//------------------------------//
// Chapter 40 - Swapping stories 
// Story: Shifting Melodies 
// by Thadius0 
//------------------------------//

	Duke Shadow-Wing exited the room he kept Midnight in. She was becoming far more amicable now, it wouldn’t be too much longer.

One of his maids fell into step behind him. “Milord,” she said quietly. “Has it worked?”

Shadow nodded and smiled at the mare. “Yes, those recipes of yours are doing wonders. How are the preparations coming along?”

“They are nearly complete milord. By tomorrow at the latest. Then you and Lady Moonlight-Sonata can-”

“She will be the pride of my collection, and if anything were to happen to disrupt this event?” He loomed over her, his eyes glowing a sickly gold. “You can be sure that heads will roll!”

“Y-Yes Milord,” the mare bowed her head and took her leave. Shadow watched his second wife retreat and sighed. Everything was going according to plan...all except for one little thing.

“Evermore!” he said, and the stallion all but materialised next to him.

“You called?” the stallion asked.

“That courier that arrived yesterday,” Shadow said as he strode towards the main hall of his massive house. “Bring it here. I wish to meet it face-to-face.”

“Are you sure?” the stallion asked.

“Yes, I will sully my eyes this one time, looking upon that Equestrian filth. Now get it done!”

Evermore bowed and vanished. Duke Shadow looked out at the moon, one that would be full for tomorrow’s ceremony. 

“Ah, isn’t love grand?” he chuckled to himself.





Love Letter was idly helping their hostess prepare dinner, merely doing as directed for now, ‘her’ mind a million miles away and thinking about something entirely different while she stirred and peeled.  She’d just caught a glimpse of the school of magic that she wanted to try when everypony else was asleep, but getting there from here seemed to be a long and winding road.

“Is something wrong?” her hostess asked as she poured the diced vegetables into a pot. “You look like you're concerned about something.”

“Hmm?” Love Letter snapped out of her thoughts before smiling slightly.  “Ah, well.  Times are always changing.  I wanted to stay back in Equestria to help my parents with their home, but I’m one of the few couriers that had even a hope of understanding Thestrali.  So I wasn’t permitted more time in the hospital than enough to proclaim me fit for duty before I was sent out.”

“Vorbești limba noastră?” the mare inquired. “How very interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever met an Equestrian other than Lady Noctis that speaks our language.”

“I didn’t say I spoke it, I said I understand it,” the mare huffed.  “I don’t have nearly enough practice with your tongue to say more than ‘where’s the facilities,’ and ‘I am an Equestrian.’”

“Ah, very well,” Hearth replied. She jumped when the door opened and Evermore was standing in the kitchen, his emerald eyes staring right at Love Letter. 

“Your presence is required at our Lord’s manor,” he said. “Come now.”

“I have made quite a few deals with this mare,” Love Letter said from her position, not turning from the stove.  “Dinner help, an exchange of tales.  Your Lord should have moved first, as he is not the one currently housing me.  If you are willing to wait until my obligations here are fulfilled, I will accompany you with no fuss.”  She then turned to face Evermore with more than a little steel in her eyes, saying that if she had to put up a fuss, she would.

“I will inform His Grace of your decision,” he replied and all but vanished again. Hearth let out the breath she’d been holding and sighed.

“Whew, that stallion may be handsome, but he scares the mangoes out of me,” she said.

“...Is there something about Thestrals and Mangoes I do not get?” Love Letter asked while peering into the pot.  “I think this is done, by the way.”

“Ah,” she moved and poured the contents into a strainer. “I just like mangoes. There something wrong with that?”

“The thestral I met before seemed...addicted to them,” Letter sighed.  The memories of why she was here had an effect on her eyes, causing the fire within to die slightly.  “Wonder how she’s doing…”

“You have a Thestral friend in Equestria?” Hearth asked, a little surprised. “What’s her name?”

“Midnight Song, she helped me a year ago...she was quite the bodyguard during a rather...interesting time in my life,” the mare mused.  “But more than that can wait until we exchange stories, ma’am.  I’d spoil it otherwise.”

“Fair enough, sounds like an Equestrian name anyway... I wonder if you know her Thestral name?” The mare finished her vegetable stew and pulled a loaf of bread from the stone oven, the scent of freshly baked bread filling the room. “Will your guards be joining us?”

“One has to, otherwise my bosses will be quite displeased with me,” the mare sighed.  “I’ll let them know dinner is served...and do try a piece of that bread while I’m away.  Had to deal with a Griffon to get the recipe for those herbs and cheeses I added.”

Hearth nodded as Letter left to find her guards/marefriends... only to find the Earth Pony sitting in their room, staring pensively at a wall.  Love Letter moved to sit next to Cider and just sat there, offering silent comfort to the mare. She turned her head and looked at him, before she let out a choked sob and buried her face into Letter’s mane.

“We’ll find her,” she said softly.  “I promise you, we’ll find her.”  She said nothing about the bundle of Midnight’s hair he’d used as a bookmark for the divination spells in the spellbook that she was planning on using tonight.

...Or about the Umbramancy spells that she saw that would enable fast travel to anywhere that she had an image of.  Combining the two was her plan.

“Y-Yeah... I know...” Cider replied, sniffling. “In case yer wondering...Scopey...she’s out...being Scopey. Said somethin’ about...intel... I dunno.”

“Figures,” she said with a resigned sigh.  “As you would say, soup’s on.  Want some?  I made some of Fred’s bread~”  The last bit was said in a sing-song voice, to try and tease the mare into joining him.

“Mhmm,” Cider nodded, discarding most of her armour, save for her hoof guards and breastplate. Still enough to keep the illusion enchantment going. “Let’s go...” The poor mare just lacked so much life now. This whole situation was weighing on her heavily.  Letter led her back to the main room, then to the dining area their hostess had showed them.

Hearth had set the table while they were gone, and was now staring at a letter she received. Her expression was quite unreadable though. 

Her emotions on the other hoof? They were quite readable. And right now, she was emanating a great deal of pity.  Deciding not to tip her hoof, Letter nodded at the, well, letter.  “Dare I ask?” she questioned.

“Hmm?” the mare looked up and sighed. “Well, I don’t really know...” she said as she placed the letter on the table for Letter to see. “Can’t read it remember. I recognise the Lord’s name...but that’s about it.”

As the mare took the letter, she first saw that it was written in Thestrali, so it took a moment to translate it. 

‘Honoured Guest.

You are to attend the Ceremony of Binding for Our Great Lord, Shadow-Wing. And his to-be, Lady Moonlight-Sonata.

It will take place tomorrow night, when the full moon is at its peak

Attendance is mandatory’

“Well, maybe if you hadn’t added that last line,” the mare muttered.  “And...well, I have a dozen questions, but not for anypony currently here.”  Logical deductions flared through Letter’s mind at a speed that would make Celestia proud.  Had he been one of her students, or even one of her ponies.

Midnight Song was who Shadow-Wing had been interested in all these years.  The mare had said something about a Thestrali name not ten minutes ago.  And now he has an invitation to some sort of wedding ceremony involving this duke and a Lady Moonlight-Sonata?

Now he knew where Midnight was.  And he had to say, her thestral name was quite fitting.

“This can wait,” the mare eventually said with a smile.  “Dinner?”

"Yes," Hearth agreed. She had to wonder why the Duke had invited a courier to his wedding though. 

"Oh, I tried that bread," she remarked as they sat at the table. "And it came from a Griffon you say? It's hard to believe those feathered barbarians could create something so delicious."

“I have no idea where he learned the recipe from,” Letter said with a slight snicker.  “All I know is it took me a lot of work to get a copy of said recipe from him for my own book.”  The mare then picked up a piece of the bread and munched on it lightly, enjoying the taste of home that he’d recreated here.

Cider sipped the soup and her eye gave a slight twitch. She was already discerning the quality of the vegetables used... The soil they were grown in was too dry, and slightly too acidic. The fields probably lacked regular rainfall and airing. She wasn't even aware that her dinner guests had noticed the intense stare she was giving the soup.

“Forgive her, she’s quite skilled at determining the quality of the food she eats,” Letter said with another snicker.  “It’s partially why I offered to make the bread: I knew it’d distract her from mentioning much else.”

"I do apologise," Hearth said. "We’ve been having trouble with the wyverns that nest in the Southern Mountains. Think a dragon that’s half the size, twice as mean and just as dumb.”

“Hmm,” Letter hummed.  “Well, I’ll make a note of it for later.”  Only then did Hearth realize that she wasn’t dealing with just any outsider.  She was dealing with a sharp outsider.

"For who?" She asked. "Equestria doesn't care about this place. And to be honest, most of us don't care for them."

“Not even Lady...what was the name you used?...Noctis?  I’m willing to bet she might sit up and take notice if any of you swallowed your pride and asked for help.”  Letter’s smile was wide at this point.  Two names were fun to draw lines between.  And there was only one mare he could think of that might even be remotely worthy of the name of ‘Lady of the Night.’

"Maybe she would, but you Equestrians seem intent on keeping her all for yourselves!" Hearth snapped back, even as her eyes widened and she bowed her head. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to snap like that. Please forgive me!"

“...Is that how all thestrals feel about Luna not taking notice of them?” Love Letter asked softly, not responding to the apologies, but more curious about the meaning behind the snapping.

"I... it is not my place to think what the gods think," Hearth said as she sipped her soup. "Never mind."

“I’m a courier of messages, both written and non,” Letter fired back before pointing a wing out the door.  “If I were to go out there and stop any thestral and ask them what they would think about ‘Lady Noctis’ returning for so much as one day, what would they say?”

"I doubt Lady Noctis has forgiven us," she replied. "We hear stories of how she has Thestrals in her ranks. Yet she has never come to visit once. She must still be furious with us for raising our swords against her when the Nightmare came..."

Letter shook her head with a smile.  “She’s probably more embarrassed that it happened in the first place,” she elaborated.  “After all...the whole thing is something she would probably rather forget.  Or have others forget the darker aspects of.  If you were to extend your hoof and beg for her forgiveness...you’d find another on the other side of the table doing the same.  I’ve met her a few times, and she was always so...sad when she looked at one of her guards.”

Hearth just sat there. This mare...had actually met Lady Noctis!?

While the Thestral quietly sat there, piecing together her shattered world view, the door opened and a disguised Scope Lens strode in. She didn't even spare the group a simple glance as she walked upstairs and slammed the room door shut.

Letter chose to ignore the angry little mare as well before sipping at her soup and dipping the bread in it.  Hmm, it was tolerable when it was on the bread, though the vegetables were still funny as compared to what Cider grew.  “Did you know that the ‘gods’ can make mistakes as well?” the mare idly observed.  “Only on a grander scale, of course.”

"Lady Noctis has no flaws," Hearth muttered as she suddenly drained her soup in one gulp.

“The demon Tirek roamed free in Equestria, and it wasn’t her that put him down, because by the time they learned he was loose, it was almost too late,” the mare pointed out.  “A flaw like that cannot be ignored, as it nearly cost the world.”

"That was likely Lady Solaria's fault," Hearth said. "She's always been far softer than Lady Noctis. She did nothing when her own ponies forced us out of Equestria." Hearth sighed as she got up. “Sorry, I have a few errands to run. I'll draw your baths once I return." She hastily exited the front door before Letter could get another word in.

“Pity, I was going to point out Luna’s dream-diving next…” she pursed her lips before shrugging and turning to the soup.  “Ah well.  I suppose I’ll just have to point it out later.  Maybe during the story exchange?”

"Ah reckon you just enjoy riling ponies up," Cider finally spoke. "An' speakin' of mad. Scopey looked pretty ornery."

“Yeah, you can go talk to her,” Letter said with a wave of her wing.  “I’m going to wait here for a bit.  Just until I’m done eating.” Cider looked at him, he was planning something. She just had a hunch.

“Alright, an’ you better not have any fool ideas of goin’ after Middy by yerself,” she warned him. “We’re all here together an’ we’ll rescue her together. Got that!” She wasn’t asking, that much was certain.

“Got it,” the mare said with a nod as she sent her guard away.

“Ah mean it!” she said as she turned and headed towards the stairs. He’d agreed to that a little readily for her liking. Still, she also had to see what was wrong with Scopey and she couldn’t be in two places at once. She gave her stallion one last look and trotted up to their room.

Letter just sat there, waiting for something to happen while she ate the soup and bread.

And something did happen, as Evermore cleared his throat from behind her, the stallion unseen and unheard until then.

“I trust you are ready now?” he said. “My Lord’s patience grows thin.”

“I was wondering when you would make a showing,” the mare said simply. “You and he don’t know how to take ‘no’ for an answer, hmm?”

“The courier always meets with our Lord, to pay their due respects to our country’s ruler and our Lord wishes to enlighten you to a few things. You are a scholarly sort yes?”

“That as may be,” the mare said as she picked up her bread again.  “But what could have changed between when I arrived and now?  Whatever it was, it is outside my influence.  And I still have a story or two to exchange with Hearth.  If your lord would see my obligations broken, I am not certain I wish to meet with him at this time.”

“I witnessed that little exchange you had with her.” Evermore replied, unfazed by her words. “Most of us take Lady Noctis quite seriously around here. And you treat our Goddess as a casual friend? Most would consider that blasphemy.”

“Anypony can make a mistake, even the Goddesses,” the mare replied as she turned to look at him over her shoulder.  “Or do you call the Nightmare possessing her intentional?  I’m sure she’d love to hear that.  And what time I have spent around Solaria indicates she wants to be treated like a normal pony.  Why would her sister not share her sentiment after a thousand years alone?”

“The Nightmare was not intentional, not for Lady Noctis,” Evermore replied. “None-the-less, that is not a tale for me to tell. Should you find yourself at our Duke’s palace, he has quite the personal stores of history. But he is pressed for time, and can only afford to waste so much on a commoner.” He leaned in close as his eyes narrowed. “There are many a thing you would find of interest in the palace young miss.” And with that, he vanished into the shadows once more.

“One of these days I’ll find out how he does that,” the mare muttered to herself as she considered her options.

She couldn’t use magic in her pegasus disguise.  And she especially couldn’t use dark magic without the approval of the mares.  As well, her hostess was set to return soon enough that leaving would be a bad idea.  She wanted to distract the mare and make her think a few things over.

She simply loved it when others came to logical conclusions on their own.  Things like ‘if the goddesses can make mistakes, then what about normal ponies...like our duke?...’

Still, she had no idea when the mare would return so that they could exchange stories.  It only seemed fitting to give her...something enlightening for agreeing to house them.

Plus it would tell her what they found scary or heroic, and she could test the waters with her own story.  One that had taken her ages to find in the Silver Hive and was still thought of as a myth thanks to the contents.

It took a little more than a half hour, but Hearth Heart finally returned. She stared at Love Letter and sat at the table.

“I think I owe you an apology.” she said as she fiddled with her cowlick in her mane. “You said things that upset me, but you’re an outsider and couldn’t have known that. But, do you mind if we avoid that particular subject for now?”

“I can do that, and I think I should apologize as well,” the mare said as she got up from the table.  “My words were designed to upset, designed to make others think of the sisters in a light they might be uncomfortable with.  They don’t go over well in Equestria, I had no idea the reaction they would garner here.  My thanks for showing me, and I shan’t do it again without you breaching the topic first.”

“Right,” Hearth nodded. She hadn’t gotten to speak with an Equestria much, so she didn’t really want this to end on a sour note. “So...stories huh? Who wants to go first?”

“If it would not offend you, can I ask that you go first?” Letter asked with a small, hopeful smile.  “I kind of want to learn a bit about what you consider a good story before I give my own a whirl.  It’d give me more chances to learn about Roamania as a whole.”

“Well alright,” Hearth nodded. “Though, I can’t recall too many from the top of my head... never really had a need to- Ah!” she suddenly had a flash of inspiration. “Let’s see, I can tell you the tale of our greatest hero, or perhaps one about the first Courier.”

“I shall leave it up to you to decide, and whatever the tale turns out to be shall influence my own a little,” the mare said with a smile.  “Though, I wouldn’t say no to either…Such a shame I can’t hear both.”

“Hmm, then I’ll shorten them slightly,” she nodded. “Alright, the first one. Of all the Thestrals to make it into written history, our greatest is one named ‘Shadow-Sonata’. He was a stallion of peerless skill and bravery. And it was he that freed our lands from the dark dragon, Deathwing.” Hearth Heart moved to the living area and stoked the fire. “They say the battle waged for five days and five nights. And neither would so much as give an inch. Flame and blade, tooth and hoof, they battled with no end in sight. But, something tipped the battle in Shadow’s favour. Want to guess what?”

“I have no idea,” Love Letter said as she lay herself near the fire, soaking in the warmth.  “But I am willing to bet it will be impressive.”

“It was a song,” she smiled, waiting for the mare’s reaction.  The pegasus flicked her ears and blinked at the information before humming and nodding.

“Music is magic back in Equestria,” the mare eventually said.  “I am willing to bet that while it follows different rules in Roamania, there is still something to singing here.  Do any recall the lyrics, or what singing them did?”

“No, the lyrics were lost to time, but the effect? They caused Deathwing to become placid, and it bought Shadow-Sonata the time needed to deliver the finishing blow. The song itself had been sung by his wife, who followed him to the battlefield. But a final blow from Deathwing robbed her of life...”

“Aww,” the mare said as her expression dropped.  “A bittersweet tale.  Shadow-Sonata gets rid of the dragon, but loses his wife in the process.”

“Indeed, they say that Shadow created a set of blades from the scales and bones of Deathwing. The dragon took his wife from him, so Shadow made sure that the beast that tormented our kind, would forever be bound to protect us. A sort of cruel irony as revenge if you will.”

“And practical,” the mare pointed out.  “A dragon that lives long enough has bones and scales the likes of which are stronger than any metal.  While it carried a high price-tag, at least he put the body to good use.”  A thought struck her as she looked up at her hostess.  “I don’t suppose you know if any of those were kept throughout the years to help you deal with they wyverns?...”

“They were, but some say that they were stolen around forty years ago,” Hearth responded. “The Lord at the time was so furious, he apparently burned down an entire wing of his manor.”

“I would be too, if I misplaced as useful and valuable heirlooms as that!” Letter responded with a chuckle.

“I suppose so,” Hearth chuckled. “Now, let’s get started on some tea and I’ll tell you the second.” She got up and headed into the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with a pot of tea and two cups on a tray.

“Here we are,” she smiled as she placed a cup in front of him and poured. “Would you like any sugar with that?”

“I’m trying to cut back,” the mare said as she sipped at it.  “Though the offer is appreciated.  Maybe if I feel the tea needs it later, I’ll ask for some.”

Hearth nodded as she dropped two lumps into hers. The tea itself... mango-flavoured.

“Alright, so our first courier,” she started, sipping at her tea, her fluffy ears wiggling happily. “To begin with, did you know he wasn’t a pony?”

“No, I didn’t,” the mare said as she enjoyed her tea.  “But it’s not exactly an unknown thing either.”

“He still lives here in Roamania actually, up on top of Spire Hill. He’s the only outsider to ever live here... but after what happened, we Thestrals see him as a kindred spirit of sorts. You see, he was exiled from Equestria.”

“In order to live that long, wouldn’t he have to be…” Letter trailed off.  There was no way the mare was suggesting that, right?

“He’s around a hundred and twenty,” she replied as she sipped her tea. “It’s not so unusual around here. We Thestrals are long-lived as well. Some call it the Grace of Noctis that we do. Or perhaps its that evo-thing that Ol’ Silver-Wing goes on about...oh, he’s the subject of our story here.”

“Mm,” Letter said as she got drawn back into the story.  “Please, continue.”

“Well anyway, this was about...seventy years ago I think? Silver tells this with much more vigor than I do. Anyway, he came to us, bringing news of what was happening in Equestria. Not that we Thestrals cared at first, we just kicked him out of the city and told him not to come back. But...”

“But?” Letter prodded.  “I take it it was somewhat interesting, if the story exists.”

“He just kept coming back. Same time, same day every month. It got to the point where we gave up tossing him out. We tried ignoring him, threatening him, I think one tried to set him on fire once... that didn’t go down well with the Lord at the time.” She chuckled as she sipped her tea again. “But then one day, he came to us and said it was the last time. He said that something had happened, and if we returned to Equestria, he’d be killed.”

“Oh dear,” Letter said as she put her teacup down.  “What...could he have possibly done to warrant that?”

“What else, the crime of being different, of being... something he was born to be,” she spat as she jumped up from her seat. “It was the same for Thestrals and it was the same for Silver. Not once since then has he returned, hasn’t even spoke about going back.”

“Hmm,” Letter said as she idly looked into her tea.  “Well then.  I suppose that’s as good an introduction to my story as I’m about to get.”  Taking a deep breath, the mare said one word.

“Changelings.”  She needed to gauge the reaction the local would have to that name.

“Huh?” Hearth-Heart turned her head and looked at him. “Have you met Silver already?”

“Nope, but it helps that you know the name!” the mare chirped.  “Canterlot was invaded last year by their long-forgotten neighbors.  Oh they drove them off, but the act itself sparked some...curiosity.”

“Serves ‘em right,” Hearth said as she sat back down. “And lemme guess, the poor little ponies can’t even sleep at night without fear of the boogymare jumping out at them?”

“Considering they resemble a blend of insects and ponies and feed on emotions like Love,” Letter said before sipping her tea and putting it back down.  “I think their fear is justified, or at least understandable.  Anyways.  Celestia was...curious.  It was unlikely that there were any left in Canterlot due to how they were so thoroughly repelled, so she sent me and Midnight Song, along with a unicorn, to Las Pegasus, to find one if possible and get a more...complete story.”

“Midnight Song? Your Thestral friend right?”

“Mmhmm,” the pegasus mare nodded.  “The ones we found were quite upset as well by the invasion that had happened - apparently even among the so-called monsters, you can have rogue elements - and one of the ones we found had been working on putting various stories and legends of his kind together.  When I asked for some to take back, he gladly shared them with me, one of them being an origin myth of his species.  That’s the one I want to share with you.”

“Okay?” the mare nodded. This sounded like something she probably wasn’t going to understand, but motioned for her to carry on.

The mare cleared her throat and cast her mind back.  “Once, long ago.  Long before Discord or the Princesses.  Before the Windigos or the time of unification.  Before the tribes thought to live as one.  There were eight that did that already.  Four stallions, four mares, of the more commonly known three tribes.”

“Just eight? Not a whole race?” That sounded more like a group of friends going to get drunk on a Friday night.

“From what I know, this is more about the first eight than the ones that came after,” the mare replied before getting back into the story.  “The four stallions were colored red, yellow, blue, and silver.  The four mares were orange, green, violet, and pink.  The first, the red stallion, had wings and a sense of honor to his friends.  He would fly high into the sky and use his skills to find any and all threats to their home before confronting them.  The second, the yellow stallion, shared his wings, but believed that courage was more important...along with tactics.  Well and good to run into battle, but also good to return because of the trap you set up beforehoof.”

“Okay, I think I follow so far... but I thought we were talking about Changelings, not ponies.” Hearth tilted her head.

“I’m getting to it, it’s important you understand the players before you understand how they became what they are,” the pegasus said with an enigmatic smile.  “The blue stallion had neither horn nor wings, but believed in loyalty.  When he made a promise to another, spoken or not, he did his best to keep it, no matter how hard it was or how easy it would have been to break his word.  The silver stallion had a horn and believed that knowledge was power for a reason, and did his best to study and learn about everything they could do to keep themselves safe from those that disliked the idea of unity.”

“Well, they sounded like some smart stallions,” Hearth commented. “And what about the mares?”

“The orange mare was kind to all and lacked either horn or wings,” the pegasus said.  “She grew their crops as best she could, and tended to the males when they did something stupid...which was often.  The green mare had wings and a sense for art and creativity, often inspiring others to think in new ways with her work within the home.”  At this, the mare blushed and looked away at the thought of the next ones to be introduced.

“Is something wrong?” Hearth asked, curious as to why the mare suddenly turned red. “What about the pink and violet mares?”

“Well the pink mare also lacked wings or horn, and believed that everypony merely needed to be happy and tried to cheer them up.”  The mare rubbed her foreleg with her other hoof and sighed.  “Whereas the violet mare had her horn...and merely thought that if they didn’t spend any night alone, they would be more inclined to return.  Her attempts to find paramours with the others or for the others...never really stopped.”

“So wait, the mare is the one that rules?” Hearth tried to wrap her batty brain around that. “But...shouldn't the strongest or wealthiest stallion be the one?”

“Even there, they believed in equality,” the pegasus pointed out.  “The stallions did their part to protect the home they all shared.  The mares did their part to give them something worthwhile to protect.  Not one of them was more important than another.”

“So what happened? I’m assuming this story isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.”

“Indeed not.”  Letter looked back into her teacup and sighed.  “Life was good for them for a time.  They got along as well as any family could, getting on each other’s nerves and making up for any fights.  And then he came.  The demon Tirek.”

Hearth Heart leaned forward slightly, raptured on what was going to happen next. Neither noticed the two mares standing at the foot of the staircase either.

“When he encountered the group of diverse ponies living in harmony with each other, he did demand that they submit to his power.  Serve his interests.  And he would spare them.  When asked what he would do after them, the answer was ‘conquer,’ and they had no interest in that.  What use did they have for more?  They were happy with the lives they had.  So they refused.”

“And he attacked them?” Hearth asked.

“Of course he did,” Scope spoke up as she approached. “He probably would have attacked them anyway, like he did with that fool Discord.”

While Letter was slightly surprised by the sudden appearance, she hid it well.  “Not right away.  But he did eventually attack.  First he grew angry and stomped a hoof, his rage evident as he demanded they submit again.  When they refused a second time, he raised his arms and cast a spell, draining them of their magic and leaving them weak and powerless.  Demanding one last time that they serve him, and maybe, just maybe he would return their magic...the silver one did point out that even in the face of this, they would prefer a slow death than service to one such as him.  And so the demon gnashed his teeth, and cast a final, terrible curse upon the eight.”

“Can Tirek really do that?” Scope deadpanned. “This story is redic-”

“Shhh! I want to know what happens next,” Both Cider and Hearth shushed her. Scope frowned and pouted, folding her arms.

“Their fur did fall out, and their skin did begin to darken, becoming coated in black plates.  Those with wings did find their feathers falling from them, and their very bones shifting and liquefying as their wings became as thin as gossamer.  The ones with horns found those bits of bone becoming black and twisting, crumbling slightly.  Those with neither found themselves growing both sets of appendages, and those who had only one found themselves growing the one they lacked, all to the feeling of extreme pain.  Their forelegs became riddled with holes.  And while they retained a bit of their original color, when they looked in another’s eyes, they found that even those had changed, becoming slitted like a cat’s, or a dragon’s, or a thestral’s.  They opened their mouths in shock, and found their new fangs.  They had been turned into monsters by Tirek’s curse.”

The Thestral and the disguised Changeling looked at her, not approving of the use of the term ‘monster’.

“So, if it was a curse, does that mean it could be reversed?” Cider asked innocently.

“Oh yes,” the mare said as she sipped her-now cold tea.  Putting it back, the mare then said the last bit of the story.  “When even in the face of that, the first eight did refuse to serve Tirek’s wishes, the demon gloated.  And said that the only way to reverse the curse, break its hold on them, was for a pony to love them for who and what they were for an entire year.  Told them they would never get their magic back on their own, and would need to steal it from others.  And then he galloped off into the distance, leaving the first eight changelings behind to fend for themselves.”

“So what happened after that?” Hearth asked. “I bet the ponies wouldn’t help them out.”

“The eight did make their way to a village of unicorns, and the silver and violet had discovered one of the few gifts about their new form.  One being that illusions did come easier, and blending in would come with little effort.  They disguised themselves as they had been, cloaked themselves in a glamor, and visited the village, discreetly feeding on the magic and emotions of the ponies.”  The pegasus mare pushed her tea to the side and shook her head.  “And then they helped their friends learn about their gifts once night had fallen and they had left the village for the evening.  A distribution of magic amongst them all, and the next day dawned to show eight unicorns ready to blend in with the ponies there...but things are never so smooth.”

“Illusions and transformations can fail,” Scope noted. Letter nodded.

“Or be dispelled.  One, then two and three, and eventually the whole village noticed how six of the eight didn’t seem to be comfortable with their horns and their use.  Feeling that perhaps the earlier unicorns were disguising a group of Pegasi or Earth Ponies in an attempt to infiltrate, they cast a dispelling charm...and found the creatures beneath the veils.  The eight did not even have time to beg and plead for help before the entire village lit their horns up to cast stones at them.”

“They survived right?” Hearth asked hopefully.

“Oh yes, they survived, thanks to their new armor,” the pegasus mare said.  “But they fled the old homelands and went south instead.  They kept going, knowing now that no ponies would find them worthy of their help, their pity.  They went south, through the lands that would one day become Equestria.  Even further south, to a wild, unclaimed tract of land.  Filled with creatures and magic.  They decided to settle there, do what they could to feed themselves.  And while the ponies would, in time...forget the changelings…”

The mare stared into the fire, and her voice turned hard for the last bit.  “The changelings never forgot the ponies.”

“Sounds like you have some personal experience with Changelings,” Hearth noted the mare’s tone. 

“When you hear about how ponies have treated them...and keep treating them, and keep treating them even when now they only want to live their lives…”  The mare sighed.  “Then you can’t help but get a little emotional.”

“And now you know we feel about Equestrian’s,” Hearth replied bitterly. “You can’t stand anypony who’s too different from you, and the Griffons ended up conforming to your way of life.”

“Which was a great loss,” the mare said with a sigh.  “Other cultures are such wonders to read about, experience...and the things ponies do to those unlike them…”  The pegasus mare shook her head.  “It almost makes me wonder if there’s a way to stop being an Equestrian.”

“Why...would a pony want to stop being Equestrian?” Hearth inquired. Love Letter looked back at her and began reciting a list of species.

“Gryphons, Thestrals, Changelings, Minotaurs, Dragons, Zebras, Donkeys, Diamond Dogs.  Not to mention other sapient species.  Ponies have negative views of them all in some fashion or another, and they rarely try to get over their prejudices to get to know any other intelligent life-form.  Either the definition of what it means to be an Equestrian needs to change, or I need to find a way to stop being one.”

A clock chimed, sounding of ten clear rings. Letter got up from her chair and nodded at Hearth.  “And I need to get some sleep if I’m going to be doing anything at any reasonable hour tomorrow.”  With that, the mare bowed her head before heading to the room she shared with her guards.

“Have a good evening,” Hearth nodded. “Try and wake by about eight. I’ll have breakfast waiting for you and your guards.”

Letter nodded absently as she continued on her way.  She of course had...other plans for the night. Once they were upstairs, Scope and Cider dropped their disguises and crawled into bed. Scope needed time to process what she’d found out, and what to do with the information Moon Song and Grissom had given her.

It didn’t take long for the mares to fall asleep.  Ledger waited half an hour longer for their snoring to start before he dropped his own disguise and pulled out his tome, reading the words on Umbramancy, shadow-manipulation magic.

It was normally just utility magic.  Useful for those that had a connection to the darkness, the ability to step around through shadows was not unheard of.  It even had minor ties to dreamwalking, which made Ledger wonder if Luna knew of it.  Most likely.

But when you added Dark Magic to the magic meant to manipulate the darkness...Things got interesting.  Deciding to not touch that aspect for now, and instead do something a bit more grey, the changeling fired up a divination spell, setting the target as Midnight’s hair that he’d saved before this whole...debacle started.  Once he felt the tug leading him, he gulped and decided to try the ‘shadow form’ bit of Umbramancy.  It’d make following the pull so much easier.

Were anypony watching the changeling, they would see his form turn black all over, like it had been once before, before even his form started to lose...form.  His body seemed to dissolve into a gas that blended and mixed with the very air of the room, filling it with darkness.  The door was an adequate exit point, and the shadow flowed and oozed out around it before making for the front door and sneaking out into the night of Roamania, still following the tug on his mind as to where his beloved Midnight Song was.





Midnight lay in her ‘room’, well if you were feeling gracious enough to call it that. The window had been sealed up after she tried getting out of it, chains be damned. She no longer knew what time of day it was, or even what day it was. 

Was Ledger wondering where she was? No! It was bad to think about things like that. She didn’t belong to anyone other than the Lord. That was all that mattered now. He’d take care of her, he’d love her…

And then, somehow, her room became even darker than normal.  Even the moonlight didn’t pierce this blackness.  It had oozed in under the door and surrounded and filled every inch of the room, before she got the strangest sensation that...it was looking at her.

Whatever, doesn’t matter. Maybe if this darkness took her she’d be better off. She lay down and closed her eyes.

“Just...end it,” she muttered softly.

“Why would I kill...my beloved Songbird?” a voice asked from all around her.  “We tried that song and dance once already.  You were terribly restless during your supposed ‘death’.”

Midnight looked up, but her eyes held no recognition. If the shadow could feel it, then even her emotions were muted... she felt nothing anymore. “You should go...before my beloved finds you here...”

The shadow coalesced into a form that resembled a cross between a bug and a pony in the center of her room...but it was black all over, even the eyes.  It looked...sad as it looked at her.  “What did he do to you?” it whispered softly, almost too soft for her to hear.

Her eyes widened, as her irises shrunk and she let out a piercing scream, backing up as far as her chains would allow her to. “S-Stay....stay away... no... don’t....stop...”

The bug-pony looked to the door and dissolved into that shadow again, before seeming to disappear from view entire.  He knew the guards would have heard that, and he needed to be gone.  Something was wrong with Midnight, dreadfully wrong...and he wasn’t leaving until she felt again.  But in order to stay, he’d have to be inconspicuous for the time being.

Also, he felt he owed Discord twenty bits.

The door eventually opened and Lord Shadow-Wing entered, flanked by two mares.

“And what was that all about?” he asked irritably. “I thought we were past this dear? I thought I had educated you on how this works...” he sighed as he took something from one of the mares, and once it unfurled, Midnight’s eyes locked onto the cat’o’nine-tails whip. “It seems you need a small reminder. Do try not to cry so much this time hmm?”

Ledger grit his teeth as best as he could without them and wished he could close his eyes or plug his ears.  But that would require taking a form, and doing that just to deprive his senses of what was to come...was too risky.  He might get caught.

For Midnight, he would witness this, as much as he might wish not to.  She was worth it.  She was always worth it. But the blows never came, as the sound of chains dragging across the stone floor could be heard.

“I-I’m sorry my love,” Midnight whispered, her voice sounded so...broken. “I had...a bad dream. That’s all...”

Shadow frowned, but lowered the whip. “Well, that’s fine. We want you looking pretty for our wedding tomorrow don’t we?”

“Yes,” she replied. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

...This was nearly worse.  He didn’t know how a non-unicorn had...broken her so badly, but there was only one spell he could think of that might help.

...The only problem was, it was decidedly antithesis to what he currently was.  He would not only need to take a form, but hold it and the spell he needed in full view of Midnight.  If she screamed again, he would be caught.  Plus it might even hurt to cast, with his current...state.

Shadow smiled and drew closer, pulled Midnight in for a deep kiss. He hummed into her mouth, as he took his prize. And as he broke the kiss, he drew back his hoof and smacked her across the cheek.

“Good, now see it doesn’t happen again!”

“Yes...I’m sorry, thank you for reminding me,” Midnight replied as the stallion turned and left, slamming the door shut behind him.

The darkness, what little there was in the room, seemed to pulse angrily before that voice spoke up again.  “Lady Moonlight-Sonata.  That is your name, correct?  Please believe me when I say I mean you no harm and am sorry about my state inspiring fear in you.”

“The shadows can’t hurt me, the shadows can’t hurt me!” Midnight rocked back and forth as she covered her ears. “My beloved will protect me. My beloved will love me....” Her form radiated pure terror and fear....

While it was an emotion, it wasn’t one that Ledger wanted her to feel.  “Please miss.  You need to calm down.  I just want to talk to you.  If you don’t want to hear anything I have to say, then I will leave when I am done.  I swear to you on my honor.”

Midnight just continued to whimper, curling up into a ball and crying. Why wouldn’t the darkness go away? Why was it so cold in here...? Where was her love?

“I merely want to say three names to you, and if you can’t remember them...at all.  Then maybe it would be better for me to leave until I can find a way to help you remember.  Though I would be loathe to do so…”  Now the shadows sounded...sad.  Very, very sad.

“Nopony loves me except for him. Nopony loves me as much as him...” 

“Scope Lens,” the voice said.  “Apple Cider.  Those names mean anything?”

Midnight...paused. “Who...are they?”

That wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either.  “They knew you, once.  They loved you, once.  They miss you now.  But nothing will ever compare with the love and pain...Level Ledger feels for you.”

“Cider...Scope....” Midnight looked at the ground. “L....evvy....” She groaned as she held her head in her hooves, and the shackle around her neck shifted. In the dim light, the shadow caught sight of it. The way the metal had worn the fur away and the symbols that were etched on the inside of the shackle. Ones that glowed brighter as her pain grew. “No! I don’t know them!”

“This will feel weird,” he warned her.  “But I think your bindings are hurting you more than they should be, and I’d like to make them stop.  With your permission?”  The shadow seemed to grow thicker in front of her, waiting on her word to go ahead or simply go.

“No, they’re pretty! They’re gifts from my beloved...I’m a good girl,” she said quietly.

“You can keep them, I promise.  I just want to make them stop hurting you so badly.  Wouldn’t less pain be nice?” Ledger tried to tempt the shell that had once been Midnight.  He’d caught a glimpse of her in there, and he wasn’t about to let her slip away without a fight.  He just hoped she was on his side.

He noticed something else as well, like how delicious her agony tasted...

“You can’t touch me...only my beloved can touch me.”

“I’ll keep myself to myself,” the shadow promised.  “I’ll just touch the bindings and make them more comfortable.  Just say the word, miss.”  Anything to get her mind, or what was left of it, on his side. She said nothing, but as he drew closer, his horn felt...strange. And every fiber of his being screamed at him not to touch them.

Time to get creative then.  The interior of things held shadows as well.  He pulled at his Umbramancy and his teleportation spell and combined them.  Darkness flashed within the collar, as the metal was disrupted and a thin section of it disappeared, breaking the runes.  The metal from it was promptly flung into the night, and he didn’t care where it ended up.

That was when the manacles around her legs flashed and Midnight shuddered for a moment, before falling onto her side, her eyes frozen wide in shock and Ledger realised what he’d done. 

If the Duke couldn’t have her... then nopony would.  With another Umbramancy-teleport hybrid, the shackles around her legs were treated similarly, though it was probably too little, too late. With what little emergency magic he knew from his time in the Orange Hive, he took form and used a very minor shock-spell to try and restart her major functions.  The lightning crackled between them as it hit the base of her spine and her chest, providing more than one spark to her system.

He couldn’t lose her.  Not now.  Not when he was so close.

Her body shuddered as the shock spell hit her, but she lay dead still. Bit by bit, Ledger could feel her life slip away. The shackles had ruptured several of the points on her body that regulated her innate magic. The effect was similar to Tireks ability... only this spell wouldn’t stop…

“Tartarus take me first, damn it, but I will not lose you, Midnight Song!” Ledger vowed.  He pulled all the shadows in the room to him and gave them a subconscious command.  He might have interpreted it as using his knowledge of physiology to heal her with his shadow-magic.  Or simple application of magic to the wounds.  But it boiled down to three words in the end. ‘Fix this mare.’  Something it obeyed with gusto.

The darkness leapt from him and cocooned the mare in its embrace, seeking the holes and filling them with bits of itself, before stimulating her healing processes into replacing them with more natural fillers.  Once it was certain the exterior was done...the darkness made a b-line for her mouth as it began to work on the interior.

That was when something else intervened, something blindingly powerful as pure light erupted from her form. A long buried spell planted by a friend, as it fought against the darkness. Sunlight filled the room, banishing the shadow as Ledger found himself taking a corporeal form and the intense pain that followed. 

This was a spell designed to repel a Black Changeling. A very specific spell cast by a very powerful caster.  Only one name came to mind as Ledger saw the intensity of the light and growled.

“Dammit all Celestia!  I don’t mind you protecting her, but she needs me now, dammit!  If you won’t raise a hoof to heal her, get out of my way so I can!”  The anger and love he was feeling...the two emotions combined to turn his exterior grey.  Neither silver nor black, but something in-between.

The shining Thestral opened her eyes, even as the glow of morning’s grace begun to fade, it’s job done. Repel the darkness, fortify the injured... Fuel the love burning inside of her. She took a step closer to the Changeling as the light and darkness clashed. 

Then she leaned forward and kissed him, and all that love, that familiar, overwhelming love filled him completely and utterly…

The silver changeling actually shone in turn as he blinked, the Blackness momentarily banished as he looked at the mare.  “Midnight?” he breathed, daring to hope.

“You came,” she smiled at him, as the light faded and the room was filled with the darkness of night once more. “I...didn’t know...if you would...”

“For you, anything,” Ledger promised as he moved to hug the mare. She returned the hug as she leaned into him. 

“You...you’re...different somehow...maybe a little scary.”

Ledger sighed and pushed her back with one hoof as he closed his eyes.  Then he began thinking of all the fates he had planned for Duke Shadow-Wing.  Every torment he could put that excuse of a pony through.  Every last torture he knew of.  His colors began to dull and fade as the blackness overtook him again.  Better to show her now and have her hate him than it be a surprise later.

“No,” she whispered as she suddenly hugged him again. “That’s not you. That’s...it’s all my fault. I did this to you. Please stop it Levvy. Stop hating because of me.”

“...I can’t promise anything,” Ledger said softly as he held the mare, the hate still there but buried as his colors brightened to silvery-grey.  “There’s only one chance of redemption for me...maybe two if you want to be technical.  But I did this willingly.  For you I would do anything.  For him, I will do everything you want me to.  Say the word, and his fate will be sealed.”

Midnight stopped. He could do it, he could take him away forever. She’d never have to look over her shoulder. This whole thing could become a bad dream...but at what cost? 

“No...don’t. He’s not worth it. Please Levvy...let’s just go home.”

“I can do that,” Ledger replied.  “And I’m done with masquerading as a mare.  Even in just illusion, I am so done.  We’ll have to come up with a plan to get you home, but I’m getting you out of this room.  And I might leave behind a little gift for him…”  The idea had been niggling in the back of his mind for a little while now.  Graffiti was fine, right?  Nopony would object to that.

“Well perhaps you’d be so kind as to leave behind my wife,” a voice said as something hard struck the back of Ledger’s head, chitin breaking off as the mace struck him with full force.  The impact of the blow had been dispersed across his whole head for as long as the plate had held up, and reflexively Ledger reached for his Umbramancy and let the room fill with his presence.

“Still think I should let him live, Midnight?” Ledger’s voice echoed around them.  That...would sting when he took form again. The mare that had struck him screamed and fled the room, leaving the Duke and the other mare behind.

“Coward, I’ll punish her later,” Duke Shadow-Wing muttered as he turned to the other mare. “As for right now? Do be a dear and kill that Changeling. Our first born and the privileges that follow are yours if you succeed.”

The mare smiled and nodded as she shifted the spear she carried, its anti-magic tip glowing as she stabbed at the darkness.

“Naughty naughty,” Ledger teased as he decided...to use his magic for combat purposes.  To reach for the dark magic inside him and infuse it into the darkness around him.

One spell wouldn’t hurt, right?

A blade of pure shadow appeared above the spear before it passed through, right below the head, seeming to have done nothing.  “A pretty mare like you shouldn’t be playing with such dangerous toys.  You could put somepony’s eye out like that.”

A few seconds later, the tip fell from the blade and the mare screeched. She turned to the darkness and flung herself at it, her fangs bared.

“Tisk tisk.  Midnight, what should I do when mares literally throw themselves at me like this?”  Almost on reflex, the shadows caught the mare like Ledger would use his magic to try and catch Midnight when he just wasn’t feeling in the mood and she pounced him.

But something was different this time. Her screeches of rage quickly turned to screams of pain and fear as the shadows strangled her. Her life ebbing away…

“...Mmm...your fear is delicious,” Ledger purred before putting the mare down in a corner of the room. It was Midnight who ran over to her, quickly checking her as the Dark Magic poisoning set in.

“Stop...” Midnight whispered. “Please...stop this...” 

The simple words reached Ledger as he had been about to see just how deep the well of dark emotions ran in the Duke.  “I’m sorry?  Did you just beg for this filth to live?  Are you aware of what he did to you, what he almost did to you, what he would have done to you?”

“And how are you any better right now!?” Midnight screamed as her tears flowed. “I’m not begging for him. I’m begging for you! Stop...before you can’t anymore!”

Seconds seemed to tick by before Ledger took form again, damaged head-plate and all, staring at the duke with such anger that the sun seemed pale in comparison.  “She begged for me.  She never thought killing you was right,” Ledger spat at him.  “I would leave you on a rusty spike in Tartarus.  I would escort you there myself, on the damn pike the whole way!”

The Duke blinked, before he smiled. “And yet, you lack the guts to do just that!” he countered, even as he lunged forward, and right past Ledger as he grabbed Midnight, before disappearing through a hidden door in the wall.

“You can’t hide from me!” Ledger screamed in Changeish before retaking his shadow form.  “You can never hide from me!  I will tear this whole building apart, stone by stone if I must!  I know where you are, you pitiful excuse for a male!”  The second scream, in Equestrian this time, had been the opening to a flood of shadows chasing after the duke and filling the house, every nook and cranny they could find.

It was around then the shadows caught something in the courtyard, something vile, and something beautiful…

Ledger blasted a hole in the wall as he rode a cascade of shadows down into the courtyard, his dark tendrils having trapped two Thestrals in their grasp, the stallion wearing an anti-magic pendant, even as the shadows tore at the shield around him. 

The mare had no such protection and the shadows had no way of telling friend from foe as they tore at her as well…

Ledger took control of these tendrils and commanded that the stallion and the ground he stood on was to be picked up until the shield wore off, and the mare was to be brought gently to him.  Even now, a small part of him was screaming its head off for the dark magic to stop, listen, cease hurting ponies...

That was when he heard a shout, it sounded distant, at least until two Earth pony hooves collided with his chest and he slammed into a nearby wall. 

Apple Cider stood there, and she was absolutely livid. “Ah hope you’re alive after that Ledger. Cause ah am nowhere near done kicking yer ass you promise-breaking jerk!!!”

Ledger blinked as he fell to the ground, his colors having turned grey out of shock.  “...Okay, I think you literally just bucked the Dark Magic out of me for the time being,” he observed aloud.  The...pull, temptation to use it was still there, but it wasn’t in command anymore.

“Good,” a voice said from above as a concussive blast of magic hit him. Scope hovered there in her true form, looking just as angry. “You fucking promised us Ledger. I don’t care if you saved Middy or not! I am going to hit the ever-loving fuck out of you!!”

“SHE NEARLY DIED!” Ledger protested before either mare could hit him again. The three had failed to notice the Duke dragging the thestral mare off, until something hit him. Something powerful that caught Midnight before she hit the ground, but drove the Duke so hard into it the paving cracked beneath him.

Storm clouds rolled across the sky like an angry ocean of darkness and rage. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed so loud even the arguing ponies covered their ears as the dark blue Alicorn hovered above them, her eyes blazing white with unparalleled rage.

Yeah, Luna was fucking pissed!

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE MOON! DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!?” Her voice was so freaking loud…

Ledger reached for his Umbramancy and despite everything in his body telling him to not even think about doing this...despite every moral fiber, what few he had, saying to leave the bastard to fry…

With a puff of shadow, the changeling disappeared from between the mares and reappeared between the lunar alicorn and her victim.  “Lady Noctis, or do you prefer your Equestrian name?” Ledger inquired.  When all was said and done, though, the duke would NOT be happy he’d intervened.  His mind had already spun three or four ways to really screw the duke over.

Luna swept her wing, tossing the grey Changeling aside like a bug so to speak as she lay Midnight on the ground.

“I am so sorry I am late my friend,” she said quietly, compared to her last voice, she barely spoke at all. Her horn shone as Midnight’s wounds closed and the lingering dark magic was dispelled. The Alicorn held her close as her multicasting went to work, praying that she wasn’t too late.

It wasn’t until Midnight gave a faint cough and opened one eye slightly. “...Heeeey,” she croaked out. “I finally nabbed a Princess...~”

“It seems you are alright,” Luna chuckled. She looked at Ledger, even as her brow furrowed. “You will explain Level Ledger. Now!”

“We have a thing to attend to first,” the changeling pointed out as he pulled at the shadows, forming a solid barrier over the door that the Duke had attempted to escape through.  “Would you prefer to do it alone, m’lady, or can I assist you?”

“You...use the Dark artes?” she said, as a powerful dispelling magic slammed into Ledger. “Cease that at once. Before you destroy what little of your soul you still have!”

“Ouch,” Ledger said as the barrier dispelled itself.  “Okay, that was simple umbramancy, a tool to be used.  It’s only when Dark Magic comes into play that the shadow is nopony’s ally.  And second, you’re a little too late on that.”  Indeed, while she had forced his colors into being pure silver for a moment, the hate he still felt had them darkening to grey as the darkness within came out again.  He rubbed his head and felt the broken head-plate before growling, causing the grey to go one notch darker as he recalled how it’d gotten that way.

Luna placed Midnight on his back. “You are ordered to love him until I can deal with it,” Luna said as the Thestral wrapped her hooves around the Changeling’s neck and gently kissed the back of his head. 

“I can do that,” she said softly. Her everything ached and she really had no idea what was going on right now. 

Luna took a step forward as the Duke looked at her. “L-Lady Noctis! Please I-” he suddenly gargled as he was lifted into the air...by his tongue!

“YOU DARE!?” Luna bellowed, her eyes widening in rage. “You dare to speak my name with that tongue!? I should tear it from your head and whip you until death with it!!”

“Lady Noctis,” Ledger gently interrupted, knowing that Midnight would both approve and disapprove of the punishment, thanks to the ‘until death’ part.  “How fares your sister and my kind with the attempts at reconciliation?”

The Duke gargled, but Luna ignored both ponies. More Thestral’s begun to gather, until nearly half the city was present. 

“Duke Shadow-Wing!” the Alicorn dropped him, but her magic held him in place. “For crimes against Equestria. For crimes against those you ‘claim’ to love and for bringing unparalleled shame to my Children!” She narrowed her eyes as she stepped closer. “Your title and privileges are revoked now and forever. I take from you, your very name! Clan Shadow-Wing is hereby dispelled and shall never be again! You are banished from these lands, as well as those loyal to you!” She looked at the crowd, her horn still shining as the wind picked up.

“Any who follow this pathetic excuse for a creature. Step forward and recieve Judgement!”

None did so. In fact, they looked everywhere else except at the former Shadow-Wing. Luna turned her attention back to the stallion and sneered. “You have nopony loyal to you. When push comes to shove, you are alone!”

At least, until Evermore stepped forward. Luna looked at him, an eyebrow raised.

“He is a foolish stallion, corrupt by power and title.” Evermore said. “But he is my Lord and I am sworn to take care of him. I shall share in his punishment milady.”

“...The Blues would probably have been gorged on the loyalty behind that,” Ledger observed.  “If you felt anything anymore.” Scope held her belly as she wobbled a bit.

“And you are?” Luna asked wryly.

“Evermore-Sonata,” he said. “It is my deepest pleasure to finally make your acquaintance Lady Noctis. It’s a shame it has to be under these circumstances.”

“Hmm,” Ledger said as his eyes sparked with mischief, his color brightening to a silver-grey.  There was still hate for the duke in there, but Midnight was helping it to vanish.  “Princess Luna, my earlier question?”

“Hardly the time or place Ledger,” Luna said. “We will get to that, but there are more important issues.” She looked out at the group of Thestrals that had gathered, and more were arriving by the second. It’s not everyday your Goddess descended and browbeat the local Lord to Tartarus and back.

“Fair citizens of Roamania!” she called out. “Tis grim tidings that we arrive like this. I had hoped...that our reunion would be of a happier occasion.” The Duke had all but been ignored now, but Evermore was preventing him from running away. He would face his punishment like a stallion.

“My absence seems to have caused you all...great unrest. And then even before that, when the Nightmare threatened the world, you tried to stop me, and were punished for that.” Murmurs spread throughout the crowd, but Luna wasn’t quite done yet.

“I appear before you all today, to not only save one of my Children, but to...offer my profound apologies. You have suffered because of my lack of will and foresight. My mistakes have cost you all greatly...” Luna bowed her head as the Thestrals had no idea how to respond to this. Ledger found a familiar mare in the crowd and used a bit of his newfound magic to whisper to her.

“Told you,” Hearth-Heart heard from beneath her, as if from her very shadow. She let out a squeak of surprise and jumped back, pawing at the ground.

Luna turned back to Evermore and Shadow. “What your Lord has done...is not acceptable. It never was and never will.” She furrowed her brow and looked at Midnight. “Do you have any final words? You are the one that has been wronged the most in this. The final say shall be yours.”

“Can you answer Ledger’s question?” she asked. “I’m kinda curious as well.”

Luna rolled her eyes and looked at the Changeling. “Very well, if you must know. The talks are going well. Tirek has disrupted things greatly, but after the events in your home city, the prospect is looking good.”

Ledger smiled viciously then, having heard what he needed to hear.  His question could wait a minute. He stared the former duke in the eye as he considered the best way to put the screws to the stallion.  “You’re lucky,” the changeling finally said.  “That Luna punished you when she did and how she did.”  Oh please ask why!

The Duke just stared back. He wasn’t even going to give this bug the pleasure-

“And why is that Ledger?” Luna asked. And then he decided to impersonate the moon goddess, at least in voice.

“BECAUSE HIVES HAVE GONE TO WAR FOR THE KIDNAPPING OF NOBLES!  Had you succeeded in your plan, WAR WOULD HAVE DESCENDED UPON ROAMANIA, I PROMISE YOU!”

Midnight, who was still perched on his back gave a painful wince at the volume. The Duke’s eyes widened slightly, but...

“I’m not afraid of you...bug!”

“Oh you will be!” Ledger said in a more normal tone.  “I am the first nephew of the Silver King, current leader of the Council of Seven!  Should I have written one word about this, he would have rallied our forces against you until Midnight Song was returned!  And if you think you can fight changelings in a open war, then you are more brain-damaged than I thought!”

Ledger’s colors remained silvery-grey as he was taking glee in venting upon the Duke.  “We can be anypony we want to be.  We can communicate over long distances.  Those two things alone would destroy you.”

“That is quite enough,” Evermore stepped forward, placing himself between his lord and the changeling. “It is useless to speak of what if’s. What’s done has been done. I have failed to educate my lord correctly. And it would seem that my message to your guards arrived too late.”

“Try having everything you love ripped away from you, then finding yourself in a position where you can save it,” Ledger snarked at the thestral stallion he had a modicum of respect for.  “Let me know how rational you are then.  I would give my life for her if she told me to.  It’s hers by right, seeing as she saved it.”

Midnight crawled off of the changeling, wincing when she fell onto the ground. Luna moved to help her up, but she raised a hoof in refusal. 

“I have...had just... about enough of this shit,” she panted as she looked at The Stallion Formerly Known as Shadow-Wing. “In the past...I can’t even bucking remember how long it’s been. I have been drained, kidnapped, enslaved, brainwashed, battered, bruised and abused. I have whip marks on my flanks that may never go away and I can bucking guarantee that I will not sleep soundly for a bucking month!”

“I can assure that you-” Luna started to speak but Midnight raised a hoof. 

“Lulu, I love you, but so help me, the next pony, thestral or Changeling that speaks before I am done, I will personally tear their bucking throat out. Clear?”

The crowd gave a nod and gulped heavily.

“Good.” Midnight turned back to the Duke as her eyes narrowed. “Now get this through your fucking head. I. Will. Not. Marry. You! Not now, not ever, not in another life, not in all of fucking creation. And you Evermore? You’re my uncle huh?”

Evermore nodded but didn’t speak. He valued his neck.

“Well I am going to say that you did a lousy job of raising this little shitstain. He acts up? Beat his fucking ass next time!” She looked at Luna and then motioned for Cider and Scope to come over. “Now, Luna said that your punishment is up to me. For one, you can keep your name. The less names I have to forget the better. Evermore?”

The stallion nodded again.

“You’re the Lord now. And Shadow here is going to be your servant! And he will start at the bottom and if he fucks up again, his punishment is cleaning out every chamber pot in the manor with his tongue!”

Evermore blinked in surprise. “Lord? But...why?”

“Because I know it was you that ensured that the spells on those shackles were weakened,” Midnight nodded. “Or else my mind would be irreparably broken now. Now, for the last piece of this puzzle. I am going to take away the one thing that Shadow wants!” She walked up to one of the Lord’s guards and pointed at his wing blades. “Give me one of those!”

The Guard blinked, but didn’t get a chance to refuse as she wrestled it from him. She walked back over to Ledger and the girls as she attached the blade and smiled at them. “Hey there, Levvy, Cider...Scopey. I missed you guys...”

“Love, what are you doing?” Ledger asked as he looked from the blade to her face, worry evident on his face as his blackness all but vanished.  Only a hint of grey remained in his eyes.

“Something...I should have done by now,” she said sadly. “You three, you know I love you all right?”

“I don’t like this,” Ledger whined.  “Love, talk plainly.  What is your plan?”

Cider and Scope nodded, the two too scared to talk right now.

“My plan?” she said as she looked at the sword. “It’s simple really. I’m taking away what he wanted. I’m taking it away and giving it to the three of you instead.” She swept the blade around as she took a bow in front of them, her eyes closed.

“Level Ledger. Apple Cider. Secret Treasure. Will you do me this great honour, and become my wedded loves?”

There had been very few times in Ledger’s life when he was speechless.  When he found out that there was more to the world than his own Hive and traveled to one.  When he’d been raped.  When Toll Taker had found out his identity.  And most recently...the time with Midnight, when she’d been clued in to his nature.

This marked the second positive time he’d been struck dumb by words alone.

Cider just put her hooves to her lips as she gasped. Did she...did she really just?

Scope rolled her eyes and sighed. “I guess I’ll speak for these two as well then. Yes, will marry you, you crazy pervy bat.”

Ledger turned to Luna and managed to get his throat working.  “Would it be presumptuous to ask you to preside over the ceremony, whenever she decides to have it?”

Luna squealed with joy as she glomped the Thestral, who let out a low groan and tossed the sword aside before Luna could impale herself on it. “I’ll that that as a yes...” Midnight groaned.

“W-We’re gonna...get married?” Cider stammered. She turned to Ledger and grabbed him in a hug that could have shattered stone. “WE’RE GETTIN’ HITCHED~!”

“Take it easy, my chitin is already cracked!” the bug-pony protested with the last of his air.

The Duke cast a sideways glance at the discarded sword... all it would take, is a single move...

And it did, as Evermore shoved his face into the dirt. “Don’t even think about it whelp!”

Midnight had finally pushed the excited Alicorn off of her. “A lot has happened. Imma sleep now,” she murmured as she fell over, Luna catching her with magic before she hit the ground. Even the cheers of the other Thestrals couldn’t rouse her.

“Well, an exciting day indeed,” Luna noted. And yet there was still so much to do. She looked at Ledger and the Earth pony acting as a furry nutcracker.

“Miss Cider, I understand that you are happy. But I must speak with him now. Would you mind taking your fiance back to the inn here in town. We will be along shortly.”

Cider dropped Ledger as the Princess addressed her. She nodded as Midnight was placed on her back and Hearth-Heart led the trio away. Soon enough, all that remained was Luna, Ledger, an elderly Thestral and two accused.

“Gah…” the bug said as he rubbed his cracked head-plate and the bits that he swore were cracked.  Deciding to embrace non-corporeality for the moment, the changeling melted into a shadowy version of himself and sighed as he stopped getting pain signals from all over his body.  “Ooooh, that’s better,” he murmured.

“And the healin’ process freezes as well, stupid whippersnapper!” the elderly Thestral nodded. “Turn back, and I’ll show you a little trick.”

Intrigued, the shadow flitted over to the elder and reformed into his normal self, wincing as the pain came back.  “You have my attention,” he informed the batpony. The stallion looked at Luna and she nodded, as he melted away in silvery flames and a tall, wizened Silver Changeling stood in his place. He raised a hoof and suddenly smacked Ledger across the back of the head, right on his cracked section.

“First, that’s a lesson for almost becoming a Black you stupid fool!”

Ledger hissed and held his breath as the pain slammed into him, his colors flickering at the sensation as his darker nature tried to feed on his own pain.  Eventually Ledger calmed down and breathed normally, though he was decidedly grey now.  “I suppose I deserve that,” the smaller drone said once the pain receded.  “One day I’m going to have to transcribe that book.”

“You’re a bigger fool than I thought if you took anything from the Black Hives,” he muttered. “Now, follow my lead and I’ll go slowly, so you can keep up with somebug that has actual intelligence.” His horn begun to weave a spell wrapped in a silvery light. 

Ledger fired up his own magic as he tried to follow along.  “Might I ask what we’ll be doing?  Despite all our power, I don’t recall ‘innate telepathy’ being on the list of things we can do,” the smaller drone snarked again.  If he was going to be condescending, Ledger wasn’t going to hold back against this Silver-Wing.

“Respect those that are older and smarter than you!” Silver snapped. “And stop thinking like a pony. Think like a Changeling. You don’t need incantations that rhyme like a grub’s story book. Just watch and follow my spell. Look at the magic, not the effect.”

Ledger closed his physical eyes and reached out with his other senses, watching the spell the older drone had weaved and cutting out all other distractions.  Though, when he got out of this state, he was so going to fire off a comeback. When he looked, he saw...well, he honestly didn’t know what he was seeing, other than the magic wrapping itself around the caster. But it had...a pattern. A set rhythm and speed about it.  Ledger did his best to match it, but knew better than to release the spell until the other did, wanting to make sure it was safe first.

“Goood, you’re an idiot, but you learn quickly.” Silver nodded as the spell released, having no visible effect on Silver. “Your turn.”

Well, at the very least, it hadn’t done anything negative!  After double-checking the spellwork, Ledger bit his lip...and let the unfamiliar spell go. Once it had...it...did it actually do anything? If anything, it made him hungry as all get out.

“Hmm, nice work. You actually did pretty well. Keep that up and you might even impress me sometime next century,” Silver nodded.

“Dare I ask what that spell was meant to do besides burn through my reserves?” Ledger cracked one eye open as he asked his question. Silver responded by tapping the back of his head again. On his non-cracked and completely healed carapace.

“Hyper-stimulates the regenerative skills we have. Eats your reserves up like you wouldn’t believe. But the payoff is worth it eh?”

“In certain situations, yes,” Ledger hummed.  “Hmm, this could easily be adapted...perhaps to serve in times of great need, or maybe just toned down to help heal over long periods of time.  Oh, and if we could find a way to help ponies with this…”  His mind ablaze, he didn’t even notice his color scheme fully reinstating itself.

Luna blinked as she recognised the magic. “Silver-Wing?” she asked curiously. “Was that...a modified Age Spell?”

“Ooh, good eye Princess,” Silver chuckled. “Yep, the grub here put quite a bit of power into it. I’d say he’s about a year, year and a half older now.”

Ledger blinked a few times as that sunk in...before shrugging.  “Okay, so no tinkering with the spell, and try not to use it so much,” he said.  “Good thing changelings can last when well fed, I suppose.”

“Bah, with the amount of love you get from those mares, you’re likely to live for a good half millennium or so.” Silver coughed and rubbed his back. “Geh, but you won’t be half as handsome as me at my age.” 

Luna pointed at Shadow and Evermore. “Silver? I trust you can keep an eye on these two? I will drop by when I can but...”

“Aye, I’ll keep ‘em line,” Silver nodded. He turned back to Ledger and stared into his eyes. “Get your book out boy! Or do they not do that these days?”

Tapping into his umbramancy again, the smaller drone held his hoof up and ‘ported the book to himself from his inn room in a dark coalescing of shadows.  The drone the flipped the book open and turned towards the end, to show a blank page. He’d made the assumption that’s what the older silver changeling wanted.

The Silver nodded as he summoned his own tome. A book that was half as high as the Changeling that summoned it. It was bound in dragonscales and held dozens of bookmarks. 

“Alright, I guess I’ll share a few things with you and-” he blinked and snapped at the younger Silver. “And stop your drooling.”

“Sorry,” Ledger said as he wiped his maw.  “I have so many questions.  I’ll have to try and visit sometime later to get them answered.”

“You’ll get there in time,” Silver nodded as text peeled itself from his pages and flowed into Ledger’s book. A few useful spells, some knowledge that was considered long since forgotten and something else. Something that Ledger would get to read later.

“And I’ll be taking that,” he said as he took the Dark magic spells from Ledger’s tome.  Or tried to, anyways.  They bulged from the book for about an inch, before snapping back.

“Um...I don’t think they...want to go?” Ledger offered meekly.

“Figured as much, ornery sons of dung,” Silver muttered. “Look youngling. There are some things we aren’t meant to toy with. The Black’s came to be because of that. As you nearly found out yourself. The road...is still able to be traversed in the opposite direction. But you have to be willing to make that journey.” He pointed in the direction that Midnight had left in. “What’s it going to be boy? You said so yourself that you’d give your life for that mare. So, will you throw it away for power?”

Ledger slowly shook his head before snapping his book shut and sending it back to where it would rest on his nightstand.  “For her, though.  I would do anything.  Including what nearly happened, should she command it of me.”  The younger silver changeling paused for a moment, to let his next words sink in.  “Oh, and seeing as how this is the last copy of anything the Blacks ever made, I suppose I might be inclined to translate it and share it with you later if you really must know about their history…It wasn’t always ‘Dark magic all the time’ from what I’ve read.”

“Might make for a good laugh,” Silver nodded. “I threw in a little something for you. Something we Silvers keep to ourselves.” He chuckled as he walked past Ledger. “I wonder what the other Hives would think...if they knew that we knew the real story behind our creation?”

“Might make for a good read,” Ledger rejoined before looking at Luna.  “If you’ve nothing to add, milady, I have mares to comfort.” Luna nodded and her horn flashed as Ledger found himself standing in the living room of Heath’s Inn.  With no more words, the drone was off to his room, to better hug his mares.

...No, he didn’t need one right now either.  He was going there for them and that was that.





“So...this is a thing that happened,” Midnight said from somewhere under the cuddlepile. One that refused to let her go, even for a moment. “Ever since I lost to Tirek, everything has been such a blur...I did propose to you guys right? Please tell me this isn’t a dream.”

Ledger shifted a little, contemplated shadow-magic, and decided against it.  Midnight liked cuddling the actual him.  “You did indeed propose,” he confirmed.  “And Luna will preside over the proceedings.  We can invite Celestia, Cadence, and Shiny if you want.  And that reminds me of a thing I’ll need to ask him anyways…”

“Why did you guys say yes?’ she asked, shaking slightly. “I mean, I know I’m sexy, beautiful, funny, irresistible and all around Best Pony. But after everything I put you all through...”

“Oh?” Ledger asked.  “Let’s review.  Cider, how’d you get roped in again?”

“I seduced you, became a home-wrecker and then Middy invited me in for a prolonged three-way,” Cider giggled.

“And Scope?” Ledger prodded the other mare verbally.

“I dunno, still figuring that one out. I did try to kill the both of you, then Mistress reformed me, then Ledger fucked me into the mattress.”

“Whereas I was in service to a crime ring, am going to be surprised if Pegasus Air is still working when I get back, and apparently can use dark magic,” Ledger deadpanned.  “You’re the best of us, Midnight. Heaven help us all, but you’re the one keeping us together.”

“Well, we’re pretty much screwed then,” Midnight chuckled. “I botched my last engagement after a Changeling invasion and have never taken love seriously since... but...”

“But what?” Cider asked, switching to hug Scopey. 

“But I love you guys so much...” she said softly. “I know, I can be kind of flaky and perverted. And I’ll probably cause you all more trouble in the future... But, can I ask again? Will you three still marry me?”

“Well duh,” Scope repled with her trademark eye roll as she kissed Midnight, being the first one to do so since she was rescued. Hah! Take that Ledger!

“No doubt about it,” Cider nodded as she kissed the bat as well. “Ah reckon ah couldn’t really live without mah crazy kin.”

Ledger slowly sat up on the floor and waited his turn to kiss the batpony.  When the time came, he drew the mare in for a simple peck...that morphed into a tongue-wrestling match...that eventually ended with the two of them panting heavily and looking in each other’s eyes.  Ledger spoke up first.

“Whatever you ask of me, I’ll do,” he said softly.  “I would never abandon you.  Now or ever.  We’re stuck with each other.”

“But..is that what you want?” Midnight asked. “Is being with me what you ‘want’ to do, not something you're being forced to or obligated to do.”

“Everything else could burn,” Ledger said softly.  “So long as I have you three, I have all I need.  The fact that you proposed...just put a fancy ribbon on the truth.”  He gave her a small peck on the muzzle before stating his next truth.

“Midnight Song, I love you, now and forever.  Will you still do me the honor of marrying me?”

“Of course I will, silly cuddlebug,” she smiled as she kissed him back. “Oh yeah, and thanks for coming to save me... you know, coulda done it myself but...things happen.”

The drone drew the mare in for a hug and looked at the other two, wondering if they wanted in. Well of course they did, as the two ponies and two Changelings snuggled on the bed. Life was finally getting back to normal. They could finally return to Las Pegasus and relax. At least it was nice and boring there...