"i don't need your help!"

Icy and Middy were awoken by somepony who was shaking them and when they opened their eyes they saw other ponies from many ages also trotting out of the room they were in then the pony who was shaking them made the stand up

"Come on you two, time to get moving, you've got a lot of work to do considering you're new." the stallion said

"Wait." Middy said making the stallion turn back to her "We can't just leave Cherry here alone, we need somepony to watch her just in case." she said

the stallion sighed "I'll have somepony watch her, now get moving." he said and Icy and Middy continued trotting out of the room and followed the stallion through the many caves until they stopped at another cave wall "You will use the pickaxes and mine into the wall, any gems you find will be put into this basket." he said pointing at the nearby basket and by the basket were pickaxes "Now, get to work and don't think of escaping, we have guards posted all throughout this cave who will stop you immediately." he said then he trotted away leaving Icy and Middy

Icy picked up one of the pickaxes "We should get this over with, the faster we're done the faster we can get back to Cherry." she said then she began mining the wall

Middy picked up the other pickaxe "I hope that stallion actually did get somepony to watch over Cherry, she's too sick to be left alone." she said then she began to mine the wall along with Icy

"We'll just have to believe he did, that's all we can do." Icy said and Middy nodded

Both of them mined into the wall and put any gems they found into the basket and they kept this up until another stallion came and told them it was time for lunch so they stopped mining the wall and ate the apples they were given and once they were done eating they got right back to work and continued mining until the same stallion came back and told them it was time to head back to the room so the followed him and while following him Icy saw the changeling colt again and above him were unstable rocks that were just about to fall right on top of him

"WATCH OUT!" Icy shouted as she ran at him and pushed him out of the way of the rocks "Are you alright?" she asked

Shifter pushed her away "Get off of me." he said then he stood back up

"aren't you gonna say thank you?" Icy asked

Shifter huffed "I didn't need any help, I could have dodged that on my own." he said

Icy snorted "Sure you could, next time maybe I'll just watch you and see if you can dodge the rock." she said and Shifter rolled his eyes and just trotted away "You're welcome by the way." she yelled at his back but he didn't respond then she continued following the stallion back to the room where there was another pony standing next to the doorway

"Time to send them back, we can leave." the stallion said and the other pony nodded and watch as Icy and Middy walked back into the room and joined the other pony's

Middy sat back down next to Cherry "She still hasn't woken up, I'm worried Icy." she said

Icy sat down on the other side of Cherry "We just have to believe she'll get better, we won't be able to treat her here." she said

"Can't you use your magic to heal her or something?" Middy asked

Icy shook her head "The only useful spell I actually bothered to learn was teleportation since my horn was broken, I didn't think I would be able to use any other spells since my magic is so unstable, sorry." she said

"It's fine, that just means we have to find some way out of here so we can help Cherry." Middy said then she began rubbing Cherry's mane "By the way, have you thought of a plan on how we're going to be getting out of here?" she asked

Icy shook her head "I tried to pay attention to everything I saw while trotting around here but I didn't see anything that could help us escape." she said

"What about that changeling?" Middy asked

"I don't know how we're going to use him, he has a magic canceling ring on his horn so he won't be able to transform unless somepony removes it." Icy said

Middy thought for a moment "Can we remove it?" she asked

Icy shrugged "Magic canceling rings are tough to remove but if we're careful, I'm sure we can do it." she said and Middy nodded then Shifter had finally entered the room and sat on a spot by himself then Icy stood up and trotted over to him "Shifter." she said

Shifter looked up at her "Icy jewel, what do you want this time?" he asked

"I want each of us to help each other." Icy said

"I'm not sure what somepony like you would want with a changeling like me." Shifter said

"Your magic might help us escape this place, plus everypony knows how strong changelings are if they get enough love." Icy said and Shifter nodded

"And how do you plan on getting this magic canceling ring off my horn? and where am I going to get enough love to make myself strong enough to help escape?" Shifter asked

"Middy and I are going to help you get the ring off, as for the love, we can't just ask ponies to give up their love and I won't let you take it from Middy more Cherry." Icy said then she thought for a moment "Alright, I'll offer up my own love to help you stay powered up and alive." she said

Shifter was shocked "You would willingly give me your love?" he asked

Icy nodded "If it helps us get out of here then yes I will." she said

Shifter shook his head "I will never understand you ponies, to willingly give others your love instead of keeping it to yourself, you really are strange." he said

Icy pat him on the back "Maybe someday, you will but right now, we need to get that ring off so we'll wait until nightfall when Middy is much stronger." she said and Shifter nodded then Icy trotted back to Middy and sat by her side where she explained the plan so far and Middy nodded and waited until night along with Icy

-Night-

Once it was finally nighttime Middy and Icy moved to Shifter

"So, how are we going to do this?" Shifter asked

"I could try to force it off but it may not be pleasant." MIddy said

"I think that might be the easiest way." Icy said "It's fast and we could be done a lot faster so we can get out of here sooner than we want." she said

Shifter nodded "Alright, just make it quick." he said and Middy nodded then she trotted forward and grabbed onto the ring then she used as much strength as she could to force the ring off of Shifter's horn and he groaned once it was finally off and wobbled a bit

Icy stepped closer "Are you okay?" she asked

Shifter shook his head "Yeah, I'll be fine in a moment." he said then he shook his head one more time and nodded "Okay, I'm good, now it's time for feeding, right?" he said and Icy nodded then she sat down and held her hooves wide open

"Hurry up, we need you stronger." Icy said then Shifter began sucking some pink smoke from Icy and once he was done she felt a bit weak but shook it off "How was that? was it enough?" she asked

Shifter shook his head "Not really, I'm gonna need a lot more than this." he said then Middy stepped forward

"How about you combine it with the love you get when the ponies want to keep you alive?" Middy asked

"That will make it go faster but would really make it go faster is if I get some from you and Cherry candy." Shifter said

"Not happening." Icy said

Shifter shrugged "Then, we'll be in it for the long run, I hope you have enough love for tomorrow night." he said but before he turned and laid back down Middy placed the ring back on his horn "Hey, I thought we were going to leave this off." he said

Icy raised an eyebrow "Why would you think that? if the guards find out somepony removed your ring then they would want to make sure it's never removed again so each night we'll have to put it back on, sorry." she said

Shifter sighed "I got it, can't have the guards finding out, welp I'm going to sleep now, you should too if you want to be able to work tomorrow." he said then he turned and laid down while Middy and Icy both returned to Cherry's side and went to sleep themselves

-The next day-

Icy and Middy were mining into the wall and they were also working with Shifter after the stallions made all of them work together to gain more gems

Icy turned to Shifter "Hey, I'm curious about something." she said making Shifter turn to her "You said before you were kicked out of your hive, what did you do?" she asked

Shifter looked away "I made a mistake, well two mistakes." he said

"What exactly did you do?" Icy asked

"I don't want to talk about it, let's just focus on getting out of here." Shifter said and Icy was gonna ask again but decided against it and focused on mining until another guard came and had Icy and Middy return to the room while Shifter was taken somewhere else

Middy looked at Icy "They must be taking him to get some love from other ponies." she whispered and Icy nodded then they entered the room and were locked in

"We just have to wait till he's back then we can continue our plan." Icy said as she and Middy returned by Cherry's side who still had yet to awaken then Shifter had finally returned o the room and joined Icy and Middy

Shifter rubbed his ring "I really need more love than how much I get from you and the other ponies." he said

"You're gonna have to accept what you can get until we can escape." Icy said and Shifter sighed "Just wait until night, as usual." she said and Shifter nodded then Icy laid down and went to sleep while Shifter moved to his own spot and went to sleep there and Middy watched over Cherry

-Night-

Once it had finally become night Middy and Icy had already gotten to work at removing his horn and supplying him with love and after he had his fill Middy put the ring back on

"Middy, you can go to Cherry, I want to talk to Shifter." Icy said and Middy looked at her confused "Don't worry, I'll be fine, I just want to talk." she said and Middy nodded then she trotted back to Cherry's side

Shifter looked at Icy "What is it now?" he asked

"I still want to know what happened that got you kicked out of your hive." Icy said

"I said I didn't want to talk about." Shifter said

"It'll just be between us, you don't have to tell anypony else." Icy said but Shifter still looked unsure "I just want to know, please tell me." she pleaded

Shifter sighed "Alright, this will stay between us." he said and Icy nodded "The reason I was kicked out of the hive was because I saved a pony." he said

Icy raised an eyebrow "Something that small was because you were kicked out?" she asked

"You don't understand, to our queen ponies are nothing but our love supply, to save one instead of using it to feed is one of our highest offenses, she saw it as I caring more about the ponies then the hive so I was kicked out." Shifter said and Icy nodded "After I was kicked out I roamed Equestria and fed on love whenever I could just to stay alive, once a time I tried to ask for help from the ponies but they only saw me as a changeling coming for their love and chased me away, then I ended up here." he said

Icy nodded "I can understand." she said

"How can you understand that? you've never been kicked out of your own race by your princess." Shifter said

"True, but I know what it's like being tossed aside by somepony you look up to and being alone." Icy said then she put a hoof on his shoulder "I understand your pain and I'm sorry for what happened to you." she said

Shifter smirked "Thanks Icy jewel." he said

Icy chuckled "You can just call me Icy, it's shorter." she said

Shifter nodded "Alright, thanks Icy." he said

"You're welcome, see you can say thanks when you try." Icy said making Shifter roll his eyes then she began trotting to Middy and Cherry "See you tomorrow night." she said waving at him and he waved back as she continued trotting to Middy and Cherry

Shifter put a hoof to his chest 'What is this feeling? it's so weird, but nice in a way, I wonder what it is and how to feel more, I will ask about it later, right now I need sleep.' he thought then he laid down and went to sleep

-12 Days later-

The days have passed and the plan progressed with Icy continuing to supply Shifter with love and him getting it from other ponies when it was time and during the twelve days Shifter had felt the feeling within him grow every time he talked with Icy yet he had no idea what it meant nor where it was coming from so he merely put it aside and decided to worry about it later then it was time for him to feed again so he was taken somewhere else as usual.

A guard entered the room "Icy jewel, Jade night has requested you." he said and Icy stood up

Middy grabbed Icy's hoof "Be careful, there's no telling what he would want." she said

Icy nodded "I'll be fine but just in case, keep an eye on Cherry." she said and Middy nodded then Icy followed the guard to a whole other room where Jade night and two other guards were along with Shifter and he looked surprised to see her

"She's here, now hurry up and feed so we can have you ready to work." Jade said

Shifter looked at Jade "I can't get love from her." he said

Jade raised an eyebrow "And why not? she's a pony with love inside of her, right?" he said and Shifter nodded slightly "then do what you changelings do and feed." he said

"But...she's...I." Shifter tried to say but Jade just kept his eyebrow raised so Shifter turned back to Icy

Icy nodded "I'll be fine." she whispered but Shifter could tell from her eyes that he had been taking love from her too much and she was exhausted "Go ahead, and don't worry about me, just keep yourself alive." she whispered

Shifter was about to take Icy's love again but the more he looked at her the more he felt that feeling and the more he saw the pony from his past back when she was in trouble and he risked himself to save her from a manticore, how he put her above his mission to capture her for the hive and now he decided to do it again

"No." Shifter said making everypony in the room look at him confused "I won't take her love, not anymore." he said

"What do you mean "not anymore"?" Jade asked

Shifter turned to Jade "She removed this ring so I could take her love to keep myself strong and alive so we could escape one day, but I'm not gonna take her love anymore, I've already taken too much." he said and Icy was surprised

"You were planning an escape?" Jade said and Shifter sighed but nodded "I'm mostly surprised that somepony around here would be willing to help a bug horse like you, considering what you are and what you do, a changeling kicked out of his hive for helping a pony and now you were gonna help another pony, don't you ever learn? helping others will get you nowhere." he said and Shifter lowered his head

Shifter looked back up at Jade "I helped that pony back then because it was the right thing to do, everypony deserves to be helped." he said

"But not you." Jade said then he got up and stepped in front of Shifter "You're a changeling, a bug horse, a love hunter, there isn't a single pony alive who would ever want to help you, this filly was just using you so she could escape herself, not to help you, no pony will ever help you and you do well to remember that." he said

Icy stepped forward "You're wrong." she said making Jade look at her "I was also helping him when I allowed him to take my love, just as Shifter said everypony deserves to be helped, no matter what race they are." she said then she trotted next to him "When we escape I was planning on taking him with us because I felt sad for how he was treated, thrown away by others he looked up to, I know how that feels, that's why I decided to help him myself." she said then she nuzzled his side which surprised him "And it may also because I've grown a bit attached to him so no matter what you say, you're wrong, because this filly right here is going to be the one to help him." she said

Jade snorted "Well, good for you two but I'm not going to just let you both go so now I think I'm gonna have to separate you two, forever." he said

Icy smirked "Sorry, but you won't have a choice in the matter." she said then she easily removed her ring "Thankfully, I asked Middy to break my ring but I hid the crack behind my mane so you never knew." she said which surprised Jade then Icy began charging up her horn making herself and Shifter glow

"Somepony get another ring, QUICK!" Jade said but then Icy and Shifter teleported away "FIND THEM, FIND THEM NOW!" he yelled

Icy and Shifter had reappeared in the room where Middy and Cherry were and Icy quickly ran to Middy "Middy, it's time." she said and Middy nodded "Oh and don't worry, Shifter doesn't have his ring right now so you won't have to remove it yourself." she said

Middy nodded "Then, should we move onto the door?" she asked

"I can take care of it, you take care of the others." Icy said but before she could move to the door she was grabbed by Middy

"Are you sure? you did just teleport here." Middy said

Icy nodded "Trust me, it's a lot less painful when I just teleport short distances, I still have enough energy to take care of the door, now hurry up, we don't know how long we have." she said and Middy nodded then she ran to another unicorn in the room

Middy grabbed her ring "Sorry, but this might hurt a bit." she said then she worked the ring off freeing her magic then she moved to the next one

Icy trotted to the door and Shifter joined her side “so...you’ve grown attached to me?” He said

Icy blushed “it’s just that, your past and mine are so similar and I was also saddened by your story of no pony giving you a chance and helping you, I couldn’t help feeling this way.” She said then she looked at him “do...do you feel the same?” She asked

Shifter put a hoof to his chest “I don’t know, this is my first time feeling this way so I’m not sure what this feeling is.” He said

“Describe it.” Icy said

“Well, every time I talk to you or I’m near you then I get this weird feeling in my chest, I don’t know what it is or what I’m supposed to do with it, do you know?” Shifter asked

Icy nodded “I do know.” She said making Shifter turn to him then she kissed his cheek making him blush “what you’re feeling is love, and you should let it out and experience the full feeling of it.” She said

Shifter looked at her confused “how do I do that?” He asked

“Just go with the way you feel, don’t suppress it anymore, let it out.” Icy said then Shifter took a deep breath and let it out as he began glowing and floated in the air then he transformed into a small pin pod which quickly opened itself back up to reveal Shifter with an orange coat and green wings as he floated back to the ground “see, I knew you could do it.” Icy said

Shifter looked all over himself “so this must have been what my changeling brothers and sisters felt when they were reformed, gotta say, I feel a lot better in this form than my other form.” He said

Icy nuzzled his head “and you look better this way to.” She said then she faced the door again “ready to make our escape?” She asked and Shifter nodded then Icy focused her magic and blasted the door off its hinges but the result made her drop to her knees

Shifter put a hoof on her shoulder “are you alright?” He asked

Icy nodded “I’ll be fine, just give me a moment.” She said and Shifter nodded then Middy came back over

“I freed every unicorn, both filly and mare.” Middy said

“Good work Middy.” Icy said then she forced herself to stand and Shifter made sure to support her “thanks Shifter.” She said then she turned around to the other ponies “listen everypony, we don’t have much time, this will be our only chance to escape and what I want you to do is blast the support beams with your magic while we run through the caves.” Icy said making a lot of them gasp

One mare stepped forward “but, won’t that make the cave collapse on top of us?” She asked

“Not if we’re fast enough, we’ll run straight to the exit while the cave is falling and while it is the other guards won’t be able to follow us.” Icy said but some of them still looked unsure “I know this plan is risky but it’s the only plan we have that can get everypony out of here, we can do it.” She said then all of them nodded

“Alright, let’s go!” Icy said then she ran out of the room followed by all the other ponies and Middy carried Cherry on her back as she flew through the cave

As all of them ran through the cave the unicorn mares made sure to blast the support beams just enough so it won’t instantly but it would after a few minutes giving anypony under them enough time to get out of the way before it collapsed and they kept this up all throughout the cave making it difficult for the guards to catch them since as soon as they tried to chase after them they had to stop due to the cave collapsing and while running Icy had suddenly been caught by a rope

"AH, Middy, Shifter, help!" Icy yelled making both Middy and Shifter turn to her to see Jade behind her with the rope in his mouth

Shifter turned back to Middy "Get out of here, I'll save Icy." he said and Middy nodded and continued running then he ran back to Icy and pulled her back towards him while trying to get the rope off

"You two brats." Jade said pulling the other way "I was making plenty of money then you two just had to muck it all up, I won't let either of you get away, I'll make both of you pay for ruining my perfect money-making business." he said pulling harder on the rope

Shifter had finally gotten the rope off of Icy making Jade fall back "Come on Icy, we have to run before the cave falls." he said

"Hang on, if we don't stop Jade night her and now then he'll just come back after us." Icy said turning back to face Jade

"What are you gonna do?" Shifter asked

Icy charged her horn "I'm gonna protect my friends and you." she said then before Jade got back on his hooves she blasted the nearby pillar causing most of the rocks to fall

Icy fell to her knees so Shifter picked her up and put her on his back then he continued running through the cave as Jade night screams echoed throughout the cave then Shifter had just barely made it out of the cave just as it had blocked the exit and after Shifter had finally sat down to rest Icy picked herself up and looked at the entrance of the cave

"We're free, finally." Icy said then she laid her head back down "You know, for a changeling, your back is very comfortable." she said as she rubbed her head into his back

"Glad you like it but, can you get off? you're very heavy." Shifter said

Icy shook her head "Can't, that last magic blast was all I had left, it's gonna take me a bit before I have enough strength to move myself." she said and Shifter huffed "Don't lie though, you like having me this close to you." she said and Shifter rolled his eyes but smiled

Middy trotted over to them "I can't believe we're all alright, looks like your plan was a success Icy." she said

"I'm just glad it went as well as it did, so many things could have gone wrong but didn't." Icy said then she heard some moaning and looked at Cherry to see her finally open her eyes "Cherry, you're awake!" she said

"Hey Icy, Middy, what happened while I was out?" Cherry asked

Middy giggled "A lot, I'll explain what I can later but just know that we have a changeling with us and he's Icy's special somepony." she said

Cherry giggled "Good for you Icy." she said

Icy rolled her eyes "You didn't have to tell her that last part Middy." she said

"Hey, you have to include the details in these types of things and I did." Middy said and Icy just shook her head

the mare from before trotted to their group "You saved us from working for that stallion, thank you, if there's anything we can do to repay you just name it." she said

Icy thought for a moment "Can you give us a wagon with a hood over it also some of the jewels?" she asked

"Alright, we'll get a nearby wagon and a basket of jewels." the mare said then she and others trotted off

Middy looked back at Icy "What are you planning now?" she asked

"Well, since ponyville is probably still looking for us and also the crystal empire, I was thinking we go to the next best place, Manehattan." Icy said

Cherry gasped "But Manehattan is pretty far away, we'll be trotting for hours maybe days." she said

"That's why I also requested for some of the jewels, we'll use some of those jewels to pay for a train ticket that will take us straight to Manehattan, saving us the trouble of trotting." Icy said and Cherry nodded

Shifter looked at her confused "Then, what's the wagon for?" he asked

Icy nuzzled his neck "That's for me and you since you're not strong enough to carry me, I'll rest in the wagon and your back can rest." she said and Shifter nuzzled her back

"Thank you, I need the rest myself." Shifter said

the mare and the other ponies had finally returned with a wagon and a basket of jewels that were left behind in the town after most of the other ponies left then Shifter put Icy in the back and joined her while Middy also put Cherry in the back with them along with the basket of jewels then she strapped herself onto the wagon and pulled them to the station while waving back at the ponies they helped escape and once they had finally gotten to the station Icy was well enough to move on her own while Middy continued carrying Cherry and they were lucky enough to get there just as the train had pulled into the station so they used the jewels and gems to pay for their tickets and boarded the train, Icy joined Shifter on his own seat while Cherry and Icy sat on theirs

Icy smiled at each of them "Next stop, Manehattan." she said then the train began moving