//------------------------------//
// To Challenge the Sun 
// Story: The Melody of the Heart 
// by Star Origin 
//------------------------------//

Days weren’t quite the same anymore. After Melody had confronted Glimmer Heart, her days at school were no longer peaceful. She had somehow been promoted from a nopony to the local hero, apparently. Not that she minded the adoration and other emotions that came from the other students, but she still wondered how it had come to something like that.

Even when Melody walked to school in the morning, she would get colts and fillies interrogating her, asking how she had felt when she faced one of the biggest bullies around. As with most ponies, she groaned and continued ahead, ignoring the pesky children.

She had never asked for any of this. All she wanted was to help Choir with her bullying problems, not make herself a center of interest. Besides, she hadn’t raised a hoof against Glimmer. She just stared her down, and she came up with crazy ideas.

Finally squeezing herself through a barrage of ponies, Melody huffed, pushing back the few strands of her mane that fell over her nose. She looked back at the fillies and colts, and upon seeing them staring at her with those curious eyes, she blinked and just slid into her classroom, closing the door behind her.

“You’re early, Melody. What’s the occasion?” Coral inquired, taking a moment to sit back in her chair and brush the chalk from her hooves.

“Uh, yeah, about that…” Melody giggled nervously, gulping seconds later. She now regretted not telling Coral what transpired the week before. “Do you know anything about a filly named Glimmer Heart?”

Coral stopped everything she was doing, moved a hoof to tap her chin, and bowed her head. She sighed, leaning back in her chair and throwing her head back. When sunlight fell on her coat, shimmering prisms filled the room, blinding Melody when said rays of light decided to assault her eyes. She raised a hoof to cover her eyes, looking at Coral oddly, more so out of admiration for her well-groomed purple coat than anything else.

Melody quickly angled her head sideways, looking at Coral with question marks filling her eyes. Exasperation and anger rose in the air, making Melody a bit dizzy, switching her hoof from over her eyes to massaging her head, squinting a bit. So, she did know a thing or two about Glimmer.

“What did she do this time?” Coral hissed, drawing herself back to stare down at Melody.

Melody gulped again. Despite knowing that Coral was not going to harm her in any way, she was still intimidated by that voice and those eyes. She broke eye contact, staring at the ground as she tapped her hoof nervously, and said, “Well, last week, I found out that Glimmer Heart was bullying Choir, so I stood up to her, and, uh, now I’m a school celebrity, I guess?”

Coral narrowed her eyes and lifted herself from her seat, stopping right in front of Melody, staring deep into her eyes. She didn’t even need to taste the emotions around her to know that Coral was just bristling with rage.

Strands of her crimson mane fell across her face, her stare intensifying by the moment. Melody looked around, thankful that nopony else had come in yet. She did not expect the embrace that came next. A rant about how she would make Glimmer pay for what she did, maybe. But not that. The tension around then began diminishing until it had almost entirely faded.

“You did good by her,” Coral said calmly, caressing Melody’s ears and mane, planting a kiss on her forehead. “I’m proud of you, Melody!”

Melody squirmed under the embrace, flailing her foreleg about, gasping for air when the hug tightened around her neck. “Help!” she muttered.

As if somepony had heard her, Coral released Melody almost immediately after, leaving the filly to sigh in victory. She was about to thank Coral until she heard her mother cough a few times, tapping her shoulder as well. She spun around to find that some students had already entered the classroom.

Coral waved at them, forcing a smile on her lips. She gave Melody’s flank a slight bump with her hoof and gestured to her seat near the back of the room, leaning a bit to whisper, “Take your place, we’ll talk about this whole thing at lunch time.”

Melody shrugged and happily complied, trotting away from the front of the class and sitting in her seat, waving at Sunshine behind her. The cream-coated filly shook her hoof in return and beamed at her, returning her eyes to the book she had just opened.

Melody looked to her left, noting the lack of an alabaster filly before the bell rang. Cherry was yet again absent from class. It had been a week now, and she had not shown herself to class at all. She’d have to look deeper into that too. Maybe Coral could even help her with that.

But those idle thoughts quickly abandoned her, instead focusing on Coral when she finally spoke up, returning to writing what she had partially written on the board, briefly going over the details of the day with her class.

Melody’s days were not the same without Cherry in them.


----


 


“Miss Charm, while I am aware that this student of yours, Cherry Blossom, was under your charge during the week, the decision of where she attends her education is a matter that falls to her parents. I can try, and I have tried, to dissuade this child’s mother, but the final decision is hers and hers alone.”

Melody craned her head upward, glancing at Coral. Her mother’s mouth hung open, staring in disbelief at the principal of the school, a unicorn named Proper Teaching. He was older than she was, his body oddly slimmer than Melody would have expected for his age. His mane was kept short, barely descending onto his neck.

Melody could once again feel the bristling anger surging within Coral, and she folded her ears against her head, her expression switching to one of concern as she kept staring at her mother. And to be fair, she was angry as well. Angry that this mare she didn’t know was taking her friend away from her. Sure, she had gotten many friends because of the episode with Glimmer, but they weren’t on the same level as Cherry. She was irreplaceable for Melody.

“But, sir,” Coral replied, doing her best to keep her anger from clouding her judgment, a hoof clutched to her forehead. A sigh escaped her, and she brought her hoof between her legs, “isn’t there anything we could do?”

Proper Teaching rubbed his chin, contemplating both Melody and Coral Charm before he nodded and said, “I’m not supposed to be saying this, but I see you are determined to keep this filly as your student. Your only hope lies in trying to convince them, if, and only if, the paperwork has not been done yet.”

Coral nodded and thanked the principal, pushing herself back. Melody mimicked her and got down from her chair, her eyes still locked on Coral, and followed her out of the principal’s office. Coral was fuming, to the point that any more anger might make smoke start trailing out of her ears.

With her ears still folded, Melody stopped in her tracks, the principal’s words still clinging and ringing in her head.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Coral asked when she couldn’t hear Melody’s hoofsteps anymore.

“Is all of this really necessary? I mean, shouldn’t we respect the decision Cherry’s mom takes?”

Coral smiled and carefully spun around, slowly heading for Melody. She crouched and looked at her daughter, locking her eyes in those golden orbs. Melody was unsure of what to think of this. She couldn’t even read Coral accurately at this point. Her eyes stared back, and her entire expression turned quizzical.

“Do you want to remain friends with Cherry? “

Melody nodded.

“Then, you should fight to keep her around. I’m sure somepony out there told you at least once that life is unfair, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t fight back. Just like I’m fighting to make sure you’re happy, you should fight to protect those dear to you.”

Melody tilted her head further, her expression switching to deadpan. She understood what Coral was trying to convey, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go down that path. If anything, she thought the whole idea could turn nasty very quickly.

She hesitantly nodded, and Coral responded with a nod of her own, gently patting Melody before getting up and turning around. Melody blinked and followed behind.


----


The weekend had finally arrived, and Melody was already groaning on the inside. She had wanted to sleep in rather than to be doing this. But, she could hardly refuse her mother. When she woke her up that morning, she told her that the two of them were going to pay a visit to 
Cherry and her family. She followed her mother into an apartment complex, looking at all the identical doors on the floor they were on.
Melody hadn’t expected Cherry and her family to live in an apartment

A shiver ran down Melody’s spine when Coral knocked at the door in front of them, and a response came from within. She barely heard it, but she thought she heard the distant voice of a mare, raspy and tense. The door opened to reveal an Earth Pony, not too old or too young, her mane still in a complete mess with a mug held tightly in her hoof.

When she saw Coral and then took notice of Melody next to her, the mare lifted her nose and began closing the door before Coral caught on to that and blocked the door with her hoof, giving the alabaster mare another smile.

“I don’t remember inviting you, and not this early in the morning, Coral Charm,” the mare said, her expression shifting into a leer.

“Come now, Ocean Breeze,” Coral replied, her smile splitting her lips wide, ears perked up. “Surely you won’t object to a morning talk, right?”

The way she had said that gave Melody another series of shivers, squirming in her spot. Ocean Breeze’s nose scrunched up, and she blinked, shaking her head before she sighed and opened the door.

“Fine, but don’t take all of my day. Understood?”

“As clear as day!” Coral chirped.

Melody sheepishly followed Coral inside, stealing a glance at Ocean Breeze to see her glaring back at her, shifting her focus almost immediately. She almost jumped to the ceiling when the door behind was slammed. She snapped her head back and took a deep breath, placing a hoof on her chest to see if her heart was still beating.

She looked around curiously, having never visited anypony else’s house since her arrival in the Crystal Empire. Wooden furniture, for the most part, decorated the apartment in a lively fashion. A few paintings hung on the walls, one of which was a portrait of Ocean Breeze’s family. She recognized most of the family, but there was one stallion that puzzled her.

He was a tall Earth Pony, and his muscles seemed like they could ripple if the image ever dared to move. He wore a set of armor that she recognized as being the armor the Royal Guards in Canterlot wore when on duty. His azure coat shone in the light, and his mane was neatly tucked inside the helmet.

“Melody?” a voice the filly instantly recognized squeaked from afar.

Melody once again nearly jumped upward, slowly turning her head to look back at Cherry. She offered her friend a smile and opted to remain on her mother’s side. Cherry’s eyes went wide when she took notice of Coral’s presence and froze in place, gulping.

“I’ll be very brief about this, Ocean.Why are you withdrawing your daughter from my class and sending her to a private school instead?”
A sigh cracked the silence that had crept its way into the small living room that they had walked into. Ocean Breeze pulled a chair and sat down, rubbing her eyes with both hooves, her brow furrowing irritatingly. Melody backed away a little, bumping into a large drawer.

Coral Charm, however, was not surprised by this reaction. She’d known Ocean Breeze for a while now, and she knew the mare was not one for patience. She just stood there, looking at Ocean, expecting an answer at any time.

Ocean took a long breath. She knew the mare in front of her was just as explosive as she could sometimes be. Making use of tact would be of the utmost importance, but the truth had to be known. Staring back at Coral, she put her hooves down on her thighs. “I pulled her out because I don’t want her to be associated with your freak of a daughter!”

Melody shrunk under the insult, cocking her head back. The insult registered in her head, and she puffed her cheek just as Cherry did. Both pawed at the carpeted floor and whinnied in protest. Ocean Breeze acknowledged them for a moment, before returning to the aggravated mare in front of her. She definitely pushed the wrong buttons.

“Hey, that was uncalled for!” Melody let out, surprising both Coral and Cherry. “What have I ever done to you?”

“Just look at yourself in the mirror!” Ocean Breeze spat with a snort casting her glare at Melody. “You’ve got that stubby horn, those holes in your legs, those fangs and those lifeless eyes of yours. You’re a changeling, for crying out loud!”

Coral was just about to intervene, but a buzz echoed in the room, and all eyes jumped on Melody. Her small wings spread the air behind her and lifted her upward. She crossed the distance between herself and the mare to glare back at her, hissing almost inaudibly.

“What does that have to do with Cherry? Melody snarled, letting out a hiss. She frowned, and the little white irises in her eyes twitched.

Melody was on fire. Time seemed to slow down around her, and her wings were beating in harmony with her heartbeat. Cherry looked at her with concern, eyes still open wide. She could not believe what was going on. She couldn’t believe Melody was actually attempting to hold her own against her mother.

“The last thing I need is to find you with those fangs of yours in her neck!”

Melody’s wings faltered for a moment, and she gasped, in shock and anger. She let her wings break her fall, landing carefully on the ground before lifted her head and once again glared at the mare. Her horn began glowing, and flames consumed her form.

In front of Ocean Breeze was Melody in her pony form, down to the last immaculate detail. One could lose themselves in those golden eyes, although that was ruined by the frown she had. Ocean looked down before realization hit her and she let out a scream.

Melody’s form quickly vanished in a cloud of smokeless flames, reverting to her changeling form, clutching a hoof to her head. She let her wings buzz a bit, neatly pressing them on her back before she flicked her tail in irritation.

“Is that how you think changelings feed on emotions? Of all things, you’re comparing them to vamponies?” Melody asked, her ears perked up, her tail swishing rapidly behind her while she tapped the ground impatiently.

“Y-y-you! It can’t be!” Ocean Breeze exclaimed, jumping down from her chair to back away from Melody soon finding herself blocked a small desk, pointing her hoof at Melody accusingly, just as Glimmer had the week before. “I saw the posters, and I read about it in the papers!”

“Yes, it’s me. I am not dead. I was saved, by changelings.”

“Saved? Look at what they did to you. You don’t even look like a pony anymore!” Ocean replied, having regained control of herself.

“It was either that or I was going to die. They could have left me for dead, but they saved me. They saved a pony! Why antagonize them so much?” Melody said, stomping her front hoof forward. She swelled her chest and puffed her cheek all the while.

At that point, Melody was ready for anything. She hoped Ocean would not go over the point of no return, mostly because she knew Coral would react, and not in the prettiest of ways. She was surprised when she noticed Cherry had come into view.

Melody wanted to say something, anything, but the words failed her. Cherry’s eyes were already shedding tears, and she looked at Melody with a smile, and then at her mother, nodding if only barely.

“My dad died in the line of duty during the invasion last year, leaving mom to take care of Glimmer and me all on her own,” Cherry said, glancing away from Melody and Coral and her mother, passing her hoof on her fur and sniffling.

“Cherry Blossom, go to your room right this instant!” Ocean bellowed.

Melody felt it, and she even saw it. Cherry was trembling. Her legs wobbled and threatened to give away at any moment, but she held on. She trotted to Melody and turned back, slowly, to face her mother. She didn’t glare, she didn’t stare, she just held her ground.

“No,” came Cherry’s flat answer.

“What did you say?” Ocean’s voice was sharp and aggressive, and even in the air around her, Melody felt the animosity increase.

Shivers ran up the changeling’s spine, and all she wanted to do was turn tail and run as far as she could, but Cherry remained unfazed by that. She laced a hoof around Melody’s head and pulled her friend closer. Melody yelped and shot Cherry a look, but the filly was focused on returning the glare she was given.

She stomped the floor with her free hoof and narrowed her eyes. Coral looked at the two and tried to mediate. She had already climbed to her hind legs and waved her hooves around to gather attention, but to no success. Anxiety was starting to intoxicate the air around Melody.

“Melody’s my friend, and I will not let you talk to her like that,” Cherry said sternly, her glare softening into a pleading look, tears cascading once more. “You need to let go, mom. Everypony says it was an accident. You need help…”

“H-hey, let’s not make this any worse than it currently is,” Coral blurted, pushing herself between the two parties.

Ocean Breeze sighed and sat down, looking at Coral and then her daughter and Melody. She scoffed and tossed her head to the side. Coral stepped back as well, taking a spot next to Melody and Cherry. She smiled at the two of them.

“Get out, Coral.”

“Ocean, please,” Coral pleaded, moving a hoof to ruffle Melody and Cherry’s manes. “Reconsider all of this! Do you really think this is what’s best for your daughters?”

Ocean Breeze said nothing in return for the longest time, biting her lower lip instead. She rose to her legs in an instant, guiding herself to the door. She opened it and gestured the alleyway to her guests. Melody looked at Cherry and then Coral, eyeing both of them in concern. What was going to happen now? Had they failed?

Her thoughts were cut short when Ocean’s voice rang sternly in her ears, and they quickly responded by folding back on her head. She cringed a bit and whimpered at the coldness in her voice.

“I don’t like repeating myself, Coral. Get. Out. And you stay here, young lady.”

Cherry ignored the command, following behind Melody as the duo left their apartment. She flicked her tail and gave her mother a harsh look. Disappointment flashed in her eyes and she shook her head. “It’s the weekend, mom, and besides, I’d like to spend today with Melody, since it’s probably going to be my last too.”

Melody spun her head back to glance at Cherry and caught a glimpse of Ocean just standing there, her mouth agape. She stared at the trio of ponies in disbelief, then gritted her teeth and slammed the door shut behind Cherry, leaving Melody to look at her friend, concern written all over her face.

The three remained in silence until they were finally out of the building. Melody just kept close to Coral, sometimes shooting a glance Cherry’s way, afraid that something might happen if she left her unattended for too long.

She was overly surprised when Cherry started bouncing around her, squeaking cheerfully. Melody arched an eyebrow and stared at her friend. Confusion could not even begin to explain how she felt about her friend’s behavior.

“Cherry, are you okay?” Melody queried, still giving Cherry an odd look whenever their eyes met.

“Oh, I'm okay, but that’s not the point!” she replied, almost in a squeal, stopping in front of Melody to look at her with eyes filled with awe. “You can shapeshift! When’d you learn that?”

“Oh, that.” Melody’s excitement died down, and she sighed. “My dad’s been teaching me some of it over the last week. I can barely shift into my old appearance, let alone mimic somepony else entirely.

“That’s not the point, Melody! Think of all the pranks to be had!” she exclaimed, giggling some more, prancing up ahead with a happy skip to her steps. “Wait, your dad’s a changeling?”

Melody rolled her eyes and snorted, giving Cherry a weak jab on the shoulder before her lips spread into a smile. At least, Cherry hadn’t lost her sense of humor.

The words of her mother came back to her mind, and the changeling filly blinked, her smile slowly vanishing from her lips, leaving her with a wondering expression. She frowned as her mind played the events in repeat. Coral fought to keep her happy and Cherry stood up to her mother to defend Melody. She had stood up to Ocean as well, but she didn’t stand up for herself. She stood up to protect the changelings that had saved her. Which only left her with a burning question wandering her mind.

“You feeling okay there, Melody?”

Melody blinked again to see Cherry waving her hoof in front of her as if she’d been in some trance. She nodded, waving a hoof nonchalantly and prompted Cherry to continue walking and group up with Coral, who was waiting up ahead, looking at them with a warm smile lighting up her expression.

Still, that question was burrowed deep in her mind. What did she want? What was she fighting for?