“Why in Tartarus’s name are you guiding ponies to a magical cure?” Amber hissed at Leviathan once the group had begun their trip again toward the alleged monument. The Changeling smiled awkwardly at the Dragon Lord, regretting agreeing to let her come along.

“I’m not!” Leviathan said between a smile, teeth clenched and eyes flickering between the ponies following behind at a close pace. “We’re going to the Hive!”

Dragon Lord Amber, the absolute savage that she was, was Prince Leviathan’s betrothed when he was younger. Or rather, his mother pestered the prince until she was red in the face to propose to the Dragon Lord so that he may further the power within both communities.

“A Dragon and a Changeling! Think of the babies you’d have!” Queen Lilith had exclaimed, gleefully prancing around the Changeling nursery as she daydreamed about Changeling/Dragon hybrid babies populating Equestria and ridding the land of silly ponies.

Leviathan and Amber had been together for nearly five years, from the second year of his arrival in Canterlot until about three years prior, when Leviathan had realized he truly wasn’t getting anything out of the relationship apart from a looming sense of doom about having to repopulate a new hive.

Of course, the Dragon Lord herself didn’t take this news lightly and quickly banned any Changeling from the premises of her nest, swearing never to ally herself with the creatures ever again. And so in present-day, guiding ponies directly into her territory, Leviathan had dug himself into a small hole reuniting with his childhood girlfriend.

“Is that why you’re in this silly costume?” Amber clarified, her red eyes glinting under the small rays of sun that made their way through the deep forest canopy.

Leviathan sighed, nodding in verification. The yellow Dragon laughed loudly, confusing the ponies trailing behind. “Oh, Emmy! What a jokester you are!” Thank goodness. A (mostly) smooth recovery.

“I wanna hear the joke!” Cobalt piped up. Leviathan was getting tired of this. How could a Unicorn like Hibiscus take the painful remarks of this Pegasus? Leviathan wasn’t even a real Pegasus and he had accomplished more in his time in Canterlot!

“Oh, you wouldn’t get it,” Amber assured, frowning as she spoke, “You kind of had to be there, right Emmy?” That nickname was infuriating. After meeting Leviathan in the forest as he hunted down Turquoise’s cottage and found a path directly to the Hive on foot, Amber had seen him in his pony form for the first time, quickly turning his pony name into a ridiculous nickname to poke fun at the stupid species. After a while it quickly became obnoxious.

“Haha, yeah,” The Pegasus (presently) agreed, nodding awkwardly as he went along with the cover. He really wanted to lure these ponies to the proper location but man, it was going to be hard with Amber along for the ride now.

“So, purple pony,” Amber turned her attention to the star of the show, “How’d you get all these crystals on you?” Leviathan wasn’t sure if the yellow Dragon actually knew the origin of the scars or not. He let her talk for now.

Turquoise shifted under her gaze. His demeanor since the Dragon abduction had shifted from the arrogance Leviathan knew to a strange sort of timidness. “A Dragon bit me,” He stated simply, not entertaining the newcomer. Leviathan laughed at that.

Amber, however, did not. She rolled those crimson eyes and turned back to the others in the group, “Sure you did. Why are you two here? Did you get bit by Dragons also? I don’t see any diamonds on you.”

Cobalt and Hibiscus shook their heads, “We were lost in the forest and Turquoise was going to lead us out, but then he told us about his curse, and then Emerald Shield showed up! So we decided to come on the quest for a cure with him!” The pink Unicorn stated happily, turning her head up in pride. Leviathan admired her.

“Thinking back, I haven’t seen Emerald Shield in such a long time! You look really different, you know.” Amber was being an absolutely awful sport about the breakup.

“Oh right! Ex-lovers!” Cobalt recalled, gold eyes widening. “What’s it like seeing each other after all these years?”

“We are not ‘ex-lovers!’” Leviathan screeched, turning a shade of pink.

“It’s been excellent. He’s really not all that. A royal guard is a lot more pretentious than you’d think. This is why I shy away from ponies, actually.”

“Because of the breakup?” Hibiscus clarified. Amber nodded. “That makes sense. Any type of trauma could lead to overreactive responses! Like total aversion, or total bodily shut-downs!”

Leviathan thought back to the abduction and Turquoise’s total freeze. “Did you deal with trauma like that, Turquoise?” Leviathan asked, blue eyes concerned. He wanted to suck the magic out of this pony, this was true. But couldn’t the butcher feel sympathy for the cow he slaughters?

“My name’s not Turquoise, you know. It’s Starlane.” Leviathan didn’t push it.

“This would be a lot faster if we flew, you know,” Amber spoke later in the journey. Leviathan groaned.

“We can’t all fly! Two Unicorns, remember?” The Changeling said, irate.

“Right, but there’s three flying creatures and two non-flying creatures. Can’t we just pick them up? Fly them to our destination?” Was she trying to ruin the plan? Leviathan felt his eye twitch.

“I have a thing about people grabbing me, actually,” Starlane/Not Turquoise spoke up, the first time since Leviathan asked that awfully-timed question.

“You ponies,” Amber dismissed, “Always so sensitive.”

Day two was coming to a close. As the ponies and Amber made their way toward yet another marker in the forest, the familiar chill of nighttime in Everfree made its way across the creatures’ skin, causing them all to shiver.

“We’ll set up camp for the night here,” Starlane decided for everyone. No one argued, collecting sticks and leaves to weave together two more tent-like structures for the night.

“Oh!” Hibiscus spoke up mid-build. “Where will Amber sleep?” It was a fair question but Leviathan already knew the answer.

“I don’t sleep with ponies.” Cobalt chuckled at the joke to be made there. “I’ll set up my own spot away from you colorful mongrels.”

Satisfied with that answer, Hibiscus continued her building until the small tent for her and Cobalt was complete. “Oh!” Yet another question from the pretty pink Unicorn! Leviathan was getting tired of it, to be frank. “Are we going to sleep in the same arrangements as last night?”

“Yeah, because Hibiscus snores and I could use a break from that,” Cobalt laughed, looking at the other two stallions in a silent plea to switch sleeping arrangements.

“I snore too,” Starlane said simply, adding the final touches on his tent, yawning in finale. “We keep the same arrangements. Goodnight.”

No room to argue, Leviathan figured. He shrugged at the blue and pink pair, much to Cobalt’s chagrin, who groaned loudly before retiring inside his own structure.

Peeking inside, Starlane looked to be asleep, so the Changeling once more made his way deeper into the forest, where the three ponies couldn’t see him, and fetched his crystal ball to speak to his mother, updating her on where they were in the journey.

“Sweetest!” Syrup dripped from her voice, red eyes slits, clearly drunk on magic. “How is my sugar plum? Are you bringing me my dinner?”

Leviathan didn’t bother transforming tonight. He didn’t want to risk Amber seeing him and teasing him, or worse, telling those ponies. “We’re about a day away. Maybe a little longer. I ran into an old friend and she’s insisted on joining the party.”

Lilith clapped, giggling at the news. “Oh, please tell me it’s Amber! I told you she was a catch!” Leviathan rolled his eyes. “Well, be on your way, darling. Don’t let those ponies get to you with their emotional… stuff. I’ve heard that their Princess promotes friendship! A magical kind of it!”

Leviathan paused at that. Magical friendship? “Okay, well goodnight Mother,” the prince smiled through the crystal ball, his mother waving lazily before her picture faded off of the small sphere, leaving the Pegasus alone in the dark. He took a deep breath and made his way back toward the tent.

Once again that feeling started pooling in his gut. The yearning for something. Maybe he would wake Hibiscus and tell her about this feeling. She always seemed to know how ponies’ emotions worked. Maybe his were similar?

Magical friendship sounded like something fulfilling. Would he have to feed on Unicorns and other magical creatures if he was already creating magic by making friends? Could Changelinges even make friends? King Thorax from a neighboring hive had unlocked his new form through friendship or something, right? No longer feeding on parasitic love. Leviathan wanted that, he decided. After he brought the ponies to the hive, he’d find a way to create friendship within the Changeling community. Mother wouldn’t argue, would she? She wanted to provide for the nation, not fight it. She would be happy to have an infinite food source that they didn’t have to lure back to the hive over a three-day journey!

Pfft! What a joke. Leviathan let out a loud sigh as he stepped inside the tent, nearly jumping out of his skin as he saw Starlane sitting up, looking right at him.

“You’re awake,” Was all he said, looking at the Unicorn. There was a nod in response. Starlane looked tired.

“Where did you go?”

“I had to pee,” Leviathan provided, still standing at the tent’s entrance. “Why are you awake? Aren’t you tired?”

“I couldn’t sleep. Wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh,” Leviathan slowly made his way over to his roommate, sitting beside him. “Sorry I made you wait. Why did you want to talk?”

Starlane took a deep breath, opening and closing his mouth several times before finally deciding on what to say. “I wanted to thank you for bringing me to this cure. Even if it doesn’t work, no one’s ever actually tried to help me.”

Uh oh. Leviathan didn’t want to get attached to the stallion, he just wanted his magic. That yearning feeling felt even stronger as Starlane kept talking.

“And I wanted to thank you for flying me out of the volcano.”

“Yeah, sure thing,” Leviathan tried to shut down the emotional confession, but it was too late. The ball was already rolling.

“I had a tough childhood if you couldn’t guess,” Starlane nodded toward his back, where Leviathan finally noticed a starburst scar right on his side, where his own wings attached to his body. “Ponies pinned me down. Hurt me. Whatever.”

Leviathan was in absolute shock at the confession. Ponies were capable of violence? “Why would they do that?” He breathed, eyebrows furrowed so tightly, they might have become one single brow.

Starlane shrugged, looking away. “Who knows? Goodnight.”

The purple stallion turned over, facing away from the green Pegasus as he let himself fall asleep. Leviathan was left alone in the darkness of the tent, mouth agape as he understood what he had just been told.

That yearning feeling nearly burned him as he overthought the small conversation he had just been privy to. This Unicorn was a stranger in all aspects, and yet he was appreciative of the small gestures Leviathan made to earn his trust. Ponies were complicated. Why did he want to be so close to a pony he was meant to bring back as a feast?

Leviathan turned over, sure that this feeling would disappear in the morning. Hibiscus could satisfy the feelings, he was sure. Starlane would be the infinite meal for the hive and Hibiscus could be Leviathan’s personal solution to these strange feelings he was dealing with so often these days.

The Changeling lay down beside the purple stallion, pressing closer against him tonight than previously.

Author's Note

bonding :) also fun backstory on amber/leviathan, right? i plan to write some oneshots/short stories about all these characters and their individual dynamics once I'm done with this, plus some canon stuff too bc i cant resist some fav ships of mine. hope u enjoy!