"I'm so glad you're alright." Vanilla Mocha smiled as she looked into her coltfriend's bright red eyes.
Valerium chuckled. "Me too. But hey, free cake, and a day off from work."
Mocha lifted an eyebrow. "I'm going to reimburse Paradise, and not to mention now we've got a hospital and ambulance bill."
The bat stallion sighed. "Yeah..."
Mocha smiled again. "But it's worth it, knowing you're not hurt. I'd go in debt if it meant it'd benefit you."
Valerium smiled wider. "Why do you love me so much?"
"You know, sometimes I don't know." Mocha said playfully as she picked up his plate of cake with her magic. Using his fork, she cut a piece off and ate it.
"Hey, Mochy!" Valerium chuckled.
Vanilla Mocha laughed. "Fine, take it." Giggling, she gave him back the cake.
"You're in a good mood," His smile faded, "They told me you were crying earlier."
"Well, yeah. I was worried as heck for you." Mocha replied, a look of concern on her face. "But... Now that you're out of the hospital without any injuries, I can be happy again."
Valerium chuckled. "Guess so. I'm pretty tired after getting hit, though. Mind if I sleep now?"
"Wait... You know you were hit?" Mocha's eyes widened.
"Um... Yeah. That's how come I'm in bed, and why I woke up in the hospital... I was hit."
"No, I mean, did somepony tell you, or did you already know something hit you?"
Valerium looked puzzled. "I... Saw what hit me, Mocha. Is that what you're trying to ask?"
"You saw what hit you?!" Mocha smiled widely. "This is great! What was it?"
"It was just a blur of black and white, about the size of a full grown pony."
Mocha facehoofed. "That's what Paradise said... Anything else?"
"Well... I remember seeing red before I blacked out. Could that help you?"
"R-red?" Mocha's pony ears drooped. "As in, the color red?"
"Yeah..."
"Oh no... Joy! She's white, and black, with red now! This isn't good at all... We need to find her!" Mocha stood up.
Valerium pulled the sheets on the bed closer to him. "Well, you can go do tha-a..." He yawned, "that...and I'll be here sleeping, okay?"
The unicorn smiled. "Heh, alright. Goodnight." She kissed him and then trotted out, closing the door quietly behind her. She was about to continue down the hallway when she heard loud gasps.
"So you're saying Mocha and Valerium are behind all of this?" Tacitus' voice was heard.
Vanilla Mocha stopped walking. What?
"Yeah... I'm not for certain, in fact, I don't even see why she'd do it. But all the coincidences and evidence lead to that theory." It was Galaxy's voice.
"Look guys," Garfield the cat spoke up, "I don't really care what's going on. Mocha is our friend, as much as cake is tasty."
"Garfield, stop. This is serious." Daffodil's voice sounded.
"I am being serious. Mocha is our friend, and cake is tasty. What's not serious about that?"
Vanilla giggled to herself quietly; Garfield always made her laugh.
"Well, I trust Mocha." Paradise Oasis said. Vanilla smiled.
"I trust her too, like as if she's my sister... But what Shadow said makes a ton of sense. Do I want to believe it... No. But am I considering it?" Galaxy Nebula sighed. Mocha peeked her head out from the hallway and looked around the room. Luckily, nopony noticed her.
"...Yeah, I am." Nebula finally answered.
More gasps came from the ponies.
"Let's just take a minute to ask Mocha, alright? If she's really our friend, she'll tell us the truth, alright?" Daffodil suggested.
"I agree." Professor Tacitus nodded.
"Sure," The orange cat said, "Then after this can I get more cake?"
"Okay." Paradise smiled. Glancing down at Garfield, she chuckled. "Fine, just a minute. As long as you're quiet."
Galaxy Nebula stood up. "Looks like we're doing that, then. Let me go get Mocha." He trotted back to the hallway.
"Oh, hi, Galaxy..." Mocha stood there, smiling sheepishly. "Um... Valerium's going to sleep now."
"That's alright, Mocha. We kinda want to talk to you." The TARDIS-blue pegasus responded.
Mocha gulped. Are my friends going to hate me? I hope they don't... I haven't done anything wrong... "Alright."
~~~
Joy shook from fear. She had been taken to the Changeling Hive, and was in a holding cell, as if she was a prisoner.
Queen Chrysalis stood before her on the other side of the bars. "Why did you leave for so long?" She demanded to know. Her green eyes starred into Joy's new hazel irises.
"U-Uhm..."
"Why do you have a cutiemark?"
"I...I..."
The Queen slid her foreleg through the bars and put her hoof under her daughter's chin. "You betrayed me..." Snatching her hoof away, she turned her back to the smaller Changeling. "You betrayed me!"
"I-I'm sorry..."
"No you are not!" Queen Chrysalis sighed. Grinning, she lit up her horn and illuminated the room in light green. A white skinned Changeling stood in the back of the room. If it wasn't for her lighter body and large eyes Joy wouldn't have seen her.
"Princess Masquerade, come here." Queen Chrysalis said.
"Princess Masquerade?" Joy muttered under her breath.
The lightly colored Changeling approached the Queen. She had large red eyes and the same exact mane and tail as Joy. Her mark resembled Joy's, but as a broken heart instead of a full one. The only difference is that she looked more like an earth pony instead of a Changeling.
The princess bowed. "Yes, mother?"
Chrysalis grinned. "Transform, and meet your older sister." She glanced at Joy.
Red light filled the room, then bright green. After the long flashes of light went away, what was left in place was a half transparent, half white Changeling with a straight black and white striped mane, no mark, and red eyes. Almost exactly how Joy had been before she was reformed.
Holes covered her legs, and her partially red bug-like wings covered her back. Her short Changeling horn pointed to the sky, and a small tiara sat on her head. It was black, with a bright red gem in the middle, with an emerald on both sides.
Princess Masquerade smiled. "Salutations."
Joy looked at her, and her jaw dropped. "U-Uhm... Uhm hi..."
"You seem shocked," Chrysalis observed, "Did you think you were the only one?"
"You always told me I was." Joy had to get herself together. She lowered her eyebrows and closed her mouth.
"Yes, I did. That was to keep you both safe. When I sent you out on your first mission, it was a test of real world bravery. Apparently you were too cowardly for it. When Masquerade came back, I told her about you, then we had her princess coronation, earning her the name Princess Masquerade for her beautiful shapeshifting skills." The Queen looked at her younger daughter and smiled.
The princess smiled back. "So you're the one I was always told about. Nice to meet you."
Before Joy could say anything, a messenger Changeling flew into the room. "Queen! Princess! Important news!" He landed, breathing heavily.
"What is it?" Chrysalis asked him.
Gathering breath, he responded, "The attack... It failed...b-but-"
"It failed?!" Chrysalis shouted. Angered, she looked at Masquerade. "How did it fail?!"
"N-now wait a minute..." The princess replied nervously, "We have my sister here, and I did report him going to the hospital after being hit... That's a large enough distraction."
"Did you hit him on the head, the temple?"
The princess nodded. "Of course."
"Then what happened?!"
"But", The messenger interjected, "Our spies say that due to the accident, and the ponies involved, they are beginning into believe that it's the coffee shop mare and her coltfriend behind everything. They don't even suspect us!"
Chrysalis stared at him. Then, she burst out laughing. "O-oh, that's-" she laughed harder, "that's the most crazy thing I've heard! Ha! They really didn't suspect us?!"
"Heh, nope!" The messenger changeling snickered.
Masquerade forced a laugh. "Haha, yeah... See, it worked out..."
Joy sat down and looked up at the Queen. I have to get out of here... Save my friends... Tell them what's going on... How could I have a sister? All the Changelings are family... But... I'm abnormal... She is too? Th-that doesn't matter... I need to escape... Sister... Friends... Mom... Friends... Hatred... Love...