//------------------------------//
// 16- Facing Fears 
// Story: The Terror of Death 
// by FrostTheWolf 
//------------------------------//


The Terror of Death- Facing Fears




In the days after the incident involving the unicorn named Sunset Shimmer that led to her escape, the Crystal Empire had been busy trying to get things back to the way things were before the incident. Unfortunately, several ponies could not really forget about what had happened. Some of those ponies included General Ironwings and Shining Armor, who had immediately organized new training routines for every member of the royal guard to follow if this type of incident were to repeat itself. Cadance herself agreed with the fact that they needed to keep the empire’s citizens safe, but was worried that both of them would take things a little too far.

For Haseo though, he was focused on something different entirely, but it was something that, to him, was rather concerning. That being Sapphire. Ever since the incident with Sunset and learning that the one who harmed her had escaped, her personality had drastically changed. It was getting to the point that after watching her for a couple of days, he felt that something had to be done and he could not put it off.

Which is why after being briefed about the progress of the training by Shining Armor one evening, he decided to ask for help from the one pony he thought would be the most experienced on the matter. “Cadance, can I talk with you for a moment?”

At first, the princess of love and her husband seemed a bit puzzled. Normally, Haseo would keep to himself and only comment either when they asked for his input or believed it was necessary. So hearing him ask her a question was a bit bizarre at first. “S-sure, Haseo. Is something the matter?”

“I… need some help,” He told her, letting out a small breath in the process. “It’s about Sapphire.”

That had both the unicorn and alicorn look at each other for a moment. Normally, when the subject of the little shadow pony came up, it involved him having to apologize for whatever antics happened during the course of the day. Up until now, there was never a moment where Haseo had legitimately asked for advice when it came to her. “What seems to be the problem? Did she do something?” Shining asked, his tone giving the implication that she did something wrong.

“No no, she didn’t do anything,” the adept rogue was quick to respond on that, “It’s more like something that’s been on the back of my mind. It’s been distracting me throughout the last couple of days and it breaks my concentration when I’m practicing in combat against Kite and BlackRose. Heck, BlackRose actually beat me in one match because of it,” As he spoke, Haseo scratched the back of his head, before emphasizing the main point. “I’m worried about how she’s behaving. How she’s seeing ponykind after… well… Sunset.”

That had Cadance’s eyes widen for a bit, before she decided to ask a bit more. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, she’s keeping herself isolated in our home, doesn’t come with me whenever I go outside to check on how everything is going on, and I also hear her say to herself that ponies are scary… and that they’re out to hurt her,” the adept rogue recalled everything he could from the past two days, “I’m worried that her encounter with Sunset is leading to her thinking that all of ponykind are just like her. I want to try and tell her that isn’t true, but I’m worried that what I might say could do more harm than good.”

That was definitely a bit of a difficult position to be in. One that Cadance did not entirely know how to help with upon first hearing that. Though, as she was thinking, that was when Shining decided to speak up. “That… almost reminds me of when I was helping raise Twilight.”

Haseo blinked at that, before looking back at him. “It does? How?”

“Well, when we were much younger, we had a neighbor that had a dog as a pet. It was a medium size germane shepherd that was rather loyal to its owner. Yet, whenever we see that neighbor walking the dog on the way home from magic kindergarten, it would bark at us. Probably because it thought that we were trying to do harm to its owner,” the unicorn began to recall the story from his foalhood, “I shrugged it off, thinking it was no big deal. But Twilight? She began to think that all dogs were mean because of her encounters with the dog that belonged with our neighbor.”

That… almost sounded a lot like the current situation with Sapphire, but with a few differences. Yet, Haseo was not entirely if he was understanding what Shining Armor was trying to say. “I think I’m following you so far… but how did you resolve that-?”

“That… was actually something that I didn’t tell Cadance about, because the method we used to resolve it was actually kind of… well, embarrassing,” Shining admitted, “With my fathers help, we had Twilight learn that just because one being acts a different way doesn’t mean that all beings do so… and we demonstrated that by dad using a spell and turning me into a dog.”

The thought of that alone was enough to make Cadance giggle, especially when she looked back at her husband. “Aw man… where was I when this happened?”

“This happened when I was a colt, so it was a few years before we met,” the unicorn admitted, “Of course, it did feel weird to be a completely different creature, but hey. I was more than willing to do it if I could somehow help Twilight overcome her fears,” Shining then looked back to Haseo, letting out a small sigh before speaking, “I’m not sure how that helps with Sapphire though-”

“Actually… I think it does,” the adept rogue admitted as he looked back at the two of them, “Not to mention that I think both of you just gave me an idea. That is… if you’re okay with helping me pull this off.”



Next Morning…

When Haseo woke up, he was already beginning to feel the adamant effects of his ‘idea’ beginning to run its course as he slowly got up. Dragging himself over to the kitchen as he was trying to process everything that was going on inside his head. He knew that the changes were going to happen while he was sleeping, yet he did not think it would happen so quickly. But at least he was up and moving before Sapphire. So right now, he was trying to make the best of it.

Of course, it was as he was trying to get breakfast ready in his newfound form that the filly saw him. Followed by a reaction that part of him expected, but it still startled him nonetheless at this hour in the morning. 

As Sapphire peeked into the kitchen, having heard the sounds of small hoofsteps not her own, she screeched in shock before tripping backwards while sputtering gibberish as she flailed in shock. “Fil… pa…? Wha… ha…!?”

“Sapphire, calm down… it’s me,” Haseo assured her, even though he was now in the form of an earth pony colt instead of his normal human body.

“HOW!?” Was all Sapphire was able to squeak out as she twitched in ways that were not possible for normal ponies.

“I asked for help,” he simplified, not wanting her to go after Shining and Cadance if he told her that they were involved… well, not just yet anyways, “Could you please calm down and let me explain?”

“G-g-give me… a… m-m-inute…” Sapphire managed to say as she turned around… and launched herself into the bed in her room, causing multiple pillows to explode or go flying into the living room as a muffled scream leaked from her landing point. Haseo though just waited patiently for the screams to die down after which she seemed to be dragging herself back over, feathers sticking out of her fur and mane all over. “I-i’m… listening~?” She finally said with a barely-holding-it-together tone.

“Alright. To put it simply, ever since… the incident, I’ve been noticing that you’ve been acting differently and it made me worried,” the colt began to tell her, “I was beginning to think that you thought that all ponies were just… monsters that wanted to hurt you after what happened. So, I talked with both Cadance and Shining about it, expressing my concerns and wanting their advice. Oddly enough, a story that Shining told me gave me the idea to be turned into this because… even though I might be a pony, you still care for me and I care for you. I want to help you overcome those fears you have, Sapphire.”

Sapphire was unable to meet Haseo’s gaze as he spoke, a complicated expression coming over her face. “I-I see… Um, Papa?” Sapphire then managed to peek up at him, but was unable to hold her gaze in his direction as she guiltily looked at the floor. “A-are you… s-sure this is a g-good idea?”

“Sapphire… I would do anything to make sure that you are okay, even do this. You are my daughter and I care deeply for you,” the rogue explained to her, “I want you to be able to fight your fears. I want for you to be brave… I don’t want you to be scared anymore, Sapphire.”	

Sapphire finally stopped twitching, but now she wasn't moving at all as black tears began to gather at the corners of her eyes. With a small whimper she then tackle-glomped Haseo and hugged him as if she was clinging on for dear life. “Waaa-! Papa!” She finally bawled out as her accumulated stress finally broke down her emotional barriers.

All Haseo did was let Sapphire hug him, wrapping an arm around her to return the hug and let her just let it all out. “There there… everything is going to be okay.”

“C-can I confess something papa…?” Sapphire asked guiltily, obviously worried as her grip started to become closer and closer to the grasp of a boa constrictor unconsciously.

“S-sure… what is it, Sapphire?” He asked, trying to not give off the impression that Sapphire was choking the life out of him.

“I-I don't… k-know if I can look at a pony, even if it's you… I’m sorry!” She blurted out as her face scrunched up, her grip finally loosening a bit moments later due to her noticing in a small moment of panic how tightly she was hugging Haseo.

“Sapphire… You’re judging your view on ponies based on one of them. One pony’s actions don’t represent the entire species as a whole,” He told her, “Besides… if it weren’t for Cadance, you wouldn’t be here with me right now.

“T-thats…” Sapphire began, before her face gained an extremely pained expression. “That pony… the only thing she was first at, was doing potentially permanent damage to me, if it wasn't for c-c-c-cel… sunbutt.” 

“Sapphire… can I ask you something?” Haseo then spoke to her, “If you were working hard on some kind of scheme… like… stealing a cake meant for a party, but you were caught in the act… what would you do?”

“... Depending on my distance from the cake, either grab it or not then run as I have magic lasers and whatnot being launched my way?” Sapphire asked, suspiciously sounding as if she was talking from experience.

Haseo though, just didn’t pay attention to it as he continued, “Sapphire, when a plan you work really hard on goes wrong, most ponies would immediately panic and do something to get out of there without being caught. They don’t intend to harm ponies and then escape into the night because they have their backs against the wall… now, do you understand why I’m telling you this?”

“... no?” Sapphire admitted, trying to comprehend what he was saying through her… slightly warped understanding of ponies.

“What I’m saying is that when… you were hurt, the pony who did it didn’t intentionally try to harm you. They weren’t going after you with a vengeance, they did not have a manifesto, nor did they have a prepared speech that would go along the lines of ‘You killed my father. Now, you will die’,” Haseo explained, “She was scared… as anypony in a place completely unfamiliar to them would be. Heck… when I first came here, part of me was scared too.”

“You… were scared when you came to Equestria?” Sapphire asked, letting go of Haseo and giving him some breathing room as she latched onto one of her nearby pillows so that she wouldn't risk crushing him again with her need to hold something. It was totally for stress relief, yes stress relief… nothing strange hidden in her small inhuman mind at all.

“Oh definitely…” He told her. “One moment, I was at a get-together with my friends, I black out and the next thing I knew, I woke up in the frozen wastes outside of the empire. Separated from my friends, family and everything that I knew. When I was found, Sombra, who was only a chancellor of the princess insisted that they should just kill me and be done with it… But it was Princess Amore, Cadance’s mother, who actually gave me the chance to live. Gave me the chance to learn about my predicament, where I was… and if at all possible, find a way to send me home. Looking back at that though… I’m glad she didn’t find a way to send me back.”

“How come?”

“Well… for one thing, the Crystal Empire feels like my home now… and if I were back where I came from, I never would have met you.” He said to her. 

Sapphire buried her face in her pillow, her ears turning an odd color as she muttered to herself.

“Sapphire, can I ask you one thing? Just one,” he said, before looking back at the umbrum filly. “Can you give ponykind a chance? Just like how Amore gave me one?”

“... I-I don’t k-know… but for you, I’ll try.” She squeaked out in a small voice.

Haseo smiled at that, before looking back at her, “That means so much to me,” The colt told her, coaxing the filly to hug him once again as they held each other close. “I love you, Sapphire.”

Sapphire’s entire body suddenly matched the odd coloration of her ears, which came off as a light cyan. “Papa’s not fair…” She pouted in embarrassment.

“I think you mean ‘I love you too’,” He chuckled in response, patting her on the head. Sapphire had no way to respond to something like that and could only sulk in embarrassment, but it was as she was sulking that Haseo came up with an idea. “How about after we eat, you and I can play some games. Cadance gave me the day off from any important duties, so I can spend all day with you today.”

“Really?” 

“Yup,” He smiled, “I know you like to have fun with all the things I got for you at the toy store, but I think sometimes it’s fun to play with someone too. You can even play games like Hide and Seek.”

“What kind of game is hide and seek?” Sapphire asked, slightly curious since she lacked the common sense of Haseo and the ponies.

That had Haseo blink for a moment, surprised that she did not know about it. “You mean that you don’t know?” His question was followed by Sapphire shaking her head, which had the colt grin for a moment. “Hide and Seek is a game where one person does their best to hide from someone who tries to find them. But the one who’s hiding can’t move around, so they have to be creative in order to try and conceal their presence from the one who’s trying to find them.”

A small glint appeared in Sapphire’s eyes before she became contemplative. “And ponies play games like this? Is it some kind of special training?”

“No. They actually do it because it’s fun.”

“I see. So how do you play? Something like this sounds like it requires more than just two.” Sapphire, forgetting her earlier mood, began to relax a bit.

“Well, how about we try one and see?” He suggested, “Close your eyes and count to ten. Afterwards, try to come find me. Though, you can’t use magic since that would be cheating.” Sapphire, though she seemed hesitant, did what he asked for her to do. Closing both of her eyes and counting to ten before opening them back up again. Haseo was no longer where he was standing before, leaving the room empty as she looked around.

For a split second, Sapphire seemed to become worried, before swallowing and mustering her spirits. “Alright, no magic is allowed, but I wonder,” She muttered to herself before stopping. “No, that's a bad idea. If someone barged in, it could get dangerous. I’ll just have to do this by hoof.” and not much later she began to search, doing her best to stick to what an earth pony was capable of.

She began in the kitchen where she was, searching all the places a non shapeshifter colt could fit in. She looked in the pantry, finding nothing other than a jar of cookies in the pantry. Taking the jar with her, she munched her way to the living room, then she searched everywhere else. One room or space at a time and throwing the now empty jar of cookies onto the floor until all that was left to check was her room and Haseo’s. 

“Hmm…” She contemplated the safety of entering Haseo's room to search it, but decided that she didn't feel like checking for traps today. So she went into her room, preparing to search. Even though she was not expecting for him to be here.

Though, it was as she was looking around that she saw something that stood out to her. A white brush like tail that was behind her oversized Ursa plushie. “Found you!” She shouted and tackled him.

“Gah!” He yelped, caught off guard by the sudden glomp from the umbrum as he looked back at her. “G-guess you did find me. How did you like it?”

At first, the shadow filly was silent as she tried to come up with an answer. But after thinking for a bit, she thought of what she saw as the right thing to say. “I was kinda scared at first… but I guess it was a little fun?” Sapphire admitted, nuzzling into him.

“I’m glad that you like it,” He told her, welcoming the nuzzle. Though, as Sapphire got closer, he soon began to pick up a familiar scent. “Hey, why is it that you smell like cookies?”

“... YoUr TuRn!” Sapphire belted out as she broke away and sprinted out of the room. Leaving Haseo just blinking for a moment as he tried to regain his thoughts, before shaking his head and getting up off the floor.

“Okay, well fair is fair. I guess I need to start counting.”



Much later…

“So let me see if I understand this correctly your majesty,” Sunburst spoke with Princess Cadance as the two of them were walking through the halls of the Crystal Empire, “Haseo came to you and Shining Armor for advice when it came to helping Sapphire because he was getting concerned that she thought of all of ponykind as bad?”

“After what happened during the course of Princess Twilight’s stay, yes.”

“And when he was asking for advice, Shining Armor told a story from his foalhood about how he willingly had himself turned into a dog so that Princess Twilight could get over her fear of dogs?”

“Which I personally wanted to see, but we did not meet until years later,” The Alicorn replied, “I’m pretty sure that I’ve already told you about this a couple of times, Sunburst. Is there something that you’re having trouble with?”

“Actually, yes,” the scholar replied back, “I’m having trouble trying to understand why Haseo would go through something like that himself and have himself get turned into a colt. I mean, trying to get used to a quadruped body in itself would be difficult if you’ve been used to being on two legs for the majority of your life, but why go through with it?”

Cadance let out a small breath as she looked back at Sunburst, stopping in the middle of the hall so she could speak. “Sometimes, you have to do something uncomfortable if you know that something good can come out of it. Haseo thinks that if this goes well, then it might help Sapphire not see all of ponykind as just monsters who want to hurt her. Even if she’s an umbrum, I would never do anything to harm her. Besides… I’m learning something else from this too.”

Sunburst blinked for a moment, before looking back at Cadance with a confused look on his face. “Something else, your majesty?”

“How to raise a child…” She admitted, sounding embarrassed as she looked back, “I mean, I might have foalsat Twilight, but I don’t have knowledge of anything when it comes to the subject of parenting. I’m nervous about asking for help from Celestia and Luna, plus Shining is worried about asking his parents because he thinks it’ll just open the floodgates to them asking questions about our personal life. We want to be parents at some point, but we’re worried about where to start.”

Sunburst was a bit surprised by that, just before he began to realize what the princess was telling him. “So you’re saying that… helping Haseo with Sapphire is not just something you two are doing to assist him, but also something that you want to learn from the day that you two decide that you want to have a foal?”

That had Cadance nod her head, just before looking past Sunburst as she happened to notice something that was out of the ordinary. “Hey, Sunburst… is it just me or does that statue in the garden look out of place?” When the unicorn turned around, he soon began to realize that the statue that was made to honor the legacy of Princess Amore was definitely out of place. It was originally positioned to where it’s head was to look out towards the garden and the courtyard. Though, right now, it was facing away from the courtyard and was facing towards the crystal mountains that were behind the empire.

“Yeah, it definitely does,” Sunburst replied, “Should we-?”

“Check on them? Oh yeah,” Cadance agreed, before turning around and heading back towards where Haseo lived at. It was a one story home that was not far from the palace, but Cadance was a bit more concerned with what was going on inside. Ever since Haseo had started taking care of Sapphire, anything that seemed out of place might have been a result of Sapphire’s magic fluctuating. Whether it was tilted paintings or furniture that was stuck to the ceiling, the cause of it was always when Sapphire was somehow flustered by something that happened or something that somepony said.

Of course, knowing this alone did not prepare either of them for what they would find once they opened the door. “Haseo, is everythi- Oh my goodness!”

To say that the room was a mess or in complete disarray would be enough for them to win the ‘understatement of the year’ award. It had looked like a hurricane ripped through the entire place. Everything was scattered all over from seat cushions to bed sheets to toys and even furniture. Several chairs that were supposed to be with the dining room table were knocked down onto the floor and one was missing a leg. The pantry doors were not simply left open, but ripped off as two of them were sitting on the ground. Even Haseo’s playing cards from the time that he beat Shining Armor at blackjack were also scattered everywhere as well, along with a sack of marbles that spilled out and rolled out all over the floor.

It didn’t really help that as Cadance tried to carefully step inside, she heard a familiar voice that startled her. “There you are!! Geez, why did it have to take me almost an hour to find you?”

“Hehehehe, ok this was a lot more fun~” they could hear Sapphire giggling, “And you said this wasn't any form of special training? I am very much doubting that.”

Cadance could now hear the auditory equivalent of a facehoof as Haseo soon replied back. “Remind me that next time we do Hide and Seek, I need to specify that when I say ‘no magic’, I mean no powers or anything either. I put our home in so much of a mess that Discord would see it as a work of art.”

A fit of giggles could now be heard from Sapphire as Cadance slowly trotted inside. “Aww, that's no fun…” 

“I know, but you have to at least give others a chance. It would not be fair if a game was rigged and made to where you can never win.”

“Then I don't want to play anymore, the only part I liked was watching you try to find me…” 

Haseo paused, before looking back at her. “I didn’t say that it always had to be the case… Tell you what, if you’re playing with me, you can hide like that all you want. I just need to be a bit more aware.”

For a moment, everything was silent. But as Cadance got closer, she then heard the umbrum speak up. “Deal. By the way, someone came in the house Papa.” Sapphire said, being convinced by Haseo.

As he was told that, Cadance watched as the little colt that was Haseo’s current form trotted out of his room, only to stare directly at the princess. The expression on his face looking like he was caught for breaking the rules and looked like he was going to be grounded by his parents. “Oh… H-hi Cadance. S-sorry about the mess.”

“Papa is acting funny…” A filly sized stuffed animal said with Sapphire’s voice before looking up at Cadence. “Oh, its lovebutt.”	

Cadance looked like she was going to correct her, but also looked a bit shocked by the fact that she was looking at a stuffed animal instead of Sapphire. “S-should I-?”

“As I now just learned, Sapphire has the ability to shapeshift and take on the forms of objects,” Haseo replied now, looking over to Sapphire for a moment and hearing her chuckle to herself before redirecting his attention back to the princess. “Not to sound rude, but what are you doing here Cadance?”

“Well, Sunburst and I was wanting to check up on how you were doing,” The alicorn replied back, deciding not to mention about the statue in the garden as she looked at both of them, “Though, when I came in, I found… well, this.”

“So the byproduct of me having to find Sapphire in a game of hide and seek for the last hour or so?” Haseo asked, which had Cadance nod her head as he looked back at Sapphire. “Yeah, I thought that while I was in this form, I could teach her a few games and spend some time with her… though, I did not intend to have it look like this.”

Sapphire made a cute squeaking sound before poofing into a small cloud of smoke that proceeded to escape through a gap in the nearest window. “Should I start cleaning up or-?”

“No, I think the least I can do is help you in that department,” Cadance replied back, channeling some magic with her horn as everything in the room soon began to come back together. The sheets returned to the bed, the cushions returned to the couch, chairs stood upright and even the doors on the pantry were fixed within a matter of moments. “I’m no stranger to big messes.”

“Mind telling me what you mean by that?”

“Ever had a moment that you come over to foalsit, only to find that the foal your watching over knocked over the personal library of her parents?” The princess then asked, which made Haseo’s eyes widened before he let out a bit of a small giggle. Mostly because it was something that Twilight herself would see as rather embarrassing. Following that statement though the sounds of a notepad being written in were heard from under the bed, along with mischievous snickering.

“So you’re no stranger to big messes… good thing to keep in mind,” Haseo said to himself, “Is there anything else?”

“Nope, I think that will be all,” Cadance now said as she walked back to the door, “You two take care now.” With that, she closed the door right behind her. Leaving the two of them by themselves as Haseo turned back to his room.

“So… we still have a few hours before this wears off… what do you want to do next?”

A pair of cat like glowing eyes lit up from under the nearby bed, locking onto Haseo as if getting ready to pounce.

“Um… Saph-?” Unfortunately for him, he had very little time to react as the next thing that he saw was the umbrum filly jumping straight towards him like a tiger about to ambush its prey, “Oh boy-”

GLOMP!!



It wasn’t until several hours into the fun that he was having with Sapphire that Haseo felt the effects of Cadance’s spell begin to expire. As the magic faded, he began to change from the appearance of a young colt back into his regular human form as he looked down at the umbrum that was next to him. “Well, that was short lived. I honestly thought it would last longer.”

Sapphire pouted a little in response. “Mou, I want to grow up faster… I want to be able to be bigger than you so I can still tackle you like when you were in the form of a colt.” She commented, thinking strange things as usual.

“You’ll get there soon enough,” He smiled, patting the side of the couch as a signal for her to come up and sit with him. To which she obliged. Although, rather than sit next to him, she claimed her spot in his lap where she proceeded to curl up like a cat with a very satisfied smirk. “I was beginning to wonder if today was successful… I think you just gave me my answer.”

“Papa is Papa, no matter the species,” Sapphire said with only one eye open and glancing at Haseo. “You’re different from ponies, and I would feel hurt if you think that a mere spell will make me change my opinion of an individual.”

“I know,” he told her, putting one of his hands on her body and gently petting her. “Yet, this was not to have you think differently of me, remember?”

“Your plan doesn't make any sense to me then. In order for it to work, I would have to not recognize you in pony form.” Sapphire pointed out as she leaned into the petting.

“It has nothing to do with that,” he simply told her, before asking a question, “How many people do you trust aside from me?” There was a bit of silence to that question, before Haseo let out a small breath, “I was trying to help you see that not every pony out there is scary… but since I’m the only one that you trusted, the only real way to try and get that message across was through me. Even if I bring up Celestia, Twilight, Cadance and everyone else in the empire, you trust me the most. It was to try and have you think differently about ponykind in general. They aren’t scary… you just need to give them a chance.”

As he continued his pets, he moved his hand to where he was rubbing her ears, before asking her a question. “You can do that for me, right?”

Sapphire had to concentrate hard to not fall to the bliss of being pet but she eventually managed to answer his question. “W-well, I could n-never trust anyone more than you. B-but, I will try to give individual ponies a chance. No promises on my view of their race as a whole. I have too many bad memories of ponies before you took me in to change overnight.” Although she was trying to be mature about it, the obvious distaste of the concept of interacting with beings other than Haseo was visibly clashing with the bliss from the petting on her face.

“I never asked for you too have your view of them change overnight. These things take time, but I’m glad that you’re open minded to the possibility,” He said, taking a moment to kiss her on the head. “I love you, Sapphire. Nothing will ever change that.”

Sapphire’s face turned an odd color as she broke down under the affection and petting combo, squirming a bit in Haseo’s lap. “T-t-that's n-not f-fair, Papa! B-but… I l-love y-you t-t-too…”

In a surprise turn of events, the affectionate petting soon turned into Haseo holding onto her like she was a kitten in his arms as he smiled back at her and began to rub her belly. “That’s all I wanted to hear, Sapphire. Thank you.”

“Nya!? Nuuuu! Stop! Its tOo mUch! StOp!!!” Sapphire mewled as she squirmed and gasped, twitching all over from over stimulation having never had her belly touched before. It was ticklish to a near-dangerous degree and was somehow pleasurably addictive in a way similar to headpats. She almost felt like she was going to be turned into a useless daughter if this happened often.

Though, it only happened for a small bit. Haseo followed through on her request to stop and soon withdrew his hand a few moments later. “Maybe it would be better to not do that too much. Don’t worry though, I’ll not tell anyone that you’re ticklish. That’s a promise.”

Sapphire’s following pout session was much longer, and intense, than any other… and for Haseo, he wasn’t sure if this was normal or he did something to upset the filly. Though, given how it was already late in the evening, he decided to head towards his room. Followed by asking her one last question. “Well, I’m going to turn in for right now… Did you want to snuggle with me one more time before I get some sleep?”

“Up.” Was Sapphire’s simple reply as she put up her forhooves in a ‘pick me up’ gesture as she silently demanded cuddles. It was the only answer that he needed as he bent over to pick up the filly and held her in his arms again. Even if the world was dangerous out there, he knew that wherever they were or whoever they were up against, Sapphire would always be safe with him.



Elsewhere…

When the dust storm in the badlands had finally subsided, Sunset Shimmer trotted forth from the confines of the hive she came into contact with and out into the open. Yet, this unicorn was not the same as the one that stumbled into. What she saw in there and who she met had changed her. After her original plan upon returning to Equestria had failed, she was lost and felt as if she had no reason for coming back. The Equestria she returned to was not the same as the one that she ran away from all those years ago.

She wanted to learn and survive… and because of someone she met in that Hive, the unicorn now had a new purpose. To find the eight pieces of Morti and restore her back to who she once was. A task that would seem like a huge undertaking, but nopony said that she had to do it alone.

The swarm that lived in the hive that Morti called home was now a hive that she had control of. To call upon them when it was time to weaken one of the eight and for Morti to reclaim what was hers. But it was not time to have them answer her call just yet. She had a town to find first, one that was not far from the capital of Canterlot.

Once Sunset found it, then it would be the right time to call upon the hive… so they can help her burn it to the ground.