It is a somber trot for me as my club sisters and I make our way back into Ponyville. In my case, I am wearing a dark cloak with a hood pulled over me. The one problem with that is my new crooked black horn sticks out the front of it as a tell-tale sign of my new true heritage. I just hope no pony looks at me too closely. Just in case, we travel in the later evening when there are fewer ponies on the street and the darker conditions hide my physical discrepancies better.

As I proceed, I notice a generally good mood in the air that, until now, I usually took for granted. I was like these ponies until recently as I frolicked in happy glee.

But now it feels like a taunt. I sense this new separation between me and the town I've grown up in and know so well. At this point I know every street and back corner of this town better than the back of my hoof because the back of my hoof has recently changed. That, and the fact that Ponyville is unusually well explored between me and the rest of the Crusaders. We searched this town up and down looking for activities which could help us discover our cutie marks. After that, we got busy helping various clients discover or re-discover their cutie mark destiny. Their initial consultation usually occurs at our clubhouse but, after that, we got to get them to explore various activities so that they can find their destiny too.

Rinse and repeat.

I remember this one time when my big sister, Rarity, had a disastrous experience with her mane because she mixed up a formula between her and Pinkie Pie. Most of Rarity's beautiful mane fell out. What was left she attempted to conceal under a cloak like the one I'm wearing now, or so I've heard. I wasn't too involved in that fiasco but I have thought about it in an attempt to understand how she must have felt back then.

Now, however, I don't think I have to imagine that anymore. I think I know exactly how she felt back then.

It's painful to feel that separation and distance between me and the town I love so much. It feels like I'm no longer welcome within it. Like I've unwillingly become an outsider. It almost feels like exile.

As I think about that, I am startled to notice a cold feeling sink into my chest again. It just settles there, too. It feels like a black pit in my soul. Pain squeezes me in a way I can best describe as aching loneliness. I'm not completely foreign to an experience like this but it unnerves me that the last time I felt something like this was when I used my new changeling magic. It's especially unsettling to realize that this feeling likely is a result of evil changeling hunger. I don't know too much about it because I've never been an evil changeling before and I have very little experience with them, but I am really worried that this empty feeling inside of me is going to get worse. I don't want to think about solving that problem by feeding off other's love either because I know, in my heart, I'm not really a monster. If that was my only solution to solving this problem then I think I'd rather starve.

I am shaken loose from my dark reverie when I notice my club sisters take a turn I do not expect.

“Wait! Where are you two going?” I ask in confusion. “Ponyville Hospital is that way,” I inform as I briefly lift my black, hole-filled hoof and point in the direction of the Hospital.

“We know,” Scootaloo acknowledges. “But we're not going to Ponyville Hospital.”

I tilt my head as I ask, “We're not? You told me we were going to meet Starlight Glimmer and she is at the Hospital.”

“More like was at the Hospital,” Scootaloo corrects.

“She was indeed at thah hos-pital last we checked,” Apple Bloom informs. “However, she told us to meet back toe-gether at her office in the Castle.”

“And she added that, if she isn't there yet, to just wait for her at that location,” Scootaloo adds.

“So . . . she's not staying at the hospital?” I check with concern.

Both of my fellow Crusaders shake their head, then Scootaloo informs, “I won't claim to fully understand this but magic gauze needs time to saturate into a unicorn's horn which thereby repairs it somehow, and that simply takes time.”

“So Starlight was expected to be discharged from thah hos-pital soon,” Apple Bloom puts in. “After that, she just needs to change into a new batch of magic gauze once per day until her horn fully hee-yalls. Until then, she's instructed to not use her magic.”

“Oh!” I blink. “Okay. Then I guess we're making our way to the castle.”

Scootaloo nods in agreement as she confirms, “That's the plan.”

I give them a worried look as I ask, “Do you two really think we can convince her that I'm really Sweetie Belle?”

“We've been over this!” Scootaloo lightly complains as she stomps a hoof into the earth. “We'll both be right beside you and we'll do everything we can to make sure she believes you.”

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom confidently agrees. “So don't ya worry, Sweetie Belle. Together, we'll fix it so that everything becomes as right as rain.”

“Okay,” I agree nervously with a thin smile.

We continue our way to Starlight's Crystal Tree Castle.

“Come in!” calls out Starlight's slightly muffled voice due to the short distance and for being on the other side of the door we knocked on.

Apple Bloom nods happily as she says, “Good. Starlight is indeed here.”

“Then let's go!” Scootaloo decides as she opens the door. After that, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom rapidly step inside. I do follow them, but much more slowly since I still feel very nervous.

My fears get partially replaced with sympathy when I see Starlight at her desk with a big wad of glowing cloth wrapped around her horn which makes her horn appear three times thicker. During that moment, I see her attempt to write something on a piece of paper using her mouth. Before I arrive at her desk, she finishes whatever she is working on then spits out the pen. She glowers at her own mouth writing as if unsatisfied with the results. Because I see that, I am guessing it's been a while since she used her mouth for writing. That experience was likely replaced with decades of horn writing instead.

Now, personally, I'm at the opposite corner with that problem. I'm more accustomed to mouth writing and, conversely, I'm still getting used to horn writing.

“Don't worry! You'll get used to it again!” Scootaloo assures cheerfully. She likely said that for the same reason as my observation of Starlight.

Starlight sighs as she shakes her head while still looking at her document before saying, “This takes me back to the time I've first practiced my horn writing with Sunburst before he took off after discovering his cutie mark, only now,” she uses her face to gesture to the document she just made, “my mouth writing seems about as sloppy as my horn writing used to be.” She sighs again. “Although I have to say my horn writing might not be that much of an improvement. I'm bad enough that I could partially read Star Swirl's old manuscripts.”

“But he was one of the greatest wizards of all time!” Apple Bloom notes with a surprised blink. “Was he really that bad at it?”

“It tripped up my teacher for almost a week straight when she encountered one of his original books,” Starlight informs as she looks up at us. “There must have been a really good scribe to translate the rest of his work one thousand years ago because the vast majority of Star Swirl's work was far more legible.”

“Wow!” Apple Bloom exclaims before taking a moment of silence while glancing at me then looks back to Starlight as she informs, “Well, we did it.” She gestures to me. “This here is Sweetie Belle.”

I sigh as I attempt to gather my courage before reaching up with a hoof and pulling back the black hood, thus fully revealing my new changeling head into the light. When I do that, I wince slightly as my eyes fully emerge into the light. It's as if my eyes grew accustomed to the darker conditions and need a few seconds to adjust to the brighter light again. Either that, or it's just in my head.

“Well,” Starlight says slowly with a blink, “this is quite a situation here.”

“Are you okay, Starlight?” I ask her in concern. I inwardly wince at my own voice again. I just can't get used to that! I sound like a guy and it's really throwing me off.

Starlight casts a small sigh as she says, “Well . . . my present circumstances is a little inconvenient but I've helped out this town in the past with Winter Wrap-up without the use of my horn. As it turns out, that was very good practice for me.” She shakes her head a bit as she says reassuringly, “It shouldn't take longer than a few days for my horn to recover. Three days tops, or so my doctor says. It's only a hairline fracture.”

“Huh.” Scootaloo squints one eye at Starlight. “Does that mean the crack is as small as a single hair?”

“Basically,” Starlight answers, “but it doesn't take much damage to be disruptive for a unicorn's attempt to cast magic.”

“You could do it anyway if ya have to, right Starlight?” Apple Bloom checks.

“Yes, but it's best not to until the damage fully recovers,” Starlight informs. “If the doctor's advice is ignored at this point, especially if a really high level spell is cast during the healing process, then it has a chance to make the damage worse. During that time, the spell that is attempted to be cast might also misfire.” She shakes her head. “You don't want to be in the room during an attempt to cast a strong spell with a damaged horn. A lot of further damage could occur during that moment, and I'm not just talking about the spell caster either.”

“Huh. If only Spike were here,” Apple Bloom laments. “Something tells me that he could take over some of Twilight's duties if she had the same condition.”

“That probably actually happened while those two grew up,” Starlight guesses while looking cornerwise up and tapping her lip with a forehoof thoughtfully while also wearing a light, playful grin.

I smile fondly as I say, “Although, now that you bring that up, I do recall a time when Spike wasn't as helpful as an assistant. He was a younger dragon at the time so he was more antsy and impatient. Also, he wasn't as good at writing either. There were many words he didn't know how to spell.”

“Yeah. I remember that, too,” Scootaloo also recalls. “He had much more practice after all those letters he sent to Princess Celestia on Twilight's behalf.”

Apple Bloom giggles for a moment before she announces, “Ya know what, Crusaders? After all that practice Spike got with writing over the years, he should write a book about his experiences. Ah bet a lot of ponies would love to read it, too. Most of Equestria is interested to learn anything they can about their new princess, and Spike can offer them a new perspective.”

“Hey! That's a good idea!” Scootaloo agrees cheerfully. “We should totally write Spike a letter encouraging him to do that.”

“And, once we're done with the letter, we'll have Gabby deliver it to him!” I add enthusiastically.

“Yeah!” the three of us cheer together before slapping our hooves together between us.

Watching us with a fond blink, and at me in particular, Starlight eventually says, “I've got to admit, if you really are an imposter, you've really done your homework. Only a true member of the Crusaders can think so alike to the rest of the team, and for you to possess Sweetie Belle's memories to the degree that you do . . . that would be really uncanny for a changeling imposter.” She nods at the other two Crusaders before she adds, “Right before my very eyes, they've already verified some of the memories Sweetie Belle would have.”

“That's because I am Sweetie Belle!” I cry out insistently. “Somehow you're little experiment did this to me!”

“But this,” she gestures to me with a hoof, “didn't happen to Sunburst and me when we tested the same procedure earlier. In fact, the results we got this time were dramatically different compared to our earlier tests. It's as if a very unusual factor was already in place before we tried together.”

“If this changeling was truly an imposter, don't ya think she'd try to hide it better?” Apple Bloom pointed out. “She didn't hesitate to help ya with your experiment because she thought she had nothing to hide.” Apple Bloom waves a hoof at Starlight. “So yer experiment must have done this to her somehow, and ya got to fix this! For Sweetie Belle's sake.”

“And Button Mash's sake!” I add insistently.

“See?” Scootaloo says to Starlight as she gestures to me. “This is exactly how the real Sweetie Belle would behave. She wouldn't just be concerned about herself but her special somepony as well.”

Starlight nods as she says, “I agree. Chances are very strong that, if I am not dealing with the real Sweetie Belle in front of me, then I'm at least dealing with a very deluded changeling.”

I blink as I ask, “Really? You think that's possible?”

“No!” Apple Bloom pounds a hoof on top of Starlight's desk. “This is Sweetie Belle. Ah just know it in ma gut. Ah'd stake both of my hind legs on that.”

“Me too!” Scootaloo fiercely agrees as she, too, pounds the top of Starlight's desk.

I, however, look down with worry. It had not occurred to me to consider that I might be a real changeling that was somehow hypnotized into thinking I'm Sweetie Belle or something like that. That possibility also brings up another dark theory; if it's true that I'm not the real Sweetie Belle, then where is she instead? Chances are strong that she's probably nowhere that's good.

When I think about that, that cold feeling intensifies in my chest.

“Listen, my little ponies, I want to assure you that I'm not dismissing any possibility,” Starlight assures with a lift of a lilac hoof. “I also can't ignore the chance that this is the real Sweetie Belle. If she is then she's the victim here and I need to do everything in my power to help.” She turns her head to look out a window behind her before adding, “There is also Button Mash's situation to consider.” She looks back at us. “I asked Sweetie Belle to think about somepony dear to her heart during the experiment. Button Mash's cutie mark did indeed show up and I don't consider it a coincidence that something went wrong with him, too, at the same time something went wrong with Sweetie Belle and me. Whatever caused this, it is likely based on the same reason.

“Plus, there is also this to consider: If this changeling is an imposter of Sweetie Belle, how was she able to draw upon Button Mash's cutie mark at all while we used the Map? Real affection was required to do that. I already know that because of my earlier tests with Sunburst. So, again, if this isn't the real Sweetie Belle then that means it's a changeling that still genuinely cares for Button Mash for some reason.”

“Do you have any idea why all this has happened?” Scootaloo asks Starlight anxiously.

“Right now I have no idea,” Starlight reluctantly admits as she closes her eyes for a second. When she opens her eyes again we can see her eyes filled with determination. “But I will find out! Rest assured I'll do everything I can to get to the bottom of this mystery.”

“Does Button have that kind of time?” I ask in concern.

“He should,” Starlight says with less confidence than she hoped. “He's on life support now. That won't solve the problem forever but it should buy us valuable time.”

“How much time does he have?” I ask with deepening worry.

“Likely plenty,” Starlight assures. “More than I will require, I assure you.”

I am startled by a knock on the door behind us.

“Come in!” Starlight calls to the one behind the door.

“Is that such a good idea?” Scootaloo quickly asks in concern while the door behind is in the middle of opening. “You can see what Sweetie looks like right now. We don't want to start a panic.”

“Relax,” Starlight soothes with a lift of a hoof. “Considering our current situation, I've called in an ideal reinforcement.”

“You summoned me, Headmare Starlight?” politely calls Ocellus, the teal blue changeling with transparent pink clear fin down her head and neck. On her back is what appears to be a ladybug-like shell. When I look back at her, I see her taken severely aback when she sees me.

“Yes. Please come in and shut the door, Ocellus,” Starlight instructs, “and please let me assure you that I do believe you are in no danger here. However, you might be able to help me reduce the severity of the dilemma I have before me.”

“But I thought . . .” Ocellus began in confusion before shaking her head then proceeds to cooperate. She fully steps into the office and shut the door behind her. But, after that, she continues to hang back nervously.

“Please join us here,” Starlight requests with a “come hither” gesture of a hoof.

Reluctantly, Ocellus obeys but she continues to keep a wary eye on me. Noticing that pains me.

When Ocellus arrives beside us in front of Starlight's desk, she finally notices something else alarming.

“Oh my goodness! Are you okay, Starlight?” Ocellus asks her Headmare with concern. “What happened to your horn?”

Reminded of that, Starlight rubs her horn with a hoof for a moment as she explains, “This was caused by an accident last night. I was performing a magical experiment which damaged my horn, put Button Mash into a magically induced coma, and turned Sweetie Belle into the changeling you see before you.”

“What?!” Ocellus exclaims in surprise as she whips her gaze towards me. “This is Sweetie Belle? Really?”

I cringe from her nervously. I don't like it when others look upon me like that, though I definitely understand why they do it.

“I probably should explain everything from the beginning,” Starlight decides. “And, as I do, please understand, Ocellus, that I'd rather not spread this news too widely for the moment.”

“Oh. Um . . . okay,” Ocellus tentatively agrees.

“And, mind you as well, I don't completely understand the situation myself. I'll simply explain what I know so far,” says Starlight.

For approximately the next ten minutes, Starlight explains the situation to Ocellus to the best of her knowledge.

“And that's the gist of it,” Starlight says in conclusion to her recap.

“Ah . . . okay,” Ocellus says with a bit of a cringe. “So . . . what do you want me to do about it?”

Starlight leans back in her chair and collects her hooves together in front of her. She taps them together a bit as she says, “I am giving you, Ocellus, a new assignment. Given the circumstances that I just explained, I want you to keep an eye on Sweetie Belle here.”

“Because you don't trust me,” I say sadly.

“It's more than just that,” Starlight tells me. “Even if you are right and you are indeed Sweetie Belle, I can think of no one else more qualified to look after you than Ocellus right now. She can help explain anything you need to know about changelings and help you adapt to your current circumstances. I really am doing this for your benefit too. Also, if you really are Sweetie Belle, then you have nothing to worry about. By watching you, Ocellus can constantly verify your innocence to anypony who asks. Furthermore, she can help explain the situation to anypony who starts to become a problem because of our new apparent circumstances. By traveling with someone the town trusts, the validation she grants can help assuage other ponies’ concerns.

“Admit it,” Starlight taps her hooves together again, “if our situation were reversed, you'd do the same thing. If something like this had happened to me or one of your C-M-C friends here, you'd be grateful to have a resource like Ocellus present, for no other creature in this town is more likely to spot and solve a problem involving changelings other than her. She is a changeling so she's the most qualified to deal with this situation.

“Besides, she's your friend too, right? The real Sweetie Belle would welcome her compony for that reason alone.”

“That's true,” I agree as I pass Ocellus a soft smile, but my look of concern returns as I look back at Starlight and ask, “But Ocellus here isn't a native of Ponyville, she is a visiting student.”

“Your point?” Starlight checks.

“Well, I . . . I don't want to be a burden to her or anypony else. Ocellus has to go home sometime. I don't think this can be a permanent solution.”

Starlight waves me off as she says, “This doesn't need to be a permanent solution. It just needs to work until I solve the core problem. My plan for you is to return you to your true form if that hasn't happened already. I'm also going to solve Button Mash's problem and make sure he makes a full recovery.”

“Actually, Sweetie Belle, I'm with Starlight on this one,” Scootaloo agrees as she looks at me. “Maybe Ocellus here can teach you how to change forms. If you can do that, you can simulate your old form as Sweetie Belle again. That would take yet another step to solving the problem. After all, if you can at least simulate your old form, then you don't need to wear that cloak anymore to hide.

“Besides,” Scootaloo swishes her purple tail behind her excitedly, “don't you think it might be fun to master those abilities?”

“I guess,” I partially accept.

“Changelings can fly, Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo reminds me. When she makes that announcement her voice grew a great deal more serious. I can even detect a note of pain in her voice when she said that and it's easy to decipher why.

“Oh yeah.” I look back at my black bug-like wings. “I suppose they can.”

“Changelings don't even need to disguise themselves to fly,” Scootaloo adds. “Their natural forms can do it too.”

“There is a difference, though,” Ocellus informs. “Flying as a changeling in our natural forms versus flying in a disguised form like a pegasus involves very different flight techniques.”

“I, um . . . well . . . are you sure you want me to do that?” I ask Scootaloo in discomfort. “Flying is something you always wanted to do. If I do it instead, it kind of feels like I’m taunting you.”

I see Scootaloo look down with an expression of sad acceptance. She's quiet for a moment before saying, “It's fine, Sweetie Belle. I've mostly accepted my limitations.” She focuses back on me with renewed determination. “Besides, something had already occurred that really bothers me. Do you remember Thunderlane's little brother, Rumble?”

Starlight observes me carefully while I answer that question, likely in an attempt to observe how well I recall that memory and see how much I behave like the “real” Sweetie Belle as I answer.

“Of course! How can I forget? Rumble disturbed our entire day camp at one time because he didn't want to participate in our other club activities, and at the time, he did that because he was afraid to get a cutie mark in anything other than flying.”

“Right,” Scootaloo agrees with a nod. “Except something occurred to me after that day that really bothered me. We,” she gestures between the three of us, “are the founding members of the C-M-C, and none of us can fly, including the one pegasi member in our group. Namely me. So . . .” the very hoof she used to gesture between us returns to the ground as she goes on to say, “. . . what exactly are we going to do if we encounter a foal who really does have a destiny to fly? Or we don't even have to go that far. What if we encounter a foal whose destiny has something to do with flying like . . .” she pauses a moment as she thinks about it.

“Weather control,” Apple Bloom offers in Scootaloo's stead.

“Exactly!” Scootaloo enthusiastically agrees with Apple Bloom then looks back at me. “I'm bothered by the idea that all three of us couldn't help Rumble if it really was his destiny to fly or something related to that.”

“None of us are experts at everything anyway,” I point out. “All we really do is encourage other ponies to explore. We just give them a nudge in the right direction.”

Scootaloo swishes her tail behind her again as she says, “I know. You're right, but I'd still feel better if at least one of us was more prepared to help somepony like Rumble that day. Even if he never gets a cutie mark for something like that, what will we do when some other pegasi comes along and that really is his or her destiny? The more versatile our skills are, the better. Even if your current situation gets solved later and you revert to your true form as a foal unicorn, this potentially temporary opportunity to gather this experience might help you to help some other client we could get someday.”

“Ya got to admit, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo has a point,” Apple Bloom agrees with her orange filly friend.

“For those who do develop a destiny for flying specifically, or some other profession related to the air, the best thing all of Equestria can offer is to move to Cloudsdale and continue their training there,” Scootaloo further adds. “But, as you well know, not everypony lives near Cloudsdale. Even if they do, they might not want to leave their home town which is filled with their friends and family. Even if it could help them with their cutie mark destiny, many foals aren't ready to make that tough call. Having alternatives would be helpful to them.”

“Like training with Rainbow Dash or Thunderlane,” Apple Bloom proposes. “Those two are native to Ponyville and they're both Wonderbolts.”

I shrug as I say, “Sometimes all we can do is point a foal at another pony who could be a better mentor for them than us.”

“But if that foal didn't know his or her destiny should be flying, a little inspiration might go a long way,” Scootaloo points out. “For that, one of us needs some experience in that affair.”

“In that case, I wouldn't hesitate to guide them to you between the three of us,” I argue. “For a filly who hasn't truly flown yet, none of us knows more about it than you. You could fill that role.”

Scootaloo shakes her head sadly as she says, “Knowledge of something is so much weaker than actual experience, because remember . . . to inspire a pony to discover their actual destiny and who they truly are, we have to reach them on a very deep level. If knowledge alone was enough, we could just hoof them a textbook but how often did that work for us as we helped our other clients? You should admit that it takes much more than that.”

“Well, I . . . I'd be happy to teach you flying if that's something you're really interested in,” Ocellus offers me happily.

Scootaloo startles me when she rushes towards me and puts both of her forehooves on each of my shoulders and stares into my eyes pleadingly. While she does that she begs me, “Please, Sweetie Belle, say yes to that offer. I want at least one of us to really know what it's like to fly. If you do, then you can describe it to me and I can enjoy it sort of on the side.”

“Vicariously,” Ocellus offers to Scootaloo.

“Huh?” Scootaloo blinks at the young teal changeling.

“It means to enjoy something through another,” Ocellus explains.

Scootaloo winces and shakes her head as she says, “Yeah, whatever. I'm not a dictionary.”

“Is this really important to you?” I ask Scootaloo trepidatiously. “I don't want to hurt you. Apple Bloom is the earth pony, I am the unicorn, and you are our resident pegasus. I don't want you to feel like I'm stepping on your hooves or anything.”

“It's fine,” Scootaloo assures with another look of sad acceptance. “Even you might lose this opportunity soon. You should make the most of it while you still can.”

“And while you do that, I'll do everything I can to solve the core problem at my end,” Starlight promises. “Sunburst is working on it, too, and I think I'll send a letter to Twilight about this shortly.”

I grin at Starlight as I say to her, “Just like Twilight did for her own mentor back when she first moved to Ponyville. Now you are her former student and sometimes doing the same thing.”

“I, uh . . . don't do it too often,” Starlight says with a light shrug. “At least, I don't like to burden Twilight with my problems when I know she's dealing with enough of her own. Instead of that, I tend to write her personal letters as a friend. I know she finds that a great comfort. She said so herself in her letters and I know her well enough to realize she's telling the truth.

“However, she also told me she'd like to be informed if there is an emergency that involves the fate of any of her friends or the entire realm. In that case, she urged me to notify her as soon as possible. I think this situation might endure long enough that she'd want to know. If she does get informed then that also gives me access to her resources, too, and it's quite a bit more expansive than what I have.”

I shrug as I say, “Well, at the very least, it would be nice to see Twilight again.”

“You should notify King Thorax about this situation also,” Ocellus advises Starlight. “Sweetie Belle's situation might be temporary but, for as long as it persists, I think he'd be very interested and concerned about this new development.”

Ocellus then looks at and says to me, “Forgive me for saying this but the last time any of us at the hive saw a changeling who had the form that you have right now . . . well . . . let's just say it brings back bad memories that we prefer to bury in the past. If this is a sign of something we missed then he'd want to know.”

“You bring up a good point, Ocellus,” Starlight agrees. “I think I'll do that, too.”

“And what should I do in the meantime?” I ask.

“Leave the magical research to Sunburst and I,” Starlight instructs. “I'll also do whatever I can to help Button Mash. You just focus on yourself because you definitely have a lot on your plate. For example, you still need to inform the rest of your family about your situation.”

“Oh yeah,” I recall very nervously.

“Don't worry, Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom cries out cheerfully. “The C-M-C have got your back, and now you got Ocellus looking after you, too.”

I sigh as I say, “I guess.” Then I smile at them gratefully before saying, “Thanks gals. This really helps me feel better.”

Author's Note

Ever since this story was first posted, it revealed that the adorable changeling student Ocellus would be part of the main cast for this story. Well, tah-dah! Here she finally is.

Before I wrote this chapter, it also floated in my head that Scootaloo would eventually bring up the subject about a changelings ability to fly and encourage Sweetie to explore it, but I didn't know exactly when it would show up. As I wrote it in this chapter, part of me wondered if it was too soon, but upon later re-readings of this chapter, it appears to fit here snuggly.