DEC 4 Tuesday.

I slowly breathe out and center myself, letting the slow breeze and snowfall be my main focus as I meditate on my surroundings.

The last few days have been... Tiring. I spent the first two days locked up in my apartment just getting my head straight and barely coming out, and I'm also now all jumpy. Today I did have to leave for a shift at the hospital, I thought it would annoy me but it actually gave me something to do.

Constantly I found myself lost in thought going over everything again and again, hospital work didn't give me the luxury of time to think and made me focus. I open my eyes slowly and look down at the new notebook in front of me, nearly fifty pages are already filled up.

Beyond the hospital, I've been getting daily check ins from Daisy along with Stone dropping by to say that Maple and Blaz seem fine. It was good news to hear even if I knew it was unlikely anything would have happened to them. Still, my mind is a bit of a mess as it is.

I find myself paying far more attention to those around me, constantly checking for magical items and keeping my bracelet in mind at all times. It's tiring, in a way it reminds me of the past few times I've encountered Changelings, that familiar heightened paranoia that keeps me on my hooves.

Unlike the times before though I am somewhat calmer about things, mostly because I can deal with things better. My biggest concern is less about me and more about those I care for, they are the ones in real danger. This has added more stress to everything so I've taken some time to myself today.

That's another thing that has helped me cope better than before, I have somewhere truly safe and private I can go. I'm not just confined to my apartment, Gaia's Eden offers a safe space where I can actually feel safe. Don't get me wrong, my apartment is safe, but my mind tends to see things as threats when I'm like this, and sitting inside an enclosed space doesn't help.

I flip through a few pages of the notebook and start to think about everything yet again, just as I have several times before. I haven't really made much of a plan at the moment, but I've sorted my thoughts on everything to a degree. And honestly, I'm a little angry and annoyed at the moment.

My friends are in danger, maybe only partly but there is a threat, and it seems that one part of me is still VERY human. The part that has decided something other than the tribe is a threat and that can not be allowed to exist. That's not to say I'm violent, but if needed I would willingly become violent and it wouldn't be too hard to get me there.

It's lessening with time but I've been making sure not to bother others with my less-than-stellar attitude. I don't want to bother others unnecessarily, and I also need to actually act normal. I don't think anyone is watching me but I can't be completely sure so when I'm outside I've been acting normal, that is also why I've kept to my normal schedule.

Another thing that has helped me deal with it all is Stone, mainly him kicking the utter shit out of me. He basically demanded I come to practice with him and promptly didn't hold back in the least, he straight up humbled me. But he also let me hit back and work through my emotions.

We didn't talk much, mainly because I didn't feel like it and he seemed to accept that without batting an eye. I know he was mainly distracting me and giving me something to work on, and I appreciate that. I scribble out another idea and pull my mind to the events of that frankly shity day. I've gotten some more information from Celestia and it's slightly distressing.

As a start I now know what documents were stolen, Celestia found some backups to look through, she sent them to me along with an update to everything happening. Which has mainly been a very VERY thorough investigation of everything and everyone involved.

The documents were mostly about the Love Gatherer and some information we have been collecting about the Hiveless Changelings. Celestia mentions ordering some guards to go check on them and make sure nothing bad happens to them, they are innocent in this after all.

The information is somewhat problematic as some of it was about production, mostly transportation of items needed though to make Love Gatherers. For now Celestia settled for moving the production somewhere else entirely as fast as possible and making sure they aren't tracked while doing it. She really is working on this quickly.

The bad news is it will slow down production for a time but that can be dealt with and is acceptable from what she said. Lump Sum was also investigated and Stone was brought in for further questioning. Stone was fine but the situation around Lump Sum was concerning. I also sent a report the day after everything happened, actually, it was the first thing I did after waking up on my couch with Entropy.

Lump Sum claims to have no memory of anything out of the ordinary happening, he just spent a while talking with Stone and asking about some things while reminiscing on old times. Celestia's not sure what exactly was done to him but suspects it could be either a Memory spell of some kind or a Charm spell, both obviously illegal. That's just a theory though as she's not sure and doesn't have any proof beyond him not knowing anything.

That in and of itself is concerning but not a true problem, at least not right now. Mental magic might be illegal but since when has that stopped anyone? So, a Changeling having it is something I really should have thought of before now, luckily Celestia guessed my thoughts and sent me a spell to help with protecting the mind so I could defend myself if needed.

It's a pretty advanced spell and might actually be near a Master Rank spell and I'm focusing on learning it, it's a very complex spell though and it's going to take a while to learn fully. It also only helps protect the mind, it isn't foolproof and can fail in a few ways.

Honestly having it is nice even if Celestia thinks it is a little much. According to her, mental magic is very tricky and works best on the unaware or mentally unprepared, just knowing in advance makes such spells less effective on you, but she sent it to me anyway.

I'm not taking a single fucking chance and am very thankful she sent the spell with her message. Actually, I think she sent it so I wouldn't spend three weeks with little sleep trying to make one myself, it seems like something I would do right now. Finally, I got some news about the Changeling we captured.

They unsurprisingly have been uncooperative with questioning, but have claimed to be from Chrysalis's hive, I call bullshit on that. Sure Chrysalis has some motivation to do it but she already has a Changeling in the palace and could have tried to get the information in a less risky way.

She'd also lose the benefits and advantages of having us as an ally in the war she's currently fighting, she's also smart enough to not make a new enemy just as she's beating the first enemy she already has. Also, we might not be helping her fight but we are giving her food and places to gather food, on top of letting her move more freely than her enemy. Cascadia on the other hoof has far more reason to go after such information.

She definitely has some food problems and getting information on a way to gather love faster would be seen as a thing worth risking a raid on the palace. Furthermore, she could try and blame it on Chrysalis to drive a wedge between us. I sent a letter to Celestia saying as much and she agreed that it seemed more likely but also made a point that it could apply the other way around as well.

As for the other things like any leads in Stone's life or the Ponies around him, those are being investigated thoroughly as well. It turns out Stone was partly right, my files at the training center along with several other files of Ponies he works with and trains are missing. And more concerningly one of the Ponies he was training is also missing.

We're not sure if they were taken and replaced or just a complete fabrication from the start. The training center doesn't ask for much information beyond your name and appearance so it wouldn't be hard to sign up without many documents. And while taking my file they learned little, they did learn what I look like and my full name.

For now me and Stone are training at a new place a little further away just to be safe. My running theory is that this Changeling was probably spying on Stone for a while to learn about him before infiltrating the palace. Their reaction when running into me still seemed a little too accurate though.

Then again this was a professional Changeling who was highly skilled in both magic and infiltration, combine that with me not paying too much attention at the time and it wouldn't be too hard to trick me. It's not like I was hiding my expressions either, they probably were actually surprised to see me there though.

If they had been learning about Stone and the Ponies around them I wouldn't stand out, and then I show up at the palace where I would logically not be while they are on an important mission. Of course, they would investigate a little. It also means some Changelings might at least find me to be a known quantity now.

That's not to say they think I'm really important, but they also won't think that I am nopony important at all. Still, they only know I was in the palace for some reason, not why or how, that gives them little to work with. Even if you combine anything else they learned from spying on Stone it would be minimal.

On top of that, I'm likely not a high priority to them. I may be interesting but I'm still a relatively young and uninteresting Pony from the outside, the most interesting thing they would be able to find in my more public records is that I'm a healer. And that might actually work in my favor.

Being an apprentice under a Master healer shows I have skill for my age and it's not a stretch to think the guard would try to recruit me. I fit the physical build as well and even trained under a former guard so it would make sense. But until they try something I'll never know what they think or are planning, and so I remain on high alert.

My senses at least make it much easier to tell if I'm safe, I can scan an entire room in a moment and tell if anypony has jewelry on them. It's made me a little more calm in public, well that and me being able to teleport away or cut an attacker in half instantly. Turns out that having those as fallbacks makes you feel more capable of dealing with a situation.

I look down at my notebook and sigh. So many unknowns and far too few answers, at least everypony is safe for now and nopony died. But this all still leaves an important question, what am I going to do about this? Because I WILL be doing something about this.

First and foremost I need something to detect illusions more accurately. The bracelet's enchantment is great, it's passive and I can carry it around without suspicion, whereas my casting Scanning spells or cutting other Ponies is a little more noticeable. However, in situations where I just need to confirm if somepony is or isn't a changeling directly I need something better.

That leaves me where I am now. I've thought about everything long enough and frankly, I need something more to do to not go crazy endlessly thinking about this. With my mind made up I flip to a new page and activate my bracelet to look through what runes I have in my notes. I'll need to head back to my apartment and look through my full library later, but this is enough to start.

I glance over and look out of the shack I'm sitting in, I see the glow of the lava from the Mantle Bloom farm pierce through the heavy snowfall. I remember that I never got to give Celestia the good news or give her the seeds. That's for another day it seems, maybe when things are more calm.

She's very busy at the moment and needs time to work. I look down further to see Entropy happily resting in between my forelegs, sleeping soundly. She's not left me alone for a moment since that night and has insisted on playing with me or making me do something else instead of just thinking about everything again.

I smile a little and take a deep breath. Life may get rough, but maybe we will make it through the waves after all.

POV shift Stone.

I look at the simple metal comb my Daisy has just passed me. "So, he made this? Wait? He made combs?" I ask, a little confused.

The past few days have been odd, it reminds me of my first deployment, what a time. Still, that Colt, what can I even say about him at this point? He went from a large but quiet colt who never seemed to stop training and grew into one strong stallion, I feel some pride in that, even if I don't say it.

He's even been working on and making his own combat style, which nowadays is actually pretty effective, if a little sloppy. And now this, a secret I would have never guessed and a danger I would have never seen. It's equal parts interesting and actually scary.

Not just because somepony tried to break into the palace disguised as me, and succeeded to a degree from what I know, that alone is a problem. To mess with The Princess like that... I may be retired but I'm still a guard and it gives me a feeling of anger, anger that somepony even got close.

That anger is tempered well by all the things I've seen though, anger won't help here, not in the slightest. The Colt though, he seems to be doing ok, I think? Honestly, I'm not sure anymore. I can't say I've ever seen a Pony grow up with a secret identity and a working relationship with the crown.

His being Veil Winter is, well, plain frightening to a degree. I spent the last few days going over what he's made and everything is either life changing or massively useful. From drinking water to the light spell I've seen EVERYWHERE, he's done a lot, more than that actually.

That's just what I could find, what he showed the world. I know that colt well enough to say for certain he has a lot more he keeps close to his chest and never shows unless necessary. Personally I just feel pride, that colt has done a mountain of good for so many.

Still, this revelation brings a lot of questions to mind, mainly, what the actual buck! To keep all this secret and just say, nothing! I'm a guard and know the risks of fame better than most and even I would at least take credit. But this colt is just sitting in a small apartment seemingly content with a single one of his friends knowing.

He lives his life as if this doesn't exist, as if it doesn't matter. I would say it doesn't but his reaction from before tells a very different picture. He's spooked and not in a small way, and I can get why. I don't know what this is but I already know enough to not ask a damn thing about it unless I'm told to.

He seems to be in the middle of it though, or close enough to it. He got us to The Princesses office without hesitation! And worse still she seemed to fully agree that it was the right move. He could have told another guard or even the guard captain, but something about this needed Princess bucking Celestia's direct attention.

He's in deep with something, at least he's taking it seriously. I got him training hard with me at least, I know he would need something to distract him, I've seen that look on too many fresh guards not to look like that to not recognize it. My daisy nods slowly and takes the comb back from me as I focus up. She smiles fondly, "I might have had to bug him a little. And it was a fashion thing so you probably missed it."

I hum in agreement, that is not somewhere I really looked when researching Veil Winter, too much of it was just gossip and wasn't of any use. "How did you find out anyway?" She cutely tilts her ears as she combs out her mane. "His second job I mean," I add and she pauses for a moment.

She looks at her mirror for a long moment. "We were just talking at his apartment, when Princess Celestia's pet phoenix teleported into the room with a letter." I blink. He has direct contact with her? Huh, he also nearly used her name when we were talking last, it might have just been stress but I wonder how familiar he is with The Princess. Daisy gives me a sad look. "He basically had a panic attack, it was, messy." She laments.

She stops combing after a minute of silence and looks at me. "I never did ask too much about his second job, his first reaction made me, well I didn't want to see him like that again," I smirk a little at her kindness. "I did ask some stuff, small things mostly. After a while, I stopped though, his answers were always vague. I don't think that's his fault though."

I nod as looking back on it, many questions he answered were always truthful but not really helpful in explaining anything. "You think he's going to hold up fine? He looks rattled but seems ok. At least at training, he was focused." I remark as she settles in with me on the carpet, resting against my side and leaning into it.

She smiles some more. "I think so, it's better than before at least. And considering how extreme this was, I think he's doing well. We'll have to keep an eye on him though. Blaz is going to lose his marbles when he finds out." She giggles a bit and I huff out a small laugh as well. Blaz always was expressive.

We let the silence stretch on for a while as we enjoyed looking out the window at the snow falling down from the sky. "Ten bits says he's going to start making you all better gifts," I mumble out still remembering some of the things my daisy has shown me that were gifted to her by him.

He seems to always get something nice for them. She giggles again and shakes her head, "That's a fool's bet and you know it, and what makes you think he's not getting you anything nice?" She says back and lays her head on top of my foreleg like a pillow. "I do wonder what caused him to choose this in life. What made him think it was all worth it." She wonders out loud.

I smile as an answer comes to mind. "Either some really good or really bad luck, probably both at the same time." That earns me another adorable giggle.

Stay together Colt, I didn't watch you grow up just to see something like this break you.

POV shift Celestia.

I watch as my guards follow along with me, all of us descending many steps to head lower and lower.

The past few days have been a mix of worry and so many other emotions I would rather not have, and just when I thought the hard part of the year was over. I do hope Shade is doing well, maybe I should ask one of his friends? No, they are already going to be dealing with his secrets, they don't need a princess reaching out to them.

I guess I will have to take Shade at his word that he is doing well, something I do not fully believe. His mind is tough and from the letter he sent his friends are taking care of him. I will check on him when I have the time needed, for now, I must focus on making sure he remains unbothered.

He doesn't need to know I had the guard presence around the area he lives in raised, it's not as if I would move them if he did know, it was close enough to the library to not stand out in comparison. It may seem wasteful to have more guards patrol there just for him to be a little more safe, but with all the good he's done and the things he knows I can not allow him to be threatened.

I clench my jaw a little tighter at the thought and dismiss it from my mind. I would just have him stay here but he needs to feel at peace and home is the best place for that. As for the ones that cause this situation, that is its own concern. I have taken some measures but much is left to be done.

For all that though I must know who I am actually working against, who has decided to threaten my friend and my little Ponies. Maybe it was unintentional to get him involved, but at the moment I don't find myself caring as much, it still puts him in harm's way. Normally I could handle that, but this time is different.

Before it was fights and battles, things that Shade could mentally deal with better than even a lot of guards. Yet, despite his mental fortitude he was not ready to have his friends put in danger, and I can tell it weighed on him heavily that day. He is not as well equipped mentally to deal with that, he is unused to it and unprepared for it.

I am not. I know what it is like to have a friend in danger and to lose one as well, and even if Shade may... Fade. I WILL NOT let that be a moment too soon. I slowly breathe out as we descend deeper and regain control over my emotions, I find myself rather upset at what happened.

I'm not sure I've ever had a friend like Shade, one so close to me, and it seems I am not used to him being in danger either. Things are not all grim though, Shade had good timing and out of the many things that could have been stolen what was taken isn't too bad.

For a moment I remember how he looked that day, the tired almost resigned face. His secrets press down on him, I just wish I knew why. I know he holds great fear for something, or maybe someone? I have never thought about it too much but his past was not really written down, I don't know too much about his younger days.

Maybe he would be interested in sharing it if I told him more about my youth? Those times were less peaceful though, more dark. He has only seen the smaller parts of war, and while he has handled it beyond well for somepony his age, he has not seen all of the horror of war.

I would rather he never see it at all, but he may have to. I had hoped nopony would have to see conflict when so young, not like I have. A few words from something I once read pop into my mind, age has a weight to it, and it does. I shake my head a little and Captain Ash turns to me. "Your Highness?" A simple question.

I look over to her and smile, a smile always puts a Pony more at ease. "Nothing, just a thought," I reassure her as we step off the cold stone stairs and start down a well-lit stone hallway. Several metal doors leading to a magically reinforced and secured cells.

I stop at one cell door and look at the number above to make sure it is correct. "Your Highness, are you sure this is wise?" The question holds no ill will, only some trepidation. I can understand her worry, I have not done something like this as long as she's lived, much longer in fact.

I nod and a second later she passes over a metal key, the diamond embedded in it powering the enchantments used to open the lock. This prisoner is truthfully not dangerous enough to normally be here, but I will not allow any accidents. "Please keep watch." My only answer is a nod and the sound of guards moving as I insert the key into the lock.

I push open the door and step inside a rather simple cell, a bed, and some other basic amenities line the stone room. On the bed I see a Pony sleeping, even after two days they have kept their disguise up. I cast a Silence spell to not wake them and move freely, I summon a table and cushion to sit on facing the bed.

I unshrink my tea set from under my wing and start to make some tea quietly. Once it's done I place a steaming cup on the other side and pour myself one before dismissing the silence spell. A single tap of my metal-covered hoof on the stone is all it takes to wake them.

They jolt up and look around the small room quickly. Their eyes lock onto mine as I sip my tea and stare down at them. "Hello, I have some questions I'd like you to answer."

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :]
Current year is 996

First. I still need some reason for Shade's friends to let him give them protection, but I'm drawing a bit of a blank. I could come up with some bullshit, but I thought I'd ask first what you all think.

Second. I thought we could use some more context and explanations before having Shade talk to his friends, and I also wanted a Celestia POV.

I wanted to show that she doesn't just worry over Shade's well being, but she's actually willing to do something about it. That Changeling is in for an... Tense conversation.