Dawn

Bright orange flames flickered in the gentle breeze. Above the small camp of the diplomat’s tents, the black expanse of starry skies blanketed the world in darkness and serenity. Sitting in front of the fire, Dusk rubbed his eyes and drooped his head. Dawn walked out of a tent, fully dressed in her robes. She walked up to Dusk, hissed him on the head, and sat down next to him.

“How are you doing, honey?” he asked sleepily.

A little grin appeared on her face. “Great.”

“Why are you up so early?” he asked through a loud yawn.

“About to go scout ahead a little. What about you?”

“Enjoying life,” he said, grabbing a pot suspended over the fire.

“I’ve found out drinking tea early in the morning is relaxing. It’s so hard to enjoy just how amazing our world is when there are so many distractions.”

She kissed him on the check and stood up. “So poetic. I love you, honey.”

He smiled back. “Love you too, honey.”

Dawn turned and started walking. The rocky land was sparsely vegetated with thin, wispy grass. She climbed up a hill, and the grass became greener and thicker. As she got to the top, the sky became a dull orange in the west. To the east, the crimson sunrise shone over the desolate lands. She looked down at the tiny village below her.

A circle of small, leather huts surrounded a courtyard of mud at the foot of a cliff. A small road lead to the top of the cliff, where a small village of tiny wood huts and market stalls stood. “Oh my god,” she whispered in disbelief. “It’s…Home.”

She looked behind her. The small group of diplomat tents stood in the distance, the fire creating a tiny beacon of light.

She turned back toward the village and walked down the hill. She walked to a small, muddy hut located on the far edge of the village. Looking into the tiny square cut into the side of the leather hut, her mood darkened.

Two young changelings were lying in a large mattress, wrapped in numerous blankets of cotton and fur. The bed frame was intricately carved with loops, swirls, and images of changelings. She snarled.

“Of course. I always knew my ‘mother’ hated me.” She went around to the front and walked inside. The living room of her childhood house was exactly as she remembered it, except smaller. She looked at the shoddy, wooden table sitting in the middle of the room. She glared at the centerpiece, grabbed it in her mouth, and put it in her pocket. As she turned around to walk out, she heard a nasty, cruel voice behind her.

“Well, look who managed to not die.”

Dawn turned around. Standing in the living room was her mother.

Her eyes were tired and glassed over from lack of sleep. Her body was larger and weaker. She was no longer the slim, young pony she had been when Dawn was a young filly; now she was a tired, old mother. Dawn walked up to her and looked in her eyes.

“And why exactly do you care?”

Her mother laughed. “Maybe I underestimated you. Perhaps I shouldn’t have sold you out to the government.”

Dawn smacked her on the head. “Do you know how long I was stuck in a filthy, horrid prison because of you?”

“Well, looking at how healthy you look, I’d say not long enough.”

Dawn hissed at her mother. “You will regret that.”

She hissed back at Dawn. “You’ve gotten good. I’m proud of you. I used to think turning in you and your father was the best decision I had ever done. Seems I was wrong. Now it just seems turning him in was my best move.”

She angrily stared at her mother. “What did you just say?”

Her mother laughed. “Oh, right. Your father. He was a spineless coward. Poor excuse for a changeling if you ask me. He deserved to die.”

Dawn hissed at her mother again. She jumped at her and tackled her onto the table. The table snapped, and splinters of timber flew all around. Dawn shoved her hoof against her mother’s throat and pinned her onto the dirt floor.

The flaps leading to the other two rooms flew open. From the door on the left, the changeling she saw her mother with at the coliseum when Xolecon was executed. From the door on the right, two small, young, changelings walked out. The older one was a girl about the age Dawn was when she was captured. The younger one was a male, a few years younger than his older sister. “Mommy?” he asked. “Who is this?”

Dawn quickly grabbed her mother’s neck and put her hooves around it. She slowly walked backwards toward the flap to the hut. “Don’t move!” she yelled. “Don’t come any closer or she gets it!”

“What are you doing to my wife?” the adult changeling asked, walking sideways to his children. He defensively wrapped them in a hug.

“Please don’t hurt our mommy,” his daughter said.

Dawn laughed deviously. “Your mother?” You mean our mother.”

She looked at Dawn with a confused look. “What do you mean?”

Dawn smiled and maniacally laughed.

“So she’s never told you about her ‘best decisions ever’? If you knew who she really was, you would hardly be able to say you’re related to her. Your mother is a horrible being, full of malice and hatred. She hardly deserves to live. Maybe when I’m done with her, she won’t be.”

“Please,” the boy said, “Don’t hurt Mommy.”

Dawn looked into his eyes. His childhood innocence couldn’t fully grasp the situation. A mix of fear, sadness, and confusion traipsed across his face. Her face calmed down. She threw her mother toward her new family and ran out. She heard yelling from inside the hut.

She ran up the hill outside town and looked back. Changelings were coming together in outside their huts and pointing at her. Dawn’s mother walked out of her hut, pointed at her, and yelled. The villagers began running and flying toward her. She turned around and jumped flank-first onto the other side of the rocky hill. After she got to the bottom, she began sprinting toward the camp. All the ponies were up. Dusk and the Earth Ponies were sitting around the fire, drinking tea in the early morning light. The two Pegasi were flying low in the sky, studying maps.

“Run!” Dawn yelled as she sprinted toward the camp, changelings chasing her. “Run!”

Dusk and the Earth Ponies sat up and began to sprint away, and the Pegasi flew away at high speeds. They ran for a few minutes, the entire village chasing after them.

“There!” Dusk yelled, pointing to a swamp. The six ponies ran and jumped into the tepid water and hid under various overgrown plants. Dawn was breathing heavily from sprinting. Dusk reached over and put his hoof over her mouth. Her breathing silenced and slowed as she calmed down.

“Where’d they go?” one of the changelings yelled.

“It doesn’t look like they’re here,” replied another a changeling. Dawn heard the sound of hooves and changeling wings above the swamp. After a few minutes of silence, she moved out from under the muddy roots she and Dusk were hiding under and looked up. There weren’t any changelings around.

“It’s safe,” she said, looking down into the swamp. The rest of the ponies moved out of the muck and stepped out of the swamp.

“What was that all about?” Dusk asked, pulling mud out of his mane.

Dawn sighed. “Nothing,” she said. “We should probably go to the camp and pack up. We’ll want to go to the changeling capitol city as fast as we can.”

***

“I don’t have a good feeling about this, honey,” Dusk nervously said as the diplomats walked into the capitol city of the changelings.

“Neither do I,” Dawn replied. She looked around and appreciated the capitol city of the changelings for the first time.

Tall stone buildings lined every avenue and shaded the city from the harsh sunlight. Numerous elaborate, marble fountains covered the intersections of city blocks. The fountains portrayed every scene from victorious changelings to beautiful scenes of mountains and waterfalls.

“It’s so beautiful,” Dusk said, admiring the city. “I never knew changelings could be this cultured.”

“Neither did I,” Dawn said. Changelings all over the town pointed at the group of six ponies in shock and disbelief.

“This doesn’t look good,” one of the Pegasi noted. He was grabbed by a heavily armored changeling and shoved up against the wall of a building.

“Who are you all?” he yelled into the Pegasus’ face.

“Dawn?” he nervously yelled.

She walked up to the guard. “We are diplomats from the pony kingdom of Equestria, fair sir,” she replied in Changeling.

The guard threw down the pony and marched up to Dawn. “How can you speak our language, pony?”

“Please, can you take us to the king? We want to make relations between our two nations.”

He smiled as a large group of changeling guards came walking up to the pony diplomats. Their spears were pointed at them, driving them into a close circle. “Please, we just wish to speak in peace.”

Dusk began sweating nervously. “Dawn, what’s going on? Is this related to the swamp incident?”

“First off, tell your pony friend to shut up,” the guard barked.

“Secondly, ponies are not allowed in the changeling kingdom. Thirdly, Dawn, I should have guessed that you would be such an idiot. You are a pony, after all. You honestly think we wouldn’t notice you disappearing? All these years and we’ve finally found you.”

“Please,” Dawn begged, “Take me and spare my friends.”

He laughed. “Maybe. Arrest them all! Put them in the dungeons!” He walked closer to Dawn and hit her square on the head, knocking her unconscious.

***

Dusk’s four legs ached from being chained to the grimy stone wall. He looked around at the cell he shared with Dawn and the other four ponies. It was a small, dirty, rectangular cell with the only light coming from a barred, square hole in the thick, iron door to the room. He looked to his left where Dawn was chained. Her head was drooped weakly on her shoulders.

“Honey,” he whispered. “Dawn!”

She moaned and coughed to the side. Blinking slowly for a few seconds, she burped, opened her mouth and gagged. Dusk looked at the door. “Are you okay?" he asked.

Dawn’s legs jerked quickly toward her stomach and her head thrust foreword as vomit violently flowed from her mouth and splashed around, pooling on the already filthy floor. The other ponies started yelling, some at Dawn and the others at the door, calling for help. The door flew open and smashed against the wall. Six changelings walked into the room and started speaking. Dusk looked at Dawn, terrified.

“What’s happening? What are they doing?” The changelings walked to the ponies and began unchaining their hind legs, then their front ones. As her back legs were unchained, Dawn limply rotated her neck to Dusk. A weak, tiny smile appeared on her face. Her front legs were unchained, and she fell limply onto the back of a changeling jailor.

“I’m pregnant.” The jailor walked out. The jailors carrying the female Pegasus and the female Earth Pony walked out, following him. Dusk’s front legs were unchained, and he fell onto the back of the jailor. His eyes were open wide, his jaw slightly askew. The jailor carrying the male Pegasus walked out first, followed by the one carrying the male Earth Pony, finally by the one carrying Dusk.

His eyes were frozen open, his jaw locked in place in a dropped position. Nott even the simplest thoughts went through his head.

***

Dusk and the other stallions were each put on three, individual tables. The jailors who carried them in tied them tightly to the table. Another changeling wearing a white doctor’s coat walked into the room. He turned to the jailors and spoke to them. They nodded and walked out of the room.

He walked to the Earth Pony and began examining him. Examining his mouth, listening to his chest, and performing various checks. He picked up a small clipboard, grabbed a pen in his mouth, and scratched something out on the paper. He walked to the Pegasus and performed the same tests on him. Again, he grabbed a clipboard and wrote what looked like the same thing.

He walked to Dusk, put his hooves over his mouth, and attempted to open it. Dusk clenched his jaw shut and pressed his lips together. The doctor brought his hoof down on his stomach, making him cough and gasp for breath. As he coughed, the doctor grabbed his mouth, forcing it open. After examining his mouth, he put the side of his head against Dusk’s stomach. He felt Dusk’s forehead, examined his legs, face, and back. Then, he picked up the clipboard, wrote something down, and walked out.

Dusk struggled against the ropes, but they were tight and restricting. He tried to use his horn to untie the rope, but he was too hungry, weak, tired, and preoccupied to use magic. The Pegasus turned his head and looked at Dusk.

“You’re a Unicorn, right, Dusk? Can’t you get us out of these ropes?”

“No,” Dusk admitted, “I can’t. My mind’s somewhere else now.”

The Earth Pony spoke up. “What could possibly be more important that this? It has something to do with Dawn, doesn’t it?” he asked angrily.

Dusk sadly sighed. “Yes, it…it does.”

The Pegasus looked at him sympathetically. “I understand this must be pretty difficult for you, but your wife will be fine. I’m from the tribe of warriors and strong ponies, and I can tell one when I see one. Dawn’s a really strong pony. Like, really strong. She’ll be fine.”

Dusk smiled. “You think so?”

The Pegasus smiled back. “I don’t think so. I know so,” he said smugly.

The jailors walked back in and cut the ropes, picking up the stallions. “Remember,” the Pegasus said smiling, “Strong pony.”

***

Dusk looked at the door to the cell. The light coming in was growing dimmer and dimmer. Biting his lip in nervousness, he looked around. Only he and the other two stallions were there. There were three empty slots on the wall for the mares. Where were they?

Just as he began to lose hope, the door swung opened, and the three changeling jailors holding the mares walked in. He turned his head to the side and watched Dawn get chained to the wall again. She was like warm putty; limp, squirming, and a surprisingly good contortionist. After minutes of struggling to get her to stay put, the changeling finally chained her to the wall, where she hung limply in the air. She looked more tired that before, even weaker. The door loudly slammed shut.

“Dusk,” Dawn weakly whispered. “Dusk, are you okay?”

He looked away. The two Pegasi were silent and motionless in sleep.

“Dusk, please. What’s wrong with you?”

He slowly turned his head back toward her. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” he crassly replied.

“It’s a pretty big thing, honey. I didn’t quite know how to break it to you.”

He jerked his head away again. “And you think now would be the best time?” His voice was full of bitterness and ire.

“When we’re naked, chained to a wall in a dungeon of the kingdom we were supposed to be making relations with, and with four ponies we hardly know?”

Her eyes flooded with tears. “Dusk, I-“

“You also told me while we were being brought to separate places. That could have been the last time I saw you.”

Tears rolled down her face and landed on her bare chest. “I…I’m sorry…” She turned away from him and began crying.

He scowled and banged his head foreword a few times. He breathed out a sigh of anger, and inhaled one of confidence. “Dawn, I…I’m sorry.”

Inhaling sharply through her nose, she pretended not to hear him.

“Listen, you know I love you. I’m just scared for your safety. It’s like what I said in Canterlot; if something bad happened to you, I could never forgive myself. It’s bad enough that we’re here, and I guess learning you’re having a baby is just too much for me to handle now. I just everything in our love to be perfect, and frankly, I never envisioned us being prisoners.”

She faintly smiled and tilted her head toward him. He leaned in and kissed her. “If it’s a colt,” she whispered romantically into his ear, “I want to name him Xolecon.”

He smiled back at her. “Sure. Whatever you want. All we need to do is get out of here first.”

He looked around for a moment. The cell was completely dark now; it was night. He turned his head to Dawn, who had already dozed off. He faced forewords, drooped his head, and shut his eyes.

***

As days went by, they all melted together to make weeks. Maybe there were enough weeks to make a month. Nopony could tell. Prison has that effect on the ability to tell time. Dusk opened his eyes to a few familiar things.

Firstly, the bright beams of light on the floor that signaled it was morning.

Secondly, the slow, heavy breathing of his sleeping wife. He took a special liking to this one; it meant Dawn was still alive. She was hardly more than a pregnant skeleton with skin. Their diets were meager, barely enough to support a full-grown pony, let alone a pregnant one. Dusk would help out by hiding spare food in his mouth to give to her when their feeders were gone, but it was not enough. She would spend nearly every day and night sleeping, with the few exceptions of when she would wake up for a half hour at max to eat, talk, or vomit. Sometimes all three. Sometimes all at once.

The third, final thing he observed was the stench of the room, which did its part to drain his happiness derived from the previous two things. The smell of vomit (mostly Dawn’s), waste, and sweat combined with the smell of rotting, decaying flesh. The ponies decided the flesh smell was coming from outside their cell, as all of them were alive. At times Dusk wished he knew its source, but when he’d think about it more, he would decide that ignorance is bliss.

Dawn’s breathing stopped. He jerked his head to his left, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw she had woken up. “Hey, honey,” he said in a caring tone. “How are you feeling?”

“Well,” she started chuckling a little bit. “If I said I was horrible, that would be sugar coating it. Does that answer you?”

Her laughing turned to coughing. She wheezed and choked, and after a minute or so, she stopped, winded from even the mildest of activity. She spit out a red liquid, and her head limply rolled to one side. Dusk looked down at the ground where her saliva had landed.

“Dawn, turn this way a moment, please?” She weakly turned her head, and he screamed.

“What? What’s wrong?” one of the Earth Ponies called out.

“Dawn, you’ve been coughing blood!” Dusk screamed. All the ponies in the room began yelling and hollering to the door for help. The hallways outside remained silent.

“What’s wrong?” the Pegasus mare asked. “They always have a guard or two outside the door to keep us in, and they usually respond to all this commotion.”

Dawn began coughing louder and harder. “Dawn, please!” Dusk yelled at her. “Please, just try and stop!” She kept coughing. “Help!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. “Help!”

He heard hoof steps off in the distance, down the hallway outside the cell. “Help!” he cried. “Help!”

He heard the sounds of battle down the hallway; yelling, metal weapons slashing against metal, and the pop sound of skin being pierced as a weapon is driven into flesh.

He yelled even louder. He heard unfamiliar voices growing louder. He soon could distinguish what they were saying.

“I heard yelling from down here! They must have prisoners down here!”

A wide smile emerged on his face. “We’re being saved! Somepony’s coming to save us!”

The door opened, and a unicorn wearing full armor and holding a spear dripping with crimson liquid was there. He immediately covered his nose and turned his head away from the door, dropping his spear in the process. “What is it?” more voices asked. A female Pegasus, a female Unicorn, and three male Earth Ponies, all dressed similarly with swords strapped to their waists, walked into the doorway. They all shared the same reaction.

“Please, you have to help us!” Dusk begged. The Unicorn walked into the room and looked around. He turned back to the other ponies and ordered them to come in. They began unchaining the diplomats. The male Unicorn walked up to Dusk and began to unlock his chains.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“My name is Dusk. I am one of the diplomats sent by Equestria to make relations with the changeling kingdom. Needless to say, we weren’t very successful.” The last of his chains became unlocked, and he dropped to the ground. The Unicorn caught him.

“And the others?”

“They’re also diplomats.”

“Do you know how long you’ve been here?”

“You’re my savior, I thought that was your job to know.”

“It’s been about three months or so since you left Canterlot.”

“We’ve been here about a month, then. What’s with the daring rescue mission?”

The Unicorn smiled. “In all honesty, we didn’t even know you were here. After all of you went missing, there was a huge call to arms in Equestria to vanquish the Changelings for good. Finding you was a great coincidence.”

Another Pegasus flew to the doorway. “There aren’t any more prisoners in here.”

The Unicorn holding Dusk nodded. “Good. We’ll just be bringing these ponies to a medic.”

“Please hurry,” Dusk pleaded. “My wife is pregnant. She’s flirting with death. She has no energy, can hardly eat, and now she’s coughing up blood.”

The Unicorn look shocked and terrified. “We should go now,” he called to his fellow soldiers. “Some of these ponies are in critical condition!” The soldiers sprinted out, holding the newly freed captives on their backs. Dusk looked over to Dawn, who was riding on the other Unicorn. She smiled faintly, and her eyes shut again.

***

Clean, fresh air drifted past Dusk’s nostrils for the first time in weeks. He slowly opened his eyes to the sight of a clean, white tarp above him. He looked around and examined his surroundings. Multiple smooth, sturdy wooden tables stood inside the tent.

Many of the tables were occupied, but some remained empty. Four of the other tables were occupied by the other diplomats from Equestria, and the others by various soldiers, each with varying levels of injuries. Sitting up, his clean, stiff, white medical gown crumpled. A Unicorn walked into the tent. She looked around at all the ponies on the tables while making her way toward Dusk.

“How are you?” she asked.

“Where’s my wife?” he quickly asked.

“I’ll take that to mean you’re good,” she said. “Which one was yours?”

“The pregnant one.”

“Ah, yes,” she said. “She’s in the emergency tent.”

He dropped down from his table and onto the grassy floor and proceeded to the door. “Please, you need to stay here,” the nurse pleaded. He ignored her and walked out of the tent.

Walking into the open air, Dusk looked around. The medical tent was located amongst a sea of cloth tents. Ponies sat outside tents, some in full armor, others wearing simple robes. Activities of all sorts were being performed, from sharpening swords to writing letters to sitting and laughing. He found a tent with a sign reading Emergency in front of it. He pushed the flap aside and ducked into the tent. The only occupied table held Dawn, who was softly breathing in her sleep. Dusk’s face grew wide. “Dawn!” he yelled.

She opened her eyes slowly and smiled. She sat up and extended her front legs out in front of her. Dusk ran up and into her extended front legs, hugging her. “Never have I yearned to touch somepony so much in my life,” he romantically whispered into her ear.

She gently stroked his mane and smiled. “So poetic,” she replied, smiling. “This is why I married you.”

They ended their hug and Dawn remained sitting up. “Are you okay?” Dusk asked.

“I’m perfect now that you’re here.”

“And the foal?”

Dawn pulled her blanket up to the top of her legs, then pulled her gown up slightly to reveal her stomach. The bulge on her stomach was growing ever slightly larger. Her ribs were no longer easily visible. She pulled her gown back down. “She’s fine.”

He chuckled. “She? We sure now?”

“I can tell it’s a filly,” she said happily, rubbing her stomach. “I had a dream right before we got rescued from prison about the foal being born. It was a filly. You named her.”

He smiled widely. “What did I name her?”

“I don’t remember. But it was beautiful.”

The Unicorn nurse ran into the room. “I told you not to leave!” she said irately.

Dusk smiled and turned around. “I can go now,” he calmly said.

The nurse looked at him confusedly. “Huh?” she asked, not expecting such an easy agreement. She blinked quickly a few times, and Dusk walked up to her.

“Dusk!” Dawn yelled, right as he was about to leave the tent.

“Yes?” he asked delightfully, turning around.

She smiled. “Your flank’s showing.”

He looked backwards at the back of his gown; she was right. The back was open, revealing his rump. Quickly pivoting around, he grasped his bottom and blushed as red as an overripe tomato. He backed out standing his back hooves, still covering his back. Dawn laughed at her husband's expense.

***

“Dusk,” Dawn panicked, nudging him. “Dusk!”

He sleepily and slowly sat up. “What is it?” he said, aloof.

“The foal’s coming!” she yelled.

Dusk rolled out of their bed in shock and landed square on the floor. He extended his hooves under his wife and pulled her out of bed. Putting his front leg around her shoulder, they slowly walked out of the room and into the hallway. After a few yards, Dawn collapsed and grabbed her bulging stomach.

“I can’t get to the doctor,” she said. Dusk started panicking and fidgeting.

“Somepony, come help!” he yelled to the empty hallway. He looked back at Dawn, who was sweating and panting heavily. “It’s okay, honey,” he nervously assured her, “You’ll be fine.”

A nearby door opened, and a Unicorn stallion stepped out, his mane messed from sleep. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Go get the doctor!” Dusk yelled. “She’s having a baby!”

The Unicorn bolted down the hall. Dusk turned back to his wife, whose face was clenched in pain. He rubbed her stomach affectionately. More and more doors along the hallway opened, and Unicorns continued to step out. The first Unicorn ran back, with another Unicorn following him. The new one knelt down in front of Dawn. Dusk grabbed her right hoof and rubbed it, trying to comfort her.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Have you ever been hit really hard in the stomach?” she struggles to speak through the pain.

“Uhh…yeah?” he replied.

“Imagine that multiplied by infinite,” she replied. As soon as she was done speaking, she shrieked in pure agony.

“Give her some room!” the doctor yelled. “The foal's about to come!” The spectators stepped back.

“Dawn, I need you to listen to me now. I need you to push as hard as you can, no matter how much it hurts. That’s the only way your foal will get out. Do you understand?” Dawn’s face was clenched tight. She nodded. “Ready? Push!” Dawn screamed at the top of her lungs. “Push!” the doctor yelled again. Dawn shrieked louder than anypony thought possible and smacked her hoof on the ground. Her screaming was joined by the shrill sound of crying. Dawn’s breathing slowed, and smile grew on her and Dusk’s faces.

“Congratulations, you two,” the doctor said. “It’s a filly.”

Tears grew in both their faces. “Let me hold her,” Dawn said. The doctor placed the tiny, moist baby in her outstretched hooves. Dawn looked at her. “Little filly, you’ve made my life infinitely better. Now what is your name?”

“Hydrangea,” Dusk spoke to his daughter.

Dawn looked back at Dusk. “This is the start of our new life.”

Dusk picked up Hydrangea and stroked her head slowly. “You are the single best thing that has ever happened to me. You have no idea what you will do to us.”