Dies Veneris, Aprilis XI, CCCXXIII
The cold sting of the frozen north surrounds a gathering of equine insectoids in a clearing, the raging infernos of the distant empire illuminating the foul darkness that had seemingly consumed it.
“Please, Broodmother!” a single changeling cried out, notably female, and splayed on the snow-covered ground with a forelimb extending hurtfully toward the largest and tallest of their species, the rest of her kin surrounding them in a circle.
“Don’t leave me like this, please!”
However, there is an apparent difference between the downed changeling and her brethren. Where they all practically encompassed the blackness of darkness on their chitinous forms, she was a light-blue ladybug like the frozen lakes of the northern continent, complete with a pair of transparent purple insect-like wings.
And that wasn’t even considering the pair of golden-yellow mandibles on her head, compared to the singular piercing horns that protrude from the rest of her ilk.
This indifference has always disgusted her brethren, even her own mother. She knew this, yet she always remained loyal to the Hive, to her Queen. But despite countless years of service…
They were supposed to escape together, but her Queen abruptly turned on her and absorbed every last shred of love she had gathered from the empire. It left her completely helpless.
“I’m sorry, Arthrodite…” despite those words, the Queen looked down upon her with narrowed eyes, their tone and features equally as disgusted as the other changelings present.
They all despised her; she always knew that since the day she shared love rather than take it, thus resulting in her unique appearance. But she never thought they’d ever do… this.
“But your sacrifice will allow the Hive to escape from the Umbrum. I, Queen Chrysalis, hereby acknowledge your noble sacrifice.” she finished with a chuckle.
“My Queen!” a nearby, armored member of the changelings roars out, looking back at the empire. “They’re coming!”
Two dark shadows jetted toward the changeling masses from high above, haunting screeches and neighs echoing from their ghostly forms.
“Come, my children!” Chrysalis’s wings flapped rapidly, her form hovering mere inches off the ground. “Let the Umbrum have this wretched place!” she lowers her gaze to Arthrodite, “And her.”
The swarm instantly retreats with all due haste, the sounds of buzzing drawing further and further with every passing moment.
“No…!” Arthrodite screamed, tears strolling down her chitinous cheeks. “Please, come back! D-don’t leave me here!”
Amongst the swarm, only one looked back at her with a look of sympathy, hovering in place with apparent inner conflict.
“Thorax!” another male changeling roars out, suddenly floating beside the former. “What are you doing?! We need to go!”
“Y-yes, Pharynx, I know. But she’s-AH!”
“Enough, brother!” Pharynx interjects as he forcefully pulls Thorax along. “As always, I’m the one who has to save your useless chitin!”
Thorax could only look back at his abandoned and weeping kin, her light-blue form distancing as his brother pulled him along. He could only hope that she could hear the words he muttered in true sorrow:
“I’m so sorry…”
……….
They left her. Arthrodite had been nothing but loyal to her hive, yet they left her to die, all for the supposed ‘Crime’ she committed. She found another way to harvest love, one that was easily far more effective than their current way; how was that a crime?
Then again… perhaps she foolishly believed that they would accept her by simply proving her undying loyalty to them. Despite her physical change, she was still one of them—a changeling—a wicked sense of irony, to be sure.
“I hate you…” she scorned, tears breaching the snow beneath her. “I hate you, all of you!”
The ever-present and haunting cries of the two Umbrum drew closer and closer, Arthrodite quivering in fear as she shot her tearful gaze back and instantly went pale. They were truly horrible creatures, these Umbrum, straight out of a nightmare or even the darkest pits of Tartarus.
It was enough to make her forget about the betrayal that had transpired, only for a moment.
Arthrodite’s pinprick eyes never left the equine shades, now only several feet away from her, and only closed them when their oblivion-filled maws nearly clamped down upon her.
A sudden burst of light erupted from the distant empire, and the two Umbrum turned back instantly, completely dismissing their former, hungrily intent. They screeched before zooming away in a black mist, Arthrodite chancing a glance.
“Wh-what…?” she inquired in genuine shock, only to be drawn toward the luminous phenomenon radiating from within the empire—that very moment when Amore activated the Crystal Heart.
Dies Lunae, Lanuarius I, CCCXXV
“I can’t believe It’s been two years since that day…”
The light-blue hooded equine muttered, leaping from crystalline building to building, observing Sombra and Hope from the rooftops as the foals raced toward the orphanage, now coming into view and located at the very end of the street.
The foals dodged several bystanders going about their day, although some close encounters had nearly transpired. There was even a moment when Sombra had to slide under a sudden passing cart while Hope stampeded around it, only for the dark colt to bolt onto his hooves and resume the race on the other side.
“Hey!” the masculine voice of the cart’s owner bellows. “Watch out for my cabbages!”
The foals simply laughed merrily, the metaphorical ‘finish line’ coming into view as they nearly reached the orphanage, complete with an archway entrance and a sign etched on top that read:
Chestnut Falls’ Crystal Heart Foal Center.
Sombra is clearly several inches in the lead. “It appears Sombra shall achieve victory today!” he declared.
“Not if I use my secret weapon!” Hope retorts with a smirk. “Unexpected kiss on the cheek attack!”
True to her ‘attack,’ Hope swiftly plants a peck on Sombra’s right cheek, causing the dark colt to widen his eyes. Unfortunately, the action also caused him to lose focus, his legs struggling to gain control before causing him to fall to the crystal pavement and slide a short distance forth.
Hope laughs in glee, and upon stopping in the archway, she turns around and raises a forelimb.
“I wiiiiin!”
“Th-Sombra calls foul play!” the downed colt reasoned.
“Nope!” Hope beamed. “The rule was simply to win the race, Sombra.” she winks.
“You’re always changing the rules!” he complained, lifting himself onto his hooves.
Hope giggles with a forelimb covering her muzzle. “Ok, ok. How about I make it up to you by giving you my dessert after dinner?”
Sombra ponders for a moment and resigns to a nod. “Sombra accepts this offering.”
Positioned on a nearby rooftop and still observing the duo of foals below, who now proceeded into the orphanage, the hooded equine unveils itself after a flash of magic, revealing a light-blue unicorn mare with matching eyes, their golden mane and tail fluttering in the cool breeze.
And much like the snow that rained down upon the north, she bore three snowflakes on her flank, with half of one just under either eye. And a silky yet transparent purple cloth is draped around her neck.
She chuckles. “Well, well. We’ve certainly been a naughty pair of foals, haven’t we? Lying to Miss. Chestnut? Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
-Have they returned to the orphanage safely?- Amore’s voice suddenly spoke into the unicorn’s psyche.
-Affirmative, my Queen. They, more accurately, he, visited the Heart, as you foresaw.-
-Oh, come now, Arthrodite. You know you don’t have to call me that, we’re friends.-
-True, but I want to. Besides, my Queen, we’ve already had this conversation hundreds of times before.-
-I know, I know. I give up; you win.-
The unicorn shrugs her shoulders. -T’was never about winning, my Queen. Just assertiveness.-
-Mhmm, you go ahead and call it that. I’ll be meeting with the King and Prince of Saddle Arabia shortly. And don’t worry about Sombra; I already have a plan for him and Sombasi.-
-Ooh~ Do let me know if either of those royals is handsome, mmkay?-
-Down, girl. Besides, I get first dibs if they are, hehehe.-
-Tch, selfish much?-
-Oh, hush. See you later~!-
“Yeah, yeah,” Arthrodite rolled her eyes, shaking her head with laughter before focusing on the orphanage. She brings a forelimb up to her chin in thought, a mischievous smirk forming on her muzzle.
“Now, time to get me a drink. Wonder what Ross has for specials today?”
Chestnut Falls’ Crystal Heart Foal Center
Sombra and Hope passed by several other foals in the hallway, brilliant furniture nicely decorating either side with entrances to rooms closed off or flourishing with activity, hooves clopping against the crystal floor.
“Remember, Hope,” Sombra began. “We went to the Crystal Library, nothing more.”
Hope nods. “Ok, but what if Miss. Chestnut asks, ‘What did we read today?’”
“You worry too much, Hope; that won’t even be an issue. Sombra knows that we’ll be ok.”
She rolls her eyes. “If you say so.”
“Well, excuuuse Sombra, princess,” Sombra drops with a sideward smirk.
“Oh, haha, very funny,” Hope deadpanned, chuckling afterward. “Okay, let’s go find Sombasi and Snowdrop. Should we check the usual spot?”
“Sombra agrees.”
……….
The red double doors positioned at the rear of the orphanage part open, Sombra and Hope stepping out to the outside world once more. A bountiful playground is present before their eyes, with foals playing on swings, jungle gyms, and circular contraptions that spun clockwise.
Their hooves trekked across the well-kept green grass, crystalline sidewalks surrounding the healthy playground, and protective walls to keep every foal within. Granted, those capable of flight could traverse over it, but the young pegasi present lacked the capability due to underdeveloped wings.
And even if they could fly, there was no need to; every last one of them loved Miss. Chestnut. She was practically their biological mother.
Some had even spotted the crystal earth pony mare weeping for days when a foal, or foals, had been adopted. Of course, they knew she was happy for the adopted being taken away to new homes by potentially loving parents. But that only cemented the mare’s loving reputation.
Even after they are taken away, she still loves them.
As Sombra and Hope journeyed toward a large tree with a hanging tire strung up by a rope from a thick branch, the harsh comments of several other foals graced their ears.
“Eww, it’s those weirdos.”
“Guess freaks of a feather stay together, huh?”
“What a couple of blank flanks!”
“Humph! They're made for each other.”
However, despite the mocking words of their observers, Sombra and Hope beamed vibrantly and shared laughter as they ran towards the tree. They soon spot a particular light-blue pegasus, who sniffs the air before turning toward them, waving a forelimb while standing next to the hanging tire.
“Sombra! Hope! Over here!”
“Coming, Snowdrop!” Hope responds.
Despite being aware of Snowdrop’s blindness, It still amazes the duo how the pegasus could do that. In a way, she had an even better vision than they ever could fathom.
As the trio exchanged greetings and loving embraces, some judgmental eyes still fixated on them. But they never cared, for they had each other. If they are ‘freaks’ or ‘weirdos’ to the other foals, then they’ll gladly be just that. Together.
They were only missing the final member of their unique group.
“Snowdrop… where is Sombra’s dear brother?”