1. Temptation

Pound glared dangerously into the eyes of the mare he had pinned to the wall, the fire in his brain burning brightly. "Where's...my...sister?" he demanded again.

She looked up at him, scared. "Pound...it's me...I'm right here...you're hurting me..."

"You've done a very good job pretending," he spat out. "All her mannerisms, everything she does that made things so hard for so long, every last detail. But there were a few things you screwed up, so I know you aren't her."

"W...what are you talking about?"

Pound smirked. "You want me to tell you? Why, so you can do a better job pretending next time? How about we start with the fact that Pumpkin's eyes aren't green?"

She seemed to flinch as he lunged in towards her as he spoke. "P-pound, what are you talking about? My eyes are blue..."

He locked eyes with her, glaring into her. "Let's also go into how strong my sister is. Just last night, she had me suspended upside down in midair by her magic...a powder blue glow that feels like silk and warm ice. She's been able to do that since we were foals...and she'd never let me do anything to injure her." He lifted one hoof, steeling himself. "You look like her...but she'd never let me do this." He brought his hoof down hard on the joint of her left foreleg.

She screamed in pain. At first he winced, because it was her voice. But then a hiss entered it, as green fire spread across her body. Within moments, the green eyed Changeling stared up at him in fear, cradling her broken foreleg. "How...how did you know?"

He wasn't about to tell her how he had hurt Pumpkin, responding to her Twin in Equish. He did lean into her face, though, and whisper, "Twins...always know. Now where's my sister?"

The Changeling looked up at him. "Why do you toss aside what I offer so callously?" she asked, sounding hurt emotionally.

"What?"

"Do you think your sister will be able to embrace your lust? Or even look you in the eye and accept it? She's your sister, she could never submit to you that way." The Changeling managed an ingratiating smile. "But I can give you what you want in ways she can't. If ever you two were together, no one would accept it. Others hateful gazes would eventually drive you apart. But me...where others see, I can be anyone, another pegasus mare maybe? One who can be accepted as your partner? But for you, I can be her, the one you want so desperately...I offer you the impossible as real, and you would turn your back on it?"

Pound blinked his eyes as images of the Changeling's suggestions filled his mind. It was true, even if Pumpkin wound up wanting him the same way - which her running from him suggested was unlikely - they would have to be secret, always. Always careful, always hiding...because if anypony else knew, their lives would become hell of scorn and hate, their love seen as unnatural, wrong...

As he started to relax his leg, Spike's words came back to him. "If lust is all it is, you need to suppress it...if it really is love, the only pony's opinions that should matter are hers, and yours..."

The fire in his mind burned bright once again. He slammed the Changeling back against the wall. "You think I would trade love for lust? My own flesh and blood for a fantasy?" His eyes burned as he glared hate into the Changeling's eyes. "Last chance. Where's my sister?" He wrapped his hoof around the Changeling's horn and gripped tightly.

The Changeling screamed in pain and fear. "No, please, don't! I'll tell! I'll tell! Just please, not my horn! I don't want to die!"

Pound pulled his hoof back. "What?"

She blinked at him. "I need my horn...to change shape, to feed...if you break it, I die...of starvation, or at the hooves of others..."

Pound stepped back. He could almost feel her fear and sincerity, and he could see how much her body was shaking. "Where's my sister?"

The Changeling shifted into a pegasus mare his age, one he didn't recognize. "I'll take you to her." She slowly flew out the window. He followed, staying close and above, where he could easily strike.

She set down in alleyway between buildings. As Pound landed beside her, all he could see were crates. "Where is she?"

The Changeling shifted back, and her horn glowed. One of the crates wavered and vanished. Pumpkin was curled up between the ones on either side, covered in a blanket. "I didn't want her to catch a chill," she whispered, indicating the blanket.

Pound rushed to his sister's side. "What did you do to her?"

"It's just a sleep spell," the Changeling whispered. "It'll wear off after one hour in her own bed." She hung her head. "I'm sorry...I never meant to hurt anypony..."

"Never meant to hurt..." Pound rounded on her. "And what if I hadn't realized you weren't her, what then? Just slip her back in after I think we'd become lovers, when she doesn't remember that? What did you think would happen then?"

She shrank away from him. "I'm sorry...I didn't think-"

"Didn't your swarm teach you any better than that-"

"THERE IS NO SWARM!"

Pound sat back in shock.

"No swarm...no queen...not anymore..." She huddled into herself, shaking.

"What...what happened?"

She struggled, managing to breathe and speak. "Wh...when the invasion of Canterlot failed, the Changeling swarm was blasted back, and the Queen...she landed badly. Her...her horn broke." A choked sob escaped her throat. "I was just hatched, but...I felt her voice fade from my mind, and felt the swarm go mad...the general, they tried to establish order, but...they fought each other for dominance, and the rest of the swarm mirrored their struggle..." She put her forehooves to her head. "The nurse, she got me outside safely, but...I heard them go mad in my head, heard the swarm scream...and I heard each of them die, as their voice faded from my mind...and now there's only me...I...I'm the last..." She sniffed, struggling to control herself. "I...I've struggled to survive...trying to live. Some people took me in sometimes, but once they knew what I was, I was chased out..." She looked over at Pound. "When...when I came here, you were still blank." She gestured to his Cutie Mark. "There's...there's so much love here in Ponyville, I was able to survive just absorbing the stray love, that which was undirected. It...it was strongest from you and Pumpkin, from your bond, so I stayed close. But...every day was lived on the edge of starvation...I...I didn't want to starve anymore...I didn't want to be alone anymore."

She shrank in on herself, putting her hooves over her head and shutting her eyes tight. "So alone...so empty inside...I can't bear it..." Wracking sobs shook her small frame.

Pound stared down at her. While he didn't have any special skill at reading other ponies...somehow he knew her every word had been true. While at first he had hated her for what she'd done to him and his sister...that hate was gone. In its place, he could only find sorrow...and compassion.

Laying down next to her, he wrapped a wing around her. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"It's...it's not your fault..."

"No...I'm sorry I hurt you...and that you had to go through this all alone."

She turned and buried her face in his neck. He knew that if she were a pony right now, he would soon be wet with tears. She pressed tight against him, clinging to him desperately.

Without thinking about it, he wrapped one leg around her, offering comfort. "Do...do you have a name?" he found himself asking.

"...before they chased me out...one of the Zebrakin called me yaazi...it means 'small one'."

"Yaazi..." Pound smiled at her. "It suits you."

She pulled back to stare at him. "Why? Be...because I'm small and helpless?"

He shook his head. "No. Because it's cute."

She closed her eyes, and the short mane along her spine rustled. "Thanks," she whispered.

"Did you just blush?"

"No!" The mane rustling became more pronounced.

He couldn't help it. He started to laugh. After a time, she began to laugh, too.

She stood up. "You should take care of Pumpkin now. I'm sorry for everything." She began to buzz her wings for take-off.

Turning towards Pumpkin, Pound paused and turned back. "I...I broke your leg...how...?"

She waved the leg easily, no sign of the break. "Your heart is very strong...so full of love. You...even had some for me." She took to the air, shifting to the form of a pegasus again. "Goodbye, Pound. I will trouble you no more."

As Pound scooped his sister up, he watched the retreating Changeling. "...goodbye, Yaazi..." Spreading his wings, he carried Pumpkin home.

Flying back in the window, he slipped her into her bed, pulling the covers over her. Seeing green light begin to flake off her and dissipate, he knew Yaazi had told the truth about the spell. Laying down on his own bed facing her, he watched and waited until she began to stir. Soon, he would know if his feelings were returned...or if he had destroyed any bond they could ever have...

Author's Note

Well, we've got through all the primary plot I have written for this story.

At this point, there are three distinct ways this story could go, and I am mostly ambivalent as far as which direction to take. So, I will leave it up to my readers to decide.

The three paths are as follows: Pumpkin embraces Pound's attraction for her; Pumpkin accepts it, but does not embrace it; and Pumpkin cannot accept his new feelings and rejects them.

I will post three comments, one for each path, below. Please upvote the path you would like to see. Downvotes will be ignored...unless they become excessive, in which case they will be counted as votes for that path.

I will check the total results each day. I will write the next chapter on the 29th, or when one of the paths has received more than 50 total upvotes, whichever comes first.