//------------------------------//
// Chapter 42 
// Story: Pinning the Heart 
// by Random_User 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 42

Dad’s nose went up into the air. “Ooo, that smells nice.”

I took a sniff and smiled. “That would be the Apples’ pies, if I had to bet.”

“Ah!” Dad said. “It’s been ages since I’ve had a slice of an Apple’s apple pie. My stomach is telling me that’s something we need to remedy.”

Mom sighed as Dad began zigzagging through the sparse crowd following the scent. “Dear, I realize Ponyville apples are superior to Canterlot’s, but that does not give you reason to act like a hound,” she said, as we followed him.

“It’s not just the apples, it’s how they’re baked,” Dad said, paying Mom no heed. “The Apples know how to get the best flavor out of apples no matter what they put them into.”

As we got closer to the source of the aroma, I noticed some changelings and a trio of ponies focused on something going on ahead of us.

“You many slices did you let him have?!” Rainbow Dash asked somepony I could not see.

“One,” Big McIntosh replied.

“It was the apple brown betty, fritter samples, and cobbler he put on top of the pie that got him,” Applejack said.

“He wolfed them down like he was starving,” an unfamiliar feminine voice said. “I haven’t seen anypony, other than Pinkie, eat that much that fast.”

“What in Equestria is going on?” Thunderlane asked, as we approached the Apples’ serving table.

“Are you ill, Sir?” Mom asked a gray pegasus stallion with a dark blue mane and tail who was lying on the grass in front of the Apple’s serving table with his chin resting on the bottom of a pie tin.

“I’ll be fine, ma’am,” the stallion said with discomfort in his voice. “Could you convince them to let me lie here for a couple of minutes to let things settle, please?”

“We don’t have a problem with you doin’ that, but we have a problem about where you’re doin’ it,” Applejack told him. “You’re blockin’ the line. Roll to the side and you can stay down there as long as you’d like.”

“I don’t think you want me trying to roll anywhere for a bit,” the stallion said. “That would get uncomfortable, and then messy, for both of us.”

Thunderlane, who had gotten into a position where he could see who was on the ground, laughed. “Why am I not surprised to find you face first in a pie tin, Soarin?”

Soarin tilted his head a slight bit and looked up at Thunderlane. “I couldn’t help it. Applejack’s pies are the best in Equestria, and the Apples’ baked goods are too good to pass up.”

“Thanks, sugar cube, but you’re still goin’ to have to move so ponies don’t go tramplin’ you,” Applejack said, as she gave a slice of pie to an eager changeling.

“Sugar Belle made the fritters,” Big McIntosh said.

“They were great too,” Soarin said. “My stomach says she’s Apple material, Mac. Now all you’ve got to do is get her in the family so you can share the family recipes and secret techniques so we can really see what she can do with your apples.”

“Thank you, sweetie,” the mare, who I presumed was Sugar Belle, said, as Big McIntosh blushed.

“Applejack made the cobbler too,” Granny Smith said.

Soarin’s ears perked up, and I could just see his smile over the edge of the pie tin. “I knew it. It had her special touch.”

“You can’t tell who made it by the taste,” Rainbow Dash said.

“You’re just jealous cause he likes my cookin’ better than yours,” Applejack said with a smug smile.

“Now wait a minute,” Soarin said, making a show of getting to his hooves with theatrical grunts of effort. “I’ll have you know Rainbow is a skilled cook. She’s been helping me get my diet right, and everything she’s made for us has been delicious.”

Applejack raised a dubious eyebrow. “I can tell you ain’t fibbin’, but there’s still part of me that’s havin’ a hard time picturin’ Dash in the kitchen.”

“She’s great in the kitchen,” Soarin said, his wings fluffed in a defensive display. “She’s studied diet and nutrition to fuel her training and to keep in top shape.” He made a gesture towards Rainbow Dash. “You can tell she knows her stuff. Just look at her. She’s stunning on top of being one of the best fliers the Wonderbolts have seen in generations.”

“Soarin!” Rainbow Dash blushed and told him, in a whisper, “Tone it down. I am awesome, but you don’t need to be all mushy about it.”

Soarin’s ears pinned back in shame. “Here I’ve been talking about your cooking and you helping me get into shape and I went and scarfed down desserts like a pig.” He moved from the table, his head half lowered, to stand by Rainbow Dash. “I’m sorry.”

“I can’t blame you,” Rainbow Dash said and patted him on the head. “I do the same thing with their cider.” She grinned. “I’ll have to work you double hard tomorrow to make up for it, though.”

During Rainbow’s and Soarin’s exchange, Dad tipped his hat to Granny Smith and made gestures indicating he wanted samples of pie for Mom and himself. Granny smiled, nodded, and gave him two pie tins with a slice of pie on them. After passing Mom one tin, Dad grinned, tipped his hat to Granny Smith again, and whispered, “Thank you.” As he and Mom stepped to the side of the table, Dad took in a long sniff of his pie sample and smiled.

“I seem to recall somepony havin’ a habit of sleepin’ in our trees most of the next day after we have a big cider day,” Applejack said. She made an act as if she were thinking and then turned to her brother. “Can you remember who, Big Mac?”

Big McIntosh grinned and looked at Rainbow Dash. “Eeyup.”

“Mmm!” Dad said, as he took the first bite of his pie. His smile grew as he chewed with meticulous care.

Sugar Belle giggled at Dad’s blissful expression.

Soarin nodded at Dad’s non-verbal assessment of the pie. “Like I said, best in Equestria, hooves down.”

Dad, his mouth still full, hummed a “mmm” of agreement.

“I keep telling you, the way to a stallion’s heart is through his stomach,” Granny said to Applejack. “That reminds me, have you been sendin’ that see-through fella of yours vittles with your letters like I told ya?”

“Granny!” Applejack looked around with a mortified expression. “Let’s not talk about that right here and now, please.”

“I’ll let the whole thing be, if you give me a straight answer.” Granny crossed her forelegs over her chest and warned, “If not, I’m goin’ to keep askin’ ya ‘til I get one.” 

Applejack tilted her hat down to hide her blushing face. “Yes, Granny, I’ve been sending him pies and fritters with my letters.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Rainbow Dash stared at Applejack, her ears askew in shock. “You have a coltfriend and you didn’t tell me?!”

“He’s my pen pal,” Applejack said, tilting her hat back up. “Neither of us has said one thin’ about bein’ anythin’ more.”

“Nonsense, filly.” Granny paused for a second to give a changeling a slice of pie. “He’s been sendin’ you hoofmade jams, tarts, and even that fancy tiri, tara, whatchamacallit dessert.”

“Crystal berry tiramisu,” Sugar Belle supplied.

“That would be the stuff,” Granny Smith said. “It was a bit too froufrou for my tastes, but it’s the kinda stuff a stallion sends a mare to show he’s interested.”

Big McIntosh gave Granny Smith an amused look. “I recall you and Bloom havin’ a ‘discussion’ about who was goin’ to have the last slice Applejack shared with us.”

“Don’t you sass me,” Granny Smith warned Big McIntosh. “It was too close to her bedtime to go lettin’ her have that much sugar, so I had to have it myself.” She turned her attention back to Applejack. “When’s your fancy fella goin’ to be comin’ back, anyway?”

Applejack, avoiding making eye contact with Granny Smith, busied herself serving another changeling who had approached the table. Granny Smith raised an eyebrow and waited for a response.

“Does he have nice hoofwriting?” Coco asked. “I’ve heard the Crystal Empire uses the old styles of writing, and they’re quite nice to read.”

“He’s got wonderful hoofwriting,” Applejack said, as if wanting to move away from the subject.

“We’ll have to take her word for it, since she won’t let us look at his letters,” Granny Smith said.

I got a feeling the conversation was drawing attention and I glanced around. Several changelings and ponies had gathered around us and the Apple’s table. A good number of them had approached the table, taken their choice of samples, and then moved out of the way and continued to listen to the banter. Dessert and a show, hard to beat that, I thought to myself.

“Hold on a second.” Granny looked at Coco. “You’re that mare from Manehatten Applejack talked about, aren’t ya?”

Coco nodded. “I am.”

“You know about them Crystal ponies don’t you?”

Coco’s ears pinned back, and she blushed at the attention she was getting from everypony. “A little.” 

“Do they still follow the earth pony tradition of courtin’ through the mail?” Granny Smith cut her eyes toward Applejack, who pulled her hat down a bit more.

“I guess so,” Coco said. “To ponies in the Empire not that much time has passed. I don’t think they’d change their social habits so fast.”

A green changeling held her hoof up. “Why would earth ponies court through the mail?”

“Back in the day, earth pony families lived on farms and spread out from each other,” Granny Smith explained, looking happy to do so. “They worked from can to can’t most days too. Without them newfangled trains and airships they didn’t have time to visit their special someponies, so they’d write and send gifts and vittles through the mail.”

The same changeling held her hoof up again. “Can to can’t?”

“From the time you can see in the mornin’ til you can’t see to work in the evenin’,” Granny Smith told her.

“Waaait a second.” Rainbow Dash got a teasing smile on her face. “He’s not coming to Ponyville is he?”

“Dash, drop it,” Applejack said through clenched teeth.

“He better be coming to visit again, or you best quit writin’ him,” Granny Smith said. “I don’t care how good lookin’, strong, or mannerly he is if he ain’t doin’ right by ya.”

“He’s doin’ fine by me, Granny,” Applejack said.

Sugar Belle leaned against Big McIntosh, glanced up at him with an adoring smile, and then met eyes with Rainbow Dash and winked.

Rainbow Dash grinned, nodded, and then asked Granny Smith, “Have you got any shipments of apples heading to the Crystal Empire soon?”

“Dash!” Applejack growled, “I’m warnin’ ya, leave it be.”

“I don’t rightly know.” Granny Smith turned to Big McIntosh. “Big Mac, you keep the books. Do we...” Her eyes widened as she stared at Sugar Belle and Big McIntosh leaned together.

“Eeyup,” Big McIntosh told Granny Smith, grinning a little too wide. “There’s four shops up there wantin’ our apples. The castle’s kitchen put in a big order, and there was a request for a couple of bushels from-”

“You can stop right there, Big Mac,” Applejack said, tilting her hat back up in a gesture of resignation.

“Now I remember!” Granny said, and gave Applejack a look. “So that’s why you were so hot to trot to wrangle that shipment by your lonesome. I may be old, and the wheels in my noggin don’t turn like they used to, but you should have known I’d have figured it out.” She pointed a hoof at Big McIntosh. “And that’s why you were so quick to agree to swap out with her. You knew she was chasin’ after her fella.”

“Eeyup,” Big McIntosh said. “It’s only fair, since she let me make the deliveries to Our Town.”

Granny Smith turned back to Applejack. “I know you want to see that stallion of yours, but how are you goin’ to haul all them apples to where they need to get to by your lonesome?”

Applejack’s blush intensified. “Cloudberry’s going to help me make the deliveries.”

Ganny Smith’s ears went up. “He’s what now?”

“He’s goin’ to help me deliver the apples and then show me around the Empire,” Applejack said.

“Cloudberry?” Stormbreaker said. “That sounds like a pegasus’ name.”

“It kinda does, but his family’s been growing those berries up north for a long time, on account of how well they do in the cold,” Applejack told Stormbreaker. “Since he was the fifth foal, and his parents were runnin’ out of names, his parents gave him a traditional family name.”

“How’s he goin’ to manage helpin’ you haul apples and showin’ you around while bein’ a guard?” Granny Smith asked. “Did that princess friend of yours assign him to you again?”

“He’s taking time off,” Applejack told her.

“Be ready to talk about stallions and about Cloudberry, a lot,” Rainbow Dash said. “Cadance is going to want all the dirt when you get back to the castle.”

Applejack looked perplexed. “Why would I go to the castle, besides droppin’ off the apples off at the kitchen?”

“Aren’t you going to be staying there? Cadance and Shining both told us we would always have a room at the castle if we needed one.”  

“Well… Umm...” Applejack’s blush returned in an even stronger hue of red. “Unless somethin’ changes, I ain’t goin’ to be stayin’ at the castle.”

“You shouldn’t be payin’ to stay somewhere if somepony’s offered you a free room,”Granny Smith scolded. “That’s a waste of bits and rude to boot.”

“Granny, I ain’t goin’ to need a hotel room,” Applejack said with the trepidation somepony would use dealing with a manticore.

“So he’s going to let you stay at his place, show you the Empire, the farm, and maybe give you a tour of the barn too,” Rainbow Dash said and waggled her eyebrows at Applejack. 

Applejack glared at Rainbow Dash. “Get your mind out of the gutter!”

“If you two get to experimentin’ to see if apples and berries can cross pollinate, make sure he gives you a ring first,” Granny Smith advised. “I’d hate to have to go all the way up there and drag him back to Sweet Apple Acres by his crystal stem and shiny berries if you come back with a ‘souvenir’ and he didn’t plan on an honest mare of you.”

Rainbow Dash’s giggles turned to laughter as Applejack resorted to hiding her face behind her hat again. “Granny, that’s not goin’ to be an issue.”

“I thought the same thin’, not long after I met your grandfather, but a trip to the barn’s how your pa ended up comin’ into the world and what sped up us gettin’ hitched’,” Granny said.

There was a flash of pink at the edge of my vision, and Coco jumped in surprise as Pinkie Pie seemed to materialize at her side.

“Hello, Coco!” Pinkie said, grinning. “Oh, neat, that rhymed! Zecora’s must be rubbing off on me.”

“Hello, Pinkie,” Coco said, sounding as if she had not quite recovered from being startled.

Pinkie glanced around as if worried she was going to be overheard. She leaned in close to Coco and stage whispered, “I heard from Dinky and the other foals your coat’s super soft again.”

“Pin’s been taking good care of me,” Coco said. She giggled as Pinkie gave her a begging look. “Would you like a hug?”

“Yes!” Pinkie grabbed Coco into a hug with enthusiasm. “Wow! They were right!” Pinkie Pie pulled Coco close and nuzzled her mane like she was a stuffed toy. “Even your mane’s super soft.”

Coco looked up at me with wide eyes. “Help!” she said, forming the word but not making a sound.

Satin gave me her cunning elder sister’s smile. “Pin’s coat is pretty soft too,” she told Pinkie. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind giving you a hug.”

“I-!” Before I could respond, my vision went pink from Pinkie’s mane obscuring my view. Pinkie took me in a firm embrace and then used a hoof to guide my head under her chin.

“Ooo, Pokey! I don’t remember your coat ever being like this, and I’ve given you a lot of hugs.” She put her cheek on my head and rubbed it over my mane in a circular motion. “I think his mane’s almost as soft as yours, Coco.”

“I doubt that, Pinkie,” I said.

Pinkie Pie nuzzled my mane and hummed in thought. “It’s pretty close.”

“What did you mean when you said, ‘I’ve given you a lot of hugs’?” Coco said, giving Pinkie an inquisitive look.

Pinkie Pie gasped. “You didn’t know?!” 

“Didn’t know what?” Coco said.

“Pin used to be my party planner sidekick.” Pinkie Pie used her hooves to make me look into her eyes. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell her!”

“You two dated?” Thunderlane said, sounding astounded.

Pinkie turned to look at Thunderlane with an offended look. “I don’t think I like how you said that, Mister.”

“Sorry, but I’m having a hard time picturing it.” He gestured towards me as if trying to sum me up. “He’s… well... pretty restrained.”

“I don’t think I like how you said that,” I said, joking.

“We didn’t date, but we had a lot of fun together,” Pinkie Pie said. “He was my party planning buddy for the longest. When I got a request for a party that was too big for me to set up alone, I’d get Pin to help.” She giggled at some thought. “Did you know you can make him really happy by setting up some balloons to pop with his horn?” she asked Coco.

Coco smiled. “I’ve noticed he has a penchant for popping balloons.”

“He can dance too.” Pinkie grabbed me under my forelegs, pulled me back to her, and swayed with me in an awkward demonstration of a dance.

“I know he can,” Coco said with a giggle. “We’ve danced several times.”

“But then he had to help his grandparents with the shop, when they got older, and then them when they got sick, and...” She stopped and sniffed. “Then he was too busy looking after the shop after they- they-” Pinkie sniffed again and stroked my mane like she was comforting a foal.

I hugged her and patted her back with a hoof. “It’s okay, Pinkie.”

Pinkie let me go, reached into her mane, drew out a handkerchief, and blew into it. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be all mopey during a party.”

“Speaking of party buddies,” Rainbow Dash said. “Where’s Brulee?”

“He hasn’t been helping me set up parties for a while.” Pinkie’s smile became forced and her mane lost some of its life. “I thought he might make it to this one.” Her mane drooped a bit more. “But he couldn’t. He said he wouldn’t be able to help any more, since his family’s business has gotten so busy.”

Some of the surrounding changelings seemed uncomfortable with Pinkie’s change in mood and fidgeted.

“Too bad Dinky and Gena aren't here,” Coco said. “They would have both been hugging you by now.”

Pinkie’s hair sprung back to life, and she gasped. “Oh! That’s right! I almost forgot!” She turned to address Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “We’ve got to getting trotting to the field! Dinky, Gena, and the foals from Cheerilee’s class were helping get the nymphs herded that way.”

“Is it that time already?” Applejack said. “Time flies, when you’re dishin’ out home cookin’ for a shindig.”

“Thorax is going to speak right after the game, so we’ve got to start on time,” Pinkie said.

Rainbow Dash snorted. “Yeah, and Twilight will lose feathers freaking out if we throw off the schedule.”

“We’ve got everythin’ covered,” Granny told Applejack. “You three get goin’.”

As the trio left, Big McIntosh's attention rested on Coco and me. He grinned at us and gave us an inviting wave. “Come on and have a slice. There’s somepony I want you to meet.”

As Coco and I approached the table, I noticed Dad getting back in the line in front of Granny Smith with his and Mom’s pie tins. We only had to wait a few moments, before we were at the front of the line.

“Hello, Big Mac,” Coco greeted. “How have you been?”

“I’m doin’ fine, Miss Coco,” he said, as he offered her a sample of apple pie. “Is Pin behavin’ himself for ya?”

Coco nodded. “Very much so.”

“He doesn’t look like a pony who would misbehave,” the mare standing beside Big McIntosh said, as she offered me a sample of apple pie.

“Thank you,” I said to her, as I took the pie tin with a hoof.

“Sugar Belle, this is Miss Coco Pommel and Royal Pin,” Big McIntosh told her. “They’re good friends of the family.”

Sugar Belle’s ears went up. “Oh, I just remembered! Big Mac told me you two got engaged not too long ago.” She gave us a bright smile. “Congratulations!”

“Thank you,” Coco and I said at the same time.

Sugar Belle giggled at us. Her giggles ended in a light snort that got a grin out of Big McIntosh.

“Your laugh is adorable!” Coco told her.

“Eeyup,” Big McIntosh said. “She’s mighty adorable, from nose to tail.”

“Big Mac!” Sugar Belle bumped Big McIntosh with her shoulder, which seemed to have no effect on the sturdy stallion.

“You two quit flirtin’ and get back to servin’,” Granny said. “We’re already a pony down, and the lines are backin’ up.” She gave me and Coco an authoritative look and a smile. “You two need to mosey on and quit distractin’ them. You’re blockin’ ponies from gettin’ their samples too.”

“Sorry, Granny,” I said, having flashbacks of the light scoldings she would give Big Mac and me when we were too rambunctious.

“No harm done,” she said, as Coco and I moved to join Mom, Dad, and Soarin off to the side of the table. “I might send Mac your way later, Pin.” Granny cut her eyes toward Big McIntosh and grinned. “Somepony needs to give him pointers on how to seal the deal with a mare, since he won’t listen to me.”

“Granny,” Big McIntosh groaned, while Sugar Belle blushed and giggled.

Granny gave Dad a grin as he took his pie tin from her. “Be careful there. You don’t want to end up like that other fella.”

Dad looked down at the apple betty, cobbler, and fritter samples, which just fit together on the pie tin, glanced back up at Granny Smith, and then smiled. “These aren’t all for me. I’m splitting them with my wife.”

Granny Smith smiled back at him. “Good stallion.”

Dad joined our group near the side of the table, as Satin, Stormbreaker, and Thunderlane got their samples. He sat down beside Mom and the tin to her. “Ladies first.”

“Thank you,” Mom said, taking the pie tin in her magic.

I hummed as I enjoyed my first bite of pie. The crust was perfect; the filling had the perfect blend of apple and cinnamon flavors, and the scent tempted me to keep my nose as close to the pie as I could so I could enjoy more of it.

“Is it that good?” Stormbreaker asked, as he and Satin joined us carrying their own pie tins.

Coco nodded, as she chewed a bite of her sample.

Stormbreaker took a bite of his slice of pie. His eyes widened and his ears snapped up. “Mmm!”

Satin smiled. “Good, isn’t it?”

Stormbreaker nodded.

We chattered with each other and with the Apples and Sugar Belle as we all enjoyed our desserts until the nearby changelings turned their heads as if something we were not aware of had gotten their attention.

“Miss Satin?! Mister Stormbreaker?!” a filly’s voice called, ending our group conversation.

“We’re over here,” Stormbreaker answered.

Dinky and Cubitus ran up to Satin.

“Is something wrong?” Satin said, in a forced calm tone.

Dinky shook her head. “Everything’s fine. Rain needs a change, and the Cakes are out of diapers.”

Satin relaxed and let out a relieved breath. “That I can handle.”

“We didn’t mean to scare you,” Cubitus said. “We would have said something if something bad had happened.”

“I’m being a worrywart. I know he’s in good hooves.” Satin smiled. “I hope he’s been behaving himself for you.”

Cubitus nodded. “He’s been better behaved than most of the nymphs and he’s holding his own with them. He might be younger, but he’s scrappy.”

“That’s my colt,” Stormbreaker said and grinned.

“You two have done a good job of teaching him to mix with others,” Mom complemented. “He conducts himself well and is not hesitant to meet new ponies.”

Dinky giggled. “Noi’s been trying to get Rain to be an icebreaker for the nymphs and Pumpkin and Pound, but I think he’s just as unsure what to do about the twins as the nymphs are.”

“Of course,” Satin put on a smile and sighed. “We’ve introduced him to lots of adults, but not that many foals his age. One moment, please.” She finished the last bite of her pie. “There we go. Now I’m ready. Where is he?”

“He’s with the nymphs and Dinky’s class, getting ready to watch the game,” Cubitus said.

“I think we should accompany her.” Mom said, passing the pie tin with the samples back to Dad, who grinned as if he had received an early birthday present. “I have not seen a buckball game before.”

Cubitus’ ears went askew as he looked at Dinky. “Dinks, you okay?”

Dinky looked at me as if I had failed at something vital. “You haven’t taken them to a buckball game?”

I shook my head. “I haven’t had the chance.”

“I get the impression this is something we should have partaken in before,” Mom said.

“Watching a game is great,” Dinky told Mom. “We go to them as a group a lot.” 

“Satin and I haven’t been to one either,” Stormbreaker said, and wiped away the crumbs from his last bite with the back of a hoof. 

“None of you have seen a buckball game?!” Dinky gasped in realization. “You mean we get to be with all of you during your first game?!”

Cubitus grinned and seemed to bask in Dinky’s excitement.

Satin smiled with bemusement at Dinky. “We don’t even know the rules.”

Dinky’s hopped up and down with glee. “I can teach you! Dad volunteers as a timekeeper for Ponyville’s games all the time, and I’ve read his copy of the official rules.”

A few of the changelings closer to us took a step back, as if overwhelmed by Dinky’s reaction.

“First, we need to take care of Rain,” Satin reminded Dinky.

“Of course!” Dinky shifted to trotting in place. “If we get there fast, we can make sure everypony has a good spot to watch the game too.”

“I’ll take everypony’s tins,” I offered. I took Coco, Satin’s, and Stormbreaker’s pie tins and paused in surprise as Dad used his magic to scrape every crumb from Mom and his pie tins and tossed them in his mouth.

“We might not even need to wash those,” Granny joked.

Mom sighed and shook her head. “Dear, that was rather uncivilized.”

“Perhaps.” Dad smiled as he passed me the pie tins. “But well worth the effort, and it ensures nothing goes to waste.”

Soarin added his pie tin to the stack I was holding. “I know what you mean. If you don’t mind, I’ll walk over there with you. If I’m not there for Rainbow’s game, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“We’ll get a head start,” Satin said, as Dinky pranced in excited circles while keeping ahead of her.

“I’ll come with you,” Stormbreaker said.

“We’ll be fine,” Satin assured, over her shoulder, as she trotted after Dinky. “Take it easy and talk with Soarin some more. You two haven’t seen each other in a while.”

Cubitus got to his hooves with shaky legs and a goofy smile. “I guess I should follow them.”

“You okay there?” Soarin asked.

“I’m great,” Cubitus said, as he took uneven steps to follow Dinky and Satin. “That was a lot of happiness and excitement to take in all at once, though.”

I took the pie tins and added them to the stacks of tins that were behind the Apple’s table. “Do you need any help cleaning these?”

“Eenope,” Big McIntosh said. “Thanks for offerin’, though.”

When I returned to the group, Soarin looked at me as if something had occurred to him. “I just thought of something. You helped the Cutie Mark Crusaders with their idea to write to Princess Cadance, didn’t you?”

I could not tell by his tone whether or not he considered that a good thing. “I did.”

Soarin held out his hoof to me. “Thank you.”

“I’m not sure what you are thanking me for, but you’re welcome,” I said and shook his hoof.

“I’ll explain on the way.” He paused and waved to the Apples. “Thank you for the food. It was all wonderful.”

The members of our group echoed Soarin thanks, and several changelings and ponies around us chimed in too.

“You’re all welcome,” Granny Smith said. “We neighbors have to help each other through the rough times so we can enjoy the good ones together.”

“Eeyup!” Big McIntosh agreed.

“Now, you lot, go, shoo, skedaddle,” Granny said to us and waved us away. “You’ve got a game to go to and you’re gettin’ in the way of folks gettin’ food.”

Soarin gave her a polite salute. “Yes, ma’am.”

We waved goodbye to the Apples and Sugar Belle, and followed Soarin towards the field.

“You started to explain how Pin helped you,” Stormbreaker prompted.

“Right.” Soarin slowed so he walked in the center of our group. “Pin helped the Cutie Mark Crusaders come up with the idea of reaching out to Princess Cadance for help to find Applejack an escort for Twilight’s celebration event. What he and the girls didn’t know is that Rainbow had made plans for Thunderlane to take Applejack. Her plan fell through when Thunderlane ended up taking Rarity instead.”

“Which Coco and Pin both had a hoof in,” Dad pointed out.

“True.” Soarin acknowledged. “When she found out about what had happened, Rainbow was beyond frustrated, so she came to see me about what she could do with the extra ticket she had. I told her I would help her with her problem, if she helped me with my problem about who to give my ticket to.” He blushed as he told us, “She joked I should take one of the two cheerleaders that distracted me so much I crashed right before the Equestria Games trials.”

Stormbreaker winced. “Ouch, on a couple of levels.” 

“She got me with that one, but it gave me an opening.” Soarin put on a smug grin. “I told Rainbow I wasn’t interested in taking either of them and that I had planned to ask her, which left me with no clue who to give my second ticket to. I suggested she and I could work together to come up who to give them too, since we were in the same boat.”

“Risky but smooth,” Satin said. “Did she have any clue you were thinking about taking her?”

“I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure she didn’t even know I was interested in her on that level.” Soarin blushed. “A couple of weeks before I asked her to go with me, she teased me about having one of the Wonderbolts’ promotional flyers featuring her taped up in my locker. I think she thought I had it there because-”

“Soarin!” Rainbow Dash landed just ahead of our group. She walked up to Soarin, ignoring the rest of us. “I’m glad you’re on your hooves. We have a timekeeper, but Twilight said we need an impartial ref for the game too.”

“Judging by what he’s been telling us, I’m not sure anypony could trust him as being impartial if you’re playing,” Thunderlane joked.

Rainbow Dash gave Soarin a look. “What have you been telling them?”

“He was explaining why he was thanking me for helping the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” I told her.

Rainbow Dash gave a snort. “Pokey, if you’re going to cover for somepony, you’ve got to work on your poker face.” Rainbow Dash looked at Mom. “Miss Study, I know you’ll give me a straight answer. What was Soarin telling you about?”

“He was about to tell us why he had a picture of you in his locker,” Mom answered.

“Sooarinnn,” Rainbow Dash groaned. “We agreed not to spread mushy stuff about each other.”

“He wasn’t providing ‘mushy’ details,” Dad said. “He was being factual.”

“Why don’t you walk back with us to make sure he doesn’t get too ‘mushy’?” Stormbreaker suggested.  

“It would be interesting to hear your side of the story too,” Coco said. 

“I thought Rarity was the only one into this kind of stuff.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Fiiiine. But you have to promise whatever he says doen’t go anywhere else.”

“We promise,” Coco assured, and the rest of us nodded in agreement.

“You were about to tell us about the flier in your locker,” Mom prompted Soarin, as we resumed our walk towards the field.

“Right!” Soarin smiled and continued his explanation. “Wonderbolts keep posters or pictures of ponies who inspire them in their lockers to remind themselves to do their best. Rainbow and I used to have a poster of Wind Rider in our lockers.”

“Until I found out he was a lying underhooved jerk,” Rainbow Dash growled under her breath.

Thunderlane patted Rainbow Dash’s back with a wing. “After Rainbow’s run in with him, we both chose different ponies to have pictures of. Rainbow chose Spitfire’s mom, Stormy Flare, and I chose her.”

“What inspired that choice?” Stormbreaker asked.

“Rainbow’s one of the youngest fliers to join the Wonderbolts, she helps others on the team all the time, and she’s helped me more than I can ever pay her back for,” Soarin said with obvious admiration. “She’s going to be one of the Wonderbolt’s all-time greats. I know it.”

“You’re getting close to being mushy,” Rainbow Dash warned him, even though she looked pleased.

“I can understand admiring her and appreciating her help with your training, but there seems to be something else that made the connection between you two more personal,” Dad said.

“She pulled me out of a bad dive.” Soarin’s expression turned glum. “I’ve always been the weakest one on the team.”

“That’s not true,” Rainbow Dash said.

“For the stunt division I am,” Soarin said. “I pushed myself to get better, but I kept wearing myself out doing the wrong kinds of supplemental training. Not making sure I had the right nutrition for what I was doing made it even worse.”

“You just needed a few tweaks to your routine, some diet changes, and more sleep,” Rainbow Dash said. “I keep telling A.J. that naps are important, but she won’t believe me.”

Soarin turned his attention back to us. “Spitfire needed volunteers for an emergency supply delivery posting up north, so I volunteered for the most remote, harshest location, hoping it would get me to push my limits.” He snorted in self-disgust and his ears fell. “I ended up almost flying myself into the ground. If Rainbow hadn’t shown up when she did, I’m not sure I’d be here, much less still be a Wonderbolt.”

Rainbow Dash did a slight sideways hop and bumped her shoulder and hips into Soarin’s. “No pity parties!” While her expression was still serious, a softer look came into her eyes. “You were the one that caught me when I got knocked out of the sky during that storm. I’m the one that almost didn’t make it back, not you.”

“Nah, you could have recovered from that,” Soarin told her. “I owed you for catching me at the Young Flyers Competition. I still owe you for all the help you’ve given me, even before you were on the team. Don’t think I don’t remember you getting me my spot back on the Cloudsdale team during the Equestria Games trials and calling out Spitfire for what she tried to do.”

“I didn’t know we were keeping score, but I guess we’re even now on catching each other.” Rainbow Dash looked somewhat guilty and rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. “About the whole helping you thing, you don’t owe me for that. I’d been slacking a little and making sure you were doing what you were supposed to get me back to doing what I should have been doing too.”

Soarin gave Rainbow Dash an affectionate smile. “We work better together, don’t we?”

“We do,” Rainbow Dash agreed in a sweet tone. Her ear flicked, and she glanced around and blushed. “Okay, that’s enough. Now you’ve got me doing it.” She swatted Soarin’s legs with her tail. “Get back to telling your story and quit with the mushy stuff.”

“Before you do that, I was wondering how you two could be an official couple,” Stormbreaker said. “I thought relationships between officers and teammates were prohibited.”

“Soarin and I kinda had a thing going before I became a Wonderbolt, so under the rules we’re good,” Rainbow Dash said. “There’s another couple, Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger, that are on the team too. Besides, those rules only apply when an officer could evaluate a junior team member for performance tests and promotions. Soarin’s a senior Wonderbolt to me, but he doesn’t do my evaluations. Spitfire does. She’s cool with it since we’ve never let it get in the way of our training and it’s been helping both of us.”

Stormbreaker gave Soarin a look. “Just how long have you two been together? You never said anything to me about it, even when I told you about me and Satin.

“Officially, since Princess Twilight’s celebration. Before that, not long after Cadance and Shining’s wedding, I’d say.”

Rainbow Dash gave Soarin a curious look. “Why then?”

“After we had so much fun at Cadance and Shining’s wedding, and we started to doing stuff together after that pretty often, I thought we had started something between us.” Soarin gave Rainbow a winsome smile. “I had a crush on you by then, if that counts.”

Rainbow Dash gave a light snort. “Okay, that was mushy, but-”

“We’re over here!” Piña called to us, cutting Rainbow Dash off.

“You found him,” Scootaloo said to Rainbow Dash, as our group approached her near the edge of a mixed group of seated and lounging foals, nymphs, changelings, ponies, and one baby dragon.

“I told you I would,” Rainbow Dash said.

Dinky gave Soarin a bashful look. “Hello again, Mister Soarin. I’m sorry I didn’t say hello to you earlier. I got kinda excited about the game.”

“No problem at all.” Soarin gave her a full Wonderbolt’s smile. “I’m glad to see you and Cubitus are still getting along.”

Gena smiled in a devious fashion and cut her eyes at Dinky. “You’re right, he looks even better in person than he does on his poster,” she faux whispered.

Dinky blushed. “Gena!”

“What’s this about a poster of my coltfriend?” Rainbow asked.

“Dinky has a poster of Soarin in her room,” Cubitus said, after making eye contact with Gena and smiling in a co-conspirators way. “She’s even got an official plushie of him she keeps on her bed.”

Dinky looked toward Soarin and blushed all the way to her ear tips.

“I thought you had a thing for Shining Armor,” Sweetie Belle said, giving Dinky a look.

“She has a thing for stallions in uniform,” Amethyst told her. “You should see her when Coco’s brother and his buddy, who are in the Royal and Lunar guards, are around.”

“There’s nothing embarrassing about having a Wonderbolts plush. I have several myself.” Rainbow Dash leaned up against Soarin and wrapped a possessive foreleg around Soarin’s. She gave Dinky a mock warning look and joked, “But the original Soarin is my Wonderbolt and I’m not sharing him or letting just anypony hug or snuggle with him.”

“Wait a second,” Soarin protested. “You give Scoots hugs, and I’m cool with it. There’s a big double standard here.”

“Scoots is my sister, not a fan,” Rainbow Dash said, keeping up her act. “That’s different.”

“Sure it is,” Soarin said. “Sense you’re bending the rules, it’s only fair I do the same.” He wrapped his wing around Rainbow Dash in a hug and gave her a playful and defiant look. “Right?”

Scootaloo looked stunned. “I thought you two didn’t do P.D.A.s!”

“This isn’t a P.D.A., this is me making it clear the full sized Soarin’s mine,” Rainbow Dash said, giving Soarin’s leg a shake. “What he’s doing is a P.D.A.”

Soarin gave Rainbow Dash a smug smile. “I’m just making sure somepony can’t run off with you, so it’s not a P.D.A. under your rules.”

“I can’t believe you’re flirting in public,” Scootaloo said, staring at Rainbow Dash and Soarin as if the pair had rearranged her world.

Apple Bloom snorted. “That’s nothin’. Try chasing’ after Winona through the west orchard and then seein’ your brother makin’ out with his marefriend and his tallyw-”

“I think you should stop right there, Bloom,” Sweetie Belle interrupted. She closed her eyes and shuddered. “If it’s anything like what I saw going on with Rarity and Thunderlane when I opened the door to her ‘inspiration room’ that one time, we don’t want to know.”

“Those are some mental images I didn’t need,” Rainbow Dash said and then shook her head as if to dispel whatever she was seeing in her head. 

“I tried that,” Apple Bloom said. “It doesn’t work.”

“It was worth a shot.” Rainbow Dash looked up at Soarin. “Alright, you’ve made your point. I can share you… a little, every now and then.”

“Does that mean Dinky could get a hug from him as a test case?” Gena asked.

“Gena!” Dinky did her best to shrink herself down and hide behind Cubitus.

“You can’t tell us you wouldn’t want to be where Rainbow Dash is right now,” Piña said. “Under that strong, comfy wing all nice and warm.” She leaned against Rumble, who grinned and put his wing around Piña. 

Noi giggled and leaned against Rumble’s free side, and he hugged her with his wing.

The two nymphs sitting close to the hugging trio moved a little closer to them, as if seeking warmth from a fire.

“You’re excited just thinking about it, so don’t act like you don’t want to,” Cubitus said, grinning at Dinky.

“It’d make her super happy,” Gena said to both Rainbow Dash and Soarin.

Soarin looked at Rainbow as if asking for her approval.

“Fiiinnne.” Rainbow let go of Soarin’s leg. “One hug, no wings.” 

Dinky peeked around Cubitus. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Rainbow said. “Just make it quick.”

Dinky stepped from behind Cubitus and approached Soarin while keeping a cautious eye on Rainbow Dash.

“Don’t worry about her.” Soarin assured, “She won’t bite.”

“Don’t squeeze him too hard,” Thunderlane warned. “He’s overstuffed with the Apples’ samples.”

Dinky hurried over and gave Soarin a hug. “I can’t believe I’m getting to hug a Wonderbolt officer!” She looked up at Soarin and smiled. “You really are my favorite Wonderbolt.”

“Humph!” Rainbow Dash acted insulted and stuck her nose in the air. “So far, I’m not liking this test run.”

“Aww, thanks.” Soarin returned Dinky’s hug with an appreciative one of his own. He let go of her, smiled, and leaned in close to her ear. I could just hear him say, “Would you do me a favor? If you give Rainbow a hug too, she can’t get too jealous.”

Dinky’s ears perked up. She glanced toward Rainbow and then back to Soarin.

“I’m serious,” he said, raising back up.

“What are you two up to?” Rainbow asked.

Dinky moved to stand in front of Rainbow. “Mister Soarin said I should give you a hug.” She used her most adorable expression and asked, “May I give you a hug?”

“Dinks, that’s not even fair,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Like you don’t do that to grownups too,” Noi teased.

“I don’t know,” Rainbow said, sounding as if she was not averse to the idea. “I feel like I’m being manipulated here.”

“Come on, Dash, she gets the awesome combo of hugging a Wonderbolt and an Element of Harmony with you,” Soarin said and then winked at Scootaloo. “Right Scoots?”

“Getting to hug the Rainbow Dash is pretty awesome,” Scootaloo said.

“Oh, that’s low,” Rainbow said. “Tag teaming me and going for my ego?”

“It’s a pretty easy target,” Spike snarked.

“Please?” Dinky asked, putting even more into her expression.

“All right! All right! Sheesh!” Despite her protests, Rainbow gave Dinky a hug and smiled. “There you go.” She patted Dinky’s back and let her go.

Dinky raced back to Gena and Cubitus and hugged both of them. “Thank you! Thank you! I got to hug two of my heroes thanks to you.”

“You’re welcome.” Gena patted Cubitus’ shoulder with a hoof. “Cubi, you okay?”

“I’m good,” Cubitus said, sounding mellow. “Dinks is happy, so you’re happy, which means I’m double happy.”

“Alright, enough sappy stuff!” Rainbow Dash said. “Soarin and I have a game to get to, and I’ve still got to find...” She smiled and pointed a hoof at Amethyst. “Hey, Amethyst! You know how to play buckball, right?”

Amethyst gave a slow, unsure nod. “Yeah, but I’ve only played a few times. Why?”

“We need a unicorn who knows how to play and whose magic is pretty good. Twilight’s going to be the line judge for the game, so she’s out.”

“I don’t know.” Amethyst glanced around at the nymphs and foals near her. “I’m supposed to be helping with the little ones.”

“Go play,” Riff told her. “We have more than enough adults here.”

“You sure?” Amethyst asked him.

“I’m sure,” Riff said. He gave Amethyst a less than innocent smile. “If you’re out there, maybe I can convince Cheerilee to be a cheerleader for you.”

“I don’t think she brought her pom-poms and outfit, though.” Amethyst sighed with half-feigned disappointment. “What a lost opportunity.”

“What are you two up to?” Cheerilee asked, as she and a few foals and nymphs joined us at the edge of the now sizable group.

“We’re borrowing Amethyst for a bit, if that’s okay,” Rainbow said. “We need another unicorn for the game.”

“Sure! We’ve got everything in hoof here.” Cheerilee looked at the foals and nymphs around her. “Find a spot to sit with your partner or an adult, everypony. The game is going to start soon.” As the foals and nymphs scrambled to claim places to sit, Cheerilee gave Amethyst a quick hug. “Good luck, Ammy.”

The nymphs paused and watched, ears perked, as Amethyst hugged her back. “Thanks, Cheers.”

“That’s it. I’m out. You ponies are waaaayy too sappy for me.” Rainbow Dash turned and trotted off. “Come on, you two, we’ve got a game to play,” she said, not even looking over her shoulder.

“Coming,” Soarin said, shaking his head at Rainbow Dash. He waited for a second for Amethyst to finish her hug with Cheerilee and then they both followed Rainbow.

“Mister Cake, it seems we are both missing our better halves,” Stormbreaker said. “You wouldn’t know where they are, would you?”

“Just Carrot, please.” Carrot pointed towards a spot not too far from us that was screened off with moving tarps hung from ropes tied to what looked like a couple of spare decorative poles. “Changing time turned into feeding time for the little ones. They moved away for some privacy.”

“Ah,” Stormbreaker said. “Satin has been trying the pegasus approach to feedings, but this must have been a bit much.”

Carrot nodded. “It was for Chiffon.”

“We seem to be missing Coxa and some nymphs too,” Mom observed.

“The nymphs are with Coxa, Missus Cake, Satin, and the foals,” Cheerilee said. “I just came back from helping them get settled. Coxa wanted to know more about what feeding a foal entailed, and the nymphs stayed with her. I think they’re having a snack too.”

Mom’s eyebrows rose, and then she smiled. “I would guess neither Satin nor Missus Cake were expecting to provide for so many.”

“I don’t think so,” Cheerilee said. “They didn’t seem to mind, though.”

Everypony settled down, claiming their own spots with anticipation for the game.

Driven by curiosity, I looked around at the various combinations of ponies and changelings around us. There were more changelings than ponies in the group. While the adult changelings tended to be with other changelings, several of them had settled down with ponies and were chatting. The younger members of the groups mixed in all kinds of combinations. In some groups, the nymphs outnumbered the foals. For other groups, it seemed as if two or three foals shared a nymph among themselves, as if the nymph was a younger sibling.

I jumped as Coco put her hoof on mine. “Bit for your thoughts.”

“I was looking at how everypony is sitting together,” I said.

“It is an interesting array of arrangements.” Mom settled against Dad, leaning so her side rested on his. “The adult changelings mingling with other adult changelings I can understand because of their previous connections and the difference in the numbers of changelings and ponies. The reasons behind the other combinations are a bit of a mystery to me.”

Pinch smiled and cut her eyes to Kevin as he fidgeted at her side.

“I take it you have an idea why the nymphs have gone with the groups they have,” Dad said.

“Flavor,” Kevin said, as if confessing something. “They go to ponies who give off the emotional flavors they like.”

Cubitus snorted. “Kevin, chill. It’s not like it’s a big secret.”

“Yeah, but it’s...” Kevin paused, as if thinking of a word. “Awkward to talk about.”

“It shouldn’t be,” Junebug said. “There are some major physiological and behavioral differences between the tribes of ponies and we talk about them. Changelings, as close as you are to us, should feel the same. In fact, we will need to have such conversations for us to live and work together.”

Pinch bumped Kevin with her shoulder. “See? What have I been telling you?”

“Ponies group together with who we like based on personalities, so there’s little difference there. We use flavor and food-based endearments with those we like too.” Junebug smiled and looked down at Petrova, who was curled up in the small space between her and Radius.

Petrova looked up at Junebug with expectant alertness.

“Isn’t that right, sweetie?” Junebug said and leaned down to nuzzle Petrova.

Petrova lit up and returned Junebug’s nuzzle with affection.

“Awww!” Sweetie Belle, Dinky, Gena, and Piña said in chorus.

Cubitus put on a wicked smile. “So, Radi, what flavor does Miss Junebug give off that you like?”

Radius blushed to his ears. “Cubi!” He glanced at Junebug as if worried about her reaction and then back to Cubitus.

Junebug appeared amused at Radius’ reaction more than anything else.

“You shouldn’t worry about talking about it,” Gena said and hugged Dinky. “I tell Dinky she’s all my favor flavors, caring, loving, and upbeat, all the time.”

Dinky blushed and ducked her head in happy embarrassment. 

Radius stared at Gena for a second, looking as if he was warming up to the idea of talking but still very unsure.

“Sounds like somepony is talking about their tastes in wines,” Berry said, as she and Barrel joined the group and settled into one of the few free spaces available. “If you leave us out, I’ll be berry upset.”

“She’s a bit too little to be talking about wine, though,” Barrel pointed out.

“I was telling about what flavors I liked from Dinky to get Radius to tell us about what he likes about Miss June Bug,” Gena told him.

Barrel grinned. “Ah, I see.”

“What about Pinch, Kevin?” Piña asked. “What ‘flavors’ do you like to get from her?”

“Pinch is curious and supportive, with a good scoop of warmth for everypony,” Kevin said, sounding vulnerable but sincere. 

“So she’s like curling up with a good book, some tea, and a comfy blanket,” Noi said.

Kevin’s ears perked up, and he nodded. “That’s her.”

“Aww!” Pinch leaned against Kevin and put her head on his shoulder. “Thanks.”

A few of the surrounding changelings gave the pair curious looks.

Radius swallowed. “June Bug… It’s hard to describe. It’s an emotional blend with several layers to it.”

Cubitus nodded as if knowing what Radius was talking about. “Like Dinky’s mixture of excitement and happiness at being able to do something nice for or something new with somepony that’s so tasty,” he said. “And Gena’s feelings when she gets to learn about ponies by hugging them. She enjoys the contact and sharing what she senses from them.”

Our group’s expectant attention went back to Radius, who blushed. “I-”

A mixture of nymphs and young foals rushing in to join the group interrupted him. 

“We’re back!” Coxa announced. “Everyone, find your partners.”

“We heard you fed more ponies than you expected to,” Stormbreaker said, as Satin sat down beside him.

“We did,” Mrs. Cake said, with a slight blush, as she and the twins sat beside Carrot. “It was something, let me tell you.”

“It was quite educational for me and nutritious for the nymphs,” Coxa said. “Thank you both.” She looked at a trio of nymphs who had not settled down with anypony and told them, “You three need to be with a partner from Cheerilee’s class or with an adult.”

“I’ll take one or two!” Berry said. She held out her forelegs in an inviting gesture to the trio.

Two of the nymphs ran to Berry and hugged her.

The final nymph looked overwhelmed and unsure of what to do.

“Come here little one,” Mom said and patted the ground. “You can sit with us.”

The nymph paused at Mom’s words, but he did not move towards her.

Mom’s ears fell after a couple of seconds passed. “Do you not want to sit with us?”

“I don’t think that’s the case.” Dad said and chuckled. “He’s just nervous and needs some encouragement.” Dad twined his tail with Mom’s and leaned his head against hers. “Or ‘enticement,’ I should say.”

“Devious.” Mom smiled and snuggled against Dad. “I approve.”

The nymph’s ears perked up, and he moved towards Mom and Dad.

Dad’s grinned. “It’s my fellow hat enthusiast! I thought I recogniz-”

I flinched as the nymph went straight to Dad and hugged him.

The nymph recoiled from Dad as if he had touched a hot eye on a stove, stumbled backwards, tripped, and landed on his flank.

I could not tell who looked more disturbed by what happened, the nymph or Dad. The nymph looked confused, shocked, and upset, while Dad’s face showed his guilt, heartbreak, and worry for the nymph. 

Of the four fillies that got to the nymph, in what seemed to be a heartbeat, I could not tell if Dinky, Gena, Pinch, or Piña touched him first, but Dinky ended up with him in her forelegs.

“Are you okay?” Dinky asked the nymph, who had tucked his head against her chest.

“You can’t go hugging everypony without asking first, Thysbe.” Cubitus scolded as he trotted up to the huddled group. “Some ponies don’t like it.”

“Give him a moment, Cubi,” Piña said. “He’s upset enough as it is.”

Gena disengaged from the others. “He’s not the only one.” She walked to Dad, her ears back with worry, and asked. “Are you okay?”

“No, I am not,” Dad responded. “I am ashamed of myself.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Gena told him.

As if saying so cut into him, Dad responded, “I traumatized a foal.”

“You didn’t mean to, and you hurt yourself too,” Gena said. “It was an accident.”

“I wanted for him to get love from Study, not this.” Dad took off his hat and held it in his hoofs. He stared at the hat with a haunted, faraway look. “I was thinking he would want a hug from Study, and I was going to put my hat on him again.”

“He didn’t want love from Missus Study, he wanted love from you,” Cubitus said in a rough and close to accusatory tone. “You’re the flavor he likes.”

“Cubi!” Dinky and Piña chided at the same time.

“Mister Insight, you need a hug,” Gena said. “May I give you a hug?” she more demanded than asked.

Dad hesitated for an unsure moment and then nodded.

Gena hugged Dad as if she exerted too much pressure on him he would shatter. At first contact, she flinched, then her eyes widened, and she looked shocked. “You’re worse than Mister Pin without Miss Coco!” She wrapped her forelegs around him tighter. “It’s like trying to hear you when you’re deep in a tunnel.”

“Hug him, Miss Study,” Pinch said. “That will help.”

Mom nodded and hugged Dad from his side.

“Better,” Gena declared and then rested her head on Dad, closed her eyes and remained still.

“Hug her back,” I told Dad. “Do your best to relax and hold her.”

Dad, with some hesitancy, hugged Gena.

A couple of seconds passed before Piña asked, “Anything?”

“A little. He’s curious, considerate, and...” Gena looked up at Dad and smiled. “And steadfast.”

“That sums him up well,” Mom said.

“Okay, Gena, you need to let him go,” Cubitus said. “Thysbe needs to hug Mister Insight again.”

“What?!” Piña said.

“They both need it. Thysbe needs to see that it wasn’t him that caused Mister Insight’s reaction, and Mister Insight needs to work on not freaking out about being hugged and get over feeling guilty about scaring Thysbe.” He held out his hoof toward Thysbe. “Come on, little guy.”

“But!” Dinky hugged Thysbe a little closer. “He’s still scared.”

“He will be, until he faces this.” Cubitus paused, and the hard set expression on his face softened. “One reason I could get over my fear of being captured by ponies is you hugged me while I was scared out of my mind. It’s hard to think about somepony wanting to feed you to a manticore when all you can feel is somepony wanting to calm you down and make sure you’re okay.”

“He’s right, Dinks,” Pinch said. “Going ahead and facing something that’s thrown you helps you overcome it faster.”

“Shouldn’t we be doing something?” Radius whispered.

I jumped a bit when Spiracle answered from behind me. “No, let them work this out for themselves. Besides, I think he has the right idea.”

“You’re sneaking around again,” Coxa reprimanded him in a light tone. “You startled poor Pin.”

“Sorry about that,” Spiracle said. “Having to worry about security with all of us out in the open has me slipping into old habits.”

“It’s fine,” I said to him. “How long has he been behind us?” I asked Coco in a whisper.

“I have no clue,” Coco whispered back, while looking over her should at Spiracle.

Spiracle gave us a self-pleased rascal’s smile. 

Dinky let Thysbe free of her hug, but held onto his hoof until the moment she passed Thysbe to Cubitus.

Cubitus chuckled. “Dinks, chill. I’m not feeding him to a bugbear or anything.”

Dinky’s ears went back. “I know, but he’s upset, which makes me upset.”

“Mister Insight is upset too,” Gena said, as she let go of Dad. “Cubi’s right. They both need this.”

Cubitus guided Thysbe the short distance to Dad and told them both, “Try it again.”

“Hug him instead of him hugging you,” Pinch suggested. “That way, you’re the one who starts things. That might help.”

“I’m sorry about last time, little guy.” Dad reached out to Thysbe, holding his forelegs open. “Let’s try again, all right?”

Thysbe let go of Cubitus’ hoof and approached Dad with caution.

With careful, slow motions, Dad brought Thysbe into a hug. He seemed to concentrate on regulating his emotions as he looked down at the nymph.

The tension left Thysbe. He smiled and hugged Dad back.

“Much better!” Piña declared.

“I am very proud of you, Dear,” Mom said. She looked down at Thysbe and smiled. “I am proud of you, too. It is difficult to face something that has scared you with the courage you did.”

For a second, Dad seemed bothered by Mom’s words, and Thysbe hugged Dad a bit more as if to comfort him.

Twilight’s voice, aided by an amplification spell, came from the buckball field. “May I have your attention please?”

Thysbe nestled between Mom and Dad and Spiracle settled down with Coxa and Arista, while everypony else returned to their previous spots.

As Twilight introduced the players and then summarized the rules of buckball, many of the nymphs perked up. They seemed to pick up on the building anticipation and excitement of the surrounding ponies.

After Twilight ended her explanation, Soarin went to the middle of the field with a hoofball. He signaled to Turner to be ready, addressed the players to tell them to get ready, and then started the game by tossing the ball into the air.

The game was a much closer one that I had expected, considering Ponyville’s official buckball team was playing against a pickup team. Rainbow Dash’s speed countered Fluttershy’s ball handling technique well. Applejack and Pinkie Pie matched each other out too. Amethyst, on the other hoof, had some trouble matching Snail’s basket handling prowess, but she did not put on a poor show.

In the middle of an impressive back-and-forth series between the two teams, Turner signaled time and Soarin paused the game with a whistle and then declared, “Halftime!”

“Way to go, Ammy!” Dinky cheered.

“You are right, Dinky, buckball is a great game to watch,” Mom said.

Everypony paused as Thorax approached. He had returned to his new form and his size drew our attention.

“Is everypony liking the game?” Thorax said, looking as if not sure how to handle the looks he was getting.

“It’s great!” Gena said.

Thorax looked at Cubitus with some concern. “Cubi, are you okay?”

“I’m great.” Cubitus grinned, looking unfocused. “I’ve had way too much excited supportive love from Dinky for Ammy,” he said and leaned against Dinky, who blushed. “Want some? I’ve got a full store I could share already, and I’m sure she’ll be giving off more.”

“I’m not sure I should,” Thorax responded.

“You need to eat,” Muffins told Thorax, in her mother’s tone, before he could refuse.

“You better listen to her, or we’re all going to gang up on you,” Berry said. “We’ve had practice getting overworked and starving ponies to eat and rest, thanks to Pin. You won’t have a chance.”

Picking up on what they were doing, I smiled. “You better do what they say,” I told Thorax. “No matter how much I argued and told them I was fine, they always won.”

 Gena looked around in shock. “He’s a king!” she half whispered. “What are they doing?!”

“Being moms and good friends,” Pinch said.

Dinky got to her hooves. “Thorax needs love?”

“A lot,” Coxa said. “He hasn’t been taking in love from anypony, since he thinks ponies might think it’s wrong.”

“Thorax, you goof!” Cubitus said. “They give the stuff away!”

Gena stared at Cubitus with her mouth open in shock.

“But-” Thorax started.

“Mom’s right, you need to eat!” Dinky said, without giving Thorax a chance to finish. “You have a kingdom to take care of and you can’t do that without eating.” She marched over to stand beside Muffins. “You settle down right here,” she told Thorax and waited for him to do as she instructed. “I’m going to be in the middle, and Mom is going to be on my other side.” As soon as Thorax had lowered himself to the ground, she said, “Cubi, you’re on his other side.”

“Got it!”

“What about me?” Gena asked, as Cubitus left her.

“You can pile in too,” Dinky told her.

Thorax gave the trio an uneasy look. “I appreciate this, but you don’t need to go through all this trouble for me.”

“Thorax, just go with it.” Cubitus all but flopped down and half-rolled to settle against Thorax’s side. “You need the love, and I need to share some love, or I’m going to pop.”

“I get the front then.” Gena said, and curled up against Thorax’s chest.

“There’s still a lot of available Thorax to go around,” Berry pointed out.

Careful of her hooves Noi stood up and addressed the younger ponies around us, “Everypony in Miss Cheerilee’s class and our nymph friends!” She waited a moment for ponies to turn her direction and then told them, “We need to give good feelings to King Thorax. Anypony who wants to join us, we’d be happy to have you.”

“All right!” Rumble cheered. He grinned down at the two nymphs sitting with him. “We’re going to pony pile a king!”

“Wait, what?!” Thorax said.

“Be gentle with him, please,” Cheerilee said, giving her approval for their plan. “Be mindful of the nymphs too. They are smaller, so you need to be careful with them.”

“You heard her!” Spike stood up and pointed at Thorax, “Everypony, snuggle him!”

There were a few moments of gleeful, frenzied chaos as most of the foals and nymphs and Spike piled on Thorax.

“If you can’t get some affection now, there’s no hope for you,” Spiracle teased, once the youngsters settled down again.

Thorax relaxed and smiled. “Thank you, everypony,” he told the youngsters and settled down with a contented look.

Cheerilee made a motion to Featherweight, who smiled, nodded, and then flew up and above our group and took several photos of the cuddling group and those of us around it.

“Seems the next edition of the Foal Free Press is going to be another interesting one,” I said to Cheerilee.

“With their enthusiasm for it, I’m sure it will be,” she said with pride.

Turner blew a whistle, signaling that the game was about to start again. Everypony settled back down, the players took their positions, and Soarin started the second half by tossing the ball in the air.

At first, some foals from Cheerilee’s class guarded their reactions to what was going on with the game. I guessed that their proximity to *King* Thorax made them self-conscious about how much noise they were making. As the game went on, and Thorax cheered with abandon, the younger ponies got into the game too. The adults circling the nymphs and students went through a similar process.

I felt the tension I had been holding release. Knowing the surrounding ponies could let their guards down allowed me to relax.

Gena turned and looked at me with a curious expression.

Coco leaned against me. “What are you thinking about? I can all but hear the gears turning in your head.”

“I was-”

“Wild ball!” somepony called, as a shot bounced off the edge of one of the scoring buckets and careened towards our section of the field.

“Shield up!” I called and put up a mid-air barrier to intercept the ball. 

The ball bounced off my shield at an odd angle and hit one of the decorative poles, knocking loose several flowers and the streamer that was attached to it.

Spiracle caught the ball after its bounce off the pole. He grinned and bowed at the scattered applause and cheers he received.

“Well done!” Stormbreaker told me. “That would have stung, if it had hit somepony, as fast as it was going.”

“Pin was one of the safety monitors on his ice archery team.” Satin grinned at me. “Looks like the quick reaction shield training’s still with you.”

“I guess so,” I said, feeling surprised at myself. “I didn’t even think about what I was doing.”

“So that’s why you could get your ‘sneeze guard’ up so fast while I was sick,” Coco joked.

“I’m glad nopony got hit, but I didn’t do the poor decorations any favors. I’ll help put things back up.”

“I’ve got it,” Radius said. He picked up the loose flowers and the streamer and flew upwards. Once he got at the right height to reattach the streamer to the pole, he glanced back toward the ground. “I think I’m missing something to hook it to.”

“There’s a tack down here,” Spiracle said, getting to his hooves and picking it up. “We don’t have a hammer, though.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just stick it.” Radius spit a globule of sticky green goo onto the pole and adhered the streamer to it. “There we go.” After putting the flowers back in their arrangement, he drifted back to the ground with lazy wing beats and returned to his spot. “Do you think I should get…” He trailed off as June Bug, all but put her nose to his. “Yes?”

“You can still excrete adhesive saliva and you didn’t tell me?” Junebug asked, sounding excited and disappointed with Radius at the same time.

“I didn’t think about it,” Radius said.

“Can I see inside your mouth?” Radius opened his mouth wide, and Junebug came close to sticking her nose in it. “Where is the…? Oh?! You have three! They’re bigger than I thought they would be too. Impressive!”

Radius blushed. “Ank ou.” 

“Is everything okay, June?” Spiracle asked, sounding far too helpful.

“I thought changelings had lost the ability to secrete adhesive saliva after the metamorphosis.” She looked at Spiracle for a second before returning to her examination of Radius’ mouth. “Why haven’t you been using it to help build Sanctuary?”

“The stuff hardens up and breaks down after a while, so we can’t use it for anything than needs to last,” Coxa explained.

“Since our friend here can’t speak for himself, I’ll be glad to point out a couple of things.” Spiracle moved and sat beside Radius with obvious enjoyment of his friend’s plight. “Adhesive saliva is released from the upper gland and valve.” He pointed a hoof at something inside of Radius’ mouth I could not see. “Its placement and shape helps the spray be more accurate. The other valves and glands allow us to make cocoons and the suspension fluids we fill them with.”

“So they have less of a squirt gun shape because of their not needing to push out their contents with velocity, but allow for finer work close up,” June Bug guessed.

“That’s it in a nutshell,” Spiracle confirmed.

Turner trotted up from the game field. “While I came with another purpose, curiosity demands I find out why our friend is being examined.”

“They’re looking at the valve he uses to spit the sticky stuff he used to put the streamer back up,” Dinky said.

Turner looked over June Bug’s shoulder. “Ah, I see! What a marvelous organ.” 

Radius’ blush deepened. 

“Turner, what’s the holdup?” Soarin asked, as he landed at the edge of the ponies gathered around Radius. “Is he okay? Did he get hit in the mouth by the ball?”

“He’s fine, they’re looking at his spit valves,” Coxa said.

“Should you be doing that in front of foals and nymphs?” Soarin joked.

“This is awkward,” Junebug agreed. “Thank you, Radius.”

Radius closed his mouth. “You’re welcome.”

“Could we get samples of the various substances you can produce?” Turner asked. “It would be very interesting to know what they’re composed of.”

Dinky’s ears perked up and her eyes got a distant look to them. “We could learn so much.”

Pinch giggled, and Cubitus shook his head. “I think we know what our next project is going to be,” Cubitus said.

“Samples later, buckball now,” Soarin said. He glanced over his shoulder towards the field. “We better get moving. Twilight’s giving us a look.”

“Right!” Turner said. “We cannot disrupt the schedule. We will press things too close to dark, if we do.” Spiracle passed him the ball, and he trotted off with Soarin back towards the field. As he walked past the cluster of ponies around Thorax, he asked, “Dinky, my dependable research partner whose memory is far better than mine, please remind me to ask for samples from Mister Radius later.”

“Sure, Dad!” Dinky said.

Spiracle patted Radius on the back. “You’re a good sport.”

“Yes he is,” Junebug agreed. “The more I find out about him, the more fascinating I find him. He has the patience of Celestia, and lets me ask all the questions I want while I draw my diagrams of his anatomy too.” 

Spiracle chuckled, raised his eyebrows, and gave Radius a grin that caused him to blush.

“Get your mind out of the cesspit,” Radius said. “She draws my anatomy for her reports.”

“His physiology is fantastic for my studies,” June Bug said, blushing too. “Being able to see the structures of his wings and eyes without needing a magnifying glass or microscope has let me see things I have never seen before.”

“I believe the studying has been mutual, based on how much he’s talked about you and what he’s learned from you about living in Ponyville,” Coxa said.

Turner blew his whistle, and the game resumed.

Petrova gave a happy chirp as June Bug and Radius settled down with her again.

“If you would hold still, I’d draw you too, you precious thing,” June Bug said.

Gena looked up at Thorax, who seemed lost in thought studying June Bug, Petrova, and Radius. “What are you thinking about? You seem happy and worried at the same time.”

“I’m nervous about my speech,” Thorax said. He smiled at Gena. “I think I’m going to improvise some of it, with what I’ve seen and experienced today, but I’m going to need to figure out how I want to word it.”

Cubitus reached over Thorax’s leg and gave Gena a playful prod. “What he means is, ‘Be quiet, cuddle with me some more, and let me think’.” 

Gena giggled. “I can do that.”

The rest of the game went well and without the ball flying into the crowd. While Amethyst and the pickup team played their hearts out, they could not best Ponyville’s official team. We cheered both teams, who lined up and took a bow, and then dispersed to join the crowd.

“You did great, sis!” Dinky congratulated, as Amethyst and Turner came towards us.

“I don’t know about ‘great’, but I didn’t embarrass myself at least. I’m going to have a sore horn for a couple of days, though. I haven’t used my magic for that long in a while.” She smiled at the cluster of ponies around Thorax. “Seems you found yourself a comfy spot.”

“It found me is more what happened.” Thorax smiled. “I’m going to need to get up for my speech. Would you two mind taking my place?”

“Sure!” Amethyst said and bumped shoulders with Turner. “Right, Dad?”

“Do you want to make the other half of the Dinky sandwich, or are you making me into a sandwich with Dinky?” he asked, which earned him several giggles from the foals.

“I’ll finish the sandwich.” After some careful maneuvering through the settled foals and nymphs, Amethyst took the vacant spot beside Dinky. 

As soon as Turner settled down beside Amethyst, the foals and nymphs closed the open space around them by cuddling against them.

Thorax walked to the edge of the field and turned to address the crowd.

“Hello everyone,” he said, sounding nervous.

Some changelings and ponies leaned forward, as if straining to hear him.

“Hold on just a second,” Twilight said, from her seat near where Thorax was standing. She cast a spell, and Thorax’s throat glowed for a moment. “That should help.”

“Thanks,” Thorax said, his voice amplified by Twilight’s spell. He turned back to face the crowd. “While today has shown me more than I could have ever hoped, and I want to talk about all of it, I promise to keep this short.” He looked toward a section of the crowd that held a majority of ponies. “First, I want to thank our wonderful friends from Ponyville for making this celebration possible. This has been an unforgettable day. Without your generosity, we would not be here to celebrate it.”

Cheers from the changelings echoed Thorax’s words.

Thorax’s expression lost its joviality. “We have needed such a celebration. We changelings are facing an unprecedented time in our history. Our home was shattered. Our colony is divided. We are facing challenges in meeting our basic needs, and our… history with the other creatures of the world has all but eliminated the possibility of seeking aid from most kingdoms.”

The changelings of the crowd became uneasy at Thorax’s words.

“However, despite all of those challenges, we are still here, and we have hope.” Thorax looked towards our group and smiled. “Coxa and Spiracle, please join me.”

Coxa and Spiracle glanced at each other as if they were not aware they were going to be asked to the front, got to their hooves, and then moved toward Thorax. As if sensing something of gravitas was occurring, Arista wiggled in Coxa’s grasp and made fussy noises.

“We are here to welcome the first nymph to be hatched in Sanctuary. Unlike the previous ‘viewings’ that Chrysalis held for herself to pick her favorites among a hatching, this Viewing is for all of Sanctuary to get to greet its newest member.” He stepped out of the way so Coxa and Spiracle could have the central speaking spot. “Please, introduce us all to the newest addition to Sanctuary.”

Spiracle seemed stunned. “My King, that honor goes to you.”

Thorax shook his head. “This is a celebration in honor of the hatching of your nymph.”

There was a quick, whispered discussion between Coxa and Spiracle I could not hear. 

Coxa passed Arista to Spiracle, who held her above his head for all to see. His broad smile showed his adoring pride for his daughter. 

Coxa, smiling herself, called out, “Changelings of Sanctuary, the Hive, and our friends from Ponyville, Spiracle and I introduce our daughter, Arista!”

Applause, cheers, and welcomes from those of us in the crowd resounded.

Arista did not seem to know what to make of being lifted into the air and the noise from the crowd, but she did not fuss.

After a few seconds more, Spiracle lowered Arista and held her to his chest.

Thorax smiled at us in the crowd. “The customs the Crystal Ponies introduced me to during my time in the Crystal Empire that bonded their community together partially inspired this celebration. We hope Sanctuary can become a living example of how changelings and ponies can live in harmony, learning from and sharing with each other. That larger aspiration aside, I hope that Sanctuary lives up to it name for those who call it home. Would the adult changelings of Sanctuary please stand?”

There was a general confusion and what seemed to be an almost reluctance among the changelings, but then Radius stood. Following his example, more and more changelings got to their hooves.

It shocked me to see less than half of the changelings stood. Thinking back on what we had seen in Sanctuary's interior, the thought of how much work they must have put into its construction awed me. 

“These changelings have all chosen to give up their homes and their lives within the Hive for an opportunity to make Sanctuary a living example of the future we hope to achieve for all changelings. Coxa, Radius, and Spiracle, in particular, have not only been working their exoskeletons off to help build, but also to establish diplomatic and trade connections with the ponies of Ponyville.”

Hints of sadness haunted Thorax’s features, but he maintained his smile. “These changelings also came to offer an opportunity to those who did not have such a choice. Nymphs of Sanctuary, please stand.”

Gena and Cubitus got to their hooves together. They then coaxed the younger nymphs to stand with them.

“These younglings had all ties to their previous lives severed. They have lost their homes, their families, and their nesting groups, all without warning. These are the nymphs that the adult changelings of Sanctuary are working so hard for.” Thorax nodded toward Gena and Cubitus. “The ‘older’ of the nymphs themselves have been doing their best to make the lives of their fellow nymphs better by guiding them and helping them learn and make new connections, friends, and lives.”

One nymph, as if all the attention was getting to her, shrank towards the ground. Before she could touch the grass, Dinky was at her side to give her a hug and whisper encouraging words as she guided the nymph back to standing tall and held her hoof.

“Our older nymphs have not been facing this task alone. The foals of Ponyville have helped them not only get back to their hooves but also thrive in their new lives. Would the members of the Envoys, Research Team, and Training Team please stand?”

The foals looked at each other as if surprised at being named.

“Did any of you know he was going to do this?!” Pina whispered.

“No!” Gena told her.

“He’s winging it,” Rumble said.

“He’s doing great,” Pinch said and stood. Kevin stood at her side without hesitation.

Following their example, the other team members stood.

“These ‘teams’ formed because they were friends, not because they were assigned to each other. They have worked with Princess Twilight, Mayor Mare, Miss Cheerilee and her class, Miss Junebug, and many other ponies to help the leaders of both communities learn about each other.” Thorax smiled at the Teams. “I am sure they will continue to do great things and serve as examples of how changelings and ponies can live together for us all.”

“No pressure,” Thunderlane said in a loud stage whisper, prompting several laughs around us.

“Don’t leave yourself out,” Twilight said to Thorax. “You’ve had a major hoof in setting up Sanctuary.”

Thorax shook his head. “I agreed the plan sounded promising, gave a bit of input, and then let Coxa, Spiracle, and Radius have the reins. I cannot say I had anything to do with their success so far.” He focused his eyes on the section of the crowd that had the most changelings from the Hive. “I had hoped Sanctuary would succeed at being a haven for changelings who needed somewhere other than the Hive to live in peace. It is proving to be much more than that. The changelings and ponies here have shown me I was wrong for not accepting their full help. We could stand on our own, but that would make the process longer and more difficult. The ponies of Equestria want to help us, including sharing their love with us. We should accept it with appreciation and do our best to pay them back when we are able.”

“Pay them back with what?” A changeling, I assumed from the Hive, asked. “We can’t even grow our own food yet.”

Princess Twilight made as if she were going to speak just as Junebug got to her hooves. Their eyes met, and Twilight smiled and nodded with approval.

Junebug addressed the changelings, while giving most of her attention to the changeling who had spoken. “You have a lot of other things to offer us.” She put a hoof to her chest. “I’m an entomologist. Being able to work with Coxa, Radius, and Spiracle has been the biggest opportunity in my life. Coxa has taken the time to answer my questions about the changeling life cycle and how she and her team care for the nymphs.” She gave a grateful look to Radius. “Radi has answered even more of my questions and has been kind enough to let me use him as a model for my scientific diagrams and study his anatomy.”

“Keep it clean, June,” Berry kidded, drawing some laughter from the crowd. “There are foals present.”

June Bug blushed and shot Berry a look before addressing the changelings again. “What I am trying to say is what we could learn from you more than makes us for us sharing our resources and supplies. But if you could share the adhesive you produce and let us study your cocoons and their properties, it would mean a lot to us.”

Turner’s hoof snapped up into the air. “I second that!”

Dinky hopped up and down, waving a hoof in the air. “Yes, please!”

“We would be interested in studying the silk you produce too,” Junebug said. “We could make all kinds of advances studying it.”

“That would make an excellent exchange!” Twilight agreed. “There could be all kinds of medical and practical applications we could use it for. I know Rarity would be very interested in having a steady supply of high quality silk too, and I’m sure she wouldn’t be the only one.”

“There is another thing that we can provide for Equestria to repay the ponies’ generosity, information and support for our mutual defense,” Thorax said, changing the tone of the talk in an instant. “Equestria and the Hive still face a threat from Chrysalis. We need to share any information we have about her activities, in case we ever see her again.”

“What about the renegades?” A voice called out. “Are they going to help us with them?”

Thorax stiffened, but kept his composure. “First, let me state I do not regard the separatist changelings as military threats. They have every right to disagree with our way of life. So long as they are non-violent, the Princesses have agreed there is no need for us to treat them as hostile.” He turned and gave a slight bow to Spiracle. “I believe Spiracle is the right changeling to address our plans for bringing the Hive back together, since Sanctuary is going to play such a large part in it.”

Spiracle stepped forward. “Everyone, please sit down.” He waited a moment for those who had been standing to settle down on the grass. “Our approach is quite simple. We keep doing what we are doing. Pharynx is a warrior changeling through and through. If he hasn’t already...” He paused and looked perturbed as a uneasy murmurer went through the changeling portion of the crowd. “Yes, I said his name. Pharynx was a fellow trainee, a staunch defender of the Hive, and someone I knew I could count on when things got tough. He’s not a villain, he’s not a monster, he’s a changeling of the old ways who is doing his best to keep the Hive going following what he was taught.”

Arista wiggled in Spiracle’s grasp. He took a moment to whisper something to her and nuzzle her until she calmed down. 

The sight of the tough, proud warrior being a loving father made me smile, and got several ‘awws’ from the surrounding ponies.

“Pharynx will soon have scouts and spies throughout Equestria and the neighboring kingdoms, looking for opportunities to shore up the renegades’ supplies.” A devious grin came to his face. “We’re going to invite those scouts and spies in and give them what they want.” 

There was a ripple of disbelief and muttering through the crowd.

“It’s a very simple plan we know will work because we changelings of Sanctuary have experienced what we want them to experience.” Spiracle pointed a hoof at the groups of foals, nymphs, and ponies cuddling together. “To a love starved changeling, this much affection and caring being shared is going to be irresistible. We invite them to join us, share our love with them, and then send them back to tell the others what is possible if they rejoin the Hive or us here in Sanctuary. Before long, Pharynx's influence will erode from all the defectors, and he and the rest of the renegades will be hard pressed not to rejoin us.”

The changelings of Sanctuary in the crowd seemed satisfied with the plan. Many of the changelings of the Hive seemed to have reservations and exchanged quiet comments with those around them.

“Are the ponies up for this?” a voice asked.

“We are.” Mayor Mare said, after standing. “Several ponies from Ponyville have volunteered to provide love for the nymphs and changelings of Sanctuary. Princess Twilight, the Envoys, the students of Cheerilee’s class, and I are all going to do what we can to find more ponies to help with this strategy. Our plans are not complete, but we have several ideas on how to increase the number of ponies willing to donate love and guide changelings who need convincing that Pharynx's ways are unnecessary back to the Hive or to Sanctuary.”

Mayor Mare’s words had some impact among the changelings of the Hive, but many still seemed skeptical.

“It seems too easy,” the same voice said, loud enough to be heard over the general murmuring of the crowd.

“It is that easy!” Cubitus jumped to his hooves. “When I was caught by the ponies, I was terrified. Chrysalis had told us all those lies about nymphs being tortured and fed to the creatures of Everfree Forest, and I believed them.” He pointed a hoof at Dinky. “Dinky, who is the bravest and kindest pony I know, got into a magical shield with me, after arguing with her own sister about how dangerous it would be, to help me calm down and feel safe. She did more for me, while I was in that bubble, than my parents had been to me in my entire life.”

Dinky blushed at all the attention she received from everyone around her. The nymph who was holding her hoof smiled and hugged her as if to support her.

“Then, while I’m still in the shield with Dinky, Keratin shows up looking better and happier than I had ever seen him.” Cubitus took a breath before continuing at full volume. “He hadn’t had his wings pulled off or fed to manticores, Princess Celestia herself arranged for him to live with two of her personal friends. I looked up to Pharynx, and I still do. But he’s got his head up his-”

Gena lunged and put a hoof over his mouth. “Cubi! Think about where you are and about the nymphs.”

There were several giggles from the surrounding foals.

“Sorry,” Cubitus told Gena, as she dropped her hoof. He turned his attention back toward the neighsayer. “Pharynx is wrong. We changelings of Sanctuary and our pony friends can and will show them that if they give us the chance!”

I noticed a change in Spiracle’s expression. He appeared to be suppressing a grin, and he glanced at a couple of spots in the crowd as low conversations among the changelings spread. 

The whispers throughout the crowd grew. On the whole, they sounded more positive, but there were still doubtful undertones.

“She’s just one filly,” the neighsayer said, over the noise. “What about the rest of them?”

Gena’s ears shot up, and she grinned as if inspired. “Pinch, give Kevin a hug!”

Pinch looked at Gena as if doubting what she had heard. “Hug him?”

Kevin’s eyes widened. “Gena, I think I know where you’re going with this, but I don’t think-”

“You two think too much!” Gena stood up and pointed a hoof at Kevin. “You want them to see just how well things can work? Show them!”

Kevin nodded. He hugged Pinch and whispered something to her.

Pinch’s eyes widened. After a second, she hugged him back and rested her head on his shoulder.

There was a gasp from the changelings sitting closest to the hugging pair. They turned to other changelings around them, expressing their disbelief in a rapid jumble of words. 

“Pinch and Kevin don’t just get along, she loves him and he loves her!” Gena announced for everyone to hear. “You Hivelings can doubt whether we can pull this off you want, but this is what has already happened with them, and I’m sure there are going to be more ponies and changelings falling in love before too long.”

Gena’s announcement and the confirming words of the changelings close to the pair caused discussions throughout the changelings of the Hive. The neighsayer looked perplexed, as he tilted his head in thought and stared at Pinch and Kevin hugging.

Turner gave Princess Twilight a signal, and she nodded. “This has been a wonderful discussion of what Sanctuary means for all of us, but we ponies need to head home.” She gave a meaningful glance toward the Everfree Forest. “While we’re a good bit away, we don’t want to chance things by having ponies go home in the dark.” She smiled at the foals in the crowd. “We don’t want any pony sleepy during school tomorrow either.”

I had not noticed, but the sun had drifted lower in the sky. While there was still daylight left, with fall making the days shorter, we would not have too much time to spare getting home.

“Thank you all for coming,” Coxa said. “It was an honor for Spiracle and I to be the first parents to have an egg hatch in Sanctuary and for Arista to be the first to have a Viewing held for her. For all of our friends to be part of the Viewing has made it even more special. Thank you all!” She and Spiracle bowed, and everyone cheered them.

After the applause ended, there was a lot of activity as ponies and changelings got to their hooves.

“If you did not come with your parents, every student should gather here please,” Cheerilee called over the din. “We’ll need to head back to the schoolhouse soon.”

There were disappointed sounds from a few of the foals.

“If Coxa agrees, we’ll come back to visit sometime,” Cheerilee told them.

“We would love to have you visit again,” Coxa said as she and Spiracle walked up.

“Could we see your daughter before we go?” Cotton Cloudy asked, standing on her hind legs and stretching to her full height, trying to get a better look at Arista.

“We couldn’t see her too well when you held her up, Sir,” Liza said, while motioning for Cotton Cloudy to settle back down.

“Of course,” Spiracle said, and held Arista so the foals could see her.

“She’s so small!” Cotton Cloudy said.

“I thought the nymphs were little,” Snips said as he and some of the other foals moved closer to Spiracle.

The shutter of Featherweight’s camera snapped several times as he took photos of the foals gathered around Arista.

Coxa looked around and smiled. “Come on, little nymphs, we need to get inside too. It’s going to get cool before too much longer, and we don’t want anybuggy getting sick.”

The foals and nymphs separated from each other with reluctance and gathered around their respective teachers.

Amethyst counted the foals. “We’re all here,” she declared and put her hoof down.

“I seem to be missing five nymphs,” Coxa said. She looked at the pegasi of the group. “I wonder where they could be?” she asked.

Muffins, Stormbreaker, and Thunderlane raised their wings, and revealed the five nymphs.

“Come on, you rascals.” Coxa shook her head, as the five trotted to her. “I’m going to have to watch all of you to make sure you don’t sneak off with somepony, aren’t I?”

Coxa and Cherrilee led their respective group of youngsters away, leaving our group with an exhausted trio of young foals.

“They’re going to sleep well tonight,” Stormbreaker said to Missus Cake, as he rubbed Rain’s back with a hoof.

Missus cake nodded. “They’ll probably fall asleep before we get back to Ponyville.”

“Do you need any help to break things down?” I asked Barrel, as he got to his hooves.

He shook his head. “Nah, Riff, Turner, and I’ve got it. Taking everything down is a lot easier than putting it up.”

Spiracle raised an eyebrow, as Piña eased closer and to him, her full attention on Arista. “Yes?”

Piña stopped and smiled. “Sorry, I haven’t gotten to see her today.”

Spiracle smiled and held Arista so Piña could see her. “Your friend wanted to see you.”

Arista smiled and reached out with her forelegs towards Pina.

Piña moved closer so Arista could touch her nose. “You were such a good girl up there. You didn’t fuss, even with all that noise.”

Thorax trotted up, looking flustered. “You were right, they’re gone.”

“Good,” Spiracle said. “Now we wait and see what the reaction from the renegades is going to be.” He looked towards the foals and asked. “Could we see the Teams over here for a minute?”

As the foals and nymphs gathered together, Thorax pranced in place. “You did great! Everybuggy is abuzz about you.”

“Why?” Noi said. “We didn’t do anything.”

“Oh, but you did.” Spiracle passed Arista to Piña. “You did quite a lot.”

Piña lit up and snuggled Arista with care.

“That jerk was a spy, wasn’t he?” Cubitus said.

“One of at least four,” Thorax confirmed. “We think there were two disguised as changelings and two as ponies.”

“How can you be so calm about them being here? This was Aristra’s Viewing! Those low life-” Cubitus paused and then gave Pinch and Kevin a hunter’s smile. “I get it now. They were perfect.” 

“I don’t think I like the way he’s looking at us,” Pinch said to Kevin.

“I don’t either,” he responded. “What do you mean, Cubi?”

“You two set the perfect bait,” Cubitus said. “News of a changeling and a pony being in love is going to spread like wildfire through the renegades.”

“I’m so sorry!” Gena looked horrified and sick. “I’ve put them in danger!”

“Not at all,” Spiracle said. “Pharynx wouldn’t risk an incident with the Hive or Equestria right now.”

“How could they have slipped in?” I asked, unable to contain my curiosity. “Wouldn’t you be able to sense them?”

“With so many changelings and ponies mixed, it’s very difficult to pick out one individual who is not giving off emotions,” Thorax said. He looked towards Radius and grinned. “Except for one changeling, that is. He was the one who picked up on them first.”

Cubitus grinned at Radius. “You had a special talent and didn’t even know it.”

“So, what can we do?” Berry said.

“None of us have to do anything,” Thorax said. “That’s the great part about this plan.”

“So spelling out the plan for them was part of it too?” Cranky asked.

“It was.” Thorax watched Piña play with Arista with a hopeful expression. “We rang the dinner bell and invited them to the table. Now all we have to do is wait for their stomachs to growl loud enough at them and they’ll come.”

“Excuse me, King Thorax,” Mom said. “There is something I wanted to ask, but I am not sure if it is… a sensitive subject or not.”

Thorax raised his eyes from Piña and gave Mom his full attention. “Please ask.”

“I notice a lack of adolescent and young adult changelings here today. May I inquire where they are?”

“They’re with Pharynx's renegades,” Thorax said.

“Oh.” Mom looked sheepish. “I should not have pried.”

“I’m glad you did,” Thorax said. “It’s not a pleasant subject, but it needs to be out in the open. In the old Hive, we were ‘trained up’ with a group of changelings with similar abilities more than ‘brought up’ as families. Once a changeling goes through their training, they are a full member of the Hive. Even if they are young, they have an adult’s level of responsibility. Some changelings who complete their training choose to become more familiar with their family, others don’t.”

“So that’s why the bonds with these three are so strong,” Dad said.

Thorax nodded. “Pharynx was one of the best changelings of the hive. That’s why it was so easy for him to get the younglings to follow him.” He sighed, and his ears fell. “A softy like me isn’t as attractive a leader to a traditional changeling or a youngling who wants action to solve things rather than talking things out and negotiating.”

Dinky and Gena looked at each other, shared a grin, and then both rushed to give Thorax a hug.

“You two aren’t too different,” Kevin said. “He cares about everybuggy too. He shows it in his own way, with lots of tough love, but he does cares.”

“Wait, that reminds me.” Pinch looked towards Radius. “What were you going to say about Junebug’s flavor?”

Radius put on a stiff smile. “You remembered that?”

“If it has something to do with romance, she’ll remember it,” Berry said.

“We shared. Now it’s your turn,” Cubitus insisted.

Radius met eyes with Junebug, who raised her eyebrows at him.

“It’s a mixture of concentration, fascination, and kindness,” Radius said, his eyes never leaving Junebug’s face. “It comes out the most in here when she’s studying something and drawing a diagram. She’s so intense about what she is doing, but she makes sure I am comfortable if I’m holding a pose and talks with me while she’s drawing. I could relax and listen to her voice while she draws all day.”

Junebug blushed. “Thank you. That’s quite the compliment.”

I smiled as visions of Coco humming and doing her dances while she worked came to me.

Gena cut her eyes at me and grinned.

Coco must have caught the look Gena gave me. She studied me for a second and tilted her head in curiosity, making me smile even more.

“Alright, that’s enough mushy stuff,” Cranky said. He grunted as he got to his hooves. “I know what the big guy said to Pin, but let’s help him and the others pack up and get out of here. We don’t want to get eaten by something on the way home, and the cold and old arthritic bones don’t mix.”

I stood and helped Coco to her hooves.

Coco leaned in and whispered. “You’re going to have to tell me what you were thinking about later.”

We both turned to look at Gena, who was giggling at us.

“That’s an easy one,” Cubitus said. “He was thinking of you.”

“Don’t tease them.” Pinch motioned for the foals to follow her. “Come on, we need to help too.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Cubitus said and saluted.

“I’ve got to go,” Pinch told Arista. “I’ll see you soon, okay?” She looked up and asked Berry, “Would you like to hold her, Mom?”

“If that’s okay with Spiracle.” Berry looked towards Spiracle, who nodded his approval with a smile. Berry took Arista from Pina and cooed over her. “You are so tiny and cute.”

Thorax watched the foals trot off with a contemplative expression. He then watched Berry fuss over Arista, who seemed to enjoy Berry being happy to hold her. “Before today, I had some serious doubts we could patch things up between us and the separatists. Now, I think we might have a little hope. I never thought I would ever see a pony holding a hatchling before today, so maybe being able to work things out with my brother and the separatists isn’t as impossible as I thought too.”

“You should have a lot more hope than that,” Spike told him and grinned. “I’ve got a feeling things are going to patch up a lot faster than you’d think.”

“I hope so,” Thorax said and smiled. “I really hope so.”