//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: If you love something, let it go // Story: My Little White Lie // by ForestTrails482 //------------------------------// Later that evening, Apple Bloom was enjoying dinner with Granny Smith and Big Mac. Granny had steamed up some fresh peas and carrots. It was nice to enjoy some of the vegetables that they grew. "Things go well selling apples today Big Mac?" Granny Smith asked. "Eeyup" "Talk with any of them cute mares?" (Wink) Ugh! Not this again. "Nope" "Gosh darn it Big Mac! Do ya plan to stay single forever?" (Annoyed exhale) "Nope" "Well then, quit yer lolly gagging! Live a little! Go on a date every once in a while. What in tarnation is holding ya back?" The fact that my crush is Princess Celestia's star student and Savior of Equestria; twice! I'm just a simple apple farmer. What would I even say? "Howdy Twilight. I may not be smart, or a unicorn, but would ya like to go on a date with me?" That would never work! Big Mac chose to just shrug his shoulders to answer Granny Smith's question. He doubted that she had any advice that could help him with his situation. "What about you Apple Bloom? Did Fruit Blender like the apple pie ya made him?" "Sure did! I think it made his day." Big Mac raised an eye brow upon hearing that. "Who's Fruit Blender?" "Oh, uh... he's a stallion I met this week." "Never heard of him." "That's because he's new to Ponyville." Big Mac found that suspicious. New stallions in Ponyville were about as rare as visits from Princess Luna. And nopony mentioned anything about a new stallion this week. "Where's he from?" "From... Canterlot." "What was the pie for?" "I wanted to see if I could make him smile, like Pinkie Pie did when she met Cranky." Since when are ya into making new stallions smile? Quickly Apple Bloom tried to think of something to include to make her lie more believable. "I also... thought that maybe it would help me to earn my cutie mark. A welcome to a new town cutie mark." Hearing that, Big Mac gave the whatever-shrug. After all, he'd seen Apple Bloom try weirder things to try and earn her cutie mark. He still remembers the time when she tried to earn her cutie mark in dog whispering. ("What's that Winona? Mhm. Uhuh. You don't say.") Seeing that her brother looked convinced, Apple Bloom let out a sigh of relief. That was a close one. Late that night, in the city of Canterlot, Princess Luna was in the middle of one of her dream meditations. It was how she was able to venture into ponies' dreams. To help ponies to overcome the fears they faced in their nightmares. These past couple of weeks, most of the nightmares ponies had were about the changelings. Parents dreaming that their children were trapped in sickly green cocoons. Fillies and colts dreaming that they were being chased by hundreds of drones. And in the case of Twilight and Applejack, the Changeling Queen had come back and had their loved ones in her magical clutches. Luna may have missed all of the action before her niece's wedding, but the more she saw these changelings in ponies' dreams, the more she found that she despised them. I swear if I ever get my hooves on one of these love-sucking parasites, they're gonna wish that they were sent to the moon for a thousand years! Nothing mattered more to Princess Luna than her little ponies. That was one of many things that she and her sister had in common. To hurt any one of their subjects was like asking for a death wish. Suddenly Luna could sense that a nightmare was stirring in the mind of a young filly at Sweet Apple Acres. "Leave him alone!" Luna could hear somepony shouting in the distance. She was somewhere in Ponyville and there were dozens of ponies heading to the center of town. She followed the crowd, knowing that they were moving towards the sound of the screaming. "Please, stop!" Luna rounded a corner with the crowd and saw that they were gathering around a cage that was being pulled by four of Celestia's royal guards. All of the ponies in the crowd were shouting in anger. Some were even throwing rocks at the cage. Taking a closer look, Luna saw that there was a changeling inside the cage. She knew that it was a changeling because of it's signature holed-hooves and wings, but she was surprised to see that it was white with red eyes. In none of the nightmares before had ponies pictured changelings in colors other than black with blue eyes. Why was it the case with this one? "Let me go!" Luna turned in the direction of the shouting and saw that it was Apple Bloom who had been shouting. She was trying to break out of Applejack's hooves, trying to defend the changeling in the cage. But why? Why was Apple Bloom trying to defend this changeling? Did she not know what this thing was or what it could do? There was a flash of light. Luna turned to see that her older sister had appeared before the ponies and the changeling. "Changeling! For crimes against the ponies of Equestria, I sentence you to the dungeons of Tartarus, for the remainder of your days!" "NO!!!" Apple Bloom shouted as she reached out towards the changeling with her hoof. And after a blast of Celestia's horn, the changeling was gone. Luna wanted to speak to Apple Bloom, to see why she cared so much for this changeling, but she couldn't. The nightmare had ended and the filly was awake. Apple Bloom woke up in a cold sweat. It had all happened so fast. To her relief it was only a nightmare. But as she lay there, she started to wonder if that was what would happen once Applejack got back. Would Celestia send 4-8-2 to Tartarus? It was a prison for all of the worst monsters in Equestria. Discord and Luna were not sent there, but it was only because Celestia knew them personally, before their crimes. Apple Bloom knew that it wasn't going to be the same for 4-8-2. Changelings were a threat that Celestia didn't know about until after the wedding. 4-8-2 didn't deserve a fate like that. She didn't want him to be sent to Tartarus. And even if he wasn't sent to Tartarus, she didn't want him to spend the rest of his life in a cage, with nopony to talk to. Everypony thought that the changelings were all just heartless monsters. But 4-8-2 wasn't a heartless monster; she knew better. I've got ta do something. Apple Bloom quietly sneaked into her brother's room. She was starting to regret not asking Scootaloo to teach her how to pick a lock. It would have been a lot easier than trying to find where Big Mac hid the key to the pad lock. Hopefully he was a heavy sleeper. Okay, if I were Big Mac, where would I hide a key to something important? She decided to start with the dresser drawers. Being as quiet as she could be, she began to look through Big Mac's shirts and bandanas. Why hasn't he worn these? "Howdy there Miss Sparkle." What the hay? She turned around to see that it was Big Mac who was talking; he was sleep talking? "I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I'd come over to rent a book. And... to say that... yer looking... mighty beautiful today." Ooooo! My brother likes Twilight! My brother likes Twilight! Wait... what am I doing? I gotta find that key. Twenty minutes of endless searching and Apple Bloom still couldn't find the key. Come on Apple Bloom. There's gotta be someplace ya haven't checked. "Why thank ya kindly. If you want, I could bake ya one of my world famous Apple Dumplings." Apple Bloom couldn't help but shake her head in amusement. This had been going on the whole time that she had been searching. She figured that Big Mac was now on his third date with Twilight in Dreamland. While she was thinking about Big Mac, a thought crossed her mind. Maybe the key was under his pillow. That would be an ideal hiding spot. She only hoped that she could sneak her hoof under his pillow without him feeling it. Sneaking quietly, she tip-toed towards her brother. "Ya know, the stars sure look beautiful tonight." For a pony who doesn't talk much, ya sure do talk a lot in yer sleep. Getting up on her hind legs and leaning over the bed, Apple Bloom slowly stuck her right hoof under Big Mac's pillow. "Ha, ha, ha. Nope, I think it's cute when ya name off the star constellations. It helps remind me that yer the smartest pony I know." Come on. Where are ya? Making contact with something small and made of metal, Apple Bloom beamed with satisfaction. I got it! "Nope I'm serious. Yer the smartest pony I know... and the most beautiful too." Apple Bloom slowly pulled the key towards her, but paused when she heard something strange. Wait, what is that sound? Apple Bloom turned in the direction of the sound to find KISSY FACE!!! Before she could retreat, she received a big kiss on the nose. Ew! Ew! Ewww! Apple Bloom pulled back, glad that nopony else saw that, and happier with the fact that it was just her nose and not her lips. Ugh. Just the thought of that made her shudder. 4-8-2 had been sleeping ever since Apple Bloom and her friend's last visit. But a jiggling of the chains on the barn door caused him to stir then wake. He was just glad that he had gotten some decent sleep before 'whoever it was' decided to come and visit him. He yawned and opened his eyes as the barn doors opened. "Apple Bloom?" 4-8-2 was surprised to see that it was her. He had been expecting Big Mac. And from what he could tell, it was the middle of the night. Why would she come this late? "Shh. I'm gonna bust ya outta here" Apple Bloom whispered as she walked around the changeling to get to the knot. "Wait, what?" "Shh! I said, I'm busting ya outta here." 4-8-2 was starting to wonder if this was a dream. What Apple Bloom was doing was not the wisest of moves. How could she be sure that he wouldn't suck the love out of her once he was free? But to his surprise, the ropes dropped down to his hooves. Seeing that he was free, he decided to take advantage of the situation and stretch his legs. He had never missed having the ability to move so much in his life. When he was done stretching, he decided that it was time for some answers. "Why are you letting me go? Couldn't you get in trouble for this?" "Yes, but you've got to leave. If ya stay here and my sister gets back, they'll turn ya over to Princess Celestia, and then you'll be locked up forever. I don't want that to happen, do you?" "Well no, but-" "Then come on! Lets go!" Apple Bloom quickly made her way to the barn doors, but as she was about to open them, 4-8-2 quietly shouted: "Apple Bloom! STOP!" She brought down her hoof and looked back at the changeling with confusion. "What? What's wrong?" She waited patiently for 4-8-2 to answer, but he did not speak. He looked hesitant and scared; but what could this changeling be so scared of? "Don't worry, my brother's asleep and so is my grandma. Nopony is going to spot us if we're quiet." "I'm not worried about that." "Are ya worried that my family is going ta punish me bad? The worst thing that they've ever done to me is make me go to bed without supper. I'll be fine." "I know you'll be fine." "Then what's stopping you? Why don't you want to leave?" 4-8-2 turned away, not wanting to make eye-contact. "Because if I leave... then this is goodbye." Walking up to 4-8-2, Apple Bloom gently placed a hoof on his foreleg and whispered: "This isn't goodbye forever 4-8-2. Listen, I'll take you back to the Everfree Forest. That way you can hide from my sister and brother, but still be close enough that me and my friends can come visit ya. I'll even bring ya a slice of pie each time we do." She grinned at the changeling, knowing how much he liked that pie she made for him. 4-8-2 gave a hopeful smile, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. "But... what if you can't come. Your sister might-" "4-8-2, I'm giving you a Pinkie Pie Promise. Do ya know what a Pinkie Pie Promise is? It's a promise between two friends that nopony can break once it's made. I cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, that I will come ta visit ya." 4-8-2 thought the promise and the gestures were ridiculous and weird, but he could tell that Apple Bloom was serious, which gave him the faith to trust her. "Okay. Let's go." "Great!" Apple Bloom turned around and was about to open the door again, when 4-8-2 whispered: "One question though." "Yeah?" "You're not gonna actually put a cupcake in your eye later, are you?"