“Sweetie Belle, do not fret. We haven’t lost, at least, not yet.”
“Does she rhyme every single time?” Bads asked under her breath, motioning to Zecora when the zebra wasn’t looking.
Sweetie Belle nodded. “Yeah. Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it.”
“It’s just… weird.”
Zecora’s hut was overrun with changelings and ponies. It was hard to move around, especially when Sweetie Belle needed silence to think. She pushed her way through the crowd in order to go outside, but as she went the changelings followed her with their eyes.
“Where are you going?” one asked.
“Stay with the nest,” another commented.
“We don’t want to lose you.”
“You may get hurt if you go outside.”
“I’ll be fine,” Sweetie Belle groaned. She got to the front door and pushed it open, stepping out into the Everfree Forest. The sun was high in the sky. It was noon. “Arg… Where is Twilight? I must have sent her word hours ago… I thought she would teleport and be here by now…”
The citizens of Ponyville, spearhead by Filthy Rich, chased the changelings to the edge of the woods before they started throwing things. At first they threw harmless things, but after a while the citizens had thrown objects that were on fire, attempting to burn a portion of the trees with them in it. Sweetie Belle thought that had gone too far. Zecora had offered her hut as a safe haven until Twilight had arrived but… Where was the Princess of Friend anyway?
Buzz. Buzz.
Sweetie Belle turned her attention to the sky. Two changeling warriors flew in and landed next to her, their bug-like eyes an odd sight. She nodded to them and cracked half a smile. “Um, have the ponies of Ponyville given up? Are they going to leave us alone?”
“I’m afraid not, Duchess,” the first changeling warrior replied with a bow of his head.
The second one bowed as well. “But they refuse to enter the woods. We can taste their fear.”
Sweetie Belle nervously laughed. All the changelings had begun calling her duchess out of nowhere. She didn’t understand and, no matter how many times she told them to stop, they ignored her. “O-okay… Thank you.”
“What shall we do now?”
“Um… Why not, uh, patrol… the area?”
“As you command, Duchess.”
The two warriors took to the sky. Sweetie Belle watched them go with mild disbelief. She wasn’t any good at this sort of thing! Her cutie mark had been in signing! Singing! It wasn't something about military strategy or fighting or… changelings…
Snap.
Sweetie Belle turned around and jumped back in fright. Twilight Sparkle was standing only a few feet away from her. “T-Twilight,” Sweetie Belle gasped. “I didn’t hear you fly in…”
Twilight narrowed her eyes. She was gently holding something close to her chest, but Sweetie Belle couldn’t see what it was. “What’s going on?” Twilight asked in a harsh tone.
“Um… the citizens attacked the changelings, even though-”
“Of course they did,” Twilight curtly interrupted her. “Did they destroy the nest?”
“The nest? Er… No. I don’t think any of them have gone back to the gorge…”
“Where are the changelings now? Did they retreat there like they were order- er, like they most likely would do?”
Sweetie Belle shook her head. “No. Most of them are here. Some of them are in Zecora’s hut, some are out behind the hut and a few of the warriors are patrolling the surrounding area.”
Twilight looked both taken aback and disgusted. “What? Why would they do that?”
“We’re protecting them,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile, trying to lighten Twilight’s mood. She was never this angry. “Like you ordered, remember? I’m sorry I couldn’t stop some of the people from attacking… They think the changelings will eat them.”
“You’re… protecting them?” Twilight asked with a hint of disbelief.
“Y-yeah. Of course. Just like you said.”
“Yes. Of course…”
“Maybe now that you’re here they’ll stop calling me duchess,” Sweetie Belle joked. “It’s starting to get weird.”
Twilight tensed. “What… did you say?”
“Er… The changelings call me-”
“Why?” she interjected.
“Oh, I dunno,” Sweetie Belle shuffled her hooves against the dirt. Twilight was looking at her with such an… intense stare… While trying to think of the right words, Sweetie Belle noticed Twilight was limping. Her back leg just wouldn’t move properly. “Are you okay?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“I’m fine. Continue with your explanation.”
The door to Zecora’s hut opened and Scootaloo fell out, having barely squeezed her way through the crowd. One look at Twilight and a smile was on her face. “Hey! Princess Twilight Sparkle! I knew you would make it! I’m so glad you’re here!”
Twilight turned to the face the pegasus with an annoyed glare. “I was in the middle of an important-”
“Is that an egg?” Scootaloo immediately gasped. She ran over to get a better looked at what Twilight had in her hoof, but Twilight quickly pulled back and protected it with her wings. “Can I see?” Scootaloo asked.
“No,” Twilight hissed. “Step back!”
Scootaloo’s ears went down and she tucked her tail between her legs. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I didn’t mean to-”
“Enough of this. Where are the changelings? I must speak with them.” Twilight pushed her way passed Scootaloo and turned to Sweetie Belle for the answer.
“Um, like I said… Most of them are out in the forest, but some are in Zecora’s-”
Without waiting for Sweetie Belle to finish, Twilight began limping off into the woods. When there was enough room between the trees, she began flying. Sweetie Belle watched her go. That was odd, she thought. I hope I didn’t do anything to upset her.
“Do you think Twilight is angry with me?” Scootaloo asked once she was sure the princess was gone. “I mean, I know I’ve broken some of her library stuff in the past but I would have been really careful with an egg.”
“I dunno… Maybe she’s just stressed. Maybe there was a lot of fighting.”
“Maybe.”
“So… uh… Do you think the town will be angry with us after this?”
“Probably,” Sweetie Belle lamented.
“Do you think Rainbow Dash will be angry with us?”
“Probably not.”
Scootaloo let out a sigh of relief. “Well, that’s good enough for me.”
Without warning, Twilight Sparkle landed in the clearing outside of the Zecora’s hut. She was covered in dirt and patches of her fur were stained with the blood, but otherwise she looked calm and collected. Rainbow Dash landed next to her, carrying Spike, and Fluttershy and Discord arrived as well. Last, but not least, was Cootie.
“Twilight!” Sweetie Belle gasped. “You’re back already?”
“I’m sorry it took me so long to get here,” Twilight immediately commented. “I had to find everypony and make sure they were okay first. These were the only ponies capable of making the trip back with me. I would have been here sooner but I didn’t have the strength to teleport.”
Sweetie Belle lifted an eyebrow in confusion. “Weren’t you going to talk to the changelings?”
Before anyone could answer, Spike slid off Rainbow Dash’s back and nearly puked. He was almost too large to be carried and it looked as though he had been hanging on for dear life. “Eh… Remember when we would just summon rainbow powers and defeat our enemies that way? I miss that. Those were the good ’ol days.”
“Duchess! Duchess!”
Everypony turned and saw a warrior changeling rushing toward them. He was in a state of panic.
“Duchess!” the changeling yelled again. “It was General Ecdysis! He came to take us away, Duchess! He has the last queen with him and he wants to start a new nest!”
Twilight looked around in a state of confusion. “Who is this duchess?”
Sweetie Belle blushed and looked away. “Er… That would be me… I just told you that...”
“What should we do, Duchess? Half the warriors and workers that heard him decided to go with!”
“Um…”
“Let them go,” Twilight firmly stated. “If the changelings wish to leave we should let them leave. You aren’t our prisoners.”
The changeling didn’t even bother to address Twilight when he spoke. “Changelings never leave the nest. If they go, we will be divided… A bad omen, that is… A queen holds the nest together no matter what.”
“Twilight is right,” Sweetie Belle replied. “I don’t want to force them. If you guys want to go make a new nest that’s fine.”
Cootie ran forward and stood next to Sweetie Belle. “Doesn’t Ecdysis know of this filly’s powers? She's a good omen! Like the queens from the old and ancient stories… I say we stay with her!”
The other warrior changeling nodded. “I agree. We will stay and serve the duchess.”
“Wait,” Sweetie Belle said, holding up a hoof. “Nopony said you had to serve me. I’m all right. You can just life your lives. I don’t want to tell you what to do.”
“It’s decided,” Cootie said, ignoring Sweetie Belle’s protests.
Sweetie Belle turned to Twilight. “What about the ponies in town?”
“You leave those ponies to me,” Discord answered before Twilight could. He stroked his goatee and laughed. “I grantee they’ll be begging for the changelings to stay once I’m done with them.”
---
The sun was on its way down. Rarity watched the shade from the nearby trees slowly move across the ground as the time passed by. She had been resting here since morning and soon night would be upon her. She was tired and hungry, but that all could wait. Rarity snuggled closer to the stallion that was resting next to her. She would wait till he was strong enough to move.
“What are you thinking about?” Sombra asked.
“Just thinking about what we’re going to do when we get back to Ponyville,” Rarity answered truthfully. “My boutique is small. It was perfect for one pony, but now I think we’ll need a large place. Twilight continually begs me to take a wing of her castle… Perhaps that would be for the best.”
Sombra took a deep breath and relaxed. Just like when he was resurrected before, he needed time to gather his strength. His dark gray coat was shiny and new. She was envious. Hers was still dirty and marred from the fighting. She didn’t even know what she was going to do about the puncture wound on her front leg… Could concealer hide that? Probably not…
Rarity turned and looked at his flank. His cutie mark was there; a tarnished, war-torn, and blood stained shield. “Twilight has been meaning to train castle guards… Perhaps you would be the best pony to be the captain.”
Sombra laughed and stretched out while lying on his side. “An excellent decision. I doubt any stallion in town would compare to my power and knowledge.”
“See? Everything will work out. Now all we need to do is decide on how we’ll raise our foals.”
He snorted and laughed. “Tsk. No foals. Not until after we find a way to break the hold of the Nightmare Gem.”
Rarity suddenly turned to look at him. “Er… Excuse me? Did you say you… didn’t want foals?”
“No foals,” he repeated. “I shudder to imagine raising them with this darkness following me. Or should I say, with this darkness following us.”
Rarity awkwardly forced a laugh and waved away his comment with her hoof. “Oh, you don’t mean that.”
Sombra lifted his head and stared at her with narrowed eyes. Rarity continued to laugh and forced herself to smile. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” he asked after several moments of laughter.
“Me?” Rarity struggled to think of way to break the news. How would Pinkie do it? “Sombra, I… have a surprise for you!”
He raised an eyebrow and remained silent.
“Two surprises!” she said with another forced laugh.
For a moment they stared at each other in silence. At first it seemed as though Sombra was going to ask what the surprises were, but then realization crept over him. His facial expression was set to horrified shock, but still he remained quiet.
Rarity lightly tapped her hooves together. “They’re, uh… are going to be excited about meeting their daddy,” she whispered.
Silence. No change in facial expression.
“You’re, uh, not… upset… are you?” Rarity asked, afraid of what he might answer. It wasn’t like she was forcing this upon him! How was she supposed to know he didn’t want to have foals! And why didn’t he think about that when… when…
“Upset?” Sombra managed to awkwardly choke out. “No. No. I would never be upset about that…” He leaned forward and pulled her close, overcoming his shocked state. “I just… I’m afraid of losing you… or our children… because I’m not strong enough. I don’t even know, I’ve never even seen them, but just knowing they exist makes me fearful I would somehow fail. It's the same feeling I had when I turned to the Nightmare Gem... What if I'm not capable of handling it without that power?”
Rarity could feel the fear coursing through the Nightmare Gem. It fed off emotions like this. She quickly embraced him. “It’ll be okay, Sombra. I’m here too, remember? You can’t fail with me around.”
They sat in each other's arms as the sun set behind the mountains.