Shining and myself made ourselves scarce to give the mares some time to chat when he ended up being cornered by the Head Nurse Paper Weight wanting to discuss something. Seeing how it didn’t involve me, I decided to make my way to the refreshment table when I encountered the changeling. I left the changeling with a warning, and by the fear in his eyes knew he got the point.
Content he wouldn’t try anything tonight, I went off looking for the nymph. Cersus may have bolted off, but I knew she would make her back to the throne where Topaz, and Cadence had been left.
“I’ll have to tell Shining about these changelings sooner than later now that we’re back on speaking terms. Topaz will want to know about Cersus’s changeling acquaintance, but that can wait until tomorrow morning.” I told myself as I maneuvered through the slowing crowd of ponies and a few of the non-ponies enlistments.
I didn’t even need to taste the air to know the impromptu ball was a success. I will discuss the possibility of giving the Equestrian Guards a day off tomorrow using a similar schedule that had been used today as a thank you for their services. I see no reason why this suggestion would be turned down, and if needed, I would even take on a patrol or two to alleviate some of the pressure.
Satisfied with my proposal, I continued my trek through the crowd looking for Cersus until I drew closer to the Disc Booth and raised platform that hosted the thrones, and as predicted found her nested by Topaz’s leg. Cadence was missing, and in her place was the unhinged stallion that to his credit conducted the party with great success chatting with the two. The strange stallion was the first to notice and waved to me, gathering Topaz and Cersus’s attention in the process.
“Hello there Colonel! I was just talking to your wife when this little kite showed up.”
“He even gave me cake!” Cersus turned around to show me, and indeed had a slice of cake.
“Then you have my thanks Cheese Sandwich. One would believe her upbringing would entitle her to many sweets, but that isn’t the cause. She has been a good filly- she deserves it.”
The reaction was instant and she proceeded to inhale the remaining chunk of frosted sponge in a single gulp. Topaz’s smile did make me feel better, and after sharing a quick nuzzle she filled me in on what happened after Shining and myself left. I couldn’t hide my surprise anymore then Cersus could hide her smile, unable to keep the crumble of cake surrounding her mouth from falling onto the growing pile on the floor.
“She did say you’ll be shocked, speechless even Colonel! Never have I seen a pony’s jaw drop further than when they find out I’m not really a surgeon. I really should stop throwing doctor theme parties in hospitals, but they’re just so fun!”
“I.. you sholdn’t…” I stuttered trying to follow along while dealing with a clingy nymph and sweetly charged pegasus surrounding me.
“What does the guard say about this? A happy wife is a happy life?”
“More like it's easier to take a walk then stay home.” That earned myself a nip on my right ear, and for measure it didn’t hurt, but further highlighted her increased playfulness.
“Stop it!” She giggled as her limp wings tried to flutter in response. “ Just entertain the idea ok? We’re already raising Redshock…”
“And gave me an allowance.” The nymph piped in. I nearly chided her remark on reaction, but instead patted her head once I thought over her words.
“Honestly, this is a bit much and sudden to take in.” I admitted, but that didn’t end their apparent giddiness. It was around this time a loud squeak from my left grabbed our attention.
“Boneless 2 really loves the idea and says he’ll even construct the venue if you'd like, says he’s really handy with his wings and can strike a hammer real well. He even speaks Chicken Hawk!”
“We’ll take it into consideration Mr. Sandwich. While I do enjoy the prospect…” Topaz couldn’t help herself and hid her laughter behind a hoof. “... it is a bit too much, and we’ll need to discuss it some more on our own time. But thank you for the offer! Do you hav…oh!”
There was another squeak and the rubber chicken by Cheese Sandwich’s hoof fell over revealing a small greeting card proportional to its size. By the stallion’s insistence I picked up the strange yellow card embellish with an indentation of his cutie mark, and showing Topaz and an equally interested Cersus, opened the card.
“THERE’S NOTHING IN IT! SEE!” Indeed there was no scripture to be found.
“Did you forget it Mr. Sandwich?” Topaz asked, looking from the open card to the party stallion who was bobbing his head left to right, likely matching a beat none of us could hear.
“It’s all a part of my experimental design that will revolutionize the party scene! Think of it like an invitation that you burn, but instead of guests, you invite Bonless and I!” I held back a shutter at how he sounded like the Element of Laughter. “We’ll be there no sooner than needed, but no later than necessary to make your party the bestest it can be. I call it Air Mail.”
“Air Mail is already in existence, Cheese. Pegasi invented it many centuries ago after concluding that throwing the mail into air currents didn’t actually deliver it. So, they created the Air Mail Service composed of the best, and even sometimes retired Wonderbolts to deliver it over long distances.”
Topaz blinked. Opened her mouth, but closed it again when the party stallion collapsed onto his flanks.
“Darn it. I really liked the name too.” His mane even uncurled some, and that time I couldn’t hide my discomfort so easily.
“Sorry. Your mannerisms remind me of a certain mare that is really into throwing parties…”
“Does she have a pink coat and mane?” Cheese asked, his mane regaining his curls while his eyes sparkled with a sheen that I’ve only seen on more mischievous minded creatures. Topaz answered before I could rectify my mistake.
“Oh! You mean Pinkie Pie! She’s a real sweetheart when you get to know her, and while she does get a little carried away with her parties sometimes, she means well. When I was recovering she baked me my favorite cake just like my mother makes, though I don’t know how she knew about the secret ingredient…”
“And where can I find this Pinkie Pie?” Cheese asked, and once more Topaz answered before I could stop her.
“Ponyville I believe. Why?”
We barely blinked and Mr. Sandwich had acquired a duster and new saddle bags draped along his back, and it was only when reaching for his rubber chicken companion did I notice the worn Stenson like hat on the floor- he picked both up.
“This has been a bonafide good time, and I enjoyed the opportunity to have been a part of it, but I must take my leave. There’s many more parties out there that could use a good polka player.”
Then the strange pony left the three of us alone as he descended into the thinning crowd, and even dressed the way he was I couldn’t locate him any further. I turned to Topaz who was still looking for the strange stallion, but eerily enough her excellent eyesight couldn’t locate the departing stallion.
“Should I be worried, Idol? I suddenly feel like I’ve done something wrong, but I don’t know what it is.”
“You sent the stallion equivalent of the pink demon toward her nesting grounds. Order and Harmony save us all.”
“Idol that isn’t funny!” Topaz chimed me, but even her voice was carried by a layer of doubt. The only one not affected by the future repercussions was Cersus who had wandered off again, but it was likely she was going to talk with that changeling.
“Crazy stallions, and more exiles in the Empire. Soon, changelings like Cersus and I won’t need to hide and we'll have to paint ourselves different colors to stand out from the crowd. Throwing everything that made us changelings to the winds.”
Topaz’s nose twitched, almost scrunching in the way you would after smelling something displeasing.
“But you’re not exactly normal anymore, Idol.”
“That’s because I’ve promoted myself to a higher position to better serve. Sacrifices have been made.”
“You look like those metal golems from my comics.”
I looked behind us to see Cersus had returned with that exile in tow. I moved to put myself between them when Topaz’s hoof collided with my chest to keep me from moving- her eyes told me to back off, and reluctantly I did. I watched as Topaz strolled right up to the disguised exile’s face, looked him up once, before offering it her hoof.
“Hello, I’m Topaz Showers. I see you already know my daughter, and husband, but who are you?”
Not the way I’d handled the exile, nor I have admitted any connection to Cersus other than the role of charge to lessen any potential danger. While I will be the first to admit my own comfort levels are at an all time high, Topaz till now never had the need to worry of any threats, and even the few times she ventured away from Equestria (minus our first meeting) never encountered too much difficulty.
So, I stood some hooves away watching this exchange with a hole in my stomach as the exile shakily took her hoof. He whispered a response that made Topaz lean closer to hear him properly, and to my displeasure the two continued their exchange in the same tone for another two or three lines before the exile waved to Cersus and Topaz, took one look at myself, and bolted into what was left of the crowd.
Topaz turned around looking a little more smug.
“He seemed nice. You should be nicer to him, Idol, all he wants is to make friends.”
“The exile is a rapstallion, and nothing more...”
“Idol, I expected better from you! Especially, coming from a fellow exile who took years adapting to live in Equestria. You don’t act this way towards Cersus, so what about Mr. Hoof that makes you act this way?”
“Because he’s not of my own…” I admitted “... and I don’t like him sniffing around Cersus.”
Now, I’m aware that wasn’t what the changeling was doing, but until I could determine his true intentions this was the safest assumption to make. Fortunately, it took the agro off myself and threw it onto Cersus for her colors went pale while Topaz’s eyes took on a Cadence-like sparkle in the corners. I made sure to keep out of her way, leaving Cersus at the mercy of trying to explain her relationship with this strange changeling- that should buy me some time.
“Idol..is this true young lady?” Topaz first asked me before shifting her gaze back to the rightly confused nymph who kept turning toward the crowd, to me, and then backing away from the advancing pegasus.
“WHA..NO! EWW! HOW..IDOL!” She didn’t deserve to be thrown under the carriage, but circumstances dictated I needed more time to discover the exile’s true motives for Cersus and the Empire.
“I discover my favorite charge is intermingling with an exile that she deliberately kept from her guardians? If you truly desired an authentic pony growth cycle you could have chosen better alternatives then, moonlighting with that stallion.” I shot back, and Topaz fed on the statement like a starved ling.
“It's perfectly fine for a filly her age to become curious, Idol.” The way she said that last word held an almost predatory air behind it, festering with a hidden intent that had been waiting till now. “I remember my first prance through the bushes very well…”
Oh Harmony, I hope all of this was deflection proved needless and the exile is just that, but something about him didn’t sit well with me. He acted more nervous then a new exile should, and to take a step back and give the ling an excuse, he could be overwhelmed by the Empire and meeting friendly exiles- I doubt it. Crystal Hoof’s posture and mannerisms were over conscious in a rational sense, and more kin to one hiding something.
Looking at Topaz trying to explain pony reproductive designs to a disgusted nymph left me feeling one part glad it wasn’t me, and two parts remorseful. One of the remorseful parts for placing this punishment upon the nymph for no reason then to hide my suspicions a little longer, while the other part was an understanding that Cersus is growing up. It might not be today, but eventually she’ll express an interest in taking a partner and strike out to establish her own hive.
I knew it well enough, but the thought of it made me want to seek my pod back in Topaz’s cellar. The little nymph had latched herself onto me like fungi does to a corpse, and slowly I’m coming to the conclusion she will have to leave, and we might never see her again.
“AARRRRKKK!”
“Ce..Redshock it isn’t so bad! Me and Idol do it all the time!”
“I’m done! Goodbye!”
“HEY! Wait right there young lady!” Topaz called out, but her dress made fast motion difficult, and the nymph was very fast. She huffed, then turned to me. “ Kissing and cuddling isn’t harmful isn't it?”
At this rate, Cersus will be leaving us sooner than later. “Only if the two are soaked with ill intent, but generally not. Most of us would dig a burrow under your house the first chance provided.”
“Is that why you tried digging that tunnel in my basement when we first met?”
Her question made me reluctant to answer, or as Cadence might call coy, but that simply isn’t true. I was simply embarrassed to admit the accusation held some truth to it, and either my silence or mannerisms tipped the prying pegasus off.
“It’s true then! You said you were just digging for worms!”” Her grin grew wider as she did her best to ‘dance’ without falling over due to her manestyle.
I didn’t have it in me to correct her, but her assumption while rough wasn’t completely false, so I let her be.
“You're not entirely inaccurate, but I can’t find a proper term to describe the action then to simply compare it to a lizard basking in the sun. Cersus is in the rare circumstance of living under a dome saturated in love, and likely will never have to dig a burrow of her own out of necessity.”
“Hopefully she’ll grow up without any problems, and preferably live in a house close by.” I showed my agreement by moving closer to place a quick kiss on her cheek.
Another action Idol of yesteryears would have found near revolting, and a direct violation of his orders, but a change I’ve grown thankful for. Topaz’s simple act of taking in a lost changeling effectively dug all the tunnels that would lead to this very moment, and lately I’ve been overcome with desire to show my appreciation to the mare that had done so much for me, and decided it was fine to be seen as a bit too caring. This led to me trying to take a nip out of her ear, and I nearly continued with the crude act just to hear her laughter some more.
Life is good.