All I Want This Hearth's Warming...

Chapters

The Start Of The Season
A Friend's Discovery
Hearth's Warming Wishes

The Start Of The Season

“All I Want This Hearth’s Warming…”

The Start Of The Season

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It was getting late now, and Celestia’s sun had set about an hour ago. Inside one of the many cozy houses in Ponyville, a brown coated unicorn stood gazing outside the window to his home, watching the soft snowfall. It was wintertime in Equestria, and this was the first snowfall of the season. The pegasi had said that the ponies could expect more and more snowstorms as the weeks go by, so that all the ponies could enjoy this season much more than last year’s, which in most opinions, was pretty lacking.

The unicorn took a small sip out of the steaming mug of hot chocolate he had resting in his magic’s grip. He had a soft, content smile on his face as he continued to watch the soft flakes of ice gently trail from the dark sky. He sighed to himself, taking another sip of the warm liquid,

“Ah… finally snowing. Now I don’t have to worry about ponies giving me strange looks when I walk through town with lights hanging off my back.”

The unicorn chuckled to himself letting his mind slip to a fond, albeit rather embarrassing memory of a group of foals laughing at him as he trotted happily through the streets with a large present bow on his head, and dangling bells around his neck.

“It was just preparation…” said the unicorn, trying to defend himself against those laughing foals.

“I was just getting the decorations early, so I could save some bits on them… Those things get too expensive once it gets closer to Hearth's Warming.”

While his mind was drifting further into his defence, he briefly lost focus on his magic, letting the small little mug, his favorite one at that, slip from his grasp and fall to the floor. Before he could react, he watched the mug fall in almost slow motion to the unforgiving floor below. He could have sworn he saw a small tear fall from the cup’s little face of a deer with a red nose, before smashing into pieces on the hardwood floor.

The unicorn sighed, turning to get a towel to clean up the mug he got from last years Hearth’s Warming. He collected the small pieces of the mug with a broom and began carrying them to their final resting place in the trash, before he heard his doorbell ring. He paused, looking towards the door with confusion. He set down the broom and pan, walking over to open the door, revealing two warmly wrapped ponies waiting on the other side. One being a grey-coated pegasus, and the other a pink and velvet earth pony.

“Hi Hidden! Told ya the first snow would be a good one!” said the warmly wrapped pegasus.

“And it only gets better from here! Next week’s gonna be almost twice as much, so we can finally go on that sledding trip!”

“Ah, Thunderlane, Cherry, nice of you to drop by. Oh, also, yes this is a pretty nice start to the season! Here, come on in, you two are making me cold standing out there.”

Hidden chuckled as he welcomed his friends into his much warmer home. Both ponies nodded in thanks, and removed their winter garments as they welcomed the warm air into their noses. They opened their eyes, taking in the full image of Hidden’s home. The glowing lights hanging from the walls, the multitude of poinsettias sitting on each table, and, of course, the large and beautifully decorated Hearth’s Warming Tree.

Cherry walked over to smell one of the bright red flowers, “Wow, you really went all out this year huh?”

“Yeah, I mean, I know you love Hearth’s Warming and all, but don’t you think this is a bit much?” Added Thunderlane.

“What? No no, this is perfect! I still need to finish decorating the fireplace, I’ve been too busy putting up the lights and wreaths on the outside to finish up in here. Speaking of which...”

With that, the brown unicorn giddily trotted over to a small box sitting beside the aforementioned fireplace, where he promptly lifted out a few red socks to hang on the mantlepiece. The two ponies simply stared at their friend, then chuckled at the fact that he actually had a bit of a wreath stuck in his tail.

“Hey uh, Hidden? You might want to get that off your tail there, somepony might get the wrong idea...” said Thunderlane, trying to stifle some of his laughter.

Hidden looked up from what he was doing and turned towards his tail, letting a small ‘eep’ escape his lips before removing his unexpected decoration.

Hidden floated the wreath onto a blank portion of wall, making sure that the small decoration fit in with the rest of the decor. After returning to the fireplace, with a little bit of red in his cheeks, he continued to hang up the stockings.

“So, what brings you guys here this fine evening?” Hidden asked.

The two ponies looked towards each other, sharing a confused look.

“Don’t you remember? You sent us some invitations. For a night over?” Thunderlane emphasised by waving a hoof.

“You said, and I quote; Dear friends, On the evening of the first snowfall you are invited to attend a get together at my house! Please don’t worry about bringing presents, this is just a get together. Don’t forget! Happy Hearth’s Warming, Hidden Power.”

Thunderlane seemed to beam with pride at remembering the invitation, only resulting in a confused look from Hidden. Cherry walked up to the stallion, patting his shoulder.

“Yeah, you invited us to celebrate the start of the season, remember?”

Hidden thought for a moment, before realization hit him. He dropped the last nail and stocking and ran into the kitchen, where a few pans and containers could be heard being shuffled and moved about. A couple seconds later, Hidden walked out with a small tray and pitcher. The tray had three decorative mugs sitting on it, as well as a small plate of little carrot cakes. He smiled awkwardly to his friends, prompting a chuckle from them both, before setting the tray and pitcher down on the central coffee table. He offered them both the couch, which they accepted.

Hidden proceeded to pour some of the pitcher’s contents into each of the mugs, giving off a rather strong scent of eggnog, and fixed a small plate with two cakes sitting on each of them. He passed out the food items, and took a ginger sip of the the eggnog, smiling warmly to his friends.

“So… How’s it going?” Hidden asked, letting a small laugh slip from his mouth.

Thunderlane and Cherry both laughed as well, responding together with a ‘not bad.’ This was how their normal conversations started, almost like a little ritual. The common ‘how’s it going?’, and ‘how’ve things been?’. The trio continued to catch each other up on their day to day lives, talking about all the interesting and not-so-interesting things that have happened in the past couple of days.

“... And I had to let the guy walk out with a half painted picture of a flower. The stallion just wouldn’t let me finish it, even though I told him it would only take a few more minutes.”

“Well, the nerve of some ponies can be quite… Ill-tempered. Even in the season of celebrating friendship and kindness.” Cherry responded to Hidden’s little tangent.

“Well, some ponies just need to be more patient in my opinion.” added Thunderlane.

Hidden nodded in agreement, taking another sip from his mug. He then stopped, seeming pained. He almost doubled over, putting a hoof to his gut. His friends looked at him strangely.

“Oof, uh, hehe, if you’ll excuse me, I need to use the little colts room.”

With that statement, Hidden ran upstairs towards the bathroom. As he passed by one of the small bookshelves, he brushed past one of the books sticking out slightly. The book was knocked off the shelf and fell to the floor, landing with a dull thud.

“Uh, Hidden you knocked down some books!” Cherry called out.

But the sentence trailed off on her lips as she heard the door upstairs slam shut, and as her eyes traveled down towards the small book. Cherry stood, with the intention of returning the book to its rightful place on the shelf, before she saw the title. She paused, a strong sense of curiosity taking hold of her. She was tempted to open the book and take a peek inside, before the sound of the toilet flushing drug her back. She hastily put the book back into its place, being sure to push it a bit further back to ensure it did not fall again, and returned to her seat on the couch. This getting a strange look from Thunderlane, to which she mouthed ‘It was nothing’.

Hidden came walking back down the stairs. Thunderlane chuckled at his friend, getting a look from the other stallion. Once Hidden had found his seat beside Thunderlane, the pegasus put on a fake expression of distress, as well as an extremely exaggerated accent.

“Oh thank Celestia I thought you fell in! This truly is the season of miracles!”

Thunderlane exclaimed this while play fainting over the side of the couch, holding a hoof to his head. This made Hidden blush, and took Cherry’s eyes off of the book and to her stallion friends.

“Oh lay off Thunderlane, stop tormenting him.” Cherry said in a joking tone.

Hidden crossed his hooves and grunted in annoyance at his friend’s antics. Thunderlane took the hint and sat back up, patting the Unicorn on the back.

“Hey, come on, where’s your Hearth’s Warming Spirit Hidden? I thought you were supposed to be the king of the season?”

Hidden gave the pegasus a sidelong look, rolling his eyes and allowing a small smile to slip onto his lips.

“I am the king of the season. Look at my house! It’s more decorated than the Town Hall!” Hidden said proudly, before finally fixing the last stocking. Thunderlane got off of Hidden, before returning to his own cup of eggnog.

“Well, at least you didn’t fall in. But there’s always next time…”

As if on cue, the pegasus’s wings flinched, and he put on an embarrassed smile as he excused himself, again allowing laughter to fill the house. The antics continued through the night for the next hour, leading into some caroling, baking, and eventually settling down into the traditional telling of the Hearth’s Warming Tale, the story about all three pony races coming together to form equestria and celebrate friendship. Cherry and Thunderlane took turns telling the story, because Hidden, much to the surprise of the others, said that he was not too familiar with the tale.

“... And all through the night, the three ponies kept the Fire of Friendship alive, telling tales to one another, and singing songs, which of course became the same carols we sing today… The End.”

Both Thunderlane and Cherry finished the story together, much to the amusement of Hidden, who tiredly clapped his hooves at their excellent storytelling. The two ponies smiled and took a small bow, chuckling sleepily.

“Well, that was some story. Enjoyed hearing it again.” said Hidden, yawning in the process.

“Oh, well thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it Hidden,” said Cherry. “But, I’m still surprised that you don’t know the story. I thought you of all ponies would know the entire story by memory!”

“Yeah, kinda strange don’t you think?” Replied Thunderlane.

Hidden seemed to tense up a little at the sudden questioning, but then stretched his back, casually dismissing the ponies concerns. He stood up from his stretch and shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess, I was never really told the story much. I mean, I’ve looked it up and read on it, but I never got the chance to memorize it like you guys. Nothing strange about that.”

Hidden gave an earnest smile, which faded off into a large yawn. The yawn passed from him to the others, making them realize just how late it was.

“Well, It seems we have been up for a little too long. I guess it’s time to check in for the night.” said Hidden, trying to stifle another yawn.

“Yeah, I gotta get at least some sleep tonight, I’ve got that next batch of snow clouds to get ready for next week’s storm. Mind If I take the couch?” Thunderlane asked.

“No, I don’t mind, just be sure to put the pillow back on it in the morning. You want the guest bed Cherry?”

Cherry nodded, gladly accepting the offer from both stallions. Even though he didn’t say it, she knew that Thunderlane took the couch so she didn’t have to. She smiled warmly towards him, and he nodded in response. With the group in agreement, they milled about to their respective sleeping places after blowing out some candles and dimming the fire. Thunderlane took his place on the couch, wrapping a blanket around himself as Cherry and Hidden made their way upstairs.

Once there, the two shared a small ‘good night’ and entered their rooms. Once inside his room, Hidden made his bed and and turned down the light. He waited a few minutes, listening to the house, trying to tell if his guests were asleep. Hearing nothing but the sound of wind outside, the unicorn locked his door, and placed a small spell to ensure that he would not disturbed. after doing this, he paused, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath. The sound of air rushing through the small room could be heard, and upon opening his eyes, he looked much different.

His short brown coat was replaced with a hard grey shell. His mane and tail, two toned burgundy and brown, was now a two tone grey. His horn became curved, and a small pair of greenish blue wings sprouted from his back. His golden eyes were now a catlike green, and he adorned a small pair of fangs. Letting out the breath of air, he smiled to himself. It was always a nice feeling returning to his regular form. It felt more natural, free.

Now that he was completely comfortable with his situation, he hopped into bed and wrapped himself in his blanket and sheets, humming contently, and letting his mind slip away to whatever dreams awaited him that night.

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A Friend's Discovery

“All I Want This Hearth’s Warming…”

A Friend's Discovery

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Perhaps an hour had passed, two at most, but one of the ponies in the house was still awake. She had been waiting in bed as the minutes passed, waiting for any indication that Hidden was still awake. She sat up, deciding that it had been long enough, and she slowly stood out of bed, walking silently towards her door and opening it. Looking out, she could see the stairs, the bathroom door, and directly across from her, the door to the brown stallion’s room. No light shone from under the door, and she could hear the soft sound of snoring coming from the other side. She sighed in relief, and carefully made her way downstairs towards the living room, and the item that had been keeping her awake all night.

Making it downstairs, she looked about the dimly lit room, trying to find the same bookshelf that had revealed the strangely interesting book to her. Her eyes fell upon it, and she eagerly walked towards the bookshelf forgetting that she was trying to be silent. Her hooves brushed up against some bells sitting on the floor, and jingled a little too loudly. She froze, listening to the dying sound of the bells seemingly echo up the stairs. There was no response. Cherry sighed in relief, turning back to face the bookshelf, only to see a certain pegasus standing in front of her.

Cherry gasped, not expecting Thunderlane to be awake. She caught herself, and faced the pegasus with an agitated look.

“What are you doing?! You almost gave me a heart attack!” Cherry whispered loudly towards Thunderlane.

“What am I doing? What are you doing? Why are you sneaking around the house?”

Thunderlane then got an incriminating look, looking carefully at the mare.

“Are you trying to find presents? It’s not even close to Hearth’s Warming yet!”

Cherry looked at the pegasus with disbelief in her eyes, and quickly explained herself.

“What? No. I’m not looking for presents… I’m looking for that book that fell earlier today, the one Hidden knocked over?”

Thunderlane gave her a strange look, then put his eyes on the bookshelf behind him. He turned back to face the earth pony, and again his questioning look returned.

“Why? What did that book say on it to make you go snooping through Hidden’s house to find it?”

Cherry sighed, then pushed past her pegasus friend, pulling the book out from the same spot she had returned it a few hours ago. She flipped the book to the front, showing it to Thunderlane.

“Hidden’s Journal… Wait a minute, are you trying to look in Hidden’s diary? Why would you want to do that?” Thunderlane asked.

“Look, I’m just curious. He tends to be pretty honest with us right? So, why would he mind us taking a small peek into his journal? It doesn’t even have a lock on it. Don’t you think that if you wanted to keep somepony out of a book, you’d keep a lock on it?” Cherry persuaded.

Thunderlane gave a thoughtful look, scrunched up his brow, but couldn’t find anything to counter with Cherry’s argument. That and he was still tired. He shrugged, then gestured towards the couch where one of the only lit candles was. Cherry smiled, and the two ponies made their way to the couch, placing the book on the table so that they could easily see the words from the candle’s light. They sat down, looking at the book. It had an emerald cover, with dark grey spirals running along the edges. The words on the cover were a light green, and read out ‘Hidden’s Journal’.

The two looked at each other, then opened the book to read the first few pages. What they read was puzzling, and didn't make much sense to them…

The Journey

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Entry 1 - It’s been a few days now, and I found this book sitting in an old pony house outside of the desert. It must have been some sort of town at one point, or the start of one before many moved away from our lands. In any case, I’ve decided to write my story in this book, seeing as it would prove useful to know where I go and where I’ve been. If I have something interesting happen, I can write it down in here to remember it.

Entry 2 - I just crossed into Equestria, I can tell by the large fields of apple trees. This must be the Macintosh Hills. Just a few more miles to go and I’ll be in my target location…

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The two ponies gave each other a confused look, then flipped a few more pages into the book, trying to get to what might be more recent, if this book was in date order that is…

Who Am I?

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Entry 219 - I’ve taken the guise of a pony that doesn’t exist. This was an idea by a friend of mine back home, saying that it would be easier to make up somepony who didn’t actually exist, as that would pose less questions. He wasn’t wrong. All anypony asked was my name and where I was from. As to these questions, I answered simply: “My name’s Hidden, Hidden Power, and I’m from Macintosh.” And they just believe me! It makes it much easier, and lets me relax a bit, as I can just act like myself without giving away my identity…

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Thunderlane turned towards Cherry with a wary look, but the mare was already reading a bit more into the journal, until she stopped at one of the last few pages with writing…

The Truth?

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Entry 250 - So, those two ponies I mentioned a few entries back, they really are my friends. I haven’t been feeling myself for a while, and they checked up with me, seeing if everything was alright. I know many other changelings would chalk that up to them being ponies, but, I could feel their concern. It was genuine. They really cared about me, and if I was OK… They said that they knew I was acting a bit off, and wanted me to tell them why.

I wanted to tell them. Not just what was happening at that time, but tell them everything! Tell them who I was, why I was here, and why I didn’t tell them when I first became friends with them but, I can’t. They wouldn’t understand. Other changelings have tried that, tried to come clean and where did they end up? Gone. Never heard from again…

I want to tell them, I really do, but I just don’t know how. Until I know that they would listen long enough for me to explain myself, the truth stays with me. Until that day comes, My name is Hidden Power, and I’m just a normal unicorn.

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Cherry read the last paragraph aloud to Thunderlane, and she looked at him with both fear and confusion in her eyes. From what this book said, Hidden was a changeling. A real changeling. But, what she didn’t understand, and she was sure that Thunderlane was in the same boat, was why he seemed, not like a changeling at all. Changelings were monsters, they attacked ponies and hurt them, ponynaped them and drained emotion from them, Right? Cherry shook her head, and closed the book before she spoke to Thunderlane.

“Does this make any sense to you?” She asked.

“No… It, I don’t know. Hidden a changeling? He acts so, pony-like though. I mean, I know that’s what changelings do and all, but him? Are you sure Hidden wasn’t just writing a book or something, because this seems a little too strange...”

Cherry shook her head, making it known that she believed what the journal had said was true. Thunderlane simply sighed, accepting that this book was not the work of fiction, but fact. It was written by the changeling now calling itself Hidden Power, their friend. Thunderlane then looked back up, with a new sense about him.

“Here, hand me that book again…”

Cherry handed the book to him, and looked upstairs towards the room containing the sleeping changeling. She felt a hoof tap her shoulder, and looking back at the pegasus, she saw that he was on the last page that they had read.

“‘... I want to tell them, tell them everything, but I don’t know how. Until I know that they would listen, the truth stays with me…’ Look, he says he wants to tell the truth. He wants us to know who he really is. If the rest of this book is true, then do you think that this part is too?” Thunderlane asked, giving a hopeful look towards Cherry.

The earth pony grimaced, then stared back up towards the changeling’s room. She sighed deeply, conflicted as to what she should say. ‘Should we talk to him?’ She asked herself, ‘Should we tell somepony about this?’ The questions went on, but she just shook her head.

“I don’t know… I mean, I want to say yes but, changelings? I know that it was a while back, but the changelings and their queen attacked Canterlot… They’ve tried a second time as well, who's to say that this isn’t the start of another attempt?”

Cherry finished that thought with dread in her voice. The pegasus frowned, looking up towards the stairs. He stared for a while, before snorting and standing up, moving towards them.

“What are you doing?” Cherry asked.

“I’m going to take a look for myself. I want to see if this is true, and if it is, then I got an idea on how to deal with it…”

With that final thought, Thunderlane slowly made his way up the stairs, taking care not to make any noise. Cherry soon followed after him, taking up the rear. The two stopped at the top of the stairs, looking carefully towards Hidden’s bedroom door. Thunderlane took a deep breath, and cautiously moved to the door. He tried to push it open, but it didn’t seem to budge. He pushed a little harder, but to no avail. On his third attempt, Cherry tapped on his shoulder, and pointed towards the handle.

The door handle, with each push or pull on the door, gave off a slight greenish glow. This made the two ponies look at each other, and Thunderlane furrowed his brow. He looked at the door, studied it, then looked towards the bathroom, where he could see outside through the window. That gave him an idea...

“OK, if we can’t get in from the door, why not take a peek through his window?” Thunderlane suggested.

This prompted a shrug from Cherry, and the two made their way back downstairs. They moved to the front door, put on their winter clothes, and headed outside. Once out, they moved to the side of the house, being glad that there were no ponies out walking through the light snow cover. Thunderlane told Cherry to wait on the ground while he checked the window. Flying up, and wiping away some of the ice, he peeked inside, looking about the room.

The room was mostly dark, except for a few small glowing stones sitting on a desk. The room itself was rather clean, besides for the blanket that laid halfway on the floor. Thunderlane’s eyes followed the blanket up the bed, and, not to his surprise, he could barely make out the dark chitinous form of a changeling. It seemed to be deep in sleep, and, if he could see just a bit better into the room, he could have seen a small smile on it’s face. Yet, beyond what he did see, its what he didn’t see that confused him, and gave him a bit of hope. There were no weapons; no armor, no communicators, no pictures praising the changeling queen, nothing even indicating any sort of preparation for an upcoming invasion.

Having seen enough, the pegasus glided down from the window to the earth pony waiting below. After landing, Thunderlane told Cherry what he had seen, what he hadn’t. The pained expression Cherry had seemed to ease up a bit, and she nodded back towards the house. The two silently turned to head back inside, having stayed out in the cold for more than enough time. Once back inside, they stripped off their garments and quietly made small cups of hot chocolate to warm themselves up. They sat back at the couch, drinking and thinking, trying to gather their thoughts together. A few more minutes of silence passed between them, before Cherry decided to break it.

“So, you said you had an idea on how to deal with Hid- or, whatever the changeling’s name actually is. What is it you had in mind?” Cherry asked, taking another sip of her drink.

“What do you think I’m going to do? That changeling want’s an opportunity to explain himself, I’m gonna give him one.”

Cherry seemed to almost choke on her drink. She coughed, trying to muffle the sounds as best she could as not to wake said changeling.

“What?! Are you crazy? How is that a good idea?” Cherry asked in a strained whisper.

“It’s what the guy wants! He said it in that journal, and so far, everything else seems to be true about him. I want to give him a chance, don’t you?”

Thunderlane’s question made Cherry flinch, not expecting the argument to be turned back to her so quickly. She tried to respond, stammering for something to counter her friend, but to no avail. She sighed, not finding anything to say under the pegasus’s questioning gaze. Thunderlane backed down from his friend, remembering the stressfulness of the situation. He moved closer to her, wrapping a hoof around her neck in a small hug.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you. I just want to know if that changeling is actually a threat or not before we do something we might regret.”

Thunderlane released Cherry from the hug, continuing his thought.

“He said that other changelings have tried to come clean, didn’t he? And that those changelings seemed to just up and vanish? I don’t want to be the one to send an innocent pony, er- changeling, to some cell underneath some castle… He want’s a chance, and I want to give him one. Could you live with the guilt of being wrong about him?”

Cherry shook her head, seeing the meaning behind her friend’s words. She couldn’t live with that. If the changeling really was wanting a chance to be honest with them, then he couldn’t be all bad, and he definitely didn’t deserve to be put away because of it. Cherry looked back up to Thunderlane, and the two agreed to confront their friend early tomorrow morning. The two finished their cups, hid the journal underneath a tablecloth, and made their way back to their sleeping places. Thunderlane returned under his blanket on the couch, and Cherry made her way back upstairs. She made it to the top, and looked back towards the opposite door. She stared at it for a few seconds, then headed for her own room, to her own bed, laying down, and allowing herself to drift into a well deserved sleep.

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Hearth's Warming Wishes

“All I Want This Hearth’s Warming…”

Hearth's Warming Wishes

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The morning light shined through the ice-covered window, waking the sleeping changeling from his dream. It was a strange one, where he and a certain Princess of the Night discussed what desserts would be best to serve at the Hearth’s Warming Ball in Canterlot. A strange dream, but nothing more than that the changeling assumed. He sat up in bed, stretching out his wings and forelegs, and giving a rather large yawn. After he had woken himself up enough to notice, he smelled a sweet fragrance coming from downstairs…

“Mmmm… Something smells good, I didn’t know Cherry and Thunderlane were gonna fix breakfast before they left.” The changeling stated, donning his disguise and making his way to the door.

Opening the door, he could smell pancakes and hot syrup, which was unexpected. It smelled like the food was still cooking, or had just been finished. Making his way down the stairs, he was surprised to see Cherry standing at the sink, washing a batter bowl and a whisk. Thunderlane was in the living room, setting up the coffee table, like they were waiting for him to wake up. The changeling walked over to his friends, intending to ask what they were still doing in his home...

“Good morning Hidden, sleep well?” Cherry asked, catching him by surprise.

“Uh, yes, I slept well, um, what are you guys still doing here? I thought you each had stuff to do?” Hidden asked.

Thunderlane finished up at the table, and walked over to him, gesturing for Hidden to sit in one of the chairs. Hidden blinked in confusion, but walked over anyway, taking a seat. Cherry put away the dishes and walked into the living room with breakfast, and the two ponies took their places across from Hidden. The changeling could sense something was up, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. Cherry and Thunderlane looked at each other, and nodded in some sort of agreement, then turned back to Hidden. The ponies took a deep breath...

“We know.” The two ponies said in unison.

Hidden just stared at them, not getting what they meant. The ponies looked towards each other again, Cherry shrugging. Thunderlane sighed, then faced Hidden on his own.

“We know about you… Th-the real you, that is…” Thunderlane said cautiously

This got a reaction from the unicorn, causing his eyes to widen for a brief moment, before he attempted to regain his composure.

“Th-the real me? What do you mean?”

Hidden spoke with a shaky voice, causing Thunderlane to press on, knowing he was onto something with the changeling.

“We know about you, how you’re not really a pony.” He said more assuredly.

This made Hidden start to visibly shake, realizing that he was in a dangerous situation, or so he thought. He started to stand up from the chair, looking towards the door.

“I, don’t know what you’re talking about. H-how could I not be a pony?” He stammered.

Seeing the situation going bad, Cherry stood up and quickly walked over to the journal they had hidden underneath the tablecloth. She held it up to Hidden, trying to get him to see the title.

“Hey! Don’t panic, don’t panic. We read out of here, we know that-” Cherry started to say, before Hidden suddenly jumped out of his chair, making a beeline towards the door.

Thunderlane jumped to block their friend’s way, but he slipped past him and pushed up against the door trying to open it, but to no avail. The door had been locked, the two ponies knowing that Hidden might try to run when they confronted him. Hidden looked back at the ponies with panic in his eyes, not realizing that they were trying to talk with him and not attack him. He tried to make his way back to his room, but Cherry was already blocking the stairs…

“Wait! Hidden, just stop, listen to us for a minute!” Thunderlane said, moving behind the changeling.

“No! I-I’m not going to be taken away! I know you’re just stalling me! Why else would you be trying to keep me locked in my own house!?” The changeling said in a panicked voice.

Cherry walked towards Hidden cautiously, still holding the journal. His eyes fell on the book, taking in what it actually was.

“Look, we found this last night… We know that you’re a changeling, but more importantly, we know you want to explain yourself.” Cherry said slowly.

The changeling seemed to lose some of his tension, but it quickly returned when his disbelief took hold of him.

“Yeah, that’ so true, why do you want me to talk about it? I’d think that had any pony found out that their ‘friend’ was a changeling, they’d have turned to the Royal Guard to turn them in…” Hidden said in a harsh and questioning tone.

Thunderlane took this as his que to explain…

“Yes, we read that part too, how you’re afraid that we would do the same thing, that we would just throw you away, but we want to give you a chance! A chance to talk this out and explain yourself…” Thunderlane said in a stressed tone.

“Yes, we want to give you a chance… Give our friend a chance to explain himself…” Cherry added.

Their words seemed to make the changeling ease up, starting to calm himself down. He was starting to see the situation, and looked to both of the ponies who he called his friends, waiting for him to talk, tell them who he was… Who he really was…

“Oh… OK… I-I see. I, I just didn’t think that-” Hidden began to say, before being shushed and gestured towards the still uneaten pancakes.

Hidden looked towards the setup, seeing that they were trying to make him comfortable before bringing up the big question, and he calmed down further.

‘If they were trying to stall me,’ he thought, ‘why would they make a full-fledged breakfast, even I wouldn’t go that far…’

The three made their way back to their seats, the ponies patiently, yet eagerly, waited for their changeling friend to start his story. He looked like he was trying to find something to say, to open up the conversation with, but before he could start, Cherry asked if he could remove his disguise, as he didn’t need it anymore, unless, that was, he felt more comfortable explaining it as a unicorn, to which he shook his head. He stood back up and backed away from the two ponies, giving himself enough room to change back to himself. Just like the night before, Hidden was encompassed in bright green flames, and the sound of air whooshed about the room. Once the magic died down, the two ponies each gave a small gasp seeing the changeling fully revealed in front of them.

The changeling opened his eyes, seeing the two gaping ponies staring back at him. He cringed a little, half expecting them to ask if he could put his disguise back on, before they caught themselves staring, and asked him to sit back down. He obliged, taking a deep breath and starting what might just be the most important conversation of his life.

“OK… So, uh, h-how far into my journal did you two read?” The changeling asked.

“We, skimmed through a bit to be honest,” said Cherry, “We, didn’t really know what we were looking for when we opened it up...”

Thunderlane chimed in, continuing Cherry’s thought.

“We read a little of the beginning, and skipped a bit into the middle, where it said that you had made your own pony disguise so you didn’t have to impersonate somepony else. Then, we skipped again, and ended where you said that you wanted to come clean…” Thunderlane said.

The changeling nodded, taking a deep breath and thinking for a few more moments, before looking back up to his friends.

“So, where should I start then?” He asked.

“Start with why you’re here, originally.” Cherry said.

The changeling thought for a moment, before nodding and telling the ponies about an old idea to fully integrate changelings into pony society, before the original invasion. How due to The Hive’s low stock in emotions, Chrysalis was given the idea of integration. This, however, was only put into effect a few months before she decided that plan would take too much time to show any growth. Even after a dozen or so changelings had been sent out, she decided to go with the invasion plan.

He said that many of the changelings he was sent with were just as surprised to see Canterlot being shielded as the ponies, before they could sense the swarm gathering around the city. They could feel the huge growing amount of energy and love being radiated from Canterlot, before they watched in horror as their entire nation was thrown from the skies and back into the badlands. After the event, many ponies took the time to be grateful that the threat was gone, and the changelings took time to think about how fortunate they were to have not been part of the invasion.

“Of course we were sad, and scared, but we really only had two choices after that…” Hidden said, finishing his story.

“Either we found some way to fake our own disappearance to return to our hive, or we continue to live in our Equestrian homes. I chose to stay, as you can clearly see.” He finished, gesturing to himself and his house.

The ponies nodded, seeing a whole new side of the past event. Cherry walked over to the changeling, patting his shoulder. He shrugged her off, saying that it wasn’t a big deal anymore, that he was over it. She nodded, and returned to her seat beside Thunderlane.

“So, if you decided to stay, did any others…?” Thunderlane asked.

“Maybe, maybe not, it’s not my right to say. I will say this though, I wasn’t the only changeling stationed here in Ponyville. We had at least two changelings in the major areas of Equestria, just to cover our bases, make it easier to reveal ourselves.” Hidden laughed at that thought. ”Yeah, after the failed invasion, ponies became fearful of our kind, more cautious. After the second invasion, ponies became apprehensive. It’s... It’s why I was so hesitant to tell you two what I really was. I was, I was afraid that you would just see me as a... A… A monster…”

As he finished his sentence, Hidden began to tear up. The two ponies moved to comfort their friend, wrapping their hooves and wings around him in a warm embrace. Hidden let a few tears escape his eyes, before hugging the two ponies back. His voice trembled as he spoke, and what he said brought the two ponies to tears.

“I… I was scared that you’d hate me… My friends I… I’m so sorry I didn’t just tell you…” Hidden’s voice broke as he spoke these last words.

“I love you guys so much…” He said.

The two ponies broke down with the changeling, their hearts going out to him. They had no idea the amount of stress and pain that was pent up inside their friend, and seeing him just break apart in front of them, it made their hearts ache. They sat there together, crying into each others shoulders, before Hidden broke the hug, wiping at his eyes. Thunderlane and Cherry did the same, giving the changeling a distraught look.

“I… I never knew you had so much held up inside you Hidden…” Cherry said, wiping away a stray tear. “I wish… I wish that you just told us. I know you were afraid but, you can trust us to have faith in you.”

“I know… I’m so sorry I didn’t just tell you guys. It might have been easier for me to tell you then for you to find out yourselves. I just, I didn’t know what I would even say, how I’d start…” Hidden said, regret in his voice.

Thunderlane and Cherry both hugged him again, letting him know that it was alright.

“Well, we know now, and you know what, we believe you.” Thunderlane said with a soft smile.

Hidden smiled back at his friends, a few more tears falling from his eyes. He wiped them aside, giving a small, pained laugh. The two ponies soon joined in, each of the three of them laughing and crying at the same time, trying to calm themselves in the midst of the mix of emotions. After a few more minutes of confused tears and laughs, Hidden stood up from his chair, looking to his friends.

“Guys… I just… I feel really lucky to have ponies like you in my life. If there was one thing that I would have asked for this Hearth’s Warming, it would have been what is happening right now.” Hidden beamed.

The two ponies smiled at the changeling, agreeing with that statement. Cherry suddenly had a strange thought, giving the changeling a quizzical look.

“So uh, Hidden... If you don’t mind me asking, is that your real name?” She asked.

The changeling paused, blinking in confusion. He stared out into space, thinking long and hard on the mare’s question. He furrowed his brow, but couldn’t seem to remember what his original name was. He hung his head.

“I… I don’t remember my first name… I’ve been so used to being called ‘Hidden’ that I guess I forgot…” He said, a little defeated in his tone.

Thunderlane quickly stifled the sadness in the changeling’s voice, “Well, if that’s true, why not just keep that as your name? I mean, think about it: ‘Hidden The Changeling’. Has a nice ring to it dont’cha think?”

Hidden blinked, then smiled and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I guess it does sound pretty good!”

“Well,” Cherry said, “I think that this is a pretty interesting start to the season!”

The pegasus and changeling nodded in agreement. Thunderlane sat back down, gesturing back towards the table.

“Well, I guess this settles it. You’re a changeling, and we’re cool with that. Now, how about we eat this food here before it gets any colder. I didn’t make this just to look pretty!” Thunderlane said in a semi-serious manner.

“You made it? I made this! All you did was fix the table!” Cherry responded defensively.

“Guys, guys! Lets just eat, we can figure out who did what to stall me later, OK?” Hidden said.

The two ponies shared a look, then agreed with their newly known changeling friend.

And on that final note, the trio did just that. They ate together at the table, enjoying the pancakes and each other's company, listening to more stories Hidden had from when he lived at the hive, and how he hoped that one day, if not on Hearth’s Warming, that all the changelings could reveal themselves without fear of capture or reformation.

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Author's Note

Thank you guys so much for reading!

I really hope that you enjoyed my story, and look forwards to some more. I'm not sure when or what these stories will be about, but know that they will be just as versed and heartfelt as this one, and then some! I hope you enjoyed reading: "All I Want This Hearth's Warming"!