With their minds made up on where to go and what to do, the mares and stallions unknowingly made their way to the nearest shopping center all at the same time. Lemon Hearts escorted Honey Lodestar towards an area filled with good gifts for stallions. At the same time, Flash Sentry and Tungsten Wolfe were busy in the section filled with antique and historic pieces of memorabilia.
And eventually, Honey would lay eyes on her crush…
“...Omigosh,” Honey muttered under her breath and hid her eyes behind one of her hooves. “He’s here, Lemon. Eegh! Don’t let him see me!” she squealed as she hid behind one of the nearby clothing racks.
Lemon Hearts looked over in the direction that Honey had been looking and saw the stallion in question looking for gifts with Flash Sentry.
“Oh woooow…” Lemon remarked, and gave a small whistle, “You picked a good one, huh? He’s got some muscle on him. Though, all those scars make him look a biiiit scary.”
Honey poked her head out from between a set of overcoats. “That’s what I like though, Lem. Each of those burns are like badges to him. He never forgets the tragic scenarios he puts himself through for the sake of others. I…I desperately wanna be there for him, ya know? After seeing what he’s been through first-hoof, I--oof!”
A shopkeeper unicorn had moved the rack of clothes with his magic, causing Honey to fall to the floor.
“Ouch…”
“You okay?” Lemon asked as she helped her up.
Honey dusted herself off. “Yeah, I’m fine. Anyway, I wanna…somehow work up the courage to talk to him, ya know? Get a feel for what he likes.”
Lemon tapped her hoof against the floor while thinking about possible ways to approach the situation. “Hm…I think we should--”
But before she could finish her thought, someone they knew joined in their conversation.
“...Lemon? Honey? Is everything okay here?” a delicate, dainty voice with a high pitch spoke out.
Both mares turned their heads and laid eyes on an adult changeling mare. She had a pink body color, solid blue eyes, and white wings.
Honey smiled upon seeing her and greeted her, “Kemuri? Hey, how it’s going?”
“We’re just doing some shopping for Honey’s special somepony,” Lemon said with a playful nudge to Honey’s flank--much to the latter’s visible chagrin. “Wanna help us?”
“...yeah, I’d really appreciate it,” Honey muttered in a shameful tone. “I…I just can’t bring myself to talk to him for some weird reason.”
Kemuri fluttered her wings. “Ooh! I could go talk to him for you and then give you an idea of what he likes when I get back. How’s that sound?”
“Yes!” Honey cheered with a clap of her hooves. “I’d like that very much, please. You’re a much better talker than I am, Kem.”
“And while she does that,” Lemon turned Honey back towards the rows of possible gift options for Tungsten, “Let’s keep looking. They have a nice selection of sweaters this way.”
While the pony mares stayed on that side of the store, the changeling mare pranced over to where Tungsten and Flash were…
The latter was helping the former with his selection as they looked over possible snowglobe options.
“Let’s see--we don’t want something gaudy,” Flash muttered as he flew around, taking a look at each shelf, “You want something that displays how simplistic and cool you can be.”
“And you really thinks dis’a good idea,” Tungsten asked from below, “We ain’t lookin’ta be in the newspaper for our fancy-schmancy snowglobe collection, bruh.”
Soon enough, Kemuri trotted up to them and spoke, “Hello, sir. Are you Mr. Wolfe by chance?”
“Yea,” he replied as he turned his head to the changeling mare, “To whom do I owe the pleasure? And please, nunna that ‘mister’ stuff. Just Tungsten is fine.”
“My name is Kemuri Kai-Tan,” she introduced herself with a bow, “I’ve heard quite a bit about you and wanted to know more.”
“I see,” Tungsten replied with an uncertain tone, “Not sure what you’d like to hear though. I ain’t exactly much of a storyteller.”
“That’s okay,” Kemuri assured him there was no pressure. “I just wanted to get to know you better. They say you’re quite the hero, one of the best the Royal Guard has to offer. Is that true, dear?”
Tungsten raised his hooves for a quick shrug. “I suppose you could say somethin’ like that. But it ain’t a big deal, really. I just like protectin’ my people and my home, ya feel me?”
‘Okay, I’m getting somewhere.’ Confident in her approach thus far, Kemuri would continue with the questions. “Very interesting indeed. And what drives you to fight for us in such a way, sir?”
“My overprotective parents,” he rolled his eyes as he recalled them once more. “They ain’t never let me do nothin’ on my own. By the time I got old enough, I was so ready to get up on outta there that I never looked back.”
Kemuri paused for a moment--wings fluttering. “...Oh my. I know exactly how you feel.”
“Do ya, miss?”
“That I do,” she continued with a nod, “Even after we changelings were liberated from Chrysalis’ reign, some of us still weren’t that quite trustworthy of ponies. My own parents never really let me play with or speak to any ponies. It was frustrating. Even though we were finally free, I still felt like I was being tied down in a cage…” she lamented with a frown.
Tungsten looked down at the floor for a moment, thinking about how rough changelings must have had it during their transition into society. It certainly wasn’t easy, and even now, there was likely still feelings of contempt on both sides, tucked away from public perception.
“I apologize on behalf of ponykind,” he said with a hoof against his chest, “I can only imagine what kinda pain ya’ll went through and still go through even now. Not even the griffons are subject to that much distrust.”
Kemuri shook her head and waved her hoof dismissively. “Oh no! There’s no need to apologize to me for that. You’re a Guardsstallion. It’s your job to keep the Royal Family safe from harm. And we did threaten them at one point, so…”
“Still. It wasn’t ya’lls fault,” Tungsten insisted, “I know I won’t be able’ta change the hearts and minds of everypony out there, so I’m apologizin’ now to at least show you that not all of us feel that way.”
“Oh…thank you…” Kemuri smiled as she turned her head aside--her heart skipping a beat. “You’re very kind to say that, sir. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone tell me that before.”
“Hey, it’s alright,” the guardsstalllion flashed her a smile, “It’s Hearth’s Warmin’. Everybody deserves’ta feel loved, don’t they? Reminds me of my younger days when I first started playin’ in band practice the Guard Academy.” He chuckled as he recalled that time, “Ah…the trombone will always be a favorite. Music helps keep up morale, ya feel me?”
“Music?” Kemuri’s wings fluttered once more with a gasp, “Ah! I love playing music! We changelings have an instrument similar to your xylophone. It’s quite fun!”
“Really? I’d like to hear ya play sometime,” Tungsten suggested, “Might learn a thing or two about changelings in the process.”
‘He’s…wonderful. Wait, no what am I doing?!’ Kemuri’s heart continued to beat until she felt the blood race through her wings and flutter involuntarily. “Erm…m-maybe…but I have to go!”
Before he could say anything else, Kemuri quickly flew away, leaving the earth pony stallion confused for a moment.
“...O…kay?”
Flash Sentry eventually landed. “...I saw everything, bud. I think you have a good candidate for a Gala date.”
“Really? You think so?”