Chapter Twenty-Four
Page Turner
Page did her best not to bite her lip as her hive continued to chatter within her mind. They were still not entirely happy with her being with Night but while she had been able to convince most of them to let her have her own say in this matter, a lot of them were pushing for her and some of the elders to leave and return to the old hive, if not somewhere else. Being their Queen and this exposed made a lot of them worried and her place as her own representative could always be explained away as Page being replaced for a more seasoned changeling.
However, she still had her own arguments for why she should stay. Her status as one of the new Virtues, for example, which Memorizing had already cautioned her would make the other Equestrians not want to see her leave. Her own desire to stay was also a strong factor, and with a large number of her changelings backing her no matter what she chose, the Sages weren't ready to outvote her just yet.
There were also the other ties she was making. Stock Market's new business and personal partnerships with Hidden Dagger and her existing circle of businessponies had taken off within a surprisingly short amount of time, and he had privately thanked Page for putting him in position to make those partnerships. He wasn't ready to publicly reveal himself as a changeling and was waiting for the laws to become clearer so he could start donating to the hive, but her actions had helped clear the way for that to happen in the future, and for that, he was grateful.
And Night's family... a few of the more independently free thinking Sages were starting to realize that Night's family held the official deeds to where their old hive was and they thought she could use her connection to Night to get them back. While she was hesitant to do so, she could admit, even to herself, that they had a point. The hive may have bad associations for her, if only because it was once home to the changeling she would never forgive for their actions, but she knew that she had to put the needs of her hive ahead of her personal desires in some matters.
Not when it came to choosing her love partner though. That was something she would not allow herself to be bullied into changing her mind on.
"Everything okay Page?" Wind Breaker asked with Page blinking.
"Sorry if I seem a little spacey," she said. "The Hivemind's rather loud at the moment, and I'm having to sort out a few of my own thoughts too."
"Are they still insistent on that matter from before?" Rex asked with Wind Breaker looking confused.
"No, fortunately," Page said. "Just some things in general." Seeing Wind Breaker's expression, she added, "Some of them were wanting me to choose a pureblood changeling as my partner rather than a non-changeling. I put a stop to that as soon as I found out."
"Really?" Wind Breaker asked in complete surprise before shaking his head. "They are so lucky that Night wasn't here to hear that. I don't think any of us could have stopped him. Though I think I would have been there with him to be honest." He chuckled.
Page smiled. "Fortunately, the one they had in mind saw reason," she said. "And for other reasons, it's a good thing I was able to speak with him anyway. I may have no romantic interest in anypony other than Night, but the changeling who was put forward as a candidate has other resources that are proving helpful to us. And, as it turns out, I was able to introduce him to Night's oldest sister, since they have similar interests in business, and she in turn introduced him to a number of her associates." She sighed. "But other than that, there is still a lot of work the Queen wishes me to do in her stead, including trying to get the land where our hive once stood back. Though some say that having an open location for our hive is a bad idea."
Wind looked as if he was about to say something, but then tilted his head, and nodded understandingly. "I get what you mean," he said. "Don't want to put all your eggs in one basket, and all that."
"There is also the fact that King Well Banded still wishes to meet with the Queen," Page let out a groan. "To finalize papers and make official ties with our hive and any other hives." And I still need to find some time to sneak away so I could meet them, she thought to herself. Those were not people she could put off meeting with for too long. Her hive still had a lot to answer for regarding what Chrysalis did and she had no idea how the other Queens would respond to her.
"And your Queen still has yet to reveal herself," Rex hummed, while Wind blinked.
"I didn't realize there were other hives," he said.
Page nodded. "Most don't," she said, looking at the guards who might be telling others of these secrets. "And for all I know-" the words almost caught in her throat, but she continued. "There aren't any others left. From what I've been told by the Queen and the Sages, Chrysalis was very obsessive about maintaining control, and part of how she rose to power was by eliminating the Queens of smaller hives and assimilating those hives into her own. She may well have taken over and assimilated all of them by the time she launched her invasion." She looked grim. "If any survived, our Queen hasn't admitted to ever speaking to them, nor have any of our Sages."
Which is the truth, she thought to herself. She had been very surprised to discover that the Griffish Isles hive had been an independent one, with its own distinct hivemind, rather than just being changelings from her own hive that had escaped Equestria like she'd thought. Oh, there were enough of them that shared blood ties with members of her own hive, and those ties had been sufficient for her to form a link to their hivemind. That, coupled with their general friendliness and welcoming attitude towards her, had enabled her to speak through one of them. But none of the changelings she had spoken to had said so much as a word about their Queen. She knew, through logical deduction, that at least one had to exist. But they had not spoken to her, and she was not in any hurry to reveal their continued survival to anyone, not even her friends, or Memorizing and his brothers.
I do owe their Queen a meeting though, she thought to herself. To thank them for all the help their people gave my friends.
She shook herself to clear her thoughts as they approached the Library and Page focused on other stuff, namely her friend. "I'm sorry Wind, I've been completely distracted. You said you were not able to find your parents?" she asked, placing a hoof on his shoulder.
Wind nodded. "Found somegriff who might have been my mom, but by the time we got there... she had the wrong eyes, and a letter from her actual kid." He sighed sadly, though he didn't feel sad. "Five days of walking, and that's what it got me." He tilted his head upwards as he continued up the steps. "Night and some others have promised to keep helping me with trying to find my family. I've got to think about what I really want to do first, though."
"Hmmm," Rex tapped his chin as he pulled out his notebook. "I wonder," he mused to himself as he walked up the steps. "I will need to borrow some of your feathers, Wind Breaker. I might be able to achieve something."
Wind looked at him curiously, but shrugged. "All right."
Rex looked at him, and placed a paw on his shoulder. "Again, this is no guarantee," he stated, squeezing Wind's shoulder. "But I might be able to do a genetic tracker based on my work with Page's necklace, or our vanquished foe."
"Excuse me, but did you say a genetic tracker?" one of the Magi of Stars Guards asked, looking at him with interest. "As in, something that could help us find someone based on DNA alone?"
Rex nodded. "It is certainly a possibility," he said. "I presume you are thinking of the use that such a thing could have in tracking criminals who left DNA evidence at a crime scene?"
The guard nodded. "That sort of thing could revolutionize our work!" he said excitedly. "The Captain has been theorizing and working up some markups before all of this started. She will definitely wish to hear this." He placed a hoof against his helmet and began to talk into it with a conversation quickly unfolding. It seemed that the helmet had a spell that blocked speech as Page couldn't hear what was being said. Finally, he took his hoof away, and looked at Rex. "She is too busy to talk now, but she's very interested, and she says she'll speak with you about it when she has the chance," he reported. "I have not heard the Captain this excited in a long time."
"Excuse me, but did you say you might be able to find his mother?" Hush Tone asked as she suddenly stepped out of the Library's doors and looked at Rex hopefully.
"I might," Rex repeated, stressing the last word. "It would work on similar principles to other trackers I have developed. I still need time to actually create it though."
Hush Tone nodded, rubbing her arms. "I was curious if you could try and find my own child," she said with shame radiating off of her and Page was already by her side. "I gave them up long ago as per one of the means to pay off my debt. I am not proud of it, and I wish I had never done so."
Rex bowed to her. "I shall do my best," he said.
Page looked at the griffon who had been like a mother to her, and nuzzled her. "Let's go inside," she said. "All of us."
Hush Tone looked at her gratefully, and then the two walked in, side by side. Page could hear Wind and Rex behind them, and the guards as well, but for now, she tuned the latter, and as much of the hivemind as she could, out.
Right now, more than anything, her mother needed her.
Serrated Dagger
Night Blade visibly winced as the doctors removed the wrappings from his wings, and Serrated couldn't help but flinch as she saw the wounds.
The doctors didn't look too happy either. "Just what did you do to yourself, young colt?" one of them asked.
"Got in a bad fight with some ponies trying to kill my friends and I a few months ago, and then another one when I was helping fight that monster possessing the king," Night grumbled and winced again. "Ouch."
"And you didn't wait for it to heal up before you started flying again?" another of them asked, clicking their tongue in clear disapproval.
"I had been under the impression that I was physically fit to do so from the magic I was exposed to shortly after that second injury," Night replied. "It healed everything and everypony else I could see, except my scar up here. I don't know why it started acting up again."
"I'll vouch for that," Vix-Lei volunteered. The doctors had been hesitant to let her into the examining room at first, since she wasn't related to their newest patient, but Serrated herself had spoken in her favor. The minotaur was now sitting off to one side, and Serrated could tell she too looked worried about Night and his injuries. "Broke my arm and my hammers in a few places during the same fight, but after that rainbow wave, they were all good as new."
The doctor who'd spoken first shook his head. "Some of these injuries look a lot older than that," he said. "You must not have received proper treatment after the fight where you got them."
"We got as best as we could," Night said with a grunt. "But the Questioning Order are not exactly known for their bedside manners."
The same doctor gave him a surprised look, and then shook his head. "Describe for us exactly what kind of treatment they gave you," he said.
As Night began doing so, Serrated turned to Vix-Lei. "You know him better than I do," she said quietly. "And Page didn't say anything about it when we were talking, but I have to ask. Is he... always like this when it comes to getting medical treatment?"
"Pretty much," the minotaur said. "He's stubborn that way. I had to carry him a few times so he wouldn't strain himself when he was recovering from those wounds the first time, and he was not happy about it." She shook her head. "Under all that crankiness, your brother's a great guy, and loyal to a fault; he loves Page, and he's risked his life to save the rest of us more than once. I don't know what we'd have done without him."
Serrated nodded. "Thank you for taking care of him," she said.
"Hey, it's the least I could do," Vix-Lei said. "He's a friend, even if we didn't realize that's what we were all becoming at first." Then she looked at Serrated curiously. "Nighty hasn't said much about his family, other than his biggest brother and his nephew being in the Guard," she said. "And how he got his mark for matching his other brother in swordplay. He didn't even mention any sisters that I remember, at least before we saw the four of you when you all dropped in that night. So... what do you do for a living?"
Serrated looked a bit uncomfortable at Vix-Lei's words, but then perked up at the last part. "I'm a singer," she said.
Vix-Lei smiled. "Really? What kind of songs do you do?"
"Oh, a little of this and that," Serrated said. "What kinds do you like?"
"Pretty much anything," Vix-Lei said. "Back at the shipyards, we liked to sing whatever came to mind while we worked. As long as it wasn't anything bawdy, that is. Mom wouldn't stand for that kind of stuff."
Serrated giggled as she imagined the diminutive minotaur browbeating the shipmaster and any other minotaur with ease. "I don't have anything like that," she said. "My songs tend to be more of the classical and modern range, though I have been thinking of branching out to others."
"Ahem," one of the doctors coughed, looking at them. "If you two wish to continue your discussion, I would appreciate it if you would take it outside."
Both blushed and looked back at where Night was still sitting. "How's he doing?" Serrated asked.
"As long as he stays off his wings and out of any more fights, he should recover fully within a few weeks," the other doctor said. "And if one of you will keep putting the medicine he needs on his wing to speed the process, that will help a great deal. We still have a few other things to examine though, like this scar for one thing."
"His sides didn't start bleeding again, did they?" Vix-Lei asked nervously.
"No, those injuries at least have recovered," the doctor told her.
"Good." The minotaur looked relieved, though Night seemed to be unhappy. "Now mister Blade, I need you to keep your eye on as much as possible."
Night grumbled something under his breath, but did as he was told as the light was shined on his eye and the doctor peered at it through one of his medical tools. After hemming and hawing, he nodded his head. "Despite the scarring, you seem to have full function in your eye and eyelid," he said.
"I was unconscious when my friends and I were first rescued and treated, but I was told afterward that healing my eye was the first thing they did," Night said stiffly, blinking his eyes angrily. "Though they would have been fine if I had lost it; me being intact was not their highest priority but transferring us to their headquarters was. At least, that's what I was able to determine based on other comments I heard once I was awake again."
The doctor shook his head. "And they wonder why so many ponies didn't like them," he said. "You were very lucky not to have lost that eye. I don't know as I've ever seen that kind of scarring on one before - what exactly happened to it?"
"My sword broke when I used it to block another blade, and some of the shards hit me in the face," Night told him sourly. "I'd rather not think too much on that day, in all honesty."
The doctor nodded. "Well, thankfully your eye remains functional," he said. "I think we're done here. Just remember what I said: stay off your wings until they're fully healed, and change the bandages and have that medicine put on them at least once a day."
Night nodded back. "I will," he said.
"And miss Dagger," the doctor said. "Make sure he comes in for another checkup in a week, all right?"
Serrated nodded, then watched as Night got down off the examination table. "Come on," she said. "Let's go get that set up."
Night grimaced, but did as she told him.
It was nearly half an hour before the three of them were out of the hospital and on their way.
"So, where to now?" Vix-Lei asked. "We're joining the others at the library, or what?"
"Don't see why not," Serrated told her. "I don't have anywhere else to be, and I certainly don't mind spending more time getting to know all of you." She shrugged. "One of the benefits of being a famous singer, I get to take several months off at a time so I can work on my music as the inspiration comes."
Night huffed angrily which made Serrated pause and stare at her younger brother before realizing that he was no doubt thinking if she could have taken off time beforehoof, then she could have tried to make an effort to see him before.
"Night, I am sorry that I didn't make more of an effort to be here for you earlier," she said. "I..."
"It's... not something that's okay, though I am learning how to accept it and not hold it against any of you," Night said with a sigh and gave her a smile. "Any of my friends can tell you I can be a real grumpy asshole and hold grudges for a long time and it is something I should work on."
Serrated smiled back. "It's something we all need to work on," she said. "And trust me, I know from experience what it's like to deal with somepony who's cranky all the time. Crooked can be a professional most of the time now, and behind closed doors he has a strange sense of humor, but there were a few of his teenage years when he was always in one of those moods."
"Really?" Night asked, looking interested.
Serrated nodded. "I don't know how Hidden, or Mom or Dad, put up with it," she said. "Deep and I mostly just stayed out of his way when he was like that, until he finally calmed down. Going into the Guards was the best thing for him in the end."
Night nodded. "I never really knew any of this," he said. "What other stories can you tell me?"
"Oh, quite a few," Serrated told him. "Like the time Hidden short-sheeted Crooked's bed while he was asleep in it. Without getting caught."
Vix-Lei let out a hoot of laughter. "Now this, I have to hear!"
Serrated grinned, and began describing the sequence of events that had led up to the night in question and what came after. By the time she'd finished the entire story, both her brother and his friend were cracking up.
"And that's when our parents both facehooved and grounded them until they'd gotten over the headaches those two were giving them," Serrated concluded.
Night winced a little as his wing shifted, but he was still grinning. "I can understand why," he said. "There is a lot I've got to learn Serrated and... I'm happy that you can teach me."
"I'm happy I can teach you too," Serrated told him. "And Hidden and Deep will both be glad to be able to do the same, when they can - Hidden's actually gone back to Manehatten for a day or so, she needed to deal with a few urgent meetings that couldn't be handled remotely, but she should be back later this week. Crooked too, once everything's straightened out with his Captain." She sighed. "I haven't seen him in person since this whole thing started, though as far as we know, he and Striking are both managing over on Mount Legion."
Vix-Lei scratched her head. "The reason for this whole thing is because IA is throwing a hissy fit over two captains being together, right? Why? I mean, the Captain-General's a Flare, and the other guy's on the same level. They're both fully capable of handling pretty much anything, so it's not like one of them really needs to worry about the other getting hurt, right? Isn't that the main reason for the anti-fraternization regs?"
"There's more to it than that," Serrated said with a wince. "It's complicated, and I don't fully understand everything myself."
"It seems that they were expecting her to fold," Night said. "Who would gain anything from her stepping down?"
Vix-Lei tilted her head. "Cui bono indeed," she mused.
"Exactly," Night told her. "Who benefits."
"We've been wondering that ourselves, sir," one of the guards who was walking nearby said, and Serrated started with a jolt - she'd been so focused on chatting with Night and Vix-Lei, she hadn't realized when the guards had appeared around them again. "We're hoping it all gets settled tomorrow."
"What could happen in the trial?" Night asked.
"We really don't know, sir," the guard replied. "If the Captain-General has a planned response, she's keeping it under her hat. Metaphorically speaking. Though the judge could rule in IA favour and force her to choose between her career and Captain Gaze."
Vix-Lei looked disgusted. "That's just not right," she muttered.
"No, it isn't," the guard said with a sigh. "What I'd like to know is who took the picture in the first place; from what I've heard Captain Gaze is really observant and is aware of his surroundings and the Captain-General is the Captain-General so I'm surprised that someone managed to sneak a picture of them."
"What Captain Gaze really wants to know," one of the guards said with a toothy grin that made Serrated think they were one of those secret changeling guards that were starting to come to light. "Is how someone knew to be there. That was an impromptu meeting between the two and the guards do not turn on one of their own unless absolutely needed."
Vix-Lei gave him a curious look. "Why would they need to turn on one of their own?" she asked. "I mean, you guys are all loyal to the crown and Equestria."
"If one of us turned out to be a crook trying to infiltrate the guard, then they were never really one of us, and we'd take them down and see to it that they got what they deserved," the guard said with the others looking at him suspiciously now that his disguise fell away and revealed himself to be one of those Hidden Guards. "Or if one of us turned out to be mind-controlled, the rest of us would do what we needed to do to free them of it. Among other, more private matters that either we or the IA take care of before it gets out to the public. But this... this isn't something that any of us would have gone after them for." He grimaced, then continued.
"There are a few reasons I can think of for someone to have done this," he said, all of them looking at him. "First, is that someone did this out of spite. The Captain-General does have a few enemies out there, after all. The other is that it might have been one of those anti-changeling nuts. Captain Gaze did reveal himself and our Guards and there are still anti-changeling sentiments out there." His ears flicked about as he looked at his fellow guards. "The only real people who knew of where they were were the other Captains and those in the upper echelons of the Hivemind guard section. But we know none of the Captains would have done this, and the Hidden Guard are all loyal to Captain Gaze."
"You hope," Night Blade said with the guards, all of them, nodding reluctantly. "You also hope it was just someone who was at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Exactly," the guard replied. "I still think there's something suspicious going on though, and we are investigating." He shot a look at Night and Vix-Lei. "I shouldn't have to tell you, but you two and the rest of your group need to watch out, just in case somepony decides to pull the same thing on you. You and your friends are national heroes now, but there are some people out there who just don't like the idea of heroes for whatever reason and would do their best to tear them down. Especially those of you who aren't ponies."
"Bronze Sheet-your name is Bronze Sheet, right?" one of the other guards, one of the Luna Guards, looked at the changeling who nodded his head. "Bronze is right; your protection is paramount for your duty to the nation and other stuff that is classified and beyond our clearance."
Night nodded. "We're aware," he said. "We've been careful, and we intend to continue to do so." Serrated's eyes were drawn to Night's sword and Vix-Lei's hammers and was reminded that both had participated in fights that had resulted in losses of life, more on Night's part if the stories were accurate. But then he spoke again. "We can only hope that it won't be necessary anytime soon for us to have to defend ourselves as fiercely as we have before. Especially with my wings being like they are."
The guards around them all nodded in approval.
"And if something does come up, the rest of us can pick up the slack until you get all better," Vix-Lei said. "Wish I'd kept that extra hammer..."
"Somehow, I doubt our hosts of the time would have been too happy if you had," Night told her rather dryly. "They were reluctant enough to let me re-arm myself as it was once we got back, even if they understood why. But regardless, we should keep moving. The quicker we get back to the Library to meet our friends and not be out in the open, the safer we'll be."
"And you can go thank Page for that gift," Vix-Lei chuckled with her brother turning red at the ears and face. She remembered how Night had, while momentarily stopping at the manor so they could contact the hospital for the exam, opened the tube and saw the painting Deep made. Deep, who had been eating breakfast at the time, had told him it was something he had done for Crooked and his wife and it felt right that Night had something similar from his own special somepony. Night had blushed just as hard then, before thanking him.
Night had also got stuck promising to sit in for the new family painting that Deep had arranged, much to his and Serrated's annoyance in a few days. Serrated had told Night how dull those were and how long they were required to sit there. Crooked was going to get lucky as he would be painted first due to needing to head back to Vanhoover after all of the business with the Hatcheries and the Internal Affairs were over and they would be required to still be there, even when they were not being painted at the moment. The only reason Serrated was even remotely happy for it was it gave her and Night something to complain over together.
"Quite," Night said now, looking elsewhere.
With that, the three began to move again, the guards keeping around them. But as they went, Serrated gave Night a curious look.
She was definitely going to have to talk more with him about his adventures, she decided. She had the distinct feeling that they'd been through a lot more than what he and the others had already said.
Wind Breaker
Wind Breaker was at a bit of a loss, he had to admit. He had tried to help Rex with getting the books he needed but the librarians here had quickly taken over and his friend had more or less locked himself in a makeshift workshop, with guards teleporting off to get more of the precision tools that he needed from the shop he'd owned in the Middle. His apprentices Magic Mixture and Secured Connection were running the shop now, though Secured had been out when the Guards arrived. Her absence was nothing really, they'd assured Rex when they told him about it, but something was just pricklingly at the back at Wind's head. Thankfully, he was able to push it out of his mind as he helped the guards set up the workplace for his friend.
After that, he ended up with little to do as Page had left to talk to her Sages. With the only other people he knew in the Library being busy with their own things, Wind Breaker found himself wandering the aisles. He had pulled a few books out to look at the first few pages before putting them back; his mind still distracted by all that had happened in his life so far and what his friend was trying to do for him.
And not just for me, he thought to himself. He'd had a feeling about Hush Tone ever since they met, and she'd made her remark about the Hatcheries. Knowing she was like him, a former resident of one of those places, explained a lot.
Then he heard someone clearing their throat, and looked up to see the Matron he'd just been thinking about. "Hello, ma'am."
"Hello, young Wind," Hush Tone returned. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Just trying to figure out something I can keep busy with," Wind said with a sigh.
"Lost in thoughts of what could have beens, aren't you?" she asked with her own sigh, walking alongside him.
"Yeah," Wind said. "Not the first time I've wondered what life would be like if I'd grown up with an actual family."
"I expect most of us are the same," Hush Tone said. "I know I certainly did enough times." She looked down. "And I expect my child also did so. I don't even know if they were a boy or a girl..."
Wind nodded. "The griffons overseas don't like us much for that," he said. "When I told a couple of them I used to be a Hatchery griffon, they looked so disgusted when they thought I might have done that kind of thing to pay off my debt. Then I told them the Hatcheries had been shut down, and they all had a whole other expression for me."
"Surprise?" Hush Tone asked.
"Exactly," Wind said. "Also annoyance that the government hadn't bothered to tell them about it."
"As if our government would do anything else," she said with a huff. "Though I expect they had simply not had the time to inform the proper channels yet before you left."
"Oh, that reminds me," Wind said with a snap of his fingers, causing Hush to turn to face him. "I need to talk to one of the Hidden Guards later about something. Somehow they knew about me over there, even though our names should have been suppressed - something about third party news organizations, I think they said."
Hush Tone grimaced. "Sludgenews, in other words," she said. "Obnoxious troublemakers in general, but even they can get a few things right from time to time. Still, from what Page told me, this shouldn't have even reached them with how many are working to protect you six."
Wind nodded. "And that worries me. I can understand our family members being told about us, those of us who have family that we know about, but the rest of the public..."
Hush Tone nodded her head. "Sludgenews reporters are like that, I suppose," she said. "Whether their information is accurate or not, they tend to be just as efficient, if not more so, at finding things out as the Hidden Guards. At least, that's what I understand, from what I have been told of the latter's function."
Wind nodded again. "I can't imagine any of them are happy at this." He sighed. "Goddesses, all this is so messed up..."
Hush Tone looked down at him. "What will be, will be," she said sadly. "You fret over what you could say to those who you were taken from while I fret over what I would say to the one I gave up."
Wind nodded, then was silent for a moment before he made up his mind. "When... when we were fighting our enemy, after we got back to Canterlot," he said. "It created illusions for five of us - not Xvital, she was somewhere else. But the rest of us had to deal with these fake versions of our lives where we were all happy. Illusions we had to work our way out of so we could fight back, because we'd all realized something was wrong with them. Mine was... was a life where I was living at home with my mom, in Griffonstone. And for a moment, I heard her voice."
Hush Tone gave him a somber look, before he shook his head and continued. "The thing is, I don't know if it was really her voice, something that got pulled out of my subconscious memories from before I hatched, or just something that monster came up with out of nowhere."
"Who but the goddesses can say?" Hush Tone asked. "Once your friend finishes his work, hopefully we can find out."
"Maybe not right away, but there is something," Rex suddenly said from behind them, the two turning to see him approaching, accompanied by Page and a ring of guards. Page, Wind noticed, was smiling from ear to ear.
"I would have been here sooner, though I had to test my results multiple times as the results proved to be unexpected," Rex continued. "While I have yet to produce a tracker for these spells, they did produce a reaction towards each other that indicated a faint connection between the two. This is what prompted me to do my tests and request the aid of Sound Record and High Finish and..." he paused, his tail wagging behind him, as he nudged Page to finish. She stepped forward, her grin having increased even more.
"Matron Hush Tone, we would like to introduce you to your grandson, Wind Breaker," Page said before looking at him. "And Wind Breaker, we would also like to introduce you to your grandmother, Hush Tone."
Both griffons' beaks fell open in shock.
And then Wind felt it. A distinct twinge within himself, as he looked around at all of them, then finally back to Hush Tone.
"It's true," he breathed. "You're..."
Before he could continue, he felt the older griffon's arms around him.
"Grandson," she breathed.
And then nothing more was said as they embraced.
When the two finally drew apart, Hush Tone looked down at him. "I never thought I would see the day," she said.
"All this time," Wind said with a smile. "You were right here, and I never knew it."
"Neither of us did," Hush Tone said. "But now we know..." She turned to Rex, and gave him a smile. "Thank you so much, good sir," she said. "For helping us."
"The same from me," Wind said.
Rex bowed. "It was my pleasure," he said.
Wind smiled back. Then he glanced over at Page, and suddenly, something clicked. "Hey... um... Matron..."
"You can call me Grandma now," Hush Tone said with a smile.
"Right. Um, Grandma... Page is your daughter in all but blood."
"Yes," Hush Tone said, looking at him curiously.
"Does that make her my aunt?"
Page's eyes widened, and Hush Tone looked amused. "I suppose it does," she said.
"That explains it." Wind smiled again, before looking at Page. "Since we fought you-know-who, I've felt this kind of deeper, platonic connection to you," he said. "Like I told Night and Vix-Lei while we were away, I didn't understand it then, but now I know what it means."
Page blushed. "I... suppose it fits," she said. "Well... welcome to the family."
Wind smiled at her again. "Good to have family," he said. "Both of you."
Near her, the two changeling brothers both beamed. "Congratulations, you two," one of them said.
Wind smiled. "Thanks, guys."
Rex clapped his paws. "Well then!" he said. "I am very happy to have helped you find one another, but I feel I should let you all have your space. I have more work to do, and I will see you again later." With that, he turned and headed away, a detachment of guards following him.
Hush Tone nodded. "Page, grandson... come with me," she said. "To my office, if you don't mind."
Both nodded, and followed after her.
When they'd entered her office and she'd shut the door behind them, she closed her eyes for a minute, then looked at both Page and Wind.
"Grandson," she said. "I want you to tell me everything. All there is to know about your life... the life I've missed out on."
Wind nodded, and began speaking.
It took him quite some time to get through parts of it, and he noticed Page casting a few spells to prevent eavesdropping when they got to certain parts. He also had to stop and clarify a few points when Hush Tone or Page asked about them. But finally, he finished his description of their travels through the Griffish Isles and then their meeting Vix-Lei's family after they got back, and that was the end.
"So that's it," he concluded. "It's been a wild ride, but that was my life."
Page stood up, came over and hugged him. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered, gesturing to his saddlebags.
"As am I," Hush Tone said. "You made an old hen very happy today, Wind Breaker."
Wind blushed and scratched his head. "Aw, shucks."
Page smiled at him again, then her ears flicked. "And it looks like the rest of our friends just arrived from the hospital," she said. "Do you want me to go get them, or..."
"Stay," Hush Tone said. "Ask one of your guards to bring them."
Page nodded, and did as she was told. A few minutes later, two Nox Ponies and Vix-Lei entered the office, Vix-Lei looking around with interest.
"Nice architecture you've got," she said. "Don't think I've ever been by here since I met you, Page." Then she looked at the Matron, and bowed. "You must be Matron Hush Tone. Nice to meet you, ma'am," she said.
"It's good to meet the last of Page's friends too," Hush Tone said. "Sit, sit."
Night, Serrated and Vix-Lei all sat, once Vix-Lei had closed the door behind them, and Night looked around. "How is everything?" he asked.
Wind smiled. "It's great," he said. "I got some very good news today."
"Oh?" Night looked at him. "What's happened?"
"Rex decided to put his expertise to work," Wind said. "He thought he could make a tracker to find my parents, like the one he made to find you-know-who. I know, I know, I wasn't going to jump into that sort of thing again," he said as he saw the look on Night's face. "But he offered, I accepted, and... well, he didn't exactly get it working like he planned yet, but he did find something, and double-checked it. And it turns out I had family here all along."
Vix-Lei looked eager. "What'd he find?"
"My grandmother," Wind said, gesturing to Hush Tone.
Night's eyes grew wide, and he broke out into a smile. "Well, congratulations."
Serrated and Vix-Lei echoed his words, both looking very happy. Then Vix-Lei looked at Page and at Hush Tone, and her eyes brightened. "Say... you two are practically mom and daughter, right? Doesn't that make Windy your nephew, Page?"
Hush Tone looked amused, and Wind nodded. "Which explains the connection I'd started feeling between us, that I told you about," he said.
Night's own eyes went wide, and Wind had a feeling he knew what the other male was thinking. "Don't think too hard about it right now," he advised him. "Plenty of time for that later."
Night nodded, with Serrated looking at them curiously. But before she could speak, Page did, her eyes on Night. "How did things go at the hospital?" she asked softly.
"My wings will recover," Night said gruffly. "I have to stay off them for a few weeks more until the doctors confirm they have healed up fully, and I have appointments to have them checked on a regular basis for the foreseeable future."
Page nodded.
"Which means we might have to ask Deep to delay that new family painting until you can pose for it without your bandages," Serrated whispered to him, though not quietly enough to not be overheard. Night's ears flicked at her words, and he nodded.
Hush Tone looked at him now, and her own ears flicked. "I do hope your injuries aren't sufficient to prevent myself and Page from having that dinner with your parents and yourself," she said.
Night shook his head. "As long as I don't have to use my wings for it, that shouldn't be a problem," he said, sounding a little nervous. "We'll make the arrangements to do it as soon as possible."
Hush Tone nodded in satisfaction, and Wind mentally snickered to himself.
Who'd have imagined, he thought to himself. Night and I used to get on like... well, like two things that don't get along. Now, not only are we friends, once he marries Page - my friend, and my aunt - some day... he'll be my uncle too!
Then he looked around at the group in the room, and smiled once more. It feels good to have a family.