Converted

by Shaded Changeling


Chapter 50: Aftermath

A single grave.
One of a million others, a warrior fallen.
Equestria had seen many soldiers fall in the years, but what made this one strange, was who it was.
It was not a general, known for their brilliant planning, or strategic placement. It was not even a private, who died protecting the Princess. In fact, it wasn’t even a pony.
The one inside the grave was a Changeling, a creature known for their ability to take the form of any other. This soldier died from over exertion of energy, literally disintegrating their bodies as the form ate through the energy stored there.
Overlooking the gravestone, stood three Changelings each paying their respects, one was crying into the open hooves of a second, while the third clutched a single curved horn, hanging around its neck.
There had been others there before, but they had left. They wanted to finish the repairs to the town, nearly destroyed during the attack a few days ago. These three Changelings remained for well over an hour after the others left.
On the grave, which had been hoof crafted by the best stone smith they could afford, was an image of a Pegasus, a Changeling, and an earth pony. The Pegasus flying above the Earth pony while the Changeling watched on. A circular rune was carved into the stone, translating into “Remembrance”.
A few minutes later, the crying Changeling was led away by the one she had been crying into, as the third stood there, looking at the Grave.
“We had some great times didn’t we?” Darkblaze said to the grave. “You showed me friendship, helped me see the errors in my life, I made a promise to you…” A tear fell down his face.
“I hope I made you proud.” Darkblaze touched the horn around his neck. “You will always be a part of me… No matter where you are…”
He looked down at the grave, at the inscription he had read so many times.
In loving Memory
A great Changeling, a great friend, and a teacher.
A dear sister, and a Loving Daughter.
Gamma
Darkblaze shed another tear before placing a small green crystal next to the gravestone and turning from it. The crystal was meant as a sign of respect, a charged crystal that was said to help link those that lost their horns to the afterlife. He headed back down towards Ponyville, the place that had been his home for over five years, and was now his official home.
“Hey Dusty!” Rainbow Dash called flying down to Darkblaze.
“Yeah Rainbow?” Darkblaze replied.
The cyan Pegasus flew down and landed next to the Changeling, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “Listen, if you want to take a few days off from work because of all this, I’ll understand…”
“I know that isn’t it Rainbow.” Darkblaze replied, looking up at his employer. “What is it?”
Rainbow Dash smiled. “He’s waking up.”


When they got to the Hospital, Antenna was already clinging to her Queen, crying either tears of joy, or the same tears from Gamma.
“But…I-I saw you.” Antenna said through sobs. “H-How did you survive?”
Chrysalis placed one of her hooves around Antenna, drawing her close in an attempt to comfort her. “Well, as it turns out. A group of Cytes’ Changelings was passing through the area looking for herbs, when they saw a smoke cloud rising up into the air. When they went to investigate, they found me inside the cave.”
Antenna looked up at her Queen, Chrysalis was smiling down at her. “Then they brought me back to a hospital run by Cytes’ Daughter. I made her promise to keep me a secret. I had no power, no strength, and was by all accounts on my deathbed. If it wasn’t for that strange fire, I may have died.” Chrysalis looked off to the side in thought. “You wouldn’t happen to know who did that would you?” She looked back down to Antenna, a small knowing grin across her face.
Antenna felt surprised and then a smile crept across her face. Chrysalis brought Antenna into a hug. “Thank you, Antenna. You saved my life.”
Antenna blushed but returned the hug. “I-It was my pleasure your Highness. I-I was just doing my job.”
The rest of the group of Changelings and ponies was waiting in the lobby of Ponyville Hospital, waiting to be told it was safe to enter the room. Inside which, Princess Hemo was looking over the patient. She looked much like her mother, sky blue eyes, and a longer curved horn than most Changelings, but she was smaller, about the same size as Ceymi used to be if not a bit taller. Ortho was helping her examine the patient.
In the next room over, Two Pink-eyed Changelings were watching over a third Changeling, his horn and wings gone. A slightly larger Changeling crying into her shorter sister.
“Tell me he’s going to be okay.” Haze cried to Blackout, looking up to see her Sister’s eyes. “Please?”
“He’s going to be fine.” Blackout assured her, pulling her a little closer to try and comfort her. “You heard what the Doctors said, he’ll make a full recovery.”
“B-But when is he going to w-wake up?” Haze asked. “I-I still need to get Hab-beas and Z-Zakon…”
Before Blackout could respond, the door to the room opened, and another pink-eyed Changeling rushed into the room, he was smaller than either of the two others, on his back was a young pink earth pony with pure pink eyes.
“Is dad alright?” The Changeling asked, looking at Haze then back at Lockup.
“Habeas?” Haze asked.
“Yeah, hi mom” He said nonchalantly. “I came as soon as I heard.”
“Didn’t you have to take your exam today?” Haze asked looking at Habeas questioningly.
“I ditched it.” Habeas replied, oblivious to his mother’s shocked expression. “I’m not going to just wait to hear if Dad’s alright.”
The small Earth pony filly looked over at the two Changelings and jumped into Haze’s hooves. “Mommy!”
Haze looked at the young filly with a small smile. “My little Zakon…”
“Where did you go Mommy?” Zakon asked. “Home was all weird looking. There was this black stuff everywhere.”
“Mommy had to see the Queen sweetie.” Haze replied. “Oh… and you got your Shape shifting working.” Haze nuzzled the filly. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Mom!” Habeas shouted attempting to get Haze’s attention. “Is Dad going to be okay?”
“Yes… He’ll be fine…” Haze said, looking over at Blackout, who was giving a reassuring smile and nod. “Just…fine…”
“Mommy.” Zakon said looking at Lockup curiously. “Where’s Daddy’s horn?”
Haze let a tear drop down her face. “It’s a long story my little Caterpillar.”
A groan made them all look towards the bed. “Ugh… What happened?” Lockup asked, raising a hoof to his head.
“Honey!” Haze handed Zakon to Blackout before rushing up to Lockup, giving him a long kiss.
When she pulled away, Lockup was actually more confused than he was a few seconds before. “What was that for?” He asked curiously. “I mean… I’m not complaining, I just want to know what I did to deserve that.”
“Hey dad…” Habeas said hoping that his father wouldn’t be mad about him being here.
Lockup looked towards his son. “Habeas?” He asked. “What are you doing here?”
Habeas wrapped his hooves around his dad, giving him a hug. “I came to make sure you were alright.”
“Shouldn’t you be in Canterlot?” He asked Habeas after he broke off the hug. “More to the point what happened after I passed out?”
“Daddy!” Zakon said, hoping next to the bed energetically.
Lockup looked at the small pink filly and smiled. “Oh! There’s my little Zakon.” He lifted the Filly up and onto the bed with him. “How have you been my little Honey pot?” He asked nuzzling the young Changeling.
“I’m fine, Daddy!” Zakon replied happily, hugging her father’s neck. “Does this mean you’re coming home?”
“I believe that is my place to decide.”
All five Changelings looked towards the door Acari had just stepped through. “After all, I am the only one who decides how Exiles are treated.”
Zakon looked at Lockup. “Daddy, what’s an ‘Exile’?”
“I’ll tell you later sweetie.” Lockup replied picking up Zakon and putting her on the ground.
Acari looked at the family of Changelings before focusing her gaze on Lockup. “Soldier 27, Lockup, years ago you betrayed my trust, and the trust of everypony else within my Hive. You released highly sensitive information to Queen Chrysalis, information which she later used to invade Equestria.”
Lockup’s ears fell flat against his head as he looked away from Acari’s glare.
“However,” Lockup looked up. “You also helped me without question for these past few years, you never once gave me another reason to question your loyalty to me, and you served to protect not only your own family, but the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.”
“Under most normal situations, I would see no reason to allow you to reenter my Hive…” Haze’s jaw hung open as she looked between the two of them; she reached and grabbed Zakon, pulling her close. “However, when faced with death, you risked your own life to save that of one who would be considered an enemy, ending with yourself being heavily wounded.” Acari’s horn lit up. “While I can say with certainty that you are not an enemy, I will give you a single warning.”
She leaned in to glare directly at Lockup. “If you ever betray my hive again, I will not be so gracious with your punishment. Is that understood?”
Lockup nodded as he stared into the death glare Acari was giving him.
“Excellent, now hold still.” She pointed her horn at the base of the broken horn Lockup had. The glow surrounded the small base before in a bright flash; it was replaced with a very small curved horn, about the size of Zakon’s.
Lockup reached up and touched his regenerated horn, his eyes widened as he felt the small curved appendage. “I…I Have…”
Acari nodded. “It will grow back in time. Your wings on the other hoof, I will replace them after you prove to me that I can trust you fully again.”
Lockup looked at her surprised, but that was replaced quickly with slight sorrow. “But… without wings, I can’t live in the Hive.” He pointed out, a large amount of the tunnels were off the ground, and if he didn’t have wings, he wouldn’t be able to reach some of them efficiently.
Acari looked off to the side thoughtfully before looking back at Haze. “That is quite a predicament. I suppose you will have to settle with living together here then.”
Haze’s eyes widened in joy and she buzzed her wings quickly. “Are you giving me permission to…”
Acari nodded and Haze grabbed Lockup and kissed him again.
Blackout rolled her eyes. “Get a room you two…”
Acari chuckled at the two Changelings before walking over to Lockup. “It turns out, that Ceymi destroyed the only list of Exiles… While my memory is not quite as good as it used to be, I’m sure I could… Lose a name or two. Consider it thanks for your service to the Hive these many years.”
Lockup nodded and turned back to his wife. “So… It seems our schedules just opened up, I guess we can have that…”
“Shut up you stubborn stallion, we’ll talk about it later.” She hugged Lockup, “let’s just savor this moment…”


Back out in the hall, a few of the Changelings were watching the display between Lockup and Haze.
“They make a cute couple.” Darkblaze said watching them.
“Maybe you can find somepony that makes you that happy?” Antenna replied, looking back at her son. “Maybe give me some grandfoals to look after.”
Darkblaze laughed. “I’ll wait a little on that one mom.” He replied.
“I’m not waiting forever on grandfoals, you know.” Antenna said.
“Wait a few more years.” Darkblaze replied.
Surprise came bolting down the hall, bits of loose confetti in ‘her’ mane. “Sorry!” He replied. “I was busy getting the Party cannons loaded when one went off in my face.” He put his hoof in his mouth and blew on it, causing the Confetti in his mane to pop out accompanied by the sound of a party popper. “I didn’t miss anything did I?”
“Don’t worry, newbie.” Darkblaze replied. “You didn’t miss anything.”
Surprise let out a sigh of relief. “Oh… I’m glad about that… I thought Pinkie was going to have to tell me everything.”
He looked up at Chrysalis and jumped slightly. “Sorry… Queen Chrysalis…”
Queen Chrysalis waved dismissively. “I’ve had many of those looks for the past month. I’ve become used to it.”
Twilight was looking at the crystal on Chrysalis’ horn curiously, she was still not okay with the fact that Chrysalis was in front of her after the Invasion, at least not without a rather lucrative amount of steel bars between the two of them. However, her curiosity had been growing about the purpose for the crystal. “Why is there crystal on your horn?”
Chrysalis turned to look at Twilight, she raised her hoof and touched the crystal, in the center there was a small crack that ran around the jagged black horn. “My horn was broken in the crash after I was repulsed from the city. The crystal keeps the pieces together until it can be healed by the magic within the gem. Cytes said it would take a few more days to heal before I can reconnect to the full hive mind. After that I should be able to-”
The door to the room opened and Hemo walked through. “He should be waking up soon. I would prefer for only a few of you to be there first, just to ensure he’s okay with visitors.”
Darkblaze walked up to her, “He knows me.” He said. “He’s more likely to trust me.”
Hemo sighed. “Very well… Chrysalis?”
Chrysalis nodded and stood up.
“The rest of you wait out here.” Hemo said. “I’ll tell you when it is alright.”
The rest of them nodded. “We understand.” Twilight said.


When Shade regained consciousness, he groaned as pain began to course through his body. “Am I dead yet?” he asked as he woke up.
“Oh, not yet you aren’t.” Shade could swear he heard the voice before, but he couldn’t put it to a face.
“Snake Eye?” Now he knew that voice.
“Darkblaze?” Shade asked.
“Hey, Snake Eye.” Darkblaze said. “How’re you feeling?”
Shade tried to open his eyes, but his right one refused to let any light through it. He squinted when light hit his eye. “I still can’t feel my hind legs… and I think I’m going blind in my right eye.”
“That’s probably the eye patch.” Darkblaze replied. “Princess Hemo said that you need to wear it for a while.”
“Princess Hemo?” Shade repeated. “Is that another important Pony I never knew about?”
“That would be me.” Hemo walked into view, she was slightly taller than Ceymi, but she had the same coloration as Cytes. “You should know my mother Queen Cytes.”
“Oh… You’re her daughter?”
“Yes.” Hemo replied. “And you are lucky that you were brought here when you were. Any later and we wouldn’t have been able to stop the process.”
“Process?” Shade repeated.
“Ceymi did a huge number on you.” Hemo replied, looking at a clipboard, “Broken and shattered ribs, dislocated wings, broken spine, and a couple of other smaller lacerations.” Hemo lifted up a page on the clipboard, on the page was a line graph, the chart began at a very low point below a solid blue line, as the line went further, it climbed slowly before leveling out by the line. “And that form you used didn’t help much. It drained your emotional reserves far below stable levels.”
“Meaning?” Shade asked.
“You were eating through your body’s magical supplies at an alarming rate,” Hemo replied, flipping another page to show a Changeling with green flames working up its legs. “If Chrysalis hadn’t been forcing love into you, you probably would have…”
“Hold up.” Shade said. “What was that name?”
“Chrysalis.” Hemo replied, looking off to the right. “She’s right here.”
Queen Chrysalis walked into his view. “Hello, my Soldier.”
Shade gritted his teeth, he felt anger rising up within him as he looked back at Chrysalis, were he still a dragon, his claws would have unconsciously extended. “I’m not your anything!” He spat, voice leaking with venom.
Queen Chrysalis was taken aback by his anger. “My. What has gotten into you?”
“A lot of things…” Shade growled. “The biggest and most glaring being you turned me into this!” Shade motioned to his body while still glaring at Chrysalis.
Chrysalis looked over Shade before a look of comprehension dawned on her. “Ah…” She replied, a hint of sorrow in her voice. “I remember you. You were that Dragon that I tried to heal.”
“HEAL!” Shade shouted. “HOW THE FUCK IS THIS BETTER!”
“I did say attempted…” Chrysalis replied with a sigh. “Ceymi had control over me… I’m sorry…”
Shade calmed down slightly, looking away from the Queen. “So long as she suffers…”
“Oh… She will.” Chrysalis replied. “Being stripped of all magical power for a Changeling is practically a death sentence.”
“You should still do more.” Shade replied.
“If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them.” Chrysalis replied.
“Send her to the Fiords, the torture is better there.” Shade said.
Chrysalis smiled. “I like the way you think.”
“Now do me a favor… Leave.” Shade said bluntly. “I’m afraid that I will still kill you if I get the chance. At least for a few months.”
Chrysalis looked at him and shook her head. “Ah yes, I remember you dragons and your grudges.”
“Piss off.” Shade said.
“Very well…” Chrysalis replied. “I have to head to Canterlot, Celestia requested me to help make a peace treaty.” Chrysalis walked out of the room.
“Chrysalis!” Shade shouted, causing the Queen to turn. “Make sure Spine suffers.”
Chrysalis smiled “Ooo…. There’s that Dragon vengeance I love so.” Chrysalis replied before walking out of the room.
Hemo looked between the two of them. “History?”
“She nearly killed me, shattered the bones in my hand, and then her army nearly destroyed my home. Then I got turned into a Changeling. Oh! Then I got thrust into an invasion. Shall I go on?”
“No. That’s plenty…” Hemo replied. “Now, I think you’re okay to have visitors. Just keep that bandage over your eye, you got a concussion, it’s affecting your photosensitivity, so just keep it covered or you might agitate it.”
Shade nodded as Hemo stepped out into the hall, when she reentered, The Bearers (minus Pinkie), Antenna, and Surprise walked in.
“How’re you doing?” Twilight asked.
“Well according to Hemo, I have a broken spine, a concussion, broken ribs, and a dislocated wing… So good considering.”
“You were out for quite a while…” Rainbow Dash replied.
“Really? How long?”
“Two days.” Hemo replied, scribbling something down on her notepad. “You were unconscious and unresponsive for two days.”
Shade twitched. “TWO DAYS!”
“Yep…” Darkblaze replied. “You’ve missed quite a lot…”
‘Quite a lot’ turned out to be nearly the entire town cleanup. Apparently Chrysalis had lent her Changelings to help with cleanup, while she personally entered Acari’s hive and liberated the Changelings. She promised to punish those who knowingly served Ceymi, luckily, or unfortunately, most of the Changelings that had been following her had no idea about Ceymi’s plan or were forced to through threats, so most willingly began serving Chrysalis again.
“But… What happened to Meadow?” Shade asked, noticing a lack of the filly
Surprise jumped into the air. “Oh! I was supposed to get Pinkie!” Surprise reached into his mane and pulled out a pink kazoo. He blew into it and Shade heard a light tapping above his head. He perked up his ears and turned his head to the ceiling, the tapping sound was getting closer. Shade looked over towards where a majority of the sound was to see a vent cover.
The vent cover was kicked off rather unceremoniously as Pinkie Pie jumped into the room, two very confused fillies on her back. “What’d I miss?”
The Pegasus filly on her back was the first to come to her senses and looked up at Shade. “Daddy!” Echo hopped off Pinkie’s back and jumped up to hug Shade.
“Echo!” Shade said as he tried to lift his forelegs, one of which refused to move, and the other one only let him bend at the shoulder. Echo was also currently hugging right on his broken ribs making it very difficult to talk and even harder to not cringe in pain as he did so. “Echo… Ribs…”
“Oh, Sorry Daddy.” Echo gave one final squeeze before hopping down from the bed.
“Mr. Shade…” Meadow said hopping of Pinkie’s back and walking up to the bed.
“Hi, Meadow…” Shade said softly. “Listen I…” Shade couldn’t finish. He didn’t want to talk about what must have happened through those weeks she had been left with Spine, at least not in front of the others. “Can you guys… Leave us alone please?”
“I think that would be wise.” Hemo said, looking between the two. “In the meantime, I suggest we find where Meadow Song’s mother is right now…”
Hemo led the group out of the room. Leaving Shade and Meadow alone. “Meadow I…”
Meadow held up her hoof and Shade stopped. “For the past three weeks, I have been praying to Celestia that you would come to rescue me.”
Shade’s ears dropped.
“I never gave up on you, even if I wanted to. Those Changelings were being cruel, they…fed… off me more times than I could count, I felt terrible, and I thought you gave up on me.” Meadow looked up at Shade. “And… I’m sorry I ever doubted you…”
Shade looked at Meadow, unsure of where she was really going with it. “Meadow… I…”
Meadow hopped up and sat on the bed next to Shade. “Please… Promise me something.”
“What is it?” Shade asked, wanting to shift slightly to give Meadow more room.
Meadow reached over and hugged Shade, being careful to avoid his ribcage. “Promise that if I’m ever in trouble, you will come and get me. No matter what you have to do.”
Shade lifted his foreleg, using it to try and reciprocate the hug. “Meadow… I already made that promise to you.” He replied. “I intend to stand by it until I am certain you are safe. In those weeks that I was stuck, unable to do anything, the thought of you getting hurt because of my own decisions kept me awake at night. I never stopped looking, I was always planning, always trying to get some way to contact you.”
Meadow looked up at him. “But Spine said that…”
“Shh….” Shade replied, pulling her a little closer. “Spine isn’t going to bother us ever again.”
Meadow wiped her eyes. “I watched you fight.”
“What’d you think?” Shade asked. “Pretty impressive for a Changeling that woke up little over a month ago.”
Meadow giggled. “You were great.” She said, releasing the hug. “Can… Can we still be friends?”
Shade smiled. “Of course Meadow…” He replied. “Whatever you need.” Shade looked down at her. “I’ll make up the lost time to you.”
“Alright…” Meadow said. “Mr. Nymph.”
Shade chuckled a little at this before Princess Hemo walked in flipping through the clipboard she was carrying. “I hope my mother is telling the truth about you.”
“What are you talking about?” Shade asked.
“This little, ‘Rapid Healing’ thing she told me about.” Hemo rolled her eyes. “It’s complete coincidence if you ask me. Nopony can do that…”
“Well…” Shade replied. “I was a dragon, so…”
“Yeah… Whatever.” Hemo replied tapping a pencil against the board. “Now, if her calculations were right…” Hemo did a few quick equations on the clipboard. “Normally you would be stuck here for a few weeks while we reset the backbone and for your wing to recover. Then we would let you go under heavy supervision.”
Shade looked down, he was sad he would be trapped inside for another few weeks. Though he was glad that it would be close to home this time.
“But, if she is right about this, than if we give you enough of the healing potion and assuming that you promise to come back to this Hospital so that I can monitor your recovery, then we should be able to get you out by…” She quickly checked her math. “Tomorrow.”
Shade’s eye widened. “Would I at least be able to fly?”
Hemo tapped her chin. “If you let me reset the bone now, then yes, I think you could be able to fly for at least a little bit. But you will have to return here immediately.”
Shade nodded and looked up happily. “Do it…”
Hemo smiled. “Alright… But this will hurt.”
“Meadow… Please go outside for this.” The Little brown filly nodded and hopped off the bed before walking out of the room as Shade’s wing was lifted in a blue aura “3…2…” Snap


The next morning, Shade was allowed to leave the Hospital, after Ortho and Hemo made sure that there was no danger in letting him roam around, his hind legs were attached to a wheeled contraption to keep his back steady while he walked and the brace placed along his back made it so even if he could move his legs, he wouldn’t be able to do all that much. Shade only hoped that the brace didn’t make flying around more difficult than it was already going to be, he knew that turns were going to be difficult already with his wing in pain, but doing any hard turns would be impossible.
The other thing that added to his slight difficulty with flying was going to be the bandage over his right eye. He kept it on since his photosensitivity hadn’t abated, something he learned very painfully. A few doctors attempted to check on his eye, and that ended with a thrashing Changeling that felt like a large needle was jabbing into his eye. He had startled Tenderheart pretty badly too.
Shade lifted the card that was left at his bedside by, if he had to guess, Surprise, but either of them could have done it, knowing Pinkie Pie. It read: Meet at the Train Station! Nothing else, no time, no nothing. If he wasn’t certain that these bracers and wheel things could teleport with him, and if he were still a dragon, warning bells would be going off. Though knowing about the friendly and open nature of most ponies meant that Shade simply had to turn off those alarm bells.
Shade transformed into Sunstreak before walking out of the Hospital and beginning to walk towards the station, not that he was worried about getting attacked for what he was, he was more doing it as a precaution; get the ponies used to seeing him before he showed them he was a Changeling, especially if someone thought that the world could use one less Changeling…
As he walked through the town, he noticed that a few minor repairs hadn’t been completed yet there were still a few buildings with windows shattered or walls with some dents in them, but all the main structuring and holes in roofs had been covered, and as he passed by the Town Hall, he was surprised to find the building that he and a Phoenix Ray slammed into was already fully repaired. He understood that the Changelings were helping, but he figured with how much damage and how high up it was, it would have taken at least another day.
This town must have a lot of near destruction incidents, or really dedicated carpenters. He then thought about the stories he had been told by a few of the Bearers. Nope… Definitely just a weekly thing…
As Sunstreak walked around the town, he wasn’t surprised to see a few ponies look at him confused, or even when a few of them came up and asked where he had been for so long or what happened to him. Whenever this happened he just replied with: “Just doing my job.”
When he managed to walk to the train Station, he saw Twilight and Tornado Dust waiting for the train with the small form of Meadow between them looking both nervous and hopefully towards the track. When he walked up, Twilight looked at him in surprise.
“Are you sure you’re healed enough to be here?” She asked looking at the brace and bandage.
Sunstreak groaned. “Yes… Ortho made absolutely sure there was no way for me to damage myself at all with this… And I’m fairly certain she will not be forgiving me for that sucker punch I gave her…”
“You did hit her pretty hard…” Twilight replied.
“I did what I had to…” Sunstreak replied. “I wasn’t going to let Spine hurt anyone else. Besides, I didn’t do enough damage to cause any serious injury.”
“So I see Surprise got you the card.” Tornado Dust said.
“Yeah, came as kind of a surprise when I managed to wake up.” Sunstreak replied. “How can they get into anywhere without being caught? I man, the vent in my room was closed this morning.”
“If I knew I would tell you,” Twilight replied. “I’m still not sure myself.”
Sunstreak shook his head. “I’ve already given up on figuring it out.” He looked down at Meadow. “How have you been holding up?”
“I’m fine.” Meadow replied, looking down the tracks again.
“Happy to see your mother again?” Sunstreak asked to which Meadow nodded.
Tornado looked at him confused. “How did you know that’s what we were doing?”
Sunstreak rolled his eyes. “Come on I’m not dumb. Why else would you guys tell me to come to the train station?”
“Fair point” Tornado replied.
“So when is the train supposed to get in?” Sunstreak asked, looking at Meadow as she peered towards the tracks.
Twilight looked up at a clock. “It should be here right about…”
A train whistle echoed through the air, causing all of them to look down the tracks where the metal train was spewing black clouds into the air. It screeched to a halt in front of the station. The instant it stopped, Meadow looked at the train in anticipation, waiting to see her mother get off the train so that she could hug her.
When the train doors opened, a small crowd of ponies moved off, much less than the number who got on to be sure. Meadow was looking over every pony that got off, scanning for the look of her mother.
“I don’t see her.” Meadow said, her tone betraying her nerves and fears.
“Give it time.” Sunstreak replied, moving to stand beside the filly. “You can’t expect everyone to walk off at once.”
After another thirty seconds, Candlelight walked off the train, a small briefcase next to her; she looked around before spotting Meadow. “Meadow?” She said, her eyes locking onto the young filly.
Meadow turned to look at her mother. “Mom!” Meadow ran forward and into launched herself the open hooves of her mother. “Mom I missed you so much!”
“I missed you too Meadow…” Candlelight said through a tear. “I was so worried about you. After the invasion I thought I lost you. Then to hear about what happened… Promise me you will never make me worry like that again.”
Meadow began to tear up, nuzzling into her Mother’s coat. “I promise Mom. I’ll never get Foalnapped again.” She looked back towards Sunstreak. “Even if I do, Sunstreak promised to find me.”
Sunstreak nodded. “I did indeed…” He replied. “Just… try not to get kidnapped for a few weeks, or however long it takes for my spine to fix itself.”
“Oh no. What happened?” Candlelight asked, keeping Meadow close to her, almost afraid to let her get too far.
“I’d like to know that as well actually.” Twilight added.
“Short version… Princess Ceymi crushed it, threw me against a wall, and broke my ribs, Queen Chrysalis showed up. It gets really fuzzy after that…” Sunstreak rolled his head, since it was still annoying to lift his forelegs any further than what was needed to walk. “If I’m remembering correctly, she turned Ceymi into a Drone…”
“Oh…” Tornado said his eyes widening slightly. “That explains why that Changeling had three stripes on its stomach.”
Sunstreak looked towards Candlelight, and he saw a small dark blue flame come off her. “Candlelight, what’s wrong?”
Candlelight looked surprised for a moment, then she sighed. “I guess I shouldn’t have expected to keep it away from all of you.” She looked over at her briefcase. “I’m afraid that my boss has become… fed up with me.”
Sunstreak’s eyes widened. “What? Why?”
Candlelight sighed. “My boss is a very greedy stallion. And me having to leave an important business trip because my daughter was just found after almost a month of me worrying my tail off about her, is not something he enjoys.” Meadow pressed herself closer to her mother.
Sunstreak’s jaw was hanging open. “But…He…He can’t just do that!”
“Can and did…” Candlelight replied with a sigh. “So… I don’t have a job, and with Meadow’s father still off in the Griffin Kingdom, we wouldn’t have anything that would bring us any real revenue. Canterlot is a very rough town, I’m not sure if I could manage to find another position there.”
That put a rather large damper on the mood. “I’m…Sorry to hear that…” Sunstreak replied.
Candlelight looked up at him. “It isn’t so bad, I won’t have to go on business trips anymore, and I won’t have to deal with my boss… He was always such a stuck up little…” She let out a sigh and looked down at Meadow.
Sunstreak began scanning the ground, before an idea popped into his head. “Why don’t you just stay here?”
Candlelight looked at Sunstreak surprised, but then looked down at the ground. “I… Don’t know…” Candlelight replied unsure. “Canterlot has been our home for a long time…”
“I understand that, but think about it,” Sunstreak replied. “It’s a nice town, open fields, good ponies around here, I’m sure Pinkie wouldn’t mind having a new friend either.”
“Yes, but…” Candlelight replied. “There’s so much that I would be leaving behind… Meadow too.” She looked down at her daughter
“I’m not asking you to move now.” Sunstreak said. “Just think about it while you settle down for a bit.”
Candlelight nodded. “I’ll think about it. We have a few hours before the next train to Canterlot comes through, so I suppose it wouldn’t be too bad to look around…”
“I’d be happy to show you around.” Twilight replied with a friendly smile. “Maybe Sunstreak can join us?”
“Sadly” Sunstreak said shaking his head. “I’ve got to cut it short soon, the doctors want to keep their eye on me, make sure that these injuries heal correct.”
“Aww…” Meadow replied looking down at the ground.
Sunstreak walked over to her. “But… I think I have enough time for one last thing.” He bent down to be eye-level with Meadow. “Want one last fly before you leave?”
Meadow looked up at Candlelight with an expression that just said, ‘Can I?’
Candlelight looked over at Sunstreak, but nodded. “Be careful, Meadow.”
Meadow nodded and looked up at Sunstreak, he bent down further to let Meadow hop onto the front portion of his back, and she wrapped her hooves around his neck. “Ready.”
Sunstreak’s forehead was covered in green flame as his black curved horn flared into existence; his horn glowed as the supports on his leg detached. He transformed away his horn and flapped his wings to lift himself off the ground, when he was high enough; he flew out of the train station and flew into the sky, before beginning to fly around the small town.
As he began his slow circling of the town, trying to keep himself from ramming into anyone else or agitate the injuries. Despite that, he could tell Meadow was enjoying herself. The happiness radiating off of her was even making him crack a grin as they flew around the town.
Sunstreak looked down at the town from above, looking at the village he actually grew to enjoy, despite the rather… Interesting first few days, he found himself smiling as he looked out over the clear skies. This is my home now… and I couldn’t have chosen a better village to land in.