//------------------------------// // Flight, Love, and Buttons // Story: Her Knight in Faded Armor // by Doccular42 //------------------------------// Celestia confidently walked down the winding hallway toward the castle’s entrance. The early morning sunlight filled the long corridor and illuminated the bustling forms of the servants who were already busily preparing for the evening’s special gala. Celestia smiled at her little ponies and continued her relaxed stroll. The Princess of the Sun sidestepped two stallions who were levitating a massive table into one of the rooms just outside the castle’s entrance. Four ponies carrying instrument cases squeezed through the same doorway. Guards directed servants to different rooms, and Celestia just took it all in. Finally, she arrived in the grand entrance room. She scanned through the crowd, looking for— “Tia!” Celestia turned to see her sister practically skipping over to her. “Ah, Luna! I was just looking for you.” The smaller alicorn pulled Celestia into a hug and nuzzled her neck. “Are you ready to go?” she asked. “Of course! My schedule is clear until noon, so we’ll have plenty of time,” Celestia replied. Luna beamed. “Perfect! I have so much to tell you!” “As do I,” Celestia said. “As do I…” The princesses slowly made their way to the outdoors, which currently was a far more challenging task than it would be usually. After a few minutes of patiently weaving through the crowd, they made it out into the open. Luna grinned at her sister as she flexed her wings. “You ready?” she asked. “Of course!” With that, they took to the air. The breeze whipped through Celestia’s mane as they steadily rose further and further into the sky. Soon, Canterlot was far below them, and the sisters slowed to a comfortable glide, side by side. “Ah, it’s been too long since we did this…” Celestia said with a smile. “Indeed. The last time was…” Luna hummed as she thought. “It was that evening you told me that the griffons had a bug in your room and that you were reacting how they expected, wasn’t it?” “I think so,” Celestia remarked. “That was a while ago. We should do this more often.” “Oh, I agree. Now, if only we weren’t on such radically different sleep schedules.” Luna banked left, and Celestia followed suit. “At this point, I don’t even know if you are on a schedule.” Celestia chuckled. “You play your game with your friends after doing your work in the evening. You come talk with me in the mornings, and then you do various activities throughout the afternoon. Luna, when I encouraged you to make time for friends, I didn’t mean for you to take it away from your sleeping time.” Luna giggled. “Oh, Tia. I’m still sleeping. Just not a lot.” As if on a cue, Luna gave a long yawn. “And that means nothing. Entirely coincidental.” She smiled. “Ah, of course.” Celestia swooped over Luna and rolled her body around. Her wings whipped through the air, and she reoriented herself of Luna’s other side. The solar princess bumped into her sister. “Showoff,” Luna teased. “Always!” Celestia grinned. Luna accelerated, and Celestia forced herself to go faster to match her little sister. “Betcha can’t catch me!” Luna yelled. She raced forward, moving through the air like an arrow. Celestia gasped but then quickly composed herself. “Oh, it is on!” She sped after Luna, flapping her wings furiously. Pegasus magic flowed around her, propelling her faster and faster. But no matter how hard she tried, she just could not catch up to Luna. The younger alicorn sped ahead, outdistancing her larger companion. She let out a whoop of exhilaration and dove toward the ground. A moment later, Luna flipped onto her back and flew upside down in the opposite direction of Celestia. Then, quick as a flash, she shot upward and oriented herself to fly side by side with her sister once more. “Now who’s the showoff?” Celestia teased. “Still you. I was just busy being more agile than you.” This time, Luna was the one to bump into Celestia. “Mwhaha.” Celestia smirked. “And so humble, too.” “But of course!” The sisters laughed together and kept flying. They continued in silence for a little while, but then Luna turned to Celestia. “So… how did the preliminary negotiations with General Chaput go?” she asked. Celestia shrugged. “It was exactly as expected. We both had very large groups present, and we decided together to allow reporters to attend. That, of course, meant that both sides spent more time talking to the audience than to each other. It was basically just three hours of Chaput and Apollo telling each other that they respected each other’s nations and that they both were hoping for peace. I’ll admit it, I almost fell asleep.” Celestia shook her head wryly. “Chaput wasn’t even making any subtle threats or comments. We still don’t know what his motive is.” “What do you think, honestly?” Luna asked. “Is he telling the truth about betraying his leaders? Or is this just another manipulation?” “I think,” Celestia began, “that Chaput is on his own side. I wouldn’t put it past him to betray us, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if he is telling us the truth. In the end, he has a plan, and the question now is whether his plot would hurt us or help us. He thinks he is using us in some way. I intend to turn the tables on him.” Celestia’s eyes flashed. “He considers himself a master manipulator. I wonder if he is so deep into his own plans that he forgets that he is not the only one who has ideas.” “Are you going to manipulate him?” Luna’s eyes widened. “Luna, diplomacy is just a game of everypony trying to manipulate everypony. However, I actually don’t need to do anything to Chaput as of right now. No, there are other players in this game. I want to wait until Father Dmitri reveals his hand.” She grinned. “Chaput is far from being an idiot, but Dmitri is no fool either. I would bet that Chaput would not be able to betray his country on his own. He must have help from other officers. perhaps the captain of his airship? And if others are involved, the chances of Dmitri knowing about the ploy rise exponentially.” “Hmm…” Luna flew absentmindedly and drifted a bit further from Celestia. “Speaking of other players… did Blueblood happen to tell you what he and I spoke about last night?” Celestia sighed and nodded gravely. “The changelings?” “Yes.” “I presume that your ‘secret informant’ is, in fact, your young friend from the internet?” Celestia asked. “Well. Nothing gets past you, does it?” Luna said wryly. “I certainly hope not.” Celestia closed the gap between the two of them. “But about the changelings… I’m not entirely sure what that means.” “Me either. Do you think it is possible that Chrysalis is trying to attack again?” Luna asked. “It’s possible, but Chrysalis likes to make complex plans within plans. She also infiltrates at opportune times when she could gain the maximum amount of love energy. That has been her hive’s strategy for a very long time. As of right now, we are on high alert, and I would say that there isn’t a lot of love energy going around.” Celestia sighed. “This isn’t the right time, unless it’s part of a much bigger plan, in which case we can’t do anything about it. Thus, our only option is to gather information while we attempt to see if there is a correlation between Chaput’s actions, the changeling presence, the griffon military at large, and anything else that will inevitably crop up.” “Hmmm…” Luna moved back toward Celestia. “Now, let’s see…” Celestia muttered. “The griffons currently hold Griffonia, Yakyakistan, Germaney, and Crete. Yakyakistan is fully subjugated and is controlled by the military directly. Germaney is cooperating with them since they are actually improving some of their infrastructure. Crete is currently controlled as a puppet state. Griffonia claims that their military presence is merely a peacekeeping force to support the new government. Soon, Yakyakistan will most likely be the same. We have no way of knowing where the changelings are. The dragons are restless. Our relationship with the zebras is currently strained. Our only real allies right now are Saddle Arabia and Prance.” “Okay,” Luna replied. “What we need to do is slow down the Griffon expansion. If we can keep them at peace, we can manipulate their economy and drive their production into the ground. Griffonia’s main exports are lumber, ores, and computer parts.” Celestia nodded to herself. Her eyes unfocused as she lost herself in thought. “If we encourage Prance, they might be motivated to move into the forestry business. They can bring prices down there. Saddle Arabia can cut into the metal market, and we can offer monetary incentives to Equestrian companies that move into computer production.” “Tia…” Celestia continued, not hearing her sister. “Next, we seed dissent in Germaney. We use our agents to start a propaganda campaign from within. Give support to the traditionalist party that opposes integration into Griffonia’s empire. We send covert aid to Yakyakistan’s rebels. Through our contacts within Germaney, of course. Make life difficult for them there, forcing them to reinforce both nations. Then, we get one of the leaders of Crete under our control. We make him look good to Griffonia, so he becomes the head of the puppets. Of course, he will actually be loyal to us. Blueblood is already preparing all of this.” “Sister.” “But none of that will matter if war erupts now. I need Apollo to push just hard enough that the Griffons extend negotiations and worry about the possibility of war. That way, they station troops on our border and cannot continue to expand into other nations as quickly. But he cannot push too hard. A war with the griffons will cost too many lives. We cannot yet match their technological prowess, at least not until our research and development programs improve drastically. If we can hold them off for, say, two years, we will have reversed engineered enough of their weaponry that we can face them. Integrating magic with their ‘guns’ would be a step in the right direction. By that time, our insurgents will be ready, and we can strike. On the other hoof, we have the changelings.” Celestia growled. “We need to know what they are doing here. If we can stop their plot, or, even better, redirect them to prey upon the griffons, we will be all set. Once the war begins, we—” “Celestia.” Luna interrupted. “I think you need a vacation or something.” “What?” “Seriously.” Luna flew closer and looked at her sister in concern. “Can you even hear yourself? You’re talking about the griffons and changelings and ponies like they’re… like they’re some pieces on a massive game board. It feels like you’re analyzing every single thing, and I’m worried about you.” “I have to.” Celestia met her gaze, her eyes hard. “This is war, Luna. Or, it might be soon. I can’t take a vacation now. I can’t take a break. I can’t do anything but continue.” “Will you let me finish, please?” Luna asked softly, her face betraying her cool tone of voice. Celestia could see her sister’s worry, painted vividly by her grimace and the honest emotion in her eyes. Celestia nodded. “Thank you.” Luna cleared her throat. “You might not be able to take a break, but…” Her voice trailed off and she shook her head. “You told me that you were worried because I didn’t have any friends and because I was hiding from the world. Tia, I think that I hurt you as much as myself. You took my load and bore my burdens. It didn’t really hit me just how much it had changed you until just now, but…” Luna sniffed. “You’ve changed too, Sister. I feel like… like…” Luna’s voice trailed off. “I don’t know how to say it…” Celestia slowed herself, as did Luna. “I think I understand,” she murmured. “I’m scared for you, Sister.” Luna practically whispered her words. “I don’t know why, but this entire situation terrifies me. Griffons, changelings, betrayal everywhere… and then, you’re right in the middle. I feel like I’m not even helping, and it’s like I’m watching you be slowly crushed under the weight of responsibility.” “And yet, that is what we chose,” Celestia said. “We knew the cost, so many years ago. We do this so that nopony else has to.” “But should we? We take all of this, this stress…” Luna sighed. “I just don’t know. I may be exhausted. I don’t know what I’m thinking.” “No, Luna, you’re right.” Celestia looked over at her sister. “This isn’t fair. It never was, and it never will be. But I don’t think I’d have it another way. Do you know how many lives we have saved? We’ve brought down dictators without a single death. We’ve single-hoofedly defeated invasion after invasion. We brought prosperity, peace, and life to what was once an empty land. We have paid a price, but it is one I will always be willing to pay.” Luna returned the gaze unsurely. “That feels like a speech. Something you rehearse, maybe even to try to convince yourself...“ She sighed again. “Sometimes, I think I just want to be a normal pony. Settle down, get a small house, maybe even get m—” Luna blushed and cut herself off. “Wait, what was that?” Celestia asked. “Luna, what is bringing all of this up right now?” “I… uh… um…” Luna’s blush deepened. “It’s nothing…” “Oh, no. We stopped that a hundred years after we started ruling Equestria. We don’t get to ‘nothing’ each other. Is this about…” Celestia’s eyes widened. “No… this isn’t about your friend, is it?” At this point, Luna’s face was completely flushed. “Maybe.” “Luna, are you—” “I don’t know!” Luna said forcefully. “I’m so confused right now. I haven’t felt like this since… well, you know, before the Nightmare. I spend time with him, and it’s just him and me. Like we’re the only ponies in the world. And, and…” She wiped her face with her hoof. “He’s special to me, Celestia. When we were leaving, he shouted my name. I was thinking about the changelings, and he cried out. I panicked. I thought something had happened, I thought I’d lost him, and… and…” “And you suddenly realized what that would mean for you,” Celestia finished for her sister. “Yeah,” Luna said. “And that got me thinking about what he means to me…” “Luna, be careful,” Celestia said. “You barely know this stallion. You should be cautious with these feelings, okay?” “I don’t even know what my feelings are,” Luna replied darkly. “I think I just need time.” “That would probably be best,” Celestia replied. She turned away, lost in thought. The sisters flew together in silence. Eventually, Celestia turned back and smiled wryly at Luna. “So… is he cute?” “Oh, stars.” Luna hid her face behind her hoof. “Tia…” Celestia giggled. “And? Is he?” Luna peered over her hoof. Celestia could see wrinkle marks from her hidden smile. “Uh… Yes. He is.” Celestia continued to flap her wings and looked at her sister with a grin. “Well, don’t keep me waiting! Details!” Luna lowered her hoof, revealing a completely flushed face. “Okay… he’s an earth pony…” “Oh, this is going to be good.” Celestia rubbed her front hooves together and listened. ~~~ “Nest, this is Glasses. We’re at the perch. Over.” Captain Flair snorted as her partner spoke into her radio. “They gave you the codename ‘Glasses.’ That is classic.” Agent Breeze glared at the pegasus from her seat at the table. “Shush. This is an important mission. Stay on task.” “‘Glasses.’” Breeze sighed. “Nest, we are in position. Awaiting signal from Birdseye, over.” “Copy that, Glasses. We’re receiving preliminary intelligence now. Will notify you when the download finishes. Over.” Flair recognized Director Blueblood’s voice over the com. He had decided to run this operation personally, and the analyst assigned to the case was working as his assistant. “Nest, copy that. We’ll monitor the situation from here. Glasses o—” “Hey ladies! May I interest either of you in a coffee this morning?” A red stallion with an apron interrupted Breeze’s transmission. Flair turned to face him. The pegasus mare flashed him a winning smile and brushed her mane away with a hoof. “Hello! I’d like a, umm…” She glanced at her menu. “A caramel macchiato sounds nice!” “Okay! And for you, ma’am?” Breeze glared at Flair. She looked over at the waiter and forced a smile. “No, thank you. I don’t want anything.” “All righty! I’ll have that out for you in no time.” The stallion grinned at Flair. “Nice…” Captain Flair gave a low whistle as she watched him go. “This is way better than being cooped up in Sec Eleven.” The small coffee shop in which they sat wasn’t particularly busy that morning. In fact, it seemed like it wasn’t ever very busy. The small building just so happened to be right down the street from Moonbuck’s Coffee, and most of the denizens of Canterlot seemed to prefer the chain’s slick approach over this store’s more laid-back atmosphere. However, this shop did have one advantage that Moonbuck’s did not possess… It was directly across the street from the Citadel. From the seats at the window table, Flair and Breeze could see directly across into the front lobby of the enormous hotel. The workers across the street moved back and forth inside, and Breeze was keeping a log of their activity. Flair was very busy herself. Her mane had been slightly messed up by the wind, so she was desperately trying to retame it and keep it neat beneath her blue beret. “You know, it would be nice if you did something productive,” Breeze muttered. “I am!” Flair exclaimed. “I’m getting ready to get us inside the building. We’ll need my natural charm and charisma, and those things hinge upon my mane… cooperating… with… me…” She grunted as she tried to work the final knot out of her mane. “There!” Breeze rolled her eyes. “Are you always like this on field missions?” “Pretty much!” Flair said cheerfully. “I mean, come on. Any one of these jobs could go south really quickly. I’ve been shot on three and a half separate occasions in the field. If this is my last day here on Equus, I’m at least going to go out enjoying myself a bit.” She shrugged. “But if the arrows start flying…” Captain Flair opened her saddlebag and showed Breeze her miniaturized crossbow. “I think that says enough, don’t you?” Breeze raised an eyebrow. She maintained eye contact for a moment before nodding slowly. “Fair enough.” “Besides, that stallion is pretty hot. It’d be a crime not to flirt at least a little.” “Aaaaand you ruined it,” Breeze said. She shook her head and smirked. “Here you go, one macchiato!” The waiter lowered a small white cup to the table. “Anything else?” “Actually…” Flair began suggestively. “Oh, Ember! When are we meeting your husband again?” Breeze asked nonchalantly. “I can’t quite remember… When does he get off duty? Royal Guard schedules are so odd sometimes.” “I… uh, what?” Flair asked, taken aback. “I don’t… umm. Yeah.” “Well, let me know if there’s anything!” the waiter said cheerfully. He walked away from the table. “You,” Flair said. “You are evil.” “And you need to pay attention to the job,” Breeze commented smugly. “I’m gonna stay single forever if you keep this up!” she moaned. Breeze snorted. “Good! Maybe you’ll actually start paying attention to important things then and give up romantic pursuits while we are on a job.” Captain Flair gritted her teeth and muttered under her breath. She pulled out a folder and opened it up. “Okay. What do we know about the Citadel so far?” “Intel says that the manager on duty is named…” Breeze glanced at the datapad in her hoof. The newly invented device was connected directly to Section Eleven’s databases by the internet. She used a hoof to navigate through several pages before nodding. “Jay Trotting. That’s the manager. He’s new, but he did some time in an ROTC program in college. He dropped out of the program, but he at least took a changeling identification test. He’s clean.” Flair nodded. “I’ve got some of his info right here. He also doesn’t match the Princess’ agent’s description of the changeling worker. We know that the changelings have to be posing as the same worker or workers. They’re probably also staying as guests there if the the other disguise they are using is indeed one of a businesspony...” “Agreed,” Breeze commented. “I’ll take a look at the other workers.” “Good plan. Let me get the stuff ready…” Flair pulled a small telescope-like device out of one of her saddlebags. The small contraption chirped as she turned it on. “Once we get the okay, I’ll scan for disguise spells with this.” “Then we’ll take a reading of the processed love magic and see if we get any correlation.” Breeze adjusted her glasses. “Just as soon as Nest gets back to us…” “Eh. I’m sure they’ll call back soon.” Flair sipped her coffee. “Mmm! This is good!” She set her drink down and looked around the room. The only other customers were all the way back at the other side of the building. A mare and a stallion sat together in a loving embrace. Flair huffed. Her partner glanced up and raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong?” “Lovey doveys over there.” Flair nodded at them. “They’ll screw with the love magic detection spell, won’t they?” Breeze looked over at the two ponies and shook her head. “Well, they shouldn’t. That’s not how the spell works.” “Oh.” Flair shrugged. When her partner looked back down at her datapad, the pegasus tapped on the table impatiently. “So, are you going to explain how the spell does work?” “Do you care?” Breeze asked, not bothering to look up from her device. “Well, I can’t flirt with the waiter anymore, so yeah, I guess I do.” The unicorn mare smirked. “Well, it’s kind of complicated, and I know for a fact that you didn’t pay much attention in Intro to Magic at college, so I’ll give you the basic version!” “Hey!” Flair exclaimed. “Do you want the complex explanation? I can give you that one.” Captain Flair grumbled. “Just give me the simple version.” “Thought so.” Agent Breeze grinned. “Changelings don’t eat love, per se. Well, not directly. They’re kind of like termites, actually. Termites can’t actually digest cellulose. They ingest the wood, and then organisms inside of them convert the matter into something that the termites can actually use to sustain themselves.” “Eww, bugs.” Flair shuddered. “Not a fan, ya know.” “Aww, how sad. Anyways, changelings don’t digest love. They have to convert it into some other form first. They use a complex natural magic to process the raw emotion into something consumable. That’s why changelings can survive on other emotions, like lust or friendship, if they have to. If the emotion is close enough to love, they can make it fit, sort of.” “Okay, I get that. Anything else?” Flair asked. “The only other parts that you learn about in school, if you pay attention, is about alicorns and changelings that love each other.” Breeze looked pointedly at Flair. “Alicorn love doesn’t have to be processed. Their innate magic screws with the rules. Any alicorn that loves somepony or any pony that loves an alicorn is like a buffet to a changeling. They come running for miles.” She sighed. “That’s why Equestria has so much trouble with changelings. The princesses love the entire nation, so there’s a low level field of free food for any changeling around. That’s also why almost all changeling plots center around one of the princesses.” “Makes sense. What about changelings that love each other?” Flair took another sip of coffee. “Well, they can’t actually process each other’s love. They can still feel love, or so studies show, but they can’t feed off each other. Every once in a while though, there are changelings that can feed off the love of other ‘lings. They’re rare though, and those changelings wouldn’t be picked up on the spell.” Breeze glanced back down at her datapad. “Hopefully we won’t be dealing with those. We don’t have any way to detect that kind of changeling.” “Okay, but what does all of this have to do with detecting the changelings?” Flair straightened her mane again and set her cup back down. “You see, we don’t have to search for changelings. All we need to look for is the processed love. We sort through the white noise of the princess’ love for Equestria, and we can spot them, so long as they’re within range of the spell.” Breeze grinned smugly. “And the entire hotel is within my range.” “Good for you. Here, have a prize.” Flair tossed a napkin at her partner. “So, why aren’t we scanning the building then?” “The changelings would see the spell. We’re waiting for our long-range mages to cast a spell to disguise our surveillance. As soon as they do, they tell Nest, and Nest radios that it’s time for us to start, and then we—” “Glasses, this is Nest. Fortune says that the day is foggy. I say again, the day is foggy, over.” Blueblood’s voice chimed in the mares’ earpieces. “Nest, we copy. Will be in contact after preliminary. Over.” Breeze nodded and turned to Captain Flair. “Let’s see where those changelings have been disguising themselves, shall we?” Captain Flair smiled. She raised the magic detector to her eye and pressed a small blue button. The device hissed, and Flair’s view went blue. She looked across the street at the hotel. The walls had become translucent, and Flair could see the white glow that she knew represented ponies walking around inside the building. She focused the device using a small wheel, and she could see further and further into the building. She grunted. “I’m not seeing anything on the first floor…” “We should move up, floor by floor.” Breeze stood up and walked beside Flair. She raised a newspaper and acted as if she was pointing something out to the pegasus mare. Captain Flair stayed behind the newspaper and focused the device past it. “Moving to second floor…” Flair muttered. She scanned quickly and shook her head. “Nothing here either.” She continued to move up the floors. “Hmm… I wonder if they’re cleaning up after themselves,” Breeze commented. “Nothing on six… seven… eight… ni— Wait a second. I’m getting something on nine.” Flair lowered the scope and hoofed it over to Breeze. “Here, take a look.” Breeze raised the device to her eye and nodded. “Eeyup. That’s low level disguise magic. It’s not too distinct. It’s almost like they tried to clean up their magic residue and missed some of it… or something…” She hummed to herself for a moment. “It’s weird.” “Do you want to send the info back to Nest? They could hook it up to a virtual floor plan and see what room it is.” Flair grabbed the datapad from the table and pulled a cable out of her saddlebag. “Yeah, let’s do it.” Breeze attached the detector to the datapad using the cable and flipped through a few menus. “Nest, this is Flame. We’re sending you a reading off the target. Can you overlay on the floorplan? Over,” Flair said. “Flame, Nest. We’re receiving the data. We’ll get right on it. Over.” Flair nodded. “Okay. Do you want to do the love spell now, Ammy?” “Yeah, I’ll do it,” her partner responded. Agent Breeze put the devices and the newspaper down and sat back down on her chair. She closed her eyes, and her horn began to glow a dark blue color. She grunted in concentration, and Captain Flair felt a chill run down her spine as the spell activated. “I… wow.” Breeze said. “Most of the hotel is clear, but I’m picking up one source… I think it’s the same location as the disguise magic.” “How can we tell?” Flair asked. “I’ll use another spell, silly.” Breeze’s horn flashed again, and she nodded. “Yeah. It’s the same location.” “So, that’s our changeling.” Flair grinned. “I honestly thought that they would have been better at covering their tracks.” “Me too…” Breeze grimaced. “Something doesn’t feel right about this…” “Flame, Nest. We’ve got the room number here. It’s room nine-zero-four. It’s registered to one… Button Mash, of Ponyville,” Blueblood said matter-of-factly. “Flame, Glasses. You have permission to proceed. Bring him back unharmed, if you can.” Flair grinned. She glanced into her saddlebag and nodded. “Well, I guess it’s time to change, isn’t it?” ~~~ Button trotted up to the front desk of the hotel with a wide grin plastered on his face. He looked over at the other side of the large wooden counter and called out to his old friend, saying, “Hey! Jay!” The white coated manager looked up from his paperwork and grinned as he saw the other pony. “Button! How are you?” “Pretty good! I just tried the breakfast here.” Button stretched his neck and sighed. “It was amazing! This place is great. Thank you again for hooking me up!” “Aw, you’re welcome, bro.” Jay smirked. “But… I think you owe me a favor now…” “Uh oh,” Button replied. “I don’t like the sound of that…” “It’s an easy one, I swear!” Jay exclaimed. “You just have to answer a few questions…” “Oh boy.” Button shook his head. “I have a bad feeling about this.” Jay’s grin broadened and he leaned forward. “How was the date?” Button rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on! Really?” “Really! Did you guys, you know…” Jay waggled his eyebrows. “Get to know each other?” “If you are asking if we talked and spent a lot of time together, then yes, we did. If you’re talking about the stuff you used to do with mares on the first date back when we were in college, then no.” Button shook his head. “We’re not like that. I mean, I wouldn’t mind if something happened, but I don’t know if she’s interested.” “Well, she put up with you, right?” Jay asked with a light laugh. “She must be at least a little interested.” “Ah, shuddup.” Button waved him off. “Anyway, I have to run. I’ve got some applications to turn in today, and I left them upstairs. Gonna grab them and head on off to the colleges. Here’s hoping I get one of the openings!” “Yeah! Good luck, Button. Also, give your marefriend a kiss from me!” Jay winked. Button snorted. “Not kissing, and not marefriend.” He strode off laughing. “Oh, I bet she will be… Go get her! Mash her buttons!” Jay said and then roared with laughter. Button shook his head and laughed quietly. “You never change, Jay.” “Never!” The other stallion called out. Button walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the ninth floor. He hummed quietly to himself as he ascended past all the other floors. The door dinged open, and he trotted down the hallway to his room. He opened the door with his keycard and stepped inside. Button had kept his rooms pretty clean. He had left most of his possessions upstairs in his bedroom, except for his writing materials and his laptop, which had been left at the oversized table. Button shut the door and trotted over to the kitchen to grab his applications and— “Button Mash?” Button froze at the sound of the monotone voice. He slowly turned to see a pegasus mare hovering in the corner of the kitchen, just out of view from the front door. Her red and pink mane was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a black tactical vest and orange protective glasses. But the most terrifying part was the crossbow that she held in both hooves… and was aiming at him. “I… I…” Button stammered. “Wh-what do you want?” Another mare, this one a unicorn also dressed in a tactical vest, slowly walked down the stairs. She levitated a crossbow of her own as well. “We’re here to talk to you about changelings, Mr. Mash. Do you know anything about them?” the pegasus asked. “Oh, Luna…” Button swore. “I… I don’t know anything! I swear! Please, don’t shoot me!” “Breeze, can you confirm the target?” the same mare asked. Button felt his coat rise up as if the air around him was filled with static energy. He shivered as a blue aura covered him. As quickly as it came, the magic disappeared, and the unicorn mare nodded. “Nest, do we have final permission to tag?” the first mare held a hoof to an earpiece. Button’s eyes flared wide. His heart raced, and he could feel the fear course through his veins. “I, uhh…” He gasped and pointed at the window. “Oh sweet Celestia! Duck!” The mares spun to look out the window, and Button ran right for the door. He made it halfway across the room before he crashed into a quickly raised shield right in front of him. He glanced back wildly to see the pegasus right behind him. She was grimacing. “Nice try, changeling.” “Changeling?” Button asked. “Wait. I thought that you were the changeli— Guh!” Something across the room twanged, and Button felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked up to see that the unicorn had fired her crossbow, and he reached a hoof up to his chest. He felt something soft and fluttery and yanked it out of him. He glanced down and saw a red-feathered dart. “What in the… world…” The room spun. Everything went dark. But just before the world faded completely, he heard a single voice cut through the shadows. “We have the package. Returning to Nest. Over.” Sleep overtook him.