//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: Rising Sun Reunion 
// Story: A New Way 
// by Phoenix_Dragon 
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Chapter 8: Rising Sun Reunion

Nictis trudged through the door to his chambers, hooves scraping on the ground as he blindly made his way to the closest chair and, with a lazy flicker of his wings, planted his face into the plush cushion.
It was not a terribly dignified position, but he really couldn’t care any less. He ended up with his hindquarters resting atop the armrest, the front edge of which was wedged into his inner thigh in a way that would probably be very uncomfortable if not for his carapace. His forelegs were laid back beneath him, and his snout was buried in the back corner of the seat. It would have certainly been more comfortable to get up and sit properly, but that involved getting up and moving again, and he really didn’t feel like that. The only concession he did give was to make sure he wasn’t putting weight on the compass worn around his neck, which had flipped up upon landing to rest just under his chin.
He only finally realized that the room had been a bit more colorful than he remembered it when he heard Thunder Chaser’s voice. “Are… you okay?”
Nictis grumbled into the cushion, his voice muffled. “I hate Chrysalis.”
There was a soft snicker that he recognized as Cotton even before she spoke. “Rough day, huh?”
Nictis answered first with a groan, but soon clarified. “I just spent half the day disguised as a pony to help hunt changelings, flew all over the city on a wild goose chase, probably got half the Guard angry with me for wasting their time, and may have just crushed the spirit of another changeling by convincing him that everything and everyling he cares about is doomed.”
He gave lazy little swing with a hind leg in a gesture of… something, he wasn’t quite sure what. “And that’s on top of Chrysalis considering me a target and messing with everyone I know. Oh, and Princess Cadance and her husband just showed up in town, so that’s lovely. I’m really looking forward to being stuck in a room with them all day.”
A moment later he frowned into the cushion. “...Which is kind of ironic, when I’m possibly the only changeling in Equestria who didn’t have a hoof in crashing their wedding.”
Cotton’s snickering returned. “Really? Princess Cadance? You’re scared of her?”
“No,” he grumbled, finally drawing enough energy to lift himself up a little, just far enough to turn his head to face her, before slumping down into the chair again. He could see little from where he was, but there was an impressive array of cookies, cupcakes, muffins, pastries, and all sorts of other sweets set out on the coffee table, with Cotton Candy smirking at him across it. The fading bruise made the expression ever so slightly lopsided, not that she seemed to care. “...No, I’m not scared of her. It’s just that I know it’s going to be awkward. I’ve only run into her once before, and she didn’t seem very pleasant.”
“Seriously?” Cotton asked, who was just about laughing at this point. “The same princess that makes Celestia look like a stick in the mud? The one you hear about doing silly dances or singing because she’s in a particularly good mood? The one who enjoys playing games and spending time with foals? That Cadance?”
“Yes, that Cadance,” Nictis grumpily replied. “It was months ago, but she was definitely not pleased to see me. Even if that wasn’t the case, I’m still going to be stuck in a room with her and Chrysalis, and that’s probably going to be the least friendly place in Equestria.”
“Sooo, you’re saying you could use some cheering up tonight?”
He frowned in reply, but he soon found it fading. There was something almost infectious about her happiness, coupled with the soft feeling of caring sympathy. He even allowed a thin smile. “I suppose I could.”
“Good!” Cotton replied, grinning widely as she stepped off to the side. “But first you’ll have to sit up and socialize. Ending a party all sprawled out like that might be all well and good, but you have to work your way there, you can’t just start that way.”
Nictis couldn’t quite help grumbling a little, but he complied, hefting himself up to sit more-or-less properly, the dangling compass clicking softly against his chest. With the change in posture he could take in more of the room, and saw that the coffee table had hardly been the only change. The large dining table on the other end of the room was absolutely laden with cakes, snacks, and a pair of punch bowls, as well as a small wooden keg of unknown contents. A record player had been brought in, as well as a second table with more food, and there were even some streamers scattered about.
The others were gathered around, too. Spark was sitting on the couch, blushing as he cast nervous glances toward Cotton, and Bigs was seated beside him, as doubtful as ever. Thunder had claimed one of the chairs, his expression and emotions as unreadable as they had been earlier. Only Cotton was smiling as she trotted happily over to a chair and flopped down on it almost as gracelessly as Nictis had, though she at least remained upright.
It wasn’t a very promising start for a party. Nictis tried to think of something to say, to break the tension. He cast his gaze around the room again, giving a weak smile. “Do you think you brought enough food?”
Cotton laughed softly, waving a forehoof in the air. “I think we’ll manage. That Pinkie Pie is a monster in the kitchen! I was just planning on making some cookies and maybe a few snacks, but we got to cooking, and it just kind of snowballed!”
“Well… it all looks great,” Nictis said. It seemed the appropriate thing to say. Though really, it did look pretty good, and it had been quite a while since the small hayburger around noon.
“Feel free to have as much as you want, we’ve got plenty to go around.” Cottons horn lit up as she reached out with her magic, and the record player started to play a cheery, upbeat tune. “And with that, let the Rising Sun Reunion Party begin!”
Nictis glanced around, silently noting that the announcement had no notable effect on the other ponies. He almost started to make some comment about how food was sounding good, but caught himself before he did; there were still a few ponies who grew a little uneasy when changelings mentioned anything about food, and he knew Spark had good reason for it.
Instead, he rose to make his way over to one of the sweets-laden tables. “I have to admit, I’m still rather new to this whole ‘party’ thing.” Small-talk seemed like a good way to lighten the mood, hopefully. The more friendly talking, the less silent worrying, right? It wasn’t manipulative; it was just being friendly. “I suppose I’ve been to a fair number now. Pinkie Pie has thrown a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party for every changeling that’s shown up, but I usually just hang around in the background as support.”
He paused halfway through loading up a paper plate with a random assortment of treats. “Well, except for my own welcoming party, but I spent a good portion of that locked in a closet, so it hardly counts for much.”
There was another soft snicker from Cotton in response. “And why were you locked in a closet?”
Nictis froze up for a second, some fancy looking pastry hovering over his plate for a moment before he finished moving it into place. “I… may have had a slight panic attack…”
When he looked over, Cotton had a hoof over her mouth, which did nothing to hide the growing smile. “Really?” she asked, her voice shaking slightly with suppressed laughter. “You were scared of a party?”
“No,” Nictis quickly replied as he finished loading his plate, and more hesitantly added, “I was scared of ponies.”
That amused her even more. “While they were throwing you a party.”
“I know now that nothing bad was going to happen,” he said, making his way back over to his chair and sitting again, rather more gracefully than the first time. “But I’d just spent a few months running and hiding, and this was the first time I’d ever been undisguised and exposed around a bunch of ponies without them chasing me around and trying to catch me and do who-knows-what. And then one of the other guests cheerily mentioned that she’d been brainwashed and mind-controlled by Queen Chrysalis. To me, an undisguised changeling. So… yeah, it was just a bit much all at once.”
“Sounds like you need to relax some, Niccy.” She dropped her hoof to flash him a smile. “Let’s just have a fun night, hang out, chat, play some games, and eat our way to a sugar coma.”
“I’ll try,” he offered, which made her chuckle.
“I never imagined you’d be such a party newbie,” she said, her magic snagging a cookie as she snickered. “Secret-agent superspy, and you have a panic attack at a party thrown in your honor.”
Nictis let out a short, amused snort, and noted with some relief that Thunder Chaser had finally cracked a smile, a hint of amusement finally creeping into his senses.
Cotton had rolled out of her chair to happily trot over to one of the tables. “I’m getting drinks. You guys want punch, or should I break out the cider?”
After a round of requests for punch, she started pouring out drinks. “So, if this is a reunion party, we should get things started by catching up with what everypony’s been doing since we last saw each other. Who’s first?”
When she was met with nothing more than a few murmured half-replies, she rolled her eyes, though she seemed amused as well. “I guess I’ll go first, even if it’s not that interesting. So, let’s see. The folks that adopted me were in the Royal Engineer Corps, and I kinda fell in love with it. Been going all around Equestria, helped build a dam and a few bridges. Our team even helped extend the rail lines when the Crystal Empire showed up.”
She passed out drinks before reclaiming her chair. “Other than that… well, I get a lot of free time between projects, so I get to go around to all the best party places and just have a good time.” She shrugged. “Got a lot of fun stories from that, but nothing much important.
The others were quiet when she finished. Nictis kept himself occupied eating a muffin, which was possibly the closest thing to normal food among the broad selection of treats--though he’d met several ponies he was pretty sure lived on a diet of pure sweets. Thunder and Bigs both sipped from their drinks, while Spark just fiddled with his, rolling it between his hooves.
Cotton finally shrugged and gestured to Bigs. “Well, how about you? I’ve kind of been curious about what happened to you, especially how you and Spark became friends.” She smiled. “No offense or anything, but I didn’t really see that one coming.”
“Oh,” Bigs replied, giving an awkward glance to his side, where Spark had started to take a very long drink of punch, which conveniently allowed him to avoid meeting the gaze of anyone else. “Right. Well, I know I was kinda… I was a jerk at the orphanage, sure, but I kinda sympathized with the guy, you know?”
He made a very clear point of not looking at Nictis as he said that.
Bigs thought for a moment before speaking again. “And, I don’t know, I guess I wanted to make up for what I’d done. Besides, it’d be nice to finally have a friend.”
“What, you didn’t have any?” Cotton asked, sounding both amused and a little surprised. “You always seemed popular enough back at Rising Sun.” The instant she had said that, she waved a hoof. “I mean… not popular, exactly, but you didn’t seem to have any problem making friends.”
“Those weren’t friends,” he bitterly replied. “They were just a bunch of stuck-up jerks, who just hung out around their own type because nopony else wanted to be around them. I ran into Boulder about a year ago, actually.” He gestured to Thunder Chaser. “He joined the Guard, too. Probably a good thing for me. From the look he gave me, I bet he would have decked me if he weren’t in uniform.”
“Really?” Cotton asked, genuinely surprised. “He was probably the least jerkish of the group. Why would he do that?”
Bigs snorted quietly. “Because he started hating me, too. He was always quiet, but he got real distant after Nictis stole that filly’s birthday cake and planted it in my room.”
Nictis’s ears drooped back as he focused extra hard on the muffin he was eating.
“He didn’t say anything,” Bigs continued, “but I think he was disgusted at the idea of me supposedly doing that. I guess that means he might have turned out okay.” He shrugged. “Never heard from Cloud Burst after she left. I think she couldn’t wait to get as far from there as possible.”
“I saw her,” Thunder Chaser said. “She tried to join the Guard, too. She didn’t last long. Got booted out.”
“Yeah, that’s about what I’d expect,” Bigs replied with a dry snort of a laugh that was devoid of any humor. “Anyway, I guess I got a little distant when I was just abandoned by the ponies I thought were my friends. Just figured… I don’t need ponies like that, and I certainly didn’t want to be like them.”
He paused to fiddle with his cup, finally taking another sip before continuing. “Anyway, after the guards ran off Nictis, Spark was still there in the alley, all alone. I never really cared much about him, but I guess I knew what he was going through, you know? Losing someone he thought of as a friend. That, and we had a common source for our problems.”
This time he did glance at Nictis.
“And I guess I felt a little guilty,” he continued. “I mean, it wasn’t really my fault that Meadow was really some changeling imposter, but I’m the one who exposed him for what he was, and now Spark was all sad because of it, and I sort of knew how he felt. So I just… well, tried being nice to him. Guess it worked.”
Spark spoke up, though his voice was slightly muffled by the now-empty cup he was still holding up to his lips. “I kind of hated you for a while,” he said; the statement didn’t surprise Nictis at first, until Spark looked at Bigs instead of him. “More than just the orphanage stuff. I kept thinking that if you hadn’t shown up, maybe Meadow wouldn’t have left. It wouldn’t have changed anything, but… I don’t know.” He looked down to his empty cup, now cradled between his hooves, and mumbled, “Kept thinking that maybe I’d still be happy if I just didn’t know.”
Nictis cringed at the thought that Spark had been so hurt that he might have preferred a lie, simply to avoid knowing how hurt he was. The thought had barely formed before he spoke. “No.”
Everypony looked over to him, clearly not expecting the response from him. The reflexive urge to retreat from the sudden attention tugged at him, but he resisted. “That’s… not fair to him.” He hazarded a glance at Bigs--and tried to not let it turn into a glare--before looking back to Spark. “He may be a jerk, but he doesn’t deserve the blame for that. Heck, for a while I wanted to blame him. I kept thinking that, if not for him, things wouldn’t have gone the way they had. But that wasn’t fair, either. It wasn’t his fault. I just made mistake after mistake, and eventually it caught up with me.”
Bigs was looking at him questioningly, and still radiated doubt. “Thank you, I think…”
Nictis snorted, though only faintly. Slowly, the momentary flash of irritation faded, until Nictis finally sighed, looking to Spark again. “Though in a way, I’m glad you found out. I wish it had happened differently, but you deserved to know the truth. I made a promise to myself, when I decided to stay with you instead of returning to the hive: no new lies. I didn’t like lying and hiding things from you, even if I thought they were necessary, back then. And who knows, maybe if I hadn’t been uncovered, and after Sky showed that ponies and changelings could live together, maybe I could have built up the courage to tell you the truth.”
In the moment of silence that followed, he could feel the familiar jumble of emotions rising in Spark, but the mix was different; the concern and sadness were still there, but they seemed reduced. It wasn’t perfect, but it was an improvement.
The pause in the conversation was drawing a bit too long as he began to think of something to say to stave off the awkward silence, but to his surprise, Bigs beat him to it. “Anyway, as for what I’ve been up to, I’ve been working in the Manechester city council. I’m a junior member at the moment, but that might be changing next year. I like the job, I get to do something important and worthwhile, but I guess it’s a little boring to talk about. Mostly paperwork.” He glanced around. “So who’s next?”
Cotton shrugged. “Guess we know most of what Niccy has been up to, at least once he moved to Manechester.” She looked over to him. “Kind of curious about what you’ve been up to before and since, though.”
“Not a whole lot to tell, I suppose,” Nictis replied, looking down to his plate of treats. “After I left the orphanage, I spent some time in Manehattan, trying to make do there. I didn’t really have much of an idea how to live on my own, though. Ended up having to steal bits to get by.”
“Wait,” Cotton said, her eyes gone wide with surprise. “Was that you? That whole string of mysterious burglaries? I heard about that!”
Nictis sank slightly in his chair. “Yeah.”
“Huh,” Cotton replied, blinking for a moment before speaking again, quieter, and unable to help a quick glance toward Thunder Chaser. “Should, um… should you really be telling us this?”
“No more lies, right?” He sighed, shaking his head. “Anyway, Celestia already knows all about it, and I guess there’s the whole amnesty thing, too.”
“Oh.” Cotton stared for a few seconds before cracking a smile. “So, secret-agent superspy and master thief. That’s kind of cool, Niccy.”
“It’s not exactly a profession I’d like to get back into,” Nictis said with a frown.
“Nah, I get that,” Cotton replied with a wave of her hoof. “Anyway, enough interruptions, what else?”
“Well… after Manehattan, I tried getting back to the hive, though I did it in probably the dumbest way I could. I almost starved to death before I made it back into Equestria. Wasn’t too long after that when Spark invited me to move in with him, and I jumped at the opportunity.”
Cotton nodded. “So how about after you left?”
Nictis hesitated, casting a glance over at Spark. “Well… not much to tell. Got chased out of a couple towns when they found out I was a changeling, though that was kind of my fault. I didn’t care enough to do a good job of being convincing. Ended up in Baltimare, sleeping in an alley and getting just enough contact with ponies to live on. I had a hard time getting close to ponies, or even pretending to.” He shrugged. “And that’s basically it.”
“What about Ponyville?” Cotton asked, grinning at him.
He shrugged, frowning slightly. “That… that took a while to get used to. It was kind of scary at first. Still, I suppose it hasn’t been so bad. It helped a lot once other changelings started showing up. Most of them were scared or confused when they first showed up. It was kind of nice to be able to help them out, to be able to do something useful again.”
“Sounds a lot like your job in Manechester, too,” Cotton pointed out, her grin growing a touch wider.
Hesitantly, Nictis replied, “I suppose, in a way.”
Cotton chuckled softly before looking around again. “Okay then, who’s next?”
There was a quick glance between Thunder Chaser and Spark, and the former immediately spoke up. “I guess that’d be me.”
Thunder finished off his drink, setting it on the edge of the coffee table. “Not that there’s much to tell. Nearly got my leg ripped off protecting somepony from a bear, decided that seemed like a good thing to do with my life, and joined the guard. So I spend a lot of time standing around or flying patrols, and every now and then we get to go in after some disaster or something and help ponies.” He paused, silent for a moment, and then simply shrugged. Only Bigs looked uncertain at the abbreviated tale, being the only one who had not heard the story of how Thunder had joined the guard.
Curiosity poked at Nictis’s mind, though it took a force of will to speak. “So…” He hesitated, considering his words once he had committed himself to speaking. “...I’m sorry, but I was wondering what it was like when Chrysalis attacked.”
Thunder frowned, though he didn’t seem upset at Nictis for the question. “It was a mess,” he eventually said. “Pure chaos. We thought we were ready for anything, but then we’re getting attacked by some strange and… well, no offense, but, kind of creepy-looking creatures.” He paused a moment to look at Nictis, who simply nodded slightly, before continuing. “Anyway, we had no idea what changelings were or what they were capable of. We did about as well as we could. Individual units gave a good fight, but there was no coordination. Any form of higher command was taken out in the first few moments of the attack, so we were all on our own. That let them just swarm all over us as they pleased.”
“I see,” Nictis said, giving a small frown. “That… makes a disappointing amount of sense.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Thunder Chaser replied, a touch of irritation growing clear in Nictis’s senses.
“Just that I always thought the invasion was the most idiotic thing imaginable,” Nictis said. “We’re changelings. We don’t invade. Our strengths are subtlety and versatility, not head-on force.” He shook his head. “You know, when I first saw that newspaper, with the headline declaring a changeling attack on Canterlot, and a picture of the queen splashed across the page, I didn’t want to believe that it was possible. Our secrecy was one of our most important needs, a need that was drilled into our heads from the moment we hatched. The idea that the queen herself would just throw that away in some risky attack on a vastly more powerful nation was just… beyond imagination.”
His frown deepened. “I thought she must have gone insane, or something equally severe. It’s... kind of disturbing to think that such a horribly bad idea might have been conducted with some degree of competency.”
After a moment of silence, Nictis asked, “How did you fare?”
“Well enough,” Thunder said with a shrug of his shoulders. The hostility that had just started to grow had faded again. “Got a couple bruised ribs and a sprained wing before they managed to get me with that green gunk. Gave better than I got, at least.” A hint of a smile grew on his face. “No offense, but most of your former hive-mates kind of sucked at fighting.”
“Like I said, we’re not much for head-on fighting,” Nictis said, with a wry and short-lived smile. He felt it best not to mention that most of the changelings he had fought had probably not even been proper soldiers.
Thunder looked to be thinking on something for a few moments before shaking his head. “Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to.”
He was just starting to gesture to Spark when Cotton leaned over, flashing a sly grin. “Aw, come on. Aren’t you at least going to tell us about your coltfriend?”
Thunder glowered back, a hint of color touching his cheeks. “Why do you always have to ask that every time we see each other?”
Cotton giggled as she scooted around in her chair, looking back at him upside-down. “Because it gets you flustered, and it’s funny to see you flustered!”
As Thunder groaned, Spark cut in. “So, um, I guess it’s my turn.”
“Yes,” Thunder grunted. “Thank you.”
“Well, okay,” Spark said; now that all the attention in the room had turned to him, he couldn’t help fidgeting a bit, his eyes turning down. “Although… well, I guess everyone here already knows all about what I’ve been up to since the orphanage.”
“What about recently?” Cotton prompted, still giggling at Thunder’s expense. “Anything new going on?”
He shrugged, eyes fixed on the floor. “Um… not really, no. I haven’t done much, other than working at my dad’s shop. I mean, you know, my adoptive dad.”
Though part of him still leaned toward cautious silence, Nictis spoke up. “What about Songbird?”
Anxiety and nervousness met his question, and Spark’s ears drooped. “I, uh… haven’t really gotten much work done on it lately.”
To Nictis’s surprise, Bigs raised a hoof, placing it gently on Spark’s shoulder. “What he means is he hasn’t worked on his flying machine for almost a year now.”
Nictis blinked in surprise, looking first to Bigs, who looked oddly concerned for Spark, and then to Spark himself, whose ears had drooped even further. “You haven’t? But… why? Why would…?”
He trailed off as Spark’s anxiety rose, mixed with sorrow, regret, and even embarrassment. “Because,” Spark quietly murmured, “it always made me think of Meadow. Or… you. Whatever…”
Nictis felt as he’d been metaphorically kicked in the gut. His expression fell as he leaned forward, nearly knocking his forgotten plate of treats onto the floor. “But it’s such an incredible thing you built! It’s amazing, revolutionary even, and I know how much you loved working on it. Please, don’t stop working on it because of me. Not that. Even if you have to rename it or… or something… please.”
Spark finally looked up, meeting Nictis’s eyes. There was a moment of silence as he searched for the right words. “...I don’t think it’s going to be a problem any more.”
He smiled; it was small and fragile, but it was there. More significantly, Nictis could sense the faintest feeling of affection starting to peek out through the jumble of more negative emotions. Soon he was mirroring the smile, and trying to ignore the acidic tinge of adrenaline that was suddenly coursing through him.
The silence lasted for a few seconds before Cotton’s voice cut in. “You two make such a cute couple,” she said, which resulted in both pony and changeling taking on identical embarrassed expressions. She snickered at the reaction, rolling out of her chair to land on her hooves. “Well, come on. It’s time to load up on sugar and party all night! We’re going to have to work hard to put a dent in all these treats, so let’s get started!”
Her horn lit up to nudge the volume slider of the record player, bumping it up from a soft background sound to a loud-but-not-too-loud level. Spark and Nictis exchanged glances as everypony else stood to gather up some food, and Spark soon joined them. Nictis stayed back, munching on a fritter, one of the many treats he had already grabbed.
Cotton was strutting as she moved, which quickly elevated to swaying her hips to the music, her tail flicking with each movement. Soon she was dancing from hoof to hoof, bobbing her head in time to the music between bites of the cookie floating alongside her. Nictis watched in a combination of amusement and disappointment as she did her best to enjoy herself. She was clearly having some fun with it, but he could sense the faint sensations of worrying creeping out past her happiness. He caught the glances she took of the other ponies, none of which were joining in with her.
Which meant it was up to him to step in, again.
Hoping that a more lighthearted conversation might brighten the mood, he spoke up with the first thing to come to mind, doing his best to adopt a casual, friendly tone. “You know, Cotton, I never did figure out the whole ‘dancing’ thing.”
She looked back to him with a hint of surprise, and then laughed softly. “What’s to figure out? Secret-agent superspy’s never danced before?”
“I have. Kind of. I think.” He shrugged, shaking his head. “In Manehattan, I got by hanging out at clubs and such, and a bunch of ponies there were dancing. I copied them as best I could, but I never really got what was really going on. It was like everypony was doing their own thing and just moving randomly.”
Cotton was laughing even more. “Well, yeah, that’s kind of the whole point!” She emphasized the statement by hopping, twirling around before landing neatly on her hooves and immediately going back into bobbing and swaying to the music. “You just get up and have fun moving around to the music like you’ve got nothing to care about! It’s all about cutting loose and having fun expressing yourself. There’s no right or wrong, so long as everypony’s enjoying themselves.”
Hesitantly, Nictis rose from his seat. Her advice contrasted with years of experience in social structures and interactions; but then again, ponies didn’t always make sense. “Well… aren’t you worried somepony might think you look, erm… goofy?”
“Pfft, hay no!” Cotton laughed. “The goofier the dance, the happier the pony! They’re the ones who just get the most caught-up in the movement and music. They’re just having fun, without worrying if other ponies think they should or not. Goofy dancing is the best dancing!”
He approached slowly, determined to do something in an attempt to lighten the tension in the room, but despite his previous encounters with dancing, he found himself at a loss at how to start. Fortunately, Cotton seemed just as determined, reaching out to bump up the volume a bit more before swinging around to hip-check him playfully. “C’mon, Niccy, show us whatcha got!”
Nictis shifted his weight from one forehoof to the other, roughly in time to the music, while trying to ignore the rising sense of embarrassment that tried to hold him back.
Come on, he thought as he forced himself to move with a little more energy. I’ve lived as an Infiltrator for a decade. I’ve put myself at the center of attention without embarrassment countless times. I can handle a little dancing!
He looked to Cotton, who grinned back at him. The worry he had sensed from her was diminished, and he ignored what remained. Instead, he focused on the happiness and friendly affection that grew with his movements. He started to bob his head to the music, his rear hooves joining in with the movements of the front ones. As he danced alongside Cotton, he found that he no longer had to force his smile. In fact, there was something strangely fun about it.
They danced alone for a couple minutes, with Cotton snatching a couple bites to eat as she moved. Surprisingly, it was Spark who first joined in; he was full of reluctance and embarrassment, but he managed a weak smile. His movements were similarly small and restrained, though under Cotton’s encouragement he slowly loosened up.
Nictis did find it slightly odd when he spotted a faint smile from Bigs, watching Spark starting to dance. It vanished again the moment he noticed Nictis looking at him.
It wasn’t long before the demands of social interactions brought Thunder Chaser and Big Shot over as well. The two seemed rather more reluctant, if less nervous about the affair. Nictis did his best to smile to them--even Bigs, although he hoped the expression didn’t come across as smug; that would only make things more awkward. Fortunately, the stallion seemed content to mostly ignore him.
Cotton, the ‘party veteran’, cheered them on, and to Nictis’s surprise, the mood that had started so frigidly began to warm up. She laughed and talked and celebrated alongside them, and steadily her excited happiness caught on. Little whispers of concern kept poking at Nictis, but seeing Spark loosening up and dancing--in what Nictis could only describe as a genuinely goofy fashion--made it easy to bury those concerns, if only for a moment.
Actually, it was somewhat amusing watching them all dancing away, each of them in their own way. Cotton seemed to be the most in-tune with the music, swaying to the rhythm with plenty of hip and tail movement. Bigs was more stompy and controlled. Thunder Chaser still seemed a little reluctant, but the times he did relax saw him spread his wings, rearing up on his hind legs, and at one point even hovering for a bit to dance mid-air.
Spark had started with such conservative movements, but the growing happiness soon changed that. He even turned a genuinely affectionate smile to Nictis, who couldn’t help but grin back; for a moment, there was no more fear or sadness. Before long, Spark was dancing with an eager enthusiasm; wild, erratic, and uncontrolled, simply enjoying the moment.
And as they danced, Cotton caught Nictis’s eye just long enough to share a flash of happiness and a conspiratorial wink.





The sound of the music filtered through the door and windows of the suite as Nictis stepped up to the edge of the balcony. He had excused himself to get a bit of fresh air; as enjoyable as the party was turning out, it was still a bit much all at once. That, and he really could use a break to catch his breath.
He’d just reared up and crossed his forelegs across the balcony rail when the muffled sound of music grew loud and clear, only to be muffled again a moment later with the sound of the door shutting. He looked back to see Thunder Chaser walk up. The pony’s emotions were still mostly unreadable, but lightly accented with faint feelings of displeasure and doubt.
“Hey,” Thunder said. “I wanted to talk with you.”
Nictis just nodded, looking back out over the balcony edge again. The sky was slowly turning amber as the evening grew late, casting its colors across the city below and highlighting the forms of several pegasi flying around the city. Thunder came to a stop beside him, looking out to the sky for a while before finally speaking.
“I really don’t know what to think of you.”
And there goes the happy feeling. Nictis wasn’t sure what to say, so he just nodded again.
“I mean, I’m not sure if I should hit you or help you,” Thunder said. “I know Celestia gave amnesty to all the changelings that came to live in Equestria, and I’m okay with that, but…”
He trailed off, shaking his head, and Nictis sighed. “Yeah.”
Thunder remained silent for several seconds, his wings shuffling faintly before he finally spoke again. “You know, Meadow was like a role model to a lot of ponies back at the orphanage.”
Nictis just nodded.
“A bunch of them saw somepony that was always helping others, always friendly, always liked by everypony, and they wanted to be like her.” Thunder snorted bitterly. “Then it was like, hey, she’s actually some sort of back-stabbing, emotion-eating monster and you were her food. Surprise.”
Nictis slouched, ears drooping as he rested his chin on his forelegs. “I know.”
He could feel Thunder’s frustration boiling under the surface.
“For what it’s worth,” Nictis quietly said, “I started looking at her as a role model, too.”
Thunder stopped his shuffling, his tone neutral, if perhaps a bit doubtful. “Really?”
“Yeah. Not at first, of course. After I’d been here a while.” He looked over his shoulder to the windows behind him, even though they were blocked off by curtains. “After I decided to stay with Spark.” He turned back, again resting his chin on his forelegs. “Meadow was hard-working, respected, and devoted to something more than herself. She was what Spark loved. I wanted to be like that. Better that than being a back-stabbing, emotion-eating monster.”
Thunder eyed him warily.
“Actually,” Nictis said, “I guess you were kind of like a role model, too.” When Thunder looked more suspicious, he shook his head. “Well, maybe not a role model, exactly, but you were one of the first ponies I could really respect.”
“And why’s that?” Thunder asked, sounding only slightly doubtful.
“Changelings make a big deal about duty and responsibility,” Nictis said with a shrug. “In the hive, your worth is measured--”
“Yeah, I know about all that,” Thunder said irritably, which brought a quick, quizzical look from Nictis.
“You do?”
“Yeah,” Thunder said. “Recruit Chirrup volunteered what little free time he had to teach the Guard all he could about changelings. He was pretty thorough. Pretty clear on all the ‘duty’ and ‘purpose’ stuff, too.”
“Oh,” Nictis said, pausing for a moment. “So, you know what the changelings in the hive are taught about ponies?”
“Nothing flattering,” Thunder darkly replied.
“And did he share what the hive teaches about the Royal Guard, itself?”
Thunder paused for a moment to think, finally replying, “Not much, no. Just that we were supposed to be this giant threat to their existence.”
Nictis nodded faintly. “He got the softer version of it, then. Like most changelings, he wasn’t expected to leave the hive. Those of us who did, we were told more. We were taught that the Guard had some of the worst and most dangerous ponies in existence. Ruthless killers who probably took the job just for the chance at some violence, who’d think nothing of stomping out our entire species.” He gestured to Thunder, trying to ignore the hint of outrage at the unfavorable depiction of the Guard. “Do you remember how odd I was acting when I first met you, here in Canterlot?”
“Vaguely,” Thunder replied. “Though I guess your explanation about being worried for me was a lie, wasn’t it?”
Nictis frowned. “Yeah. Mostly. At first I was a bit freaked out that you were in the Guard, worrying that I might be in danger, but… well, it was you. I knew you, sort of. You weren’t some ruthless killer. You were you, and I kind of liked you. It was a bit of a struggle to try and get the two images to mesh in my mind. And then when you explained why you joined the guard, you were talking about protecting others, putting the good of other ponies before yourself, even being willing to risk your life if it meant saving somepony. Even from a purely changeling perspective, I could respect that.”
Nictis looked back to Thunder Chaser. “That’s around when my opinion on ponies was changing the most, because of stuff like that. I started getting past a bunch of the preconceptions, and finding things about ponies that I could actually respect. When I decided that I would be staying in Equestria, well… that’s what I wanted to be like.”
He gave a vague wave of his hoof. “That’s why I started to enjoy my job so much. Sure, I always liked that it got me plenty of positive emotions to feed on, but that’s not the same thing as liking the work itself. When I gave up on returning to the hive, I needed a new purpose, and that was part of it. It was something I could be proud of, I guess.”
The wary and displeased feeling from Thunder remained. “Only part?”
Nictis sighed, deflating. “Spark had a… a bad night, and I spent it comforting him. It was the night that I finally consciously admitted that I loved him, that he could be my purpose. I couldn’t tell him everything about myself, but I could support him, protect him.” He closed his eyes, letting his head fall back against the railing with a dull thump. “Fouled that up, didn’t I?”
Thunder considered that for several seconds. The emotions wavered, starting to show cracks, but then hardened again. “Then why did you leave?”
Nictis sagged further, slouching against the railing. “Because I was scared, and… and I was hurting him. I love him more than anything in the world, I’d do anything to protect him, but I was the one who hurt him.” He opened his eyes again, looking to Thunder Chaser, who was staring back at him. “Can you imagine how awful it is to love someone so much, and actually feel their sense of betrayal? How just being there is making them miserable? His happiness was the most important thing to me, even more important my own. I thought that, if I was making him suffer, then I needed to go.”
Thunder held his gaze for several seconds before looking away. The silence stretched on, punctuated only with the muffled beat of music, until Thunder finally spoke. “You shouldn’t have run.”
“If I could go back and change just one thing, it’d be leaving him.” Nictis gestured toward the door with his nose. “If I hadn’t panicked, if I hadn’t been so worried about my own safety, maybe I could have found a way to explain things calmly, gently. Instead, I mucked it all up. I thought leaving would be for the better. The ‘pony’ that had hurt him so badly was gone, so maybe he could move on with his life, find something better. Instead, I just made it worse.”
“Yeah,” Thunder said, nodding, though his emotions had softened; it no longer carried the tone of accusation, merely agreement. “And now?”
“Now?” Nictis paused, mulling over the situation. “I don’t know. But seeing him smiling, dancing, actually feeling happy again?” A small, weak smile took hold. “It gives me hope that he’ll be okay.”
“It was nice to see,” Thunder replied. The emotions churned again, and finally he added, “Just don’t mess it all up again. That’d make the hit-or-help decision a lot easier.”
Nictis snorted softly, giving a wry and half-hearted smile. “I’ll try,” he said. The smile soon faded. “But to be honest, I’m not sure I can. I don’t know what I’m doing. Manipulation, deceit, that I can do, but being honest? That’s hard, and a little scary.” He shook his head. “I’m trying, but… sometimes I fail.”
Thunder snorted, thumping a hoof against the ground. “Are you kidding me? How is telling the truth so hard to do?”
“The truth can be painful,” Nictis said, “but a lie can be whatever I want it to be.”
Thunder was silent for several seconds after that reply. “That’s… pretty messed up, Nictis. I’d thought that after all the problems your lies caused, you’d know that telling the truth is better.”
“Didn’t say better. Just easier.”
Thunder frowned, finally replying, “I thought changelings were supposed to follow through even when things were hard?” Nictis grunted faintly as he continued. “You want to do things right, get it so that ponies here trust you? Spill the beans. Start telling the truth even if--especially if it’s hard. You can start right now: what kind of lies have you been telling?”
Nictis shrugged. “All the little lies pony society vocally condemns while silently insisting upon. ‘Yes, it’s a nice day out.’ ‘Yes, that dress makes you look pretty.’ ‘No, that--’”
“Oh come on!” Thunder blurted. “That stuff doesn’t even count! Everypony does that. I mean real lies.”
“Where do you think the big lies start?”
“You know what I mean,” Thunder replied. “The lies that try to fool ponies about something serious, not stupid little white lies. Come on. Since you stepped out and started living without the disguise, what’s the absolute worst lie you’ve told?”
Nictis leaned his head back. Eventually he asked, “Do you remember hearing about Gray and Misty?”
When Thunder hesitantly shook his head, he instead asked, “Do you remember the story of how I came to the Orphanage?”
“Yeah. Something about your mother dying from a manticore, and a couple of… relatives, I think, brought you there a few days later.”
Nictis nodded. “That couple was Gray and Misty. I told them a slightly different story. It was a bit of a risk, now that I think on it, but it’s one of the few things that didn’t bite me in the flank later on. I told them that it was their daughter that died to a manticore, that I was a young friend of hers, and that she had been taking care of me recently. That’s the kind of cold calculation that an Infiltrator is taught to use: the emotional devastation left them vulnerable to further manipulations, and the connection to their daughter gave them a sense of responsibility to me.”
Thunder kept his expression neutral, despite the feeling of disgust that crept up. “So which story was true?”
“Neither,” Nictis replied. “And both. The one who died to the manticore was Princess Ceymi, probably the most experienced Infiltrator in the hive and, technically speaking, my mother. One of her disguises was a pony named Starry Eyes. It was the form of a pony she had come across, already deceased, in the Everfree Forest. She was Gray and Misty’s daughter.
“So naturally, when they find out that the child their daughter had supposedly been caring for had actually been a changeling, they start wondering what other lies they’d been told. They came to Ponyville a couple weeks after I started living there. It was spectacularly awkward. They tried to skirt around it, but before long they asked about Starry. So I told them. I told them how she had really died, how the daughter they had known for more than a decade had actually been a changeling imposter.
“I got to watch them go through the loss of their daughter a second time. The first time, I hadn’t cared. I thought of ponies as nothing but prey. If anything, I’d felt proud of being able to twist around their emotions despite my incomplete training. This time, though…
He shook his head, sighing slightly. “Afterward, they asked about Ceymi, so I described her some. I was a little vague, but I described her honestly, faults and all. Eventually, they asked what Ceymi had really thought of them; if any of it had ever been true.”
Nictis was silent for a moment before continuing. “I couldn’t do it. I wanted to be honest, but they were hurting so much already, and I knew that I might be able to alleviate just a bit of that pain by twisting the truth. So I told them that some of the happiest moments of her life had been the time she had spent with them.
“I tried to excuse it to myself with how it was technically true, but I knew better. Ceymi herself had taught me that the best lies are the ones that are true, and the truth was that she despised ponies. She had told me that some of the happiest moments of her life had been with Gray and Misty, but it hadn’t been a cheerful story about a couple she liked. It was a cautionary tale, warning of the corrupting temptation of pony life and luxury.”
Nictis finally shrugged, gesturing around with a hoof. “Guess she was right, in a way.”
Thunder shuffled his wings, silently watching Nictis for a while before finally turning to sit beside him. “I think they deserve the truth,” he said, slowly. “But if that’s the worst lie you’ve told since coming out, that isn’t so bad.”
Nictis grunted faintly, giving a lopsided smile. “Thanks.”
They sat in silence for a minute; an odd hint of unease slowly worked its way through Thunder’s emotions, until the stallion finally spoke up. “My turn, I guess.”
He reached up to flick back a few stray mane-hairs and shuffled his wings again. “So there’s this other guard named Lightning Strike, and he--”
“So he’s your coltfriend?”
Thunder Chaser’s head jerked back in surprise, followed by him shooting Nictis a glare. “What, you too? It’s bad enough that Cotton’s always asking that.”
“Uh-huh,” Nictis dryly replied, rolling his eyes. “You know she keeps it up because she thinks it’s funny. You could stop it just by telling her the truth.”
“The truth is that I don’t have a coltfriend,” Thunder grunted. A moment later, and rather quieter, he added, “Technically.”
At Nictis’s flat and unbelieving expression, he shuffled his wings again and clarified. “Strictly speaking it’s true, since we haven’t really made it official or anything.”
Nictis stared at him for a second before snorting softly. “Wow. That’s the kind of splitting-hairs that even an Infiltrator might be proud of.”
“Hey now,” Thunder said, as a mix of embarrassment and humor rose to the surface. “Let’s not get nasty.”
Nictis snorted again, segueing into a faint chuckle that quickly died off again. “So why are you telling me?”
Thunder’s emotions churned, and Nictis sensed embarrassment, or something much like it. “I don’t know.”
“And… why aren’t you telling Cotton?”
Thunder just shrugged again, prompting Nictis to sigh. “You know, I’m probably not the best one to be giving advice on the subject of honesty and openness, but it seems like a pointless secret to keep.” He looked over to Thunder again. “Besides, you know Cotton will stop pestering you once you tell her.”
“I know,” Thunder grumbled. “And I’ll tell her once we’ve got things a bit more settled.” He paused, then frowned at Nictis, raising a hoof warningly. “And don’t you dare tell her, either.”
“I think I’ll be able to keep a secret,” Nictis said, allowing a small smile, which seemed to mollify Thunder Chaser enough for him to set his hoof down again. “So… Lightning Strike? Don’t suppose there’s any relation to Feather Strike?”
“He’s Feather’s younger brother,” Thunder said, quickly adding, “And don’t you dare tell him, either! In fact, don’t tell anypony.”
“Tell nopony,” Nictis said with a nod.
“Or any changeling, for that matter!”
“I’m not going to tell anyone,” Nictis said, the faint smile growing a little more.
“Okay, good,” Thunder said with a nod. He stayed there for a moment before rising to his hooves again and giving a small smile of his own. “Well then, should we get back to the party?”
“Yeah, sounds good,” Nictis replied as he rose as well, following Thunder back to the door.
He only made it a couple steps before his hooves faltered. “Wait.” He turned to Thunder, fixing him with a flat look, though the expression was undermined by a hint of a smirk. “Thunder and Lightning? Seriously?”
Thunder looked back with a questioning expression. “What?”
“Ponies,” Nictis grunted with a roll of his eyes, stepping past Thunder to open the door.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”





Nictis shook his wings out and laid them smoothly along his back before rolling onto his side atop the couch cushion. He pushed lightly with his magic to send a half-eaten cupcake floating over to rest on yet another plate of treats, while he noted yet again that the evening was not going at all as he had expected.
“I’m not really sure how I could describe it,” he said, idly tapping a hoof against the edge of the cushion while Spark, lying across a chair, watched him with an intense curiosity. “It’s somewhat like trying to describe the color red to somepony who’s never seen. I’m not even sure just what sense it’s most comparable to. I suppose it’s tempting to draw a connection to taste, since we can feed on emotions, but it seems like a poor comparison.” He shrugged. “Plus, it makes it sound like I’m licking all over everypony’s emotions, and that’s just kind of weird.”
There were a few snickers at that, even from Spark.
“It’s handy, in any case. Among changelings, there’s a lot of communication going on with emotions, since we don’t have to rely on clumsy things like words and expressions to convey them. Actually, it makes me feel a little sorry for ponies. I know you do well enough, but to me it seems akin to going through life half blind and half deaf. Sure, our emotion-sensing comes with a rather severe limitation in solitary endurance and magical power, but since I came to Equestria, that’s rarely been an issue. The advantages certainly seem well worth it.”
The cupcake floated back over in his magic as he took another small bite while Spark spoke, with only a hint of awkwardness stirring in the background. “So what’s it like to feed on emotions, then?”
“Hmm.” It took a few moments of contemplation before Nictis answered. “It’s energizing. Not like having a bunch of sugar or coffee or the like, though. It’s more like… well, have you ever woken up after a particularly good sleep, and you just feel energetic and eager to face the day? It’s kind of like that.”
Spark nodded in reply. “And… is each emotion different?”
“They ‘taste’ different, though I’m not sure how to describe it other than to say that the more positive the emotion, the better. Not that it’s stopped a lot of ponies from trying to come up with all sorts of weird comparisons, though none of them are close. I once had some mare come up to me, absolutely convinced that despair tasted like cheap, burnt coffee. I don’t know where she got that from.”
He shrugged. “And they all give different amounts of energy. The affection of a good friend gives more than the courtesy of a casual acquaintance, for example, though it’d be hard for a changeling to not find enough friendly ponies to survive.”
Cotton chose then to chime in. “So if more positive emotions are better, what’s love like?”
Nictis hesitated as a faint sense of awkwardness rose from Spark. “It’s… beautiful is the only word I can think of to describe it. There’s something wonderful about it, and nothing else quite compares. Feeling such an incredible thing directed at me, specifically, was such an amazing and exciting thing.” He glanced over to Spark. “Especially considering who it was coming from.”
The awkwardness grew, as well as embarrassment and a hint of sadness, but Spark held a determined smile.
“I wish you could feel it like I could,” Nictis said with a weak smile. “Even if it was just for a little bit. I wish I could show you that.” His smile slowly faded, a nervous tension growing in his gut as he continued. “I… I don’t know if we can ever go back to the way things were before, or if I can ever make up for what I did to you, but… I do love you. I have for years. I know you can’t sense it like I can, so I can only convey it through words and actions. I want to show you how much I love you, if… if you’d be willing to have me again…”
Embarrassment had taken a commanding hold of Spark’s emotions, a blush quickly spreading across the pony’s face. “I-I don’t know,” he stammered.
He must have seen some sign of Nictis’s disappointment, as he quickly spoke up again. “I mean, I kind of like you. Tonight’s been… actually, it’s been a lot of fun, and you seem really nice and all. I’d, um… I’d like it if we could be friends, but…” His embarrassment was growing by the moment, and his cheeks were thoroughly red as his forehooves fidgeted with each other, his voice growing quieter with each word. “I don’t think, uh… I’m not really, you know, into, um… stallions…”
It took a moment before Nictis managed a weak “Oh,” though it was lost behind Cotton’s reply.
“Seriously?” she groaned, and Nictis looked over to see she had her face buried in the side-rest of her chair. A moment later she looked up, fixing Spark with a very clear ‘are you crazy?’ expression. “Nevermind everything else, that’s the problem?”
“Cotton,” Nictis warningly intoned, giving her a sharp look before turning back to Spark. “Sorry. I know changelings and ponies look at stuff like that differently, but… well, I am a changeling. I can change that...”
There was a momentary flicker of interest, though it was quickly obliterated under a wave of embarrassment and, curiously, guilt. “I know, but… that’s different. It’s not really real. It doesn’t seem right, or, um… fair, to make you pretend to be something else.”
“I’d be fine with it,” Nictis said, scooting forward; thankfully, Spark didn’t draw back at the motion. “Truly. I was prepared to spend the rest of my life as a unicorn if it meant spending it with you.”
Spark hesitated, little glimmers of hope peeking out through his emotions. “I don’t know… maybe…” His nervousness shot up, and he shook his head. “It still doesn’t seem right,” he said. “Even if you can change what you look like, it doesn’t really change what’s underneath it all.”
“Think about it,” Cotton said. “Niccy can change everything. I mean, heck, you don’t seem to have a problem with him being a completely different species with all sorts of different biology and stuff, so what does it matter if sometimes he has a--”
“Cotton!” Both Nictis and Bigs blurted, followed by an exchange of confused glances between each other.
Cotton held up a hoof defensively. “Sorry! Sorry.” Quietly she added, “I’m just saying, I can see a lot of advantages to the situation.”
Nictis rolled his eyes, while Bigs spoke up again. “Well good for you, but this isn’t about what you want.”
Cotton’s ears perked up. “I don’t mean it like that,” she quickly said. “I just mean, I remember how cute those two were together. I remember how wildly in love with each other they were, even back when Nictis was still being all clueless about love.”
Nictis shot her an annoyed glance, but again Bigs spoke first. “Except the Meadow that Spark knew wasn’t real. That’s kind of important.”
“Bigs,” Nictis groaned, a hoof pressed against the bridge of his muzzle. “Just… please stop saying stuff I agree with, you’re making this confusing.”
There was a flash of uncertain irritation from Bigs, which Nictis ignored. Instead, he let his hoof drop and turned to look back at Spark, who still fidgeted anxiously. Spark returned the look, the sensation of guilt growing stronger. Somewhere in the background, Nictis could make out a growing fear, faint for not being directed at him. The happy mood that had grown throughout the party had vanished, and Spark’s discomfort was growing with every moment.
Nictis weighed his options, and reluctantly came to a decision.
“I’m sorry,” he finally said, ears drooping a bit. “I just want you to be happy. I hope you might someday consider me worthy, but I don’t want to push you into something you’re not comfortable with, so… until then...” He hesitantly extended a hoof, offering it to Spark. “Friends?”
Spark looked to the offered hoof, cautiously considering it before slowly reaching out. The guilty feeling grew, backed by a growing sadness and an odd glimmer of affection. Finally, he took Nictis’s hoof and gave it a weak shake. “Friends.”
They shared their half-hearted smiles, and did their best to at least appear to be enjoying the rest of the party. Spark even put on a fairly convincing show of it, transparent only to the changeling who could feel the worry and doubt that clung to the pony’s mind.
But at the same time, Nictis couldn’t help holding out a glimmer of hope. After a lifetime of lies and deception, it wasn’t hard to tell when somepony wasn’t being entirely honest.





Even though he may have more contact with the princesses than the average citizen of Equestria, Sky still found it a significant event to be in the presence of every one of them at the same time. All four princesses of Equestria had gathered together, to discuss the important matter of Queen Chrysalis and her hive. Sky had been invited along, followed by his small “staff”--even Cara, who had declared that he should be brave and go along with him, and looked to have spent most of the evening trying to convince himself that he hadn’t made a horrible mistake; he nearly wilted any time Princess Cadance looked his way. Despite the general seriousness of the situation, the evening had been remarkably pleasant. While there had been quite a few grim looks shared among the princesses, the evening had been interspersed with more light-hearted and friendly conversation.
All that had ended for the moment, as every pony and changeling watched the eldest two princesses walking to the balcony outside the room, framed by the fading evening sky. Celestia raised her horn, aglow in her magic; a moment later the sky faded as the sun sank smoothly below the horizon.
As Celestia’s magic winked out, Luna stepped forward, her own horn glowing as the moon rose, and the swiftly darkening skies began to reveal the sea of stars beyond. As the glow of her own magic went out, the two sisters simply stood there, smiling a moment.
Sky watched with fascination. It hardly mattered that he had seen them perform the same transition several times before, it was just as impressive and beautiful as the first time he had seen it. There was something powerful and enduring about the moment; such a feat could have easily been terrifying, but from the two royal sisters, there was something comforting about it.
After a couple seconds, Celestia dipped her head, sharing a brief nuzzle with her sister before they both turned back to the gathering, stepping in from the balcony. Her eyes turned first to Princess Cadance. “As lovely as it has been to catch up with you, I think it’s about time we should turn in. Tomorrow promises to be an interesting day.”
“No doubt,” Cadance replied with a soft chuckle, turning to nuzzle Shining Armor for a moment before rising to her hooves. “We could use some rest. It’s been a long day.”
“Rest well,” Luna said, giving a nod to Cadance before turning to Celestia. “And you, too, Sister.”
The royal sisters embraced for a moment before Celestia turned away, giving a few final goodbyes as she made her way to the door. Several of the others also rose to leave as well. Sky, however, remained in place; ever since his own nightmares had faded, he had fewer opportunities to speak with Luna, and this seemed like a good opportunity.
Meanwhile, Luna had turned to the pony who stood just inside the doorway, some member of the castle staff who had been waiting patiently since before the two princesses had transitioned day to night. “Speak.”
The somewhat elderly earth pony stepped forward, bowing his head. “Your Highness,” he said, his tone precise and professional. “There was a small incident that should be brought to your attention. A couple of the service staff have been admitted to the infirmary, purely as a precautionary measure, after having being forcibly drained of emotional energy.”
There was a sharp crack of a metal-shod hoof striking the stone floor, and Sky looked over to see Celestia halted in mid-stride with a surprised expression. “What?”
Luna simply held up a hoof for a moment, as if commanding silence, her expression grim. “Explain.”
The pony nodded. “The two were assigned to bring dinner to Chrysalis and her embassy. They were serving Chrysalis herself when she began forcibly feeding on them. They recognized the symptoms of heavy emotion drain and immediately objected. When they did, they say that Chrysalis seemed surprised, and then offended. She reportedly claimed that she assumed the servants were part of the offered food, and threw them out when they said they were not. When it was discovered what had happened, they were sent to the infirmary to be given a checkup. They had performed only the most preliminary tests by the time I had been dispatched, but it appears that they have not suffered any injury beyond moderate fatigue.”
Celestia was shaking her head, jaw tight. “That is enough. We have shown Chrysalis more than enough patience, but she seems determined to play her petty games. It is time to show her the consequences of her actions. It is time for Chrysalis and her followers to be expelled from Equestria.”
Again, Luna held up a hoof, though her expression hinted at amusement. “That may not be necessary.”
“I have shown her leniency, and she shows only hostility in reply,” Celestia said, shaking her head. “I will not continue to stand by while our subjects are preyed upon.”
“Of course you will not,” Luna agreed with a nod, and then turned away. “You shall lie down and sleep, sister. I shall resolve this matter.”
A flash of surprise crossed Celestia’s face before she stepped up beside Luna. “There is nothing to resolve, Luna. She has been warned against attacking our subjects already, and now she dares to do so directly? The longer we allow this to go, the more of our subjects she will harm. How long until she harms one more seriously, or worse? We have already discussed this; she will be expelled from Equestria, and she should be grateful that we don’t do more.”
“She is but a petulant child, flailing and lashing out to see just how far she can go before being struck down.” She turned back to Celestia, placing a hoof on the elder princess’s chest. “Rest, dear sister. Watching over the night is my responsibility, and I am quite capable of handling whatever petty antics Chrysalis wishes to try. As troubling as her behavior is, this is not so severe that we can not find a more rationed response. By the time you raise the sun in the morning, I assure you, we shall not have to worry about this manner of mischief again.”
Celestia stared down at her sister. Her expression was hard and laced with doubt, but after several seconds, it began to melt. “What do you intend to do?”
Luna leaned up to nuzzle her sister again. “Fear not,” she said, and stepped back, a cold smile forming. “We shall simply meet with her, and make it excruciatingly clear why she does not want us as enemies.”
For a few moments, Celestia was silent, thinking. The doubtful look remained, though softened. Eventually, she nodded. “Very well. You can try to sway her.” A hint of the earlier fire returned. “But if things have not improved by morning, she will be removed immediately.”
“Agreed,” Luna replied. “Now go, sleep.”
Sky could see a moment of reluctance in Celestia, but a moment later she smiled and nodded again. Soon she was leaving, and most of the others gathered there followed her. Again, Sky remained behind.
He watched as Luna walked over to the balcony again, looking to the darkened sky with a sharp smile that he could only think to describe as “predatory”. It made it a little difficult for him to stand and approach her, but he did so anyway.
The moment he reached her side, she turned to look at him, all hints of sharpness gone in an instant. “Ah, Sky. I assume you wished to speak with me?”
“Yes,” he replied with a nod.
“Come,” she said, turning and walking from the window as he paced alongside her. “There is much for me to do, so we shall speak as we travel. I feel that tonight shall be a most interesting night.”