Let me tell you, shingles are not a comfortable thing to sleep on. Especially when your body is nothing but hard chitin.
But when you've got a furry snuggle buddy? They're at least tolerable.
I slowly woke up to the sound of light snoring. Blinking open my eyes, I quickly found the source of both the snoring and the fuzzy feeling: Os was sleeping peacefully on my lap.
I have to admit: she was really cute like that. The way her chest rose and fell as she breathed, the light blush from the crisp morning air, the way her ear unconsciously flicked at the distant sounds of urbanization, and how her brown and gold colors were made even more radiant in the rising sun's light...
The lingering taste on my lips drew my thoughts back to last night. We kissed! I just made out with my best friend of seven years, on the top of her roof, like some kind of cheesy romantic sitcom!
And it felt good! Not even in that "Changelings eat love" kind of way; it just felt... right. It was rather odd just how right it felt, but it did, and I didn't want to change that. I sat up slightly, making sure not to jostle Os, and took inventory on myself.
My wings were opaque now.
I held back a groan. In my research session, I'd watched the Season 6 finale of MLP, and I knew what this meant: I was a step away from becoming one of those garish new Changelings.*
But I couldn't keep a small smile from gracing my lips. If it meant I'd be with Os, I supposed it wouldn't be the end of the world.
<Rove?>
I blinked. That didn't sound like it was said anywhere nearby; in fact, I'd say it sounded like...
<Rove, can you hear me?>
I gasped slightly. It was Mazarine, contacting me through the Hive Mind we'd discovered! After a bit of effort, I managed to reply with a <Yeah?>
<Oh, thank goodness this worked. Where have you been?>
I winced. <Sorry, I'm still at Os's house. I meant to call you, but we just lost track of time.>
Her next reply came with the feeling that she was being coy. <"Lost track of time", huh?>
I rolled my eyes. <Not like THAT, Mom... We were just trying to figure out how to find the Elements of Harmony.>
<Any luck?>
<Not yet; we don't really know where to start.>
She paused for a moment. <Well, did you have any more of those dreams?>
I nodded reflexively, then winced when I realized she couldn't see it. <Yeah, I did, actually. I saw human versions of the Princesses standing in a black void, then I fell and started hearing voices.>
<Whose voices?>
I had to take a moment to consider. <I think Luna was the main one of them. Then I heard some things we'd said in the past few days, like when you said you didn't like lying to Ms. Finch. But there was one voice in there that I didn't recognize; she said something about destroying someone instead of banishing them to the moon?>
She seemed to instantly recognize the quote. <That was Daybreaker, Celestia's evil alter-ego, in Season 7's 'A Royal Problem'. Bea and I watched it just last week.>
<Celestia has an evil alter-ego? Okay, I've really gotta watch the rest of that show!>
She chuckled a bit through the Hivemind. <It's surprisingly good. But anyway, you said Luna was the main voice of them? What did she say?>
I had to think for a moment. <Something about making a mistake, not learning a lesson, and then an apology. I also heard Nightmare Moon declaring the Night would last forever, then the dream then ended.>
She thought for a while. Then she sent, <I think I've got a theory. Come home, and I'll explain on the way.>
<Okay,> I nodded, before the link went silent. Carefully, I used my hooves to lift Os's head off my lap.
Unfortunately, she had other ideas; in her sleep, she reflexively reached out and clung more tightly around my barrel, not wanting to leave my apparent warmth.
I sighed, then tapped her forehead a few times. Slowly, she stirred, yawning adorably (even with the fangs) before looking at me with drowsy eyes. "Hey, Rove," she smiled with a woozy smile. "Morning already?"
I nodded with a patient smile. "My Mom needs me back home, so could you please, uh, let me go?"
Her face turned confused for a moment, before her sleepy brain registered she was clinging around my middle. "Oh, sure," she retracted her hooves and sat up. "I like your wings, by the way."
"Thank you," I nodded, standing to stretch again.
But before I was able to leave, she piped up, "Hey, Rove? About last night..."
I turned. "Yeah?"
A light blush played across her face as her aura turned light magenta with pink stripes. "Do you, uh, wanna, maybe... g-get some lunch sometime? Together?"
I perked up a bit. "I'd love to. The Luigi's on Main Street sound good?"
She smiled, aura now becoming a vivid yellow with pink and sky blue stripes. "See you at noon, 'kay?"
"Can't wait."
We both stood there for a moment, just smiling at each other. Then I buzzed my wings, and flew off.
As I flew off (making sure to stay close to the ground so I wouldn't have a repeat of yesterday), I sent through the Hivemind, <Alright, I'm on my way. What's your theory?>
It took her a moment to reply. <Okay, so who exactly did you hear, and what did they say?>
<Well, there was you saying you didn't like lying to Ms. Finch, Os yelling at me for abandoning her yesterday, Lily congratulating me for using magic, Bea joking with me, Mr. Adler offering to help me understand my transformation, and me telling Os I wouldn't stop being friends with her because of her gender.>
She took a moment to process. <And what're the Elements of Harmony?>
<If I remember correctly, there's Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Magic, but wha—>
I froze. No way. It couldn't be... could it?
<I think we're the Elements.>