Multiple days have passed since Natalia introduced Moonlight into the clan. The lycanequine did make sure he got all the love he needed and wanted. Currently, she is sitting along the clearing’s edge. A small fire burns in the center of the clearing. Moonlight sits next to it, licking at his own hoof. In order to prevent Natalia from working too hard, Moonlight has neglected to change into any other pony.
Natalia sniffs the air and growls. In a flash she shifts into a wolf. An unfamiliar scent was in the air. Without saying a goodbye, she dashes into the forest. Who is this? What is this? She thinks. The wolf growls, slowing down and trying to cool off. Calm yourself, Natalia. Do not worry, as your clan is just fine. Don’t be so defensive. She turns her nose to the ground, sniffing for any scent that is unfamiliar. There were none within a sizable radius of the camp. Natalia knew the scents of her clanmates, Moonlight, and other notable individuals. She growls, continuing to search.
Back at the camp, Moonlight looks back and sees that Natalia is gone. His wings buzz in agitation as he decides to walk over to a clan member.
“Yo, where did she go? Natalia?” Moonlight asks with a frown. The gently armored stallion chuckles, looking at the bug horse. The stallion is no fan of him.
“She likely smelled something weird. I don’t blame her since I smelled things too. Smelled unnatural. Yet, it came and went without me seeing anything so eh. Can’t be too bothered by something I can’t stop,” He says. “Must have went through by air. Hell if I know. Again, can’t be too bothered.” The stallion then trots to the clearing edge. He looks back at the Changeling and frowns again. “I’m not lying when I say that there have been sparse reports of a dragon roaming the Everfree. Best be on your guard just in case.” Before Moonlight can answer, the stallion disappears into the forest.
A… a dragon? Moonlight thinks. He was in the hives the last time he heard about any dragon activity. The queen told him not to worry, since the king of the Dragonlands did not care for any of the ponies in Equestria. He certainly didn’t care enough to fight the Changelings on anything either. Naturally, this made it easy for Chrysalis to negotiate things regarding territory for her Changelings. Moonlight certainly remembered Chrysalis’ sweet smile when she said that they could freely use another territory. The Changeling then shivers, choosing to skip over the fact that he was kicked out a few years later. A dragon in Equestria. Funny. I thought it would never happen.
Moonlight could not confirm the stallion’s claims. The only ponies who could were ponies who met the dragon. With a grunt of effort, Moonlight starts to fly up to the forest canopy. Tired of the shadows and the coolness that comes from it, he breaks through the canopy. Glancing up at the cloudy sky, he sighs in annoyance. Picked a bad day for flying. Hope it doesn’t rain. Knowing the Everfree, he would likely be wrong and it will rain. He makes his way to Ponyville, shifting into a Pegasus when he nears the village.
The Changeling felt a little tingle as he lands in the village. It causes him to physically shudder and he licks his lips. Love? Mmmm I’m feeling it. Who? He looks around, then begins to trot.
Sitting on the outskirts of Ponyville, I was nervous. Hell, I was very nervous. Being with her made me nervous. I wrap both my forelegs around Marly and giggle. “How are ya?” I ask. Even though I already knew the answer, she acknowledges the question with a giggle.
“I’m well,” She says with a kiss to my cheek. “Very well. When I’m with you, I am very happy. I said that to Shadow, and he was quite accepting of it. Hell, he wondered when we will take the… the next step.”
“The next step?” I ask. I reflect back on my life experiences, then come up with absolutely nothing. “And what is that? What’s more than you being my marefriend. That’s the end of the line, right?”
She giggles and shakes her head. “Being my wife,” She says with a smile. “I failed to see things in Shadow, but I see all sorts of things in you. You won’t be an ass to kids, right?”
“K-kids? No, no I wouldn’t.” I shake my head in confusion.
Marly smiles at me and giggles. “Good! So uh like,” She shifts a bit nervously. “You in? Look, I… I know it’s sudden. I can’t keep away from you though, and I want to make sure you are happy. Are you happy with me?” I nod. “I know I’m happy with you. I-if it’s too sudden, then I won’t expect you to say yes.”
I didn’t think. Thinking was not my strong suit, and the ponies that I was brought up with didn’t really help my judgement. She loves me, and I love her. That’s important, right? What do I have to lose? I love this pretty little mare.
“Yeah,” I say with a smile. I did not know how important it was for her, so I was taken aback by Marly tackling me and holding me close. She closes her eyes and nuzzles at my neck.
“T-thank you. I know it wasn’t traditional, but-“ I nuzzle her, which causes her to stop mid-sentence.
“I don’t care about tradition,” I say somewhat sharply. “I never cared about tradition. We’re doing this. I love you and I need you in my life. You brought me so much stability. Shy did too, but you were there for most of it. I… I don’t know what to say.” I then fall into silence. I don’t feel Moonlight sapping love from us, and if I did, I would not care. I’m with the pony I love, I think. That’s all that matters. Her hold around me tightens and she shuts her eyes. She leans into the heat I am radiating and relaxes.
As the moments pass, I find myself growing tired. Sighing softly, I shut my eyes and give into sleep. Marly remains awake for a while, then drifts off. She is seemingly calmed by my soft breathing. I’m with her, I think, before beginning to dream.
Moonlight trots up to us and tilts his head. He then chuckles. “Cute couple,” He says. “Very cute. The cutest. Natalia gave me a lot, but these two also have a lot.” His eyes flash green as he saps more love, converting it to energy inside him. He makes sure to be very careful such that we don’t wake up suspicious. Moonlight knows that the line between not knowing and fully knowing is a thin one, so he plays it safe and cuts it off early. He spreads his wings and flies onto a nearby roof and yawns. Even as a Changeling, he is susceptible to a pegasus’ laziness trait. He does not fight this, choosing to drift off in the hot sun. He does not notice the change of temperature as he is teleported back to Natalia’s clearing.
A cloaked pony shakes me awake. I’m lying in the middle of a grassy field. I stir awake and look around, not knowing where I was or how I got here. Such is the nature of a dream. I don’t know I’m in a dream, so I just assume it’s real until I wake up again. I focus on the cloaked pony and stand.
“W-who are you?” I shakily ask.
“The name is Solacia. I’m your sister,” The pony says, having quite the feminine voice. She removes the hood, staring at me with her green coat and blue eyes. She giggles, then becomes serious. “I have no time to properly explain. Well… we don’t have the time either way. I will be blunt: You don’t have much time left in this world.” Her horn glows and the surroundings change. Everything shifts to a different color, as if I’m looking at things through a temperature scanner. However, this wasn’t temperature. I wasn’t quite sure what this was. Everything was dark purple except for my hoof and my general surroundings. They were bright red. I felt fear course through me.
“What is this?” I ask, barely managing to keep things together.
“Spatial fields,” Solacia quips. “They remain nearly steady all of the time. Yet, the only times they are disturbed is when ponies use general teleportation magic and anything else that screws with space.” To prove a point, she teleports a foot to the right. A trail of orange follows the path of the teleportation, and shifts to red where she reappears. There was no abnormal colors where she teleported from either. Solacia continues speaking. “I noticed this a little while ago, but uh… things have been building up around you and Marly. There doesn’t seem to be anything I can do, and my brother already said that I won’t be able to properly visit you. Something about getting all wrapped up in finding a fix for this. No, you’re not the only one affected. Since you came into Desert’s life, the same thing has been building up around him. You’re an anamoly, man.”
“And the Shadowbornes?” I ask, wondering if Cyrus will be okay.
“They go with you,” She says. “They’ll always go with you. It is their first law. They need you and you need them.”
I think back a moment or so, then frown. I felt like there was something Solacia wasn’t telling me. “What do you mean by a little while?” My gaze becomes more suspicious towards her.
Solacia’s horn glows and a copy of Golden forms. It shifts into a much younger version of him. The distortion around the colt shrinks significantly, but it is still able to be seen. The mare continues to focus and the copy de-ages to the moment it was born. The distortion has shrunk to a barely visible outline. She shakes her head and wills the copy out of existence.
“Ya know, a good 18 years or so,” She says with a sigh. “Virtually nothing in the span of all things that have ever been. Look, I don’t know how much time is left for you. The only thing I do know is that I didn’t cause this. Even though I’m a higher power, there are those above me. Do they have plans for you? Likely not. Do they have plans for those that might be close to you? Maybe. Everyone is connected in some way. The least I can do is attempt to make whatever transition you and anyone else will have relatively painless. Note the ‘relatively’ I tacked on there. I can’t promise anything, dear brother.”
When Solacia steps closer, I take a step back. I didn’t know her, and I wondered if what she was saying is true. The mare frowns, as if she read my own thoughts.
“You need to believe me,” She says. “You saw it with your own eyes. You can’t deny what you have seen. I don’t want it to take you by surprise.”
I hesitate, starting to question if all of this was real. I take another step back, my gaze falling on the distant treeline. They certainly looked real to me. I then glance towards the mare that seems to be my sister. She looked real as well, so I step toward her. A part of my mind screams that this is a dream, but I smother it in more self-control than I thought I had. I lick my lips, and nod.
“Yes uh…” I then trot toward her, giving her a rather gentle hug. “I believe you. It sounds insane, but I believe you.”
Solacia leans into the hug slightly and nods. “What changed your mind, brother? Normally ponies would think they’re right before they listen to a higher being.”
“You’re family,” I says, the word tasting sour in my mouth. “Even though you weren’t there when I needed the most, I have no reason to dislike you. You didn’t hurt me and experiment with me. Plus, your eyes didn’t tell me you were lying. Besides, you’re a higher being. You have likely seen more than I have ever seen. Same with your personal experiences. I defer to your judgment n-now.” I break the hug and look at her closely. I am met with a gaze full of conviction, and when I look deeper into the gaze, I see regret and a lot of pain. Seeing that only causes me to hug her again.
“You saw it?” Her gaze softens. “I try and hide it, but it fails all the time. T-the only one I know that has it worse than me is Raikia. Sometimes, she cares too much about the things she can’t control. S-she was the only one to suggest getting you out of there. In a way, she got that wish eventually.” Her mind drifts to the pink alicorn. “You need to meet her.” She says after a moment.
A moment after I tighten the hug, I let go and step back. I nod at her and she nods in return. She disappears, leaving me alone in the space I call my own dreams. Miraculously, Silver is not there. I am alone. To pass the time, I sit down and brush a hoof over some tall grass. Eventually, my surroundings go blurry and fade out as my sleeping self wakes up.
The first thing that I sense is that the sun isn’t as warm. Even before I open my eyes, I feel a hoof rubbing against my side and the soft breath of Marly. I shift to face her and my eyes open. I stare into those jade green eyes and suppress a giggle. It felt good to wake up being stroked and loved by the mare I’m about to marry. I then roll onto my belly, standing and stretching both my legs and my wings out. I yawn softly and shake the drowsiness away. A quick glance to the sun informs me that it is rather late out.
“I woke up a few hours ago,” She says. “Did you sleep well? You were quite silent.”
“Yes, I slept pretty good. That isn’t a high bar to set though,” I reply with a chuckle. “No bad dreams.” When my mind drifts to Soalcia’s words, I frown slightly and look towards Ponyville.
Marly smiles and giggles. “Who do you want to invite to the wedding?” She asks.
“Desert and Shy,” I reply. “Despite my first encounter with Desert, I’ll give him another chance. As for anyone else? They will come if they know the location. The clearing with the willow and in two days. No rings, and no fancy dresses. Just you, me, and the ponies I like to hang around. I will manage security, and you probably have the delicate hoof for invitations. I love you and I believe that you will do a great job.”
Marly smiles warmly at the faith I have in her. “And what are you going to do now?” She doesn’t expect the sigh that emits from me.
“There is a pony I have to meet. Meet you in a few hours?” I look at her, hoping she would understand. She certainly does understand, waving and trotting away. I then look towards Ponyville, trotting to it with the hopes of finding the mare spoken about in my dreams.