//------------------------------// // 78 - Meeting the night // Story: A Penny for your thought // by Damaged //------------------------------// If you would prefer, you could read the "mature" version of this instead. It has everything here, with a bit more at the end. Caution: Link contains sex between a pony and a human. Jenny was in her element, even if she felt the chill of the night. The 'hand' she was holding was a big reassurance. "So how long you been here?" Penny waved a hoof to the guards they were approaching at the castle. "Honestly? A good few months now, I think. It is a little hard to tell, things just flow so much more when you don't have a whole world at your fingertips…" Penny paused on the word, grinning wryly at the fact that it felt uncomfortable to say. "Landed much the same way you did, although I lucked out a bit and it happened during the day." "A human, just arrived." Stick had moved forward to talk to the guard. The unicorn stallion in golden armor nodded. "Taking her to see the court?" At Stick's nod he stood to the side and gestured. "You know the way, go on through and have yourselves announced." "Thank you!" Stick's overly bubbly mood spilled out on the guard, getting him to smile in response. The little group advanced. "You 'know the way'?" Jen looked vaguely impressed. "I spend more than a little time at court. I don't always have business here, but it is good to get to know ponies, particularly those who run most of the city." Stick's reply made the human look thoughtful. "Alright, I need to ask, it's burning away at me. In the show, changelings aren't really…" "Well liked? Nice? Tolerated?" Stick beamed up to the human, destroying all those notions. "Well, yeah. Chrysalis was all nasty and all the drones that came with her seemed so as well." Jenny was working on trying to remember the episodes that had them. "That all happened, close enough to how you describe it. But all was not well in her hive, Chrysalis was mean and petty. One of Penny's friends had their parents foalnapped by her, when he went to save the day he found the hive almost in revolution. One of his friends, Princess Fast Change-" Stick was explaining as they walked, but Jen cut her off. "A new princess? Oh, what is her element?" Stick snorted. "Her element is her hive. Princess Fast wasn't a princess back then, just a unicorn really good at shapechanging. So good that when Chrysalis tried to regain control of us, Princess Fast stood proud and became a changeling, commanding us to leave." The drone looked besotted. Penny and Hay would have been jealous if they hadn't seen how their mate treated the changeling queen. "She fought so much for us, for everypony, that Princess Celestia announced that she was not a queen, but a princess." Genevieve had let go of the 'hand' in her own. "Oh wow, that sounds amazing, I wonder if that will be in season six?" Penny snorted. "Still not out? I was trying to avoid all the spoilers for it. Just be aware, the events in the shows do happen, just try to not be in shot. I think having a human appear suddenly might cause issues for the show." The human was almost bouncing again, new questions bubbling up. "But then how-" "We're here, we need to be quiet until called." Stick gestured at a room with a hoof. Inside, Princess Luna was holding court, a guard of lunar pegasi in the room. The four slipped in and Stick moved to the bailiff to discuss their business. It was a wonder. Jen was actually quiet. But she had reached into the little backpack she wore and pulled out a pad and some charcoal. She was sketching the princess of the night. "Stick Farthing, Penny Farthing, Hay Cart and Genevieve." The crier announced and the little group stood up and made their way to the front. Penny looked immediately to a grinning changeling. It wasn't the time to talk about such things but she certainly would grill her lover later. Luna looked quite pleased at the visit, her eyes drawn straight to Penny. "We see our mare doing well. School progresses for you, Penny Farthing. How agreeable is your time spent there?" The unicorn in question brightened up. "It is great, I only have the last few symbols left to do and, Giddilee says I will be rising to a rank two on the weights any day now." The princess looked pleased at this, smiling. "And our foal?" Penny stepped forward, her dress doing a good job of hiding any bump. She stood just before Luna, standing sideways. A dark-colored hoof reached out and pressed into the fabric of her dress. Penny felt as the princess felt at the small bump she had. Her foal. The idea of the life growing inside her always made Penny smile, it was impossible to feel down when you knew that somepony's life was about to begin all because of you. "I can feel them." Luna dropped her royal plural in delight. Penny was relaxed, secure in her belief the Luna would do nothing to harm her or her foal. "She is pregnant?" Jen's voice cut into the experience a little, but Penny didn't begrudge her. "She is. Who is this human you have brought before us, Penny?" Luna drew her hoof back, but Penny felt the touch continue, the alicorn's horn alight proving who's touch it was. "This is Genevieve. She arrived here not moments ago. We were on our way home from dinner and she appeared in the street." "Genevieve Shardon, ma'am." Jen bowed to Luna, proving that she had taken Penny's warning to heart. "Welcome to Equestria, Genevieve." Luna lifted a hoof, making the greeting a royal welcome. "Have you any plan for what you would wish to do while here?" "I do. Penny clued me in about a few things, but I think I would like to try my hand at art." "Art? Do you have an example of your work?" Luna seemed quite relaxed and happy, probably not having to deal with petitioners for a little bit helped Jen's case. The woman blushed and flipped her art-book around. A blue glow enveloped it and Luna lifted it closer. A sudden blush had Luna flicking to the next page quickly. Penny wondered what it was, she had seen what the human had done with her charcoal and it wasn't risque at all. There was a fervent hope that Jen hadn't done any clop-art. "These are quite excellent, uh, most of them." Luna folded the book closed but Jen tore out the latest one and handed the page back to the alicorn. "Please, keep this. As a… thanks, for looking over my work." It was Jenny's turn to blush now, the woman realizing just what it would mean to see some of her more adventurous commissions, here in Equestria. "We would suggest preparing a more, professional, folio if you wish to do further business." Luna accepted the charcoal piece, both delighted and a little concerned at the human's talents. The alicorn turned her attention to Hay. "We hear Penny's family has a new member." To say the half-changeling looked terrified at the attention was an understatement. Stick moved quickly to press in against Hay. "We do, isn't she the best?" Stick gave Hay's cheek a kiss. Penny wanted to go and 'save' Hay as well, but Luna was still gently rubbing her side, the mare trembling a moment in indecision before she breathed out and stepped down, away from Luna and to Hay's other side. "We have decided on when the wedding will be. A month and a half from today. You are invited… we still have to organize that part of things." Hay, with the physical presence of both her marefriends, seemed to grow in confidence, looking up at Luna and smiling. "They mean everything to me." The princess of the night couldn't hold running to protect her mate from distress against Penny, the three looking very much like a wonderful little herd. To the side, though, Jenny looked a little stunned. "Wedding? Married? But you are all mares…" The mix of odd emotions that washed over the human's face was lost on most of the ponies, but Penny giggled at it. Luna was the first to react. "While a herd of mares establishing themselves is not common, there is certainly nothing against it. A changeling in the herd apparently relieves everypony involved of needing to seek outside assistance for… things…" Luna blushed a little at her implications, realizing that she may have gone a bit far in explaining things to the human. "Wait, so you three are getting married?" Jenny looked at Hay, Stick and Penny, getting nods from all three. "And you are pregnant?" Penny nodded happily. "Then who was the stallion?" The flash of green caught the woman off-balance, Stick's form burning away and leaving a dark, half-changeling lunar unicorn stallion in her place. Which was odd considering the stallion was wearing a dress now. "You over-complicate things, Penny did the same when I first met her… she still does sometimes. Just relax, between magic and friendship, there is nothing that can't be solved." Stick nuzzled a bemused Hay and a suddenly cuddly Penny. When the changeling looked back at the human, however, she had to look down. Jenny had passed out, cradled almost on the floor in Luna's magic. "We assume that seeing little magics is one thing, but having a changeling transform right before your eyes is another. Does she have somewhere to sleep for the night?" Hay shrugged. "If she really needs to, I am not using my room at the college. We could help her find somewhere more permanent tomorrow." Luna found this agreeable. "We will notify the school, please see she gets some rest." Penny knew the human would be beyond what she could lift, but she radiated a little, feeding energy to Stick and Hay and between the two, the dead-weight of the unconscious human was carried. Back at the school, with the human settled into a bed and a blanket pulled up around them, Penny turned from the sleeping form. "Quite the night." Penny was last to leave the room, closing the door herself. "Now, tell me my pretty ponies, what is it we plan to do tonight?" Of course, the classic joke was lost on the pair, but although stallion-Stick looked interested, Hay seemed quite drained. Stick noticed the state of her marefriend and nuzzled and guided the half-changeling back to their shared room and into bed. Penny took care to get their dresses neatly put away, turning back to find both her mates fast asleep and snuggled together. Moments later, she was too. Jenny slept soundly, despite how the beginning of her rest began. Her dreams were filled with ponies as usual, but there was a figure that seemed to watch from the side, every now and again. "Hay?" The voice brought the girl out of her sleep and she found herself in a comfortable bed. But the room wasn't empty. "Hay I… I need to tell you I really like you… but I hear you are getting married to those mares." The male voice sounded a touch bitter and Jen pondered lifting her head. The touch of a hoof to her side, through the covers, did startle the human enough to poke her head up from the bed. "You're not Hay!" "Who are you?" Jen was shocked. There was a strange stallion in the room who, it seemed, was turning and bolting for the door. The door he had forgotten he had closed! He hit it so hard that Sablee was out cold. "You love her that much huh?" Jen reached down and tried to pick up the injured pony. It was a struggle but she managed to manhandle him onto the bed. "Guys are the same no matter where you are, I guess. Chasing what they can't have." For want of something better to do, Genevieve wrapped herself in a blanket and curled up beside the stallion to sleep.