//------------------------------// // She Stays! // Story: The Element of Kindness // by BlueHeartTattoo //------------------------------// Throughout the whole trip, Nameless stayed along with her new animal friends who are guiding her to her potential new home. They had gone far from where they started since she noticed that the trees aren’t spread as widely as she recalled. Her guess was since the forest had grown more acres for the past few years, the vegetation in certain areas can be a little spontaneous. At least that’s what she heard from the animals. The sun is shining brightly over the trees and the sky was a fresh shade of blue that she had never seen before, making her very grateful for the turn of her situation. This was when she had come to terms of her journey; not only running away from the home she was raised in and the people who are now hunting her, but to lead a new life that she can only imagine in her dreams. Sure, it’s not going to be easy, but she swears she is going to keep faith by her side and do her best to stay alive. It wasn’t too long when the animals signaled her that they are at their destination. They pointed her to go through the bushes and look ahead to her. Filled with excitement and curiosity, she did just that and looked at the scene before her. There she sees a big tree that was twice the size of the trees surrounding it, but she looked closely to see a door and windows. And then at the top of it behind the branches and leaves, she squints her eyes to see a wooden platform that seems nailed to the base of the tree; but it was all she can see since the tree’s branches conceal the rest. “Wow,” Nameless said in awe to the animals, “It’s so big…. And unusual. Let’s get a closer look.” She and the animals walked past the bushes and toward the entrance. One thing that amazes her as she goes closer to it is that the doors and windows looked like it was craved by hoof. She peeked through the window to find her verdict could be true; the floors and walls in the main room looked so smooth as if it was done by a professional! She didn’t see much of the room since it was dark, but she is amazed by the size of this place. It was much bigger than her cell back in the changeling kingdom, but it wasn’t big enough to make it look like her mother’s throne room. “I can’t see much from here,” Nameless noted to herself and then turning to the animals, “Do you know if somepony lives here?” The animals tried recalling to their recent memories if anyone is living in there still until a few chipmunks and squirrels confirmed it. With them climbing and finding food in almost every tree they encounter, they do remember seeing a small figure and strange noises inside of its base. Nameless questioned further, “Does he—or she—lives alone or do they have a family?” The chipmunks and the squirrels replied to her that a family could live there as they recall a few more figures in the house. Seeing their response, Nameless think about her options. For one thing, if there is someone who lives here, that would mean that she would need to ask them if she can stay. But she doesn’t know how they will react to it. In the worst possible scenario that she can think of, she could be rejected, thrown back out into the forest and being forced to find some other place, being insulted and humiliated in the process, or the owners would be the changelings in disguised and— She was snapped out of her thought when her friends called out to her in concern. “Oh, dear. You think I’m upset, aren’t you?” The animals chittered their voices to her, assuring her that everything is ok and if there’s any trouble they will stick by your side no matter what. Having to meet them for the past few hours, Nameless didn’t expect to have this much support. She was both touched and amazed. She felt a little tension from her eyes, but she calmed herself down, to not making the animals more concern about her. “Don’t worry,” Nameless assured them, “I’ll be fine. I just need to get used to….” She spoke the next words with the hint of anxiety in her voice, “…confronting strangers.” She looked to the window once more until saying her thoughts out loud, “I… I guess it’s okay if I check if somepony’s inside.” She walked away from the window and took one big step towards the front door. Her anxiety rises back once she was in front of it. She was about to reconsider until she mentally noted herself: You can do this, Nameless. You need someplace to hide. And besides, it would be rude to barge in unannounced if they’re home. Your life is at stake here. She knocked on the wooden door three times. No answer. She tried knocking three more times until she was met with silence again. “Guess they’re not here right now,” she said to her animal friends puzzled, who share the same response as her. She thought about it until she reached her knob to the door, “Or maybe they’re somewhere in the house.” The door opened with a creak and she peeks her head inside as she asked out loud curiously, “Hello?” Silence. “Is anypony here?” And she is met with silence again. It was till then the door is wide open and is now on the other side of it. She turned to her friends who were standing behind her, “We better be quiet. We shouldn’t scare them.” They nodded in response. She turned to the room in front of her, which was now brightened by the sunlight from the door and walked into the room, with animals following her. She was slowing looking around her surroundings in the front room, which was much bigger being inside of it and taking note of the furniture. There was a long, square couch, made by what seems like a smooth, light fabric and materials that made the stuffing look soft. Pictures were hanging on the walls, all of them filled with ponies; she’d guess they were like portraits you take with your family. She spotted a shelve that was carved into the wall which was…. Empty? She pondered on the fact long until she felt something on her hooves and fell to the floor. The animals, seeing her fall in action, all rushed over to her in great worry. The bear lifted her while she was doing so at the same time. They all chittered to her until she assures to them, “I’m fine; thank you.” She then thought confusingly, “but what did I trip on?” She heard a small squeak coming from behind her and turns to see a chipmunk pointing to the source: a huge marble ball with three holes in one area. “What is this?” Nameless questioned, picking it up only to be surprised how heavy it is. “It’s heavy as a rock; someone could’ve gotten hurt!” She looked around to see so many items lying down on a floor while she and the animals investigate the rooms. She observes that papers had been flown everywhere, a couple of tools and watmigits that she didn’t identify, a few puddles of liquid coming from small bottles and a large patch of clothes that must’ve sewn on raggedly. A few toys and more papers had also been lying around on a flight of stairs that lead upwards through the ceiling. She noticed that the shelves were empty other than books lying openly on its back or hanging on the edge, but it had a full collection of cobwebs and dust. It was so dusty that when a bird blows at it, it flew right to its face and caused it to sneeze hard. She glanced to another room that had a large sink, a fireplace with a cauldron and a long table that is attached to the wall. It had a much bigger mess like pieces of food lying on the floor, strange sticky pink substance sticking everywhere on the walls and ceiling, and dishes piling up in the sink and table. “My goodness, this place is a mess!” Nameless exclaimed surprisingly, “you think with a family like this; they must’ve had--“ She gasped, stopping in mid-sentence as a realization came to her “Maybe it’s just children living here. And they are orphans….” She didn’t want to think if that was true, as she knows the feeling of being alone by yourself and having no one to care for. True, her lifestyle is different than her own, but it didn’t matter anyway; it still has the same effect. She needed to do something to help the poor dears, whoever they are. Then a thought came to her, “We can help them by cleaning the house! And maybe then when they come home, I can ask them if I can stay.” The animals smiled and agreed to her idea, having a good feeling that it might work out well for their pony friend. “Okay, let’s see,” Nameless pondering, trying to think a plan on how to clean the place. She pointed to the bear and the rabbits, “You can help by picking up things from the floors.” She then pointed to the squirrels and chipmunks, “you can brush off the dust and cobwebs.” “You can take care of the kitchen and cleaning the dishes,” she said to the deers and raccoons and then continued, “and I’ll sweep and mop the floors and tidy up the rooms. Sound like a plan?” The animals cheered in agreement. “Okay, then,” she said, “let’s get to work!” Hours later and the sky was turning into vibrate colors of orange and pink. “Whew! All done,” Nameless exclaimed tiredly. The house is now a major improvement from all that cleaning. All the toys, tools and unusual things are put away, the floors are hazard-free, and the kitchen is spotless. “Everything is much better than before! Thank you for all your help.” The animals cheered for their job well done, even though they have grown tired from it. “I’m glad that we got this finished before dark. The children would be so happy to...” she yawned before she could finish her sentence. “Oh, I feel tired. I should take a rest before meeting them.” A brown rabbit squeaked, trying to get her attention. When Nameless looked towards him, he motioned to her a direction and cried a few times, telling her that he had found a place where she can lie down. “Where?” Nameless questioned. Needing to take action, he quickly hopped towards the stairs that ran past the ceiling. When he was at the step where it meets the ceiling, he motioned to her to follow. Nameless and the other animals curiously walked up to the stair and still went forward after they passed through it. It got a little dark as they come up, but it didn’t last long before they see the light close to them. When they finally made it up through the stairs, Nameless saw that they came through the floor and that they saw five beds, lining up against a wall. As she inspects the new room a bit more, it looked a lot more as a bedroom, with a chest full of toys, posters, a chalkboard that stick to the wall and a long piece or parchment paper that had drawings of many items that has been crossed out with a red “x.” But when she looked through the window, she saw the tree branches above the frame and a wooden platform that ran around the room in a circular formation. She could see the moon through the leaves, which gave her a notion that the treetops were covering this part of the house completely. It had come to realize that this is a treehouse—or in a farfetched way—a treehouse within a treehouse. “This is quite a surprise.” Nameless said in awe, “I wondered how they had come to make this.” She yawned not too soon after, “but maybe I should think about it later.” Feeling tired to the bone, she lies down on one of the lined-up beds. The beds were soft and warm, never being this comfortable in a bed; and, it was much better than a wooden plank in a moss-wielded dungeon. She had gotten so relaxed that she dozily fell asleep within a minute. The birds, noticing her passing out, grabbed a blanket right next to her and gently glide it across her body. The animals then lie down on the floor next to the beds, falling into slumber like their new friend. A dark figure was kept hidden within the tree until the cream-colored pony, and the woodland animals had fallen asleep. He had flown close to the window to see the snoozing group up close. Careful to not make any noise, he floated through the window and into the bedroom. He didn’t let his feet touch the ground for he was still floating almost upward to glance down at the Pegasus. He had taken interest in her. Not because that he hasn’t seen her before, or that of her sweet demeanor, or that he hasn’t had a pony walking through the forest for a long time; but mainly because of the excitement of having a new victim. He could see waves of creativity flow through his brain; the more he kept on looking at her. So far from observing her on this “fun” little journey, she is timid, naïve and terrified of confrontation; in his mind, a perfect kind of pony to his doings. She wouldn’t complain or fight against him herself; she would be crying her eyes out all the while cowering down to his feet. Oh, this is going to be fun. He kept on staring at her with a toothy grin until he heard voices coming outside of the treehouse. Knowing who those voices belong to, he snapped his finger and went in a flash of light. The bear, suddenly alerted by the flash, looked around to see if any intruder had come into the room. Luckily it saw no one, but it did hear high-pitched voices coming from outside. The other animals slowly awake to the noise and scurried down the stairs; leaving Nameless alone, sleeping in the rows of beds. “Why are we going back to that boring hut anyway?” Four young ponies walked through the trail with a lantern hanging from one filly’s mouth. The one who had complained in disgust was a pink earth pony with light blue eyes and light purple and white hair and a tiara lying on top. Her companions all walked beside her and sighed in annoyance. One of the fillies is a pale yellow coated earth pony with vibrant red hair, yellow eyes, and a large pink bow. The second is an orange pegasus with rather unusually small wings, dark purple pixie cut, and light violet eyes. Right by the latter was a brown earth pony with pink and light pink highlights in her pixie cut hair and soft green eyes. And the last one out of the group was a pure white unicorn with pale lavender and white curly hair and light green eyes. “I promised Applejack I would give back the kitchen millet I borrowed from Pinkie Pie,” said the yellow filly with a country accent, “She needs that for that fruit parfait recipe.” “Why would she need a hammer,” the pink earth pony argued, “you don’t need a hammer to make a parfait.” “Well, Pinkie does have a way of proving us otherwise,” the orange Pegasus dryly stated. “And also, if you hadn’t noticed already, your place is a total mess! You girls never clean up the mess you made from your “crusading.” How do you expect to find that stupid hammer in that pile of cluttered heap of disaster you call a clubhouse?” “Well, if you expect us to take long, why don’t you just go home?” yelled the brown earth pony. “You know perfectly well why I can’t, Babs! And I don’t want to walk out of her alone! Not with all the monsters running around here!” While her companions continued their feud, the white unicorn widened her eyes to see that the light lamps are on inside the hut. “Look!” she cried out alarmingly, breaking the argument between her friends, “The treehouse! The light’s on!” All the other fillies snapped their head in the direction towards the tree and see it is true. They knew that it was morning the last time they left the hut, so the single light that was shining inside the window wasn’t on the whole day. “Somepony broke inside,” Babs said. “Well, we don’t exactly have a key. Anybody can get in there anyway.” the pink pony stated. “Still though.” The orange pegasus said before turning towards the yellow earth pony, “What should we do, Apple Bloom?” “I say we better investigate,” the yellow earth pony said, whose name mentioned is Apple Bloom. “Come on, y’ all.” They followed Apple Bloom to the trail leading to the house all the while the pink pony mentally prays, oh please; let this not be another rampage from those dragons again. The fillies all follow Apple Bloom as she walked further to the entrance. She pushed the door softly and crept in quietly to step inside fully. The other followed her example, never knowing what kinds of danger they’ll meet. “Besides the oil lamp there, it’s a little dark in here,” the orange pegasus whispered. “I can turn on the lights,” the white unicorn insisted. She then used all her strength to bring forth a small green glow shining on the top of her horn. The oil lamps that hung at the walls inside the hut immediately turned on, making the first floor brighter than before. “Great job, Sweetie Belle,” Babs gratefully said to her friend, whom she replied by letting out an exhausted sigh while smiling. They then took notice of the first room and widened their eyes shockingly. “Look!” Apple Bloom gasped. “The floor! It’s been swept.” “And everything looks so neat,” Sweetie Belle said in awe, “It almost looks like Rarity was here.” “Well, maybe it was Rarity who went inside.” the pink earth pony shrugged. The white unicorn’s face then frowned with a thought, “Yet again, she would never step into the Everfree without getting her hooves dirty.” “We better search around to see whoever done this,” Apple Bloom said. “Everypony split up.” They all nodded their heads and went to different directions to look for clues. The pink earth pony and the white unicorn went up to the kitchen while the others started around the living room and the small rooms that they never used. The orange pegasus searched through the shelves, which are now full of book. She pushes them by the side to see if they have any prints on them, but then when she put the books back together, she notices the door that was right by her. She knew this was an empty room that nobody used since they couldn’t think of a way to use it. But when she went inside, her eyes almost popped out of their socket. The room was full of chests and shelves that are installed to the walls, all of them filled with the assorted items that they constantly left on the floor. The piles are paper are being stacked inside the bins, the bowling ball, hardware tools, and sport-wears are stuffed inside the chests, and the vials from their potion-making experiment are now cleaned and placed on one of the shelves. “Wow,” she said quietly in awe, “this guy’s got mad sorting skills.” Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle and the pink pony were amazed how somepony was able to get all the sticky taffy and mold on the walls and floor without a scratch, and the dishes all clean and put away. “I gotta say, this is very impressive,” the white unicorn awed. “Yeah, sure, it’s amazing,” the purple pony said deadpan. “I’m just glad that someone had the guts to fix this pigsty.” With them being a few feet away from each other, Sweetie called out to the pink pony with a new sense of friendliness, “So, um, Diamond? Have you heard anything from your dad yet?” Diamond stopped at her tracks for a moment before replying to her. Her voice was calm, less snobby than before, but there was a little twitch in her voice that made her sound hurt, “I…. might have heard something. He’s still in Manehatten, but I don’t know when he’ll be back though. Why?” The last sentence she asked in an almost suspicious way. “Nothing,” Sweetie said, “I just was wondering since I haven’t heard anything yet. You’re still welcome at my house if you want.” Diamond realized by now that she was being rough again and responded, “Thanks. But I’m pretty sure that I can handle it. He’s been taking a lot of business trips now ever since his partners went bankrupted and I’m used to it by now. Besides, it’s not worth my time just thinking about it, like you and cutie marks.” One thing that makes Diamond different than the others is that she had a cutie mark of a tiara, very similar to the tiara she has on her head. Sweetie Belle and the others are considered as late bloomers or in their words “blank flanks.” They are old of age, right in their pre-teens; but they were the last ones out of their class to ever have a cutie mark or ever known their purpose in life. “Diamond,” Sweetie Belle turned to Diamond, “I know this whole thing still kind of makes you uncomfortable, but you must know we were trying to do whatever we can to help you.” “And what makes you think if this is working?” Diamond asked irritated. “Well, you seem to be more relaxed around us; much better than before when you bullied us at school.” Diamond almost softens her face in surprise, but she reminded herself that she needed to be in denial, “That’s only because I have no one else to turn to…. now that Silver Spoon transferred into a private school in Canterlot.” “But Diamond— “ “Girls!” They were interrupted with the sound of Apple Bloom’s voice, warning them that they should go back to the living room. Sweetie looked back to Diamond before moving out of the room, “We’ll talk about this later.” The others went back to Apple Bloom, who asked them, “Have you found anything yet?” “No,” The orange pegasus replied, “It doesn’t seem to be anywhere.” “We haven’t checked upstairs yet,” Babs suggested, “It could be in the treehouse.” “Why would it go up there?” Diamond asked. “I don’t know,” Apple Bloom said, “but we need to be prepared first before we can go up. Girls, grab whatever you can find and follow me.” They didn’t hesitate and grab whatever they can use as a weapon. It was then the orange pegasus showed them the new storage room behind the bookshelves, only to react the same way as the pegasus did. The door on the treehouse’s door was pushed open by Apple Bloom gripping a handle of a lantern in her mouth. It didn’t take long for them to find the weapons they needed. Apple Bloom held in her hooves Pinkie’s kitchen hammer, Babs with an oar, the orange pegasus with a ski pole and Sweetie Belle with a butterfly net. Diamond didn’t have a weapon on her own since she doesn’t want to risk her life attacking an intruder; so, she stays behind them in case anything happens. Once they all climbed out of the door, the orange pegasus noticed a huge lump coming from the rows of mattresses. And she saw that it was moving. “Apple Bloom,” she whispered, “There’s something on our beds.” All the eyes went straight to where the row of beds is and see the breathing lump. The orange pegasus then said in a small voice, “I think it must’ve fallen asleep after cleaning the place.” “I think y’ all right, Scoots,” Apple Bloom replied at her, “and we should all—quietly—sneak up on it.” As Apple Bloom strategized, they all tiptoed to the edge of one of the beds and gathered around the frame to see the blanket that has been covering a lump. Apple Bloom pointed to Sweetie Belle and signaled her to use her magic to lift the sheet off the stranger. Sweetie Belle anxiously obliged, slowly grab the blanket with its green aura and then quickly lift it. What they saw on the bed made them stop and gawk. Lying still on the bed was a pegasus mare with a coat that resembles the color of buttermilk and her wavy hair of rosy pink that scattered everywhere on the bed, her eyes still shut and sleeping peacefully. The light from the lantern and the moonlight from the window gave the mare a warm, lovely glow to the observers. Slowly and maturely, the fillies lowered their weapons and turned to their leader. “Apple Bloom,” Scoots asked quietly, “Who is she?” Lost for words, Apple Bloom blankly said to her peers, “I don’t know. I’ve never seen her before.” “She’s very pretty,” Babs said. “Maybe so, but she also broke inside the house!” Diamond argued, while also keeping her voice low, “And when she wakes up, she might try to trick us.” Sweetie Belle objects her statement and questions her, “What makes you think she’ll do that?” “I don’t know,” Diamond said rashly, “But I have a feeling.” “You don’t even know her!” Scoots interjected in a hushed voice, “You can’t just judge her on the spot.” “Why not?” Diamond said sarcastically, “I used to do that to you.” Scoots was taken back from that remark and screamed: “Oh, that’s it, you little brat!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hold back Scoots from charging at Diamond while Babs noticed the yellow mare moving. “Guys, stop it,” Babs hushed, bringing a halt to the struggle, “Stop; she’s waking up!” The girls widened their eyes in shock until Apple Bloom quietly shouts, “Hide!” They all rushed and ducked to the end of the bed’s frame while also peeked their eyes above to see the pony waking up. Nameless slowly sat up and stretched her arms wide. Through her sleepy eyes, she noticed that her animal friends had disappeared. “Oh, dear,” she yawned out loud, “How long did I sleep….?” She stopped when she saw a pair of yellow eyes almost peering at the end of the bed. She then crawled over to investigate. Now where she was close enough, she looked down to see the six fillies looking at her gaze. “AHHHHHH!!!” Nameless screamed and pushed herself towards the wall while the young fillies screamed at her response. They all stare at each other, starting with fright and then suddenly gradually into curiosity. Nameless slowly relaxed and ease herself off the wall and onto the bed, still looking at fillies before her. She couldn’t think of a time she had seen a pony or even meet one up close, other than the one memory that she tried so hard to forget. She isn't surrounded by changelings like she did all her life; she’s with a pony now — one of her own kind. A sense of belonging rises inside of her, and she realized that she was finally connected that something that was lost to her and now found. She speaks out to the fillies even though she felt her throat was giving away, “he—hel—Hello?” The girls were a little surprised by the way she talked to them. It was like she was amazed to see them here. Seeing them glancing to her hesitant, Apple Bloom was the one to reply, “Hello.” “What’s your name?” Nameless asked curiously. “My name’s… Apple Bloom.” “Apple Bloom,” Nameless greeted shyly, “I-It’s nice to meet you.” Apple Bloom grew more relieved as she kept on talking to her, “The feeling’s mutual.” “I-Is this your home?” “Well…. sort of. Most of us have a family of our own. We just come here whenever our parents’ go on a trip or when we want a sleepover or a meeting.” Nameless looked at her confusingly, “meeting?” “My friends and I—we are the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We’re on a quest to search our special talents and gain our cutie marks.” “Really?” Nameless said, interestedly. “Is that why you have that drawing over there?” she pointed to the wall where the paper that had several red “x’s” on them. “Oh, yeah!” she replied cheeringly, “We come up ideas that we can do so we can find our special talent! We often fail most of them, but we still keep trying!” “Well, that’s wonderful!” she joyfully said, “I’m sure you’ll get your cutie mark soon.” Apple Bloom blushed, suddenly bashful from the praises she is giving her. “Well, umm… thank you,” she chuckled nervously. “Okay, this is getting sappy!” Nameless and Apple Bloom took notice of the other girls besides the young filly. She recognized that it was Diamond’s voice who had whined. “Oh, gosh, sorry I forgot y’ all,” Apple Bloom said before turning to the mysterious mare, “These are my friends and the members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders—or CMC for short.” Apple Bloom and others then moved around the bed so that they can meet this new mare without any distance between them. “Hello, my name’s Sweetie Belle,” She reached out her hoof to shake her hand. “Hello, Sweetie Belle, it’s nice to meet you.” Nameless greeted. “I’m Scootaloo, miss,” She said while also exchanging her hoof with a shake. “The name’s Babs Seed. I’m Apple Bloom’s cousin.” “Oh, it’s nice to meet you too,” she smiled before turning to the last pony who is looking at her suspiciously. Nameless suddenly grew uneasy at this. “And... you must be...?” Nameless questioned. “Diamond Tiara. And I am not a part of the club. I’m just here because I have nothing better to do,” she replied grumpily while not exchanging her hand for a shake. Nameless noticed her cutie mark and asked her politely, “Oh, well… It’s nice to meet you too.” “Thank you; it’s nice too, who are you and what are you doing here!” Diamond said rather hasty and then rather harsh. “Diamond!” Sweetie Belle scolds, “There’s no need to be rude.” She then turned to the mare, “Sorry, Diamond can be rough around the edges.” Diamond can almost hear the snickering laughter when Sweetie made that pun. “What’s your name?” Sweetie Belle insisted politely. Nameless then grew awkward with this question, “Oh, umm--Actually… I don’t have a name.” Sweetie Belle, along with the others, grew surprised at this, “Really?” “Yeah,” Nameless nervously explained, “I was never given one, but I’ve been called “Nameless” a lot where I come from.” “So… Your name is... Nameless?” Scootaloo said puzzled. “I know, not the best name, but it’s all I got.” “Well, I think it’s a great name for you, and now if you don’t mind; you need to leave,” Diamond Tiara said irritated. Nameless’s eyes grew wide in fear, “What?” “Diamond!” Apple Bloom yelled at her and then assuring Nameless, “I’m sorry, I’m sure that Diamond didn’t mean it; she’s just tired right now— “ “No, I’m not, and I’m serious!” Diamond turned her head towards Nameless, “Listen; if you plan to steal from us or to everyone in Ponyville, I’m sure I can persuade Applejack into sending you far away from here! Ponyville’s suffered enough already, and we don’t want any more problems, got it?” At this point, she is shaking with fear, “Please don’t send me away! I don’t have anywhere to go, and she sent out her army to kill me!” The girls didn’t expect this turn of events, even Diamond whose face shared the same startled expression as theirs. “Kill you?” Sweetie Belle cried. “By who?” Babs Seed asked in concern. Nameless said with a quiet fear, “Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings.” “THE CHANGELINGS?!” All of the fillies screamed out. “My sister Applejack told me about them; they’re cruel,” Apple Bloom said. “Masters of disguises!” Scootaloo cried. “Very mean!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “How did you able to get tangled with those devious demons?” Babs said surprised. “Well… They raised me.” Nameless somberly responded, “They found me abandoned in a desert and the queen took me in.” The fillies were deathly silent as their eyes widen more in shock. Nameless started to worry about their reaction, as she couldn’t tell if what she’d said had frightened them or if she were suddenly afraid of her. Nevertheless, she continued, hoping that her plea would convince them to help, “I don’t know why she wants me dead. But I just escaped from her general and her guards, and I don’t know when they’re going to find me… and— “she felt the tears that had dared to shed, but she wiped them away before she got a chance to break down. “That’s the reason why I came here. I need to find someplace where I can hide. I don’t know for how long, but I promise to take care of your treehouse and I won’t get in a way. Please, I don’t know anywhere else to go.” The fillies look with her with concern. They want to help her after what she just told them. As the five fillies turned at Apple Bloom with uncertainty, she motioned them to come into a corner and discuss this quietly. “What should we do, Apple Bloom?” Bab Seed asked. “I don’t know,” Apple Bloom replied, brainstorming for options. “I know Applejack wouldn’t trust with having a stranger in our clubhouse; but I know if I were her, I would let her stay.” “But we can’t just kick her out,” Scootaloo pleads, “She has nowhere to go!” “And if she said that changelings are coming after her, she should at least hide from them until they eventually give up,” Diamond suggested. Sweetie Belle looked at Diamond confused, “Since when you switch sides? I thought you wanted her gone.” “I do! But it’s best we keep those bugs away from Ponyville. Applejack worked so hard to improve Ponyville and everypony’s going to be frenzy if they heard about this.” “Diamond does have a point,” Babs said. “I know I am,” Diamond scoffed. They all looked at her annoyed before Babs spoke out again, “We should tell Applejack about this. We can let Nameless sleep for a while and see if AJ would consider her staying here.” “Seems like the best option as in now,” Apple Bloom said her thoughts out loud before turning to Nameless, who was looking at her with anxiety. “I am going to tell my sister Applejack about this. Besides the mayor, she’s pretty much the leader of the town we live in, Ponyville. If I can convince her that you need sanctuary, she’ll probably let you stay here. But if not, she can find some other place for you. But for now, we can let you sleep here until we get her answer.” Nameless smiled at this sign of hope and let her tears fall on her face. Then she quickly jumped off the bed and lunged at them for a big hug, “Oh, thank you, thank you! Thank you so much!” Startled at her response, they all joined into a hug except for Diamond tiara as she stood limply, unsure if she should return the gesture or not. “Glad that we can help,” Apple Bloom responded. The others agreed while still taking part in the heartfelt hug from a new friend.