Kydra opened her eyes. She looked around the tent. Blue Fang wasn’t in the tent. Maybe he went to the lake. Kydra stretched. Time to get to work. She crawled out of her tent. Still no Blue Fang. Where is he? Kydra thought. She sighed. She grabbed two cups and walked towards the lake. She filled the two cups with water. She walked back to the camp. She set up a small campfire. She grabbed a cup of coffee mix. She poured the coffee mix into the two cups. She boiled the water and stirred the water until it turned into coffee. Not as good as the real stuff, but better than nothing. She took a sip of coffee, “ahh.” She looked around, “Blue! Blue!”
Nothing.
Kydra began to get worried. Blue wouldn’t leave her. Right? She used Instinct. Maybe she could see Blue's green outline. But alas, she didn’t see him. Maybe he’s just getting food. She took another sip of her coffee. Then she heard a faint rustling from the bushes. She switched her Instinct back on. A familiar Changeling outline was in her sight. She smiled, but then it dropped. It was Blue Fang, but he was covered in claw and bite marks. He was limping towards Kydra. She quickly threw her coffee to the side. “Blue! Blue Fang! What happened?!”
Blue Fang was simply muttering, “I took the shot. I took the shot. I took the shot…” over and over.
“What does that mean?!” Kydra asked.
He continued muttering the phrase. Kydra shook him around. Then he muttered one thing different, “I made Broken… W-Wing pr-proud.” Then he collapsed.
“Blue!” Kydra quickly shook her friend, “Wake up!” She wasn’t sure if he passed out from exhaustion or blood loss. She put her head to his chest. It was faint, but his heart was still pumping. She sighed. One less thing to worry about. She went back to the tent and grabbed a bed and some first aid equipment. She grabbed her friend, “don’t worry. I’ll get you home.”
The sounds of birds tweeting caught Blue Fangs attention. Wha- where am I? He looked around. Oh yeah. Camp. He sat up.
“Well, look who’s up.”
He looked over his shoulder, “hey Ky.” He looked around, “what happened?”
“You walked out of those bushes and were mumbling ‘I took the shot’ and then you collapsed.”
Blue! Blue take the shot! Blue Fang shook the thought from his head. “You alright?” Kydra asked.
“Wha- oh, uh, it’s nothing.”
“Are you sure?” Blue Fang nodded. “You wanna talk about it?” He shook her head. She walked over to Blue Fang, “you can tell me.” He shook his head again, “it might make you feel better.”
He looked down to the campfire. There was no escaping Kydra’s questions. “Sigh when I was younger, Broken took me out to the Everfree…
~~~
“Where are we going?” Blue Fang asked.
Brokenwing looked at his brother, “I’m taking you out here so we can get you ready to fight in the Devil Horns.”
“Oh. But are you sure we should be out in the Everfree?”
“Of course.”
The two brothers walked through the forest. Blue Fang looked around the forest. It felt weird, like someone was watching them.
“Stop!” Brokenwing said.
“What? What!”
“You hear that?”
There wasn’t a sound. Blue Fang couldn’t use Instinct, so he couldn’t see what Brokenwing heard or saw. “Focus.”
Blue Fang held his breath, then closed his eyes. He listened for any sound.
Pat.
Pat.
Pat.
What was that? It sounded like a shovel hitting the dirt.
Pat! Pat! Pat!
Pat! Pat! Pat!
Pat! Pat! Pat!
Whatever it was, it was getting fast! What the buck?
“Get back Blue!”
Blue Fang was tackled by his brother. He looked up. A large shadow lept from the bushes. Brokenwing shot a beam at the creature. The shadow dodged it and charged Brokenwing. The wolf pinned Brokenwing down. “Blue! Shoot it!”
Blue Fang got up. His mind was racing. His adrenaline was practically rushing through him like riptide. His body didn’t know what to do.
“Blue! Blue take the shot!”
“I’m trying! I’m trying!” He couldn’t charge his magic. He silently begged his horn to shoot.
Brokenwing grabbed a nearby rock and smashed it over the wolf’s head. The wooded wolf disintegrated in dark smoke. Brokewing got up and dusted himself off. He looked at Blue Fang. “You alright?”
“I’m sorry Broken, I- I don’t know what-”
“Listen good Blue.” Blue Fang looked at his brother. He bowed his head in shame. He was ready for the berating his brother had in store. “It’s only natural to be scared.” He walked past Blue Fang. “We need to head home baby brother.” He started walking in the direction of the Hive. Blue Fang noticed he was walking funny. Almost as if he was limping. Then Brokenwing fell onto his knees.
“Broken!” Blue Fang called. He ran over to his brother. Brokenwing took a breath before collapsing. Blue Fang dropped to the ground, “Broken?” He shook his brother, “Broken? Wake up!”
Growl
Blue Fang looked over his shoulder. Two Timberwolves stepped out from the bushes. Then another. And another. And another. Blue Fang nuzzled Brokenwings body. “Please Broken. Wake up.”
The Timberwolves charged the two. Blue Fang nuzzled Brokenwings body. He closed his eyes.
Roar!
“Broken!”
Zap! Zap!
Blue Fang looked up. “Your Majesty!” She stepped in front of the two. She shot two more beams at the creatures. They growled at the regal Changeling before retreating into the forest. Many more Changelings stepped out of the shrubbery.
Chrysalis walked over to the two brothers. “You. Little. Coward.” She walked to the two Changelings. She kneeled down to the two brothers. “That’s what the old Queen used to call me. Then I proved her wrong, by taking the throne.” She stroked Blue Fangs wings. “Now you’re my son Blue Fang, and I would never call you anything but your name but you gotta tell me something. Are you gonna lay there and swallow the blood in your mouth. Or are you going to get up, spit it out, and go spill theirs?”
~~~
“I’ve never been the same ever since.”
Kydra looked at the Changeling.
“Those words stuck with me ever since. I swore I would never let Broken down again.” He put his hooves to his face.
“You alright?”
He dropped hooves, “yeah. I just… wish I could’ve done something… but I just sat there and watched.”
He started to pout a bit. Kydra moved beside him. She noticed a small tear running down his face. She hugged him. “It’s okay to cry, Blue. Just let it out.”
Blue Fang didn’t know what to do. He put his head to her chest. He started to let the tears fall. “There you are Blue. Let it all out.” She stroked the crying Changelings wings.
“Why’d I just sit there? Why’d I just sit there? Why’d I just sit there…”
“Blue, it wasn’t your fault.”
“But it was. I had the chance to shoot! I shouldn’t have had a problem shooting the wolf. But I just sat there.”
“It was just fear, Blue. You didn’t have the ability to shoot. It was an accident, Blue. And I’m sure Brokens already forgiven you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’m sure of it.” Kydra felt one of the Changelings' tears fall onto her hoof. She looked at the tear, which was red. “Blue, let me see your eye.” He stared at her. “Ah, Blue your eye scar opened up. Hold up.” She reached over to a couple leaves. She changed into a spider and pulled some silk.
“What are you doing, Ky?”
“Hold on.” She poked two holes into the edge of the leaf, then she knitted the silk through the holes, “here.” She put the eyepatch over Blue Fangs eye.
Blue Fang walked over to the lake to get a look at himself. “I look ridiculous Ky,” he said looking at his eyepatch, “How long do I have to wear this?”
“Until that scar heals.” She walked over to him. How he got the scare was a question she’d asked herself for a long time. Now, she could ask him about it. “How’d you get it anyway?”
He looked to the lake. “Remember Longstrike?”
“How could I forget?” She said, shuddering.
“Yeah. After the bell tower collapsed, a bit of shrapnel hit my eye.”
“Oh. I’m sorry Blue.”
“Wasn’t your fault.”
Kydra got up. “We should probably move back to camp tomorrow.” She said, looking at the sky.
“Alright, I’ll meet you in the tent in a bit.”
“Alright.”
~~~
Kydra laid in the tent. Where is he? She looked at the tent entrance. Don’t tell me he left…
Blue Fang thankfully walked into the tent. She sighed with relief. “Hey Ky.”
“Hey Blue.”
“Hey Ky.” He slid into the sleeping bag. He closed his eyes. “Please don’t dream… please don’t dream… please don’t…”
“Blue? You’re, uh?”
“Oh. Sorry… I uh.”
She hugged him, “it’s okay Blue.”
He smiled a bit. “Thanks Ky.”
The two friends held each other in an embrace. “Hey Ky?”
“Yeah?”
“Do… do you think death is scary?”
Kydra looked at him, “look at it like binoculars. Look at it through the right side, and it’s close. Look at it through the wrong side, and it’s really far away.”
“Did you just quote…”
She started laughing, “yeah, I did.”
“Wise words I guess.”
Kydra smiled. Blue Fang smiled back. “Blue?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you know about the Changeling who led Wonderbolt to safety?”
“Yeah. Why?”
She seemed to get a bit nervous. “Well what if I were to tell you that I was the Changeling who led Wonderbolt to safety.”
“Of course you were.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you’re a light hearted Changeling. It’s almost law that you would do something like that.”
She blushed, “th-thanks Blue.”
“No problem.”
The two friends held each other in silence. Kydra looked at Blue Fang, “you’re still awake? Aren’t you?”
“Yeah…” he looked at her. “I’m scared of that dream…”
“Then don’t worry about it.” She hugged him, “just, don’t worry about it.”
“Thanks Ky.”
~~~
Luna looked from her balcony. Her night shift was beginning. So far everypony was having great dreams. Then two dreams caught her attention. “Hmm.”
“What’s wrong sister?” Celestia said.
“Nothing,” Luna replied, looking from her balcony. She smiled, “it seems two creatures are having very good dreams.”
“Really? Who?”
Luna smiled again, “two very special Changelings.”