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// Chapter 15 - On the Edge 
// Story: Reflections in Black and Pink 
// by Krixwell 
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Having been cooped up in one city for most of her life, Party Popper had never quite appreciated just how FUN trotting through the woods could be.

Bouncing along between the densely packed trees of the Undiscovered West, she could feel laughter coming back to her after too many mirthless hours on the train from Ponyville to a small railroad junction north of Las Pegasus. Stepping into the seemingly endless forest, she had finally put Ponyville behind her and turned her gaze forward, into the unknown. This was what being on an adventure was all about, she decided, and it was FUN.

Unfortunately, she seemed to be the only one who thought so.

"I don't see what's so funny," Mandible grumbled when Popper let some of her laughter out. He was pushing through branches ahead of the squad, alongside Frons, but where Frons kept holding the branches out of the others' path until they had passed, Mandible let the branches swing back with no care for who had to duck. They had started out in two files, but by now only Labrum was walking directly behind Mandible.

"I saw a tree that looked like a bird!" Popper said, pointing to a stout tree with fungi growing on the side of the trunk. In truth, it was a stretch, but the mushrooms really reminded her of a beak.

Mandible squinted irritably at the tree, then kept pushing through the forest. "I don't see it."

"Me neither," said Gena, though Popper could have sworn the airborne changeling was squinting at her, not the FUNny tree. "Must be your imagination."

"It's good to have a strong imagination," Frons said. "It helps you think of what to say when ponies might be getting suspicious of you."

"Yeah, if you use it properly," Gena retorted, "instead of telling them railroad schedules have suddenly changed."

"I panicked, okay?" Popper pleaded. Gena had refused to let up on that since they left Ponyville.

"No," Mandible said, "that's not okay. Good changeling agents never panic or act rashly."

"You're one to talk," Labrum said. His chuckle was cut short as he had to dodge a particularly quick-swinging branch.

In the very back of the group, Clypeus stopped, looking back at the stout tree for a few moments. "...heh," he finally said as he turned back towards the group. He didn't smile, but he didn't frown either.

It was a small sound, but it made Party Popper grin. She would teach him to laugh yet.





Party Popper had never quite appreciated just how FUN trotting through the woods could be.

…for a while.

"Are we there yet?" she asked, shifting on her sore hooves.

"No!" Mandible snapped, rounding on her. He had only gotten more and more irritable as the squad traveled through the increasingly dense woods. Sore hooves or not, Party Popper couldn't understand why.

"Actually—" Frons started saying, but Mandible cut him off.

"No, we are not there yet! Just like we weren't there yet the last fifty buzzing times you asked, and probably won't be there the next fifty either!"

"Mandible—"

"And I'm sick and tired of you and your incessant bouncing and babbling about trees with beaks and foals and baking and… and whatever those other things you mentioned were!"

"Mandible."

"I can't take any more of these buzzing woods and their buzzing branches and… and you!" he pointed accusingly at Gena, "Frons gets us all to stay low because Proboscis can't buzzing fly but you just can't keep your hooves on the ground for five seconds, can you!"

Gena simply shrugged in the air as Mandible turned on Frons. "And you—"

"MANDIBLE!" Frons cut him off. His voice was loud and firm, but somehow it still didn't feel like a shout. Pushing a branch to the side and revealing a ray of light, he calmly added, "We're there."

"...oh," Mandible said, his rant stopped dead in its tracks.

Following Frons and a quieted Mandible, Party Popper bounced past the last few branches. The forest abruptly opened up onto a small ledge overhanging the border of a large wasteland where nothing, not even grass, seemed to grow. The remains of a few dead trees were the only vegetation ahead.

Right in the middle of the wasteland, close enough to bring hope for sore hooves but far enough that the thought of walking even that far made her hooves ache preemptively, towered what she could only assume was the changeling hive. The tall, pointy structure was a lot more menacing than she had expected, even at such a distance.

It looked like the home of villains.

"Hive, sweet hive," Labrum said, gliding off the ledge on his insectoid wings. "You coming?"

Jolted from her thoughts of the hive, Party Popper looked around herself and realized she and Clypeus were the only ones left on the ledge. Frons, Gena and Mandible were already well ahead of them.

"It's not as high as it looks," Clypeus said, taking flight and hovering next to her. "Just drop down and you'll be okay, I promise." He gently flew down to the ground below, where Labrum was waiting.

With a hop, skip and a gentle drop, Party Popper entered the changeling wasteland. A chill went through her body, leaving her with a sense of… what was that? Hunger? No. She wouldn't need to eat for another good while, she thought. So why did she suddenly feel like much of the strength in her body was gone? Was this what lethargy felt like?

Somehow, it made her feel more anchored, more real. She wasn't sure she liked it.

Still, she had come this far. There was no reason not to power through. When she had first started on her journey, it had just been because of her willingness to go along with things, but somewhere along the way, something had changed. Now, she had found she was actively looking forward to seeing what her new friends' home was like. That would be FUN… right?

Right?

And so, as she followed the changelings across the wasteland surrounding the changeling hive, trotting rather than bouncing, Party Popper hoped she hadn't made a huge mistake.