Eventide was not entirely sure how much time had passed since he and Sunset had come back upstairs. It could have been only a few minutes, or it could have been several hours. It was made even harder to tell by the darkness outside, and the ever-present white noise of the rain pummeling the roof of the house.
Right now, Eventide was pacing anxiously back and forth in the living room, while Sunset was seated on the couch. A thick, leather-bound journal was resting in her lap, angled to hide the pages from his view. Every so often, she would write something down in it with a pen before going still and waiting for something.
Every time she went to write, the sound of the tip of the pen brushing against the paper rang in Eventide’s ears like a saw carving through the trunk of a tree. It was grating, aggravating, and more than a little distracting. It wasn’t helped at all by the fact that Sunset kept looking up at him as if she wanted to ask him a question, but always looked away when he made eye contact with her.
She went back to writing in the journal again, and the accursed sound came back with it. That was the last straw. Eventide’s pacing came to a sudden and very abrupt end, and he spun around to stare hard at her as she finished writing whatever it was she was writing. She looked up and saw him staring at her, and went to look away as before.
Not this time.
“So… what are you writing?” Eventide asked, trying to keep his voice level and calm.
Sunset looked down at the book for a few seconds before looking at Eventide. “It’s… kind of a long story,” she tried, drawing a dismissive snort from Eventide.
“I think we’ve got time.”
“It’s also really unbelievable.”
Eventide leveled a flat glare at Sunset. “My son is an emotion-eating bug horse who can shapeshift and do magic. Try me.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at that. She set her book aside and sat upright in her seat. “Alright, fair enough, I suppose. But…” her mirthful expression melted away into a far more pensive one. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions first?”
Eventide frowned and straightened his posture. “Uh… sure, I guess. What do you want to know?”
Sunset couldn’t quite meet his eyes, her brow furrowing. “Right… first of all, your son… is he the creature that I saw downstairs?”
Eventide winced but nodded his head. “Yes. I adopted him when he hatched in my basement. Why?”
“...I know where he comes from.”
Eventide’s eyes widened, and it took an active effort to keep his jaw from falling open. “Wha… what? You do?”
Sunset faced him again. “Yeah. I know, because,” she paused and lifted one of her hands in front of her face. She curled her fingers into a fist and stared deep into Eventide’s eyes. “I come from the same place.”
Eventide just stared at her, gawking as if she had grown a second head. His jaw opened and closed a few times as he tried to find his words. After a moment, he set his jaw and narrowed his eyes. “Okay… how do I know you’re telling the truth about that?”
Sunset’s own expression flattened somewhat. “Your son is an emotion eating bug horse who can shapeshift and do magic. Also, I turned into a big demon in front of CHS.”
Eventide raised an eyebrow. “You know what? Fair point,” he conceded before shaking his head and planting his hands on his hips. “Okay, I’ll bite. Where is he from?”
Sunset’s hand found her book and pulled it up into her lap again. “He comes from another world — a different reality, to be more specific. A place called Equestria.”
“Huh… kind of fitting, I guess,” Eventide mused, tilting his head to one side. “I mean, he is an equine, kinda. What’s it like?”
Sunset’s face softened with a far off, nostalgic smile. “Well, it’s a world filled with magic and talking animals. There’s nowhere else he could be from. None that I can think of, anyway.”
“So, if you know where he comes from, do you know what he is?”
Sunset shook her head. “No, I don’t. I didn’t get a good look at him, and he didn’t look very familiar. Although, I left Equestria a long time ago. I’ve missed a few things” she tapped her book in her lap. “I’m trying to find out what he is right now.”
Eventide blinked and tilted his head the other way. “By writing in a journal? How does that work?”
“There are two copies of this book; this one, and another one in Equestria. Whatever gets written in one shows up in the other. I’m using it to talk to someone on the other side who might know more about him.” she explained, smiling down at the pages.
“Well, that’s convenient,” Eventide muttered with a small roll of his eyes.
Sunset chuckled at that. “Hey, I didn’t make it. It was a gift from my old teacher.”
Eventide shrugged. “Meh. Does this other person from another world have something for you?” he asked, leaning forward slightly.
Sunset frowned. “Not yet… I’ve been trying to describe what I saw before you started talking, but all I saw were glowing eyes and black chitin. There are a few creatures in Equestria that match that description.”
“Try going with ‘emotion eating bug horse who can shapeshift and do magic,’ then,” Eventide suggested. “Maybe that’ll narrow it down.”
Sunset eyed him for a moment, then nodded and went back to writing in her journal. Once she was done, she stared intently at the page for a few seconds. Then, to Eventide’s less-than-expected surprise, it lit up with a gentle purple light, and new text began to appear on the page below what Sunset had written.
Curious, he slowly walked over and looked down at it.
That’s definitely a changeling. How in the world did one of them get over to your world?
Changeling? Was that what Beebee was? A changeling? Thinking about it, it was a fitting title. Beebee was able to change his form at will, albeit with a significant strain on his magic.
Sunset wrote down her response. “I don’t know, I don’t really know a whole lot about them. I’ve only heard you mention them in passing a few times. Do you mind filling me in?”
The response came quickly. “Sure. Changelings are a race of vaguely insect-like equines that live south of Equestria, in a region of the Badlands. They were our enemies for a long time, but after a successful coup, their former ruler, Queen Chrysalis, was overthrown, and they quickly turned around and became our allies. There are a few of them as students in my school, and one or two even moved to Ponyville a couple of years ago.
“Like you said, they eat emotions. More specifically, they eat ‘love,’ although that seems to be a blanket term for them. After all, Thorax, the current king of the changelings, was able to be well fed by feelings of acceptance and camaraderie. There wasn’t anything romantic or familial, as far as I know, though such feelings seem to be the most filling. The way they’ve gone about getting these emotions for food has changed since Thorax took over.”
“Huh… well, that’s quite the infodump,” Eventide mumbled under his breath as the two paragraphs of information came to an end. “Now, granted, I don’t understand half of what that says, but eh. Chrysalis? Ponyville? Thorax? Yeah, I dunno what any of that means.”
Sunset shook her head. “I can give you a crash course sometime. I’m pretty used to dealing with Equestrian magic over here.”
“Yeah, I noticed. I saw the first few times CHS exploded because of magic before I moved. Heck, the first time was the night before Beebee hatched after his egg had been in my basement for four months.”
Sunset’s brow furrowed. “Really? If you’re right, then those events might have been connected.”
Eventide raised an eyebrow. “Huh? Why do you say that? Timing aside, I don’t see the connection.”
Sunset sat more upright. “Okay, so, you saw me turning into a giant, evil she-demon, right?”
“And I saw you throw a giant fireball at Fluttershy. Kind of alarming.”
Sunset’s face fell somewhat. “...Right. I’m sorry about that, by the way.”
“Just don’t blow up me or my son and we’ll be fine.”
“...Anyways, did you see how they beat me?”
Eventide shook his head. “No, actually. I was a little busy hiding because I thought one of the only friends I had left had just been turned into ashes by something straight out of the underworld. I saw the aftermath, though...” his face screwed up at the memory. “...Fluttershy had wings.”
“Well, see, the thing is, the way they beat me was — and I know this sounds cheesy as it gets — by using the magic of friendship.”
Eventide just looked at her for a moment. “...You’re right. That sounds incredibly cheesy.”
“Well, it’s the truth,” Sunset managed a weak laugh. “They blasted me with a laser made of friendship, and I lost outright. Now, if the changeling downstairs-”
“His name is Beebee,” Eventide cut her off, his face growing stern. “Don’t talk about him like he’s some kind of strange creature. He’s my son.”
Sunset cringed and shrank back slightly. “...Right, sorry. Anyways… if Beebee eats emotions, then there’s a good chance the big friendship explosion made him hatch, or at least helped things along.”
A quiet hum left Eventide’s lips, and he stood upright. “Well… I guess that makes sense,” he muttered, his hand drifting up to rub at his chin. He gave it some more thought, going over that fateful first morning and the preceding night in his mind again, taking what he now knew into consideration.
His eyes slowly began to widen as a thought occurred to him. “Wait… Fluttershy…” he breathed, his hand falling away from his face. “...Did she know?”
“That Beebee came from Equestria?” Sunset ventured, drawing a stiff nod from Eventide. She sighed and lightly closed her book with a muffled thump. “I think so… that’s what I want to talk to her about. Equestrian magic has caused a lot of problems around here over the last five years…”
Eventide’s face suddenly hardened at her words, protective instincts flaring into life inside his chest. “Hey, Beebee would never even hurt a fly!” he protested loudly, making Sunset look up at him in surprise. “Now, part of that is because he’s grossed out by small bugs and creepy crawlies, but still! He’s gentle and sweet as can be!”
Sunset lifted her hands in a placating gesture again. “Woah, hey, calm down! I never said he was dangerous. But if he’s here, he’s carrying Equestrian magic, and there’s no telling for sure how it might be affecting the world around him.”
“My house hasn’t blown up yet,” Eventide countered with a huff. “I think we’re fine.”
Before Sunset could offer a counter, the door to the basement suddenly opened, and both of them turned to look. Fluttershy and Apple Bloom ascended the steps, both of them appearing exhausted and stressed out. There were red stains on their hands, dark rings under their eyes, and their postures were slouched.
His exchange with Sunset all but forgotten, Eventide practically sprinted up to Fluttershy’s side, a hand reaching out to grasp her shoulder. “Fluttershy! How is he? Is he going to be okay?”
It was Apple Bloom who answered. “Yeah, we think so. His wound’s all stitched up and bandaged,” she said, clearly relieved.
Fluttershy spoke next, her voice far more solemn. “They’ll need to be changed every day or so, and he shouldn’t leave bed for a few weeks at least. It looks a lot worse than it is, but if we hadn’t helped him, it could have been life-threatening. He needs to take it easy.”
Eventide almost fell over. His entire body relaxed with a euphoric wave of relief, and he found himself slumping forward to hug Fluttershy tight. He buried his face into her shoulder and squeezed her close. “Oh, thank God… thank you…” he looked at Apple Bloom past Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Both of you. Thank you so, so much.”
“Don’t mention it,” Apple Bloom replied with a small, satisfied smile.
Fluttershy was silent, and only in the following quiet did Eventide realize she wasn’t returning his hug. Concerned, he leaned back and saw that she was staring into Sunset’s eyes with a tense, apprehensive expression.
Apple Bloom looked back and forth between everybody present. She backed away awkwardly, then looked down at her hands. “Er… Ah need to clean my hands. Ah’ll just… uh… Ah’ll just use yer bathroom…” she excused herself before slipping away, leaving the adults to talk.
Sunset spoke first, her tone slow and careful. “Fluttershy… you do know that Beebee comes from Equestria, right?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Sunset followed up, taking a few steps closer to the animal lover.
Fluttershy looked down, her long pink hair falling in front of her face and hiding it from view. Eventide’s gut went cold with concern when he felt her starting to shake in his hands. “...I didn’t want you to take him away,” she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion.
Sunset blinked, then tilted her head. “...Fluttershy?”
“I love him!” Fluttershy suddenly said, lifting her face and showing tears forming in her eyes. “He’s not my son, but I have helped Eventide raise him since the day he hatched! I love him just as much as Eventide does, and… and I don’t want to see him go away! I don’t want Eventide to lose his son! Now when they’re so cute and happy together!”
“Fluttershy…” Eventide whispered, his eyes wide. Acting purely by reflex, he pulled Fluttershy closer to him to give her some small comfort.
Sunset, meanwhile, was speechless at the outburst. She stood there for several seconds, letting Fluttershy’s trembling, near-weeping breaths fill the air before she finally spoke. “I… what makes you think I’d want him to give up his son?” she asked, appalled.
Fluttershy sniffled and wiped her wrist over her face to dispel her tears. “...Aren’t you always the o-one who-” a sob briefly interrupted her speech. “Who tries to stop Equestrian magic?”
Sunset tilted her head. “Well, yeah, but… only when it becomes dangerous. I mean, the powers we all have are technically Equestrian magic, but I’m not asking all of us to go on an exodus to Equestria.”
“Maybe not these days…” Fluttershy shook her head. “B-but earlier, when Beebee first hatched, when I first figured out where he came from… you would have pushed to send him back. I know you would have… and I couldn’t let you do that. Eventide’s life is so much better, now, and he’s such a good father to Beebee… I couldn’t let you…”
All of them were quiet for several seconds. Sunset looked down, her expression forlorn. “You might have a point. I probably would have wanted that, back then…”
Eventide’s lips narrowed into a thin line, his brow creasing with thought. Then, with a quiet sigh, he nudged Fluttershy back so he could get a better look at her face. “Hey… Fluttershy? I can kinda see why you didn’t tell Sunset, but… why didn’t you ever tell me?” he asked in a low whisper.
Fluttershy refused to look him in the eye, more tears welling up in her own. “I… I didn’t… I didn’t want you to send him away...”
His frown deepened. “Why on earth would you think I’d do that, Fluttershy? He’s my son!”
“Because I remember what you tried to do the day he hatched,” Fluttershy countered, screwing her eyes shut. “You tried to give him away to me because you didn’t want him.”
“Well, yeah, but I thought he was a wild animal of some kind. I thought he’d be better off with you. He was just really stubborn and latched onto me.”
“I know… I know it’s wrong of me, but…” Fluttershy whimpered and backed away a few feet, her hands coming up to protectively wrap around her midsection. “...A small part of me always worried that you would get rid of him if you knew where he came from…”
Eventide fell quiet. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and gave off a long, heavy sigh. A heavy and uncomfortable silence fell over all of them. After a few minutes, though, Sunset cleared her throat. “Well, we know about him, now, and I’m not pushing to send him back. But I do want to know how he got here.”
Eventide slowly nodded his head. “Yeah, I kinda want to know that, too…” he mumbled, his mind wandering to that very question. How had Beebee gotten to earth? If he came from another world, then that would imply that he traveled here. But he was still just an egg when Eventide found him. He must have been carried. But why? And by who?
It hit him.
Eventide’s eyes slowly widened, his jaw falling open. Slowly, he turned to look at Sunset. “Do… do you think that, maybe… he has… parents over there?” he finally asked, the words not wanting to come out.
Sunset glanced down at her book. “I… don’t know. I mean, you found him as an egg, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I did. He was leaning against a tree in my front yard back when I lived right across from the school.”
“And that’s where the main portal to Equestria is…” Sunset mused, rubbing thoughtfully at her chin. “So… someone brought him through as an egg and left him here?”
“Why would they do that?” Eventide wondered, his eyes lowering.
“I don’t know… but maybe I can find out,” Sunset turned and made her way back to her book. “The person I talk to with this book — her name is Princess Twilight Sparkle. She has a lot of connections, and if what she said earlier is any indication, she apparently knows the current changeling king. Maybe she can get in touch with him and see if he can figure something out?”
“Maybe… I mean, you know more about this than I do. You do whatever it is you do and, uh… yeah, lemme know what you find out, I guess.”
Sunset nodded her head. “Alright, I will. Do you mind giving me your cell phone number so I can contact you?”
Eventide was happy to oblige, sharing the number without much hesitation. All the while, he was keenly aware of Fluttershy staring at them from the sidelines with a hard to read look on her face. Whatever she was feeling, it wasn’t good.
“Okay, it’s getting late,” Sunset noted once the exchange was complete, grimacing at her on-screen clock. “We should probably be getting back home.”
Fluttershy swallowed heavily. “Um… why don’t you get Apple Bloom and wait in the car? I… I want to talk to Eventide alone for a little bit.”
Eventide looked at her for a second, then sent a slow nod in Sunset’s direction. “Go ahead. We won’t be long,” he said quietly.
Sunset nodded, and without a word, she left the room to go and get Apple Bloom. A short time later, she came back through with the teenager in tow. Apple Bloom glanced back and forth between Eventide and Fluttershy as she passed, an uncertain look on her face, before disappearing through the front doors with Sunset.
It was just Eventide and Fluttershy. They stood in silence for a few minutes before, finally, the latter mustered up the courage to speak. “...What are you going to do if Sunset finds his parents?”
Eventide looked down. “I… I don’t know, Fluttershy. There’s no guarantee she even will.”
“But if she does?”
Eventide shifted uncomfortably in place, his hands disappearing into his pockets again. “If she does, then… Beebee deserves to know why they were never in his life. If they left him, if they lost him, if he was stolen… he deserves to know. And I want to know. I want to know how my son came into my life. And… they deserve to know about their son.”
“And… what if they want him back?”
Eventide finally looked up, meeting Fluttershy’s gaze. The two were silent for a few seconds before he let off a quiet sigh. “...We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
Fluttershy stared long and hard at Eventide, her eyes searching his. Finally, to his surprise, she got the tiniest ghost of a smile on her face. “Well… whatever happens… I just know you’ll do your best.”
Eventide smirked. “Just like I have since the very start, right?”
Fluttershy nodded. She then stepped forward and wrapped Eventide up in a warm hug, one which he happily returned. She buried her face into the crook of his neck for a moment before whispering to him. “Just like that. And you’ve done wonderfully… like I always said you would.”
And with that, she backed out of the hug. She gave him a tender smile, a pat on the shoulder, and then walked around him to head for the door. Eventide turned and watched her go. She paused in the doorframe, her face twisting with hesitance at the sight of the rain. She then turned and gave Eventide one last smile. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll keep a very close eye on Beebee and let you know the moment anything changes.”
“Okay… bye, Eventide.”
He raised his hand in a slow wave. “Bye, Fluttershy.”
She waved back, and the stepped through the door, closing it behind her.