//------------------------------// // Iridia's Date // Story: Letters to the Queen // by AlaskaIsCold //------------------------------// The pair barely made it to the restaurant in time for their reservation, and the earth pony waitress smiled at the panting ponies. “Reservation for two, a mister Pyro I assume?” she said with a slight Prench accent. He nodded several times as Iridia leaned on him, trying to catch her breath. She was not a particularly fast flier, nor did she have a lot of endurance, but then again these were not traits that her hive were known for. Once they calmed down, they were lead to a table that overlooked most of Ponyville. After the menus were placed in front of them the waitress left them to their own devices. Iridia looked over to him and started to smile gradually. She was able to read him like a book, even if it wasn’t for her changeling abilities. He was clearly nervous and worried about making a good impression on her. Infatuation tended to be particularly sweet in comparison to other emotions. Pyro rubbed the back of his head slightly before he began to speak. “You know, Noctilucent Sky, despite the fact that this is our third date, I really don’t know all that much about you. I mean, sometimes I’m able to come over from Cloudsdale to T.A. the flying classes for the House, but you never really told me why you’re living with them? A pegasus as smart as you can easily get a job in Cloudsdale, and you would never have to even touch the ground!” He tapped his hoof against his chin thoughtfully. “Didn’t you say that your parents lived there anyways?” ‘Noctilucent Sky’ never let her smile drop as she replied. “Well, you know sometimes it gets boring. My mom and dad are just mid-level accountants or secretaries… actually they never were really clear on what they did.” She shrugged as she gave her half answer and deflected the question back to him. “You never told me about your parents, Pyro. Care to enlighten me?” She blinked in surprise at the reaction her question caused, confused by the mix of shame and regret coming from her date. “I could tell you, but it might end the date. He is… well he’s not something that I’m proud of, but he’s something that I usually need to deal with. If you can promise me that it won’t end our good time, I can tell you about him. Because honestly I would rather talk about him much, much later… or preferably never.” The princess was not expecting strong feeling of seriousness coming from her normally relaxed friend. “I promise; please tell me,” Iridia said in as soothing a voice as possible while her eyes flickered almost imperceptibly, casting just enough to get him to loosen up a bit on the topic.. The waitress came back and smiled. “Are you ready to order?” The tension at the moment was shattered as the two ordered. ‘Noctilucent Sky’ ordered the house special salad and some orange juice, while Pyro ordered the same but with a half portion of smoked salmon added to it, something that surprised both the waitress and Iridia. “It’s...well it’s an acquired trait that I’ve been taught. I don’t really like the taste of smoked salmon, but my Dad says that when the time comes and I will need to fight, the protein in the food will aid in healing.” He held his head in his hooves. “My dad is what you would call a Pegasus Supremacist. He says that he can trace his lineage back to Commander Hurricane. I don’t really know if this is true but he’s a military pony. So as you can imagine dealing with him can be trying at best. It’s hard to talk to him because he’s anti-everything not pegasus.” Iridia did not like where this was going, however her curiosity was piqued. “If he is anti-every other species, how did he handle the Grand Reveal? I couldn’t imagine somebody like him would handle that very well.” s Pyro just groaned. “It did not go well. I was a freshman when it happened. He ended up going into politics to make sure that–” He put his hooves up for quotation marks. “Cloudsdale remains pure.” He ended up trying to pass a lot of legislation in the attempt to secede Cloudsdale from the rest of Equestria, or create a series of custom rules for non-pegasi. He almost succeeded. It took the combined efforts of Celestia, Rainbow Dash, and Cadance to disband the Cloudsdale Separatist Party.” He sat back in his chair. “So… that’s the skeleton in my closet.” Iridia just stared at him dumbstruck. His father was General Nimbus Virga, one of the loudest voices of the fringe movement to remove all non-ponies from Equestria. “Wait...why did it take those three? Why not Luna and Twilight also?” Pyro sighed. “It has to do with their history… Celestia is a no brainer because she is Equestria. Rainbow Dash because she’s the strongest flier currently alive, and Cadance because before she became an alicorn she was a pegasus. It was a closed door meeting; I doubt anyone even knows how close it came to really happening.” He looked at Iridia and sighed. “I’m sorry I dropped all of this on you. If you want to get our meals to go, we can just part ways before you start to hate me for his actions.” Iridia could feel the happiness fading from Pyro and being replaced by self-loathing and sadness. She quickly leaned over the table and grabbed the scruff of his chest, pulling him toward her as she kissed him deeply. She liked Pyro, and she was not going to let him start to cycle into self-loathing. Her kiss was laced with some love energy, not enough to trigger the negative reaction that Twilight experienced, but enough to reverse his downward spiral. She whispered in his ear before she pulled away, “Let’s just relax and enjoy our dinner, shall we? I promise that there will be a fourth date.” He stared at her dumbly for a few moments. “O-Okay...” # # # Iridia shut the door after saying her goodbyes to Pyro. She let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding before her disguise disappeared. After a few moments, she went to her desk, picked up the quill and began to write. This short letter isn’t about the goings-on of the Chrome Hive. This is more of a personal letter. The ethics of changelings and their abilities: I used some of my abilities tonight, and normally I wouldn’t have given it a second thought. I like to make people happy when they are down, but today I might have crossed an ethical line. The part that worries me is that I don’t feel bad about it at all. Pyro was starting to go into an emotional spiral due to having to talk about his father, and I didn’t want him to be sad. So while I kissed him I pushed some of my own love energy into him, as well as a little something to calm him down a bit. Pyro doesn’t know who or what I really am. He currently thinks that I am an accounting intern for House Path, and that my parents live in Cloudsdale, but he really does like me, I can tell! I know that when I meet his parents, I can get them to understand! --Iridia # # # Dianthia looked at the scroll as she frowned slightly, half talking to herself and half talking to one of her drones. “She is not used to ponies giving her affection beyond normal societal friendliness, so she is oversensitive to it. I fear that this may become an issue.” The queen looked over to the drone closest to her. “What’s your name?” The small ’ling stood up straight. “My pony name is Chocolate Truffle!” Dianthia slowly raised an eyebrow. The changeling rubbed the back of her head. “Aside from working as a controller, I also really like to make candy.” She smiled. Dianthia couldn’t help but return the smile. “I am going to need you to go to Ponyville and watch my daughter. You can do whatever you want during your downtime, but I want you to watch her when she goes out with this Pyro. Report back to me everything you see.” Truffle blinked a few times. “You want me to spy on the princess?” The queen raised an eyebrow. “Questioning your queen? Huh! That’s a new one. But yes, I need you to keep a hidden eye on her. I need to see through your eyes what she’s doing. Best case scenario, you get a nice vacation from the hive. Worst case scenario, I am going to need to recall my daughter. The allure of using our power to force your way in a situation can at times be too great.” She looked down slightly, remembering a distant memory for a brief moment. Truffle nodded. “I will leave tonight, Your Majesty!” She flew out of the main chamber. Dianthia sighed and rolled the scroll back up. “I hope you don’t repeat my past mistakes, Daughter.”