The soreness in each and every single one of my legs was the first thing I felt once I woke up. The kind of pain that resulted from overexerting your muscles. All things considered, I probably should've expected it with all that traveling I had done yesterday, what with my body still being a newborn's.
However, the next thing I felt was warmth. Sweet, sweet warmth as something both furry and fuzzy covered me, a foreign heartbeat filling my sensitive ears with its constant relaxing beat.
A smile found its way across my tiny muzzle while I groggily began remembering last night's events up until the moment I fell asleep under Lara's cuddling, happily nuzzling my way into what could only be her fur as I sluggishly made myself a bit more comfortable within her embrace.
The moment was completely and utterly ruined the moment I heard a terrifying—
*GRRRMBL*
My eyes snapped open and I frantically scrambled out of her grasp, standing at attention while looking all around us for any potential danger.
I had slowly calmed down on noticing from the lack of emotions that other than Lara and I, there was absolutely nobody else anywhere nearby. Plus, we were still way up here in the canopy, hopefully safe from most predators.
...Then what made that soun—!?
*GRRRMBL*
I whipped my body around, crouched in a pouncing stance while I threateningly (adorably) hissed a fanged warning with narrowed eyes and folded ears at...
...Lara?
I relaxed my pose, tilting my head in confusion.
'The heck—'
*GRRRMBL*
"Gah!" I squeaked while jumping back, startled.
It turned out that Lara was a hardcore snorer. No, that wasn't doing her justice, she was on a whole different level! It was no wonder I couldn't feel any other living being near us, her snoring practically sounded like some kind of ferocious snarling monster! If anything, she likely scared everything away by sleeping.
I stood there for a minute or two, bemusedly watching her 'snore' peacefully as I wondered how much of a heavy sleeper I had to be to not notice the sounds until I woke up.
Lazily yawning shortly afterwards, I had begun stretching myself much like a cat would, feeling somewhat content and ready for whatever we would do for the day, despite my soreness. Since I was then fully awake, I took another more careful look around, looking for something to do in order to pass the time.
Even though the sun was already half-way to its zenith, Lara probably needed her rest. She was still recovering from her injuries after having fought more or less a couple dozen armed ponies by herself, after all. Part of me wished I had been there to see it.
The other smaller and somewhat instinctive part of me wished I had been there to help and protect her.
I sighed, troubled by the frequency of my body running on auto-pilot lately. At least it had been mostly beneficial so far...
Though, as I looked at my little wings, I couldn't help but wonder... did my body already know how to properly use them? Perhaps I had been over thinking it this entire time.
Assuming they worked like a common bug's wings, they'd probably flap faster than I could ever consciously get them to move before I would even be able to lift off, so maybe I had been approaching the issue from the wrong point of view?
I tore my gaze away from them, closing my eyes and reflexively sticking my tongue out in concentration while I focused on feeling the little things, trying to get them to vibrate faster than I had ever done before as I intentionally let the instinctual part of me work its magic.
A buzzing sound soon graced my ears, steadily increasing in volume...
I felt lighter and lighter as the seconds ticked by...
Surprisingly, I even sensed some sort of energy dispersing itself around my wings...
...until I eventually couldn't feel the grip my hooves had with the tree bark.
I warily squinted an eye open to make sure I wasn't actually in the process of falling before I realized that I... I... Sweet Mother I was hovering.
Hovering.
FLYING!
...Okay, maybe not flying yet, but still! I was suspended in mid-air with nothing but the power of my own wings!
I was happy— no, more than happy! I was elated! So much that I felt this intense desire, an urge to shout out my joy to the world at my accomplishment, an urge so strong I just couldn't resist—
"Eeeeeeeee!!!" I squealed happily, clopping my forehooves together with a wide grin.
Before I could realize how much my 'man card' had been shattered by that simple action, I noticed that my floating body was slowly tilting itself to the side...
'Uhh-! Nngh! Crap! How to steer!? Nonono— STOP!!' I mentally commanded.
My body obeyed, the buzzing sound emitted by my wings ceasing as they stopped vibrating.
Right when I was no longer over the branch which Lara was slumbering on.
Time somehow seemed to slow itself as I directed my gaze at the multitude of smaller branches littering the way down between me and the ground...
...
"...Son of a—!"
*Squeak!*
*Chirp!*
*Hiss!*
*Squee*
*Thud*
"...I'm okay!" I chirped as my eyes spun in circles, dazed. "Good thing the... boulder... broke my fall...? Ow..."
I grunted as I shakily got back on my sore hooves, my left foreleg protesting in pain the instant I put some weight on it. I winced on noticing that the chitin had slightly cracked on my shoulder, which seemed to have taken the brunt of the landing's impact.
'Well, for once I'm glad I'm not in a human body, that fall surely would have killed me! Why on Earth did I think practicing flying from such an elevation would be a great idea!?' I thought while facehoofing with my right foreleg.
Which caused me to fall flat on my face since my left one still hurt quite a bit.
Though, as I glared at the big chunk of rock, I couldn't help but notice it seemed somewhat familiar...
'Could it be...?'
I limped around the boulder, narrowing my eyes as I inspected it closely, until I suddenly turned to look in a specific direction in order to confirm the existence of the nearby dirt road.
'And that means...!'
I steadily made my way to a tree that anyone would've considered to be ordinary amongst its hundreds of nearby peers, were it not for the burrow hidden near its base which still contained my friend's belongings.
Lara would love me a little more for saving her stuff, I was sure.
I couldn't drag the entire thing up to where she was resting though, therefore I was going to have to bring her here once she'd wake up. In the meantime, I (literally) nosed through her possessions until I had found the... 'package'.
It hadn't occurred to me until that morning that, as a pony, Lara would probably use the grass and flowers as food more than anything else. Food she'd no doubt appreciate once awake. Disregarding the fact that the herbs still looked as fresh as ever since I assumed some sort of preservation method was used, I carefully held the little bag of 'food' with my mouth as I limped my way back to my guardian.
I chuckled on realizing that for the moment, the 'baby' was the one taking care of the adult.
Though climbing a tree on three legs while carrying something with your muzzle was a bit difficult, I managed, if only through patience. I could tell my friend was still sleeping since I was able to hear her snoring from all the way down the base of the enormous tree she was on.
Having reached my, uh, 'friend', I sat on my haunches in front of her, wondering if I should actually wake her up or not.
*Snore*
She looked so peaceful...
...Kind of cute too, in a way.
*Soft exhale*
However, the longer I stared at her, the more I felt compelled to...
...
...
'...Bah, to heck with it.'
I booped her snout with my right forehoof.
...
I... that... that was...
I absolutely had to do it again.
*Boop*
She once more frowned in her sleep and adorably scrunched her muzzle, making me giggle while she remained unconscious as if nothing had happened.
The mare then grunted and flipped herself over, lying on her back as her hind legs occasionally twitched, kicking air. The shiny golden ring she had taken, or perhaps stolen from the fortress was still hanging around her neck, reflecting the sunlight.
Still curious about its apparent dormant and somewhat mysterious energy, I slowly approached, extending my left forehoof to poke—
Lara's eyes snapped open, at which point she immediately had me pinned to the bark of the tree before she slammed her pith helmet on me for some reason, completely engulfing me.
"...Sir Quackerton!?" I disbelievingly chirped, seeing as the little rubber ducky was thrust upon my face as it hid within the hat.
Confused "(Uh... Art'mis?)" Lara slurred after a pause, still seemingly half-asleep despite her recent actions.
She removed the helmet, revealing a happy little changeling embracing her toy.
Embarrassed "(Oh. Whoops. Sorry about that, heheh,)" she sheepishly grinned, quickly trying to free the duck from my grasp.
She frowned when I didn't immediately let go, narrowing her eyes at me whereupon I blinked, noticing how increasingly upset she was getting over such a simple little thing.
'It must have some sentimental value to her?' I guessed, releasing my hold on it.
She rapidly hid it away inside her hat, placing it back on her head with a satisfied nod before she yawned and began stretching any stiffness out of her body. I went ahead and grabbed the bag of herbs, patiently waiting on my haunches for Lara to notice me.
Her eyes widened. "(Where'd you get that!?)"
I assumed she recognized it as something she had packed, so I walked towards the ledge of the branch and pointed towards where the burrow was, more or less.
Her eyes followed my outstretched hoof, spotting the little hole I had used to hide her stuff despite the distance. She promptly went ahead and fluttered down towards it after a quick leap—
'Nngh!'
I barely managed to stop myself from jumping off the ledge to follow her as my legs had prepared to make a similar hop, my wings having already been outstretched, lightly buzzing in preparation for what would've been a short flight down to be with her.
'Now I'm acting like some kid trying to following her— his mother around wherever she goes!' I chided myself.
Maybe I had some sort of herd instinct going on, especially as a changeling? Each member of my new family loved each other unconditionally after all, mainly because it was impossible not to, what with all of us being empaths.
I mean, how could you possibly hate someone who was not only your brother/sister, but whom also constantly sent love through a link with you while you did so with them? You knew they liked you because you could feel it, and they with you. Even if at some point an argument would've arisen, I doubted any grudge or resentment would've remained at all!
That was how closely-knit the family felt, back in my time at the hive. Love was practically literally in the air, dispelling any and all kinds of negativity.
In the end, I guessed it wasn't much of a surprise that I'd feel the need to try and constantly cling to the nearest source of love, namely Lara in this case.
The aforementioned mare promptly returned with her bags, staring at me with a blank look as she landed in front of me.
"(HOW!? How did you get these back from Ahuizotl? How did you find and reach his fortress? How did you find me in there? How did you even get in!? How... b-but, you... y-you're just a foal!! You...)" she ranted with grand gestures, as if she was trying to solve some great mystery, to which I merely blinked and tilted my head in bewilderment from the unexpected outburst. I had thought she'd be happy to have her stuff back.
"(Just... how?)" she eventually ended up asking after a short pause, sitting on her rump.
I... may have gotten an idea at that moment.
"(Haow?)" I replied, trying my very best to mimic what she had said.
"(Yes! That's what I'm asking!)"
"(Yis! Dats wat Im askeeng!)" I exclaimed, throwing my forehooves in the air dramatically, if only because it felt appropriate.
"(...Well? Are you going to tell me?)"
"(Ouell? Arr yew goeeng tu tale meh?)" Damn, it was getting difficult...
She squinted her eyes at me. "(...You're just repeating every single thing I'm saying, aren't you?)"
...Shit, that was too long, uh...
"...No?" I very carefully replied.
Lara stared at me for a little while before she facehoofed. "(I just tried to have a conversation with a foal,)" she mumbled to herself.
I chose that moment to pick up the 'food' and bring her attention to it once again, poking one of her forelegs. The moment she saw it, she smiled, snorting in amusement.
"(And I'm the one supposed to be taking care of you,)" she mirthfully said, wrapping me in a delicious hug and briefly nuzzling my cheek before ripping the bag open with her teeth, contentedly nibbling on its contents.
She paused half-way through her meal, looking between me and a flower that she had apparently been saving for last, before offering it to me.
I stared at her uncertain face before sniffing the supposedly comestible flower, my nostrils flaring as I tried to ascertain if I could eat it or not. Just like the apple I had tried at the fortress, it didn't look nor smell appetizing in any way, so I just shook my head at it.
"(B-but... you have to eat something!)" Lara worriedly exclaimed, gazing at me with concern visible on her expression.
'Om nom nom' was my thought in the meantime as I lazily buried my face into her chest and kept my hooves wrapped around her barrel, happily swimming in her love for me. Metaphorically, of course.
I would tell you what 'love' tasted like, but... that would be like having someone who had never before eaten chicken in their entire life suddenly asking what chicken tasted like.
It just... tastes like chicken.
...I mean, love doesn't necessarily taste like chicken. It was... a bit more complicated than that. I would sort of say that the flavor would be akin to what your favorite meal would taste like, except it might not even necessarily be from something you had ever eaten during your entire life so far. Like... you may say right now that your favorite food would be a cheesecake, but somewhere out there, there's something you haven't had yet that would easily outclass the cheesecake you thought to be the best thing in the world.
In short, it just felt like... like the perfect meal.
And the best thing about love? It never got old.
On top of feeling absolutely amazing.
The flavor would diminish the more 'full' I was, though.
...But not the feels! The feels always remained.
"(Well... if you ever get hungry, just, let me know... or something,)" said Lara as she finished eating, saving some grass for later. Though, for all I knew, it could've been something else, even if a lot of the things I had seen so far had an uncanny resemblance to Earth's counterparts.
'Maybe I could alter my taste buds once I learn to shape-shift? Then I'd finally be able to know what that stuff actually tastes like!' I curiously wondered.
"(DAAAAARIIIING DOOOOOOOO!!!)"
Both Lara and I froze, our ears swiveling in sync towards the same direction the distant screech of rage had come from.
'Shit! That's right! We're still not that far from that place!'
Honestly? I was surprised we hadn't been found out yet, especially with how loud Lara was up until she woke up. The blue guy probably just got up himself if he hadn't noticed the aftermath of Lara's rampage until then.
"(...Time to leave,)" the pegasus muttered to herself, quickly reorganizing her bags while I detached myself from her chest, watching from the side as she emptied one of the flaps before very gently picking me up without any resistance on my part and setting me inside it with as much care as she could.
And then she leapt as she took us to the skies, leaving the fortress and its evil residents far behind us.
==============================================
"Clouds here are weird." I ended up chittering after a while, peeking out of the bag's flap with nothing but my head sticking out as Lara flew us both towards... somewhere...
Seriously. Clouds were supposed to be an accumulation of water vapor forming a dense mist or fog, yet every single one I had seen so far as we flew by practically seemed... solid, if that was even possible. They also appeared to be situated at a drastically lower elevation than the clouds from Earth, from what I could tell.
"(Hm? You need something?)" asked Lara, craning her neck around to look at me with her large expressive eyes.
I tilted my head in response to her inquiry, blinking once.
'I really need to learn your language...'
She kept her gaze on me for a moment before she shook her head. "(Well, anyway, we should be home, soon.)" She began gliding, slowly losing altitude while she scanned the forest below us in search of something.
I was still surprised that I could even pay full attention to her, considering I was pretty busy taking in the sights and trying to figure out how she could fly with those wings while both carrying me along with all the weight from the other stuff she had. There was also the fact that I was extremely excited about flying, which kind of went without saying.
After a minute or so, I could vaguely make out a small clearing further ahead, a quaint little home occupying most of it.
As soon as Lara had gently landed at the house's front entrance, I clumsily leapt out of the bag, eager to stretch my stiff legs and buzzing my wings in relief. Interestingly enough, my left foreleg didn't hurt anymore, and the crack present on my shoulder had faded somewhat.
"(Well... here we are!)" Lara exclaimed while glancing at me, entering the house after opening the door, which wasn't even locked to begin with.
"(Home, sweet home,)" she finished with an oddly monotone tone.
As I slowly entered her humble abode, taking in everything within the room with my gaze while in awe at how big everything was, Lara was nervously looking at me. I had absolutely no way of knowing that I was the only other being whom had ever set foot within the house, never mind the fact that she had 'invited' someone in it for practically the first time in her life.
From what I could tell at first glance, it was a pretty modest place. Nothing looked super-expensive or shiny, there were books everywhere, a regular table over here and a desk over there with a weird typewriter on it, a bunch of papers littered the floor across the room with symbols that I couldn't recognize on them, a couple simple paintings hanging on the walls, there was a mirror over that one corner at ground level, creepy artifacts on some shelves, the fireplace was burning— wait.
A mirror.
The pegasus curiously observed my movements as I hesitantly approached the reflective surface. I couldn't see myself just yet because of the way it was angled and, while I really wanted to finally get a good look at myself, I was somewhat... wary of what I'd see.
It was... kind of weird, to suddenly realize that you were about to look at a reflection of yourself, only you weren't exactly "yourself" anymore, instead having this sort of alien body. Granted, I could turn around and see myself anytime I wished to, or at least a large portion of 'me', but there's this thing about one's face that just ends up becoming an important part in what we use to identify and differentiate ourselves from others, in a way.
Lara seemed to be mildly amused at how I was steadily sneaking towards the mirror, at least.
I took a deep breath (relatively speaking), nervously exhaled and took the final steps to place myself in front of it.
It was then that I saw...
...well, I would've said something along the lines of "it's hard to believe that the person I see in the mirror is me," but that would've been a lie... even though I couldn't recognize the tiny being in the mirror in any way, shape or form.
I mean, I knew that what I was seeing was what I looked like; that the being that I could observe in the mirror was 'me'. That was the easy part to believe since, obviously, I was the only person directly in front of the reflective surface.
No, the part that was harder to come to terms with was the fact that 'me' now translated into... that.
Staring right back in surprise and mild shock were slitted eyes as proportionately large as Lara's, a hint of disbelief marring the red pupils with irises that almost seemed to be glowing. Tattered wings that splayed themselves out the moment I walked in front of the mirror were on display, fanning out as much as possible while she hissed at me in a pathetic and perhaps cute attempt at appearing bigger than she was.
...Oh, wait, right. That was me.
...
That was me.
The being I was seeing in the mirror slowly relaxed, her surprised stare turning into a confused and apprehensive one.
That. Was me.
Even though I kept telling myself that, it just... didn't quite fully register. And yet, when I moved my right arm, she moved her left one in perfect tandem. When I blinked, she blinked. When I brought my ha—hoof into contact with the reflective glass, she bumped hers with mine.
I was looking at a mirror, and everything she would do would be because I was the one actually doing it, because that. Was. Me.
Her ears automatically swiveled to the side when I heard Lara giggling in the background.
Her. She. Female.
...
The tiny changeling wrinkled her cute little snout and sat on her rump with semi-folded ears.
Before I could dwell on the fact that I was still... not a guy... Lara had slowly approached, sitting on her haunches as she towered next to me. After a brief moment of silent consideration, she then extended a wing and gently, if hesitantly, pulled me closer to her, both of us observing our reflections the entire time.
Remembering what we had recently gone through and how she had come back to save me, I couldn't help myself but smile at the resulting image shown in the mirror, especially since I had also done my part in the rescue.
She had been there for me, and I had been there for her.
Giving in to my growing desires, I tore my gaze away from our reflections and hugged her as best as I could with my tiny hooves, making her look down at me in surprise before she bent down and nuzzled me with a small smile.
Deep inside, however, she felt... conflicted about something...
That was until she breathed in, her eyes almost immediately snapping wide open as she scrunched her muzzle in disgust.
I maybe, probably should've mentioned this earlier, but... well...
Lara and I both stank.
...A lot.
I mean, between Lara's sweat, dried blood, our trek through the jungle and the fact that neither of us have had a bath for at least two days? It was kind of to be expected. At least the fluid that covered me during my birth had an amazing, pleasant, delightful, undisputedly delicious—
...
*Ahem*, well... you get the idea.
"(Wait here,)" she quickly said then, discarding her saddlebags and immediately flying out the front door before I sensed her rapidly gaining height to the point where I had to strain myself to be able to feel her emotions.
A part of me felt a pang of panic at suddenly finding myself a-alone, but I was reminded by my more rational side that Lara wouldn't just up and abandon me. Not after that little adventure we had recently gone through.
Before I could return to looking at myself in the mirror, my gaze had set its sights on the fireplace which had already been lit before we even got here. The fact that I couldn't sense anyone else nearby and that it didn't even seem to have any kind of apparent fuel made me assume that it was, again, magically powered somehow.
But that wasn't quite why it had caught my attention in the first place.
'I wonder how fire resistant I am,' I thought while approaching it.
Despite the lack of smoke being emitted by the flames, it still released heat, as confirmed when I moved a foreleg a bit closer to it. I couldn't really tell if the fire itself would hurt me yet though, so I decided to set a hoof over it as close as I dared—
ShockPanicFEAR
"(ARTEMIS!) NO!!"
"What the f—!?" I managed to squeak while startled before I was yanked back, a familiar tan coat covering the left half of my vision as Lara hyperventilated for some reason I couldn't possibly fathom, the pegasus holding me closely while her heart was beating incredibly fast.
"(Don't touch that! Fire is bad!)" she shouted at me with a panicked expression, though at a slightly lower volume this time.
"What did I do?!?" was my response as I stared bewilderedly with folded ears at the mare that was sending mixed signals at me through her emotions.
She, in turn, stared at my confused face for a couple seconds before looking around us, swiftly grabbing a random piece of paper within her reach and setting fire to a corner of it, showing me the result as it very slowly burned away.
"(See? Fire is bad. Fire, bad,)" she more calmly repeated, gesturing at the miniature flame consuming the paper.
"...Oh, why thank you! This makes it easier—" I happily chirped as I moved to finally test my chitin's fire resistance on the much safer and smaller flickering fire—
"No!" she angrily exclaimed, smacking my hoof away from it before extinguishing the paper.
I looked at her with what I hoped was a teary-eyed expression. "B-b-but... science!" I sadly chittered, pouting.
Aaaaaand she's back to panicking with rapidly widening eyes.
"Oh no. No, nono, (please don't cry!)" she... pleaded?
Next thing I knew, I was being rocked back and forth in mid-air as she held me with her forelegs, humming some song. Whatever effect she intended to have by doing that was pretty much ruined with how fast she was doing both actions, unfortunately...
...She did calm down after a few seconds though, which then made the experience... nice.
I would deny everything if asked about it, however. Even if I felt... safe with her embracing me like this, Lara gazing down upon me with a warm smile that slowly formed after a few seconds. With how gently she was holding me then, I... really felt like taking a quick nap, all of a sudden...
Before I could drift off, Lara had stopped rocking me, moving towards an adjacent room which turned out to be a bathroom. A bathroom containing nothing but a pretty large bath tub, a short counter with a sink on it and a very small mirror on the wall. Made me wonder if they had even invented toilets or if Lara didn't have one simply because the forest surrounding her home could pretty much serve that purpose just as well.
Now that I thought about it, I haven't even felt the need to relieve myself during my entire lifetime so far.
...I did feel this tiny urge to spit something at all of the surrounding walls, though.
Easily repressed that one.
Lara carefully set me in the middle of the tub, leaving the room immediately afterwards for some reason. I tried to find a faucet or even any kind of shower head in the meantime, but all this bathtub had was that one little drain right next to me.
'Where's the water going to come from then...?'
A movement at the door brought my attention back to it, where I realized Lara was slowly... bringing in a...
...Cloud!?
While one or two of my thought processes desperately tried to reboot themselves from their fatal crashes, my remaining ones struggled to comprehend the fact that there was a solid, fluffy grey cloud inside the house, right in front of me.
Lara's expression became somewhat stern on noticing my flabbergasted, twitching wide eyes. "(Don't even think of getting out of this! We both need this shower!)" she declared.
Thought process #2 returned back to operational status by the time the pegasus had placed the cloud right over the large tub and plugged the drain.
Then it died again when she lightly punched the cloud, causing a quick downpour of rainwater which rapidly filled the basin up until it reached my neck, at which point she hit it again, somehow stopping the flow.
I... I don't even...
'At least I figured out how she gets water in here?' thought the still functioning parts of my mind.
When I turned to look at Lara, I saw that she had removed her helmet and taken the ring around her neck off, placing them both on a pile before initiating the process of removing her jacket. I quickly turned away on reflex, slightly embarrassed that she was pretty much undressing right in front of me.
...Never mind the fact that I was sneaking and, well... running around naked ever since I was born.
...
...
'That sounded wrong on so many levels.'
Imagine my surprise then when a bit of water splashed onto my face as my friend all of a sudden decided to join me in the tub.
In the nude.
She noticed my frozen, wide-eyed, shocked face.
"(You're not afraid of a little bit of water, are you?)" she teasingly asked, smirking as she splashed more water towards me.
No response.
"(Uh... Artemis?)"
I blinked, blankly staring at her concerned expression.
'She's not even embarrassed in the slightest? Is giving a bath to a friend you've met a few days ago seriously considered to be completely normal for ponies?!'
Seeing that I was for the most part alright, she shrugged, taking some flowers she had brought from a cabinet in the counter before spreading their petals all over the water.
'Or, what if... what if she views me as... more than a friend?'
As the flower petals released a pleasant scent across the entire room, Lara then grabbed a brush with her mouth, gently rubbing it across my sides to clean them first while carefully holding me steady with a hoof.
'I mean, sure, helping someone save themselves from a bunch of evil bandits, in their own lair no less, certainly is no small thing! But...'
Since I didn't actually have fur, it really didn't take long to remove any dirt and grime, thus she had moved to my legs and belly.
"Why?" I quietly chirped.
She paused her scrubbing for a second and got rid of her focused expression to look at me, smiling afterwards since she obviously couldn't understand what I was asking, never mind its importance.
Why?
Why was she taking care of me?
Why did she feel this way towards me?
Why did she come back to save me in the fortress when she could've simply flown away safely without me?
...Why did she even bother taking me away from my... from my hive?
'For all I know, my family returned home already, only to find me missing!'
The pegasus then took a little bowl from a small pile of cleaning supplies I had just noticed and scooped up some water, slowly letting it pour on my head as she used a different brush on my hair to clear it of any filth.
'Yet, after everything I've seen so far in this short life, I'm literally unable to consider her to either have some ulterior evil motives behind all of this or to merely be a bad person. She's not emitting any negative feelings whatsoever, and she's practically treating me like I was her little sister... brother... ugh!!'
Lara then began brushing my tail. I had almost forgotten it existed, honestly. Surprisingly, the feeling of having it brushed was... oddly satisfying. It was almost as great as it was when she was cleaning my hair.
However, I then couldn't help but feel that I was maybe enjoying this bath a little too much...
'...Nah. What's wrong with being clean and smelling really, really nice?'
"(There you go, all cleaned up!)" finished Lara in a chipper tone, taking a couple steps back to admire her work before she began scrubbing and cleaning herself.
'Maybe all she wanted was companionship? If she really lives by herself out here in the middle of nowhere, I can easily imagine her feeling lonely...'
That would explain why she kept me around and took care of me, but it still didn't answer why I was taken away from where my Mom had left me.
And yet, no matter how hard I wracked my brain for a possible theory, I just... couldn't find a proper reason for that one.
Nevertheless, I still didn't know much about the world and constantly needed love to survive, so I was stuck with Lara until my family could find me. I hadn't been told how long we could live with nothing but meat as sustenance, anyway.
If I had to stay with her for some time though, I sure wouldn't mind that at least.
While she was busy working on scrubbing her fur coat, something which obviously would take longer than cleaning my own chitin, I decided to splash around in the meantime. The tub was huge compared to my size and the water was pretty much high enough to essentially make the entire thing feel like a pool.
I quickly learned my legs were useless for providing thrust while swimming because of the holes that went through them, though if I flapped and tilted my wings just right, I could simply propel myself around by using those instead.
Lara chuckled when she saw me dip my head underwater and skim under its surface, my horn jutting out like a shark's fin would in a typical shark movie.
I resurfaced after a moment, going cross-eyed when I saw one of the perfumed flower petals sitting on the edge of my muzzle.
...Unfortunately, I then made the mistake of flaring my nostrils and taking a deep breath, the smell overpowering my sensitive nose which quickly built up a need to—
*...Choo!* I quietly sneezed, scrunching my muzzle as I tried to rub my snout with a foreleg to get rid of the strong odor. It turned out that properly rubbing one's nose was pretty difficult when you had chitin for skin and a lack of soft fingers.
Meanwhile, Lara looked like she had just witnessed the most adorable thing in her life, barely holding back a giggle before she eventually resumed her bath.
"(M'kay, that should do it,)" she suddenly exclaimed after a few seconds, bringing me out of my musings.
She unplugged the drain, balanced herself on her hind legs and tapped the cloud, showering us with water for a final rinse. My wings had then outstretched themselves almost of their own volition, flapping slowly as the rainwater poured over me. I absently noted Lara had done the same, eyes blissfully closed as she soaked her lightly-flapping feathered appendages.
The cloud eventually turned almost completely white, which apparently meant it was out of water. It was only then that Lara punched it whereupon it completely dissipated, leaving absolutely nothing behind.
I... I gave up on figuring out cloud physics at that point.
She hopped out of the tub, gently lifting me out of it afterwards before grabbing one of the fluffiest towels I had ever seen as she then carefully began drying me.
"(Heh, déjà-vu,)" she chuckled after a short moment.
I had no idea what she said, but I giggled with her anyway. If anything, that simple action made her smile a bit more and feed me a delicious burst of love.
She got a bit worried and hesitated somewhat when she got to the part where she had to decide whether or not to dry the holes in my legs. I eventually chose for her when I simply licked those parts clean. She somehow thought it was a lot more weird than I did.
Lara then left me in the lobby after quickly drying herself as much as she could—what with her having a fur coat and all—promptly headed afterwards to the second floor of the house with her discarded clothes, bags and golden ring.
...Hmmm... maybe now I could finally—
She hurriedly ran back down and immediately extinguished the fireplace, narrowing her eyes at me when she noticed that I had already taken some steps towards it before she calmly strutted back upstairs.
I pouted.
'Guess I'll just twiddle my thumbs until she comes ba— Oh, right. No thumbs. Bleh.'
...
...
...
'Okay, I'm bored.'
I looked at all the books littering the whole room.
'Hmm...'
--------------------------------------------
"...got my backup jacket, disguise is packed, sent a letter to both Princess Celestia and my publisher using the emergency candle I got since the other one was missing after we escaped from the fortress... Aaaand I think we're set," Daring Do counted off as she finished her mental checklist, preparing herself for the trip to Canterlot which would take the remainder of the day.
Despite how much the little changeling seemed to like her and trust her, she knew she wouldn't be able to take care of the nymph because of her job and occupation. But, most importantly, she knew she would also make a terrible mother more than anything else.
Besides, Daring felt just fine alone and it had been so for years. Yup, perfectly fine.
Though, speaking of Artemis, maybe she had left her alone for a bit too long...
...What if she needed something?
Or if she had hurt herself somehow?
Or...
...Or what if the foal ran outside since she herself had left the front door wide open?!?
Her eyes widening in panic, she slammed the door to her upstairs room open, rapidly running down the stairs to...
...
...
"Well then," she simply said, quickly calming down on seeing that Artemis was completely fine.
The changeling's ears perked as her little face peeked out from behind the ramparts of the enormous book-fort she had somehow built, which now occupied an entire section of the room.
Daring had no idea she had THAT many books in her possession...
"(All your books are belong to us!)" the little changeling adorably chirped, 'threateningly' waving a miniature paper sword with her forelegs before she lost her balance and fell backwards out of view.
The pegasus mirthfully shook her head at the foal's antics, feeling silly about worrying over nothing. Artemis was obviously smarter than the average pony foal, after all.
...Save for that strange obsession she had with fire...
Even though she'd have to reorganize and clean everything up later, maybe she could leave the intricate fort there for awhile.
...You know... because it looked pretty cool, all things considered.
Not because of any other reason.
Certainly not to remind herself of Artemis once she'd be gone.
...
...
Didn't she have a camera stashed somewhere, actually...?
--------------------------------------------
'I wonder what that was all about,' a part of me thought, perplexed as to why Lara suddenly felt deeply worried as she ran down the stairs.
I got back on my hooves, admiring the towering walls of books that surrounded me as I climbed back up the ramparts to look at Lara—
Oh, she went upstairs again. Bummer.
One thing that had seriously surprised me back when I had begun building this entire fort was how I somehow felt a lot stronger than before. Like, 'I can lift books larger than me without much effort at all' stronger.
Did it have to do with the fact I had a lot of 'love' stored right now, compared to back when I had hid Lara's bags in the jungle...?
Before I could ponder some more on my newfound strength and get back down to continue working on constructing the throne-thingy at the center of my fort, Lara had then returned, wearing her familiar jacket and pith helmet while also holding a... camera?
It was one of those huge cameras that were set on tripods, like the one she was putting up right then. I quickly struck a somewhat victorious pose before she would take her shot, but she seemed to hesitate for a good while on something...
She fiddled with a few buttons and whatnot before she ran up to the front of my castle, taking a position on the side before sitting on her haunches and smiling at the camera after making sure I would still appear in the picture.
'Oh, delayed shot?'
I leapt down and sat next to her, also waiting for the picture to be taken.
Lara suddenly felt confused, as if she had noticed something odd.
"(You... already know what a camera does?)" she curiously asked, turning to look at me.
I craned my neck upwards to look at her, almost immediately losing myself in those benevolent magenta eyes filled with love and care while she herself stared at me.
After a few seconds, a warm smile slowly began adorning itself on her face, the bond overflowing with love as she gently unfurled a wing to partially hug me.
I happily smiled back—
*Flash!*
We both turned to face the camera in surprise, having forgotten for a moment what we were supposed to be waiting for.
'...Oh, it's one of THOSE cameras,' I realized after a few seconds since no image or anything of the sort made itself known.
I decided to scamper up and cling to her neck while she trotted towards the camera, taking out the film before dismantling the tripod and putting it away in a corner.
Then she sighed, suddenly feeling sad and... resigned?
"(Come on, Artemis. We've got to go,)" she lamely said while putting on what looked like a lighter version of her previous bags.
She slowly dropped the film in one of her bag's flaps, almost reverently covering it with another purple silk blanket before she gently grabbed and placed me within the other flap. I resumed my earlier position of having nothing but my head sticking out of the bag to notice she had walked outside and closed the front door.
At that point, no matter where we were going to go, I knew I could trust her with my life. Even if I technically knew almost nothing about her background, she seriously cared for me, enough to even go as far as to put herself in harm's way to get to me.
I'd have to make sure my Mom didn't brutally beat the crap out of Lara for taking me away from the hive though, once I'd finally get a chance to meet her. This mare was... kind of like a big sister to me, at that point.
The pegasus then tensed her legs, uncoiling them like a spring as she leapt and began flapping her wings, gaining elevation and flying towards a specific direction.
And so, we flew.
We flew over an endless sea of trees.
We flew over some plains.
And we flew some more...
We flew some more...
We flew...
we... we flew......
.........flew...........
"zzzzzzz"