//------------------------------// // Mandatory Time Off // Story: From the Ashes: Ember's Story // by Zoljen //------------------------------// Ember let out a sigh as she got off the train and stepped out into the Manehattan train station. She looked around at the familiar and bustling sight, chuckling to herself. “At least nothing has changed in the past two decades,” she mused to herself. “You can say that again.” The sudden, yet familiar, voice made her jump and look to her left. She saw a golden pony with a black mane smirking at her. “For being something that can sense emotions, you’re easy to sneak up on. Been awhile, eh, Ember?” After calming down, she saluted him. “Yes it has, Captain.” He stared for a moment before laughing. “One, it's admiral now and two, put that hoof away, you know I don't like being saluted unless I'm on my boat.” He shook his head with a grin. “So, what brings you here? I thought you’d be in Canterlot for that wedding? Soaking up all that love and fluff in the area.” he snickered. “Eh, weddings aren't my thing. I managed to get out before that barrier got put up.” She started towards the station doors. “I am here on vacation for the next two weeks. Faith Cure told me I had to take it or lose the time.” She shrugged as she walked. “I figured might as well visit this city this time instead of pass through.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Why are you here and not on the high seas?” “Same reason as you... mostly.” “More like forced into it.” The flat voice made her squeak as she looked to her right, seeing Clear Theorem there. “And you're still as undetectable as ever, Clear Theorem.” “Hey! It's not my fault we got into an argument!” Gold Star turned to Theorem. “About protocol, again.” Theorem said flatly, smirking faintly into Gold Stars glare. “Boys, sheesh. You’re in public,” she chuckled as she parted them with her magic. “I'm hungry, and could go for a cooked fish. Care to join me?” Gold Star looked at Ember for a moment, then chuckled. “Yeah sure. I could go for something.” “Well boys, lead the way.” Ember gestured towards the large city. They lead her a to a local restaurant and spent the next hour or so eating and catching up. They spent the time telling war stories, and using insane methods to win the day, while she just rambled on about how some ponies whine like they are dying when they get a paper cut. “So, Admiral, huh?” Ember chuckled as she cut into her steak. “Never expected you to take up that rank.” “I couldn't put it off any longer. They kept insisting and insisting, and I finally caved,” Gold Star sighed as he took a gulp of some tea. “It did not help that they decommissioned the ship,” Theorem commented, making Gold Star roll his eyes. “Unofficially. Lousy officials and rules,” he grumbled as he chewed on some food. “The ship is on display at the museum. We were going to check it out later, maybe relive a few memories. You could join us.” “May help, so if I get separated from the tour group, I don't get lost. I swear, that ship is like a maze.” Ember shook her head. “Did you ever get signs put in?” Theorem nodded. “It still did not help half the crew. It is also difficult to read in the middle of a crisis.” Ember shrugged. “Can't fault that.” “So, what are your plans?” Gold Star asked, tilting his head towards Ember. “You know, I don't really have any. How long are you boys here for?” “About a week and a half, why?” “I believe she is wondering what our plans are, sir,” Theorem smirked as Ember just nodded. “Ahh, well. Checking out the ship, I believe there was a Wonderbolt show too. One of the recruit squads too I think.” “Huh, would of thought the Wonderbolts would be in Canterlot for the wedding.” Ember mused, putting a hoof to her chin. “It's in two days, the wedding is four days after that. They should be back in time for that.” Gold Star nodded. “Except I don't have tickets to it.” Ember glanced at her tea for a moment, “And getting them now would be…” “Hello, Miss Haze,” a new voice made them glance to the side, seeing Spin Helix standing there. “Is this seat taken?” They shook their heads, Ember scooted over some as Helix sat down. “I couldn't help but overhear you were thinking of attending the show, turns out I have a spare ticket. Would you care to join me there?” “You wouldn't mind taking me?” Helix shook his head with a grin. “Nope, turns out who I was going to take has other plans.” He glanced to Theorem for a second, who turned away and puffed out his reddening cheeks. Ember glanced at him, tilting her head slightly. “Huh… So you do have emotions,” she grinned, as his cheeks got redder. She turned to Helix and nodded slightly, “Yeah. I don't really have any plans within the next few days. In the meantime, I still have to check into the hotel. And I may snooze after that, long train ride and all that. Thanks for the meal, boys.” Ember spent the next day enjoying the company of Clear Theorem and Gold Star. They toured the ship twice, before Gold Star got kicked out of the tour group for explaining how the ship worked in the navy to the tour guide. They spent the rest of the day just browsing various places, and it seemed most shops were selling things for the upcoming wedding in Canterlot. She only bought a few things, like a fancy hat and a few little statues of the element bearers. She got tiny statues of Twilight and Rarity, and one of Rainbow Dash mid-flight. She kept them in her saddlebags as she finished browsing, but she didn't buy anything else that day. The next day, she was taken to the Wonderbolt show by Spin Helix. “This will be so cool!” Helix beamed as he led Ember to the stadium. “You know I tried out for the Wonderbolts before.” “Oh? How did it go?” Ember glanced around at all of the ponies around, they were all radiating excitement. “Eh, not so well. They held a three day tryout, I made it to day two before I reached my limit.” He shrugged, “But, after that I tried out for her majesty's Royal Navy and turns out that's the place for me!” He grinned widely. “So, who all is performing?” Ember asked, already absorbing the ambient excitement in the air. “The lead squad, squad twelve and a Recruit Squad, Alpha. It's a short show really. They normally have four or five squads showing in Manehattan.” He shrugged slightly. “Cloudsdale also has four or five performing squads. But since the wedding is coming up soon, they shortened this show.” Ember rolled her eyes slightly. “Yeah, the wedding. I don't exactly see the big deal with that.” Helix stopped and poked Ember, “Well, seeing as how love isn't your favored emotion, I can see why you’d think that. But it's an alicorn marrying the captain of the guard. Kind of a big deal for us normal folk.” Ember raised an eyebrow, “So why aren't you there?” “Wonderbolt show!” He grinned as he put his face to hers, grabbing her shoulders for a moment before letting her go. They were pointed towards one of the seats closest to the inner stadium, getting nearly front row seats. Ember certainly felt all the emotions the fans were giving as they piled into their seats. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, earning a glance from Helix. “You okay?” He asked, sounding concerned. “Yeah, just… a lot of emotion in the air.” She grinned to him. “If anything, I’ll be topped off for a year after this.” she mumbled just loud enough for him to hear. “I was curious how you, er, operate. But I suppose you can explain that later. For now, enjoy the show!” “So, uh, care to point out who is who? I only vaguely know the roster of the Wonderbolts. I am sure you know it better.” Helix nodded, “Oh yeah, totally. In fact, here comes the lead squad now.” He grinned and pointed out, as four pegasi flew into the area and circled around for a lap before floating to the center. The bright orange mare floated above the other three, a light blue mare, a light blue stallion, and an orange stallion. “The orange mare is Spitfire, she is the captain of the Wonderbolts, since Blazetail and Flashwind retired. Then you have Fleetfoot, the blue mare there, next to her is Soarin, and finally Rapidfire.” Helix pointed to each one, “They are the youngest to take over the Gold squad position, and quite possibly some of the best flyers out there.” “Huh.” Ember looked over each one, unable to really see them from her current spot. “Thank you for attending this Wonderbolt show!” Spitfire announced. “We understand there is a major wedding in Canterlot, as those events tend to sneak up on us! So while this is a short show, we hope you enjoy it before going to the festivities there! And now, Squad Twelve!” The lead squad then dived down towards the ground, spreading out once they were close enough and swooping into the entrances into the open field. “We’ll get to meet them afterwards.” Helix grinned, glancing to Ember who squeaked. “Seriously?” Helix nodded with a grin. “VIP tickets!” he pointed to the field. “Squad Twelve is starting, at least I think so. They should of been on the field by now.” Helix tilted his head slightly, looking confused. Both he and Ember blinked as they heard a voice from behind them. “Guess that's my cue!” They turned to see a pony that was wearing an oversized coat stand up from the seat behind them and shake the coat off, revealing a gray-purple pegasus mare wearing the Wonderbolt uniform. She grinned, spread out her wings, and quickly took the air, as three more figures did the same from various spots in the bleachers. The four aimed for the middle of the field and, just before they would collide, did a quick direction change and aimed skywards. They quickly disappeared into the clouds above the stadium. The clouds soon started to turn from their puffy white to a dull grey, slowly starting to fall into the stadium and fill it with a thin mist. Ember seemed confused as the mist stayed within the boundaries of the field, and not seeping into the stands. Ember blinked, looking towards the center as she noticed a pair of fire trails circling around the edges of the mist. Focusing on them, she noticed they were spiraling around what looked like thicker streams of water that were absorbing the mist. She could barely make out a stallion and mare leading each trail as they spiraled around. After making a complete circle, most of the mist had lifted revealing a ribbon of fire and water snaking around each other around the field. Once the circle was complete, the mare and stallion leading the fire snakes turned towards the middle, zooming towards each other as the other two leading the water went skyward. The pair with the fire snakes were seconds from colliding, before they turned skyward. Ember glanced up and noticed the water snakes were on a collision course, and just before they made impact, the pegasi broke their trails and skimmed past each other as the trails collided. The water snakes melding with the fire and causing small explosions to erupt along the trails, making water and steam spray everywhere. As the water rained over the crowd, it felt warm and quickly dried after impacting the ponies’ fur. As Ember looked herself over, she chuckled and glanced back towards the field, seeing the squad floating there, bowing to the crowd in mid air. It didn't take long before the roar of applause filled the stadium, as even Ember joined in. After the applause died down, Ember sat back and let out a content sigh. “That was impressive.” Helix grinned to her as he calmed down. “The Wonderbolts do this kind of thing a lot. Usually each squad is a master of something. The lead squad has a mix of things. Squad Two is the elements. Squad Three is impromptu shows. Their shows are never the same; it's awesome.” “But to have such mastery of the elements?” Ember looked towards Helix, “I’ve seen unicorns who have a strong magical presence, but hardly any control over rain or fire like that!” “We are the masters of the sky for a reason,” Helix smirked. “Drakes would disagree with that statement,” Ember said flatly, then held a hoof to her lips. “Erf, that was… filling.” She looked back out to see Spitfire flying back to the center of the field. “Mares and stallions, Squad Twelve!” She announced, with a very faint growl. “I think I’ve seen you around Canterlot General Hospital… Emerald Haze, was it?” Spitfire looked over Ember as she sat there, somewhat stunned by being around the Wonderbolts. Ember nodded slightly. “Y-yea, I work there.” She managed to squeak out as she was currently fighting off an emotional overload. Not from her, no, just the pegasus next to her, and the other four in the room being huge fans of the Wonderbolts. “I’m just here on vacation.” “And not staying in Canterlot for the wedding?” Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “Eh, they really aren't my thing… weddings, that is.” Ember grinned weakly. “Weird thing I know,” she shrugged. “Not really. Not everypony is into weddings, but this is about an alicorn and the captain of the guard. So it is kind of a big deal for most.” Spitfire tilted her head slightly. “Are you okay? You seem kind of… buzzed.” Ember quickly shook her head, “Oh no! I’m fine! It's just my first Wonderbolt show! This is kind of a spur of the moment thing! Spin Helix invited me along as I didn't really have any plans in Manehattan.” She grinned widely. “I'm going to go get some water… yeah.” She quickly scampered off to the buffet table and grabbed a cup of water, chugging it down. Get a hold of yourself… It's just a ton of emotion in the span of an hour. Enough to feed my old hive five times over with a few months left to spare. That's all Ember. Ember glared at the cup before her, now empty as she had chugged all of it's contents. “So.” The new voice made Ember squeak and look to her right, seeing a teal blue mare standing there with a grin. “It's not often we get unicorn fans.” “Uh, hi. Fleetfoot, right?” The mare nodded, Ember quickly scanned the room for Helix, spotting him after a moment. “I’m here with Spin Helix. He invited me along since I had no real plans here in Manehattan on my vacation.” “Oh, what about the wedding?” Fleetfoot leaned closer to her, making Ember recline some. “Not a fan of them.” “Nor I, but they are fun to perform shows for!” Fleetfoot grinned. “Would you like to meet the other Wonderbolts?” Ember gave a slight nod. Fleetfoot kept her grin as she led her over to Squad Twelve. “You know I'm the best fire handler in the Wonderbolts!” the light blue mare grinned as the grey-violet mare shook her head slightly. “Blaze is. You do come in second though, Azzy. Personally, I think you’re more controlled than her, but in terms of raw power? She wins.” “Moony has a point,” the yellow stallion smirked. “I don't think anypony can beat her raging flame.” “I can!” Fleetfoot beamed as she walked up them. The gray-violet mare smirks back at Fleetfoot. “We all know you’re the Alpha Mare, Fleet… But you don’t handle fire, Madam Silver Streak.” “So true. Anyway, you can talk of the Omega later. For now you four can meet this unicorn here!” Fleetfoot glanced to Ember’s name tag for a second. “Emerald Haze, meet Squad Twelve. Captain Moonbow and Lieutenant Commander Sunshower, the water handlers,” she pointed to each as she listed them off. “And Lieutenant Azure Star and Lieutenant Bear Claw; the fire handlers.” Ember looked over each one, her eyes stopping on Moonbow. “Wait, you were the one who flew out of the seat just above me and Helix!” “Yep!” “And we still need to talk about that,” a voice growled from everyone's side. As they looked, they saw Spitfire glaring at Moonbow, who just grinned back. “What? We paid for the tickets! It's in our budget!” Out of… somewhere from her uniform, Moonbow pulled a sheet of paper with columns and numbers all neatly printed with sums and notations. “See! Item number sixty-two! Four tickets, general admission, Manehatten show!” “But you can't… just… Ugh. Nevermind.” Spitfire face hoofed, turned, and walked away. “See Fleet,” Moonbow started, making Spitfire stop and turn part way, “you said she’d be mad! It’s a shame you had to pass that idea off to us…” Spitfire turned to Fleetfoot and grabbed her, dragging her away before she could defend herself, leaving Ember sitting next to a snickering pair of pegasi at Fleetfoot’s protests. “So,” Sunshower started with a grin, scooting next to Ember, “I believe you were getting introduced to us?” “The Wonderbolts in general, brother dear,” Moonbow corrected as she moved up to Ember’s other side. “Hmm, who to introduce her to next.” She looked around the large room; Soarin was still talking to the press, with members of Recruit Squad Alpha next to him. Rapidfire was off by the buffet table by himself. “Let’s get the sourpuss out of the way first, since Soarin is busy with the press.” The three closed in on Rapidfire, and it was Sunshower who got his attention by clearing his throat. Rapidfire turned to glare at the twins, before noticing Ember and instantly switched over to a grin. “Well, hello there.” He started, and Ember winced very slightly as she could detect what would be described as the one raincloud in the room full of sunshine. “Who is this?” “Emerald Haze is one of our VIPs.” Moonbow had a serious tone in her voice. “And we are introducing her to the Wonderbolts.” “And seeing as how Soarin is busy with the Recruit squad and the million questions of the Press…” Sunshower grinned. “You thought I could use some good company,” Rapidfire grinned towards Ember. Wow, what a buzzkill. She thought she looked him over, stepping back as he stepped forward. Her buzz from the show earlier was certainly gone now, with the pile of discomfort in front of her effectively killing it. For now at least. “Liking what you see before you?” He smoothly asked, leaning forward some as the two pegasi next to Ember took a few steps away. Ember shrugged slightly. “I’ve seen better come into the Hospital.” she replied curtly. “Then maybe you could give me a more thorough examination later.” He smirked. “Don't know if I could find anything beyond your ego.” She made a disgusted face as she turned and started towards the juice on the table. “Now I need something to wash out the bad taste.” She sat and levitated a cup of juice to start drinking. “Well, somepony got shot down in flames.” Moonbow smirked, glancing at Rapidfire who scoffed back. “She’ll come around. They always do,” Rapidfire eyed the mare’s plot as she walked. Ember let out a soft sigh as she watched all the pegasi mingle with the Wonderbolts, feeling just a touch out of place. She had said to herself a long time ago that she’d get to know the roster better, but her job at the hospital derailed that. Not that she could really complain anyway, she did get to see them on occasion. She got snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a pony trot up beside her. She glanced over and saw Soarin, pouring himself some juice. “Oh, excuse me,” she said, scooting a little out of the way. “Not a problem, ma’am.” He looked her over, spotting the VIP pass. “You must be Emerald Haze. Captain Moonbow said you shot down Rapidfire’s advance on you.” Ember rolled her eyes. “Yeah. More ego than anything else it seems on that one, and I could swear he was still staring at my plot as I walked away,” she grumped. “Well, he does go chasing tails after all.” “And he calls himself a Wonderbolt?” Ember turned to look at Soarin. “Not all of us are saints. We just happen to not go chasing tails whenever one shows up.” “Best to not let the press hear you say that.” Azure snuck up on the pair, grinning. “You never know what they’d say after that.” “Just like I wouldn't say that around your captain, eh Azzy?” Soarin smirked and poked at Azure’s chest. “But we get our best food from the lead squad! Captain Hotpants is the best source!” She grinned widely. “Alright folks!” Spitfire yelled to the room. “Time to wrap this up, we have a wedding to attend too!” “But that isn't for four days!” one of the pegasi shouted back to her. “And the train ride is long!” she shouted back. Ember was gently ushered out of the room, meeting back up with Helix afterwards who was excited at meeting the Wonderbolts. After relaying how her experience went, and how she basically ate five Hearth’s Warming feasts in one go, Helix agreed that she should spend the rest of the day relaxing back at her hotel room. Four days had gone by since the Wonderbolt show, and Ember spent a day recovering from the feast of energy. The two days after recovering she spent exploring the town by herself, almost bouncing wherever she went since she was still full of energy. The next day after that she encountered Gold Star again, and he had told her the wedding had started. Gold Star, Helix, Ember, and Clear Theorem were enjoying lunch together, with Helix telling the others all about the latest Wonderbolt show. Along with the VIP meeting afterwards and getting to meet the Lead Squad in the flesh, Ember added in her own bits from the adventure, and noted that she might make other shows as they were certainly a good source of energy. “Seriously, you acted like you were at least buzzed,” Helix chuckled, glancing to Ember who blushed faintly, looking at her dish of food. “What can I say, my first Wonderbolt show. I didn't expect it to be so, ah, emotional,” Ember chuckled softly. “I was curious, how exactly does that work for you? Eating energy and all that stuff,” Gold Star asked, as he leaned on the table some as he looked Ember over. “Think of us having a pair of batteries. One for normal means, to power all of our magic. Then a back up generator that we can tap into, like an adrenaline surge,” Ember shrugged. “It's a bit complicated to explain, but that's the best I could do.” “So, it's like one battery for normal magic, and another for like, alicorn magic? More limited but more powerful?” Helix tipped his head to the side, glancing at Ember. “That would be a better assumption,” Ember nodded. “The normal one refills naturally over time, like a normal unicorn, while the other could be used to enhance our healing, or our power in general. I’d say after that show I could take on Celestia,” she paused for a moment as the others just stared at her. “But I wouldn't. I’d lose in a heartbeat,” she put her hooves up defensively. “Right, you are not a fighter.” Theorem stated then blinked as the diner door opened. “Sir!” A red unicorn mare with dark red stripes and her black mane and tail pulled into buns came running up to their table. “We have a situation most dire! Canterlot is under fire!” They all looked shocked at her. “Who would attack during a wedding, Tonal Shift?” Gold Star asked as he stood up first. “Sir that is not yet clear, but we will not find the answer here,” she started as the five of them dashed out of the diner towards the station, leaving a fair pile of bits on the table before exiting. They quickly made their way towards the train station. “You don't have to come with us, Ember, you’re on vacation,” Gold Star ran up beside her as they dashed through the streets. “Canterlot is my home, and I'm a doctor. There could be wounded that the hospital hasn't found when we arrive.” “Miss Haze, against your return I must advise. The attackers look like you without disguise.” Ember screeched to a halt, wide eyed as she stared at Tonal. “WHAT?!” Gold Star slid to a stop and turned to face Tonal Shift as the others stopped. “More like her, or less like her?” “They are more like you and me, draconic heritage there cannot be.” Ember looked to the ground. “Doesn't make sense...why…” she growled, then started off faster towards the station, making the others dash to try and keep up with her. “Ember! Wait up!” Gold Star shouted, “Helix, take to the air and follow her!” Helix nodded and jumped into the air, pumping his wings as he tried to keep up with the over energetic changeling. Ember made it to the station first, pushing her way up to the ticket counter. “Five tickets to Canterlot!” The stallion behind the counter shook his head. “No can do ma’am. We aren't allowing any trains to go to Canterlot while it is being attacked. Standard protocol to protect the ponies of Equestria,” he stated, matter-of-factly. “We understand you may have loved ones there right now, but it's not safe to-” He was cut off as Gold Star slid up to the counter, panting. “Five tickets to Canterlot, now.” “As I was telling this mare here, I can't -” “By order of Admiral Gold Star.” He slapped down a passport and slid it towards the stallion. “Now.” The stallion looked down at the passport, gasping and looking back at the pony before him. “Sir, yes sir!” he saluted and quickly got the paperwork in order. Gold Star grinned and turned to Ember. “I told you to wait up. You run really fast for being a doctor.” “Yeah, well…” Ember trailed off. “How long will it be until a train is ready?” “We can gather your belongings and send it out once we are able to, ma’am. We just need the hotel you're staying at and your room number,” the stallion said calmly as he slid five tickets to Gold Star. Ember paced back and forth in the cabin that she and Theorem were stuck sharing. She looked incredibly nervous and kept glancing out the window before resuming her pacing. “Keep that up and you may wear a hole in the train.” Ember sighed and sat on a couch, grumping and staring out a window. “You should not worry yourself sick, Miss Haze. There has to be a valid reason for why other changelings would attack.” Ember sighed, looking at Theorem, “I wish I could figure out why. It doesn't make any sense at all!” She threw her hooves out, “Not one lick of sense!” She looked back out the window, seeing the trees cruise on by, and sighed loudly. They remained in silence for a few minutes, a knock alerted Theorem that there was company. Ember didn't seem to register it as she remained staring out the window. Theorem opened the door to let in Gold Star. He took a few steps in, closing the door behind him and sitting by it. “How is she doing?” he asked calmly, watching Ember. “She stopped pacing five minutes ago. She is still worried about why changelings would attack,” Theorem shrugged slightly, “Based on what we know of them, this seems like a highly illogical course of action.” “I’ll say.” Gold Star sighed. Ember perked up, as she noticed something, and when Theorem blinked and glanced in the direction they were going, Gold Star felt out of the loop. “What's happening?” “Is that… a barrier spell?” Ember asked, pressing her face to the window. “A really powerful one to reach way out here.” Theorem commented. “Must be augmented with alicorn magic.” “Speak Equestrian dammit!” Gold Star huffed as he glared at the two unicorns who looked back at him, Ember grinning sheepishly. “Sorry, sir. I forgot you're not a unicorn.” She rubbed the back of her neck as Gold Star rotated his hoof. “We detected, faintly, a barrier spell in action. Must of been used to repel the changelings.” “How?” “Take a strong emotion, put it into a filter barrier, and you can block a changeling like that.” “That seems like a major flaw,” Gold Star commented, then blinked. “So you're saying a barrier wouldn't fully stop you?” “A typical barrier would, a filter barrier like what Shining Armor had up? If you know what to stop, then it would.” Ember shrugged. “One designed to stop any that isn't a pony is a bit hard to do. I do give Armor credit, when it comes to barriers, there is no equal.” “Yeah, and his sister is the Element of Magic,” Gold Star calmly replied, then blinked and scrunched his face. “Oops.” “Twilight Sparkle?” Ember blinked as Gold Star nodded meekly. “Right, I could sense a lot of power in her. She must of come from a long line of powerful unicorns.” “Nopony is supposed to know that.” “I can keep a secret, sir.” Ember grinned, looking back out the window. “I do it on a daily basis you know.” “Yes, and stop calling me, sir!” Gold Star huffed with a grin. “Well, seems the cavalry finally arrived,” Faith Cure grumbled as she watched the five ponies before her shuffle a bit. It seemed the damage to Canterlot in general was minimal, with only a few injuries being reported. Ember shuffled the most as she looked around, seeing what most of the damage was. Knocked over displays, decorations strewn all over the place, with a few ponies working about cleaning it up. “We got here as fast as the train could go!” Gold Star huffed, puffing his cheeks as he glared at the Head Nurse. “Yea, and it turned out you weren't needed. As after we sent out the S.O.S. to get you, Princess Cadance and Shining Armor did a barrier trick to repel most of the changelings. The ones that weren't thrown back to the Badlands are currently under lock, key, and a very careful eye,” Faith sighed, looking at Ember who still had a look of worry about her. “I guess your vacation got cut short, huh?” Faith trotted up to her and poked her when she didn't get a response. “Are you okay?” “I… er… need to talk to you, alone.” Ember looked at Faith directly. “Right, you boys go help out with clean up then.” She turned to the others. Gold Star nodded and directed them out to help. “Okay, now that we are alone. What did you want to talk about?” Faith asked softly. “Somewhere.. private.” Ember looked nervously around. She spotted an alleyway and started towards it, Cure following behind her. Once they were inside and deep enough in it, Ember turned to Cure and started to speak but Cure beat her to it. “I know what you're going to say,” Faith shrugged. “That you’re a changeling.” Ember just stared at her with wide eyes. Faith continued as she rested a hoof on Embers shoulder. “It was in McCoy’s letter that you weren't what you appeared to be. He mentioned that you basically gave up hiding yourself to help protect the ship from that sneak attack.” She took a deep breath. “If you wish to leave the hospital because you no longer feel safe, go ahead, but I’ll be losing one of my best doctors.” “I…” Ember looked down, shaking her head and looking back up with teary eyes. “I’ve made a home here, and I’ll be damned to Tartarus if I let something like this get to me.” “That is exactly what I want to hear.” Faith grinned, then tilted her head. “Can I see what you look like?” Ember shook her head. “After this wedding is over, I’ll show you in the privacy of my own home.” “I’ll hold you to that, or I'm docking your pay.” “You wouldn't dare…” “Try me!” Faith poked at Ember, making her chuckle softly. “Now, we were tasked with helping clean up. Are you up to some volunteer work?”