Ten days later…
I took in a deep breath and let a smile cross my face as I climbed out of the carriage with everypony else and started towards my house. I wasn’t really paying much attention to my family. As my house came back into view, my eyes zeroed in on the mailbox. I picked up my pace a bit, making my way towards it. As I reached it, I flipped it open and peered inside. Ten days of mail. Ugh. Oh well, I had time.
I pulled a chunk of mail out and made my way for the door of the house as it was pulled open by Dad. I set down the mail on the table and turned to look at Mom and Noctis set more mail on the table. “We all know what I’m wanting.” I said, sitting down at a chair to start sifting through the mail.
“Yes, yes. Your letter from Swallow is…” Dad shifted some envelopes around for a bit before withdrawing the obvious one. “Right here.”
“Alright, thanks.” I said before taking the envelope and rushing to my room. I couldn’t help but notice the exasperated noise Noctis made as I charged up the stairs. Probably because I suddenly stopped helping them with the mail.
All the same, I reached my room and sat myself down at my desk. Without hesitation I pulled open the envelope and withdrew the note inside.
Nettle,
I hope you had a good time with your grandparents! I’m sure you’ll still be out there when this letter hits your mailbox. All is going well on my end. My sister is a little freaked out from the whole Discord incident, but aside from that she is doing fine. I myself caught a cold, again. It shouldn’t take long for it to wear off, though.
Also, did you hear the big news? There’s a big wedding happening here in Canterlot! Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is marrying the captain of the royal guard! The whole town is abuzz about it. On the downside, word has gotten out about a threat made against Canterlot from an unknown enemy. Rumors are everywhere about who or what it might be, but with any luck, nothing will come of it.
I have to go now, I have a few things I need to take care of. I look forward to hearing from you again.
~Twinkling Swallow.
“Nettle! Get down here!!” I suddenly heard Noctis shouting from below. His voice had an edge to it that made me nervous. I quickly stood from my seat and went to head down the stairs, but paused by my window. I could see ponies in the street, looking to the north, some looked fearful, others looked shocked, the rest had varying mixtures of the two.
A lump formed in my throat as I darted out of my room. When I reached the living room, it was empty and the door stood open. I could see my family just beyond, looking to the north with everypony else in awe. I approached.
“What’s going on-” My words caught in my throat as when I exited the house, my eyes rested on Canterlot up in the mountains. It was smoking from several points, and I could see the occasional green flash of light, albeit they were very faint. My eyes widened as I remembered what Swallow had said in the letter.
A threat made against Canterlot from an unknown enemy…
Oh no…
“What’s happening up there?!” I asked sharply, looking around to everypony for an answer. None seemed to know, eyes locked on the burning city. My mind was reeling. Panic was starting to set in. Swallow was in danger. She lived in Canterlot, and now the city was under attack! I paused to try and calm down, but my mind was going into overdrive.
“Please, somepony tell me they know what’s going on up there!” I half shouted in desperation, earning a wince from some of the nearby ponies. My eyes darted from face to face, trying to see if anypony would speak up. Then my eyes rested on a white stallion with a neat, well combed brown mane and tail. He had a bowtie around his neck and very vibrant green eyes. The horn protruding from his forehead marked him as a unicorn. He was staring intently at the city, but his expression was very different from everypony else's.
Most seemed afraid, nervous or shocked. This pony… he was angry. His eyes burned with a fury the likes of which I hadn’t seen in a long time. There was something else in his eyes, a sort of solemn tint underneath the raging fire. It clicked; if anypony knew something, it would be him. I opted not to pursue that immediately however, instead choosing to take a few deep breaths and get my head together.
“Changelings…” I heard somepony utter. I looked around for a moment before my eyes settled on the white pony. His eyes had turned to look at me. He no longer looked angry, but instead sympathetic. He took a step towards me. “Changelings are attacking Canterlot.” He said quietly, directly to me.
“What’s a changeling?” I asked, blanking entirely on the name.
“Changelings are shapeshifters. They assume the form of other ponies and then replace them. From there, they feed off of the love others felt for the pony they have taken the place of.” The white stallion said, lowering his gaze slightly. His voice was tinged with an edge of disgust and revulsion.
“How do you know it’s changelings?” I asked before I really thought about it.
“...I’ve run into them before. Let’s just leave it at that.” The white pony said quietly, turning his eyes back towards the smoking city in the mountains. “I just hope they’re stopped there. If they can take Canterlot, the rest of Equestria will surely follow.”
“Princess Celestia will stop them.” Another pony, a mare, said confidently, having been listening in to the discussion.
“You underestimate them. Changelings feed on one of, if not the most powerful of all emotions; Love. The stronger the love, the stronger they become as a result. All the same… I hope you’re right.”
I turned my eyes fully back to the city and continued to observe. The smoke was getting thicker, indicating that the burning fires were getting bigger and stronger. Swallow… I thought. Please… be safe.
I watched for several more minutes before turning and rushing inside of my house and up to my room. There was very little I could do from here right now. All I could do was send a letter, and hope with all of my heart that I got a response. I entered my room and closed the door before seating myself and setting about writing.
Swallow,
I just saw the smoke. Swallow, please tell me you’re okay! As soon as you get a chance, let me know you’re safe! Please, don’t be hurt…
~Stinging Nettle.
I wrote it as quickly as possible. It was rough, jagged and almost illegible. As soon as I finished writing it, however, I glanced out my window again. The white stallion from before was looking up into my window from the street below. I saw a look in his eyes that made me pause. He looked sad, guilty, even. He noticed me looking, turned, and walked away.
<^><^><^><^>
three weeks later.
I closed the mailbox with a heavy sigh. Nothing from Swallow.
Thankfully, the Changeling invasion in Canterlot had been stopped the day it started by Princess Cadance and her new husband, Shining Armor. I didn’t know how exactly they did it, and I wasn’t really paying any attention to that specifically. All of my attention these last three weeks had been on my mail, or lack of mail, rather.
In the three weeks since the changeling attack, I had gotten nothing from Swallow. Absolutely nothing. I was worried sick, and spent almost all of my mornings down by the mailbox, just waiting for the mail pony to come so that, if Swallow had sent anything, I would get it as soon as possible.
But nothing came. Only silence and junk mail. I barely slept, my mind racing with worries and concerns about what might have happened. Scenarios played out in my mind every time I closed my eyes, and all of them were horrible.
I let my hoof fall away from the mailbox to hit the earth with a heavy thud. I stood there for several moments, head down, eyes shut tight and mind racing. I tried to think positively; Maybe she had simply lost her house, or the post office from Canterlot had been damaged during the attack and wasn’t taking personal letters for delivery right now. Possible, I assumed, but unlikely.
Maybe she had lost her house or mailbox? Maybe she was simply incapable of responding due to the circumstances? All seemed possible, but without any concrete evidence, I had no way of saying for sure. I was completely in the dark. And it was killing me.
I felt a tear trail down my cheek. I didn’t bother moving to wipe it away, instead opting to simply let them flow freely. I shifted into a sitting position and began to cry silently to myself. The thought that Swallow might be… No. I thought immediately. She’s fine. She’s alive! She is up there and just can’t reach me right now. She isn’t… dead… as those words ran through my mind, I felt myself start to tremble.
I was terrified of that possibility. I had heard that, while many ponies had survived the attack ,there had been fatal casualties. Not many, thankfully, but the fact that there were any fatalities was terrifying to me. If Swallow was among the dead…
I tried to push the thoughts out of my head, banish the mental images that were forming in my mind. But they were relentless. They just kept coming. I clenched my teeth and slammed my left forehoof into the earth to try and channel some of my emotion out through the punch, but it didn't work. In fact, it only made it worse.
An image came into my mind, a visualization that I wish I could forget. An image of a gravestone, with the name ‘Twinkling Swallow’ etched in it. I shook my head violently.
“No… no No NO!” It started as no more than a whisper and grew into a desperate, agonized shout. I punched the earth again, losing control of myself. The images kept running through my mind and I just couldn’t banish them. The mere thought of losing her was too much…
“Hey, are you alright?” A familiar voice asked from nearby. My eyes snapped open and shifted over to see the white Stallion standing there, looking at me with a sorrowful gaze.
“N-no…” I stuttered, looking away again and wiping a foreleg across my eyes to rid myself of some of the tears. More replaced them immediately.
“What’s wrong?” The stallion asked. I heard his hoofsteps approaching.
“I… I might have lost somepony in the Changeling attack on Canterlot. I d-don’t know for sure, yet. B-but just the thought is killing me...:” I managed to say, trying and failing to calm down.
“I see… that’s a misery I wouldn’t wish on anypony.” the stallion said, giving me a reassuring pat on the back. I shivered uncontrollably. “You’re Stinging Nettle, right?”
“Yeah…” I looked over at him as he straightened his bow-tie.
“I’m Emerald Shade. Nice to meet you.” He said, holding out a hoof to me. I looked at it, but didn’t bother to do anything. All of my own limbs felt heavier than I wanted to deal with right now.
“That’s nice…” I mumbled, looking down and closing my eyes again.
“Well, Nettle, this is gonna sound odd, but if you ever feel like talking to somepony about this, I’d be more than happy to listen and offer my thoughts. I’m no therapist, but i know enough about emotions to help in some capacity, if you want.” Shade said, albeit slightly hesitantly.
“Huh…? Why?” I asked, confused. “Why offer to help me without knowing me?”
“Well, I’m new here. I gotta make friends somehow. That, and it pains me to see anypony so distraught.” Shade replied, smiling softly at me.
“...I’ll think about it. Thanks for… the offer…” I muttered before slowly standing.
“No problem. I’m usually at the nearest coffee shop in the mornings. What’s it called again?”
“It’s called ‘The Sweetest Mix’.” I replied quietly.
“Ah, right. Well, If you need somepony to talk to, I’m usually there before Noon. At any rate, I gotta be getting to work. Take care of yourself, eh?” He gave me a friendly smack on the shoulder before trotting off. His friendly demeanor had managed to get me to stop crying, though I still felt absolutely horrible.
<^><^><^><^>
I just sat there, at my desk, looking over the letters Swallow had sent me since she moved to Canterlot. Dinner had already been served and everypony else was asleep, so it was just my letters and insomnia to keep me company. Every time I would finish one letter, I’d move it to the bottom of the pile and then read the next one in line.
I knew I was being unhealthy about all of this. I knew I should have just been patient and waited. But I just couldn’t. Swallow meant far too much to me for that to be possible. Besides, reading the letters at that point was actually momentarily helpful. It made me feel like I was still getting letters, like she was still talking to me through these sheets of parchment.
I looked over to the clock on my wall. Three in the morning. Maybe it was time I went and got some sleep. I shifted slightly before remembering how every time I tried to get some much needed rest, I just ended up having scenarios in my mind that kept me from that goal. I lowered my gaze back to the letters and kept reading.
I must have been there for another hour or so before I finally decided to try and get some sleep. I knew it would probably be useless, but, I opted to try anyway. I flopped into bed under the blankets and closed my eyes. More mail would be delivered tomorrow. I’d check again then.
I then thought back to Shade’s words from earlier. I figured then that if I got no messages from Swallow in the morning, I’d go to him and just talk. Honestly, I hadn’t talked much in the last three weeks. I’d been so isolated in my room and consumed by other thoughts that I barely paid anypony any mind. Who knows, I thought. Maybe it’ll help.