Jade opened her eyes and blinked a few times with a yawn. Starlight was still sound asleep in the other bed. Wow I actually woke up before someone for once?! Jade jumped off her bed and looked around the room. Bored, she flew in circles until she noticed something on the ground. It was a piece of paper. An envelope to be exact. Jade landed and picked it up with her hoof. She tore off the top with her mouth only to be greeted by a blasting sound and an explosion of confetti in her face. Jade jumped backward with a scream, dropping the ripped up envelope in the process.

“What is it?!” Starlight asked, still half asleep. Jade looked up at Starlight guiltily. Starlight jumped off the bed.

“The envelope exploded in my face.” Jade explained, smiling as innocently as she could.

“It was probably one of Pinkie Pie’s invitations,” Starlight yawned. She levitated a small piece of paper out of the envelope.

“You are invited to Pinkie Pie’s first annual ‘Welcome to Ponyville, Jade Leaf’ party at Sugarcube Corner,” Starlight read, “There’s gonna be dancing and games and cake and and ice cream and punch! The party starts at 10 am sharp!” Jade hunched over slightly.

“Right…the party.” Jade yawned back. “What time is it right now?” Suddenly, a clock appeared in front of Starlight.

“Nine thirty.” She answered. Jade jerked up.

“We should get going then!” Jade gasped. Starlight nodded and trotted toward the door. Jade stretched out her wings as she followed. She flew down the balcony to the first floor. Looking up at Starlight, Jade was surprised to see the unicorn floating down to the ground beside her.

“Unicorns can do that?” Jade gasped.

“It’s a complicated spell, but yeah.” Starlight replied, stretching out her hooves. Jade’s eyes were wide with amazement as she followed her. “Twilight!” The alicorn’s head poked out of one of the nearby hallways. Spike was next to her.

“Are you two ready for the party?” Twilight asked.

“Uh...yeah…” Jade answered. She raced toward Twilight. “How chaotic is this party gonna be?”

“It’s Pinkie Pie.” Twilight whispered. “It’s gonna be crazy.” She smiled warmly. “You’ll love it.” Jade shrugged and followed Starlight and Twilight out of the castle. Jade hovered just above the ground as they made their way into the town. “Hey Jade, I have great news.” Jade gazed down at her.

“Yeah?” She asked.

“I finished fixing the portal last night!” Jade’s ears suddenly dropped.

“Oh…” Jade sighed in dismay. “Well...can I at least stay for the gala tomorrow?” Jade asked. “I invited one of my friends and I don’t want to let them down.”

“Of course!” Twilight replied with a nod. Jade’s smile returned as they approached Sugarcube Corner. Starlight opened the door with her magic. The three ponies were greeted by an explosion of confetti from inside. Jade leaped back with a squeak followed by Pinkie Pie barreling out of the door.

“Jade!” She squeaked, turning back toward the open door. “Everypony! The guest of honor has arrived!” Cheering bursted from inside the bakery. Jade hunched over as she trotted inside. She looked around at the ponies inside, quickly realizing they weren’t all ponies. Spike, Capper, Discord, Gallus, and other unnamed creatures were there as well.

“Jade!” A familiar voice called. Jade turned to see Gale and Lavender, waving at her from afar. Beaming, Jade rushed toward them.

“Hey guys!” Jade greeted. “Wow, this is quite a turn out just to welcome me to Ponyville.”

“Some of your friends invited their friends.” Lavender randomly glanced to the side. “Speaking of which.” She turned and waved to someone in the distance. “Hey Cookie Dough!” An orange pony turned and trotted toward Lavender. He had a short red mane and tail, yellow eyes, and a cookie for a cutie mark. Jade’s eyes widened when she noticed that the pony was unicorn, but most of his horn was missing. As a result, the tip of his remaining horn was chipped and pointed like little mountains on his head. He also had a tiny scar on his cheek. It was clear he had gone through something traumatic.

“Hey Lavender.” Cookie Dough greeted. “Hey Gale.” He looked at Jade, suddenly stopping dead. “Uh...hey...you?”

“This is Jade.” Lavender introduced. “I met her yesterday in Rainbow Dash’s class.” Jade extended her hoof.

“Nice to meet you.” Jade greeted. Cookie Dough smiled and accepted the hoof shake. “How do you know Lavender?”

“We both take baking classes here at Sugarcube Corner.” Cookie Dough answered. “And we’re in some of the same classes at the School of Friendship too.”

“Cool.” Jade replied.

“Welcome to Ponyville by the way.” Cookie Dough replied. “You staying or just visiting?” Jade was surprisingly conflicted on how to answer the question.

“Not sure yet.” Jade replied. “But I am going to stay for the gala.”

“Jade!” Another voice called. Jade turned to see Twilight and another much darker purple pony, whose horn was broken in the same fashion as Cookie Dough’s.

“Hi mom!” Cookie Dough rushed toward the dark purple unicorn, wrapping his hooves around her. The unicorn smiled and patted her son’s back affectionately. Cookie DOugh backed out of the hug after a bit.

“I’ll go get everypony some food.” Cookie Dough announced as he trotted toward the food table. Jade looked at Twilight.

“So...who’s this?” Jade asked.

“This is Fizzlepop Berrytwist.” Twilight informed.

“Or Tempest.” The darker unicorn mumurred. “Whichever you prefer.”

“Nice to meet you.” Jade greeted, shaking Tempest’s hoof. “So you’re Cookie Dough’s mother?”

“Adopted.” Tempest clarified. Jade snorted with laughter. Her eyes widened as she noticed Tempest’s confused expression.

“Sorry.” Jade apologized, regaining her composure.

“I got that too.” Twilight whispered in Jade’s ear, making her crack up a little again. Gale was covering her mouth with one of her claws as Lavender gazed at the scene in confusion.

“I always feel the need to clarify that.” Tempest admitted. “Some ponies seem to think that this...” She pointed at her broken horn. “..is a genetic trait. It doesn’t matter though, maybe I didn’t give birth to him, but Cookie Dough is my son.” Jade smiled and nodded in agreement. “Well, it was nice chatting.” Tempest added shyly before walking away. Twilight shrugged and followed her.

“Do you know who else is here that I don’t know?” Jade asked. Lavender shook her head.

“Princess Skystar is a close friend of Pinkie Pie’s.” Gale answered. “So she, Terramar, and his sister are here.”

“And they’re all hippogriffs?” Jade asked. Gale nodded. Just then, Cookie Dough returned to the group, levitating plates of dessert foods beside him. One plate each levitated toward Jade, Gale, and Lavender. Jade’s plate had one slice of cake, one cookie, one donut, one brownie, and some pudding, all of which were chocolate.

“Oh yeah.” Cookie Dough spoke up. “I didn’t really know what you like so I just got one of everything.” Jade shrugged, licking up a dollop of pudding.

“Works for me.” She replied, snarfing down the chocolate treats. Once she was done, Jade licked the crumbs and glaze off her lips. “Mmm...my parents would never let me eat this junk at home!” Jade joked. Gale, Lavender, and Cookie Dough all bursted out laughing.

Lavender nodded as she bit out of a powdered donut. “Roseluck, Daisy, and Lily would freak out.”

“I guess to them we’re all just going through our,” Gale did air quotes with their claws. “‘rebellious phase.’” Gale grunted.

“It’s a party. Of course we’re gonna eat sweets!” Jade and the others gazed at Gale in confusion, who scratched the back of their neck with their talon. “Sorry...I admit, I had some trouble convincing my parents to let me stay for the weekend. They’re really smothering and guilt-tripping at times.”

“My parents are overprotective too.” Jade admitted. “They wouldn’t even let me use a butter knife until I was thirteen.” Lavender and Cookie Dough disoriented looks. It was clear they couldn’t really relate.

“Hey Gale!” A voice called. The four friends’ gazes shifted toward a gang of hippogriffs. The tallest one was yellow with a long, light blue mane, the shorter two had blue manes. The male one had white fur and the female one had pink fur.

“Terramar!” Gale cheered. The two friends shared a quick hug. The pink hippogriff rushed toward Jade, who leaped back in alarm.

“I’ve never seen you before!” The pink hippogriff realized, her tone chipper. “What’s your name stranger?” Jade backed up a little.

“I’m Jade.” she replied nervously.

“Ooh! The guest of honor!” The hippogriff cheered. “Great to meet you new friend! I’m Silverstream!” Jade’s ears pricked.

“Like the warrior cat character?!” Jade gasped. “Awesome!”

“You’re weird.” Silverstream giggled. “I like you!” Jade couldn’t help but smile. Lavender and Cookie Dough trotted toward the larger hippogriff.

“Are you really the princess of the hippogriffs and sea ponies?” Lavender asked.

“Yes.” The tall hippogriff replied. “Princess Skystar at your service.” Gale gave Terramar a light nudge on the shoulder.

“I haven’t seen you in forever.” Gale replied. “How have you been?”

“Pretty good, I suppose.” Terramar responded. “I’m still kind of disappointed that I won’t see you this weekend.”

“Yeah...sorry about that. At least you get to see me today though, and maybe you can visit over the week too.”

“If my parents will let me that is.”

“They let Silverstream stay here for extended periods of time. I think they’ll be okay with you visiting us after school.”

“I could come and stay for a few days maybe. It would be a waste of a long train ride to only stay for one day. I would just need a place to stay.”

“You could stay in one of the extra dorms at the school” Silverstream suggested. “I’m sure headmare Twilight would be okay with it!” Jade stifled a laugh. Headmare Twilight. Why does that work so well?

“Well...okay.” Terramar agreed. “Maybe next week.” Silverstream let out a gasp and zipped through the bakery.

“Ocellus!” She called. “Come meet my brother, Terramar!” Silverstream made her way out of the crowd. There was a blue creature following her. Jade could tell she wasn’t a pony, since she didn’t have a cutie mark and her mane and tail were sparkly and see-through. Ocellus walked toward Terramar, shaking hooves with him. Lavender gazed at Ocellus, seemingly even more bewildered than Jade.

“Wait…” Lavender took a step forward, pointing at Ocellus. “I don’t mean to be rude but...what exactly are you?” Ocellus gazed at Lavender.

“A changeling.” she answered. Lavender’s eyes became wider than basketballs.

“Ch-changeling?” Lavender stepped back, rubbing her front leg. “B-but I thought changelings were scary bug-like creatures that feed on love?” Ocellus now seemed uncomfortable as well.

“Well...we were.” Ocellus admitted. “That is until King Thorax taught us that we could share love among each other. We’ve never been hungry since.” Lavender bit down hard, covering her mouth with her hoof.

“I have to go!” She rushed toward the exit of Sugarcube Corner. Jade stared at the swinging door in confusion. What’s wrong with her. Jade leaped off the ground and flew over the crowd. She pushed open the door and looked around. Lavender was dashing behind the bakery. Jade pursued her until they were out of sight from the rest of the town. Suddenly, a flash of green light appeared around Lavender and she disappeared. In her place, stood a black bug-like creature. They had holes in their legs and purple wings. Jade’s eyes widened.

“Lavender?!” Jade gasped. The bug creature turned around, their pure purple eyes widening. The creature also had a horn and fangs, which should’ve made them intimidating but the creature was backing away in fear. “Is that you?” The creature nodded. “You’re a changeling?!” Lavender nodded again. “You feed on love?” It came out much ruder than Jade intended. Lavender sighed.

“It’s not like that!” Jade was surprised to hear a deep scratchy voice coming from Lavender. “I value our friendship!”

“Then why haven’t you transformed like Ocellus has?” Jade had only known about the existence of changelings for a few minutes yet she already felt like a bit of an expert just from observation.

“I didn’t even know that was something changelings could do until Ocellus brought it up!” Lavender argued. She sighed and sat down on the ground, avoiding Jade’s gaze. “My real name is Mandible.” She confessed. “The changeling hive was a harsh environment when I lived there and I was starving. So I ran away from the changeling hive when I was five. I took the form of a pegasus filly to blend in and maybe feed. When Roseluck, Lily, and Daisy took me in, I changed my name to Lavender and it’s been my name ever since.” Jade eyed Lavender sympathetically but was too stunned to respond. “I know I’m incapable of love but I swear, I mean no one any harm.”

“You’re not incapable of love!” Jade insisted. “Why would you think that?”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Lavender demanded, getting to her hooves. “Changelings take the form of the ponies you love and sap the energy from your body as they feed on your love!” Jade felt a wave of confusion. She didn’t feel her energy drain when she was around Lavender.

“Only the old changelings do!” Jade insisted.

“I AM an old changeling!” Lavender exclaimed.

“Just change then! You’ve clearly already begun to share love!”

“I don’t know how to change!” Lavender snapped. Jade froze, slightly taken aback by her friend’s sudden outburst.
“We could ask Ocellus?” She suggested.

“No!” Lavender cried. The green light appeared and disappeared again, taking Lavender’s changeling form with it. Now Lavender was back to her pony form. “Whatever you do, don’t tell anypony about this. They’ll hate me if I tell them the truth.”

“If you explain to Ocellus you want to change, she might understand.” Jade insisted.

Lavender sighed. “I’m just not ready, okay? Let’s go back to the party.”

“Okay, fine.” Jade reluctantly agreed, following Jade back inside Sugarcube Corner. Jade pushed opened the door. Pinkie Pie
was in front of the crowd of ponies, who were now gathered around her.

“And the winner of pin the tail on the pony is…” Pinkie Pie paused dramatically. “Twilight!” The crowd erupted into cheering.

Jade closed the door behind her and Lavender as they pushed their way toward the back of the room. Twilight blushed and flew next to Pinkie Pie. She dipped her head. “And your prize is...a kiss!” Pinkie Pie pulled Twilight closer, pressing her muzzle against her’s for a quick kiss on the lips. There was a chorus of awes from the gathered crowd, including Jade and Lavender.

“I guess you do genuinely like romance then?” Jade murmured. Lavender nodded. “I think you might like Phantom of the Opera then.”

Dear Diary
So...one of my friends turned out to be a love-sucking changeling. I'd be lying if I said I didn't view her any differently because in truth, I do. However, I don't know if it's something I view her negatively for. I want her to change form so she can be accepted but neither of us know how to do that and maybe I shouldn't be pressuring her in the first place. She seems pretty contented as she is now and none of the ponies she's around seemed to be drained in any way. But what kind of life is it to always mask what you truly are from everyone? No I didn't come up with that comparison between Lavender and Erik/The Phantom, Lavender did while we were watching the film for our sleepover. I was the only one to get what she actually meant by that though because she insists on not telling anyone. That just screams ‘bad idea’ to me. I'm no expert, but I assume that someone finding out something like that would be worse than just telling them. I've decided to leave her alone about it though. It is her life after all. I'm just worried about her.

Author's Note

Surprise! Lavender's a changeling. I don't know how much of a surprise that is, I'm not that good at writing twists.