"...She's waking up."

That voice. It was so clear. Who did that voice belong to? Where was I? I opened my eyes slowly, staring up at a familiar stone ceiling with purple gemstones embedded into it. A face popped into view. I didn't recognize this face.

A stallion. He was a unicorn with a grayish-brown mane, a goatee, and brown fur. His eyes were bright green and he wore a black top hat with black framed glasses.

"She seems pretty focused already," He said.

"F-focused? I'm focused because there's a r-random stallion in m-my f-face," I stammered, my voice hoarse. I shifted away from him, only to hiss in pain.

"Try not to move too much. Nightmare Moon did a number on you," He said worriedly.

"Who a-are you? Where's H-Harmony?" I demanded.

"Over here," I looked at the entrance of the room. Harmony stood there, a relieved look on her face. She looked tired.

"Harmony! Are you okay? You look..." I trailed off.

"I haven't been sleeping since Celestia brought you here," She smiled.

"How long was that?" I asked.

"About six days ago," The stallion chirped. I narrowed my eyes at him. Ponies don't usually come into the Everfree Forest for any reason at all. Harmony noticed.

"Different, this is Dapper. He was brought here by Celestia to help you heal. He's been staying here for the past couple of days. He's great company," Harmony explained, smiling at the stallion.

"The pleasure is all mine, m'lady," Dapper said, tipping his hat. I nodded at the stallion.

"So, he's okay? You trust him?" I asked Harmony.

"I trust him," She confirmed. I looked at the stallion.

"Can I get a glass of water? My throat hurts," I muttered.

"On it," He replied, trotting out of the room.

"...He's a strange fellow," I told Harmony.

"He is. But he is funny. He has the most strange tales. He's also into chemistry as well as medicine," Harmony said.

"Chemistry?" I repeated.

"Yes. He's rather intelligent," Harmony mused.

"...You fancy him," I realized. Harmony's pink face turned dark red.

"What? No! That's impossible," She rejected the idea.

"Harmony. I know a crush when I see it," I deadpanned. I'm part changeling for crying out loud. I know love.

Dapper walked into the room, a glass of water levitating in his green magic. I noticed he had a slight blush on his face. He overheard our conversation. Of course he did.

I took the glass from him, drinking down the cool liquid.

"It's odd. She literally got her wing burned off. Of course, they're bug wings, so how painful was it really? Sorry, I've never been a doctor for a changeling before. It's very exciting," He chuckled.

"Half changeling," I sneered.

"Oh, well... yes. Sorry. Let's check your wound now, shall we?" He said. I nodded and stood up, wincing in pain. I looked at the bandages. They were wrapped around my torso neatly, avoiding my other wing completely. The spot where my wing used to be, a stain of blood soaked through the bandages. I felt nauseous.

"Okay, I'm gonna remove the bandages," he said, using his hooves to start unwrapping the bandages.

"Why don't you use magic to do this?" I asked.

"It may be easier to use magic, but magic could potentially be a hazard with its radiation," He said slowly, concentrating on unraveling the bandages.

"M-magical radiation? Do you think... N-Nightmare's magic..." I trailed off.

"It could possibly affect you. Most likely in a negative way. Could be pain, nightmares, maybe even your personality," He explained. I went rigid. He noticed. "Or, it could do nothing at all!"

"How... c-comforting," I said nervously. Once he removed the bandages, I refused to look at the wound. I was never a big fan of blood, especially seeing my own.

Dapper grabbed a role of bandages from nearby.

"Yeesh, that does not look pretty. Harmony, could you get me a bowl of cold water?" He asked. Harmony nodded and quickly left the room.

"...So, you like my sister?" I asked.

"Pfft, what!? No..." He trailed off, seeing the look on my face, "Okay, yes. Can you blame me? I've never met a pony like her before!"

"Because she's an alicorn, right?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"No! Need I remind you, I was brought to you by Celestia herself. I've met alicorns. Harmony's not like them," He responded.

"Well... I wouldn't get too attached. We're practically immortal. We don't die of old age. You wouldn't be able to be with her throughout her entire life," I told him.

"I'm painfully aware of this fact, Miss Different, but... I like her all the same..." He muttered. I tried not to role my eyes. Who did this stallion think he was? He likes Harmony, my Harmony!

"She's my little sister. Forgive me if I seem a bit over protective," I apologized. It wasn't sincere.

"Perfectly understandable," He replied just as Harmony walked back into the room, a bowl of water and a wash cloth floating behind her. She sat the bowl next to the stallion and stepped out of the room. The blood must've been getting to her too. I hissed in pain as the cold liquid touched the wound.

"So... Celestia told me you said it would be a few months before your wing grows back," He said.

"Yes. It's not the first time I've lost a wing, although it is the most... gruesome," I shivered.

"Can't you just... transform? Make it grow back?" He asked. I glared at him, but he just continued to hold the wash cloth to my side, ignoring me.

"Let me tell you something. I'm only half changeling. You know what that means?" I asked, continuing without waiting for an answer, "I'm not as powerful as a normal changeling. Every form I take on has a flaw. My fur might be too bright, my mane might have one discolor, my eyes might be too dark, my height might be too tall, things like that. Another thing is that my transformations take up a lot of energy. Even if I did transform to create a copy of my wing, I'd have to revert back so it didn't take up too much energy."

"Do you still feed off of love like normal changelings?" He asked, putting down the bloody rag and beginning to wrap bandages around my torso.

"Well, yes, but it has to be love aimed at me. Somepony has to love me, or at least, the pony I'm disguised as. Same as any other changeling. Unlike other changelings, though, I can feed off of any emotion. Love just has the best flavor. I also cannot stomach normal pony food. Beverages are an exception. For example, I can drink cider, but I can't eat apples. I think it has to do with how solid food is," I explained.

"You said all your disguises have flaws. How do you get your meals then?" He asked.

"Sometimes, the flaw is something small, like an extra inch taller or something like that, so I don't have to worry too much. Most of the time, however, there's Harmony. She allows me to feed off of the love she has for the real me, so I never have to transform around her," I answered.

"How... unorthodox. Alright, we're done," He said, a smile on his face.

"Are you serious?" I asked, looking at the clean bandages.

"I talked to you to distract you so you wouldn't feel too much pain," He explained. I had to admit, that was rather smart.

"Well then, I guess I should lead you out of the forest now," I said, shakily walking towards the entrance.

"Oh no you don't," He said, stopping me by putting his hoof on my tail, "I'm here to help you heal. I can't leave until I've fulfilled my duty."

"Come now, Dapper. You don't really-" I started.

"Nope. Princess's orders. Can't go," He cut me off. I huffed in frustration and went back to bed.

"Then wake me up when I'm healed," I growled, throwing the covers over my body.

"I'll wake you when I need to change your bandages again," He retorted.

"Of course you will," I grumbled, burying my face into the soft pillow. After a while, I found myself drifting off into a dreamless sleep...

Author's Note

A/N: Bonjour! I've decided to do a thing. Every now and then, I will be asking ponies on Equestria Amino to have a part in this story, mainly because I can't create an OC out of thin air and I love the other ponies in the community ^w^
The lovely stallion in this chapter and in more to come is known as Dapper, a pony that belongs to one Level 11 "Scar".
I hope you all enjoy!~