A green pony lies before her, sprawled out on the ground, red blood pooling beneath her hole-filled hooves. The pony stares at her, piercing eyes full of defiance, with a seething hatred buried beneath.

Nyceris meets her gaze, a tightness forming in her chest that she is becoming increasingly familiar with. “Why did you do it?”

The pony looks confused, the severe blood loss preventing her from thinking clearly. “W-what?”

“Why did you kill one of my soldiers?” Nyceris asks again, voice harder this time.

A bellow escapes the pony’s mouth, followed by a deathly laugh. The once fearful glare in her eyes turning upon Nyceris, boring into her very being. “Because you killed my son.”

The weight of the words hit Nyceris like a wave, nearly knocking her over into the blood underhoof. She runs away, galloping through the darkness towards a building standing alone in the distance, desperate to find solace within its walls. She violently throws the door open with her magic, and near jumps inside. The door slams shut behind her, and a gunshot echoes across the void.

She clenches at her head, the sound reverberating through her mind. “Please! Make it stop!” She shouts, anguish clinging to her words. “I’m sorry!”

A pinprick hits her shoulder, and again, much fiercer this time. She feels the world around her begin to fall, disappearing into the void while she remains in place. A third prick strikes her, and she is finally pulled back into reality.

Nyceris lurches upright, the adrenaline from her dream still coursing through her black-blooded veins. As she comes to her senses, she notices a pen levitating next to her, held in a magical aura. She traces the magic with her eyes back to its master, seeing a blurry black form nearby. She rubs her eyes to clear the fog, and looks again, this time seeing Scutellum sitting at his desk, jagged horn glowing with green magic, and a wry look of amusement upon his face.

“Enjoy your nap?” He asks, with no small amount of sarcasm in his voice.

Despite having calmed down significantly after waking up, Nyceris still finds she doesn’t have the patience for his snarky remarks right now. “Fuck you.”

His smile stretches slightly higher, and he shakes his head in faux disappointment. “Jeez, can’t a changeling ask how his CO is doing without being reprimanded? What is this city coming to.”

Nyceris sits up straight in her chair, trying to regain some semblance of professionalism. Letting oneself be seen in a moment of weakness like that could seriously damage the respect she has garnered from her troops. “Noling saw me like that did they?” She asks, nervous of what the answer might be.

Luckily, Scutellum shakes his head. “Nope. Most of the squad are on patrol right now. Besides, I only let you sleep for like, an hour.”

Surprise and worry rush through Nyceris as she turns towards the clock to verify his claim. She doesn’t remember exactly when she fell asleep, but considering it is definitely later than she feels it should be, his words are likely correct. “I’ve been asleep a whole hour?! Damn it, that’s too long! I still have so much paperwork left to do!” She slumps down into her seat, blue eyes frantically searching through the stacks of files and paper littering her desk.

“Don’t worry about it Nyceris. Barely anything new has been coming in, so you have plenty of time for all that. Crime even decreased by 30% after our operation yesterday, according to today’s report.”

She lets out a soft sigh of relief, and relaxes her muscles slightly, the scope of the situation beginning to lessen. “That’s good to hear.” She turns to look out the window. “I’m just glad the Leutnant was happy with our results. I didn’t even know we were breaking regulations doing all this without filing all this paperwork first.”

Scutellum waves his hoof dismissively. “I’m sure it can be thrown to emergency discretion. We have record of it now, and that’s what matters.”

“I guess…” She says doubtfully. “I just want to get through this so I can finally get some proper sleep again. A changeling can’t subsist off of caffeine alone.”

“It does certainly get you far though.”

She gives him a disparaging glare, not in the mood for his quips.

Scutellum’s smile drops, and his expression becomes sour. “You’re no fun today.”

“Just finish your work Scutellum. So we can both go home already.”

He shrugs. “Fine, whatever. You’re the commander here. I’ll be here if you need me.” He turns back to his desk, and starts reading over some documents held in his magic.

Nyceris sighs, and returns to her own paperwork. There is still a decent sized pile left, mostly status reports from her soldiers and complaints from changeling residents about the disruptions. “Why am I the one who has to deal with these? Shouldn’t there be someling else for that?” Unable to be bothered with it at the moment, she quickly sorts through the papers, pulling out the complaints, and tosses them into the shred bin. “I don’t have time to respond to upset civilians, there are more important things to focus on right now.”

She starts working on the remaining files, reading and signing and writing memos, only stopping once to stretch her legs. The hours pass on by, and the afternoon arrives before she even knows it. The exhaustion of nearly a day and a half without any actual sleep begins to get to her, and she’s certain that if not for her nap earlier, she wouldn’t be able to function.

Her mind begins to drift, reflecting on the hectic events of the last two days. She inevitably finds herself thinking of the encounter in the cafe, and the stress that came from being seen in a moment of weakness by a pony. “Orchid, I think her name was?” The whole situation there was a lovely mixture of embarrassment, interest, and an unusual sense of guilt due to the barista’s obvious fear of her.

Despite her mixed feelings, she finds herself curiously pondering the pony’s actions. “She seemed so nervous, even more than the usual I get from ponies, yet she took the effort to check if I was okay…” The thought bounces around her head for a while, causing no small amount of confusion. “Why in the hives would a pony like that care about me of all creatures?”

From her contemplation emerges an admittedly terrible idea. “I could try asking her?”

She knows that talking casually with a pony is risky. Changelings are superior to ponies, and aren’t supposed to be caught interacting with them outside of the relationship of a master and servant. However, she also knows that as a garrison commander, noling except the Leutnant and maybe Scutellum would dare question her about it.

She mulls it over in her head until she formulates an acceptable excuse should she be caught. “I’ll just be going to talk to her about discretion. Yeah, that’s it. I did say things she wasn’t supposed to hear after all. Any unrelated questions can be excused as a whim.”

She resolves to find the pony again after she finishes her work for today. Hoping that the conversation will clear up any remaining questions and doubts she has.

A few more hours pass, and the already dwindling paperwork finally disappears, signaling the completion of nearly twenty hours of effort. She near collapses from the sudden shift of weight from her mind, and takes a moment to recollect herself, surveying her environment for stability. She looks around towards the other office desks around the room. Most are empty, with the exceptions of hers, Scutellum’s, and the operations officer, who had come upstairs after finishing with the radio dispatch unit below.

Nyceris looks out the window, seeing the city outside through the blinds. The three-story apartment across the street blocks most of her view, but she is still able to view the sunset past the tiled roofs and brick chimneys. The sun is just dipping below the horizon, or at least the cityscape, and is casting a calm, orange glow across the sky mixed with bands of pink. Her many worries seem to melt away at the beautiful sight, and she finds herself completely entranced by it. Despite the remaining stress and fatigue, a soft smile spreads across her face.

“There was nothing like this back in the Changeling Lands. It was all just wind and rocks and snow.” She looks down at the ponies trotting along the sidewalks by the street below. “Here though, views like this happen all the time…”

The sound of a passing automobile pulls her back to focus, and she risks a peek at the clock mounted on the wall. “6:54 PM... Could’ve been worse I suppose.”

She slowly stands up from her chair and rolls her head around, stretching all the muscles weary from staring down at paper all day. “I should probably go home now. I could fall asleep in an instant.”

Nyceris grabs her bag and pistol, strapping both to her belt before making her way towards the exit. Scutellum gives her an absent wave goodbye, which she weakly reciprocates before trudging down the stairs. The changelings below are too busy with their own duties to pay her much heed, most having just returned from patrol, ready to go home themselves. The notable exception for this is the door guard, who performs a salute for her as she passes by, departing through the door’s threshold.

As she enters into the street, she is immediately hit by the wind of a passing car, cold air brushing across her face and body, the chill making it a little easier to keep her heavy eyelids open. Nyceris looks up past her hat’s visor to the sunset once more, though unable to see anything past the obtrusive city buildings besides the dimming blue of the sky and fluffy white clouds.

Facing to fly back home, she suddenly remembers the thing she had promised herself she would do. “Right. The café pony. She’ll probably be finishing up her shift soon, I’ll need to hurry.”

She crosses the street after checking for cars, and walks as fast as she can in the direction of the café. It’s not a long walk, but after a few minutes her legs begin to ache, and her whole body screams with exhaustion from the lack of sleep. Undaunted, she musters her strength and pushes forward, determined to get this off her mind.

As she treks on, Nyceris passes a few pony pedestrians, who step out of her way, either onto the street if they are an earthpony or unicorn, and above her if they are a pegasus or thestral. She pretends not to notice, though inside she feels irrationally bothered by it, and so tries to convince herself to stop. “I’m a Heer officer. They’re supposed to make way for me. This is as it should be.”

As the sun dips below the horizon, and the streets become illuminated by the light of electric lamps, she at last arrives at her destination. The familiar sign printed upon the glass panels that make up the front wall. She glances inside, seeing noling, or nopony, in there except a bright-yellow unicorn putting up chairs for the night. “Damn! She must have already left.”

Nyceris frantically examines the area, looking for any sign of the pony she is looking for. Her eyes scan over buildings and a pair of soldiers on patrol across the street, on a light turning off through an upstairs window and a car zooming by, when she finally sees her target. Just down the street from her, she spots the purplish-red earthpony, still in her white work clothes, and with a saddlebag slung over her back.

She pulls out her wings and flutters after the pony, catching up in a matter of seconds. The skittish earthpony freezes at the low buzzing sound of changeling flight, and turns her head to examine the officer that just landed beside her. A look of surprise and fear flickers across her rose-colored eyes, as well as a hint of recognition. “Good, she remembers me.” Nyceris tucks her wings in, and clears her throat. “You are the pony from last night, correct? Orchid, I believe?”

Orchid nods, apprehension evident on her face and from the subtle shaking in her hooves. Nyceris recalls how frightened the pony was when they first spoke, and seeing a similar situation playing out now, she feels she should attempt to reassure her, not wanting to cause more anxiety for her. “Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. I merely wanted to talk.”

The pony looks at her disbelievingly, backing away slightly before speaking. “I-is that right?”

Nyceris nods, as sincerely as she can, trying her best not to cause the pony more distress than she already has. “Yes, I just had a question, about something you said last night.” She glances over at the nearby park area. “Do you mind if we walk?”

Glancing around helplessly, Orchid seems extremely hesitant about the notion, though eventually relents. “O-okay.”

Satisfied, she smiles, though it only seems to put the pony more on edge for some reason. The two walk alongside each other for a moment as Nyceris leads them into the park. They step from the concrete sidewalk onto a gravel trail leading through a tunnel of green-leaved poplar trees. She checks to ensure that there are no other creatures around, other changelings especially, before speaking. Seeing that all there is around them are the gentle rustling of leaves and the occasional squirrel, she feels safe to begin.

“I’m just going to cut to the chase here. There’s something that I’ve been wondering about since last night, and I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Orchid watches her expectantly, anxiously.

Nyceris takes a preparatory breath, and speaks. “Why did you show me concern yesterday? You seemed so frightened, yet you were… nice to me? I don’t understand it.”

The pony freezes in her tracks, still looking straight ahead, then continues walking after a few seconds. Nyceris notices she is still trembling ever so slightly, and the tightness clasps at her chest. An eternal moment passes, and Orchid sighs, before opening her mouth to speak. “I don’t know honestly. I guess I just saw somepony… someling not looking well.”

This time it is Nyceris’ turn to pause. The pony’s words echoing in her mind as she desperately tries to wrap her head around the sentiment. “There’s no way you did it just because! Noling is kind like that unless they want something. What are you after?” She casts a suspicious glance at Orchid, which causes her to flinch, regret immediately filling her eyes. Despite how bad that makes her feel, Nyceris resolves to press the matter. “You expect me to believe that you were nice simply because you saw me like that?”

Orchid visibly swallows, and shuts her eyes tightly as if expecting some sort of retaliation, only opening them again when she realizes it won’t come. “I… yes? Is that unusual?”

Nyceris blinks, disbelief surging through her thoughts. “Of course it’s unusual! Any changeling would have chided me for showing weakness in public. Most changelings only act nice if they’re close to you or they want something.” She shakes her head, centering her thoughts. “You ponies really are something else. Yes, I do find that unusual. Noling ever does that with a reason.”

A brief look of pity crosses Orchid’s face, which causes a strange feeling of anger within Nyceris. Seemingly unnoticing, the pony responds. “It’s pretty normal for ponies to care for each other like that.” The way she ends the sentence upwards implies she was going to say more, but decided not to.

“Of course ponies would do that… they’re all about ‘friendship’ and ‘harmony’. Only idiots would allow such displays of weakness.” Despite her words of reason, she finds them almost hard to believe, as if the tenants by which she grew up believing have become eroded by a single gesture of genuine good will. Scared at that line of thinking, and angered by the unwanted pity, Nyceris desperately tries to regain control of the conversation. “That would explain why you ponies are so weak, you give kindness to failure when you should give punishment.”

Finally seeming to realize Nyceris’ building frustration and desperation, Orchid takes a breath to steel herself, and counters. “Kindness isn’t weakness. It helps those who are in need and makes everypony stronger for it.”

“You… I…w-what?” Nyceris stutters, completely disoriented by the alien logic. Her anger dissipates into the wind blowing through the trees, and is replaced by a strange emptiness. “That’s not how it works.”

Despite her visible anxiety, Orchid holds her ground. “You asked why I was kind to you, and I gave you my answer.”

“I… um…” Nyceris finds herself unable to respond to the spectacled pony, too wrapped up in her own conflicted thoughts and feelings to construct an appropriate comeback, and unwilling to hurt Orchid because of it. “You’re lucky I’m not any other officer, or I’m sure they would’ve.”

She decides to retreat into the familiarity of military professionalism, and stands up as straight as she can, bearing her full presence upon the now frightened pony. When she speaks, it is with the cool refinement fitting of a Heer officer. “I must return to my duties now. You are dismissed back to your housing unit, pony.”

Shrinking back from the suddenly imposing changeling, Orchid quickly nods in acknowledgement, and gallops off through the park, gravel crunching beneath her rapid hoofsteps.

Nyceris sighs. “I guess that’s that then.”

She exits the park herself, walking in the opposite direction of the pony, and emerges back onto the street. The calm of the park is replaced with the return of the sights and sounds of the city. Nyceris takes a moment to orient herself, using what she knows of the layout of the neighborhood after having studied the maps at least a dozen times.

With a heading found and fatigue pulling at the edges of her eyes, she slowly makes her way back to her home. It doesn’t take long, and with the entirely uneventful trip back, she arrives at the street she has come to call home.

It is in the nicer part of the Portside, the area where changeling settlers and soldiers have made their new homes after moving here from the hives. There are lampposts spaced at regular intervals along the street, with Hegemony banners hanging from each one. Lining the edges of the light on either side are two story apartments. They are all connected to each other, brick walls built as one continuous stretch of housing units. Several of them have plants of various kinds next to their doors or hanging from window planters, but many others are simply left empty. A few changeling civilians saunter along, likely out on an evening stroll, and one is bantering with a soldier.

Nyceris walks along the street, finally within sight of her own housing unit. She arrives at her home here in Manehatten, apartment 45, and unlocks the green-painted wooden door. She gently shuts it behind her, and the dim light of the streetlamps fades away into the near total darkness of her apartment. Changelings have better night vision than most creatures, but even they can’t see in something like this.

She reaches to her right and feels around for the light switch with her hoof, eventually finding it and flicking it on. The room is bathed in incandescent light, and she breathes a sigh of relief she didn’t know she was holding in. “For Queen’s sake what was that?! You let that pony trot all over you! What sort of officer are you that an earthpony could get the better of you like that?”

Too tired to care at the moment, she unbuckles her belt and tosses it onto her couch, the pistol and satchel still attached. She storms up the stairs, and into the hallway bathroom. She flips on the light, and looks at herself in the mirror. Her black uniform is still well-kept and clean, though the officer’s hat is askew and her tie out of place. Her face looks rather bedraggled, creases from stress and exhaustion line her face, and her normally vibrant blue eyes look sunken and dull. “Hives… I’m a mess.”

She pulls off her hat with magic and places it besides the sink while turning on the faucet with her hoof. She splashes cold water over her face, and instinctively licks her fangs to remove the chilly liquid. Turning off the water with magic, she dries herself with a white towel hanging next to the shower, and exits the bathroom, making her way towards her bedroom. “Sleep. Sleep will do me good. I just need to rest a bit, and everything will be okay.”

As she comes upon the near divine sight of her bed, she unbuttons her coat and lets it fall to the floor. She flops down upon the soft blanket, uncaring whether she is dressed appropriately for it, and pulls herself into position so her head can rest on a pillow. “Just a little bit of rest, and I’ll forget all my worries, and especially what that stupid pony said.”

Despite her assurances to herself that it will all be okay, the thoughts of all that transpired linger, and the weight of exhaustion overtakes her. She drifts to sleep, dreams abounding with lying ponies and traitorous thoughts.

Author's Note

Apologies for taking a bit longer than usual to post this. Due to life events, I will be aiming to post a chapter every other week now instead.
Also I know this chapter is a bit shorter than normal, the content I had planned for it didn't run as long as I thought it would. Oh well, knowledge for next time.