(Morning before Nightmare gains consciousness)
The sun slowly rose over the horizon, Casting its warm light over Canterlot and the Ponies. Disturbing the slumber of resident human John Stone. Rolling over and sitting up, I Rub the tiredness out of my eyes. “Man I hate mornings.” Dull thuds reverberate through the floor as my feet make contact. Entering the kitchen I walk over to the counter and make myself a cup of coffee. The pictures on my wall catch my interest, much to my dismay. A frown forms on my face In rememberance of my fallen brothers and sisters at the hands of the enemy. Deciding to not dwell on the thoughts of my past squad members I turn to look out the window towards the speck that was Ponyville. After a while a strange feeling that something was wrong formed in my gut. Finishing my drink and Getting dressed I leave my house. Walking down the street feeling the cool morning air, the ponies dashing about catch my interest. Giving a small smile and wave or quick nod in the direction of the ones I make eye contact I continue towards the strip mall. A mile later and the warmth from celestia's sun on my skin, I arrive at the Solar strip mall. When I got close enough the I'm hit with stereotypical, but catchy mall MuzaK. looking at the items being displayed in the various shop windows and waving to the occasional pony I spot a thestral colt eyeing some candy and looking a bit upset. Walking over to him and crouching I ask.
"What type of candy do you like? I personally love the gummy candies, especially the ones shaped like worms."
The colt gets excited, "Me too! thought I like the ring shaped ones."
"Names John by the way." I hold out a fist towards him and received a bump in return.
"Mine's Shadowfall."
"You looked upset earlier, something wrong?" I ask with concern.
"Yeah, I was with my mom and asked If I could get some candy. She said I could and to meet her at the store so she could finish talking to a strange stallion. But she hasn't came for a while and She isn't where she last was. I also don't have any bits to get the candy either."
"Hmm, that does seem like quite the problem. I think I know how to solve this, how about we go buy you the candy you want, Then I'll wait with you for your mom to arrive. how's that sound?"
"Awesome! Thanks mister!" He smiles wide and bounces over the the shops door. I shake my head and chuckle at the sight of the colt. Entering the shop we are greeted by a mare behind the counter.
"Hello! Names Sweet tooth, how can I help you gentlecolts today?"
"Can I get a pound of gummy worms, and half pound of your gummy fruit rings."
"Sure thing, Any flavor choice for the rings or would you like a mix of two flavors?"
"Any flavor preferences?" I ask shadowfall.
"Peach please." he says.
"Well you heard the big colt. peach rings it is." The mare 'dawwws' at how adorable he is before getting the specified amount and flavor of rings.
"Alrighty, That comes to a total of six bits", placing a ten bit coin on the counter she goes to hand four bits back, "Here's your change." I wave her off.
"Keep the change." She smiles at that.
"Thank you!" she beams with a massive smile plastered on her face.
"No problem. Keep up the hard work, It shows." I wave goodbye to the blushing mare as we exit the shop and sit on the bench next to the store.
"So. Shadowfall. You said your mom was talking to a strange stallion before she disappeared?"
"Yeah, he was weird. We saw him when we first left our house to come here and a few times after that. He always looked lost. So when we came across him before I left to go to the candy shop mom decided to ask if he needed any help. That's the last time i saw her."
"Hmm, Do you remember what he looked like?" I ask.
"He had dark brown fur, almost black in color. His mane was greenish blue and his eyes were brown. I didn't see his cutie mark though."
"Thanks, I'll have to keep an eye out for him if your mom doesn't show up in the next few hours." In the following thirty minutes I took the time to get to know the colt. Finds out he want to join the guard like his mother. After about twenty more minutes of waiting I spot Nightshade walking our direction.
"MOM!" Shadowfall shouts happily. Jumping up and wrapping his fore hooves around her neck he gives her the biggest hug I've ever seen. Although nothing beats Princess Celestia's wing hugs.
"Nightshade? I didn't know you had a son."
"Huh? Oh hey John. Yeah, Ain't he the greatest. Shadowfall, sorry I took off for so long. I had to show that stallion how to get somewhere, Ready to go get that candy you wanted?"
"Nope, John got me some, then he stayed with me till you got here. I also told him how I wanted to be a guard like you when I got older. He was excited to hear that."
"Oh really? thank you for that John." She said with a smile.
"No problem." I shrug. I spot a friend of mine enter a shop that deals with surplus and outdated armors, They also stock cleaning supplies and polishes for the armor.
"Well I gotta get going. hey, Shadowfall want to meet the captain of the royal guard?"
"Can I mom! Can I?!?" Shadow askes.
"Sure, I don't see any problems with that. You two have fun."
"Thanks mom!"
"Alright lets get going, It was also nice to see you too Nightshade" holding out a fist and getting a bump from Nightshade. I feel Shadowfall climb my back and poke his head over my shoulder. She giggles at the display and we went on our own ways. I enter the shop and spot shining at the counter.
"Wanna see a take-down move we learn in basic?" I whisper. Shadow nods.
Making eye contact with the shopkeeper I hold a finger to my lips as I crouch low. I maneuver right behind Shining. Pulling out a magic suppression ring I always carry on me out, I sweep low and knock Shinings hind legs out from under him. He falls and I restrain and slip the ring on him.
"That's how you incapacitate someone who is a unicorn." Shining gives up and stops struggling. At that point the shopkeeper loses it and start laughing uncontrollably. Pulling the ring off his horn and letting him go, I get up.
“Hey Shining.” I say. He turns around and glares at me. He then grins and waves at me. “How you doing? It’s been awhile since we last spoke. Anything new since then?”
“Nothing as of recently. Just the same ol’ guard work. I’m actually here to pick up some more polish for my armor, and then head back to the castle barracks. Who's that?” Shining said.
“Shining, this is Nightshade's son Shadowfall. He wanted to join the guard when he gets older. So I though I would introduce him to his potential commanding officer, and maybe even scare a few guards around the castle after.”
"Nice to meet you Shadowfall, You'll make a great addition to the guard. I can tell." He held out his hoof and got a bump in return.
"So you're really the captain. That's awesome, You must've taken out a bunch of baddies!"
"Yup, they were so scared when they saw me you could see them shake with fear."
"Hey shining, you think you would be able to resize that set of refurbished pegasi armor?"
"Yeah, Why?", he paused before realizing, "I gotcha, gimme a sec." Shrinking it down I take the helmet and put in on Shadow's head.
"That comfortable?" he readjusts the helm till his ears poke through.
"YUP!" He gives a fanged grin. After we get the rest of the armor on and paid for the armor and supplies we leave the shop and head towards the castle.
“So, Shining, How’s Twilight doing? I haven’t seen her since the last time she was here. Which was like what, a month ago?” I ask.
“Well, about a week ago I got a letter from her detailing an unidentified rock mass drifting toward the planet. Yesterday, I got another letter with more details on it. Apparently, she went out of the way to plot out its trajectory and determined it should impact somewhere between Canterlot and Ponyville. Keeping in mind that it could also just burn up in our atmosphere on entry. Other than her discovery she hasn’t been up to much. What about you? How’s work in the stealth ops going?”
“As much as I would love to talk about what’s been going on, I unfortunately can’t. BUT, what I can say is that everything is all clear and I have been able to pick up free running more often now, And I have also acquired a new hobby to do in the meantime.”
“And what would that be John? He asked.
“Blacksmithing. I found out that it helps me relax more than I thought It would, I also have a test to certify me as a mastersmith in a few weeks. That will be stressful. Sorry to change the subject, But did you ever get a strange feeling today like something was going to happen?”
“Can’t say I have, but with your line of work, I can guess your gut instincts would become stronger.” Shining mentioned. “Anyway, we made it to the castle. I assume you want to go scare some ponies. So I’ll leave you to that. It’s been nice seeing you again and it's nice to meet you Shadowfall.” Shining said as he waved and walked away towards the barracks. I wave back before I turn and enter the castle proper.
"Alright , we gonna learn you some things. Mostly on just moving around quickly and quietly, Because regardless of being in the guard or stealth ops, It's really handy."
Having shoes that are specially designed for my feet and to muffle the sound of my footsteps, we snuck around the castle looking for guards to spook. Spotting our first victims, both privates, I quietly make my way over to the patrolling guards and tap their withers. When they started to turn I ducked low and moved opposite of them as they spun around. They determined nothing to be there and they spun back around, only to come face to snout with me as I shouted.
“BOO!” I yell. The two guards let out a girly scream and ran back down the hall they came from.
"Ha HA, Gotta love new guards.” After teaching Shadowfall a few more skills I chuckle as I come up with a little surprise for Shadowfall.
"I got a little surprise I think you will enjoy." I decided to see if we would be able to sneak up on Princess Celestia spook her and then she if she wants to join us for lunch. The halls echoed with my footsteps as I made my way towards the throne room. Turning a corner I get the feeling of being watched and the sense of something extremely wrong came back. Unholstering my pistol and whipping it back down the hall we just walked, Only to spot a maid frozen in fear. After apologizing we resumed our walk to the throne room, only for both of us to miss the four large hoof impressions on the carpet. Opening a hidden passage and letting Shadowfall in we made our way closer. I began to hear shouting from the throne room and put my ear to the hidden door.
"You're all wondering why I had sent you all letters of utmost importance. After receiving a letter from Twilight detailing a meteorite of unusual size and not being able to locate the impact crater left me with a few suspicions. Either an unusual meteor had burned up upon entry of our atmosphere, Or my sister had managed to make her way back from banishment sooner than I had expected. 500 years earlier."
"Very astute sister. It's such a pity that you are now showing more concern for me than those thousand years ago." I heard the mystery pony say. Everypony in the room gasped at the appearance of the new voice. Deciding now would be a good time to poke my head in and take a look of the situation. Slowly opening the door and creeping up behind the throne with Shadowfall at my side I peek around the throne and I identify the Mysterious voice. It’s Nightmare moon, She’s back. I pull out my earpiece from my breast pocket and insert it into my right ear.
I whisper “Command, This is Spectre, we have a problem.”
“Receiving, Spectre, what's the situation?”
“code Midnight, I repeat, Code midnight. Nightmare moon has returned.”
“Okay, hold position while I contact Princess Ce-”
“Negative, Command. Celestia is currently speaking to Nightmare.”
“copy that Spectre, sit tight and wait it out. Update me when the situation gets under control.”
“Will do, Spectre over and out.”
"Shadowfall, I'm going to need you to stay as quiet as you can and you are to stay behind the throne unless I tell you otherwise, got it."
"Okay." He said as I peek back around the throne.
"I've always car-" Celestia started to say
"WRONG!" Nightmare cut Celestia off. Shadowfall flinched at the volume of the shout.
"You never cared! When I shut myself out from the world you never once thought something was wrong. You only cared about what your sniveling ponies though of you. So stuck up in your arrogance that it drove your own sister to attack you." It was at that point that twilight shot a bolt of magic at her. But It had been easily blocked with a shield as Twilight shouted at her.
"How dare you speak to Princess Celestia like that you monster!" She attempted to hit Nightmare with more magic, but failed to do so. She was far faster and stronger than her.
"You think that mere magic can hurt me? Think again. Even Celestia will fail Because I have become much stronger while I was away." It was then that Nightmare moon started laughing and teleported away. I made my way from around the throne while updating Op on the current situation. My presence made Princess Celestia and the surrounding ponies Jump and the new voice in the room.
“Command, This is Spectre. Everyone is safe and unharmed. Nightmare is at large. Her whereabouts are unknown, Her location is unknown, Will update when I have more information. Spectre out.”
“Confirmed, Spectre. Have a nice day.” I barely make out the last comment that command made pulled out my earpiece and returned it to my pocket. Looking up I realized I had a confused Celestia and two irate unicorns pointing their horns in my direction ready to blast me with magic. The blue pegasus launched herself through the air at me. Ducking down and grabbing her left fore leg I pull her down hard into the floor. Wrestling with her for a bit until I got her legs pinned with mine and her neck in a choke hold. She squirmed for a bit before giving up.
“Whoa, calm the hell down everypony. Let’s not have to file a report to my commander about my murder.” I say.
“My apologies John, you merely startled us. You now I would never hurt you.” Celestia says as she raises her head with a smile.
“That may be true, but not so sure about them.” I point over to the other five ponies still ready to attack and the pegasus in my hold.
“Stand down, My little ponies. He’s not going to hurt anyone. In fact, he is a part of our stealth operations. This is Captain John Stone. He is a leader of a small squad of elite stealth ops ponies.” Everyone seemed to relax at that revelation. That’s When Twilight spoke up.
“Wait, Are you the one that my BBBFF mentioned in a letter. He said he made a new friend but forgot to mention a name.”
“The one and only. Though I'm surprised you forgot about me, we've met before.” I say as I stand up and take a slight bow as the Blue one rejoined them.
“One last question. How did you get in here? There are only the doors over there that you could have possibly gotten through. But then everyone would have seen you.”
“Can I tell her Celestia?” I ask.
“Sure. I see no problem with them knowing.”
“Okay, so how I got in here was through a secret passage located behind the throne. There are also a lot more located Throughout the castle. I happen to know where they are due to my job and-”
“Sorry to interrupt your conversation, But what brings you here John?” Celestia asked.
“Well I was bored and had just finished scaring some of the castle staff, and though we could spook you too. Then see if you wanted to join me and Shadowfall for lunch. So uh, BOO!” as I wave my arms. Never failing to get a laugh out of her.
“That sounds lovely. Do you mind if twilight and her friends join.”
“Not at all. It would give me and Shadowfall the chance to meet them.”
I turn towards the mares in question and ask, “Hey, Twilight and present company. Want to join Celestia and I for lunch?”
“Sure.” Twilight responds.
"alright cool." I feel shadow maneuvering on my back.
"So where is this Shadowfall you speak of." I feel him tense up before poking his head up over my shoulder.
"That's me Princess Celestia."
"Aren't you much to young to be a guard. Im gonna have to have a chat with the recruiters." She said with a hint of playful sarcasm.
"Shadowfall, front and center." He jumps from his perch to the floor in front of me.
"This is Honorary Cadet Shadowfall, I've been giving him tips and a few things he can safely practice so he will have the upper hand when he enlists."
"It's nice to meet you Shadowfall. But it looks like we need to make a few corrections to your armor and posture when at attention." With a flash of magic his armor went from silver to gold with the proper insignia and rank. "Now straighten your back a little, good, now this hoof needs to be a little higher." She lifts his hoof to a proper salute, "There you go. We now have one proper cadet. I can already tell you will shape up to be one fine soldier Shadowfall."
We all head out of the throne room after notifying the guards at the door that the court session has been cut short due to unforeseen circumstances. After a short walk and a few glares from the staff from my earlier shenanigans we make it to the dining hall. We walk over to the table designated for the royals/guests of royals. When Celestia sat down, I sat across from her, much to Twilight’s displeasure.
"So what was it that you wanted to talk about?” Celestia asks. I give her blank stare as she should know exactly what I was referring to.
“Oh. We shouldn’t really talk business at the table, how about we wait till after lunch and then we can talk in private.”
“No.” I say. The other ponies fall silent, and stare incredulously at me.
“This is a matter of high importance, And besides, They already know what we need to talk about. So let’s get to it. Also, It's good learning material for how to conduct an interview.”
I pull out a small notepad and pen and begin to take notes on only the important pieces of information. When we had finished our discussion on Nightmare our food arrived. While we ate the other ponies introduced themselves to me. Rarity was the alabaster mare with royal purple mane. She ran a clothing shop out in ponyville. Next was Applejack, She was a light shade of orange and had a blonde mane. She works on her family's apple orchard and runs a market stall in ponyville’s town market. Rainbow dash, cyan coat and rainbow mane, introduced herself very energetically, claiming that she was the fastest flyer in Equestria. Her job was on the local weather team. Fluttershy, Bless her soul, she was so quiet I couldn’t make out what she was saying, so her friend rainbow dash had to tell me. She takes care of animals and also deals with the local animal pests. Pinkie Pie was in my face yelling at a mile a minute. All I could make out was “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie...Party...Ponyville...Next chapter.” The last two words confused the hell out of me, so I just ignored them. when lunch was finished we parted ways, I was just far enough away to hear Celestia say she was giving the Elements of harmony to twilight and the rest. I just decided to head home and update Command on with the new intel and get a reconnaissance mission set up and under way.
Arriving back at my house and entering my office, I put my ear piece on and send command a message. “Spectre here, I need a message delivered to my team. Send it as it says, Squad meet up, my place, 15 minutes, let yourselves in. Clearance code grid Alpha-10”
“Got it, sending message.”
Ever since we had encountered Changeling spies in our sector we started using a weekly changing clearance grid. It consists of columns A- J and rows one-ten, every space has a different word, that word corresponds to another letter and number which then shows the correct phrase. Its fairly simple three page system, changelings have been to stupid to figure out that there is a second grid page with the actual responses. I sit down in my office chair and start writing down all the necessary information I have currently in regards to Nightmare. In about nine minutes since the message was sent the first two of my team arrive. Two minutes later the final member arrives. They all grab a chair and pull it up to my desk, But remain standing.
"Shadowfall, you mind waiting in the front room, There's some books you can read or if so inclined, my desk has some paper if you want to draw. This meeting shouldn't take too long."
"Okay John."
“Sergeant major Phoenix, step forward.” The leftmost pony stepped up to the desk. I slid a keypad over the the thestral so they could put the code in. flashing green, the bat-pony stepped back and sat down.
“Corporal O’Reilly, Step Forward.” The black pegasus in the center stepped up to the desk where the keypad was and put in his code, flashing green, He stepped back and sat down.
“Sergeant Nightshade , Step Forward.” The last pony stepped up, she was also a thestral, and put in her code. It flashed red. John sighed and opened the top drawer of his desk. Pulling out his M9, he screwed on a suppressor and cocked the gun. John set it down on the table while looking back toward Nightshade.
“Only one chance to correct that. Fix it, or I’ll have to write my squad mates death report. I also really, REALLY don't wan't to have to kill a single mother.” In situations like these there is a second code that you are told when you first enlist. Everyone has a unique code that acts as an override for that day’s designated code and is to only be used in these types of situations. When she put in her seven digit code, the Keypad flashed gold, Then green. I de-cock the gun and put it back in my desk.
“Good, Now that that’s been dealt with we can get down to why I requested your presence.” I look them all in the eyes, “For those who haven’t heard yet, Nightmare Moon has returned. Her motives are unknown, But we we can all pretty much agree on the idea that she is going to try to gain control. After talking to Celestia, I have reason to believe that she might be hiding out either someplace in the Everfree or the old castle in the south-eastern side of the Everfree. When we locate her we are to send a message back to our Temporary HQ and wait for Captain Shining Armor to arrive with a squad of guards. ” Sgt. Nightshade raised her hoof.
“Yes Sgt. Nightshade?”
“When do we head out sir?”
“We head out tomorrow. But the search won’t be starting till tomorrow.. Reason being is that we will need to get setup, Then we have a party to go to. So remember to pack your SSDU alongside your other gear. Any other questions?” No-one raised their hooves, “Alright then, you’re all dismissed.” As the three ponies turn to leave I call to Nightshade.
"Nightshade, Wait a moment. I want to talk to you." she stops and turns back around.
"Something wrong?" she asks.
"Do you have any idea how hard it would be for me to have to shoot you then have to explain to your son why one of mom friends shot and killed her? I'm going to be completely honest with you. If I did have to shoot and find out you weren't a changeling and that it was only you screwing up, It would have completely destroyed me. Follow me, I want you to see something." I motion for her to follow me as I walk over to a section of wall in my kitchen covered in picture frames.
"Who are they?" she asked as I hear another set of hooves make their way over to my office.
“Hey.” Shining Armor said. “I wanted to talk about the plans regarding the operation.”
“wait in my office, I'll be there in a sec.”
"Got it." he nods as he recognized the wall and what was going to follow.
"Nightshade, Who do you think these ponies are?"
"They are past squad members right?"
"Yes, Do you now why you haven't seen any of them around?"
"I don't know sir. Did they leave Canterlot?" she asked. A sad sigh escapes as I shake my head.
"See that group there?" She nods, " That's Crimson Talon, Sky Chaser, Astral Dash, And Wild Blaze. They were my first squad I got to command back when I first joined the guard. That was during Operation: Husky. I was still stealth ops at the time But they needed more foot soldiers for the assault, So I went and fought. During a raid my team got too aggressive even though I told them to hold back, they rushed a corner a got caught in a hallway with a murder hole. Five seconds. Five seconds was all it took for them to get slaughtered by a mounted chaingun. I was lucky enough to kill that diamond dog before he did me." She stood there silently as I continued to speak.
"That group right there?" She looks over to the group on the right side," They were Moonstone, Crimson Moon, Shadow Chaser, and Onyx Bolt. They were my first full thestral stealth team. We were the ghosts of the operations for a few months. We were sent to investigate and quietly deal with any Changelings. That was Operation: Pest Control. we decided to split up to make the job go faster. Big mistake that was. The changelings outplayed us and were able to capture, kill, and replace whom they got. Only found out when they tried to kill me."
"The rest of these ponies on the wall, Nimble Charge, Star Chaser, Solar Strike, Onyx Star, then we got Onyx, Smokey, Applesause, and Maverick. the last over there." Pointing to the last group," They were Cobalt, Silver Wing, Solar Flare, Broad Shield, Hawkeye, Mythic Blade, and Thunder wing. Operations: Noose, Market Square, and Slipknot respectively. the last group, they died the most horrifically. Notice anything?" I ask.
"They all died to mistakes." she said.
"Yes, but If you looked harder you would realize that Star, Sky, and Shadow were all brothers. Same with Cobalt and Onyx. Do you know how hard it was to tell their mothers and fathers that their Children Weren't coming home, But were coming back in a fucking wooden box?" I look over to Nightshade, Eyes watering up.
"I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like."
"Now try to imagine me having to go to your home and tell Shadowfall the his mother was dead and that he will never be able to see you, Hear you, or get hugs from you ever again. All because of a single mistake." I could see her visibly gulp," Now do you understand why I drilled you and the others so hard on not making mistakes. I am like that Because I don't want to have to see your faces on this wall any earlier than they need to be. Got that?" She nods glumly, "Now get going, Shadowfall is Probably wondering what's taking so long."
"So what did you want to talk about Shining? I ask as I re-enter my office and sit in my chair.
“It would be faster for all of us to head together to Ponyville so that my guards and I are stationed closer to your Op, That would make the response time quicker and we could also get set up earlier. Not only that, but it's more convenient.” I sit there silently for a second.
“That would be best, I’ll have to work around the larger group, But I’ll make it work. By the way, We will be heading out tomorrow, Six am sharp. Do you think you will have your troops geared up and ready to head out by then?” I ask.
“Of course. We’ll meet you and your unit at the Guard platform at the Station tomorrow with our gear. See you then John.” Finishing my work and putting it all in a manila folder, I place the folder along with a few more documents in my small portable lock-box. Putting that and a few other items and place them in my rucksack. Heading upstairs and into my room, I pack the rest of my gear for tomorrow and decide to go to bed earlier than usual due to having to get up right at the crack of dawn. When the time came I got up double checked my gear and bags for anything I might have missed. I then send a personal message to my unit and one to command to be relayed to Shining, it read “Wakey, Wakey. Get your Flanks out of bed, We have a job to do.” Thirty minutes had gone by when my unit had arrived. After Twenty more, Shining Armor and his Squad arrived.
”Good morning Captain. Did your Squad give you any trouble?” I turn and look at the half asleep ponies in armor, They attempted to stand at attention but failed horribly. I just wave it off and turn towards Shining.
“I talked to the conductor ahead of time and he has a two car train ready for us, all we have to do is load our gear and board the train.” With a nod Shining armor turned to his troop and shouted, “You heard him, load up and board. You got ten minutes!”
Everypony started scrambling to get their gear loaded. I just chuckle as Shining Armor, and my team and I move into the passenger car and store our gear in the overhead compartments. When Everyone was on board and accounted for, I turn with a nod and make my way up to the conductor to tell him we were ready. Making my way back to the passenger car loaded with guards I feel the train start to move, I sit down and look out the window.
Look out Ponyville, Here we come.
<UNKNOWN LOCATION, NEAR CANTERLOT, Nightshade POV>
Her left hind leg twitched, sending pain throughout Her whole body. Groaning Nightshade sat up, well, more like laying against the wall. Trying to blink away the blur from her eyes she swiveled her head towards the sound of an opening door.
"Ah, the miserable excuse of a pony is awake." The voice said venomously.
"Who...Where am I." Nightshade asked trying to get a hold of her surroundings.
"That doesn't matter, because we are going to play a few games soon. Like how loud can we make a pony scream, How long will she last until she passes out, how far can our mutations and genetic tinkering go. We even have a bet on how long it will take before you break completely." Clapping his hooves together with sadistic glee," We are even going to turn you into our perfect little sleeper agent, but you wont remember any of this anyway. So I am going to leave you now with a little gift."
The now identified changeling walked over and bucked her chest. Leaving her sprawled out on the floor gasping for breathe, she started sobbing shouting for help.