//------------------------------// // 20 // Story: Happiness Is What You Make Of It // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// Nothing bad followed me taking Stitches back from the Lost and Found, although I was still careful not to take him with me when I went outside of my room. Oh, they even allowed me to ask for one hobby item for my room again. I chose the painting set because it was the only thing I was familiar with. From what I've heard, some patients take chess sets to play against themselves, which have to be some balanced and hoof-biting matches. I had to hide Stitches under my bed, though, when a warden came to screw the canvas stand back. However, Stitches understood the importance of staying put and didn't make a noise. I guess that if there's somepony who knows when and how to stay hidden, then it is a Nightguard, plush one or not. Unfortunately, they didn't give me the brushes back, but I still had a ton of various paints and my hooves. Now I understand why there is a drain in the middle of my room and why the room is very slightly sloping towards it. Let's just say I would be easy to track after my first hoof-painting session. The paints were easy to clean, though, and few short moments with a sponge were enough to make my floor sqeaky and shiny again. Anyway, it's morning of the second day after my sneaking adventure, and I'm walking around in the snowy gardens accompanied by a warden. I'm still not allowed to be outside unsupervised because they are worried I might try to spear myself on the tall barred fence or something. I don't mind. At least I have somepony to talk to while Stitches is sleeping under my blanket. "D raydeeo keeps tolking about preensess Loona. Doo yoo nou anyteenk? Ees she beeg end shainee laik preensess Selesteeya? Doktor Kleer Eensaid has a peekture of her een his offis. Her main looks laik mai hufs after painteenk." "That's government business, not mine." "Ou." I forgot to mention that this warden isn't too chatty. Maybe he's just cold. I like it out here, it's so fresh and nothing smells like desinfectant in contrast to the inside. I know they have to clean everything properly because some patients like to lick their surroundings, but sometimes it gets a little overwhelming. Oh well, the crisp outside air just tastes so much sweeter. "Hev yoo herd sumteenk about d barraks at d castl? Dey shud be reebuildeeng dem nau. Dat, or d rekroots ar sleepeenk een tents. Dey ken lait a fayr end roast marshmellous eech dey. Det ees so ausum." "I have no idea," he keeps looking into the distance while following my slow progress on the paved and cleared out path. Maybe he'll warm up if I ask about him. "Doo yoo laik workeeng heer?" He shrugs. "I'm in the last year of my uni studies. It was either this for practical experience or the drug store, and I hate arguing with old ponies all day and explaining their favourite drug has been discontinued and that there is this new one which does the same thing," he shivers, "Over and over and over each day." "Seek ponees need help sumtaims." "They need to learn to accept help then and don't complain about it." "So, wot do yoo laik to do?" "I like woodcarving. It's difficult to do with just hooves, but my little sister loves it." "Reely? Are yoo good at eet? Ken yoo-" "Look, I'm here to make sure you aren't a threat to anypony including yourself. Getting distracted by chatting with a dangerous patient makes the job harder." I? Dangerous? Does he think I would hurt him, or even could hurt him? I'm not too coordinated or strong so even if I attacked him for whatever unthinkable reason I doubt I could overpower him. He must have some experience in subduing aggressive patients. But then... if I was able to hurt even myself then I guess he must think that I wouldn't think twice about harming others. Never! He must see it like that because real ponies put themselves in the first place because they have dreams and hopes which they want to achieve. I can't be doing that, I just clean- cleaned stuff. I can help others put themselves forward because I can let them focus on achieving their goals instead of dealing with simple stuff like having to scrub their floors. We all have roles to play. I miss Watchful, he liked talking to me. His time off should be up today or tomorrow, if I recall correctly. I wonder if he'll still remember me. I mean, his head is alright, but I'm just kind of forgettable, and he must have been busy with relaxing or adventures during his vacation. "Ken we viseet Washfool?" "Who or what the hay is 'washfool'?" "A warden laik yoo. His neim ees Washfool." "I'm pretty new here, so I don't know all the staff, but we can ask about him at the front desk." "Okey, less gou." He rolls his eyes as I do a sharp one-eighty on the road and start striding back towards the main entrance. Back at the main lobby, I walk straight to the receptionist's desk. "Ken Ai ask yoo a kvestshun?" "Umm, what did you say?" the pegasus mare currently sitting at the desk tilts her head, confused but clearly patient enough to deal with me. "He wants to know about a warden called... 'washfool', or something like that?" my escort helps the mare understand my speech. "Watchful?" "Eggzactlee," I nod, "Wen ees he comeeng bek?" "Are you dissatisfied with your current company?" she asks. The warden escorting me twitches. He looks younger than me and probably doesn't need the trouble I'd cause by telling the truth. On the other hoof, I can't blame him for not wanting to be around me too much. To tell the truth and possibly hurt a pony, or to tell a lie? Neither. "Ai just meess him." The warden lets out a slow breath of relief. The receptionist looks from him to me, and then pulls out a large book. Using her wing to quickly flip the pages, she reads its contents I can't see because of the raised panel on the front of the desk. "Watchful, Watchful, ah hah, here he is!" "Een d buk? Deed he loos weight?" She chuckles and covers her muzzle with a free wing. "Watchful will be coming back tomorrow. You see, he took a short vacation, and his shifts switch between long and short weeks." What is this new calendar-based development? "Ai thought all weeks hed sevn deis." "That means that one week he works all seven days, and the other week he works only three. Watchful isn't from lower Canterlot and this way he can spend more time with his family without having to take the train each day." "Ooooooh. Dat meiks sens." "Is that all, or do you want to go outside again?" asks the warden with a shiver and a worried look through the window by the main door. I probably shouldn't bother him anymore. He clearly doesn't like me, and isn't too comfortable in the cold. "Nou, Ail just go to mai room Ai teenk." "Alright," he nods to me, then to the receptionist, and leaves. "Do you need anything else?" the mare asks, and I realize I've just been standing there and looking at the desk. "Ees dere a painteenk class todei? Ai meen uan for sumponee reely bed at eet. Mai steek figures keep endeenk up wit too meny legs. Ai teenk uan of dose ees a tail but Ai cant tell d deefference." She skims through the pages of a different book, and nods. "A beginner's one starts in an hour and thirteen minutes. If you want, I can put it on your schedule and your collar will remind you to attend." "Waaaaau... ken yoo doo dat?" "Yeah, it's easy. Watch!" she picks a pen up with her mouth, writes something into the new book of schedules which shimmers for a moment, then she drops the pen, "Now ask your collar about your next activity." "Hey, mejic lokkit, where do Ai go nau?" I poke my collar. "Beginners' painting class. Fifteen o'clock. Second floor. Room two-zero-three." This is so cool! "Ken yoo meik eet say anyteenk? Ees eet laik a raydeeyo?" "Ehm," somepony behind me clears their throat. In my surprised interest, I completely failed to notice an arriving stallion wearing thick winter clothes. I guess it's time to let the receptionist do her job and go back to my room. Maybe I could talk to Stitches for a while? He doesn't answer anymore, though. Life is confusing. "Ail be goeeng nau, miss. Hev a nais dey!" "You too." As I walk through the empty lobby accompanied only by my hoofsteps and the muffled conversation between the visitor and the mare, I must admit I feel kinda lonely. Still, Watchful will be back tomorrow and we'll talk about the changeling venom, Stitches, and everything that happened in the past few days. Well, that's not much, but he can tell me about his home if he wants to. It'll be better than the radio which keeps trying to scare me by talking about princess Luna being evil and trying to usher eternal night. I don't know why ponies are making such fuss about it. After all, everypony could use few more hours in bed. *** "Doo yoo teenk Washfool will be mad at me for teikeeng yoo bek from Lost end Faund?" I'm trying to paint some clouds with my hooves, but for the life of me I just can't get the consistency right. I put Stitches on the bed so he could watch beforehoof and not be bored in the shadows underneath. Sadly, he hasn't talked for what feels like eternity. There is always the increasingly likely possibility of me just being crazy, and thus waiting for Stitches to give me some tips is pointless. Still, I don't mind having an audience that doesn't call me bad even if I am. "Nah, he ees a good frend end will understend wen Ai tell him Aim not hurteeng maiself enymore." The canvas quickly fills with light grey blurs, and I finally dip the tip of my hoof into white paint and start dotting the "painting" with falling snow. The skies are always the easiest part even when most of the time my clouds look like floating rocks more than condensing vapor. Ponies, ponies are the difficult part... maybe I should ignore those for now? After I can deal with simple things like the setting, time, and surroundings, if ever, then I should start with ponies. Hehehe, it's just like life. "Ai miss barraks. Teenks were seemple. Go aut een d morneeng, hev a soak een d fawnteen, scrub d floors wail not being in anyponee's wey, den walk araund or sleep een mai boks unteel eveneeng wen Ai hed to scrub d floors again. Wen noponee noticed Ai cud eevn sneek eento d boiler room end sleep dere." Stitches doesn't comment on the first days I can remember. Good times. I didn't try to hurt myself, -well, until the end I mean- my head was only mine, and I didn't feel this uncertainty and lead ball in my gut whenever I thought about ponies I would like to have around, because nopony cared about me. Things were easy. Maybe I should visit Pyre of Drizzle. Probably not, though. I think they don't mind being around me once in a while, but I shouldn't bother them unless they want to talk to me. Why does that familiar train of thought suddenly feels off... wrong even? *Beep beep beep!* "Your painting class starts in fifteen minutes. Do I confirm your attendance or should I send a note that something changed?" Huh, is it time already? "Ail be dere, mejik lokkit. Ai just need to wosh maiself." After a quick, warm shower to clean my hooves and escape the wandering thoughts, I hide Stitches under my bed again. With only five minutes left, I rush out of my room and go where the painting class is scheduled. The instructor is a pegasus mare who has been leading the basic courses ever since I arrived. I had to stop attending after I stabbed myself, but she invites me back as if nothing happened. Perhaps she doesn't know? Maybe it doesn't matter to her and she's just happy I'm back. She does smile a lot, but it could just be the fumes of the real paints making her dizzy. I mean, she paints with the real ones, we still use the ones that wouldn't make a silly pony sick on accident. So, a bowl of fruits. The concept is simple, and so are the basic shapes. I've tried that multiple times already, and can paint the circles of oranges and apples easily. The bowl is the problem, it always ends up as a flat line with a half circle underneath it, or if I try to go for perspective it looks like a oval brown potato. Oh right, I completely forgot, I am still allowed to use a brush here. It's sort of weird, after getting used to my hooves sticky with paint. "Umm, mem?" I raise my foreleg and the pegasus mare stops using the tips of her wings to paint along with the brush in her muzzle, walking over, "Ken Ai yoos mai hufs eensted of d broosh?" "Of course," she pats my head, "As long as you don't use your muzzle it's fine to use anything you're comfortable with. I had an older professor back at the uni who used his tail. He once had to rush out of the classroom and left a trail of mossy green from there to his office." Hmm, tail. Why didn't I think about that? I swish my tail from side to side, but any precision eludes me. I guess that's more for ponies with higher education. I wonder what school I went to, if any. I sometimes feel like I find information in my head that doesn't match how I feel about certain things at first. Come to think of it, doctor Clear Insight said something about me being smarter than I look. Heheh, I must look really drooly then. Oh well, with tail out of the question I go back to my hooves. Bingo! The bananas are so much easier now. "Oops..." I look down after about ten minutes, only to realize I managed to reconstruct the mess I usually make in my room here, "Mees peinter leydee, do yoo hev a mop heer?" She leans from behind her canvas to get a clear view of me. "What is the prob- oh, I see," she smiles, "Don't worry about that, I'll bring you a bucket for your hooves later." "Ai ken kleen eet." "As I said, don't worry. A warden will take care of the mess after the class. Just relax and focus on your painting." I'm not exactly comfortable with somepony having to clean up after me, but rules are rules. At least the wardens won't be bored. I know I would be if all I had to do was sit and look out of the window. Alright, take three. Let's not have the apple absorb the banana this time. The door softly clicks open. "Is Greyscale here?" asks a warden peeking inside in a soft, careful tone not wanting to bother but still needing to be heard. "Heer," I wave my hoof, splattering yellow on myself, "Ou." He nods at me, walks over to the instructor lady, and after a quick chat brings me a bucket of clean water to wash myself. "Deed Ai mees a treetment?" I ask, trying to remember if I forgot something, "D lokkit sed notteeng-" "No no no," the warden shakes his head when he sees my growing worry, "You have visitors." "Wot?" Who would come to visit me? Pyre, Watchful, or Drizzle could always just walk in here on their own. "Some three mares, two young ones and an older one. The ones in their twenties look really pretty, if you don't mind me saying." Me? Pretty mares? "Weerd." Wait. Waaaaaaaait. "Ees uan of dem a betponee?" "Yeah, I think so. Dark blue, white mane, leathery wings, athletic." THEY DIDN'T FORGET ABOUT ME! I completely ignore my clean but still wet hooves, leaving a trail behind me. "Hey, don't just shoot out like that! They'll think we're mistreating you or something." "Det wos Eklips, she geiv me a tolkeeng plooshee end wen Ai got hurt she took me heer end-" "I get it, I get it, you're happy. Now slow down, they're not going anywhere. You'll just slip and get downstairs with a broken fetlock." Right, right, wet hooves. Let's not do something silly like hurting myself on accident. I'm still "sqeee!"-ing internally, and nothing will stop me. *** I whiz by the receptionist desk at the lobby with the warden in tow. The visitors can either meet the patients in their rooms in some cases, but most of the time the visits happen in private rooms on the ground floor near the lobby. The head nurse herself is standing by the door, about to leave, but shoots me a firm glance when she notices me galloping down the hallway. I stop mid-step, and slide all the way to her on the squeaky clean floor. The wheezing warden behind me stops, gasping for breath. "I -haaaah- apologize, nurse Chin, -huuuuf- but this guy has been -haaaah- like this since I told him he had -huuuuf- visitors." "Greyscale," she frowns, staring at me. "Yes, mees?" "No running in the hallways." "Soree." "Good. Now come in, they're waiting inside." As she walks away accompanied by the warden, I slam the door shut behind me, unable to stop my growing smile while walking towards a rectangular table on one side of which three too familiar figures are sitting, watching me cautiously. “Helou.” The three mares stay seated. They must have heard about me going crazy and hurting myself and now they’re not sure what I might do. Even I am not sure what I might do. What if my head suddenly gives me a good and logical reason why I should do something I don't want to? What if I try to hug one of them so hard it hurts? What if- ah hah, idea! Instead of walking straight to them, I pull a chair away from a circular side table and take a seat about half the room's length away from my visitors. And now it's all good. “Umm. Ai ken speek from heer eef yor worreed. det wey yoo hev taim to smek me eef Ai do sumteeng weerd.” Eclipse tilts her head, Piercing Hit covers her mouth and snorts, and Grey Shrine rolls her eyes, smiles, and walks over to my solitary chair. She leans in, looking me straight in the eyes with the corners of her mouth curling further and further up. Her hoof touches my neck, slides up to my ear, and scratches behind it. Heee heee. “You look good, Greyscale. I’m glad. The nurse told us you had… an accident.” So their hesitation really was caused by me hurting somepony, in this case myself. This has to be explained, now! There's no way my friends have anything to fear from me. Come to think of it, they are all trained guards, even if Grey Shrine is a little older. I, unarmed or even armed with something that could be found in this repurposed common room, could never be a threat, no matter what my head could think of. “Eet wos a meestake, Ai meen eet. Steeches told me-” “Who or what is ‘steeches’?” My current best friend, I think. Or a plushie serving as a mouthpiece for the evil part of my head attempting to hurt me. The science on that controversial issue still isn't in. “Steeches, d plooshee Eklips geiv me," I tilt my head to look behind Grey Shrine to the table where the two mares are listening carefully, and wave at them, "Speekeeng of wich, Eklips, ken Ai ask yoo sumteeng?” She gives me a surprised look, and nods. “Of course.” “Ken Steeches tolk?” Said look is followed by several blinks. “Uh, what?” “D Nitegaard plooshee yoo geiv me. Ken he speek?” Piercing Hit interrupts Eclipse's clearly confused thoughts by slamming her hoof against the table. Everypony looks at her and she pouts, then she beckons me to come over. “Okay. This is damn silly. Why are we yelling at each other over half of the room.” When I remain seated, looking from Grey Shrine to the detached duo, she walks over and hugs me so hard my ribs creak. I let out a quiet squeak, but ease myself into the crushing earthpony embrace. “See, this guy wouldn’t hurt a fly unless the fly was himself. I don’t know why you’re so bothered, Eclipse. Look,” she tightens her forelegs, making me eeep like a rubber ducky again, “he’s about as dangerous as a big pillow, but with the same amount of huggability. That's a scientific term, and I'll fight you over it.” “Hee hee hee,” I stay in the embrace, neck propped on Hit’s shoulder. The uncertainty in the room eases up, and as hesitant Eclipse approaches, the earthpony lets me go. I look down from the bat mare at the floor. A dark blue hoof touches my nose and then rubs my muzzle. I can feel my ears flop on their own as I nuzzle the soft underhoof. “You’re right. I was worried about nothing,” Eclipse pats my shoulder, “Come and sit down with us.” Tension completely gone, I join my visitors at the windowside table, seated across from them. Not for safety or anything, but just so that I can see all of them at once. “So, what was that about Stitches talking?” asks Eclipse. “Umm, Ai- Ai hurt maiself becus Steeches told me to get a blood sample end Ai deed eet wrong. Eet wos an ekseedent.” The two young guardsmares's eyes widen, but Grey Shrine furrows her brows, watching me like a hawk. Eclipse shakes her head. “Greyscale, Stitches is just a plushie. He’s not magical or anything. My dad bought it to me when I was small for like twenty bits back in Hollow Shades. I’ve kept him as a memento when I left for Canterlot, and he was a symbol of something familiar in an unknown new place for me, but the truth is that he- it’s just a plush toy.” With those few words, my world trembles. Letting out a long, tired sigh, I put my head on the table and cover my nose with my forelegs. “Ou, den Ai teenk doktor Eensaid wos rite. Ai em just krayzee.” My cover is broken by the ever-cheerful earthpony who pushes my fetlocks aside and grins at me from only inches away. “Come on. Cheer up,” Piercing Hit gives me a reassuring pat on the head, “You’re still here even after all that, and you’re not going to stab yourself or set yourself on fire anymore," she leans closer, and her voice grows more serious, "You won’t, right?” “Ai dont wont too, but mai hed alredy maid me doo eet. Eets smarter den me.” For some reason, Piercing Hit keels over back to her chair, laughing like crazy. Perhaps she might like it here. Eclipse shoots her a quick frown, but covers her muzzle with her hoof a moment later, chuckling and muttering, "Smarter than me." The only pony who still looks deadly serious opens her mouth. “You said something about stabbing yourself for a blood sample. I’m not a psychiatrist, but I have my doubts that scientific curiosity is an effective lure to make victims hurt themselves,” says Grey Shrine who has been thinking quietly for a while, “What did you mean?” “Ai meen, doktor Eensaid sed mai hed hayted mee and wonted to hurt mee, but Steeches sed- Ai meen mai hed sed- Ai meen Ai sed- umm… miss Shrain, ken Ai say det Steeches sed eet? Ai dont nou wots reel enymore.” It's strange how she can go from terrifying to friendly and calming in a second. I like the latter a lot more, and I wish she could keep the comforting smile she puts on forever. “You can tell the story as if Stitches was talking to you if it makes you comfortable.” I nod. I don't have enough information to pass the correct judgement about the situation, so let's go with what I feel I saw happen. “Tank yoo.” “No problem, we’ll try to understand your story somehow.” Pfff, and I heard somepony once say that guards can stay still for days on end because they are too stupid to feel boredom and understand the passing of time. Clearly that pony hasn't met my friends. “A payshent cold Kwik Treek sed ponees een dis pleis geiv payshents yello peels det maid dem weerd end dum laik me. Also, dey wud leesen to all dey were told to do. Ai wos reely scared end Ai deednt wont to be eevn slower becus den Ai mite not eevn nou woo nais ponees laik yoo are. So Ai sneekily avoided eeting d peels for a wail, and den Steeches told me he cud help me not worry about dem. Ai just needed to get him a blood sample. D rooms are super seif, so Ai hed to eemproveis. Ai broke d peint broosh but eet wos too dull end Ai yoosd too much force. Wen Ai got helfee again Ai took d yello peel after doktor Eensaid sed eet wos just mai hed trying to hurt me, end noteeng happend. Nau Ai dont nou eef wot Steeches deed meid me not go all stoopid or eef dere wos noteeng een d peels.” Grey Shrine only nods, simple as that. “Since we’ve ascertained that Stitches indeed is just a toy, I think that-” I almost forgot! “Ou, ou, ou, uan moar teeng. soree for interrupteeng.” “Yes?” “Wots a shen-jee-leenk?” Grey Shrine shakes her head. So it has finally happened, my stupidity went so far not even the smart guards can understand me. “Sorry, what? Shen chilli? Some ninja on fire?” Alright, let's try again. This time with more than one active brain cell. “Shen-jee. Laik uan teeng, den anoder.” She blinks, and her face goes completely impassive. Her next words are slow, careful, and very, very measured. “Oh, change… ling? Greyscale, where did you hear that word?” Huh, perhaps if I heard somepony say it before I would have pronounced it better. Or possibly not, who knows? “Ai deednt heer eet. Eet wos on a bottle. Shen-jee-leeng venim.” She keeps staring at me, the whole room going completely silent. Come to think of it, this room must be somewhat soundproofed, because I can't hear anything from the usually rather noisy halls outside. “Ven... girls, can you give us few moments alone, please?” Piercing Hit stands up automatically as the command hidden within the question comes. Eclipse, however, reacts a bit slower. “Changeling? I never heard about anything like-” “A moment alone, please!” repeats Grey Shrine firmly. “Ummm, okay?” Eclipse and Piercing Hit leave, giving me and the leading mare curious looks. Grey Shrine leans in over the table and lowers her voice. “Tell me about this ‘changeling’ bottle. It sounds interesting.” I finally have something really interesting to say. That's so cool! I try to recall as many details as I can, but the truth is that I actually don't know a lot. “Eet wos een d celler. Ai wos lookeeng for Steeches end opend d wrong door. D storej wos full of bokses end krates, end Ai tought Steeches wud be een uan, but d only uan Ai opend wos full of dese. Dey were all green and goopy, end dere wos a laybel on eech seyeeng shenjeeleeng venim.” “Are you sure that really happened, and wasn’t just some trip caused by the pills?” I can remember it very clearly, as well as all the events leading up to it, so it probably really did happen. Plus, the proof is under the bed in my room. Yep, it did happen. There's at least ninety percent chance it did, I mean. “Yes, d hed haidra nurse caim end wos reely mad sumponee got een! Ai wos haideeng behaind a boks een d bek end she deednt see mee. Ai faund Steeches een d next room end took him eento mine. Hees still dere so Ai nou eet wos reel.” She nods, but stops midway. “Wait, why were you looking for Eclipse’s plushie? Did you lose him or something?” Pff, as if I would lose Stitches. The way I put him between my shoulderblades when I carry him around is fallproof. “Nou, dey took him from me wen Ai tod dem Steeches told me to stab maiself. Den dey told me Steeches deednt reely tolk, but mai hed wos traying to hurt me. Laik yoo deed just nau.” “That makes a lot of sense, actually. Are you really sure this wasn’t a bad dream?” I shrug. “Ai deednt hev Steeches, now Ai hev him, but plees dont tell enyponee. Ai kaind of stole him from d Lost end Faund.” “Your secret is safe with me, Greyscale. One more thing doesn’t fit, though. How did you get in? Don’t tell me nopony locks anything somewhere where mental patients could roam.” Aaand here's the problematic part. I really, really don't want to do this, but I can't cause trouble for Quick Trick after he helped me so much. “Ummm… Ai- Ai faund a kee uan, ehm, worden, umm, lost?” Grey Shrine puts her hoof on my mouth. My ears splay back. She’s gonna do something nasty now that I lied to her. She’ll probably leave, or tell me I’m crazy, or tell Eclipse and Piercing Hit I’m not worth talking to anymore now that I’m a real liar. She whispers into my ear. “I’m a Royal Guard, remember? Don’t try that again.” “Aim soree, soree, soree, soree, soree.” And here's the split-second change from absolutely terrifying to friendly again. “Gee, calm down, I’m not that scary. You know what? Tell me what you don’t mind telling me. Am I correct in assuming you’re trying not to get somepony else in trouble?” She’s a genius! I nod. “Then go on.” “Ai, Ai got dis kee wich cud open sum doors een d celler.” “Where did you get something like that?” “Not fair! Yoo sed yoo wudnt ask.” “Just checking. Keep going at your own pace.” Guardspony down to her core. “Okey. So Ai got dis kee end Ai went on a super seekret meeshun to seiv Steeches becuz Ai wonted to nou eef Ai wos kreyzee or eef he cud tolk. Nau Ai teenk eet reely wos mai hed becuz Steeches deednt tolk since den.” “Do you still have that key?” “Nou.” “Alright,” she leans to my ear again, her hot and wet breath tickling it, “I’ll think about it,” then she sits back down and smiles, “I don’t know anything about this change-ling thing, sorry. Mind if I call the girls back in?” Now that we're alone, I can finally ask what has been weighing me down since I heard I had visitors. “Doo dey wont to tolk wit mee now det Aim krayzee?” After all, Eclipse especially seemed nervous around me. “Believe it or not, it was Piercing Hit who wanted to come visit you. She and Eclipse came to me with this idea. So yes, we really wanted to see how you’re doing. We didn’t just shove you in here to forget about you, we wanted you to get better.” Guards can't lie because that's the law or something, right? “Ai feel bettr alredy now det yor heer.” “Heh, I’m glad to hear that.” “Sou, wot about d barraks?” “Wait with the questions for the others.” “Okey.” Grey Shrine walks outside and returns with Eclipse and Piercing Hit in tow. They sit down and I try to sate my curiosity again. “What was it about the change-” “Greyscale here wants to know how the new barracks is going,” Grey Shrine interrupts the obviously pointless question. After all, we've already found out that Eclipse and Piercing hit know nothing about this changeling thing. Piercing Hit pats my head. “Can’t wait to get back to mopping? I’m afraid that’ll have to wait few months at least. Winter isn’t the best time for rebuilding. All the construction ponies are doing these days is clearing out the rubble and making space. Even digging new foundations is impossible with the soil frozen rock hard-” And thus we chat about what’s new and reminisce a little even though I didn’t really make much contact with them before Eclipse first asked me to fix her bed. I haven’t felt warmer and happier in a very long time… maybe ever.