an average wedding, that's your decision."

"Don't go tryin' ta sway her; she said 'no,'" Applejack scolded.

"So how are things going around here?" Shade interjected, wanting to change the subject.

Finally, Applejack managed a smile, tipping the brim of her hat up proudly. "Smooth as Granny Smith's zap apple jam. The alter's comin' along just dandy, as you can clearly see," she boasted as she gestured to the arch upon the platform.

Winter tilted her head slightly as she scrutinized the structure. "It's a bit on the simplistic side, isn't it?"

Whereas that comment might have taken the wind out of somepony else's sails, Applejack received it graciously. "That's the beauty of it. Ah know this wedding's a big deal 'n' all, but that don't mean you gotta make it all extravagant. It'd be too distracting when you two are supposed ta be the centerpiece."

Winter lolled her head back and forth for a moment to think about it. "Mmm, yeah, I guess. I'll trust you on that."

Applejack couldn't help but detect a hint of disappointment, her confident smile fading. "What? It ain't good enough? Ah mean, Ah guess we can gussy it up a touch. Maybe we could ask Rarity fer a little—"

"Advice?"

Applejack nearly jumped out of her skin when the unicorn in question sidled up beside her, fluttering her long, mascaraed eyelashes expectantly. "Land's sake, Rarity, don't go sneakin' up on us like that."

"Sorry, darling, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. If décor is what you need help with, then you've come to the right mare. I could show you one hundred and one ways to make this alter fabulous!"

Applejack grimaced a little at the offer, but grinned regardless. "Just two or three'll be fine. But that'll probably have to wait until later. We ain't really got time for any more additions right now."

"When are we gonna start this rehearsal anyway?" asked Shade.

"We're still missing a few people," Winter noted, having a quick look around. "Mom and Dad are still out with Snow, and Twilight's not around. Where is she anyway?"

"Off to escort our 'special guests,' I believe she said," Rarity answered with a coy grin. "I trust she'll be back shortly."

"So what exactly do we do at a wedding rehearsal?" came another voice to join the conversation as Chamella walked up alongside Shade.

"Exactly as it sounds, darling; we practice what we're going to be doing at the wedding," Rarity explained. "You know, making sure everypony knows where their places are, what to say and when—although that's more for the bride and groom, as well as the officiant—and just to make sure everypony's familiar with how everything works. There isn't much to it, so you needn't worry."

"So it's kind of like a pretend wedding before the real wedding?" Chamella surmised.

Winter gave her a nod and a shrug. "Pretty much."

A small smile creased Chamella's fanged lips. "It actually sounds kind of fun."

"And that's a good attitude to have," Rarity told her with a smile of her own. "As the maid of honor, you don't have to do much during the ceremony itself other than stand behind Winter with the other bridesmaids. Normally, your duties would come during the reception dinner, but I know you've decided to not give a speech or anything, so there's not really anything for you to memorize except where to stand."

Chamella's smile dropped for a second, and she broke eye contact. "Um, right..."

"Speaking of the reception..." Winter interjected. "Is the town hall all ready for us?"

"You betcha!"

The sudden sound of a high-pitched voice jumping in startled the lot of them as Pinkie Pie hopped over to answer the question.

Applejack held a hoof to her chest and let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Alright, Ah'm headin' back to work on the alter before somepony ends up givin' me a heart attack. Come on, Big Mac. You, too, Dash."

Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash didn't argue, following the stetson-wearing mare back over to the alter to finish their work.

"Anyway..." Pinkie continued. "Me and Twilight made sure that everything was all set up and ready to go this morning, so once this wedding rehearsal is donezo, we can skip on over for the practice reception."

Winter gave the pink pony a pleased smile. "Great. Sounds like everything's coming together pretty well." She once again took a brief glance around the area, scowling slightly. "But Mom and Dad need to pick up the pace. Mom's supposed to be one of my bridesmaids, and I'm not walking down the aisle without Dad, even if this is just a rehearsal."

"Not to mention Twilight," Shade reminded her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Pinkie Pie spotted something flying in from the distance, pointing it out to the others. "Well, speak of the alicorn, here she comes now."

Following the pink, pointing hoof, they did indeed spot Twilight Sparkle coming towards them from the sky. However, she was not alone, and for that matter, she was not the only alicorn on the way. Tagging along with her were none other than the two rulers of Equestria themselves: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. But the presence of the two majestic mares was not a surprise to anypony present. As an offer to make this special wedding even more special, Twilight had offered to request one of the princesses to be the officiant, an offer to which the two royal sisters quickly agreed. They simply needed to decide which of them would be given the job, while the other agreed to attend the wedding as a guest. As of right now, nopony knew which of them it would be, but chances were they'd find out shortly.

The three alicorns touched down on the grass near where the group was conversing. Celestia and Luna landed quite gracefully, their presence always eliciting smiles from those nearby, or, in the case of those who were more rarely offered the opportunity to meet the princesses, awe. To punctuate their majesty, the rays of Celestia's own sun reflected beautifully off of the golden regalia she wore, and even the jet black pieces worn by Princess Luna. The two always carried themselves well, standing tall with their perfectly-preened wings extended and their magical manes flowing gently and almost hypnotically.

In contrast, Twilight's landing was noticeably less dainty, touching down with the audible thumps of her hooves on the ground, followed by an exhausted sigh. Also unlike the other two princesses, her mane and feathers were looking a little unkempt, and she didn't manage to meet her friends with a smile upon arriving. She didn't exactly exude the same air of sophistication and majesty as the other alicorns accompanying her.

As was the norm for when an average citizen was given the privilege to stand before Princesses Celestia and Luna, Winter instinctively bowed courteously. It wasn't the first time she'd been given the honor of meeting them, but it didn't get any less amazing. Even more so, she knew they were here because they would not just be attending her wedding, but one of them will be performing the marriage.

"Your Majesties, hi." Winter stood up quickly when she realized how dumb her greeting sounded, only punctuated by a nervous voice crack as she said it. "Oh, sorry! Um, i-it's an honor to see you both again!"

Celestia chuckled quietly, amused by the pegasus's anxiousness. "There's no need to be so formal. We're your guests. Just treat us as you'd like to be treated, Miss Maple."

"Soon to be Mrs. Maple," Pinkie corrected.

Both Celestia's words and Pinkie's point caused the alabaster pegasus to blush bashfully, having to force back a goofy grin.

"It has been quite some time since we've seen one another," Luna stated, looking at Shade and Chamella. "I trust you're doing well."

Shade gave the princess of the night an amicable smile. "Yeah, great."

Chamella added to that with a nod. "Mm-hm. It's nice to see you again, Princesses."

Celestia looked around curiously as though she had expected to see something that wasn't there. "Hm, I was hoping to see your foal. Do you not have him with you?"

Winter shook her head. "He's with my parents right now. They'll be here soon. I hope..."

"I'm quite looking forward to finally seeing the colt," Luna stated with an eager smile. "Equestria's first... Er, what was it you called him, Twilight?"

"Halfling," the lavender alicorn answered tersely. "And are they really not here yet? I explicitly stated that the rehearsal was at two p.m. It's not that complicated."

"You're being unusually testy, Twilight," Rarity said, noting her friend's scowl and rather disgruntled tone. "Perhaps you've been working a little too hard, hm?"

"I have to work hard!" Twilight argued defensively. "This wedding is a very important moment in Equestrian history. We should all be doing our part to make sure this goes perfectly."

Winter gave the clearly taxed alicorn a concerned frown. "Twilight, you really don't have to go to such lengths for us. Even getting Princess Celestia or Princess Luna to officiate our wedding is way more than enough." The smile that appeared on her face once she said that out loud threatened to tear her cheeks. She looked up at the two alicorns in question. "Oh, that's right! Did you decide who'll be performing the ceremony?"

Luna held her head up proudly, placing a hoof against her black, metal chest piece. "We have indeed, and you'll be pleased to hear that I will be your officiant."

Winter's smile faltered slightly. "Oh. Great, then. Thank you so much."

Luna paused for a moment, staring at the pegasus with mild displeasure. "Do I detect disappointment? Oh, I see. You were hoping that Celestia would do it, weren't you?"

Winter shrunk back at the accusation. Although she'd never say it out loud, that was what she was thinking. Now she had already received the ire of one of the princesses, and attempted desperately to backpedal. "Wh-What?! N-No, of course not!" she claimed with a forced and shaky smile. "It's just as much an honor to have you marry us, Princess Luna. Really."

Luna continued to glare at her askance, making the pegasus feel quite guilty and embarrassed.

"Statistically speaking, events hosted by, or featuring Princess Celestia tend to receive more attention in the media," Twilight explained. "Although that may be attributed to the public's familiarity with her and your one thousand year absence."

The midnight blue alicorn thrust her nose up with a huff. "Well, I assure you that anything my dear sister can do, I can do just as well, if not better."

"And this is your chance to prove it," Celestia said with an almost challenging tone and provocative smirk. "We agreed that Luna would act as officiant as she claimed it was her 'turn,' considering that I did so for Shining Armor and Cadance."

"And you're really okay with doing this?" Shade asked Princess Luna. "I know you're probably pretty busy, and it's not like we're royalty or anything, like Shining Armor and Cadance."

Luna waved off the changeling's concern with a hearty laugh. "Ha! Nonsense. As Twilight said, this is a most prodigious occasion, and one which will likely be written of in history texts. Had Twilight not requested it, I would have offered to take part regardless upon discovering you two planned to wed."

"Really?" Winter responded with a pleasantly surprised smile. "That's very considerate of you, Your Highness. I'm sorry if I seemed ungrateful before. It really is an honor to have you." She sugarcoated her apology with a respectful bow.

"Do not concern yourself. I promise to make your wedding most memorable," Luna told her with a confident smirk, though casting the expression sidelong toward her sister, as well.

Shade and Winter gave the princess of the night grateful smiles, the pegasus visibly having to hold back her excitement at having Princess Luna perform her wedding ceremony.

"Alright, so if everypony is satisfied with the situation, I'm going to check up with Applejack about the alter while we wait for Winter's parents to show up," Twilight insisted impatiently.

Rarity offered a concerned and somewhat scolding look toward the purple alicorn. "You know, with the way you're acting, you'd think you were the maid of honor, not just one of the bridesmaids."

The comment caused Twilight to stop in her tracks, taking another look around. "Speaking of which, where's Derpy? She's a bridesmaid, too, right?"

Winter rubbed her neck awkwardly. "Oh, right, forgot to mention that. She's a little busy today, so she couldn't make it."

Twilight didn't respond, but her eye visibly twitched. There was a moment where her friends thought that that was the straw that broke the camel's back. However, Twilight closed her eyes, placed a hoof upon her chest, took a deep breath, and extended her hoof outward as she exhaled. "That's fine. We can continue without her. I'll just give her a brief rundown on the day of the wedding. No biggie. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

With that, Twilight headed over toward the alter. Even though she had managed to keep her cool, it was evident that the stress was getting to her.

Rarity began making her way over to where she was as well, giving a brief glance over her shoulder to Winter. "I'll make sure she's... stable."

With that, everypony continued to set up for the rehearsal, or simply chat with the two princesses while they waited for Winter's parents to arrive so they could begin.

But unbeknownst to those who were already present, Nimbus and Autumn were already nearing the farm, though still taking their time and taking in the beautiful scenery as they casually pushed their grandson along in his stroller down the dirt path to Sweet Apple Acres.

The closer they got to the farm, the more antsy Autumn seemed to get, grinning widely and walking with a noticeable spring in her step. She turned her giddy grin to her husband. "This is so exciting, isn't it?"

Nimbus didn't share his wife's enthusiasm, though not from displeasure or lack of caring. "It's just the rehearsal, Autumn. The wedding is still a few days away."

The crimson mare groaned impatiently. "Oh, I know. It's brutal. I don't know how much longer I can take this."

Nimbus discreetly let out an exasperated sigh, shaking his head slightly. Lately it became difficult to distinguish Autumn from Winter; the two were endlessly excited about the wedding and acting like a couple of exuberant fillies. At the very least, he was happy to see that his daughter wasn't stressing out about parenting anymore, or the recent unpleasantness in the Changeling Kingdom.

"Excuse me!"

The married couple stopped, looking over their shoulders to see a beige, unicorn mare galloping towards them. They didn't recognize her, but she stood out with her professional-looking, black blazer and matching satchel slung over her shoulder.

After quickly catching up to the pair, the mare stopped to catch her breath for a moment before greeting Nimbus and Autumn with a friendly smile. "Hi. Sorry to bother you, but you wouldn't happen to be Winter Maple's parents, would you?"

"That's right," Autumn replied with a curious expression.

The mare nodded, maneuvering around them to see the halfling colt sitting in his stroller. "I thought so. I saw you walking with little Snowflake, so I figured it was a safe assumption."

Nimbus eyed up the unfamiliar mare suspiciously as she tousled the small tuft of green hair on his grandson's head. He noticed her cutie mark—a microphone with a scoop of ice cream on it—and didn't take long to come to a conclusion of his own. "You must be the journalist that interviewed Shade and Winter."

The unicorn placed a hoof on her chest proudly. "Daily Scoop. It's nice to meet you."

"You, too," Autumn greeted back with an amicable smile. "I'm Autumn Maple, and this is my husband Nimbus."

Nimbus simply greeted her with a quick nod and a short grunt.

"So, are you going to check out the rehearsal, then?" asked Autumn as the three began walking together towards Sweet Apple Acres.

A quizzical and somewhat surprised expression appeared on Daily's face. "The rehearsal? Is that where you're going?"

"I assume that's a 'no,'" said Nimbus.

"I didn't realize that was happening today. Well, if they let me hang around, that'd be great," Daily responded with an eager grin. "But in actuality, I wanted to talk to the two of you."

"Is that right? Why us?" Autumn inquired.

"Your daughter is about to marry a changeling," Daily answered matter-of-factly. "I'd like to get your input on their relationship. For example, I'd like to know how you reacted when you found out your daughter was dating a changeling."

Autumn chuckled amusedly. "Well, actually, we didn't know he was a changeling when we met him."

"He was disguised as a pony during our first meeting," added Nimbus.

Given everything she'd already learned about Shade, Daily was surprised to hear that. "Really? It's my understanding that he doesn't really like to deceive people with shape-shifting."

"Oh, he didn't want to," Autumn explained. "Winter made him because she was worried about how we'd react. Or, specifically, how he'd react." She pointed to Nimbus when she said that, who only grumbled quietly and rolled his eyes.

Daily found herself unable to suppress her interested smile, but managed to fight back the urge to pull out her pad and pencil. "And how did you react?"

"Oh, we were shocked, to be sure," Autumn answered with a chuckle as she recalled the day she met Shade. "And, honestly, if Nimbus hadn't continuously antagonized him, Shade probably wouldn't have bothered to reveal himself."

"So Nimbus disliked him even before finding out he was a changeling?"

"He was... a little more judgmental back then," the older mare told her. "Shade made the mistake of disguising himself as a unicorn."

Nimbus continued to grumble, still not making eye contact with Daily. However, there was a distinct look of shame on his grimacing face, and even a slight hint of a blush on his dull blue cheeks.

Daily caught on to Autumn's meaning, but judging by the look on Nimbus's face, she decided it was probably better to avoid certain buzzwords. "I see," was all she said in response, staring at the ashamed Nimbus.

"Don't be offended, Miss Scoop," Autumn said with a soft smile. "He's come a long way since then, I assure you. I mean, back then he probably would have said something about you being a unicorn moments after meeting you."

"Autumn, that's quite enough," Nimbus interrupted gruffly, his blush now equal parts shame and frustration. He then glanced at Daily with a begrudgingly apologetic expression, but said nothing before facing forward again.

"Anyway, what about Shade?" Daily said, choosing to get back on topic for the stallion's sake. "Did it take you long to get used to the idea of your daughter dating a changeling?"

"Not as long as you might think," Autumn said with a quiet giggle. "He was quite friendly and well-mannered, so it didn't take much for me to warm up to him. Nimbus took a little longer, of course, and he's still a little critical of him, but that's only because he wants what's best for Winter and Snowflake."

Daily nodded in understanding, but there was a note of impatience in her expression. She was eager to get to the real reason for chatting up Winter's parents. "So... Does Shade often visit his homeland? Does he miss the place at all?"

"I can't imagine he does," Autumn replied. "He doesn't exactly speak fondly of the Changeling Kingdom considering how difficult life was for him there."

Daily actually already knew that, but found it a good segue to her next inquiry. "Really? Well, I heard from somepony that he went back to the Changeling Kingdom fairly recently. You wouldn't know why, would you?"

Nimbus, and even Autumn, looked at Daily with raised eyebrows, casting suspicion on her. Daily reacted to the looks with an awkward grin. Clearly her intentions had been figured out.

"Sorry, but Shade and Winter think that now's not exactly the time to talk about that," Autumn explained with an apologetic frown.

Daily breathed a disappointed sigh. There wasn't really much point in being coy now. "Figures. I actually already asked them about it, but got nothing. Sorry for trying to probe you guys for information, but you have to understand that the two resident changelings going back to their home and hiding the reason why is going to raise concerns."

In response to that, Autumn smiled dismissively. "Oh, you don't have anything to worry about. After all, it's not like it was just Shade and Chamella. If it makes you feel any better about it, Princess Twilight and her friends were also there with them."

Daily's eyes widened in surprise. "Seriously? Huh. Well, if that's the case, I guess I can give them the benefit of the doubt. If Princess Twilight was there, then there must have been a good reason." She let out a somewhat annoyed groan. "You know, if they'd just said that from the start, I wouldn't have had to keep pestering them about it."

"Well, you can apologize in a minute," Autumn told her as she pointed forward.

Sure enough, during their conversation, the three adults and one tot had made it to Sweet Apple Acres. Autumn was specifically pointing to where Twilight was standing: upon the white stage, seemingly giving instructions to Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Rainbow Dash as they continued their work on the alter.

Autumn took a second to view the scene from a distance, a wistful smile on her face. "Oh, Nimbus, isn't it beautiful! It reminds me of our wedding." She snuggled up to her husband fondly as she reminisced.

"Replace the grass with clouds and I suppose so," he agreed, unable to keep a small smile from appearing on his lips.

But while the two pegasi were admiring the set where their daughter was to be married in just a few days, Daily's eyes were transfixed elsewhere. Even though Autumn had previously pointed out Twilight Sparkle, the journalist's focus was instead on the other alicorn princesses present. She was willing to admit that they were the last people she was expecting to see today. And what was more, they appeared to be engaged in casual conversation with the subjects of the article Daily was intending to publish.

"Is that... Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" Daily asked incredulously, her mouth slightly agape.

Autumn nodded, a hint of amazement on her own face as this would be her and Nimbus's first time meeting them as well. "Mm-hm. I heard they might be here. Oh, this is exciting, isn't it? Actually, Miss Scoop, I believe one of them is supposed to be—oh, she's gone..."

Sure enough, Daily's own curiosity had lead to her already leaving the married couple behind and making a beeline for the princesses. Admittedly, Autumn was also quite eager to meet them, so she and Nimbus headed over as well.

"So, since I'll be performing my own duties, it falls on you to procure a gift for the bride and groom, Sister," Luna finished explaining.

"I think I can handle a simple gift-giving, Little Sister," Celestia retorted with a roll of her eyes.

The midnight blue alicorn scowled slightly at Celestia's purposeful choice of words, but chose to be the bigger mare—figuratively, of course—and not retaliate.

"Your Highnesses!"

The two princesses, as well as Shade, Winter, and Chamella, looked to see Daily Scoop hurriedly trotting towards them, an enormous and ecstatic grin on her face. Daily stopped in front of the regal mares—who stared in mild confusion at her—and gave a brief, respectful bow before quickly straightening up and instinctively removing her pad and pencil from her satchel.

"It is such an honor to meet you! I've been trying for years to get an interview with the royal sisters, but I never dreamed I'd just randomly bump into you two just out and about."

Celestia continued to stare at the unfamiliar mare, still a little caught off guard and befuddled. She turned to Shade and Winter. "Is this a friend of yours?"

Winter smiled awkwardly with a shrug. "Uh, more like an acquaintance. She's writing an article about us."

Panic suddenly overcame Daily as she suddenly realized the grievous error she'd made. "Oh, crap! I mean, shoot! I-I mean..." She frantically stowed her belongings back into her bag and bowed again, remaining in that position for longer than half a second this time. "I-I'm sorry, Your Majesties! I should have introduced myself first! My name is Daily Scoop. I'm a freelance journalist."

Luna gave Shade and Winter a vexed look. "You invited a journalist to the wedding rehearsal?"

Winter turned to Daily, letting out a sigh. "No, we didn't. We gave her permission to cover the wedding, but we didn't say anything about the rehearsal."

Daily suddenly felt sweat forming on her neck and swallowed nervously. She definitely felt like she wasn't making a good first impression with the princesses. "I-I wound up here completely by accident, I swear. I was just chatting with your parents while they were on their way here, that's all. I had no idea the princesses would be here, or that you were even holding the rehearsal here today."

At the mention of her parents, Winter finally noticed the two older pegasi making their way over with her son in tow, although, Autumn and Nimbus alternated between looking toward their daughter and the two alicorns with them.

"Well, at least they're finally here," Winter said with a relieved sigh. "We can get ready to start this thing soon, then. And I guess you can stick around if you want, Daily."

The beige unicorn grinned widely at having received permission—and by extension, forgiveness for her accidental intrusion.

Once Autumn and Nimbus had caught up, they offered respectful bows of their own to the princesses. "It's an honor to meet you, Your Highnesses," Nimbus said calmly.

Autumn and her husband stood up again, the mare smiling excitedly to be in the presence of the royal sisters. "I'm Autumn Maple, and this is my husband Nimbus. We're Winter's parents."

Celestia giggled quietly, amused by the child-like eagerness in the mare's voice and expression. "Lovely to meet you."

Autumn had to force back the urge to giggle gleefully like a schoolfilly, wanting to maintain some dignity in front of the two alicorns.

"So, if I might ask," Daily started, unable to hold back her curiosity. "What brings you two here today?"

Winter stepped in to answer the question in their stead, wanting to brag a little about the circumstances. "Actually, Princess Luna is going to be performing the ceremony for us, so they need to be here for the rehearsal."

Daily's jaw dropped in awe as she turned to the princess of the night, who was standing proudly. "Are you serious? That's unbelievable! Married by one of the royal sisters?! Talk about a scoop!"

Luna shot a haughty smirk up at Celestia. "Hear that, Sister? I'm a scoop."

Celestia simply responded with a roll of her eyes and a small, amused smile. Her soft, pink eyes then fell upon the quiet, little colt in the stroller Nimbus and Autumn had brought with them. The jet black foal was staring back up at her, his bright green eyes full of wonder and curiosity as he observed the tall, majestic mare. "So, this must be little... Snowflake, was it?"

Eager to introduce her halfling son to the princesses, Winter unfastened the stroller straps and picked up the tot, giving Celestia and Luna a clearer view of his thin, translucent wings. "Yep. Say hi to the princesses, sweetie."

Obviously, Snowflake didn't, simply continuing to stare at them instead.

"This is quite fascinating," Luna stated, leaning in to look him over more closely, specifically his wings. "You've essentially introduced a new race of pony into our society. Perhaps one day, if our relationship with the changelings ever improves, these 'halflings' will become just as plentiful as the other races."

"Wishful thinking at this point," Shade said with a forlorn sigh. However, he managed a small smile. "But I guess we can't know what the future holds."

"Regardless, he is certainly adorable," Luna commented with a friendly grin, giving Snowflake a light tap on his tiny muzzle. The tyke responded with an amused giggle, then reached his hooves out and grabbed the moon princess by the cheeks. "I fink he likesh me."

"Okay, Snow, let go of the princess now," Winter said to her son, gently pulling him away until his grip on her face loosened. "Well, I guess since everypony's here now, we can get started with the rehearsal."

"Just what I was about to suggest," came Twilight's voice as she trotted over to them. "We're running a little late, but I think we should still be able to wrap this up in time for the rehearsal dinner. So, if everypony would be so kind as to take their places, we can get this thing underway. Shade, you and Spike wait up at the alter. Bridesmaids, do likewise."

Daily leaned over to Winter, whispering to her. "She's really got all this wrapped up in a neat, little bow, doesn't she?"

Winter shrugged with a quiet sigh. "Personally, I think she's taking it a little too seriously, but that's Twilight for you."

Twilight then turned in Winter's direction. "Winter, you and Nimbus take your places opposite the alter while you wait to walk down the aisle."

Winter nodded with an eager grin, hooking her foreleg around her father's as she enthusiastically lead him to their designated posts.

"Everypony else, just take a seat. Princess Luna, come with me, if you please." Twilight gestured for Luna to follow her towards the alter.

With their orders given, everypony found their assigned spots, or took a seat upon one of the white, folding chairs at the front if they didn't have a specific role. Autumn left Snowflake with Rarity while she and Chamella took their positions on the left side of the alter, while Shade and Spike stood at the right side. Twilight and Luna soon joined them, with the blue alicorn standing between the two pairs.

"Seeing as how you haven't done this before, Princess, I've taken the liberty of writing up some flashcards with everything you need to say during the ceremony," Twilight explained, producing a small stack of cards with her magic and passing them to Luna.

Luna took the cards, giving them a brief look over. "And I'm to memorize this before the wedding, then?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, no, you can use them during the ceremony if you want. Nopony would blame you."

"I never needed flashcards," Celestia called out from her seat in the front row, flashing her sister a playful smirk.

Luna grimaced at the other alicorn's goading, but was interrupted by Twilight before she could retaliate.

"As strange as it is for me to say this, don't listen to Princess Celestia. It'll be fine." Twilight cast a glance over her shoulder at the white alicorn, her own expression a mixture of displeasure and shock at how childish her mentor was being. Celestia, meanwhile, was smiling innocently, as if she hadn't done anything.

Luna straightened up, composing herself and clearing her throat. "Very well. Shall we start, then?"

Twilight nodded, stepping aside and joining Autumn and Chamella. She then lifted her hoof into the air, gesturing to Winter and Nimbus at the opposite end of the set to begin walking down the aisle.

Winter nodded, unable to get the gleeful smile off her lips as she joined forelegs with her father. Despite the fact that this was merely the rehearsal, Nimbus also found himself smiling fondly at his daughter as they began walking down the aisle.

A shaky smile appeared on Autumn's face as she watched her daughter hoof-in-hoof with her husband as they approached. Emotional tears began to well up in her eyes, and it was all she could do to not start bawling.

Winter rolled her eyes with a grin as she watched her mother attempt to wipe the tears away. "It's just the rehearsal, Mom. Calm down."

"Better she get it out of her system now than at the actual wedding," Nimbus said with a shake of his head.

"Oh, trust me, I'll be crying at the wedding, too," Autumn retorted shakily as she rubbed her tears into the fur of her fetlock.

Once Winter and Nimbus climbed the short set of stairs up to the alter, the stallion gave his daughter another proud smile before letting her take her place next to her husband-to-be. Nimbus himself stood behind the changeling as one of his groomsmen; something to which Shade was surprised to hear him agree when he asked.

Shade and Winter gazed into each other's eyes. Even though this wasn't the real thing just yet, it still felt pretty real to the both of them, smiling lovingly at one another as they thought about how the big moment was actually fast approaching.

Princess Luna received a silent gesture from Twilight, and nodded in understanding. The midnight blue alicorn cleared her throat, holding up her flashcards and inhaling deeply. "I now pronounce you—oh, wait, that's not right..."

Twilight let out a quiet groan, holding a hoof to her face in exasperation. She could quite clearly hear the amused snickering of the sun princess from the seats, but chose to ignore her. "The cards are numbered, Princess."

"Hm? Ah, so they are." Luna began rearranging the cards, shifting them around and taking a little longer than was good for Twilight's nerves. Finally, with a grin, Luna finished arranging and cleared her throat once more. "There were are. Now then... Dearly beloved! We are gathered here—"

"Princess!" Twilight had to stop herself for a moment to compose herself as she interrupted Luna, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. "You don't need to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. Just speak normally, please."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Is this not an occasion deserving of such a thing?"

"I certainly feel like I don't deserve this right now..." Twilight muttered under her breath.

"Hm?"

The exasperated, purple alicorn shook her head. "Nothing. Just... continue. In your normal voice."

Luna nodded, turning to her flashcards again.

In the front row, the other rehearsal attendees were watching with some concern as Princess Luna finally managed to get started without anymore hiccups. However, it wasn't so much Luna that they were concerned about as it was Twilight, who appeared to be getting more and more frustrated as time went on.

Daily Scoop leaned over to Fluttershy, who was seated to her left. "Princess Twilight seems a little... exhausted. Is she alright?"

"She does seem a bit on edge, doesn't she," Fluttershy agreed with a concerned frown.

From the row behind them, Pinkie Pie leaned over the empty chair beside Fluttershy. "Yeah, she's been running herself ragged to make sure this wedding goes silky smooth. It's actually kinda aggravating," she claimed with a huff. "Winter hired me to plan the wedding, and now Twilight barges in and takes over most of the work. Free of charge even! How's a mare supposed to make a living when somepony else comes in and does the job for free? Doing things out of the goodness of your heart is all well and good, but you can't support a business without a little cash flow. That's just basic economics."

"I think she's more concerned about the... diplomatic implications of the wedding," Rarity chimed in from the seat right of Daily Scoop, baby Snowflake cradled in her hooves. "I'm sure that, as a princess, Twilight feels it's important that anything to do with relations with other kingdoms—even a hostile one like the Changeling Kingdom—should be taken seriously."

Fluttershy looked back up towards the changeling standing at the alter and gazing deeply into Winter's eyes as Princess Luna continued reading out her lines. "I don't think Shade necessarily represents the whole of the Changeling Kingdom, though. He and Chamella aren't really like the other changelings."

"Should somepony maybe talk to Princess Twilight? You know, maybe try to get this rehearsal a little more... streamlined?" Daily suggested.

"I don't think that's necessary," Princess Celestia interjected from the seat beside Rarity. Confusingly, the ivory alicorn had acquired a bucket of popcorn from somewhere and was happily munching away on the buttery treat. "This has already been quite entertaining. Why stop the show short?"

Fluttershy raised a befuddled eyebrow. "Where'd you get popcorn, Princess?"

"Oh, that was me!" Pinkie answered with a grin. "I don't go anywhere without emergency popcorn."

"Emergency popcorn? For what, an impromptu movie night?" the yellow pegasus questioned.

Celestia waved her hoof dismissively. "I wouldn't worry about Twilight. I'm sure things will turn out just fine."

The mares all looked at Twilight again. The lavender mare appeared to be having difficulty just standing up straight, and she did nothing to hide the distraught and exasperated look on her face.

"She doesn't look fine," Fluttershy observed.

Celestia chuckled at the doubt that the other ponies where exhibiting. "Trust me, when you've known Twilight as long as I have, you come to learn that these situations have a way of sorting themselves out, one way or another. So I'd suggest just enjoying the show while it lasts." She punctuated that by scooping a mouthful of popcorn into her waiting maw.

Though still unsure, the mares silently chose to trust the princess and returned their attention to the alter.

Princess Luna paused as she looked over the next card in the stack. "The card says that this is the point where the bride and groom exchange vows."

Winter nodded. "Mm-hm. And Shade and I wrote our own vows, but we're gonna save them for the wedding."

Luna nodded. "Very well. So..." She turned to the next card, then looked out to the crowd, small as it was. "If there is anypony who believes that these two should not be wed, speak now or—"

"Stop!"

Everypony nearly jumped out of their skin when Pinkie Pie suddenly stood up on her chair to loudly interrupt.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?!" Twilight snapped in aggravation, prompting the other bridesmaids to take a step back from her; judging by the look in her eye, she looked like she was about to burst a blood vessel.

Pinkie sat back down and explained matter-of-factly, "I'm making sure everypony's prepared. This is the part where somepony shows up at the last minute to profess their love to either the bride or groom and convince them they're making a mistake."

All eyes briefly turned to the maid of honor. Chamella glanced around, surprised, confused, and a little insulted by the collective insinuation. "Why's everypony looking at me? I'm not gonna do that."

Twilight groaned rather loudly, looking through tired eyes at Luna. "Princess, can you please...?"

Luna nodded, then flipped to the next card, smiling when she saw what was upon it. "And with that, it appears we have come to the conclusion." She cleared her throat. "I now pronounce you—"

However, she was interrupted once more when something gently landed upon her face. A vine had come loose from the arch above her, draping itself over the midnight blue princess's head.

With an awkward grin, Rainbow Dash flew up from her seat, removing the vine from the princess's visage. "Heh heh, uh, sorry about that. Must not have secured it well enough. Give me a sec."

As the cyan pegasus flew up to fix the minor error, Applejack called out to her from the front row. "Now, be careful Rainbow Dash; we still got work to do on that arch."

"Relax, I've been decorating this thing all day. I can handle it." Just to appease the earth pony, Dash gingerly replaced the vine back where it belonged, shooting a mocking grin back at Applejack. "See? No problem."

"Yes, yes, we're all very proud of you, Rainbow Dash," Twilight deadpanned as she ran a hoof through her frazzled mane. "But can we please just get on with it? We still have to get to the rehearsal dinner."

"Wait!"

All eyes suddenly turned skyward towards the new voice, which was quickly hurtling toward them. It happened to be certain grey pegasus careening in their direction while trying to hastily pull off her brown mailmare's uniform on the way.

"Derpy?!" Winter called out in confusion.

"Be right, ugh, there!" the clumsy pegasus called back.

Despite her reassurance, Derpy appeared to have gotten her head stuck in her haphazard attempt to remove her work clothes. With her already impaired eyesight obscured even more by her clothes, the clumsy mare began to lose control, tumbling and spinning as she quickly closed the gap to the ground. However, she didn't quite make it to the ground. Rainbow Dash quickly bolted out of the way as Derpy instead came to an abrupt stop when she crashed into the arch, her body now draped over the top of it with her shirt still messily covering her head.

"Urgh..." she groaned weakly from her new perch.

A loud creaking sound could be heard coming from the base of the arch, but before anypony had a chance to help Derpy out, the whole thing suddenly tilted backwards and collapsed onto the wooden platform with a loud crash. Everypony winced, clenching their eyes shut. When the dust settled, the arch was left in a broken heap with only Derpy's hind legs sticking up from the debris.

"I'm okay..." the accident prone pegasus moaned from the pile of wood and vines.

Applejack let out a sigh of resignation as she rose from her chair. "Get yer tools, Big Mac. We got some work to do."

Her burly brother followed suit, letting out a sigh of his own. "Eeyup."

Everypony else left their seats as well, but more so to help Derpy out of her predicament. Rainbow Dash plucked the clumsy, grey pegasus out of the debris, who then gave the others an embarrassed grin and profusely apologized for the damage she'd caused.

Meanwhile, Twilight could only stare at the carnage, stunned in disbelief at how off-the-rails a simple wedding rehearsal had gone. One of her bloodshot eyes twitched, and she turned to walk away. "Excuse me for a moment," she told those who cared enough to hear her in a surprisingly calm voice.

As most of the people present were either helping Derpy or beginning to clean up the mess she'd made, Winter watched with a concerned frown as Twilight walked away from the platform, and made to follow her. She hopped down from the platform and walked over to a nearby apple tree, where the lavender alicorn was softly and repeatedly pounding her head against its trunk.

"You okay, Twilight?" the pegasus asked.

Twilight let her forehead rest against the bark of the tree. "Does this look like the face of somepony who's okay?"

"What's the problem anyway? Why are you so stressed out?"

Twilight turned to face her, an incredulous look upon her visage as though the question were simply absurd. "Are you kidding? This whole thing has been a complete disaster!" she exclaimed, pointing to the leftovers of the archway. "Derpy said she wasn't going to make it, then shows up and wreaks the set. Princess Luna has no idea what she's doing, and Princess Celestia, of all people, is only making things worse by heckling her. And I know I heard chatting from the guests while Luna was talking."

Winter could see the frustration rising in the alicorn's eyes with each word. "It's just the rehearsal, though. There's no need to get all bent out of shape about it."

"If this is how the rehearsal goes, how well does that bode for the wedding?"

"Relax, Twilight. It's not that big a deal."

"It's a huge deal!" Twilight blurted out in aggravation. "This is the first pony-changeling wedding! It's an incredibly important event for the future of both kinds! How are our people supposed to take our potential relationship with the changelings seriously if it turns out to be a complete farce like this?!"

Hearing that, Winter knit her brow slightly. "Twilight, let me tell you something: that doesn't matter to me."

Twilight's mouth dropped open in surprise. "What? Why? This is your wedding. I'd think you, of all people, would be more concerned about this."

"Exactly. This is my wedding. At no point have I been thinking about what this means for ponies and changelings as a whole. This has always been about me and Shade. And, to be perfectly honest, I'm a little insulted that you've been treating it more like a diplomatic event than a friend's wedding."

Hearing those words, Twilight's ears drooped and her eyes turned away in shame. "Winter... Oh, gosh, you're right. I'm sorry. I've been thinking more about what this means for Equestria rather than what it means for you. It might be an important moment in Equestrian history, but it's also an important moment in your life."

Winter smiled softly, more than willing to forgive her for her behavior. "Don't worry about it. Just promise you'll loosen up a little bit, okay? I don't know if you've noticed, but everypony here seemed like they were having fun except you."

The pegasus looked over her shoulder toward the stage, with Twilight following her gaze. Derpy had been safely removed from the rubble and was laughing with an embarrassed blush. Nopony seemed upset with her, simply hazing her about her clumsiness and sharing in a laugh with her. Additionally, it appeared that Celestia and Luna were exchanging verbals blows once more, the former likely making scathing comments on the latter's performance as officiant, while Luna was actively defending herself with equally scathing retorts. The important detail to take notice of, however, was the smirks on both their faces.

Twilight let out a sigh. "I guess I have been a bit of stick in the mud, huh? But I still don't entirely understand; don't you want you're wedding to be perfect, Winter? It's such a big moment for you."

Winter took a moment to continue staring at the others, particularly focusing on her future husband who was helping Rainbow Dash clean up the broken pieces of lattice from the arch. She then turned back to Twilight, a fond smile creasing her lips. "Sure, it'd be nice if everything went off without a hitch. I'd love it if Princess Luna could read her lines without pausing every few seconds. It'd be really cool if Rainbow Dash could do a sonic rainboom during the kiss. And it'd be nice if Derpy could not destroy the whole set. But all of that stuff would just be fluff. I told Shade that if he doesn't want to get married, we don't have to. We're doing this because we want to, and for no other reason. Our wedding could wind up a complete and utter catastrophe, but it doesn't matter to us. At the end of the day, the only thing that it'll take to make this wedding perfect, is if Shade and I get to say 'I do.'"

Twilight smiled back at her, feeling a little silly for the way she'd been acting. "That does sound nice, doesn't it? So, you wanna give this thing another shot before we head over to town hall?"

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Won't we be late for the dinner?"

The alicorn shrugged with a grin. "What's a few extra minutes gonna make? Or an hour. You know, whatever."

Winter giggled at Twilight's attempt at nonchalance as the two started making their way back to the others. "Is that you 'loosened up'? You don't relax much, do you?"