Author's Note

Here's the next chapter. Again, I'm still down an editor/proof reader. I've already caught most of the glaring erros but some remain most likely.

Also, shout out to mustangdrew4 for being a relentlessly avid reader of this project despite the large gaps in chapter postings and redos. You're the mvp of this project, thanks for the constant support!

New Home

Everyone waited around anxiously while they waited for Darling and the Hierarch to return, all eager yet equally terrified to hear the verdict the Hierarch had to offer. It had been only half an hour since the two had gone into the chamber alone, yet, it felt as if hours had gone by. Duena was especially concerned. For one, these were the ponies she trusted most out of anyone. They had been there since day one, and in the few weeks they had known each other they had proven to her that not all ponies were out for her. She was scared that if Darling had been working behind their backs this whole time then who else might have been as well?

That particular thought had been racing through her mind ever since the night the papers and booklets were found, even while she busied herself with packing the few items she did own at this point. Darling was perhaps the nicest out of the entire group, save for Lightning when he was around. Darling always had her back, making sure she was taken care of and had everything she needed, even offering her spear so Duena could protect herself while out on patrols. Thinking Darling was working for ponies who sought to do ill things to her only made her stomach flip on itself and sent her head spinning. Duena had to lie down while she waited, feeling like the room was spinning and it was making her nauseous.

"Doin' alright, Dee?" Lightning's soft voice came from behind her.

The rag on her neck was removed before another one damped with cold water replaced it, and Duena gave a slight nod. "I'm holding up. You know you don't have to do this, right? Head's just a little swimmy," she said with a gratuitous sigh.

"Oh, I know I don't. You just looked like you could use it," he replied and sat on the floor beside her, leaning up against the bench Duena was resting on. He let out a heavy sigh as he slicked back his mane and leaned his head back. "You think you know a pony, and sometimes that image in your head is right, sometimes it's wrong. We're all hoping that we were right about her and that she'll come walking out that door with her head high and proud."

Duena gazed at Lightning and offered him a thin smile. "I'm sure she'll be okay. They've been in there a while now."

Lightning nodded, his body sliding down and out a little. "Not too sure how long it takes. Ten, fifteen minutes? An hour? Say, Bandit, you know how long these things take?"

"Hierarch said ten minutes, so soon," Bandit answered from across the room.

Lightning looked back at Duena. "You know, since we're going to be heading into denser territory you're gonna need to not be looking like you."

"Oh yeah? Why can't I go around like this? I think I look fine as it is," Duena mumbled.

"Well," Lightning began as he sank to the floor completely, looking up at Duena from his back, "Unless you want ponies running you down through the streets you should figure a disguise out."

Duena yawned and stretched out her limbs. "I'll figure it out on the train. Maybe you can give me one of your play pony magazines and I'll pick something from there."

Lightning deadpanned and gave her a serious look moments later. "Hey, my personal taste in mares doesn't have to influence your decision."

"Mhmm, alright," she taunted him while she watched as his feather ruffled up. "Besides, I bet you'd like it. I heard rumors that you've got the hots for me." Not a moment later after the words left her mouth every feather on Lightning's body stood on end as he began to sputter and stumble on his words. "Ooo, was I right?" Duena continued and stuck her tongue out at him.

"No! No, you stop that! I do not have a thing for you!" he sputtered as he shot up to his hooves. Lightning only realized he may have said that a bit loud as a few chuckles and giggles came from the others, even Grey who had remained mute for most of the time, and Lightning lowered his head and ears.

Duena simply smirked and raised her brows at him. "Hey, it's not a bad thing if you do. I mean, if I didn't know better I'd say you want to take me out to dinner."

Lightning made himself look bigger while his eyes narrowed at her as he feigned a threatening stance. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't."

"Well, do you?" Duena prodded, now getting a little curious if he really did.

Fortunately for Lightning further embarrassment was saved with the door on the far side of the room opening to reveal the Hierarch and Darling stepping through. Darling looked completely exhausted yet relieved, a faint smile gracing her muzzle as she looked at everyone in the room. "I'm all good guys, just like I said I would be!"

Everyone in the room cheered as they crowded around the two mares. "Nothing was found, and as discussed earlier you will receive two weeks paid leave, so I hope you enjoy your time home," the Hierarch said flatly, seeming a little unhappy that nothing came up. Another pony came out of the room and exchanged a few quiet words with the Hierarch who gave a nod to them. "The Mage's Circle is waiting for us, I hope you're all packed and ready to go."

"Everybody is good to go. We can leave whenever," Bandit answered and motioned for everyone to grab their things.

Duena went back to the bench she was lying on to grab her helmet, spear and the small collection of knickknacks she had in a bag while the Hierarch continued, "I'm sending your team to New Baltimare, there's a little headquarters for the Council you will all be staying at. Penelope should be there to greet you all when you arrive and I've already made her aware of your... friend who'll be going with you." Duena looked over at the Hierarch with a raised brow, and the Hierarch, with a disapproving gaze, nodded. "Yes, you. So, please, try not to get yourself killed. I'll have you know that ponies are quite ravenous when it comes to 'lings."

"She'll be fine," Lightning interjected. He was sat beside the door, leaned up against the wall with his wings lazily resting at his sides. "I think with all of us being around no one will lay a hoof on her without getting through us."

"I would hope so," the Hierarch agreed as she made for the door. "I suppose I should have you all on your way then. Best not keep the Magi waiting much longer."

With that out of the way, everyone save for Darling and June filed out into the hallway, going down a few doors before turning up and into the main stairway, only having to go up three flights before they were on the surface again. Hanging around in the courtyard were about ten ponies who were all wearing similar looking robes. Blue with silver linings that sparkled when the sunlight hit them. It wasn't until Duena saw these ten ponies that she realized that these were the only ten unicorns she had seen since arriving at the compound. It didn't take the mages long to notice the group and the Hierarch, leading them all outside the compound walls off to a little clearing that Duena had patrolled a few times during the night with Bandit.

Lightning stood next to Duena while the magi instructed the group on where to stand and set their belongings. "Ever teleported before?" he said to her in a low voice so as not to interrupt the magi. Duena shook her head, giving him a side glance. "Wish I knew how to explain the feeling to you. The best piece of advice? Keep your hooves on the ground and relax. Might lose your balance since it's your first time. Maybe get sick."

Duena tilted her head and leaned in just a little. "Is that normal for most ponies?"

"Mhh, I'd say so. You get used to it after a couple of times," he said with a nod.

One of the unicorns began giving instruction, although, Duena didn't really listen, instead, closing her eyes to focus on relaxing herself. She peeked an eye open for a moment to watch the robed unicorns for a circle around them as energy began to form around them, the sound a crackling beginning to fill the air around them. She closed her eyes again as them smell of ozone filled her senses, the crackling growing louder and louder until suddenly... POP! It felt as if she had been violently shoved backward, punched in the gut and thrown forward again, landing roughly on her hooves and catching herself before she fell forward.

Hooves grabbed either side of her face and lifted her head up, Lightning coming into view for her. He had a big grin on his muzzle as he said, "Look at that, you survived your first long distance teleportation! And you don't look a bit worse for wear to boot."

Duena groaned and let out a long sigh as she sat herself down. Her breaths were coming out heavy and her heart was thumping rapidly in her chest, the sound of blood rushing through her body pumped in her ears. "I feel worse for wear," she would eventually answer.

"Just give yourself a couple of minutes, Dee, and you'll be feeling like you again, promise," Lightning said and patted her shoulder. "Need me to carry you, or you just wanna sit for a bit?"

She waved a hoof dismissively at him. "I'm fine. I just... wow, that did not feel good."

Lightning chuckled, "Yeah, like I said you get used to it after a couple of times. Though, I'm not sure how often we'll be teleporting like this. That said, welcome to one of the many grand libraries of Equestria!"

Duena took a second to look around the massive circular room they were in. Large marble pillars reached several stories into the air before ending in a glass dome at the top. Other than that, the room was barren of any furniture or decorative pieces on the walls. "Looks... pretty empty for a library," she said with a disapproving tone.

"We're just in the main teleportation section of the library," Bandit spoke up as he walked past the two. "Just so you know, Dee, outside this room you need to look like one of us, so figure yourself something before we head out."

Duena looked at Lightning. "Soooo... wanna bust out that play pony mag for me?"

Lightning gave her an unamused look before he grabbed his bag and flung it over his shoulder. "No, I don't. I don't need you looking like my favorite girl and teasing me while we're out on the job. Besides, you've seen a few mares out over at the compound, try looking like one of them?"

"Well, yeah, but they're not your favorite girl," Duena said with a sarcastic tone while she grabbed a mirror from her bag of random items. Her charcoal body shifted hues along with her once orange mane which also changed lengths while she tried to find a look that she liked. She eventually settled on slightly lighter coat color and a short electric blue mane and tail with her mane flipped over on one side. "What do you think of this look?" she said, spinning in place a couple of times.

"Hmmhmm, not bad. Could use a little work I think, but for now, it'll do," Lightning said with a nod.

"Looks edgy as fuck," Jolt commented as he also passed by.

Lightning managed to smack him over the head which got him a glare in return. "Look who's talking, you have a goofy ass haircut yourself."

Duena shook her head at the boys and collected her stuff, throwing it over her back and followed them toward the set of double doors. "Where we off to now?"

"The council headquarters," Bandit answered as Lightning, Jolt, Grey and Duena gathered behind him. "It's a little bit of a walk if I remember correctly since the last time I was in this city was almost two years ago. Not a huge place and it blends in pretty well with the rest of the city." Bandit opened the doors and led them out into an even larger, yet far busier section of the library.

Duena gawked at the sheer size of the place, the walls reaching far higher than they did in the room they had just left. She counted a total of nine stories. Rows of desks and chairs filled the center area of the bottom floor and were surrounded by dozens upon dozens of bookshelves. The walls of the establishment were bookshelves themselves, requiring ponies to either use magic or ladders to reach books that were high up on the shelves. Wooden staircases led up to the next floor on either corner of the rectangular room. "Woah."

"Ah, see? Told you, Dee," Lightning said as he made his way down the centerline pathway.

"Come on, we can come back later," Bandit told Duena as he nudged her forward.

Duena looked at Bandit only for a moment before she continued to explore the building, looking up to the high ceilings and watching some of the many bodies that were moving about within the library while she haphazardly followed the four stallions. "This is... wow. How many of these are there?"

"Nine," the four stallions answered collectively.

"They all pretty much look like this with some minor variations, but if you've seen one you've seen them all," Lightning continued. "Magi, scholars and normal folk come here alike, and it's completely free. Granted as long as you don't damage anything. Plus, they tend to house a number of other amenities like dueling arenas, tracks, public gardens. Buncha stuff."

Duena finally settled her excitement and formed in close with the group. "That's really cool, I had no idea that you guys had stuff like this. They're basically giant community centers then?" She got a collection of nods as the headed out the front of the large building and into the outside world. Duena was met with the amazing New Baltimare skyline, the bright blue sky pierced by tall skyscrapers that towered over the Grand Library and shading the city from the sun. Gazing further down she could see the tall hedges bordering the outer walls of the library's courtyard that were colored brightly with an arrangement of white and pink blossoms. A large water fountain took the center of the courtyard shooting water several feet into the air before sprinkling back down. Colts and fillies ran back and forth through the grassy areas off to either side screaming and giggling while they played. "It's really... lively."

Bandit glanced back at Duena after hearing the surprise in her tone, a momentary smile crossing his muzzle before he looked forward again. "That's the beauty of the libraries. They bring the community together unlike anything I've seen before, and they provide countless jobs, so overall I think they're a pretty nice asset to have.

The group walked out the main gate of the library and out onto the streets of New Baltimare with Bandit continuing to lead them down the maze of paved sidewalks. Carriages passed on either side of the road with guards helping to direct traffic at intersections. They walked for about fifteen minutes until Bandit pulled them off to the side of a large four-story building that looked like a hotel of sorts. He went up the short flight of stairs and knocked on the door, waiting a few moments before it opened to reveal a mare.

The mare's face lit up not a moment later and she swung the door wide open, moving off to the side. "Come in, come in! You all must be the ponies the Hierarch told me about!" The five guards filed in through the door which led into a wide open lobby area that had two doors leading away on either side and another staircase leading up ahead of them. "I'm Penelope, hopefully, the Hierarch made you aware of who I am a little bit. I hope the trip here wasn't too harrowing!"

"No, the trip was perfectly fine, Penelope, thank you," Bandit answered while he threw his stuff onto the ground and looked around the place. "It's been a few years since I've been here, are you new?"

"I've been serving here as the great librarian for the last year and a half," Penelope answered with grand excitement, the unicorn practically beaming with Bandit's notice. "So, which one of you five is our little bug-friend the Hierarch told me about? I've never gotten to meet a changeling before, you don't know how excited I am!"

Duena had lowered her ears as the unicorn's excitement nearly deafened all five of them as her voice pitched to a squeal, jittering on her hooves as looked between them. "Ah, that'd be me," Duena finally admitted with a sheepish smile.

Penelope pranced in place and ran over to Duena, circling her several times while she practically swooned over her. "My, look at you! I couldn't even tell! Oh, please, may I get a look at you?" Penelope put a heavy emphasis on the last 'you' making it quite obvious to Duena what she meant. Duena looked at the four stallions with uncertainty, Bandit giving a nod of approval. With a quick cast of the disguise spell, Duena was back to her normal charcoal black body. Penelope's face lit up, even more, the unicorn taking Duena's hoof in her own, running them down Duena's arm. "Simply amazing! I'd never imagined that your hooves would be so soft. I thought changelings had carapace instead of a coat?"

"Well, I am partially pony," Duena said with a nervous chuckle while she pulled her hoof away from Penelope's grasp. "It's not something I really want to get into."

Penelope's excitement seemed to simmer down with this new information, her expression changing from one of pure joy to one of serious curiosity. "Half pony you say? Now, that's an interesting little tidbit right there, isn't it? Though, I suppose with all of the abductions happening over the last ten years I really shouldn't be all that surprised." Penelope softened her expression and looked between the now five guards ponies, offering them all a smile. "Since we've got introductions out of the way, I suppose I should get rules out of the way. Our 'ling friend here knows not to go out without her disguise, correct."

The five guards gave her a collective nod.

"Excellent! We have meals prepared for oh-nine-hundred, thirteen-hundred and nineteen-hundred hours for breakfast, lunch, and dinner respectively," Penelope continued as she spun herself around and motioned for the group to follow her, waiting for them all to collect their things. "The cooks follow a strict schedule so if you don't get to eat, that's on you. Next, everyone will have their own room, I don't want anyone sleeping with anyone in my safe house. Curfue is at eighteen hundred, so be back before then if you're out taking care of business."

The group was led up the stairs and down the central hallway at the top that then split off to the left and right just a few feet down. "These will be your rooms for the remainder of your stay. Please, please keep your rooms clean. They don't have to be spotless, but for my sake. Miss 'Ling, this first room to the left will be yours. There's a key on the desk for you to keep so you can lock the room if you wish."

Duena split herself off from the group while Penelope continued to lead the other four down the hall to assign them their rooms. The door was quite simple, just a wooden rectangle painted white with a nob that pushed down to open the door, and a round slotted keyhole just above it. Without any hesitation, Duena pushed the nob down and swung the door open to reveal the rather small room. Off in the back left was a single bed the looked just big enough for one pony to sleep on with a small wooden nightstand set next to it. On the right wall, set center against it was a well crafted wooden desk and chair that had a fairy light lamp sitting on it that was illuminating the room in a soft blue-white glow. She didn't see anywhere to put her armor. The corner would do.

With a soft sigh, Duena set her small bag of belongings in the corner just off to her right and closed the door to begin taking her armor off piece by piece, setting it in a pile next to the rest of her stuff. Once it was all off she unceremoniously threw herself onto the bed, bouncing on it a couple of times before she rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. "Welcome home, Dee. You did it. You made it to Equestria." she said to herself with a small smile, closing her eyes. "Now what?"