//------------------------------// // Ch. 2: Love, Secrets, And Alliances // Story: Changing Odds // by Melody Brush //------------------------------// Part Two Love, Secrets, And Alliances Dear diary. It has been over a week since the Summer Sun Celebration and everyday has been spent with Angel. She just admitted she had a crush on me just two days ago, and I have to admit I like her, too. Tomorrow is my day off so I plan on just enjoying the day and my time with Angel since she's most likely to come say hi and we'll spend a good amount of time together. Other then the last week and a half, today was pretty awesome! Dad brought Dili over for her birthday and Pinkie through a party for her that lasted all day. It was the best day of my little sister's life and she was very happy to see me again. Now that the day is over, dad, Dili, and I are here at my house for the night. Dad's gonna let Dili stay here with me for the week when he leaves tomorrow and she's very happy about that. The thing that bothers me the most is that dad offered to bring Gnator along, but he refused. Gnator wanted to come help when the sun never rose last week, but now that he could come, he didn't. Anyway, I hope Gnator will calm down soon and we can be a full family again, but now I'm gonna go to bed. Tomorrow is a day with my friends and family. Good night. Zuro finished writing in his diary before he put it away on the shelf of his desk and got up. He turned around and found a tired looking yellow pegasus filly looking up at him from the doorframe of his bedroom. He smiled at her as he walked up to her and scooped her up into his forelegs and hugged her, earning a happy hum and loving hug in return. He pulled away, keeping her in his forelegs as he smiled at her. "You can change back now sweetie." He said. She smiled tiredly and in a flash of green flame she was a changeling. Zuro planted a kiss on her forehead just under her horn, earning another happy hum from his little sister. "Bubba?" Dili's tired voice squeaked. "Yes, Dili?" He replied. "Can I sleep with you?" She asked. His heart warmed up to the question. "Of course you can, Dili." He answered. He was not going to deny her the time she had with him. "Thank you bubba." She said as she nuzzled into his chest. The love coming from her was stronger now then what it was before he left the mountains. He had been away for over two years and she had not seen him since then. He planted another sweet kiss before carrying her over to his bed and sat her down so he could get himself ready for bed. He trotted over to the mirror by his desk as he let his pony form vanish to return to his natural form. He got his fangs cleaned and straightened his fin while entertaining his sister through his reflection. After he was ready for bed he came in and tucked them both under his blankets. "Good night, Dili." He said. "I love you bubba." She replied, then she planted a kiss on his muzzle. His heart warmed up to her sweet love and he returned a kiss to her muzzle. It was not long after that before both fell into a deep sleep. ~~)oOo(~~ Zuro woke up early to find Dili still asleep under his blankets, love for him radiating off of her body as she dreamed. He smiled at her and planted a soft kiss on her forehead, causing her to stir in her sleep. He got out of bed and slipped away quietly as he left the room, down the hall into the living room. When he entered the living room he found Vitam in his changeling form looking at some of the pictures over the fireplace before he turned and smiled at his son. "Morning son." Vitam said. "Hey dad." Zuro replied as he walked up to his father. "How's Dili?" Vitam asked. "She's still asleep in my bed." Zuro answered. "She's in your bed?" Vitam asked. Zuro nodded before he gave an explanation. "She came in last night just after I finished writing in my diary and asked if she could sleep with me." "... and you couldn't say no to her." Vitam observed. Zuro nodded his head. Vitam smiled at the thought of his sweet daughter being well watched over while she stayed here with his oldest son before a thought came into mind. "Oh, by the way." Vitam paused to watch his son's expression switch from happiness to curiosity before he continued. "Your mother is pregnant." Zuro's expression immediately turned to shock at the news of a new baby changeling joining the family as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Vitam smiled at his son and after several minutes Zuro returned the smile and jumped up, wrapping his forelegs around his father's neck. Vitam returned the hug with a chuckle. "We don't know anything more then we'll have another child in about seven months." Vitam explained. Zuro pulled away and stared at his father in shock. "She's two months in already?" Zuro asked. "We just found out two days ago." Vitam answered. Zuro smiled as he nodded his head in approval. "I don't have to ask for you to keep me posted, do I?" "You know I will." The two embraced each other one more time before Vitam pulled away. "I need to go now. You keep an eye on your sister." "I will dad." Zuro replied. With that Vitam transformed into his pegasus form and trotted out of the house, leaving his son with his daughter for the week. ~~)oOo(~~ Gnator was standing alone on the edge of a cliff in the mountains outside the hive boundaries as he thought about his brother. His anger towards Zuro for leaving him over two years ago rising with each moment he thought about it. You were supposed to stay here with us. He thought to himself. You were supposed be here when I turned sixteen. You were supposed to be here when I chose my life. "You were supposed to be here!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he fired a blast of green energy at a random rock on the other side of the canyon wall. The blast caused a mini avalanche, sending rocks of different sizes falling to the canyon floor. "My, my. Such anger." Gnator turned with the intent to release his anger on whoever the voice belonged to. His eyes widened and he immediately dropped his head in a respectful bow when he saw a tall female changeling with silky, blue green hair and dagger shaped pupils in her eyes, and two normal changelings standing on either side of her. "My queen, please forgive me!" He pleaded. He felt a hoof pull his chin up until his eyes met Queen Chrysalis' as she smiled at him. "What's your name, my child?" Chrysalis asked. "Gnator... your highness." Gnator answered after a loud gulp. "Gnator." The queen mused as she removed her hoof. "I could use a changeling of your caliber." "My queen?" Gnator asked. "You have strength, my child." She explained. "Such power and anger is what I need to lead my troops." Gnator looked puzzled at her words. He was just a simple changeling under fifteen years of age and only recently mastered changing to races other then ponies. "Lead your troops to what, your highness?" He asked. Chrysalis smiled a dark smile at the question. "Someone, like you, could lead my troops into Equestria and lead our hive out of starvation." She answered. Gnator kept his gaze locked on the tall queen. "My child, Equestria has more love then anyplace I have ever encountered. I need one who young and strong, like you, to lead my troops into the capital where we will feed and no longer starve." "You're planning to attack the ponies?" Gnator asked. "With an attack on the nation that has the most love changelings have ever seen, we will no longer starve." She explained. "And, didn't you loose a brother to those ponies?" Gnator's rage boiled again at the memory of his brother leaving for the ponies. Chrysalis smiled at this and took a step closer to her subject. "Do you want him back?" She asked. "I can make that happen. All you have to do is come with me and I'll tell you everything you need to know for my plan to succeed." There was a long silence between the two as Gnator considerable the monarch's offer. He loved his brother, but he just could not understand why Zuro loved the ponies so much. He just wanted to get his brother back and this plan would not only feed his brethren, but by the sound of it, this would reunite his family. He looked up to the queen, who was waiting patiently for his answer. "I'll do it." ~~)oOo(~~ Zuro was trotting through the streets of Ponyville with Dili sitting happily on his back, a few ponies here and there taking the time to stop and say 'hi' as the two pegasi walked passed them. Dili was the happiest she could be now that she was spending time with her big brother, and it was apparent in her expression as she bounced on his back. "Hey, Zuro!" Came a voice from behind. Zuro turned around to find Angel smiling at him and Dili as she waved her hoof at them. "Hi there, Dili." She added. "Hey Angel." Zuro replied. "Hi!" Dili said with a cheery voice. She leaned in closer to Zuro's ear. "Bubba, I like your marefriend. Can we keep her?" Zuro let out a chuckle at the request. "What did she say?" Angel asked. "She wants you to be her big sister." Zuro answered with a laugh. Since Angel confessed to her having a crush on him he was hoping that she would accept him as her coltfriend, but when he asked her three days ago she said not yet because she had several bad relationships before, and she did not want to end up with another heartbreak. So, Zuro told her to take her time in deciding to start a relationship with him. Angel smiled as she trotted up to Dili and petted her mane, which earned a happy hum from the little filly. Zuro smiled at this as he felt the energy of love flowing from the pegasus mare to each of them. Angel's love for Zuro had grown stronger since the day they met over a week ago, and he was getting to the point where he wanted somepony to love. He did love Angel in a way, but since she confessed to him that love only grew stronger until it reached breaking point and he told her the three words. "Bubba, there's Scootaloo, and the others!" Dili called, pulling Zuro from his thoughts. He turned to see the three fillies who had just recently started a club for blank-flanks to find their cutie marks. Dili met the three at the party Pinkie threw for her yesterday and she enjoyed being around them. "Can I go play with them?" Dili asked. "Sure," Zuro answered as he lifted her off of his shoulders and onto the ground. "Just stay out of trouble." "I will." She said just before bolting in the Cutie Mark Crusaders direction, leaving Zuro and Angel alone. "You two are pretty close, aren't you?" Angel asked. Zuro turned to face her with a smile. "Yeah. She and I have had this inseparable bond since she was born. We get along perfectly, and we love each other almost like there's no tomorrow." Angel smiled at this before the two turned to see the four fillies plotting on ways to earn their cutie marks. After a few minutes the four took off to do whatever it was they just planned on doing. Zuro and Angel then turned to face each other and she leaned in to plant a kiss on his cheek. It was not the first kiss she gave him, the first kiss she gave him was yesterday. She had told him a secret about her last coltfriend that she regretted, and Zuro said how he thought it was not her fault. He used her to get what he wanted and did not want her for 'her'. She wrapped her forelegs around him and planted a kiss on his lips as a result. The memory of that moment compelled him to want to tell her what he was. "Angel," he said. She looked at him curiously. "Come with me. I wanna show you something." "What is it?" She asked. "Come with me and I'll show you." He answered. The two took off outside of town toward the edge of the Everfree Forest where he plucked a random cloud large enough for the both of them and settled it over the trees, then sat down on it as she sat next to him. "Okay," Angel said. "What do you want to show me?" "Well... you've told me one of your secrets, I wanna show you mine." Zuro explained. "What is it?" She asked. Zuro let out a sigh and after a few seconds he transformed from his pony disguise to his natural form. Angel gasped and nearly fell off the edge of the cloud, but Zuro grabbed her hoof and pulled her back onto the cloud before she did. He gave her some space as he watched her look him over in his changeling form. "What are you?" She asked. "I'm a changeling," He answered. "A race of creatures that can transform into other races in order to feed and gain power from love." Angel took a step away from him as she stretched out her wings. "No, wait!" Zuro pleaded. She sat there with her wings outstretched as she kept her eyes locked on him. "Yes, I have been feeding on the love from everypony in town, but that's not the main reason why I came here." Angel's wings slowly folded to her sides as she listened to him intently. He explained about the day he left his home over two years ago and the reasons why he did, how he met her cousin, Jet Blast, and they way they became best friends, and the reasons why he avoided going anywhere the Royal Guard was during the Summer Sun Celebration. "I can understand if you want to leave right now." He concluded. "If this were a different situation, I'd erase your memory of me being a changeling, but I won't do that because I trust you with my secret." He stated. The expression on her face switched to shock. "You..." She stammered. "I don't care if you know what I am." He said. "I've told you everything, how I feel, what I am, why I'm here. I trust you with everything." There was a long, eerie silence between the two as they stared into each others eyes. He was not even paying any attention to the levels of love radiating from her body as she weighed the knowledge she had just been trusted with. "I'm ready." She said after several minutes. "For what?" Zuro asked. "I'm ready to accept you into my heart." She answered. Zuro looked shocked at this. "All you have to do is ask me." She confirmed. A smile started to spread on his face as he felt emotion rising in his throat and threatening to escape his eyes. He expected her to fly away and never want anything to do with him again, but she wanted the opposite. "Angel," he said, finally. "Would you like to be my marefriend?" She smiled at him and gave her head a nod before coming up and embracing him in her forelegs. The two hugged each other for a minute before pulling away and leaned in for their first kiss as a couple. Dear diary. Today is now the greatest day of my life. I told Angel that I am a changeling and she surprised me by saying she wanted to be my marefriend. I asked her and she said yes! After spending time together we went to get my sister from the Cutie Mark Crusaders and she was happy for me, even though she already considered Angel as my marefriend. Now Dili and I are home and she wants to sleep with me again like she did last night. Maybe I'll do some rearranging around the house so her bed will be in my room when she's visiting. Anyway, I should get some sleep. I have work tomorrow and I need to get Dili over to miss Cheerilee so she can foalsit for me while I work. I'm sure Dili will love Miss. Cheerilee. Her love for children is almost unmatched in Ponyville and that's why she's the town teacher. Well, I'm off to bed. Dili is getting tired and she's being persistent about it. Good night.