//------------------------------//
// Cupcake Frosting 
// Story: My Little Hoof-Blood #1: The Shattered Armor 
// by Crystal_Clear123456 
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Oh my gods, Iron is Shining Armor's son! That's so cool! Before Shining Armor became a god, he was Captain of the Royal Guard. Is he still, today? I have no idea! But still, that's so cool!

Well, now all of us - Spectra, Iron, and me - have our cutie marks and know who our parents are. Okay, let's recap - I'm daughter of Pinkie Pie, goddess of parties and sweets. Spectra is daughter of Rainbow Dash, goddess of rainbows, lightning, and victory. Iron is son of Shining Armor, god of battle and defense.

Oh, and let me introduce our new friends - Time Traveller, son of Dr. Whooves, god of time; Starry Night, son of Luna, goddess of the night, moon, and stars; and Dawn Glimmer, daughter of Twilight Sparkle, goddess of wisdom, strategy, magic, and friendship.

After the campfire activities were done, I trotted over to the Pinkie Pie Cabin and climbed into one of the bunks. And not to mention that my dreams are usually about cupcakes and sweet stuff and sometimes monsters, but after I realized who I was, I've been getting so many monster dreams... it's not funny.

I was standing in a forest - not the Everfree Forest - and heard the clip-clop of hooves. Turning, I saw a lavender earth pony with a purple mane gallop towards me, but it didn't seem like he saw me.

Dad!

"Come back here, you fools!" hissed a voice that sounded tripled. "Do you want us to attack your city, or would you sacrifice yourselves for mercy on it?"

My dad kept running, so I followed him. Behind him were two other ponies - one a light gray pegasus with a light blue mane, and the other a light orange mare with a black mane. Spectra and Iron's parents, I thought.

My dad whinnied. "Come on! They're closing on us!"

I could tell that Spectra's dad was trying to close in on a sonic rainboom and sweep my dad and Iron's mom into the air, but his wings kept slapping into branches and slowing him down.

Soon I saw the danger. Hissing came from all around me - Changeling hissing. My ears drooped in horror as I realized what they were about to do.

Three of the Changelings turned into Spectra, Iron, and me. They walked up to our parents and said, "It's alright, we're here. You'll be safe now."

Suddenly my nose started to feel itchy. Oh no! I tried to scream to my dad and my friends' parents. My pinkie sense is telling me that you have to - watch out!

I watched in horror as the shadows behind them erupted into a swarm of Changelings. The Changelings that disguised as me and Iron sprouted webbed wings, and the feathers popped off Spectra's. A little pointy horn replaced Iron's white one, and one grew up from Spectra's Changeling's head as well as the one disguised as me.

Spectra's dad shouted something at the others and broke into an even faster gallop, but the Changelings were closing in. Then, an even bigger shape flew into the forest after them, and I heard Iron's mom scream. My knee pinched.

I woke up back in my cabin, on my bunk, gasping. I've never been scared like this before in my life. I don't know if my mother has ever been scared like this in her life. Well, maybe, if I remember correctly, before she and the other Mane Six met Zecora, they were scared out of their horsefeathers.

But she never was a demigod. She never had horrible nightmares like I do - ones that come true eventually.

I stretched and climbed out of bed to see the rising sun just over the tops of the trees in the Everfree Forest. As the sun got higher in the sky, I thought I saw a little orange silhouette of an alicorn carrying the sun through the sky. On the other side, where the moon was setting, I could bet that I saw a small light blue silhouette of another alicorn, lowering the moon. Celestia and Luna are doing their jobs, but do they know anything of the Changelings?

I heard the faint crowing of the rooster from Sweet Apple Acres, alerting ponies of the morning. I heard the slow clopping of hoofsteps from behind me, and I turned to see Iron trotting out.

"Hi there, Cupcake," he said, coming up to me.

"Hi, Iron," I said back.

I decided to tell him about my dream. "Hey, have you had any dreams lately?" I asked.

Iron nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think I remembered seeing a battlefield with Changelings and the gods and goddesses, along with other hoof-bloods," he said, "Did you get any dreams?"

"Yeah. I saw our mortal parents running away from a swarm of Changelings. I hope they're alright," I said, looking back at the setting moon.

The flapping of wings told me that Spectra was coming up behind us. "Hey guys," she said, taking a stand next to me.

"Hi Spectra," I said.

Then, Iron turned to both of us. "In my dream, I spoke to my father. He said that if we must, we must consult Zecora for something. And you know what? I think we need to ask Silver if we can go on a quest."