"I told Commander Path what happened," he said, glancing nervously around the restaurant. There didn't seem to be anyone paying particular attention to their table, but that was no guarantee. Even if no one had followed Tailslide, they might still recognize him. It must be inconvenient not being able to change his appearance like that. "The truth about—you, your brother, the place you came from."
Even spoken so vaguely, she sat up in her seat, relaxing her mind so she could feel at the emotions of everyone nearby. She felt nothing out of the ordinary—no sudden burst of shock or fear. If anyone had heard that, they didn't know what it meant.
"He didn't like that?" she guessed.
Tailslide leaned across the table, taking her foreleg. The intimacy wouldn't be something she resisted, except for the smell. He'd been working so long that she could smell nothing but sweat and industrial chemicals. So unnatural compared to the way he was before. "He wanted to reassign me on the spot. Thought I was hysterical after losing my partner, wanted to get me away from changelings."
"You're still here."
"Not with the guard, though." He leaned back, staring out the window. "He tried to get me forced back to Canterlot for evaluation—but he accepted my resignation before he signed the order, so he didn't have the authority to send me anywhere. Once he realized..." He didn't finish. But he didn't have to, Amie could see the results.
"When Commander Path says things, everypony listens. You're supposed to be gone. But why would you stay?"
His ears folded, wings slumping limply to his sides. "I had to know if you made it out okay. Nopony would tell me anything about the search. I know it ended about a week later, but I didn't hear if they found anyone. And there's that whole camp of ponies who need help. I wasn't sure what I would do, but somepony had to act. If you were gone, that just left me."
Even desperately hungry and covered with dirt, she could feel his determination, his selflessness. All that love focused on her—Amie would just explode if it kept up. She nodded tearfully, resting her foreleg on his. She didn't care about the dirt. "Well, we made it. We're doing things to try and help the camp, but you're probably safer if I don't tell you what those are."
He nodded. "Right. Probably. Of course. I know it was stupid to stay out here. I should've known there was... nothing I could do. I'm not Fancypants, I don't have a small fortune and friends all across the government. I'm just one volunteer. I was never going to convince anyone. Maybe I should just head back after all. Move back with the family in Cloudsdale."
He made to stand, but Amie caught him, holding his leg with hers. "Not like that you aren't. Let me pay for this, then come with me. It's freezing out there."
Tailslide looked like he wanted to argue the point. But with as hard as he'd been worked, he was far too exhausted to fight her. She left the bits on the table, and they headed out into the night. She kept her mind alert for anypony who might be following them, but felt none.
Commander Path might hate Tailslide and want to get rid of him, but he wasn't paranoid enough to have him tailed all the time. She led him across town, towards the part she tried to avoid walking through after dark. But she had an escort now. He might be filthy and exhausted, but Tailslide still had the build of a soldier under it all.
He still had the attitude, too. "You shouldn't take me," he said. "Wherever you're staying, they might get rid of you if they find out I'm here. I don't want you and your brother out on the street because of me."
She rolled her eyes. "I don't want you on the street because of me, Tailslide. Besides, they'll probably just think you're a client. They'll be happy that you're acting even more pathetic, hiring me."
"Client," he repeated. His optimism faded, replaced with the familiar undercurrent of crushing despair. "What are you doing to survive, Amie? You're not—"
"No," she said, exasperated. "We don't have to leave town." She tugged him down a nearby alley, with a straight shot to the back of the Rent-a-Friend. Low fog filled the streets, and her pony eyes had to squint to see through the shadow. But she managed without tripping. "I'd go into the wild over doing what you're thinking. I'm practically a survivalist by now. I'd build my own shelter and live off the land, foraging berries and hunting game."
Except she couldn't eat the berries anymore. They'd just be a seasoning she couldn't taste for the game she barely wanted to eat.
Tailslide laughed. "You'd be perfect for the guard. Commander Path is all about being rugged and self-sufficient, spending days out on patrol. Learning the mountain so the changelings can't use it against us."
The ultimate cover, working for the guards keeping everyone trapped. Once they had enough people who could use their powers, they could slowly fill the local ranks, until the guards were a purely ceremonial position doing nothing to keep changelings trapped.
It was an interesting plan, assuming they couldn't come up with anything better. Digging tunnels, maybe? Could changelings do that?
They reached her building without much trouble. She felt a few eyes on them here or there, ponies lurking in shadows and dark corners. But there were two of them, and one was tall and muscular.
She unlocked the stairwell with her key, and locked it just as quickly. "Showers first," she said, gesturing for him. "I don't know what chemicals they use, but you're not getting any of them onto my sheets. They're pristine." Would Amie get in trouble for letting him in? He wasn't paying the Rent-a-Friend... but couldn't she have her own friends? Her board was coming out of her pay, so that made the apartment hers.
"I think I've heard about this place..." he finally said. "The foreman comes here on weekends. It's a... friendship rental. Right?"
"The concept is absurd," she agreed. "But yeah. We have the building to ourselves. My brother will be asleep by now. And if anyone comes this way..." She tapped the side of her head, grinning mischievously. "Unless they're as stoic as Spock, I'll know they're coming."
He didn't react, focusing all his energy on making it up the stairs. She chose the first door, the apartment meant for Rain Fly. Her brother had taken unofficial ownership of her room, making this one the place where she spent most of her time. She'd adjusted some of the posters over time, adding some plushies and removing others.
She glanced back at him, wincing at the smell Tailslide brought in with him. The thought of letting him anywhere near her bed, smearing all those adorable toys Bud brought in with grease and slime... no way.
Tailslide had the good sense to lock the door behind him. Then he flicked on the lights and stopped dead in the doorway, taking it all in. His eyes moved from the game tables to the shelves of books. "I don't know what I imagined you would be like at home," he began. Maybe it was the food, or maybe it was the heat, but he already sounded healthier.
"The rugged changeling who can climb mountains, stitch a dying pegasus back together, and convince a whole town she's a soldier—this is a lot of pink for you."
Amie glared at him, then changed, shedding her pony persona altogether. Shame she hadn't had the time to figure out how to look human yet, that probably would've been even better.
The result was still enough of a shock that his mouth fell open. There was surprise, but none of the disgust she was afraid of. "It's for a job. The owner here only has me on one assignment, but it's basically full time. But I don't really have to act—this stuff makes me feel at home. This is basically the girl I was maybe—three years ago. Before I started EMT work.
She caught him by the leg, then dragged him over to the bathroom. Amie wasn't sure if the plumbing worked in any other suite besides hers and this one, since there were no characters living in them yet. The whole room was floored with tile and covered with mirrors, with a whole wall of spigots on the far side.
"I guess there's... nothing for you to take off." She trailed off awkwardly, gesturing at the taps. "Just don't leave this room until you don't smell like an industrial plant."
He made his way in, glaring down at her. She'd forgotten how intimidating that size-difference could be, when a pony was standing so close. "If that's what matters to you, stay. Use your magic or something."
She blushed. Maybe Tailslide was the right person to give her that kind of invitation—he was strong, dedicated, and faithful. All it took was a little makeshift first aid in the night, and he'd sacrificed his whole career to help her. All this time he'd been searching for her, sleeping out in the cold and working at a factory somewhere.
Amie's magic flashed, and she was Rain Fly. That cut down on the height difference, made her feel a little less like she was talking to someone too young. Besides, being Rain Fly made Amie slip right into her personality. She puffed up her chest, got right in his face, flicking her tail to either side.
Changing into a pony affected his reaction too—he didn't have to suppress being intimidated by a unicorn.
That hurt—but she could understand. She wouldn't find a bug attractive either. "Tell me again," she ordered. "But you better be sure of what you're doing. I'm dangerous, remember?"
She slipped past him, then turned the taps on one after another. She never used them all like that, and the sudden billowing steam fought against the cold air and won. Soap and hot water also banished the smell, even if he wasn't clean yet. It helped.
He looked back through the fog. She knew before he did when his feelings changed. Suddenly there was longing. He hadn't seen a friendly face in weeks, and now here she was offering comfort. "Changelings eat love," he said. "Does that mean I'm in danger?"
She giggled. "If you're gonna stand there, at least stand in the water." She shoved him, the same way she'd done several times that night. He backed into the water, but not as far as she expected. He stopped, and she was suddenly pushing on a brick wall, immoveable.
Despite his wounds, Tailslide was tougher than he looked. "If you need it," he said.
She met his eyes. "I don't need it," she said, levitating her harshest soap off the shelf. Better start with that, if she wanted any hope of getting the grease out of his fur. "I don't need a pity boyfriend. If I didn't take anyone to the dance, it's just because no one met my standards."
She sprayed him with soap, everywhere but right into his eyes. "Then when do you eat?" he asked. She should be able to tell exactly what he was feeling—too bad her own emotions were so tangled up that she couldn't make sense of them. Was that Tailslide who was desperate for affection after spending weeks lost and alone in a world he barely understood?
She shrugged. "All the time. Your gratitude when I bought you dinner. My brother's excitement when he got his transformation working right. Ivy's relief that she has someone who would take her side over her dad’s. Your..." She trailed off, grinning. "You think I'm pretty!"
She had felt a little of that from some of her older campers, the ones about to graduate. But no camp would be complete without a few awkward crushes. Only this was coming from a pony. A little more magic she didn't have room for, as delicious as any of the others.
He looked away, into the hot water. "I do. But right now... I'd rather just have the company. Stay, please. I've been alone enough lately."
She stayed.