Winter turned to Spring, and Stoccado's friends taught her how to clear ice from a stream and how to plant wheat, and when she inevitably fumbled, they only cheered her on, assuring her she was doing even better than last year. There were festivals and there were parties. Lathe Turner continued his yearlong struggle to master the art of cooking, and Stoccado learned how to dance like a fish shown water for the first time.

Spring turned to Summer, and the two parents who Stoccado should have been able to call her own, came to visit. They were concerned about their daughter's well being, and though they were not entirely convinced, they left again without causing her any trouble. Perhaps more miraculously, they did not cause any trouble for Lathe Turner either. Instead it seemed like all could be right in the world. The days were warm, the nights cool, and for many, the shadow of war was a distant memory. And so it went, that on one long summer day, the woodcutter and the guardsmare went out into the meadow, they ate dinner under the setting sun where all the world was alight with magic, they stayed up late to watch the dancing fireflies outshine the stars in the sky, and he asked her to marry him.

The next few months passed by in a whirlwind of activity and preparations for Stoccado. Friends and family were invited, fancy blue ribbons were sewn, and a great feast was planned. Yet as the big day drew close, the only thing that kept her up at night was the fear that something would come along and take her away, some distant tragedy, another conflict in need of every able guard. But whether by fate or by happenstance, no great danger arrived to threatened Equestria that year, nor any unmanageable beasts from the forest to threaten the town.

On a sunny Autumn afternoon, with flower petals being all that the weather teams rained down upon the guests, Stoccado and Lathe Turner said their vows, broke their coin, and were married.

During the feast, Lathe Turner thanked his friends for all of their help and support, during times both difficult and calm; and Stoccado told those gathered that no matter how hard it had been for her to fit into her new life, she still felt like the luckiest mare in the world.

For a time, life was good for the young couple. Stoccado still ate breakfast with her friends, but she never ate dinner alone. Lathe Turner still spent long hours harvesting and working the timber, but he never stayed awake into the middle of the night worrying about what the future might bring. She helped him run his shop, he always made sure her armor was fastened tight before she ran off to practice her own trade, and on cold winter nights they would hold each other close by the hearth and tell ghost stories.

But by the winter of their second year, the deception began to weigh on her heart. The love she got from him was never anything but honest, but she began to wonder if the love she gave in return was true, when she still hadn't told him the whole truth. What's more, ponies around town had begun to whisper. While it wasn't unheard of in those days, it was still unusual for a couple to go for such a long time without having any foals. In their letters, her parents had begun asking when they could expect to be grandparents, as meddling parents often do. And in spite of her efforts to act like nothing was wrong, one of her friends nervously asked after breakfast if there was anything she wished to talk about, anything at all. Lathe Turner, would say that as long as she was happy, he would be happy, but vowed to track down one of the great unicorn magi for help if she asked, an offer she quickly refused.

Though he'd meant to reassure her, it only made her worry more. She was certain that a true expert would be able to uncover her deception, and then everything would come crumbling down around her. Yet every scheme, every lie she conjured up only served to bring back that once familiar knot in her stomach and pull it tighter, and at length she consigned herself to tell Lathe Turner the truth.

After dinner one night, while they were resting by the hearth, Stoccado mustered her courage and looked deep into Lathe Turner's eyes. "There is something I need to tell you, something I've meant to say for some time, but it is difficult to say and I fear difficult to hear. If I am to share this secret, would you promise to let me finish, no matter what?"

Lathe Turner had certainly seen his wife in a serious mood before, but even so he said, "I promise."

"When I said the Stoccado you knew fell, it was closer to the truth than you know." With no turning back, she let her disguise disappear in a burst of flame, revealing herself holes and all. "She was my friend."

Lathe Turner opened his mouth as if to speak, but she held up a hoof, reminding him of his promise. "I'm so sorry, would that I had told you before. Told you that I was not who you thought I was. But I will tell you this, I wasn't lying when I said my vows. I truly wanted to stay like that forever."

Stoccado looked down, tears in her eyes and her ears pinned back, letting Lathe Turner know he was free to fly into a rage, or storm out the door.

Instead he kissed her on the forehead and said. "I believed you then, that you were not the mare I first fell in love with, and I believe you now. Yet I fell in love with you all the same."

Though she knew he was a gentle and caring soul, she was still surprised. "You're not upset? I was afraid you would never trust me again."

"I will admit my heart feels all a jumble with aches and hopes, but what I do know is that I still cannot bear to see you crying." He pulled her into an embrace, and after her tears had stopped, he said. "My father was not a stallion of many words, but he did once say to me, 'Son, one day you'll grow up and fall in love, and when you do, remember that when you marry someone, you cannot simply love them for who they are, you must be prepared to love them for who they will be.' And so, whoever you will be, I will follow."

They held each other close long into the night, and later Lathe Turner would recall feeling like he had returned home after a long journey, even though they hadn't gone anywhere at all. Stoccado never again had any doubts that her love was real.

And that is the story of the Guard, the Woodcutter and the Changeling. They did indeed live out the rest of their days happily ever after, although telling Stoccado's friends and the rest of town the truth proved difficult for a time. Some ponies accepted the news without a second thought, but for some, it was only after many lengthy assurances by Lathe Turner that they eventually accepted her as she was. Even he expected that some ponies would never be convinced, but the tales of Steel Echo and Stoccado's friendship managed to sooth even the most wary hearts, and soon the tales began to spread far and wide.

After winter was wrapped up, the two went on a long journey. First they traveled North to pay respects to a fallen friend. Then they visited the capital and old Stoccado's parents. They did not take the news well, and disavowed the two. Feeling downtrodden but determined to move on, they traveled to the southern lands, and visited some of the places where the new Stoccado grew up, before at last returning home. It was less than a year later that they welcomed the first new foal in their family, a testament to the power of honest love. And, as fate or happenstance would have it, it was their children, raised with an appreciation of what their mother's long lost twin sister had done for her, who eventually mended the ties between old Stoccado’s parents and the new family. But that, my friend, is another tale for another day.

Author's Note

hi hi

Thank you for reading my little story, I hope you enjoyed it. I originally started it as a handout for my players in a roleplaying game, but it ended up getting rather lengthy, in spite of my best efforts to cut it down to size. The idea was to introduce some possibilities for changelings besides what we saw in A Canterlot Wedding.

The way I interpreted it, even though changelings weren't unheard of, a changeling invasion was both unexpected and unprepared for, and perhaps the might that Chrysalis wielded was unprecedented when compared to what ponies knew from changeling history. This is meant to be such a possibly history. I make no claims about whether anything in the story is fact or fiction, even in said roleplaying game.

I know IDW has since given changelings an origin story where they are magically created, obligate evil beings, but that always seemed like a missed opportunity to me. I did some research on changeling myths from the British Isles and Scandinavia, came up with several different philosophies that might guide changelings, and decided that none of them were mutually exclusive for changeling kind as a whole.

Some of my favorites were:
• "The Fair Folk," Walter Gregor, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland.
• "The Piskies' Changeling," Robert Hunt, Popular Romances of the West of England.
• "The Father of Eighteen Elves," Jón Arnason, Icelandic Legends.