Silver settled with a soft huff of breath. Night locked eyes on him instantly. "What's wrong? Where have you been?"
He smiled a little. Of course she'd notice it instantly. "We need to talk, all three of us. Something happened that shouldn't be put off."
Samantha strolled in with a merry whistle that died on her lips as she saw the grave looks on her herdmates. "What's wrong?"
He chuckled at that. "Night just asked that. Samantha, do you know Fast Change?"
Samantha tilted her head. "The changeling queen? Fascinating, but not available for me to study. Why?"
Night snorted softly. "Princess. What about her, Silver? Did you run into her again? How is she and why would that make you look so serious?"
Silver's wings fidgeted a bit as he squirmed. "Apparently, being an alicorn is enough to make her emotional vampirism far less of an issue, and she wanted to make..."
Night went pale, the meaning quite clear to her. "She..."
Samantha glanced between them. "She wanted to do what? Please finish."
He cleared his throat softly. "She was a member of the herd. Heck, she technically never officially left, just kind of... went separate ways for our mutual health. She didn't want to hurt us, so she stayed away."
Night wrinkled her nose. "It was about as official as that gets, though we didn't say it in so many words." She suddenly punched Silver in the shoulder. "You ran off, didn't you?!"
Silver blinked at her outburst. "Ran away?"
"From her, when she said that."
Silver shook his head quickly. "No! No... I just looked surprised, and she did the running long before I could do it."
Samantha tapped at her chin softly. "I'm afraid I don't know Fast Change well. I can't support her rejoining in this current condition. We'll have to meet and compare views to see if we're compatible."
Night blinked at Samantha. "I... really?"
"What?" Samantha tilted her head a bit to the left. "Is that not the correct response?"
Silver smiled. "It's not wrong, per se, it's just..." He rolled a hoof. "You don't mind the idea of her?"
"Should I?" Samantha shook her head. "She's a fascinating subject. If she's also of compatible temperament, why would I object? A unicorn that has successfully transitioned to changeling leader? I would like very much to study her. Would her membership in this herd interfere with her duties as changeling leader?"
Night pushed up the glasses on her face. "Silver, do you still love her?"
Silver poked Night. "You answer first. I came back here to get your opinion." The fact that he was still rattled didn't help.
Night raised an ear. "She was our heart..."
Silver smiled faintly. "She was our passion, but now..."
Night frowned faintly. "Samantha raises an excellent point. She's still leader of her changelings. Can she really be with us while also being responsible to her ponies?" She thrust a hoof at Silver. "You said nopony would be joining us right now, and a married pair of princess-level ponies? That..."
"Would solve legitimacy." Silver frowned a little. "Ponies have accepted Fast Change, so anyone she married would be logical to be on a high social station, but forget that." He tapped a hoof against the ground. "Forget all of that... This isn't about social stations. This is about Fast Change. This is about us." He raised a hoof to the side of his head. "First, I think I hurt her just by not immediately welcoming her back. We need to settle this, quickly. I ran off and almost got myself killed when she left, I don't want her doing anything rash now that she's on the other side of things."
Samantha perked her ears. "What were you doing when you ran into her? Shouldn't you have been working in your office at about that time?"
Silver flushed faintly. "I should have been, but I decided to handle something first."
Night raised a brow at that. "Something you're afraid to share with us?"
"No! No." Silver extended his wings carefully, trying to bear in mind what he was shown earlier that day. "I went to get taught how to fly with these properly."
Night blinked at that. "Stupid stallion, you just had to ask me and I would have shown you."
Silver leaned towards Night, but she shied away, obviously annoyed. "It's not that simple. You, my lovely huntress of the night, have different wings than I do. I know how to fly like a lunar pony, but not like a solar one." He turned slowly. "Please don't be mad about that."
Night let out a little sigh. "And how-- Right, nevermind that. Of course you know that. Do you wish I had bird-like wings too?"
Silver turned back to her and rushed at her. She got out a squeak before he was on her and buried his snout into one of her wings in eager nuzzles. "Your wings are lovely, and part of you. I wouldn't want them to change even a little bit."
Samantha gave a firm nod. "Your physical form is well-proportioned and functional. Flight lessons sound reasonable. I hope that went well?"
"It starts tomorrow." Silver sat up, letting Night roll up onto her haunches. "I should be focused on that, but then there she was... I didn't realize how hard this has to be for her. You'd, um, think?"
Night was giving him a skeptical look. "Go ahead, tell us how it should be."
"I... thought she had plenty of people around her that liked her?" Silver felt silly even as he said it. "I guess people she's responsible for hardly count..."
Night rose to her hooves. "One thing is clear."
Samantha perked her ears and began to stand as well. "What would that be?"
"We have to talk to her, and we need to stop avoiding each other." Night smiled a little. "Whether or not we go ahead with being a herd again, she was... is... a dear friend, and we've been poor ones by staying away from her. She deserves better than that."
Silver found himself agreeing easily to the statement. "I missed her."
Night kissed his cheek and nuzzled into it. "We both did, now let's stop that. We'll go to her and stop trying to pretend each other don't exist. Let's get the foals. She hasn't had a chance to really meet them yet."
Samantha took off into the nursery with a smile, returning with the foals strapped to her sides. "All set!"
Silver tilted his head. "You're co-- Of course you are." He shook his head. "Sorry, a little frazzled. Please, you should come."
"I fully intend to." She raised an ear. "As if I would allow my prized subjects to do this sort of thing unmonitored? Not to mention a chance to meet a potential new test subject?" She reared and clopped her hooves. "I can't wait! Shall we be off?"
Together, they strode from the castle. Morning Glory gave a sudden coo, drawing Silver's attention to the piercing gaze of his son. He smiled and moved up to Samantha to nuzzle at the little foal. "Got something on your mind there?" The foal had nothing more than a little coo in reply. Silver both looked forward to and dreaded a little when the two spawn of his would find their first words.
They navigated the streets of Canterlot, heading into the less-reputable portion of the city that held the hive. Silver looked around as he went, taking in the subtle differences from the last time he had seen it. Perhaps the success of the hive was having a positive effect on the surrounding neighborhood?
A lone vagrant was bold enough to approach them. "Bit for food?" He held out a hoof hopefully.
Silver looked ready to fish out some cash when Night swatted him on the back of the head with a wing. "Sorry," she said, without specifying what she was sorry for, and kept the others moving forward. Once they were past the vagrant, she snorted. "He didn't show signs of starvation, or really neglect to begin with. I think he was trying to take advantage."
Samantha tilted her head. "I'll give the next one one of my traced bits to see what he does with it. Learning could be quite valuable. Now where is this hive..." She looked left to right before her face lit up. The building that housed the changelings was well upkept and stood out from the buildings around it. She took off for it at an energetic trot. "You two get to meet a new auntie. Aren't you excited?" Both foals gave an excited squeal as if they understood.
Night moved up beside Silver as they followed. "Remember, no declarations of love. We're here to fix some old hurts."
Silver raised a brow slightly. "She's a changeling. Unless she's completely distracted, which she was before, she'll know if we love her or not. We should just be honest... with her and ourselves." As they approached the building, he leaned in all the closer. "Do you love her?"
Night went quiet as Silver considered his own feelings, imagining Fast at her best and worst times. Most of the mental images made him fonder for the handicapped unicorn that became a princess. Like himself, her change wasn't by her conscious choice, but was a result of her direct actions and decisions. Like himself, she accepted the responsibility seriously, and here they were...
Samantha's horn glowed as she opened the doors to be greeted by a male stallion that looked much like herself, if she had been born a stallion instead of a mare. The stallion leaned forward. "Welcome! Would you like some company? I love what you've done with your mane."
She laughed gently at the compliment. "Thank you, but I'm looking for your leader, not for a romantic excursion. Besides, I'm married." She pointed back at the two following her. "They would be quite upset at the idea of accepting your proposition."
Night and Silver caught up and she nodded at the changeling. "Fetch Fast Change, please. We need to talk to her."
The changeling burned with bright green flames, becoming its normal self. "The Qu--Princess has requested that she be left alone right now."
Silver nodded. "I imagine she did, but she'll be happier when she sees us."
The changeling frowned a little. "How can I be sure you're not just here to make her even more upset? We'll protect her, you know. She protects us." He put a holed hoof to his chest. "Don't try to force or bribe your way past us."
Night shook her head faintly. "We swear. Bring us to her, or bring her to us, and your princess will be much happier in the end. We're old friends of hers."