Groaning, Melody dropped her snout on the window sill and stared at the ponies crowding the street below her. Wiping a few tears from her cheeks and eyes, she sniffled and closed her eyes again, a few stifled sobs escaping her mouth.
She was taken by surprise when she heard the door behind her open and close. She cast an eye towards the door to see Rising Chorus coming, squinting her one eye at the green-furred pony making his way towards her. She turned her head around to look outside and let out another sigh. Why were they not leaving her alone?
She nearly jumped from her bed when she saw a hoof smash itself onto the window sill, slowly arching her head to the side to see Rising Chorus glaring at her with a disappointed scowl on his face. Her eyes widened, and her ears fell flat onto her head. She took a long breath and switched her gaze to the outside world again.
“Melody, we need to talk.”
She took another long breath and rolled her eyes. Why didn’t they just leave her alone? She shook her head a little and sharply replied, “I don’t have anything to say to you.”
That did not seem to satisfy Rising Chorus as his magic enveloped her form, leaving her to shriek and struggle helplessly within his magical grasp. She glared daggers when he placed her in front of him on her bed. He sat on his haunches and sighed at the filly while his horn glowed green a bit.
Flames began to eat away at his form, turning his green coat into his usual glossy chitin. Glancing at her with his large blue eyes, he moved onto the bed and slid a hoof against her mane. Freezing in motion instantly, Melody shot him another glare, but he did not stop.
Rising Chorus pursed his lip, biting his upper lips while he shuffled his hind legs together. He opened his mouth a few times as if to say something, but each time no words came out, and he found himself closing it just as fast as it opened. His ear pinned atop his head, and he just stared down at her, even though she refused to look at him, her head turned the other way.
Idly stroking her mane now, even though she did distance herself with time, he blinked and frowned. “Look, Melody. I know you never asked for any of this. I know you’re angry and sad. But please, just leave Choir Heart out of this. She does not deserve to be on the receiving end of your anger.”
Melody tensed, and she slowly turned to face him with a frown on her face. He did not seem surprised, though. Even when she tilted her head to the side and put a hoof under her chin, he still arched an eyebrow, giving Melody a suspicious glance.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she responded weakly, shuffling her legs in kind, and staring him straight in the eye.
He did not stop glancing at her with those suspicious eyes, and she felt like she was being interrogated. The filly rubbed her left foreleg nervously. That was when he reached out for her, pulling her close and embracing her. He softly whispered in her ear, “Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Melody, I’m a changeling.” He paused as he repositioned himself on the bed. “I’ve felt it since the last few days. Whether it is conscious or not, it remains that you’ve been feeding on Choir Heart’s emotions, and I need you to stop doing that. I’ve not taught you how to harvest emotions only to have you use it on your very own sister.”
She smashed her hoof into his chest when he was done, looking up at him, tears now glistening in those golden eyes of hers. “She’s not my real sister. You’re not even my real family. You can’t even begin to understand how I’m feeling right now!” she let out, her voice shattered into sobs.
She slammed her hoof into his chest, but he took it quietly, letting her small hooves shake his form. Grasping those ribbons on her mane with his magic, he pulled one after the other to let her silky mane slide across her neck and fur, grazing her skin if only barely. She looked at him, tears in her eyes, her cheeks and fur by now dampened.
“So, this is what this is about, huh?” Rising Chorus cooed, almost cooing into her ear as he pulled her closer. “I think I can relate to your situation, Melody.”
She shook her head and kept pounding her hooves against the changeling, bawling her eyes out all the while. “No, you can’t! You can’t possibly understand my pain, Crescere!”
Melody froze when she felt him kiss her forehead softly, the cold touch of his fangs embracing her fur and skin sending chills down her spine. Her body shook like a delicate leaf, and as the tears kept on flowing, he whispered, “Not yours specifically.” He paused, licking his lips. He then created some distance and craned his head down to come face to face with the filly. “I’ve never met my father, and my mother neglected me as a child and left me to the caretakers. This family I created with Coral is the closest thing to a real family I’ll ever have, and I hope you can become a part of it too. In time, of course.”
But Melody shook her head. His words hung around her mind, weighing upon it and sinking into it, making her confused over what she was supposed to feel. She moved her hooves to wipe the tears from her eyes and fur, sniffling moment later. She shuffled her hind legs again, and she directed her gaze to the ground, letting out a rather forced sigh, her chest rising way more than before, crashing down mere seconds later in a strained silence as words refused to leave her.
“But how? How did you do it? How did you move forward?” she asked as her voice cracked, still evading his softened gaze.
“I came to terms with my mother. Maybe you’re too young to understand it yet, but we all grow by learning from our mistakes,” he told her gently, extending a hoof to stroke her head tenderly, even if she did shy away from the gesture, “and our pain. Not just physical pain, but psychological pain as well. It’s normal for us to want to bury what hurts the most, but we should never forsake who we became because of that pain. And what I see right now is a young filly with a lot of potential. You shouldn’t be here moping and wallowing in your self-pity. You should be out there, making friends and enjoying life as any child does at your age.”
The filly gave a soft nod and looked away to look at the window, staring at the clear sky outside. She slid off her bed and landed softly on all four hooves, walking past Rising Chorus. She grasped the doorknob with her magic and opened the door to see Coral Charm, her adoptive mother, standing there with a few tear strains against her fur. She attempted to touch Melody, but she withdrew her hoof when the filly walked past her.
Rising Chorus followed after her once she out of the room, and he gave his wife a loving glance, nuzzling her when she buried herself against him and cried. He threw another glance at Melody to see the limping filly head for the door leading outside, and called, “Where do you think you’re going, young filly?”
Melody spun her head back and looked back at him, her eyes painted with many emotions. Still attempting to figure out what she was supposed to feel, she just turned her head around and opened the door. “I just need a breath of fresh air.”
Rising nodded, stroking Coral Charm’s back, and he gave his wife his full attention moments later. “All right. Just be back in time for dinner, then.”
----
As Melody strolled through the streets, she could feel all the looks move on her. Maybe out of sympathy for her leg, or hatred for her species. She shied away from any passersby she encountered and looked for a park or playground. She needed some alone time, and if it weren't too crowded, it could give her just that.
When she finally got to the nearest playground, she felt herself shrink in size at the sheer amount of children gathered there and playing. When all those eyes fell on her, her ears glued themselves to her head. She took a few steps backward and pivoted towards the opposite way.
Just as she was about to head out, she felt a leg wrap around her neck and pull her back. She shrieked and pulled herself free, stumbling to the side and falling on her back. She heard the laughter of a filly to her right, blinked and looked up with a flustered expression.
The filly in question chuckled and offered Melody an apologetic smile. “Sorry, sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you, but you should have seen your face! It was priceless!”
Melody furrowed her brow and rolled her eyes, pulling herself back up. She shook her wings and her flanks, shaking her head all the while. She eyed the pony cautiously, and asked, “I’m sorry, but who are you?”
The filly wiped a few tears from her eyes and gave Melody a surprised look, placing a hoof on her chest and gasping loudly. “You mean you don’t know who I am?” Just as Melody opened her mouth to answer, the filly stuffed her hoof in her mouth and shook her head. “Don’t answer that. Of course, you don’t know who I am. Cherry Blossom, resident prankster. You’re one of those whatchamacallits, aren’t you? So what’s your story, eh?”
The filly in question, Cherry Blossom, had a pristine white coat covering her whole body. Her mane was tied in a ponytail, and was dual-toned, with a streak of white separating the pink of her mane. A smile spread her lips wide, and she offered Melody one of the friendliest smiles she’d seen. One careful look revealed that the filly's friendly innocence was simply front to hide the incredible playfulness she had.
Melody almost leaped backward, grimacing and rolling her tongue in her mouth, frowning, then closing her eyes. She spat the foul taste rubbing against her tongue and mouth, looking at Cherry Blossom with a very cautious glare. She felt no malicious intents though she did keep her distance from the filly.
“N-no. I’m not a changeling,” Melody retorted shyly. “At least not completely…”
Cherry Blossom seemed to spring forth from her distance, closing the distance between the two without leaving Melody any time to prepare herself. The filly moved around her, prodding her flanks, lifting her wings with her hooves and letting them fall on Melody’s back. She tugged her tail and then moved down to inspect her hooves. Lifting one of them, and effectively making Melody shriek when she started to lose balance, she giggled and pulled away, leaving Melody to buzz her wings loudly in an attempt to stabilize herself.
“Yup, I can confirm. You’re a bug pony, through and through. Wanna be my friend?” Cherry enthusiastically let out.
Melody looked at the filly in front of her, wondering what had just happened in the few minutes she’d met her at the park. Shaking her head and tilting it moments later upon placing her stare on Cherry Blossom, Melody could only offer a confused expression to the filly. “W-what?”
Cherry blinked and giggled at the response. “Geez, are you sure your ears aren’t clogged or anything? Else I’m gonna start thinking you’re half deaf or something.”
Melody blushed and leaned forward, pressing her snout against Cherry’s. “H-hey, that was uncalled for!” she replied and took a few steps back. “Besides, why would you want to be friends with me? You don’t even know me.”
Cherry tilted her head, arching an eyebrow at the other filly. “Silly filly, I don’t need a reason to be your friend. Besides, it’s not like anypony can claim they’re friends with a changeling and- Ooh, are those fangs? Are you a carnivore?”
With a roll of her eyes, Melody could hardly contain what laughter she had saved up from the Earth Pony's antics. Cherry Blossom soon joined her and pulled the hybrid into a hug, though this time Melody accepted it. She calmed down a bit and looked at Cherry with a smile, flashing one of her fangs. “How about you come a bit closer and find out for yourself?”
Cherry Blossom looked around and back to Melody, offering the changeling a soft smile when she looked up at the sun nearing its setting. “Y’know, I should probably be thinking of making my way back home. My mom will probably have noticed by now that I snuck out.”
And as if on cue, the distant stomping and growling reached both fillies, and they looked behind them to see a mare heading their way with a scowl on her face. The mare had a beautiful white coat just like Cherry had, but her mane was completely different. Her curly mane undulated down her neck and on the side of her neck were some strands of hair done in small braids. She glowered at Cherry Blossom and the filly shrank in place at the towering approach of the mare.
“Cherry Blossom, this is the last time you'll sneak out of your room when you’re grounded!” she bellowed.
Nodding sheepishly at the scolding she had just gotten, Cherry eyed Melody, her gaze screaming ‘help me please’ before her mother’s head craned down at Melody and she blinked.
“Young lady, what did I tell you about changelings?”
Cherry sighed and looked away, her eyes staring at the ground all the while. “Not to approach them, I know, I know!” she groaned, sighing. “But mom, she’s fun to play with, I tell you. Plus, I think she lives in town, don’t you… uh… what’s your name?”
Melody giggled and gave Cherry’s mother a quick bow of the head. She looked back down at Cherry and placed a hoof on her snout to cover up the growing smile. “Melody. Melody Swiftsong.”
The mare nodded and planted a harsh glare on Melody, making her go weak in the knees. She looked back at her friend’s mother, even though she wondered if she could call Cherry her friend yet, and gulped audibly.
“Well then, Miss Swiftsong. I’d appreciate it if you stayed away from my daughter. The last thing I need is a love-sucking monster as her friend.”
Cherry Blossom skipped a beat and snapped her head upwards, shooting a glare her mother’s way and puffing her cheeks. She fidgeted in her spot as she fumed. “Mom! You don’t have to say that to her!” she shouted angrily, pushing her head against her mother’s leg. “Besides, you live here, don’t you Melody?”
Melody nodded. “I do. I’ve been residing with Rising Chorus and his family for the past month since…” she paused midway, a lump forming in her throat. Her eyes began glistening with tears, and she held back a few sobs. “I’m sorry, I should go back home now.”
And with that, Melody turned around and headed back the way she had come from earlier. It was only once she was turned around that she allowed the floodgates to break. She silently cried, remembering that she was truly alone.
A flame burned in her heart. Three distinct flames turned darkness to light whenever she thought about it. She knew she was not alone. Stopping in her steps for just a moment, wincing as she had to step on her injured leg, she wiped her tears and made her slow way home, her lips pursed into a smile.
She turned around to see Cherry Blossom and her mother leaving the park. Taking in a long breath, she blinked and shouted, “Hey, Cherry! See you again when school begins!”