Halfling
By Dee Pad
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Chapter 7: Mounting Suspense

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The pair of ponies sitting in the café booth gave their changeling server a grateful nod, leaving him to continue with the next order on the list. Shade discreetly wiped the sweat from his brow as he went to pick up the next order. As he picked up the plates and made his way to the next table, he began to take notice of how packed the café was today. Every single table and booth were full up, and he could only imagine that the outdoor tables were much the same.

If that weren't bad enough, Shade hadn't even seen any of his fellow servers since he'd started. Had he really been the only one serving these customers all day? And on the subject of customers, it was bizarre how he didn't recognize any of today's patrons. He'd just been working non-stop all day; take an order, pick up order, deliver order, lather, rinse, repeat with absolutely no time to stop. He was honestly surprised he wasn't more worn out.

The entire café was surrounded by an aura of noise; countless conversations of unfamiliar ponies, completely incomprehensible, droning on and on and talking over one another. Even attempting to zero in on one particular conversation proved pointless. To Shade it was all just noise, as though they weren't even saying words. It sounded more like he had stuck his head into a beehive and the entire colony was buzzing around his head.

Shade chanced a glance up at the clock. Much to his shock and dismay, the clock still read nine a.m.; the same time he'd arrived at work. He could have sworn he'd been here for hours at this point, the clock hadn't changed at all. It wasn't broken, as the second hand ticked past the twelve, prompting the minute hand to tick over as well. He knew he couldn't have been here for just one minute; he'd already served at least two dozen tables.

All of a sudden, the noise within the café just died, as if everypony's conversations came to a conclusion all at once. The unexpected silence was then immediately followed by the door bursting open. A white unicorn with a purple mane, the only pony Shade had recognized today, came rushing up to him, hurried and panicked.

"Shade! Come quickly!" Rarity commanded, her eyes filled with concern. "Winter just went into labor!"

Shade's eyes widened in panic, the plates he'd been carrying dropping to the floor with a disproportionately loud crash. "What?!"

Not needing to hear anymore, Shade bolted out the door, making a beeline for the hospital. He attempted to take off and fly to get there quicker, but for some reason he couldn't move his wings. He couldn't worry about how or why right now, all he knew was that he needed to get to Winter as fast as he could.

As he galloped, Shade thought that he should have made it there by now. He knew where the hospital was, and he knew he was going in the right direction. He glanced to the side as he ran, confused when he noticed he'd run by Carousel Boutique. He could have sworn he'd already passed the boutique. But when he looked ahead, there it was again; the boutique standing straight in front of him.

Against his instincts, Shade skidded to a halt. On a whim, he spun around, and sure enough, standing behind him was the hospital. Again, Shade didn't question it, he just continued running. But no matter how long he ran, or how far he thought he'd run, he didn't seem to be getting any closer to the hospital. But that didn't deter him. Shade just kept running.

Suddenly, the bright blue, morning sky began to darken. But it was not dark clouds that blocked out the light. It was as though the very sky itself was being stained black by an unseen force.

Shade's pace began to slow, but he wasn't getting tired. It felt like his body had become heavier and he began to struggle just to move his legs any further until he came to a complete stop. Shade attempted to move, but his hooves felt as though they'd been fused to the ground. Actually, now it seemed like the ground itself were moving—or rather, shaking. The dirt beneath him shook and trembled, but Shade didn't take his eyes off of the hospital. His goal was right there, but he just couldn't reach it.

The rumbling of the earth suddenly intensified. Shade didn't know how, but he knew the trembling was coming from the hospital. However, he was forced to simply watch as the windows of the building began to bow and crack until each and every pane shattered outward, along with the front door.

Shade could only watch in horror as hundreds of changeling larvae burst forth from the structure, pouring out endlessly into the sky. But before they ascended into the blackness above, they suddenly dove down, careening straight at the adult changeling frozen in place. Dozens of ferocious, infant changelings bore their sharp fangs as they quickly closed the gap, preparing to sink their teeth into their petrified father.

Shade shot upright, cold sweat on his forehead and his heart racing. It took a few moments for him to adjust to his surroundings and realize that he was now seated in reality. But to make sure, he had a look around. Indeed, he was now sitting in his bedroom, covered by his bed sheets and surrounded in near total darkness as it was still the middle of the night.

For one last level of assurance, he glanced down at his side. Shade let out a sigh of relief when his eyes fell upon Winter, still soundly sleeping beside him. He was a little concerned that he may have cried out in fright as he woke up, but considering she was still snoozing away, that didn't turn out to be the case.

Shade let himself fall back onto his pillow, running an exasperated hoof through his mane. This was the third time he'd had that nightmare in the past two weeks, and it wasn't getting any easier to deal with. It was especially frustrating because he thought he was over those initials fears. Sure, he was still a little worried that something could go wrong with the baby, but he didn't think his fears went so far as to give him nightmares. But it was the fact that the dream specifically depicted actual changeling larvae that was disconcerting. Was that still something they needed to worry about?

Additionally, Shade had to wonder why these dreams happened to manifest now rather than sooner. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the big day was quickly creeping up on them. According to what he'd heard about ponies giving birth after eleven months, it wouldn't be long now; it had been almost eleven months now, and everypony was starting to get pretty anxious about it. Perhaps Shade was drawing from all of the excitement going around and it was all starting to get a bit overwhelming. It was starting to feel like when he first found out about it all over again.

With another sigh, Shade rolled over, draping a hoof over Winter who reacted unconsciously by snuggling into his embrace.

She was getting pretty antsy about this, too. Winter had expressed to Shade multiple times over the past week or so that she just wants it to be over, not necessarily because of the burden of carrying an unborn foal, nor the excitement of finally starting her motherhood, but mostly because she knows it's going to be an ordeal, and not knowing exactly when it's going to happen has been putting her on edge.

Shade nestled into her mane and his hoof drifted over her stomach as he'd done many a night now. In a way, he was going to miss this. It definitely made for a memorable time in his life.

Shade suddenly felt movement coming from Winter's rotund belly. The foal was kicking. The changeling found himself smiling, wondering if the tyke will be this energetic after it was born. Its light kicks certainly didn't give the impression that it was a monstrous, little eating machine, but only time would really tell.

The Ponyville library was dead silent, normally what one would expect of any typical library. But when the library's owner and operator was supposed to be tutoring her students, it would make sense that there'd be some discussion taking place. However, Twilight Sparkle simply sat there at the table in the middle of the foyer quietly, several books neatly stacked on the table and none of them open. Next to her sat one of her students; the town's resident female changeling, also sitting quietly, but also looking a tad awkward.

Twilight looked down at the cup of tea she'd poured for herself, the beverage now completely lacking steam and having cooled to the point where she'd just rather not drink it now. Chamella's cup was much the same, though she had already drank most of it in the meantime. The third cup, sitting isolated at the spot beside the changeling, was completely untouched as nopony was there to drink it.

The lavender alicorn glanced up at the wall clock, knitting her brow and breaking the silence by impatiently tapping on the oak table. At this point, she figured she had waited long enough. "Well, I guess he's not coming today. Should we just get started without him then?"

Chamella shrugged, though felt a touch of concern for her missing classmate. "I guess."

"Right then..." Twilight floated a textbook in front of her, opening it to a page she had marked beforehoof.

But before she could read even a single word, the library door flew open roughly, the previously missing, changeling student finally arriving in a rush and hurrying over to the table.

With a judgmental raise of her eyebrow, Twilight once more turned to the clock, more so to make the other changeling realize his error as she'd just noted the time before he entered. "Glad you could join us, Shade," the princess quipped with an irritated glare.

Chamella leaned in, noting the lack of energy in his face. "You still look sleepy."

The male changeling rubbed his tired eyes. "Yeah, not much sleep last night." He reached for the cup of tea set in front of him, hoping that it might help his lethargy. But seeing that it had already cooled, he simply put it back down and didn't bother.

Shade simply shook his head. "That's not the problem. It might sound weird, but I've been having these... dreams lately that've been keeping me up."

"A resurgence of your worries about the pregnancy and the uncertain condition of your unborn foal?"

Twilight took a casual sip of her tea, forgetting for a moment that it had cooled and was now rather unpleasant. "Just a hunch. The big day's coming up; it makes sense that you'd be a little on edge. Your fears are just manifesting themselves within your subconscious."

Twilight shrugged modestly, but couldn't hide her grin at the opportunity to talk about it. "I've dabbled in the subject of oneirology, yes. I certainly wouldn't say I'm an expert by any means, but maybe I can be of some help. What exactly is the nature of your dreams? Can you describe them to me?"

Shade hesitated, looking at the pile of books on the table. "Shouldn't we wait until after our studies?"

Twilight contemplated that for a moment, but smiled and closed the book she'd opened previously. "Missing one class isn't that big a deal. Besides, dealing with your impending fatherhod should take precedence; I want to help you in any way I can. It shouldn't take long anyway. We can get our studies started afterwards."

Shade was a little uncertain, but also more than a little curious to see what Twilight made of it. "Uh, alright. My dreams always start with me at work, but the café is packed and I'm the only one working."

Twilight quickly snatched up a piece of parchment and began taking notes with an enthusiastic smile. "Okay. Then what?"

"Somepony barges in telling me that Winter is at the hospital having the baby and that I should get over there as quickly as possible."

"It varies. I've had the dream a few times now. Once it was you, but for the other two times I remember it was Rarity."

"So close friends." Twilight hummed in thought. "I don't think there's anything too unusual about that. What happens next?"

Shade thought for a few seconds, recalling everything in the dream exactly as he remembered it. "I start running to the hospital, but no matter how fast or how long I run, I never make it there. I can see it in front of me, but I can't get any closer."

"Running in place and not getting anywhere. I think that's a fairly common theme in dreams," Twilight noted as she jotted down the information. "Then?"

"After that, I just stop moving entirely, like my legs are stuck. Then a swarm of hundreds of changeling larvae burst out of the hospital and charge straight at me. And... that's it. I wake up after that."

Twilight nodded, though looked a touch disappointed as she set aside her parchment and quill. "So that's really all there is to it?" she asked, receiving an affirmative nod from Shade. "Hm. To be honest, I was hoping for something a little more complicated. Your dream seems pretty straightforward and direct."

Twilight simply shrugged dismissively. "He's worried that the baby will be born a changeling. Simple as that. At least, that's what I believe. I'd like to reiterate that I'm a bit of an amateur on the subject. I've only read a few books about dream studies."

Shade sighed, feeling as though that had all just been a waste of time. "Geez, I could have told you that."

The studious alicorn huffed at his attitude. "Don't blame me. Dreams are usually full of symbolism and have deeper meanings that aren't immediately apparent. That's why there are psychiatric professionals that are devoted to deciphering them. I figured there'd be something I could analyze." Twilight quickly looked over the few notes that she'd taken. "I suppose the part about you working alone at a busy restaurant could represent a subconscious worry about all the work it's going to be to raise a newborn foal."

"Any day now, I'd imagine. It's been about eleven months. It's actually pretty exciting," Twilight said with an eager grin.

Twilight looked down at Shade's untouched teacup. "Perhaps a fresh cup of tea will help for the time being. Spike!"

The purple dragon, hearing Twilight's call, emerged from the kitchen wearing an apron decorated with indiscernible stains. "You rang?"

"You got it," Spike replied as he collected the three teacups and headed back to the kitchen. "The cookies are almost done, by the way. I'll bring 'em out when they're ready."

While they waited for their tea, Chamella turned back to Shade, who was laying his tired head down on the table, a question on her mind. "If you're this stressed out about the baby, how is Winter handling it?"

Shade didn't bother to lift his head, even with the discomfort of the tips of his fangs digging slightly into the wooden table. "Pretty much the same really, except she's been kind of... irritable lately."

Twilight looked concerned for him. "She's not directing those emotions at you, I hope."

Shade shook his head the best he could with his fangs embedded. "No, she's just been getting frustrated easily. I imagine it must be worse for her. She's aware of the way she's been acting, though. She wanted me to know that anything she might say in her frustration she doesn't really mean."

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, at least she's conscious of her emotional state. I suppose that's good considering how little time is left before things get back to normal. Er, well, I guess it's not really going to be normal, per se. So what's Winter doing now while you're here? It's probably not fun for her to just be sitting around worrying about this."

The weary changeling finally lifted his head from the table, requiring a bit of effort to pry his fangs from the oak table. "Autumn's in town again, so she's spending some time with her. It think they're just wandering around town."

"Rarity said something about wanting to spend the day with them, too," Chamella mentioned. "So she might be keeping her company as well."

"It's probably for the best for her to have people around her to try and take her mind off of it for the time being," said Twilight

Shade let out a groan. "And I kind of just want to do the same right now. Can we just get started with our studies?"

Twilight nodded in understanding. "Alright, that's fair." She began rummaging through the pile of books she'd prepared. "Now then, where shall we begin today?"

Winter stared out into the distance, watching as countless ponies wandered about the Ponyville Market, making purchases with vendors and small talk with their friends and neighbors. The sun beamed down on the mingling ponies and the grass on the distant hills swayed ever so slightly in the gentle caress of the lightly flowing air that was too soft to really be called wind.

The alabaster pegasus breathed a sigh—not of relief, but exhaustion—too weary to bother lifting her head from the table where she sat, despite the fact that she was losing feeling in her left cheek.

She just wanted it to be over. As time went by, even the simplest of tasks were becoming more and more taxing for her. Just walking to the open-air market today was enough to warrant having a rest. Winter would have never imagined that a tiny, unborn foal could be such a significant weight on her—physically and emotionally. Her only reprieve was that it was almost over.

Winter heard something being placed on the table and managed to work up enough energy to tilt her head back upright to check what it was. Her mother was standing there, holding a cup with a straw in it, having placed a second cup in front of Winter and smiling down at her daughter knowingly.

The mention of something sweet was enough to encourage the tired pegasus to finally speak. "What flavor?"

With no more hesitation, Winter pulled the cup over to her, lifting her head just enough to get her lips around the straw and start sucking down the sweet treat. After a long swig, the straw popped out of her mouth, flicking a few errant drops of the beverage into the air, and Winter enjoyed the sensation of the cold liquid sliding down her throat and caressing her taste buds with its sugary sweetness, breathing a satisfied sigh. "Ahhh. Thanks, Mom."

Autumn took a seat at the table with her daughter, taking a short sip of her own smoothie. "Don't mention it, sweetie. I just want to do what I can to take some of the pressure off."

Winter savored the flavor for a brief moment, licking her lips. "It's a start, but I don't think it's going to do as well as you think."

Rarity approached the table with a tray of food, placing it in front of the two pegasi. Upon it was an assortment of edibles, all of them rather small portions. It was likely that Rarity had simply collected various free samples of food being offered by some of the vendors rather than actually paying for a full meal. Autumn reached for a small dish of fruit salad, while Rarity herself took a triangle cut of a cheese sandwich with lettuce and tomato.

Winter, however, elected not to partake in the snacks that had been kindly offered to her, an act that wouldn't go unnoticed by her company.

"Eat something, darling," Rarity encouraged. "I'm certain you must be hungry. If not, then the foal probably is."

Winter sighed, then reached for a small cup of chocolate pudding on the tray. "Sorry. I've just been pretty stressed out lately." She scooped a spoonful of pudding into her mouth.

"Oh, dear. I was hoping you'd be past this by now," Rarity said, expressing her concern.

"I'm not surprised, to be honest," Autumn commented. "I know I went through the same thing; the shock of finding out and the worry and doubts that follow, then the excitement and eagerness at becoming a parent, and the return of the anxiety as the day approaches. As far as I'm concerned, despite whatever worries you might have, everything seems to be progressing pretty normally."

"That's not gonna stop me from thinking about it," Winter replied. "And it's not just me either. Apparently Shade's been having nightmares about it lately. Admittedly, I'm a little afraid that he might be having doubts about the whole thing."

Autumn was unfazed by Winter's disconcerting thought. "Again, perfectly normal. It might surprise you to hear this, but your father was much the same way, though he'll never admit it."

"Also, I highly doubt you'll have to worry about Shade," Rarity said with a comforting smile. "He's such a kindhearted and caring individual. In fact, I must admit that I'm quite envious of you, Winter. Stallions like him are a rare commodity these days, regrettably," she commented with a roll of her eyes. "Why, had you not gotten to him first, I may have attempted to woo him myself."

"And had I been a little younger and, you know, not married, I certainly wouldn't mind getting a little... closer with him," Autumn giggled jokingly.

The older mare waved off her daughter's disgusted glower. "I'm just kidding, sweetie."

"All things considered, you certainly lucked out with Shade," Rarity said with a wistful, yet jealous, grin. "And he's lucky to have found a mare as caring and accepting as you. Even when you found out he was a changeling, you still chased after him."

Winter let her gaze fall to the table as she recalled that fateful day. "Honestly, even that was only because of how amazing Shade is." She gently gripped the diamond necklace around her neck. "If he hadn't given me this necklace, I probably wouldn't have gone after him to apologize."

Autumn tilted her head in confusion. "Why are you wearing it today anyway? I thought it was something you only took out for special occasions."

The ivory pegasus stared down at the meticulously carved jewel. "Because I need it. With how stressful everything's been lately, I need something to help keep my spirits up as much as possible. This necklace is a reminder that no matter how tough things are for us, our relationship can survive." She looked at her mother, smiling fondly. "We've made it through worse than this."

"And as long as you keep that mentality, you'll be able to handle this, too," Autumn assured her with a smile of her own.

Winter spooned another dollop of pudding into her mouth, letting out an exasperated breath through her nose. "I've been trying. As you can clearly tell, it's been kinda hard."

Winter leaned her head against her hoof, a bemused expression upon her face. "Yup. Then I won't have to worry about carrying the baby, I'll have to worry about raising it."

"But at least your friends and family can help you with that part," her mother encouraged her with a chuckle.

The expecting mother went for another spoonful of pudding, but found that she had already eaten all of the small portion that had been brought to her. And despite the fact that there were still a few different samples left, none of it was likely to satisfy the appetite of both her and the baby.

Rarity saw the way that Winter was eyeing the food, noting the mild disappointment on her face. "Well then, perhaps now that we've had our appetizers, we should see about getting a proper meal, hm?"

"That sounds like a plan," Autumn agreed with a nod. "Any suggestions, Winter? Or perhaps I should ask, 'any cravings?'"

Winter thought for a moment, letting her stomach make the decision for her. "Hayburger."

Rarity groaned quietly at the suggestion. "Fast food? Is that really the sort of thing you want to feed your unborn child?"

Autumn interjected before Winter could respond. "Oh, let her indulge a little. She's not going to get many more opportunities to eat out."

Rarity and Autumn both stood up, the unicorn guiding the tray of half-eaten food over to a nearby trashcan, and made to leave the marketplace.

With a grunt, Winter laboriously lifted herself from her seat and turned to follow them. She managed a grin at the prospect of satiating her sudden cravings. "You know what? I am going to indulge. If there's been anything that manages to take my mind off of my troubles lately, it's food. I'm just gonna pig out a little. Then, after dinner, I think I'll head home, lay down on the couch, and take a long nap for the rest of the—"

Autumn and Rarity stopped when Winter had suddenly cut herself off, turning around to see what was up. Winter had halted in her tracks, her eyes suddenly wide and her pupils having shrunk down to the size of pinpricks. Her legs were quivering slightly and her wings twitched as she stared off at nothing in particular. Her gaze slowly turned to her mother with a pleading and even fearful look in her eyes, speaking with a shaky voice.

Twilight Sparkle looked over a pair of papers in front of her, her eyes shifting from one to the other, then back again. She hummed thoughtfully as she analyzed them while her two changeling students sat in silence and awaited a verdict.

Chamella was never too fond of Twilight's pop quizzes, and they came up more often than she'd like. Their teacher maintained that it was the most effective method of seeing how much they've learned and how attentive they were being, but that didn't make it more fun for the female changeling, knowing that at any time she might just drop a test in front of her, and it was that sort of anxiety that made it difficult to recall what she'd learned. Shade wasn't too bothered by it, however, simply leaning on one hoof and tapping the oak table impatiently with the other while they awaited the results.

Finally, Twilight looked up from the papers, a congratulatory smile spreading across her face as she looked to Chamella. "Good job, Chamella."

The alicorn nodded. "That's right. You did make a couple of mistakes, but overall your work was impressive."

Chamella managed a small, bashful grin at the praise. "Thanks. I was worried I might have messed everything up. I get kind of nervous when you just throw these tests at us without warning."

"It wouldn't really be a pop quiz otherwise, would it?" Twilight laughed. However, her mirth was quickly subdued when her gaze shifted to Shade. "You on the other hoof... I'm pretty disappointed by your work."

Twilight glowered slightly at Shade's apathetic attitude. She glanced back down at Shade's test. "It's like you didn't even try. For question three, you just wrote the answer without showing any work. And you skipped question six altogether. If you don't start taking this stuff seriously, I might have to take corrective measures."

Chamella didn't like the sound of that. "W-What do you mean 'corrective measures'?"

Twilight was about to speak, but paused, thinking for a moment. "Well, in schools they usually make troublesome students stay behind for detention. You should be familiar with the concept, if I recall. Or I could make you take a make-up test. How would like that, Shade? Another test as punishment?"

Twilight furrowed her brow in irritation. "Well?" she said, raising her voice slightly.

Shade finally looked up, gazing across the table at the frustrated alicorn. "Hm? You say something?"

The princess's jaw dropped in utter disbelief that he had just completely zoned out while she was talking at him. "Were you even listening to me?"

Shade let out a groan and ran a hoof through his mane, clearly exasperated. "Oh, uh, sorry. Guess I was somewhere else there."

Twilight's minor annoyance quickly turned to sympathy. It was clear there were more pressing things on his mind at the moment than a simple test. "I guess our studies didn't do much too distract you, huh?"

The alicorn waved it off with a sigh. "I suppose it's not a big deal," she said, lifting Shade's quiz again. "Honestly, I thought it was odd that you would do this poorly. I know you're smarter than this, but I guess with all the stuff that's on your mind, it can be difficult to concentrate. Hmm..."

Chamella noticed that Twilight seemed to be mulling something over. "What's wrong, Twilight?" she asked curiously.

"Well, I was just thinking: as important as a proper education is, the two of you already know everything you need to know to function in your day to day lives. I wonder if it's even necessary for us to continue our classes."

The lavender mare shook her head. "No, no, I definitely want to teach you, but I can't help but think that there are better things you could be doing with your time. Given Shade's impending parenthood, it's unlikely that he'll be able to continue attending our study sessions as they're scheduled."

"I can still come and learn from you," said Chamella in an effort to perk Twilight up.

The alicorn grinned gratefully. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, Chamella, but I think it may be about time for the two of you to graduate from my teachings. There's so much more you could do with your time, and I'm sure there are things you want to do. Besides, if there's ever anything you feel you want or need to know, all you have to do is ask. Or, heck, even borrow a book or two; this is a public library after all."

Twilight nodded resolutely. "I'll have to find something to occupy the extra time in my schedule, but I'll manage. Plus, with everything I've taught you two, I think I can make this decision and feel satisfied with the work I've done with you. Congratulations, Shade and Chamella, you've graduated. I... don't have any diplomas for you, but something tells me that's not important."

Shade and Chamella shared proud grins with one another, the female giving her friend a happy hug.

At that moment, the front door burst open, Rarity barging into the room suddenly.

"Shade! There you are! You have to come quickly!" she shouted in panic, clearly out of breath.

"Her mother is bringing her to the hospital right now. We have to get over there!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Twilight and Chamella both made to follow Rarity, but stopped at the door. Twilight turned around, noticing, to her surprise, that Shade hadn't even stood up. He simply continued to sit there, staring over at them as though he were confused about something.

Hearing that, Shade snapped out of his stupor, the reality of the situation now dawning on him. He didn't say a word. He just stood up and bolted past the three mares as fast as he possibly could, taking flight the moment he made it outside.

Halfling

by Dee Pad

Chapter 7 - Mounting Suspense