In case you don't know what non-canon means, it means that nothing in this chapter will be part of the actual story itself.
My target was in that house.
Which happened to be a tree. And a library.
Maybe there was a joke somewhere that could be made out of that, but I didn't really know any. Besides, I had much more important matters to take care of.
Namely, a changeling to give a surprise scare to.
...and a package to deliver, though the former was just as important to me, since none of us had ever managed it.
I flew towards one of the balconies of the building after making sure nopony was watching, silently thankful that the streets weren't too crowded at this time and that I had chosen a pegasus disguise.
Unsurprisingly, the windows were unlocked. Ponies were way too trusting, which was ironic considering how they reacted to changelings for the first time in general.
'At least Twilight and her friends know about us for who we are and are okay with it,' I thought as I let the red flames wash over me once I was inside the house-library, revealing my true form while I double-checked my bag to make sure that my gift box was still there.
It was.
The one it was meant for, however, was surrounded downstairs with a bunch of ponies, and I could hear the sounds of idle banter. Hopefully it would distract her long enough. I giddily rubbed my forehooves together and grinned to myself, preparing to be the first to surprise—
Amused "We know you're up there!" a very familiar voice called out.
'...Shit.' I pouted.
There was a mixture of shock, outrage and worry emanating from the seven other ponies.
"...Well, okay, none of you did, but I knew you were up there; now come on down! And it's safe, by the way."
I sighed as I slowly made my way towards an opening that lead downstairs. At least I surprised the ponies, I supposed...
"Safe? Oh it'll be safe, alright; Right after I teach you a lesson about trying to break into somepony's home!" a raspy voice proclaimed towards my general direction. "Who the hay even goes into the library through the windows, anyway?!"
I reached the top of the staircase to finally see... Twilight and her friends! They were all sitting and eating together around a table with pony food on it, though for the moment they were giving funny looks at Rainbow Dash, whom was being held back by a red aura.
And as it turned out, the seventh pony wasn't even a pony! It was that little lizard that wasn't really a dragon based on what everyone said about real dragons, though I was also told to not mention that to the little thing because it would offend him and make his joy turn into various things that were not joy.
Rainbow's angry look disappeared once she spotted me. "Oh, it's just one of you guys," she said, relaxing right after she was released from the magical hold.
My ears splayed back at that comment. "Does that mean you're not going to teach me that lesson?" I sadly asked, frowning afterwards. "I'd rather not have to break something to sneak into one of your homes, though..."
The only other changeling in the room giggled, making me happy that I... somehow made her happy.
"Hahahah! I'm sure that Rainbow would just love to *snicker* teach you some 'proper manners'!"
I perked up at that, and the pegasus in question made a face that reflected how happy she was with the idea. "W-what? No! Count me out! That's more Rarity's thing, anyway! You should be asking her for that instead!"
Oh. Darn, I still had a lot to learn about ponies and their expressions...
"I would be delighted to!" Rarity giddily exclaimed from her seat. "Just come by my boutique tomorrow, darling! I'll make a fine gentlecolt out of you; of that, you can be certain!"
Pinkie Pie laughed, throwing a hoof around the white unicorn's shoulder while I scrunched my muzzle. "Don't be silly, Rarity!" she said. "You know Mirage likes being a mare more than being a stallion!"
Rarity's eyes widened in realization as she turned to face me, blushing. "O-oh! Oh my, terribly sorry, Mirage! I sincerely thought you were someone else."
"I get that a lot." I shrugged.
Applejack smirked. "Geez Rarity, I thought you were good at paying attention to details!"
The unicorn huffed. "As if you were able to tell the difference between Artemis' children! At least I get it right most of the time!"
While those two playfully bickered between themselves in the background and that the others resumed eating their meals, I finally set my bag and its precious contents on the floor next to my target before giving her a hug. "Hi Mom!"
"Hello, Mirage." She warmly smiled and bent down to nuzzle me. "How was your day?"
"It was great! There's love everywhere!" I nervously pawed at the floor. "And, w-well, umm... since today is 'hearts and hooves' day, and that I saw a lot of ponies giving gifts to one another, I thought I would give you one of my own!" I beamed, taking the box out of the bag and offering it to her.
"Aww, you didn't need to!" Mom joyfully grinned, accepting my carefully wrapped present. "Is it something I should be worried of?" she then chittered, giving a glance to the nearby ponies.
"I don't think so," I happily chirped back. "They all helped me get it, after all."
Mom blinked, then stared at the others. "Really? You all helped with this gift?"
"Hay yeah! We even went into the Everfree forest and everything!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed with her mouth full and a hoof-pump, causing many of the nodding ponies to gawk at her in disbelief and Rarity to choke on her food until Fluttershy helped her out.
"I think you mean that you went into the Everfree alone with Mirage," Twilight shot back, making Rainbow look... I think it was sheepish? The purple unicorn shook her head before facing Mom. "But don't worry Artemis, all I did was provide a few books! Nothing as dangerous as going into an unnatural forest." She gave another funny stare at Rainbow.
"Hey, don't look at me! It was her idea!"
"Oh I'm not too worried," Mom replied. "That forest isn't anywhere near as bad as you ponies think; and besides, my kids know how to avoid the creatures that live in it, as well as—"
"Why are you taking so long to open your present?!" Pinkie exclaimed, popping out of my empty... bag... that was half her size...
...What!?
"I gotta admit, I'm mighty curious about what Mirage made for you, Artemis," Applejack said, unfazed as I tried to make sense of what I just saw. "Must be something real special since she never told me why she wanted to borrow that old tool shed, and she wouldn't even let me look at what she was doing in it to begin with!"
"Come on! Open it! Open it open it open it!!" the Pink One urged with barely restrained excitement, vibrating from her spot at the round table.
"Alright, alright! Hold your horses," Mom said, chuckling to herself at some kind of inside joke.
She gently levitated my gift up to herself and carefully unwrapped it in a way that not even the wrapping would be damaged in the process, anticipation building up in her as she prepared to open the small box within that Fluttershy helped me make.
Besides the nervous buzzing of my wings, all activity in the room ground to a halt as Mom finally opened the box itself to peer inside.
Mother's eyes widened in surprise at its contents, but my worried shuffling only stopped once I felt her joy.
Joy that turned into uncertainty when Mom ended up tearing her gaze away from my gift to look back at me, before staring at everyone else.
"Do you like it!?" I asked with a small bounce. Even though I was almost certain of the answer, I wanted to be sure that she was happy with it, because if not then I could go and get a better one and—
Mother's fanged grin was genuine. "I love it," she stated, giving me a hug that made it really hard to breathe while closing the box with my gift still inside before anyone could see what it was.
Unfortunately, Mom released me after a few seconds. But that was alright, I could always ask for more hugs later. At least she was still holding me close to her with a foreleg.
"Though to be honest, I'm... kind of having trouble believing that you all helped Mirage get me that," she said to all the others.
"Truthfully, all I really did was offer advice to young Mirage. I haven't even got the slightest clue as to what she finally decided to give to you..." Rarity looked around the table at the multitude of confused faces,"... and I think I'm speaking for most of us when I say that I'm curious about what exactly is in that box, dear."
"It's a book, right?" Twilight asked, causing a few groans from some ponies before she blushed. "I-I mean, she asked for a lot of books earlier today! She said she needed them for a present that she was making!"
"It's definitely not a book," Mom assured everyone, tilting her head afterwards. "Do any of you even know what's in here?" She levitated the box in front of her.
There was a chorus of disagreements as they all waited for an answer from Mom or I. Meanwhile, Spike sneaked a tiny gem into one of his... I think those were called cupcakes.
Mom opened her muzzle to say something, but quickly reconsidered and turned to me. "Actually, how about you tell us how you ended up with this wonderful gift? This is your first Hearts and Hooves day after all."
I perked up at her request.
And so did Twilight. "Hey! We could all share some of our own Hearts and Hooves experiences, too!" she exclaimed, gaining various eager nods of approval before I cleared my throat in preparation of my short tale as I faced my Mother.
"Well, it all began when I saw ponies giving little gifts to others this morning, and when I learned that all the exchanges happened between ponies that liked each other, I thought that I should give something to you to show how much I love you, because you're the bestest mom ever!"
Mom gave me a soft smile as I hugged her.
"But... I really didn't know what to get that would be special enough for you..."
"Ooh, ooh!" Pinkie interjected, waving wildly. "That's when she came to get her surprise cupcake from me at Sugarcube Corner!"
I blinked. "Erm... yes, I went to Sugarcube Corner then, but not for the cupcake. Which I gave back to Pinkie, because I don't like eating."
"Thanks! It was really good!"
"...Anyway! I went there to ask Pinkie if she had any advice on what I could get for you, and she told me that pastries and sweets were always a good choice, especially if it was a cake. I knew that it wasn't what I was looking for because you don't usually eat too, but Pinkie also said that if I wanted my gift to be really special, it would have to be something that I made myself.
"I still didn't know what to make though, so I went to Rarity next, and while she said that she didn't know you all that well to know what the perfect gift would be, she also told me that what I gave you wouldn't matter all that much in the end, because 'as long as it comes from the heart, she will like it,' " I quoted Rarity with her own voice.
"And that was when it came to me! The ultimate gift! I wasn't sure how to do it myself though, so I came here as quickly as I could to see if Twilight could help me with preparing it, but, uh...
"...she told me that I kind of needed my heart to live."
Pinkie choked on her popcorn while almost everyone else stared at me in disbelief, though I caught Mom muttering to herself about doubly making sure that everyling knew about basic biology.
"Wait... wut?" Rainbow asked, confused.
"Are ya tryin' to tell me that you wanted to give Artemis your own heart?!" Applejack exclaimed.
"Wait, WUT!?" Rainbow repeated with widened eyes.
"Don't worry everypony, I explained to Mirage why I shouldn't and wouldn't perform that kind of operation, and I informed her of why it would be a terrible idea for somepony to lose their heart," Twilight quickly said.
I faced my Mom with trembling lips. "She lectured me, Mom! Lectured me!"
"How long did it take?"
"Two hours, fifty-three minutes and forty-one point two seconds," Twilight immediately replied.
"Ah." Mom looked back at me. "You got lucky."
I... wasn't sure what to think about that.
"*Cough* S-so, um, it turned out that I couldn't give you my heart, and I was both sad and back to square one. Twilight saw this, and she decided to cheer me up by letting me borrow a book that showed and explained the biology of various species.
"As I flipped through the pages and memorized the images, though, I realized that there were a lot of different species, and another idea for a gift came to me! So I asked Twilight for a whole bunch of books to help me with this new project!"
Mom looked slightly worried. "Which books, and where are they right now?"
"Erm..." I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head. "...I forgot the names, b-but don't worry! I left them with some friends so that they could hold onto them for me for a little while! I wasn't done reading them, yet."
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"So which one should we try first? 'Nec... nerco... uh, ner-co-no-romancy for dummies'? Or '101 ways to catch and tame a monster from the Everfree'?"
"I don't know, the Everfree forest is kind of scary..."
"And I don't want to get in trouble with my sister again. Besides, the other one has 'romancy' in it, and today is Hearts and Hooves day! It's only right!"
"Yeah!"
"Then it's settled!"
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS NECRO—"
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Everyone but Mom and I shivered for some reason.
"Anyway," I happily continued, "I needed to go into the Everfree forest to get what I wanted because I didn't want to upset Fluttershy—"
"And that's when I came in to escort and protect her!" Rainbow Dash proudly exclaimed, puffing out her chest.
I frowned. "That's not true! You just followed me inside the forest and kept whining about how slow we were moving and about how bored you were, and you scared all the prey away with all that noise you were making!"
Rainbow's grin faltered a bit. "W-well, uhh, what... what about that one manticore I scared away with nothing but my awesomeness! Yeah! If I wasn't there, it could've eaten you or, or something!"
"Your frustrated cry when nothing happened for 10 minutes was what attracted its attention to begin with! And besides, I turned into a cockatrice while you weren't looking, and it ran away the moment it saw me!" I gave a big smile to Mom. "It's just like you said! Manticores are really scared of chickens!"
"Wait, really?" Twilight asked, eyes widening and excitement building up in her. "What els—"
"Yup!" I quickly replied. She was beginning to get that look in her eyes that Mom had warned all of us about, and so I had to keep talking to make sure that it went away. "So immediately after that manticore ran off, I finally found what I was looking for hiding behind some dense bushes, and I pounced on it with my eyes closed because Mom said cockatrices can do really bad things if you look at one."
"Huh? I don't remember seeing any cockatrices today!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"That's because you were too busy staring at where the manticore ran away while I stuffed the body in my bags."
Silence.
...And some pride from Mom, which made me happy.
"Is that what... what you had in your bags when you came to see me for that tool shed you wanted to borrow?" Applejack asked with an unease that was shared between almost everyone.
"Uh-huh!" I nodded, giving her an awkward smile afterwards. "I, uh, wouldn't go in that shed anytime soon, though. It's a little messy in there. B-but don't worry! I'll clean it up later!"
"You... you didn't..." Rarity gulped.
"So I was able to extract what I wanted out of the cockatrice with the help of the biology book Twilight borrowed me and the tools from the shed—" I omitted the part where I cackled as I did so with thunder in the background, "—and one of the spell books taught me how to cast a preservation spell on it. Then all I needed was to put it in a box and wrap it up, which I asked Fluttershy to help me with, and my surprise was ready!"
Everyone quietly stared between Mom and I.
"I'm... not sure I want to know anymore," Rarity stated.
"I do!" Pinkie grinned, ever cheerful. "What's in the box!?"
Mom gave a brief smirk my way before levitating the gift up to her once more, opening it and pulling out its contents.
For some reason, all of the ponies had weird reactions to it.
Rarity promptly fainted.
Applejack and Spike looked horrified.
Rainbow seemed torn between disgusted and awed.
Pinkie oooh'ed, curious.
Twilight somehow turned green despite not being a changeling, but she couldn't take her eyes off of it in morbid fascination.
And Fluttershy, who had been quiet so far, smiled.
"That's really sweet."
But nothing mattered quite as much as the love that Mom had for me, especially when she gave me another nuzzle.
"It really is, especially raw," Mom agreed. "How did you even know that it was my favorite part?" she asked me.
I blinked. "I, uh, didn't really know," I sheepishly said. "But Rarity said that my gift had to come from the Heart!" I beamed. "So I got you one!"
No, not one of those silly little pink symbols that everypony outside called 'hearts' and put everywhere.
I got my mom a real heart!
"Happy Hearts and Hooves day, Mom!" I chirped as I threw myself at her in a hug.
"Happy Hearts and Hooves day, Mirage," Mom warmly said, returning my affection.
While most of the ponies pushed their plates of food away as they muttered about not really being hungry anymore, Mom gave the room a fanged grin.
"So who wants to hear about how my first Hearts and Hooves day went?"
~~~Meanwhile~~~
Daring Do lounged inside her home after having returned from yet another adventure, calmly taking a sip of her coffee. Her gaze wandered across the lobby, passing over the numerous artifacts that she had collected over the years as she reminisced on the events leading up to the acquisition of each and every single one of them.
However, while her sight more often than not found itself on the book fort that was forever left untouched ever since its construction on one side of the room, it also tended to linger on one of the most unique gifts she had received quite some time ago.
And it was as she fondly stared at it that she decided that perhaps it was time to take a little vacation to visit a certain Queen.
For, next to the fireplace, inside a jar filled with water, floated a still-beating heart whose color changed depending on her mood.