The two now...couple? Friends? Finished their food and had gone about town with Raspberry showing Liuv both places new and old around Ponyville: the things he's missed while he was gone, the new things, the stories... of which there were a great many the changeling simply had a hard time believing, and even challenged her a few times on those claims...one of them even legally just for the heck of it.

It was fun, really good fun and he was enjoying every second of it, so much so that when the sun began to dip over the horizon it was only then did he remember his plans for the night and quickly made his way back home with her. The Changeling's home was two story, made out of most of the other materials of houses of Ponyville. It could have easily fit an entire family. Though on the inside there was hardly anything aside a table, a couch and a bed upstairs, his furniture having not arrived just yet.

However the changeling did keep one thing, one thing important to him he wouldn't trade for the world. Pulling it into the back yard and out of a rather long box, the changeling pulled out their old, and rather slightly dust covered tent, with all the drawings and markings still on it.

"Ta da!" The changeling shouted with glee in his voice and a spring to his step, feeling like he could dance around it with happiness at the memories.

Raspberry's jaw dropped slightly. "Wow, you-you kept the tent? The tent? Like, where we played and where we had all those fun times and looked at the stars and...made that promise? You-you kept this..?"

She wasn't sure why she was stammering. It was a tent. But at the same time, it wasn't just a tent. It was a symbol of something special. It was a blast back to the past, as it were. Like they were transported back through time. She walked closer, and studied it, a mix of emotions whirling around in her. They had played in this tent so often as little ones. They had drawn all over it, they had shared many adorable moments in and around it. And he had saved it. All these years, he had kept it safely stored away. She looked up at him, eyes shining.

"What are we waiting for?" She asked. "Let's set this up and see if it still stands."

He looked sheepish, rubbing a hoof on his neck.

"Uhm...would you believe me if I told you that after all these years, and all my traveling, and all the places I stayed...I never did get the hang of putting up a tent?"

Raspberry's eyes sparked with amusement. "If you're serious, I feel really sorry for you. That's just sad."

Her light tone indicated she was teasing him, and she playfully booped his muzzle with a hoof, giggling.

"Come on, help me out. This time you're gonna learn the art of putting up a tent and it's going to stick with you for life."

"There's an 'art' to putting up a tent? Oh boy, now this I simply got to see. I just hope I don't end up poking my eye with one of these poles again. Don't laugh! These things are cursed I'm telling you!"

Liuv slowly and hesitantly pulled out the poles and started getting to work with setting up the tent like old times with his big, or little sister... they still had to argue about that now...but surprisingly, it was turning out a lot easier than before.

"How....being taller is a lot easier."

Raspberry giggled and looked over at him, proceeding to give him detailed instructions on putting up tents. It didn't take long to accomplish, with both of them working together.

"Then you tie this rope off here and there you go!" She completed the lesson with a flourish. "A standing and secure tent." She giggled. "And no eyes got put out in the process."

Liuv looked around the tent, admiring it, seeing it for the first time in a little over a decade unfurled and out in the open, just like they did before. Of course, mind, some of the bits of dust here and there, but it was still almost as good as he had remembered, though...a bit smaller.

"Wow....this looked a lot bigger when we were foals. I could have sworn we could have fit both of us including our parents before. But....wow does this bring back memories..."

Raspberry chuckled as she, too, looked around, the same memories being called to mind as he was having.

"It does seem smaller...I guess to a couple of foals it would be pretty big, but now that we're grown...well, its smaller." She smiled.

"Aww, at least some part of me wishes to still be smaller. I mean it was great to see all the places I could get into that a lot of other bigger foals couldn't. Anyway..."

Liuv stepped over to the big green and black tent and unzipped it, opening up the insid. It was obviously empty of any possessions or sleeping bags of any sort. Good thing he had brought some, though that wasn't really what he was staring at.

Inside about a decade ago, the two of them had both come in with crayons and paint, and during one night had painted as many stars as they could on the inside of the tent. As time went on, they some what got more detailed through the process of several nights, eventually making drawings of Ponyville, the mountains, the Everfree, Canterlot and the mountains it stood on, and the massive moon on one side with the best painting of Nightmare Moon they could muster. It was all in the art styles of little more than foals but at the time they were immensely proud of it, especially Liuv, for it had been his first time painting, and at the end of it he remembered both of them drawing each other on the ground looking up into the sky near the bottom. One a smaller crude drawing of a pony that looked a lot like Raspberry, just with longer hair and big glasses, and next to her a tinier black outline of a pony with holes in its hooves, and head about the size of his body, with big bubbly green eyes. Both looking up into the skies together with a little pink heart over them.

The sight was almost enough to make Liuv want to cry seeing it. It got a tear in his eye thinking about all that time ago, and he had to look at Raspberry again just to see once again that yes, this was real and yes, she was here with him.

"M-Mare's first?" He offered stuttered getting his groove back.

Raspberry entered first, ducking her head slightly to avoid the flap, and stood silently gazing at the foalish art on the canvas walls. She could remember doing that, with Liuv, both of them laughing and talking, enjoying each other's company. And though the drawings were not the best, they were the best the two could muster, and they had indeed been oh so proud of their work.

"Wow..." she breathed. "It was so long ago, but it feels just like yesterday."

She looked to Liuv, a serene smile on her face, eyes shining with joy. It might have taken a while, but here they were again, together, in this special little tent that was theirs and theirs alone. It seemed a sacred place, at least for her, a place that time could somehow not invade.

"Were the best times....." He said, coming into the tent next to her.

The tent was a little bit smaller for them, so the two were right up against each other in order to see and admire their work within. That little heart there...just stuck out alot to Liuv. They were siblings,or well at least at the time that's how they saw that heart back then. But now, having matured more since their days here, and looking back on it, he felt maybe even back then, at least to him, that heart had a different meaning...

He had known Raspberry...almost since he could remember. He was orphaned at a young age, never knowing his parents, and found Raspberry in the same building as he was, and they had kicked off....well not exactly with the best start, since the young changeling always had problems talking with mares. Even now he technically still did, all at least aside Raspberry. Though after that small hurtle, the two of them grew to be almost inseparable.

They always stuck to each other like glue, especially since the other foals there saw them, or at least Liuv especially, as the black sheep of the group, but Raspberry never left him and he never left her in turn. They were even lucky enough to get adopted together which only made their bond even stronger. Each time when they were together it felt like she was all he had and he couldn't think of any other pony to spend his time with. Which was why when he had to leave it crushed him so hard that he couldn't tell her all of that... of how he really felt about her, which hurt him for so many years afterwards and only made his feelings stronger.Now, seeing her face once again, all he wanted to do was just...let it out finally...the idea that he may never get another chance, even if they both were staying there together again, bothered him so much...

"H-Hey...Raspberry? Did I...ever really say....or ...well....oh how do i start this? it's...a bit difficult...."

Liuv looked upwards at the tent roof. Through it he could make out a great many bright, twinkling stars. Luna's night was starting to show, the light reflecting on his eyes. He wished someone or something could tell him how to put his feelings into words... though they had never been his fancy. That and his vocabulary was pretty limited. Though he was gaining sense to calm down and keep his heart from beating out of his chest against the sight of the beautiful pony next to him.

She sensed something was a bit off with him, he was uneasy, but not enough to be majorly noticeable. At the moment though, she was also starting to feel an unease, but in a good way. Their close proximity to each other was suddenly making her feel both incredibly nervous and very content all at once, and she had to swallow hard before she could even attempt steady speech.

"What is it? You can say anything to me, you know that...just like long ago. Remember? We shared everything. I'm still willing to listen, no matter what it is."

She offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile...heart rate increasing steadily with every word she spoke.

Liuv had to look away from her lest he outright crack on the spot, she was a master of the arts of weaponized cuteness even if she wasn't trying. He could feel himself beginning to sweat again... he didn't know when it got so hot in here either... and it made him want to jitter but he was doing his best to remain calm.

"Well....here it goes.... Raspberry....i've...known you for...oh who knows how long now, 18? 19? 20 years now? My whole life? In either case...you were always there for me...you were my first friend, first pony i talked to first pony to accept me for who I was rather than insult me for being just...me. I didn't have to hide myself away from other ponies as long as you were by my side. You even taught me to talk proper Equiish when there were no teacher to teach me. I grew up with you and i had fun every step of the way and I enjoyed every second, as long as you were with me and i was at your side. When we were even adopted together, I felt like I had been gifted the world and more, and my chance to the realms of the heavens."

He forced himself to take a breath before he continued on.

"I believed my time with you could not get any better, but as we grew up i just felt....more...l-like i wanted to be there for you more. When you were insulted, I wanted to attack them. When you were led astray I wanted to destroy them...a-at least...for a few minutes I did, until my attention was back to you. It hurt seeing you unhappy, it was unbearable and I simply did not know how to say it at the time... what i was feeling, even if we were family, even if surrogate. And it hurt so much that I didn't know how to say it and it was worse when I had to leave and that saddened you...i felt...just so low...."

He could feel the tears returning again. No he had to keep going. He promised he wouldn't stop, not this time.

"W-When i was gone my feelings never left, instead they just kept growing stronger every single day, I-I thought it was friendship calling me back, our family, our bond but...each time I said it, I never felt that it was in fact accurate enough to fully describe it...."

He had to pause yet again for breath, but then kept going.

"I-i just know when i saw you again today, the first thing I wanted to do was just...grab you and hug and and not let go, and yes, feel free to make fun of me for it but yes i do mean it, and I mean every word of it when i say i would have hugged you and...maybe...would have...liked to maybe have given you a-a small kiss on your head. B-But that was it!" He quickly defended thought even he knew for a fact that part was a lie.

Especially when looking at the absolutely gorgeous mare that Raspberry had grown into. No offense to Rarity or the others but…

Raspberry was completely speechless. She had no clue how to respond. All she could do was gaze at him in silence, blushing, trying to speak and yet failing epically. She couldn't even form one syllable, let alone an entire sentence. It took a long time before she managed to gather enough wits to speak...and even then it was slow and halting, as she struggled to make clear what was in her head. And heart.

"I-I mean...I-I..." Ok forget it. She was clearly incapable of much talking so here went nothing. "I feel the same way...I mean...I do..." She gazed at him, slightly teary, and smiled.

"W-Wait...you do? Y-You don't think that its ww-eird? O-or that im weird for...h-having these feelings about you?"

The Changeling's voice cracked out of the rush of emotions he felt after hearing that. For all the talk of changelings eating love or emotions, when it came to them feeling them themselves it was still completely a foreign concept to them outside of food. Liuv was no different but right now he didn't need to be a scientist to know that he was over the moon levels of happy, and felt his wings buzzing as the two sat so close to each other, their muzzles not so far apart from one another as well... kind of like their little picture from their foalhood.

He felt a lump in his throat and the heat in the tent increase by a degree, with his hooves now holding onto Raspberry's, both of them...at what point that happened he wasn't sure but he wasn't complaining about it. Smooth to the touch and warm...no, almost super heated to the touch, at least to him. His lips trembled on what to say next.

Raspberry drew a breath. "N-no, I don't think its weird..." she managed.

The fact they were now even closer was increasing her nervousness and causing massive somersaults in her stomach. She hardly dared to move or breathe...and was fairly sure her hammering heart could be heard very clearly about now. Time was standing still again, she just knew it. And she looked into his eyes and tried not to blush furiously but failed.

He felt a pull, a unique pull towards her. With every passing second the world beyond that tent seemed to dim more and more and go quiet, till all he could see or hear was just the sound of his own breathing and his heart, and even hers too. She sounded almost exactly like he was, and it even felt like she felt like he did. Scared, jumpy, happy, antsy, feeling they could jump at any noise other than what they were making right now.

He even detected a hint of something else. It was intoxicating at just the mere hint of it, and was something the Changeling rarely ever felt, and it made that moment all the more tender. A small, calming moment between them, as their muzzles inched closer now to the point their noses were booping together.

There were no words, what could they say? It was actions from now on, or at least that's what Liuv felt. He had talked the talk but could he really walk the walk? With the one he'd once seen as his sister? Raspberry, of all ponies, the true angel and guardian of his life? With a face like that....oh he couldn't deny it even if he wanted to...her face just looked too kissable for any sane pony or being to ignore.

Putting his money where his mouth was, or where his head was at that point, the changeling sealed the deal with a peck on her lips first, soft and slow, and surprisingly a lot easier now that the act was being done rather than simply thinking about it. It was a new feeling, foreign yet not unwanted, or really uncomfortable as he thought it would be.

Completely caught off guard, Raspberry gave a light squeak of shock. She recovered fairly quickly though, noticing that this was not awkward, or uncomfortable, but actually very nice. She let herself relax and returned his kiss, feeling her heart rate increase slightly, as well as her stomach do a tiny flip. This was, more than nice. It was amazing. And she was only too willing lean into him a little, enjoying every second.

Who knew how long they might have stayed that way...if it weren't for a loud squeal outside that made them jump, followed by a fluffy pink head poking through the flap and a merry voice all but screaming at them.

"SURPRISE PARTYYYYYYY!"

Pinkie plopped hats on each of their heads before vanishing outside. Raspberry and Liuv, after initial heart attack stages had passed, both laughed a little before they stood and walked outside the tent to see what Ponyville's precocious party pony had cooked up.

Author's Note

Ok, soooo this chapter was admittedly longer than the last ones. Next chapter won't be though!!!

I hope xD