Raindrop rolled over to the face the door as Sentinel quietly slunk in.
A single arched brow came from the female, and Sentinel sighed faintly, his ears drooping. “Was kinda hoping you’d be asleep,” he admitted with a shake of his head.
“You have some explaining to do,” Raindrop stated, glowering at him. “Especially after climbing out a bathroom window to get away from me.”
“Evasion tactics. They taught it to us in the guard,” Sentinel said proudly, a hoof at his chest, striking a pose.
“They also taught you how to smoothly change the subject?” Raindrop inquired flatly.
Sentinel deflated. “I missed that lesson.”
“So, what did you do?” Raindrop asked simply.
“I... I confronted her,” Sentinel said guardedly, his ears pinning back. “Went to her home and everything.”
“And?”
“And... and... I wimped out,” Sentinel admitted, lowering his head, his wings drooping.
“Big bag Mr Guard,” Raindrop taunted with a giggle.
Sentinel huffed at that, pointing a hoof in retort. “What was I supposed to do?! She was crying!”
“Yes, because leaking liquid from one's eyes is the ultimate defensive tactic,” Raindrop replied, rolling her eyes.
“She was crying!” Sentinel repeated, pursing his lips. “How am I supposed to deal with that?”
“And if you confronted her?” Raindrop asked simply.
“I.. Well I sure wouldn’t want her to cry,” Sentinel stated, chewing his upper lip uncertainly. “I mean, if she took a swing at me and that, I’m trained to deal with that. But a crying mare is just...”
“Crying changeling,” Raindrop reminded.
“Changeling,” Sentinel agreed, sighing faintly and stepping over closer to the bed, pulling himself up onto it and splaying out besides the other pegasus.
“So? Did you just leave?” Raindrop queried, rolling into her stallion’s form, nosing her way in under one of his wings.
Sentinel shook his head. “She heard me coming with that freaky mare hearing.”
“And? You wimped out?” Raindrop asked, preening at the underside of his wing idly.
“I kinda... hugged her and told her that Firebrand lied for her and then left,” Sentinel said, ears lowering again.
Raindrop laughed at that, shaking her head. “And there you were all ready to go and snarl at her, and you ended up trying to help her relationship.”
“I didn’t look at it like that,” Sentinel said, averting his gaze, staring at the wall, resting his head on his hooves.
“Oh?” Raindrop asked curiously, gnawing playfully at one of his wing-joints. “And how exactly did you look at it?”
Sentinel twitched his wing on reflex, peering back at his mare. “I... Well. When she spoke to me like that, all hurt and offended for no reason... I didn’t see her as a changeling. I just saw her as... a hurt pony.”
Raindrop giggled faintly. “Who knew you had a heart?”
“I couldn’t go and confront her when she was already hurting from that...” Sentinel trailed off, sighing and shaking his head. “So go and call me a mare or whatever.”
Raindrop snorted once, pushing her way up his form and then pulling him around to face her, laying a warm kiss against his lips. “That was very sweet of you. You might be a total mare but you’re my total mare,” she stated with a grin, licking his nose once.
Sentinel huffed and wrapped a hoof around Raindrop, holding her close. “I think you’re the only pony I’ve ever met who can insult me and still make it sound like a compliment.”
“Practise,” Raindrop said with a grin, kissing him again.
Wisp hummed happily as she bounced down the street, a bag of coins jingling at her neck: a stipend from Celestia seeing as the young griffon was now in the employ of the state. It was a modest amount, but it was enough for her to get whatever she wanted. And now that it was morning and the shops were open, Wisp wanted a cake.
The young griffon came to a stop in front of Sugarcube Corner, and then pushed her way through the front door and made her way over to the front counter. She had to stand on her hindlegs to get her eyes above the level of the counter. She dropped the bag of coins on the counter, and then exclaimed, “I want a cake! A big one!”
The pegasus working behind the counter turned and beamed, bouncing slightly in place. “What kinda cake do ya want?!”
“Big!” Wisp repeated, waving a paw for emphasis.
“Chocolate? Walnut? Banana? Vanilla? Raisin?” The blonde pegasus ticked off various flavours.
“Uhm... uhm... I dunno!” Wisp whined, her ears lowering.
Grinning, the pegasus waved a hoof. “I’ve got just the thing!
The pegasus disappeared under the counter for a moment, all that was visible of her being the purple balloons on her white flank and the blonde tail, before she came up with a special cake tin with six different spaces inside it, like a pie-shape cut-out. “I’ll make ya a cake with all the flavours!”
“Deal!” Wisp squeaked, slapping the counter with a paw.
The shopkeeper nodded and smiled happily, pulling out the cake batter and beginning to mix it all up into the different flavours.
“I’ll be back to pick up the cake later!” Wisp squeaked, as she bounced towards the door.
The pegasus nodded and waved a hoof in between pouring flour into the mixing bowl.
The griffon stepped outside, and then immediately started down the road towards the private hospital. It was time to find the bearer of the Element of Generosity and convince him to help them.
Firebrand was back at work, putting the new recruits through their paces. Around and around the training grounds they went, flying through loops in a specific order. Firebrand was there in the iconic Wonderbolt flight suit and goggles, her fiery mane and tail making her stand out in the crowd.
Her second-in-command, Velocity, flew through the air besides the recruits, ordering them ‘faster!’ and ‘harder!’ while making sure that nopony fell behind or couldn’t keep pace. They’d already culled two dozen or more ponies from the recruits, and the hoofful that were left were the best that was on offer for that month.
Firebrand’s keen eye picked out one pony that was having trouble, his wings faltering every now and again.
Immediately, the Wonderbolt Captain gracefully flitted over to the group of panting, sweating candidates, sliding in amongst their ranks.
“Oi, rookie!” Firebrand called, sliding in besides the labouring pony. “Give it up, you’re not strong enough.”
The pegasus tried to pant a reply, his words catching in his throat and his wingbeats faltering.
Easily keeping pace with the struggling pony, Firebrand raised a brow, pushing her goggles up so she could look him in the eye. “C’mon, you honestly expect to be one of us?! You’re weak!”
The pony grit his teeth, a low growl building in his throat. With a sudden surge of energy, he was at the front of the pack, his brows furrowed in concentration.
Firebrand watched the pegasus powering ahead and smiled.
Firebrand stretched slightly, curling around to tug down the zipper of her flight suit, wiggling slightly with glee as her sweaty fur was greeted by a cool gust of air. Leaning up against one of the lockers of the Locker Room, hanging her goggles over one of the locker doors and starting to undress as she headed for the showers.
“U-uhm, Firebrand?” a timid voice asked.
Firebrand looked around, half-in, half-out of her flight suit, expecting to see one of the rookies or perhaps even a fan looking for an autograph. Instead, she was quite surprised to find Remedy sitting in the corner, looking mildly nervous. A pair of wings graced her otherwise normal form, a rather jarring addition to her familiar look.
“Uh... hi,” Remedy said lamely.
“Well hi,” Firebrand said coolly, slipping off her flight suit completely and kicking it aside, striding into the showers and flicking them on. Steam immediately began to fill the locker room.
Remedy minced over to the doorway, peering around it nervously. “I just... uhm... wanted to talk.”
“Then talk,” Firebrand said, from somewhere in the shower room, hidden by the steam.
Remedy cautiously stepped into the steamy shower room, closing the door behind herself, speaking over the sound of water hitting tiles. “I wanted to apologize.”
“Oh?” Firebrand asked, appearing through the steam in front of her, a brow raised.
“Yes,” Remedy admitted, splaying her ears back. “I... may have acted a tad too hastily.”
“Just a little bit?” Firebrand asked, pointing at her own face.
Remedy blinked, and then leaned a little bit closer, her eyes widening as she saw a faint line in Firebrand’s white fur. A wine stain.
“O-oh wow... I didn’t think it would stain your fur... I’m sorry!” Remedy whined, pinning her ears back.
“You owe me,” Firebrand stated, her eyes narrowing.
“I... guess I do,” Remedy replied meekly.
“Change.”
“W-what?”
“Change.” Firebrand repeated, waving a hoof calmly. “We’re alone. No one else will see. Change. I want to see what you really look like.”
Remedy gave a soft sigh, and then nodded once. She took a step back, and then closed her eyes, seeming to wince slightly. There was a flash of green light, and when it faded, it revealed a changeling standing in Remedy’s place.
She was a standard changeling, though a little smaller than Firebrand, with black chitin covering her entire form. Remedy licked between her two large canines nervously, peering up at Firebrand and shifting her weight nervously from hoof to hoof.
Firebrand walked a slow circle around the changeling, looking her up and down appraisingly. “You’ll do,” she said finally.
Remedy blinked once. “...what?”
Firebrand smiled and then hugged Remedy.
Remedy squirmed in place uncomfortably for a few moments, before relaxing into the hug, not quite used to being touched in any way in her natural form.
“Apology accepted,” Firebrand said with a nod and a smile, waving a hoof. “Now get the hell out of my locker room, I have a scary last-day-of-trials speech to prepare for!”