The ground was on fire.
No the ground wasn’t on fire, the water was.
Shade was back in the Burning Fiords. He recognized the location, it was a small hill overlooking the Flaming Valley, a dip in the mountains that had lava flows running freely through it. Casting a beautiful glow up in the night sky…
Normally beautiful.
It was less beautiful when three dragons were looking over you with intent to murder.
“You shouldn’t be here parasite!” Shade couldn’t make out their faces, but their eyes burned into him.
“I-I’m not a parasite” Shade heard in his own voice, he was trembling, his carapace chattering slightly.
“Lies!”
“I’m Not! I’m one of you!” Shade replied, fear taking over.
“We would never dirty ourselves with the likes of you insect.” One of the dragons grabbed him by his neck and was lifting him up.
“You are no longer one of us.” It said as it raised a clawed hand. Dropping it onto Shade’s right wing, he felt a sudden pain, then saw the glittering wing fall to the ground, and singed within seconds.
“We shall make an example of you insect.” The shadow said, releasing Shade’s throat and holding him up by his curved horn. Only now did Shade look and notice the third Shadow, it’s eyes were not like the other two, it was…sad? It even turned away when Shade heard a cracking sound as his horn was ripped off of his head.
“We have no judgment over your fate insect. But we need not concern ourselves with such affairs.” Shade was crying, from the stabbing pain in his skull, but more than that, he was crying because of what he was seeing. These dragons were…torturing him, for an event he tried to prevent. Failed to prevent.
“The Sun goddess will judge your sins…” it said. All of a sudden, the dragon threw him over the cliff, he was falling towards the lava flow. He closed his eyes, but before he hit the lava, the world changed.
He was now in an ivory hall, white stone making up the building, stain glass windows were placed around it. And at the end of the hall sat…oh god…
Two Alicorns sat at the end of the hall, staring down at him. He felt that dread of insignificance welling up inside of him. All around him, shadows formed, eyes red with hate, bodies blurred out. All of them shouting at him.
“Parasite! Monster! Demon!” They all kept repeating it, even when Shade covered his ears with his hooves, it didn’t shut out the sound.
“SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” Shade shouted, trying to be heard over the voices. “I’M NOT A PARASITE!”
“Lies!” He could hear it through the throng, and one final insult pierced into him and caused him to begin to tear up. “Murderer.” It was quiet, no more than a whisper. But it hit him hard. He couldn’t see through the tears, but the insults continued. “Murderer” became more and more used. As he began to try and stand, the shadows got closer to him, boxing him in. For every step, the voices got louder.
A single voice broke through the throng. Becoming louder and louder, the others quieting down. “Monster! Murderer!” Looking up, he saw the cream colored unicorn he knew to be Meadow’s mother. She was staring down at him, the other shadows moving back.
“I-I-I” Shade began quivering, he couldn’t stop, he was filled with both fear and sadness, overwhelming him. “I-I’m so-so-so-sorr-r-r-ry…” He sputtered out backing away from the angered unicorn. “I tried to protect her!”
“Lies!” Shouted the cream colored Unicorn. “You didn’t risk your life to save hers! You left her to die!”
“No!” Shade shouted. “That’s not true! I was too late!” His vision was clouding again. “I couldn’t! She was!”
“Lies! You are nothing more than a monster!” Shade was backing away, but found himself against a white stone wall, the Unicorn still walking forward, her army of shadows behind her, the two Alicorns watching on.
“No! It’s not true! I’m not a monster!” Shade was trying to make himself as small as possible. “I’m not…. I would never….. Please….” He was giving up hope, every inch closer the Unicorn got, was another beat in his chest that stopped.
The Unicorn’s horn glowed bright blue. Pointing right at Shade. “No….please…” He was backed into a corner, nowhere to run, he just placed his hooves over his head and began to cry.
He felt the world around him vanish, leaving just him and the unicorn. “I didn’t mean to….”
Shade jolted awake, tossing the hay covering him along the ground, he backed away in response, huddling up to the wall, still shaking. He was shivering, his carapace making a loud chinking sound. He reached up to his head and felt the curved horn attached to his head. It was the first time he was glad to see it. But it still felt foreign to him.
“It was just a dream…” He said through heavy breaths he was still crying, and he had broken out into a small sweat… “just…a dream…” He repeated. It didn’t help. It felt so real…The pain, the Emotions he felt….the Fear…. “Just….a dream…” He repeated.
He quickly walked over to where Meadow was sleeping, covered in a thin layer of hay acting as a blanket. She hadn’t been woken by his freak out. And she had a small light blue flame coming off of her. Content…She wasn’t having the same problems as Shade.
He let out a small sigh, glad she was alright. Glad she wasn’t awoken from his freak out. She was still off in her own dream.
Shade flew up to the rafter and looked out the small opening the barn had near the top. The moon still hung high in the sky, like a large brilliant orb casting a light blue shadow over the orchard, it’s many apples glinting in a small coat of dew.
Shade couldn’t go back to sleep, he didn’t want to… the nightmares have been getting worse, and he didn’t want to see the next one. So he made up his mind.
He flew down to where Meadow was sleeping, he placed his hole filled hoof on her head. As his horn glowed very faintly, the light blue flame dying down slightly.
He walked over to the barn door, grabbed the sheathe he had placed on a protruding nail, tightening it around his waist; he was covered in a flash of green fire, and dawned the appearance of Sunstreak. He then pushed the barn door open quietly and closed it, and he began to walk down the path leading to Ponyville.
His leg was still sore, but overall the major injury had repaired itself, courtesy of his Dragon blood, and probably a little of that love he absorbed, he didn’t like to say stole, from the Apples.
He didn’t really have a plan of where to go; he just wanted to take a walk, maybe clear his head. Forget about the nightmare. With those red eyed shadows and….NO! Not going to think about it. He was just lost in thought. So much so that he didn’t even notice himself entering into the village until he looked up from the ground and saw a building a few inches away from his face.
Correcting his path, and making sure he wasn’t going to crash into anything, he began thinking about what he had learned in the past few days. He went from being a Dragon to an insect horse by God knows what process. He had been involved in the attempted over throw of an almost all powerful entity that controlled the sun itself, got blasted out of that city with a small filly, and was now inside of hostile territory wandering around in the dead of night. Which according to the empty streets, was not normal. The heir of subtlety.
What was worse, he still had no idea how to control large portions of his power, such as limiting his emotion sense so that he could turn it on at will, instead of seeing every emotion through his left eye. Granted during his brief time with the Apples, he had managed to avoid absorbing too much love, but that also required him to be placing pressure on his near broken leg the whole time, so there was that.
He had made a few laps around the town, wandering down its various side streets and alleyways, even a few dead ends. He wasn’t really cataloging the locations more just trying to find back routes that he could use in case of emergency.
He had been so busy thinking about this that he didn’t notice the moon had set until a grey Pegasus flew over him, carrying two large bags of mail on her side. He then quickly looked up to the sky.
Crap. The sun was beginning to creep into the sky, causing a brilliant pink color; Sunstreak quickly pushed himself into the air with all four of his legs and began to quickly fly back towards Sweet Apple Acres.
When he got back to the orchard. He opened the door to the barn and flew up to where he had been sleeping last night. That makes three nights and a total of five hours of sleep. If I keep this up, I’ll be thrown into a jail cell in no time, Shade thought to himself as he began to bury himself in the hay again. More so because it hid the fact he was a Changeling for long enough that he could disguise, but also because it felt weirdly comfortable against his carapace. But since he was now disguised, all it did was stick to his coat. He figured it might be a good idea to at least try and sleep…so he closed his eyes and only a few minutes later the barn door swung open.
“Rise n’ Shine!” came Applejack’s voice from the door. She looked around the room, and only seeing Meadow get up rubbing her eye she said louder “Sunstreak? Where in Sam Hill are yah?”
At this Sunstreak bolted himself up, again scattering the hay that had covered him around the general area. “What? What? I’m up.” He then placed his hoof on his forehead, being careful not to touch where his horn was supposed to be. He was still kind of touchy about that strange nightmare.
“Sorry fer wakin’ yah.” Applejack replied. “But we need to use the barn. Farm life and all.”
Sunstreak made a motion that he hoped was that he understood but may have been rude. It was made no more apparent when Applejack responded with: “Well somepony’s got a bite like a rattler.”
“Sorry,” he replied, “bad dreams.” Hoping this would explain everything.
“Not a problem, we all have bad nights.” Applejack replied, Sunstreak was glad that worked. “Hey, Ah got an Idea.” Applejack said after. “Why not help me round the farm? We could always use an extra hoof.”
Sunstreak had to think about the idea of doing it. Granted he did it really quickly but he was thinking more about Meadow… Then he remembered that tour from yesterday.
“Well…that depends on something. Meadow?” Sunstreak looked down at the little brown filly, her mane had pieces of hay stuck in it. “Would you mind spending the day with, what was their name? The Cutie Mark Crusaders wasn’t it?” Applejack looked at him with either shock or maybe she just thought he was crazy…he couldn’t see the emotions as his right eye was facing her. But it seemed to work.
“Ah’m sure that they wouldn’t mind havin’ another member for their little club.”
“Can’t I stay with you?” Meadow asked, and thanks to his eye, he could tell she was slightly frightened from yesterday’s…interesting speeding event. So Sunstreak flew down next to her and leaned down to let her climb on while keeping what he was saying hidden.
“Don’t worry, Meadow,” He whispered. “I’m sure nothing bad will happen. And if it does, I’ll do anything within my powers as a Bug Pony to fix it. Alright?”
Meadow gave a small nod as she climbed onto Sunstreak’s back.
“That settles it then.” Sunstreak said as he stood up with the brown unicorn filly clinging to his back. “I’ll try to help you however I can. While Meadow Song here has fun with Apple Bloom and her friends.”
“Well…Ah don’t think Ah want to know how you managed that. But Ah’m glad you decided to help.”
So long as it doesn’t involve a large group of ponies or some kind of heavy emotional place. Sunstreak thought as long as he stayed away from huge groups of ponies until he managed to control his power. Or find someone that could teach him to control it.
“Well Ah guess we might as well head to the girls' clubhouse before we start.” On the way out she grabbed a few baskets and flung them onto her back.
After they dropped Meadow off at the red and yellow clubhouse, they said hello to the fillies and entered into a section of the orchard that had bright red apples hanging off of them. Sunstreak had to fly up and actually poke one just to be sure that they were real. He had never seen apples this…ripe. They were the most perfect example of apples you could see.
Applejack looked at him in suspicion. “Yah never seen an apple before, fly boy?”
“No it’s just that…” Sunstreak was trying to figure out the correct term to use. “I’ve never seen them this…perfect.” He landed next to Applejack, who had appreciatively tipped her hat.
“Well thank ya kindly. My family has been growin’ these trees since Ponyville was founded.” She said this with pride. And Sunstreak didn’t even need to use his eye to tell she was slightly pleased by his compliment.
“So how are we going to handle this?” Sunstreak asked, turning to look at the Orange pony. They had placed the baskets around the tree, and Applejack raised both her hind legs and kicked the tree. Causing all the apples in the tree to fall perfectly into the baskets.
Sunstreak was looking at the baskets with a look of both surprise and awe. “Whaaat?” He wasn’t surprised that Applejack could manage to knock the apples out, but he was surprised by the fact that only three apples fell onto the ground instead of in the baskets.
“Think ya can handle that fly boy?” She said mockingly.
Sunstreak walked up to another one of the trees and looked at it. It didn’t seem like a difficult task, kick tree, apples fall, zippidee doo da. But Sunstreak figured there was some method to it… Either that or he just had to kick the tree.
“Well…let’s find out.” Sunstreak said as he raised his hind legs and slammed them against the tree with all his might. Causing a few of the apples to fall from the tree, as well as causing Sunstreak to remember his leg isn’t fully healed. After repressing a cry of pain as he felt his leg sting yet again, he mumbled another curse that luckily was not picked up on by Applejack.
“Wow…I suppose yah weren’t cut out fer apple buckin.” Was all Applejack said in response to the mostly failed attempt as well as to Sunstreak now kicking his leg at nothing in an attempt to get feeling back. “Maybe we could find some other way yah could help ‘round the farm.” Applejack said as she tapped her chin with her hoof.
Sunstreak was just about to tell her some made up reason he couldn’t continue when a blue blur rammed into him. What is it with ponies and high speed collisions? On the plus side he was getting used to being knocked around, so his recovery time was improving, he could also tell exactly where he was this time.
He was lying on his stomach, apparently he had been spun around too, owing to the fact he was now staring at a tree, which had some very strange coloration. Instead of green leaves, it had strange multicolored ones…
“Rainbow!” He heard Applejack's country drawl say loudly as a rainbow colored tail flicked in front of his eyes.
“'Sup, AJ.” Sunstreak wasn’t sure who said that, but he had to guess it was whatever had just rammed into him and was now sitting on his back.
“Well I was tryin’ to find somethin’ fer our guest to do. Until you rammed into him.”
As Sunstreak was still lying on the ground, pretty much unable to move with the fact that his leg wasn’t quite ship shape, and the fact there was a hundred something pound pony sitting squarely on his back. He saw the tail move and be replaced with the magenta eyes of a cyan Pegasus, her mane was messy and, much like her tail, was rainbow colored. “Oh…sorry about that.” She took off, hovering just above head height.
“Two days…two collisions…” Sunstreak said as he stood up, being careful not to place too much pressure on his hind leg, if the crack reopens right here there are going to be questions. “Must be some kind of record.” Technically it was three collisions in three days, but adding when he rammed into Spine might blow his cover…so best to leave that out.
“Ha! That’s nothing.” The cyan Pegasus replied, apparently she wanted to trump him…for some reason…wasn’t getting hit a bad thing? Or was it akin to handshakes here? “I once crashed right into the side of mountain.”
Applejack placed a hoof on her face. “Rainbow, are ya really comparing which one of ya has crashed more?”
Rainbow looked like she was going to say yes but Sunstreak spoke first. “You win.” He didn’t want to get into a discussion on his crashes. Mostly because some of his worst ones involved falling into lava flows…and that could cause questions… But it was made worth it by Rainbow’s jaw dropping that he didn’t even try to argue with her.
“I’ve never seen you around town before.” She said, flying up to his face. And he knew exactly what the next question was going to be. “Changeling!”
Wait! What? Sunstreak opened his mouth to argue but he had already been tackled by the Pegasus, who was now holding him on the ground, pushing her hooves on his wings. “Get off of me.” Sunstreak managed to say as Rainbow was trying to hold him on the ground.
“No way, Changeling. I can see straight through that disguise of yours.” Rainbow said as Sunstreak looked up to stare at her face. “You got the eyes wrong.”
“Why does everypony keep saying that?” Sunstreak was getting annoyed by how many times attention was drawn to his eye. “Maybe I should just get an eye patch so ponies will stop bringing it up.”
“Ha you really want me to-“ Rainbow began.
“Get off of me now! I’m not a Changeling.” A Sort of lie…a true one… he wasn’t a pure Changeling.
“No!” Rainbow replied sticking out her tongue.
“Rainbow! Get off a him!” Applejack said, grabbing Rainbow’s tail and forcefully pulling her off of him. “He’s not a Changeling, Rainbow.”
“Then how do you explain his eye?” Rainbow replied.
Sunstreak just rolled his eyes, as he stood up. “I was born with it, Air head.” He turned to look at the two ponies, Applejack was holding Rainbow’s tail with her teeth, and Rainbow was trying to get away from her grip.
“Oh…then why didn’t you just say so?” Rainbow replied. Both Sunstreak and Applejack placed a hoof on their face.
“When did I have time to?” Sunstreak replied. Only now noticing the pain in his hind leg. Looking back at it, he found it was still fine, just really sore.
“Rainbow…yah can’t just tackle ponies like that. You need proof before yah can just do that.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.” Rainbow replied, flying over to Sunstreak. And holding out her hoof as if she hadn’t just tackled him. “Names Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria.”
Sunstreak eyed her. “Sunstreak.” He shook her hoof. “You certainly seem to be a fast flyer. I’m not so sure you’re the fastest though.”
“Is that a challenge?” Rainbow said leaning in. She sounded excited.
“Not really… I’m not really the racing type…” He looked over at Applejack, wanting a bit of help. “And I’ve got to help AJ here with some jobs. Right?”
“Nah. There’s nothing we really need done… Besides Ah think ya should spend some time with Rainbow. Maybe you can get a temporary job on weather management.”
Sunstreak just let out a small sigh. “Well…I suppose we could…”
“Right, race you to the town hall.” Rainbow said quickly.
“Wait what?” Was all Sunstreak could manage to say before seeing rainbow colored blur where she used to be. “Hey! Get back here!” He opened his wings and pushed himself off the ground, chasing after the blue Pegasus.
He didn’t realize it until he was trying to catch up to the Pegasus, but she had been there in the invasion as well… Do all of them live in the same town? It wasn’t that it was unheard of in the Fiords; it was just rare to have a team that is openly willing to go outside in a swarm of Changelings to be in the same area. Usually they were split up to make it harder to lose them and quickly move them around. Once he managed to catch up to Rainbow, it was obvious she wasn’t trying her hardest.
“I wasn’t sure you were going to ever catch up to me.” She said, flying upside down.
“Hey I haven’t had to fly this fast in a while. At least not when my life isn’t in danger.” Sunstreak replied. “So why not show me what you can really do?”
“Think you can keep up?” Rainbow replied.
“Not a chance, but if you want to be the fastest in my eyes you’re gonna have to show me your top speed.”
“Alright, you asked for it.” She said as she turned herself right side up and sped off. All Sunstreak could see was a rainbow colored ribbon where she was traveling.
“You just had to push her, Shade…” He shook his head before dashing after her.
When he finally got to the town hall, Rainbow Dash was laying on a cloud. No sign of being tired. While Sunstreak by comparison, was breathing heavily. He was in no way used to flying that fast without adrenaline rushing through his body.
“Took you long enough.” Rainbow said upon seeing him. She started lounging in the cloud like it was a reclining chair “I’m pretty sure Fluttershy could get here before you.”
Fluttershy? Is that another of the ponies I saw? “I’m…Not…used…to flying…that…fast…” Sunstreak replied, laying on a nearby cloud to the left of Rainbow. For the first time, he had to admit, that clouds were actually rather comfortable. They were soft, fluffy, cool. He was glad he chose a Pegasus instead of a unicorn, mostly because he can’t use magic to save his life… but these clouds were a good trade off.
“So what is up with your eye anyway?” Rainbow asked as Sunstreak was lying face first in the cloud.
“My answer has not changed, Rainbow… I was born with it.” Looking over at Rainbow, he could see that she was ready to ask another question so he took a guess it was about his eye. “And before you ask…yes I can see better with it. It adjusts to light better, and I can make out more details with it.” Not to mention the fact that I have over a hundred years more experience with it.
“So what did you think?” Rainbow said, standing up on her cloud.
“About?” Sunstreak replied lifting his head from the cloud. He was pretty sure he knew exactly what it was about though.
“My flying.” She replied placing a hoof on her chest proudly.
“Well, you are certainly one of the fastest flyers I’ve seen.” Sunstreak replied. “But I’m not so sure you are the best flyer I’ve ever seen.” At this Rainbow looked as if he had just insulted her family.
“What!” Rainbow practically shouted at him, causing him to jolt to attention and look directly at her. “How could you have possibly seen anypony whose a better flyer than me?”
“I know some flyers who have never crashed into a mountain.” Sunstreak said looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
“I was distracted okay.” She said as if trying to prove she didn’t do something stupid. “Pinkie Pie was…”
“I honestly don’t care…” More ponies…great… he was placing his hoof over his face.
“Uhh….Rainbow?” came a male voice in front of them. “We need to clear these clouds.” Sunstreak could have sworn he heard that voice before.
“Yeah, no problem, Tornado Dust.” Wait. What was that name? “We’ll clear them in a few minutes and get outta your hair.”
Sunstreak moved his hoof away from his face to see a gray Pegasus with a scraggy black mane and a brown tornado for a cutie mark. Oh no.
“Alright, Rainbow…But no napping this time.” Tornado Dust replied flying to look at Rainbow Dash. “We need to get this done before noon. I can’t keep covering your napping.”
“Oh, come on…It’s your second day back from Cloudsdale.” Cloudsdale…sure… “You can cover for me for another day right?”
Tornado Dust shook his head. “Sorry, Rainbow. I don’t want to get on somepony’s bad side because you want to slack off.”
Rainbow sighed. “Alright, Dusty. We’ll get these cleared out in a few minutes.”
“You’ve got ten minutes, Rainbow.” Tornado Dust said as he flew off. Sunstreak kept watching him as he went.
“So who is the fastest flyer you’ve ever seen?” Rainbow asked standing up on her cloud again.
Sunstreak wasn’t listening, he was busy following Tornado Dust as he flew off down the street and didn’t pick up that Rainbow had spoken until she flew in front of his face, breaking his line of sight. “Hey! Did you hear me?”
“Uh…” Sunstreak said trying to keep his eye on Tornado Dust. “Sorry, Rainbow…I just remembered I have to…Oyster my water.” He said taking off from the cloud and flying off in the same direction as Tornado Dust.
Behind him Rainbow just shook her head. “He must have met Pinkie already.”
I am so glad that worked. Sunstreak thought as he followed after the grey Pegasus. He didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. If it turned out this was the real Tornado Dust and Sunstreak did call him a Changeling, there could be some very specific questions, questions that would lead to answers he didn’t want these ponies to know. So until he was sure, or in a place where they would be separated so he could ask about it, he was going to just follow him.
When he did manage to get at least within earshot of Tornado Dust, he could at least stop him from managing to get away from him, all he had to do now was follow him. Luckily he didn’t have to go very far before Tornado Dust flew into a small alleyway.
“Now what would be the best possible way to handle this?”
Sunstreak tackled Tornado Dust.
It wasn’t the most elegant plan…Tackle pony, talk to pony, if incorrect say sorry, hopefully he wasn’t wrong. But he wanted to be sure.
When they stopped rolling, Sunstreak made sure that the gray Pegasus was able to look right at him while keeping him on the ground. “Darkblaze,” Sunstreak said in a low voice, “what the hell are you doing here?”
“Who is this Darkblaze pony?” Tornado Dust said, looking at Sunstreak. “Come to think of it…Who are you?”
“Darkblaze…” Sunstreak had turned to look at him with his left eye, noticing only now that there were absolutely no emotions coming off of him, before turning his head so that Tornado Dust could see his slit eye. “Look at my eye.”
Tornado Dust looked up at Sunstreak, and his eyes widened in recognition. “Snake Eye?”
“Who else would try and tackle you?” Sunstreak said stepping off of the disguised Changeling.
“I don’t know.” Tornado Dust said standing up. “Royal guards, every other pony… probably Chrysalis.”
“Why would that cockroach be after you?” Sunstreak asked, “Aren’t you one of her best Infiltrators?”
Tornado Dust just rubbed the back of his head with his hoof. “Yeah…I’d rather not talk about that here…” motions to the end of the alleyway. “I’d prefer we talk about it in a more…private environment.”
Sunstreak rolled his eyes. “Alright then… Where would you prefer?”
When Tornado Dust had suggested they meet in private, the last thing Sunstreak thought he meant was a house. But sure enough when Tornado Dust stopped next, they were standing outside of one of the houses near the edge of town and Tornado Dust was unlocking the door and motioning for Sunstreak to go in.
It was a very….standard house. Not much was put in it; it had the basic essentials that one would need. Chairs, tables, a few pictures of Tornado Dust with some other ponies, Sunstreak figured they were either family or friends. Well…family and friends of the REAL Tornado Dust.
“Welcome to Casa de Changeling.” Tornado Dust said walking in and being careful to close the door.
“It’s very…homey?” Sunstreak said struggling to find a word to describe it. “So before I even begin to ask…What happened to the REAL Tornado Dust?”
“Is it really that important to you?”
“Well I just want to know how secure this cover of yours is.” And so I can figure out whether it would be a good idea to bring Meadow here or to just find a batch of Royal Guards and tell where to find him.
Tornado Dust seemed to sigh. “Can it wait…just a few minutes while I close all the blinds? I would prefer we talk as Changelings, not ponies.”
Sunstreak rolled his eyes, “Fine…but if for some reason we get caught, I will shove my horn in your throat myself.”
“Fair enough.” Tornado Dust said proceeding to close off the windows and ensure the door was locked, casting the entire house into a strange darkness.
“Alright,” Darkblaze replied as a wisp of green flame surrounded him and he turned back into a changeling. “What was your question?”
Shade did the same, still not comfortable with having a horn, or with the slight twang in his voice, but he could manage. “I asked what happened to the real Tornado Dust.”
“Oh right…” Darkblaze said. “Him…Well it is quite a long story.”
“Short version, please.” Shade replied not in the mood, or the environment to listen to a long story. If he got caught he didn’t want to know what would happen.
“Well, he’s dead…” Darkblaze said very bluntly. “Not by me mind you.” He added after seeing Shade’s disapproving face.
“So details,” Shade said, finding a nice patch of floor and lying down. “But keep it quick. I don’t want to spend too much time like this.”
“Well…He was kind of…” Darkblaze moved his hoof in a circle trying to think about the correct terms to describe it. “I suppose the term is dumb.”
“Go on.” Shade replied.
“He tried to stop an F5 Tornado by himself…you can see how that turned out for him no doubt.”
Shade just shivered slightly, having seen what a magical tornado of only F2 could do to a giant reptilian bird-ray, he could only imagine what an F5 could do to something that wasn’t prepared for it.
“So I decided to take his place. And I’ve been doing it for…right around fifteen years by now.”
“Been enjoying yourself?” Shade asked, still slightly on the fact that he was technically talking to a creature who openly admits to disguise as the dead.
“Well…It was actually rather easy to get into the role,” Darkblaze replied, tapping his chin, making a faint clink every time he did so. “Hiding the body was probably the hardest part, I had to dig the hole with my own hooves. Then I had to make it seem like I hit my head really hard on a rock.” Shade had to force his mind to stop lingering on F5 carcasses to keep himself focused on the rest of the story. “Then they just kind of accepted the change in attitude, a bit of the memory loss, and there was very little opposition. So all things considered? It’s been a good life.”
Shade was surprised by how quick he said this, almost as though it was normal.
“So why the hell is the Queen Bit- Chrysalis…after you? I mean, you have probably foraged a lot in those fifteen years right?”
“Well…it is more about the fact that I went to Canterlot against her orders, didn’t exactly help during the invasion, and was seen as a traitor by Spine…”
Shade was shocked. “He’s still alive?”
“Alive and pissed.” Darkblaze replied. “After you rammed into him, nice job by the way, most of us got blasted to Chrysalis knows where, mostly to the hive, but half way there I got shot back by the Queen. Guess she figured I was where I shouldn’t be.” At this he gave a little shrug and went into a side room. “So can I get you anything? You hungry at all?”
Shade was taken aback by the sudden change in topic. “You have anything edible in there? Or is it all just frozen emotions?”
Shade could hear a little chuckle from the Changeling. “Frozen Emotions. I keep forgetting you only woke up a few days ago. You still know nothing about being a changeling.” Darkblaze walked back in levitating a small clear crystal that held some kind of pink gas inside…at least it looked like gas. But Shade could see the pink fire surrounding it.
“Love crystals?” Shade said, he had to admit, that was a first.
“Yup, I got them all stored in my freezer. If I ever have anypony over I just tell them it’s ice. Only changelings can see the emotions inside them. And only we can taste them too. So it is kind of like ice, only more crystalline, and it doesn’t float.”
“So that’s what you’ve been feeding on.” Shade said, having to look away from the crystal as it started to hurt his eye. Which reminded him of something. “I need your help with something.”
“And what would that be?” Darkblaze asked, popping the small crystal into his mouth
“I’m staying with the Apples and…” He didn’t even get a chance to finish, as Darkblaze had quickly flown over and placed one of his hole-covered hooves over Shade’s mouth.
“Say no more, Snake Eye.” He said, having his hoof forcibly moved from Shade’s mouth. “I know exactly what you are going to ask me. Yes. I will teach you how to use your powers.” A smile crept across his face, and Shade had a bad idea he knew where this was going.
“You want something don’t you?” Shade said, lowering his head.
“Was it really that obvious?” Darkblaze replied. “Yes, I do want something.” He walked back into his kitchen, when he returned he was levitating a small piece of paper. “There is something that you may be able to help me with…an errand.” He began writing on it using his magic, and Shade was still very uncomfortable with his smile.
“That wouldn’t happen to be life-threatening would it?” Shade had an idea of what this would involve.
“You saw right through me.” He turned back to look at Shade, his smile was large enough to make his two fangs seem like they fit into his mouth. “It is going to sound weird…but I would like for you to get me a Timber Wolf’s heart.”
There was a silence through the room while Shade processed his request.
“You want me to what now?” Shade responded.
“I would like…for you…to go into Everfree…and bring me the heart of a Timber Wolf.” Shade just stared at him. Before placing a hoof on his face.
“I have…two questions. Why? And how?”
“Well…for seasoning.”
“For what?”
“Well…Timber wolves don’t exactly have…physical hearts…It is more like…” Darkblaze was twirling his hoof. “Condensed magic…if that helps.”
“It doesn’t. Now onto the next question of…How?”
Darkblaze pointed to the blade Shade had strapped to his side. There was no reason to have it with him, Shade just felt…more familiar while he had it. Like he had some way to defend himself. I should really leave that in the barn tomorrow.
“Just use that on it until you see it start to fall apart, then when it falls apart, just absorb its essence from the air like you would emotions. I can extract it later.”
Shade had…multiple questions, none of which were at all helpful to getting this stuff done, so he didn’t want to ask anything.
“So you’re staying with Applejack?” Darkblaze said, breaking Shade’s thoughts on how he was even going to find a Timber wolf without putting himself at risk.
“Uh….yeah.”
“What’s that like? I mean she did kind of help throw you out of Canterlot.” He had finished writing on the paper and was placing it into a nearby envelope.
“Her?” Shade said. “She doesn’t seem like the magical type.”
“She isn’t the one that actually cast the spell, but she helped. Besides she is one of the Elements of Harmony.”
Shade could have sworn he heard about those before. “Elements of Harmony?”
Darkblaze stared at him, jaw hanging open. “Chrysalis’ holes, Snake Eye. You are trying to hide as an archeologist, but you haven’t the slightest clue about Pony history.” Shade had to admit, he didn’t aside from what Darkblaze told him earlier, he knew very little. He found out about Nightmare Moon with the scrolls and tomes hidden around the ruins. And some more unhelpful facts.
“I really just took that because of my knowledge of the Fiords. I needed a reason to be in a ruin in the middle of Everfree all right? It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Darkblaze placed a hoof on his forehead. “You are so bad at being a Changeling. If I leave you alone, you’ll be caught soon enough. And then there will be a full on witch hunt for other Changelings.”
“You have no faith in me.” Indeed Shade had no faith in himself either, he knew he was going to be caught eventually, one of these days. Hopefully after he had returned Meadow Song.
“Whatever the reasoning. I can’t trust you out on your own.” He moved his hoof away from his face and was now walking over to Shade. “Maybe it would be better if you stayed with me.”
“Say what?” Shade was surprised by the offer, sure he didn’t mind sleeping in the barn, but something bugged him about this. “Wouldn’t it be kind of… Conspicuous if two Changelings are living in the same house?”
“Well you did tell them we were old friends. So they shouldn’t really question it.” Darkblaze replied, looking over the note he had just written before it suddenly burst into green flame. “You would be amazed how trusting these ponies can be… But just to be safe…you should probably stay away from Pinkie.”
“I don’t want to know.” Shade replied speaking both about the strange paper incineration, and of why to stay away from this pink pony.
“By the way…” Darkblaze said, looking towards the clock. “What ever happened to that filly you were carrying in Canterlot?”
Darkblaze noticed Shade pressing his ears against his head. “Umm…She came…with…me…” Shade could tell Darkblaze was worried about this, and Shade knew why, having a child who is probably being searched for under his only roof, that may lead to odd questions if royal guards came.
“Well…that complicates things…” Darkblaze replied. “But it is still a triple win situation. I get what I want, you learn to control your powers, and you won’t be living next to one of the few ponies who can…oh Chrysalis damn it.” Darkblaze quickly disguised himself as Tornado Dust. “I’ve got to head to town hall. Make sure that those skies are clear.” He ran over to the door, quickly Shade transformed as well, back to his red pegasi form.
Once Tornado Dust opened the door he looked back at Sunstreak, who was now walking over to the door. “Nice catching up with you, Snake Eye, but duty calls.” Sunstreak walked out before Tornado Dust closed the door behind them and took off. “See ya around, Sunstreak.”
Sunstreak gave a wave before Tornado Dust began to quickly fly towards town hall. “Might as well tell Meadow…” Sunstreak said to himself, taking off from the ground and flying back towards the orchard.