Pinning the Heart

by Random_User

Chapter 24

“What are you thinking?” Coco asked as we turned in synchronous.

We maneuvered through the next section of the dance, keeping our spacing with the other couples.

“You’ve been smiling for the last couple of songs,” she said, as we stepped apart.

After the music brought us back together, I told her, “I don’t know if I can put it into words.” We circled each other while touching one of our forehooves together. “I think it’s the whole of the day catching up to me.”

Coco nodded and led us in circling in the other direction. “Today has been great.”

We stepped apart, twirled, and then came back together.

“For me, you being here made it wonderful,” I told her as we touched hooves again.

During the next section of the dance, Coco and I had to dodge a pair of foals that miss-stepped into our path.

“Sorry!” Apple Bloom said, after she recovered. “I’m still gettin’ the hang of this.”

“You’re going better, though,” Tender Taps, the colt Apple Bloom was dancing with, said to her. “You’re thinking too much and anticipating the next steps.” He guided Apple Bloom back to their spot, his steps still in sync with the music. “Move in tempo with the music and you’ll be fine.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Apple Bloom kidded, smiling. “I’m all left hooves.”

After a few moments more, the song ended with a light crescendo.

We dancers formed back into lines and bowed to our partners. After returning to standing, the audience and we applauded the musicians.

The musicians stood, bowed to us, and then, to my surprise, filed off the stage.

Octavia approached the edge of the stage and addressed us: “Good evening, ladies and gentlecolts. This concludes our performance. There will be much more dancing and merriment thanks to our favorite disc jockey DJ Pon-3.” She made a graceful gesture with a hoof towards the banquet tables. “Please, partake of the food and beverages and refresh yourselves until she is set up.”

Rarity and Thunderlane stepped from their positions in the dance lines and approached Coco and me.

“Octavia has such a lovely voice,” Rarity said. “There are rumors that her parents started her training in singing but when Octavia found her love for the cello she rebelled and took the path of an instrumentalist instead.” She smiled and nodded toward something behind me. “I believe we are in for an unexpected treat.”

I turned my head just as Royal Riff brought Liza and Cloudy to us.

“Stay with Miss Rarity for a moment,” Riff told them. “She helped make this surprise happen, and I’m sure she would like to be here to see your reaction. I’ll be right back.

“Yes, sir,” Cloudy said.

Liza seemed too nervous to respond and kept her eyes on the ground.

“Hello Liza,” I greeted.

“Hello, Mister Pin,” she said and looked up. Liza’s eyes widened when she saw Coco. “Miss Coco! I never thanked you for making my tie. Mister Pin told me it’s one of yours. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Coco said and smiled. “It looks good on you.”

“Are these the young ladies?” Octavia smiled as she approached Liza and Cloudy. “You are right, Riff, they are precious.”

“Cloudy, is this real or am I dreaming?” Liza whispered.

Cloudy laughed. “Yes, silly, it’s her,” she assured and gave Liza a soft poke in the ribs.

Octavia held out a hoof to Liza. “Hello, Miss Doolots. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Liza, wide eyed, took Octavia’s hoof and gave it a shake. Afterwards she looked at her and Octavia’s touching hoofs as if she could not believe what was happening.

“Rarity mentioned to Twilight that you were fond of my music. The princess was kind enough to tell me. When she approached me about the possibility of us meeting, I took her offer in an instant.”

Cloudy shook her head. “Liza, breathe and give Miss Octavia her hoof back.”

“Sorry,” Liza said, after drawing in a quick breath. As she let go of Octavia’s hoof, she blurted, “Your music is amazing! Thanks for making my flowers grow!”

“Liza!” Cloudy groaned. She sighed and rubbed her forehead with a hoof.. “Pinch was right, we are going to have to work on you, aren’t we?”

Liza put a hoof over her mouth and blushed crimson.

Octavia giggled and gave Liza a bow. “Thank you, Miss Doolots. I am always happy to hear somepony enjoys my playing. Though, I am not sure how I helped your flowers grow.”

Cloudy bumped shoulders with Liza. “Tell her.”

“I played your music to my plants, and they grew more,” Liza said, after dropping her hoof from her mouth.

“I am flattered that you thought to use my music for such a purpose, and I am glad that your flowers found my music so invigorating.” Octavia paused and leaned down to be on eye level with Liza. “That is a very fetching tie.”

Liza’s blush returned. “Thank you. I picked it because it looked like yours.”

Octavia looked down to her own bow tie. “I see the resemblance. Though, I must say that yours has more flair.”

“Miss Coco made it,” Liza said and pointed a hoof towards Coco.

“I might have to speak with Miss Coco,” Octavia said and glanced toward Coco. “Beauty and I have been debating whether or not it is time to update our ties. If the new ones matched the quality of yours, I very well might.”

Liza gasped. “Please don’t! That would be horrible!”

“Liza,” Cloudy whispered, her ears pinned back in worry. “Being a little bolder is okay, but that’s too much!”

“She is fine,” Octavia assured Cloudy. She looked towards Liza with a curious expression. “I would like to hear her reasoning why we should keep them.”

“Everypony has been giving me compliments on my tie because ‘it looks like Octavia’s,” Liza told her. “If you change your tie, it wouldn’t be yours anymore.”

Octavia smiled. “I have had similar thoughts.” Octavia patted her bow tie with a hoof as if it were a pet. “I have become fond of this tie myself. I consider it good luck to wear it to each performance.” Octavia smiled and nodded to Liza. “You are right. It would not do to change my on stage persona now and to risk losing the luck this tie has brought me.”

Liza sighed in relief.

“Beauty, however, may still wish to change her tie, and I will be certain to mention Coco’s skill to her.” Octavia leaned in toward Liza, turned her head so she looked at the gentlecolts of her ensemble, who were talking with ponies near to us, and whispered, “I will make a strong recommendation of Miss Coco to Parish and Fredrick too. Their ties are lacking and somehow garish at the same time. They could do with replacing.”

Liza giggled and nodded.

Riff moved closer to Rarity and Thunderlane and told them something under his breath.

Rarity smiled and nodded. “We will be there. He will need as many friends nearby as he can get, and we will not let him down.”

Coco’s ears perked with concern. “Is everything okay?”

Rarity nodded. “Everything is fine, but our presence is being requested by Twilight and Cadance.”

“I’ve got one more pony to find,” Riff said. “If you would be so kind to take Cloudy and Liza with you, I’ll go fetch him.”

“We’ll head right there,” Rarity said. She turned to the fillies, Coco, and me, and told us, “We’re expected at the school’s festival section.”

Rarity set the pace, which was quicker than her usual walk.

“I’m glad he decided,” Thunderlane said to Rarity.

Rarity nodded. “So am I. I think things will be much better for him once he gets this over with.”

“Who is he, and what is going on?” I asked.

“I can’t say, or I would ruin the surprise.” Rarity glanced back at me and gave me a grin. “As to specifics of what will happen, we don’t know.”

“She’s enjoying this too much,” I muttered to Coco.

Coco nodded. “Intrigue and drama are in the air. The only thing that could spice things up more for her would be to have some romance thrown in too.”

Rarity’s smile grew. “I have a feeling there may be a bit of romance involved too, but we shall have to see.”

I chuckled. “She’s going to strain something, if she keeps grinning like that.”

Coco bumped shoulders with me. “Let her have her fun.”

When we got to the edge of where the students had set up their portion of the Celebration, I could hear Cheerilee and Amethyst herding the foals toward the stage they had constructed. Rarity led us toward a section with adult ponies who seemed baffled as to what was going on.

“There’s Berry and Barrel,” Thunderlane said and pointed to them with a wing. “I’ll take the fillies over to Miss Cheerillee and the other foals. We’ll meet up at the stage with everypony else.”

“We get our own Wonderbolt escort?!” Cloudy said, looking up to Thunderlane with a huge smile.

Thunderlane gave her his show pony’s grin. “For a couple of minutes, you sure do.”

Cloudy bumped shoulders with Liza. “I told you tonight would be great! You want his left or right side?”

“Left,” Liza said and moved to Thunderlane’s left side.

As Thunderlane led them away, he asked the fillies, “Wait a second, who’s escorting who here?”

“Looks to me you are escorting each other,” Rarity told him as she led us toward the milling adults.

“Either of you know what’s going on?” I asked Berry.

“I thought you might know,” Berry said.

“We don’t have a clue either,” I told her.

“You were right, they were right together,” Silent said to Sassy, as they approached us.

Rarity gave Silent a smirk. “Darling, you seem to have lost your attire. I didn’t realize the foals threw that rowdy of a party.”

Silent blushed and snorted. “The foals were very curious about bat pony physiology. Since I was the only member of the Lunar Guard not in full barding, Luna ordered me to take my uniform off right there in the open.”

“I wish I could have been there to see Sassy’s reaction,” Berry said through a fit of giggles.

“While I was taking off my uniformSassy’s and Vinyl comments got so brazen Cheerilee had to tell them to tone it down.”

“I was voicing my appreciation for a soldier out of uniforml,” Sassy said. “I kept it foal friendly.”

Silent gave Sassy a look. “Barely.”

“Do either of you know what is going on?” Berry asked. “Cheerilee and Amethyst have been rounding up the foals, including Piña and the others, but we don’t know why.” As she spoke, her eyes would dart toward the foals seated near the stage. “I haven’t seen Pinch or Star for a while either.”

“Pinch and Star are accounted for, don’t worry,” Silent told her.

Berry tensed. “Accounted for? What does that mean?”

“I can’t say, at the moment, but Twilight asked me to help gather the ponies that have been with Crystal Hoof today and take them to their spot by the stage.”

Berry looked to Barrel with concern.

“Berry, calm down, Pinch is fine,” Barrel assured her. “Have you ever known our girl to stir up trouble?”

“No,” Berry conceded, “but this whole thing feels weird.”

Silent led us closer to the stage and pointed out to Rarity where the other Elements and Spike were sitting. After Rarity left us to join her fellow saviors of Equestria, he led us to a spot just off the front of the stage. “Here you go.”

Muffins, Turner, and Thunderlane were in their spots when we walked up.

“Hello again, friends,” Turner greeted us. “Do any of you know what all the fuss is about?”

“We don’t,” Berry said. “Have either of you seen-” Berry went silent, as she looked towards the stage.

Princess Celestia led the Crystal Empire’s royal family, Twilight, Matilda, and Cranky to the front of the stage on the ground level. Celestia whispered something to them, and then Twilight flew up to stand on the stage itself in front of Vinyl’s half-disassembled equipment.

The gathered crowd grew quiet as Celestia turned to face us. “Good evening. Thank you all for putting together this wonderful festival and for coming to help us celebrate Twilight’s accomplishment of becoming the third princess of Equestria.”

We in the crowd applauded.

Twilight waved bashfully and stepped forward to stand at the edge of the stage. “Thank you all that you have done for me. I would not have been able to make it this far without all of you.” She glanced toward her fellow Elements. “Since I will address two groups tonight, I promised I would not give a long speech so we could get back to the fun and so nopony would miss their bedtime.”

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash cheered, gaining chuckles from several ponies in the crowd and from Twilight.

After she recovered Twilight continued: “However, I wanted to thank you all for making tonight so special for me, my family, and my friends.” She bowed. “I hope to serve you as a princess with the same care, joy, and work ethic you have put into making tonight so wonderful.”

We cheered her and gave her an enthusiastic ovation.

Twilight blushed and looked overcome by all the attention. She hopped from the stage, gliding the short distance to the ground, and then took her seat among the Elements.

“There’s Pinch,” Barrel said and pointed to where Pinch was sitting with the other foals. “Star’s right beside her.”

“Good eye,” I complemented.

Cadance, Shining Armor, who was holding Flurry, and Crystal Hoof stepped forward and turned toward the gathered foals.

“Hello, everypony,” Cadance said to them.

“Hello!” The foals greeted in return.

“My family and I wanted to thank you for making us and Crystal Hoof feel so welcome today,” Cadance told the foals.

“It was fun!” Noi said, and many other foals nodded in agreement.

Crystal Hoof stepped forward. “I want to thank you all for all the fun today too.” His ears fell and his tail tucked in shame. “I also wanted to confess that I have not been the best friend I could have been and ask you to forgive me.”

“What are you talking about?!” Dinky said, from her spot among the foals in the group's front. “You’ve been a great friend.” She put a hoof to one of her braids. “You braided my mane and everything.”

“But friends shouldn’t keep secrets from each other, and I’ve kept a big one from you.”

Dinky looked at him with disbelief and a touch of hurt. “You have? What is it?”

“It may be better if I show you,” Crystal Hoof said, his voice unsteady. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to be my friend anymore, after you see.”

“I would never do that,” Dinky said.

“No matter what?” Crystal Hoof asked.

“No matter what,” Dinky promised.

Crystal Hoof gave her a hopeful smile. “I’m glad.”

I, and several other ponies, gasped as Crystal Hoof disappeared in a puff of green fire. When the fire dissipated, a changeling stood before us.

Most of the crowd sat in silence for a few long seconds, except for a few crystal foals who cheered the impromptu performance. “You’re a great pony! You didn’t have to hide!” a crystal colt said. Several other crystal foals echoed his comment.

“Thank you,” Crystal Hoof said and gave a slight bow. “But I didn’t want to upset anypony who didn’t know me by walking around like this today. My real name is Thorax,” he told the foals. “Crystal Hoof is who I change into when meeting new ponies, so I don’t scare them. Princess Cadance and her family have been taking care of me, ever since I ran away from the colony. In return I’ve been telling them what I could about Changelings and helping take care of Princess Flurry.”

“That’s your secret?” Dinky asked, sounding underwhelmed.

Thorax blinked. “You don’t mind?”

“No!” Dinky gave a relieved giggle. She ran up to Crystal Hoof and hugged him. “You had me worried. You made it sound like you were secretly a bugbear or something.”

Thorax laughed and returned Dinky’s hug. “No monsters here. I’m just a cuddle bug.” He turned his head and nodded towards Flurry. “Ask her. She’ll vouch for me.”

Flurry giggled and reached out towards Thorax.

“Just a couple of more minutes and then you can go see him,” Shining told Flurry.

“Oh wow, there are other nice changelings!” Cloudy said.

I noticed Star’s ears snap up as he half turned toward Cloudy.

“What do you mean, ‘other nice changelings?’,” Thorax asked and tilted his head. “There are more here?”

“We don’t know,” Cloudy answered. “There was one at Matilda’s and Cranky’s wedding, but we haven’t seen him since then.”

“You don’t know what happened to him?” Thorax said, looking disappointed.

“No, we don’t,” a filly with a dark purple mane said. She looked towards the ground, seeming guilty. “We might have run him off.”

“Oh.” Thorax sat down. “What makes you think you ran him off?”

“He was little, like us,” Cloudy said. “He didn’t do anything mean, but we were scared of him and we didn’t sit by him or talk with him.” She seemed disappointed in herself. “We should have.”

Celestia sat down beside Thorax. “It would have been nice if you had. The changeling is Luna’s and my friend. He didn’t feel very welcome, and he could feel ponies feared him.”

“This is theater,” Coco whispered with certainty to us around her. “They’ve set the stage, the audience has been gathered, and the main actors are performing.”

The realization of the importance of our seating position struck me, and I knew she was right. “We’ve been minor characters in a production and didn’t even know it,” I whispered back.

“If Coco’s assessment is correct, and I’ll bet my best scarf it is, our part in this drama is not over,” Turner said.

I caught Thunderlane and Silent smiling out of the corner of my eye.

“We’re sorry,” Liza said. “But we’ve been told to be careful of changelings.”

“You should be cautious of us,” Thorax said. “Most of us are not nice, and our queen certainly isn’t.”

“Take heart, little one,” Luna said. “You did not cause the changeling to flee this place. He has lived among you with you none the wiser.”

“Oh sweet Celestia,” Berry said and put a hoof to her mouth. “That’s why Pinch is in the middle of this!”

Barrel looked to his wife. “What do you mean?”

“Cranky and Matilda have been keeping care of the changeling.” Luna gestured toward the pair of donkeys with a wing. “Sister and I realized their love was more than enough for a young changeling, when we visited them before their wedding ceremony. We asked them to take the little one in, they accepted without hesitation.”

Matilda and Cranky moved to stand beside Luna.

Cranky told the foals, “He’s a good kid, but he’s been lonely with just two old geezers to talk to.”

“He’ll only go out to play when I coax him to,” Matilda said. “We hoped you would give him another chance, and then he could feel more comfortable being around other ponies his own age.”

“Cheerilee and Twilight have taught us we should try to be friends with every creature,” Piña said. She looked around at her fellow Ponyville foals. “We can be his friends. Right?!”

“Right!” a chorus of foals answered.

“I’m very proud of all of you,” Twilight said. “I didn’t learn to be open to those different from me until I was much older than you.” She looked toward where the Elements were sitting and waved to Zecora, who waved back to her. “I nearly didn’t make a wonderful friend because of it.”

“There’s one problem,” Thorax said. “We don’t know where the other changeling is.”

“Yes we do,” Pinch declared for everypony to hear.

As if following a cue, Star stood. After taking a deep breath, he made his way from his spot. Excited whispers from the foals he passed followed him, as went to stand with Matilda and Cranky.

“He was with us all day,” I said in disbelief.

Barrel chuckled. “He sure was. I thought something was off with him, but I never could put my hoof on it.”

“His speech patterns,” Coco said and smiled. “If we had known to look at them as signals of a changeling rather than a cultural difference, we could have figured it out. He was trying to play the part but didn’t know the vernacular.”

“Little one, you need not tremble so,” Luna said to Star. “You are among friends.”

“You sure are!” Pinch stood. “I’m one!”

Rumble stood, followed in quick succession by Piña and Noi. “Count us too!” he declared.

Dinky waved to Star, “Me too!”

Liza, looking as nervous as Star, stood and addressed the surrounding foals: “We didn’t give him a chance last time because we were scaredy cats. The adults had to have known he was here since before the wedding, and they didn’t even say anything to us about him being dangerous or anything. We need to make it up to him.”

The foals of Ponyville stood together.

Tears went down Star’s cheeks.

Matilda hugged Star from the side and held him to her. “See, I told you they would accept you. They have made friends with dragons, griffins, zebras, sea serpents and all kinds of other creatures. Adding a changeling to that list won’t be a problem at all.”

Star looked toward the group of us who had been with him most of the day, seeming to need a response.

Muffins sprang to her hooves. “You better believe I’m your friend!”

Berry and Barrel stood.

“I wouldn’t have teased you, if I didn’t think you were my friend,” Sassy told Star as she stood. “I hope I can do it more often. You turn wonderful shades of red when I do.”

Tuner laughed and stood. “You can count me as a friend too.”

Coco, Silent, Thunderlane, and I stood together.

“I hope we can be friends too,” a voice from the adult section of the crowd said. “I never thought anypony would even think enough of me to make themselves look like me.” Smiling, Hunter stood and walked towards the stage. “Sorry for almost blowing your cover earlier.”

“Wow!” Noi said. “They look alike!”

“Except for he’s an earth pony and not a pegasus,” Piña pointed out.

Hunter approached Star and held out his hoof. “Hello, ‘cousin.’ It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hello to you too,” Star said and shook Hunter’s hoof. “Thanks for not being upset with me for copying you.”

Matilda let Star go and then stepped away from him. “Would you like to show everypony what you really look like?”

Star stiffened with apprehension.

“Kevin, you can do it, and you should do it,” Cranky said. “If not, it will bother you from now on.”

It took me a second to realize that ‘Kevin’ was Star.

“They were scared of me last time.” Star glanced at Thorax. “They were scared of him too, when he changed. I don’t want them to be afraid of me again.”

Cranky looked towards the foals. “Are they scared of him now?”

Star paused and looked towards the foals too. “No, they’re not.”

“They won’t be scared of you either, once they get some time to adjust,” Cranky said.

Star licked his lips with worry and nodded. He stood still for several seconds and looked towards a specific spot within the crowd of foals.

The foals and some adult ponies became restless.

“Excuse me. Sorry. Please let me through.” Pinch moved to the front of the foals and gave Star an encouraging smile. “You can do this.”

Star gave her a small, vulnerable smile in return. “Promise me this won’t make you look at me the way you did at the wedding. I don’t think I could stand it.”

Pinch gave Star a tender look and nodded. “I promise.”

Star vanished in a puff of green flames. When the flames cleared, a foal sized changeling stood where Star had been. He looked around with his ears back, and his tail tucked, looking exposed and vulnerable.

“He’s adorable!” a mare called out, causing a peel of laughter through the crowd and our group.

“That would be June Bug,” I said, still chuckling.

“Keratin!” Thorax said, overjoyed. Thorax grabbed Kevin up into a hug.

“Wait a minute!” Sassy raised her hoof. “What’s his real name? He was Star to us, but I’ve heard him called Kevin and Keratin too.”

“His name’s Kerut… Karato…” Cranky snorted in frustration. “I can’t say it, that’s why I call him Kevin.”

“But that’s a sea serpent name,” Noi pointed out.

“Some of my best friends are sea serpents,” Cranky informed her. “Their names aren’t tongue twisters either, so Kevin’s what I call him.”

“What would you like everypony to call you?” Twilight asked the younger of the changelings.

“Kevin is great,” he responded, which made Cranky smile. “That way I don’t have a changeling name.”

One of Celestia’s eyebrows rose.

Thorax put Kevin back on his hooves. “How did you end up here?”

“The Lunar Guards found him disguised as a foal curled up in a ‘borrowed’ blanket in an alleyway one night in Canterlot,” Celestia said. “They brought him to Luna, who then consulted with me about what we should do to help him.”

Thorax looked toward Celestia. “Have you found any more changelings around his age? There were twenty of them.”

“All of them have been found,” Celestia assured him.

“Let us discuss such matters at another time,” Luna said and gave a meaningful glance towards the foals. “Tonight should be festive and not troubled by such topics.”

“True,” Thorax said. He looked back to Celestia with concern. “Please tell me, though, are they all okay?”

Celestia put a hoof on Thorax’s shoulder. “They are healthy, unharmed, and are being taken care of by guardians in the same manner Kevin has been.”

“Thank you,” Thorax said, with tears in his eyes. “We hadn’t heard from them in so long, I thought...”

“Don’t!” Dinky said, as she ducked under Celestia’s foreleg and hugged Thorax. “No more crying on Twilight’s special night. Kevin crying was bad enough. You can’t cry too.”

Flurry fussed, and Shining let her fly to Thorax.

Thorax caught and cradled Flurry against his chest with one foreleg while returning Dinky’s hug with his other.

“I believe now is a good time for those of us who will be staying for the evening’s dance to head toward the main stage,” Cheerille said. “Everypony else, I will look forward to seeing you when school starts again.”

With the chaos of the foals moving toward the main stage or to their parents, the intensity in the air dissipated and the jovial feeling that had been present all day returned.

“Dinky!” Muffins said and marched towards her daughter. “Let Thorax go!”

“Bits to cupcakes as soon as Dinky lets him go, Muffins will hug him,” Turner said and followed his wife.

“I won’t take you up that one,” I called after him. “You’re sure to win.”

Piña and her training partners ran up to Berry. “Sis! We lost Pinch and Kevin!”

Silent chuckled. “Notice a certain princess missing too?”

“Luna!” Rumble said, after he looked around. “She’s gone!”

“That’s rather impressive,” Rarity said. “Trixie could learn a thing or two from her.”

“She foalnapped my niece!” Piña said with vexation. “I need to talk to her!”

“After I talk to her and Kevin both,” Berry said.

“Judging by Princess Cadance’s look, you two might have to get in line,” Thunderlane said.

Cadance, who was talking in a low voice to Celestia, glanced around the crowd, her feathers half fluffed in agitation.

Celestia wore her diplomat’s smile, but her eyes hinted she was enjoying the fuss.

“Since we can’t really do much here, why don’t we head back to the main stage?” I asked.

Berry looked at me as if I was crazy. “We’re supposed to go dance after all this?!”

I shrugged. “What else can we do? Cadance, Celestia, and Thorax are in a mob of foals, so we can’t talk to them. Rarity is with Twilight and the other Elements in the middle of a crowd too. Luna, Pinch, and Kevin have disappeared so there’s not much we can do here on any front.”

Berry narrowed her eyes at me, but she had a slight grin that ruined the menacing effect. “You’re enjoying that Luna took them, aren’t you?”

“I think that was very kind on her part. From what I’ve seen today, Pinch is Kevin’s closest friend. Luna must have borrowed her too to help him calm down.”

“That she’s the former Princess of Love surely has nothing to do with it,” Sassy said.

I grinned. “Not a thing, I’m sure.”

Cranky and Matilda walked up to our group.

“Good evening,” Matilda greeted us. “We wanted to thank you for helping take care of Kevin today.”

“It was fun,” Coco said.

“He’s too quiet for a kid,” Cranky said. “I’m surprised you got him to open up.”

“He’s been starved for interaction with other ponies his age,” Matilda said. “I think he’s so quiet around us because we're older.”

“No, dear, he’s quiet around me because I’m old and grouchy.” Cranky’s ears fell a little. “He’ll talk to you.”

Matilda kissed Cranky’s cheek. “He likes you too. Think about it. He listened to you when you told him he needed to show everpony what he really looked like. If he didn’t like and respect you, you wouldn’t have been able to reach him like you did.”

“True.” Cranky grunted and shook his head. “Enough of this mushy stuff, Princess Twilight asked us to tell you we all should enjoy the rest of the night, and that we’ll have a post Celebration meeting tomorrow morning at ten at the castle.”

There was a soft musical sound and a slight push of air from behind us as Princess Luna and the absentee foals appeared.

“Thank you, Princess!” Pinch said.

“You are quite welcome,” Luna responded. “Kevin looked like he would have been overwhelmed had I not intervened.”

“I would have been,” Kevin said. He bowed to her. “Thank you for the rescue.”

Luna gave him a filly’s grin “Think nothing of it. I have not spirited away anypony in ages. It was most fun.”

“There you are!” Matilda said and held out her forelegs to Kevin. “You had me worried.”

Kevin, shifting his appearance to again look like one of Hunter’s relatives, trotted to Matilda and gave her a hug. “Sorry, Aunt Matilda.”

Kevin let go of her and hugged Cranky. “Thanks for helping me. I was freezing up, and you snapped me out of it.”

Cranky, looking confused as to what to do, patted Kevin on the shoulder. “No problem, kid.”

“Pinch,” I said, in a mock whisper.

“What?” she answered back.

“You’re in for it,” I said and pointed a hoof towards Berry and Piña, who were giving Pinch matching displeased looks.

“Crab apples,” Pinch muttered and put on a weak smile. “How bad do you think this is going to get?”

“I would guess about as bad as Berry, Muffins, Rarity, and Sassy talking to me and Coco.”

“Oh, that bad,” Pinch said and winced.

“Pinch has served Equestria well this day,” Luna said. “We decree that she and Kevin are to be granted a reprieve as to discussing the details of their fellowship until the meeting tomorrow.”

“Luna!” Cadance called, as she led a class-sized group of foals our way. “You cheated!”

“I do not recall being in a contest with anypony,” Luna said and smiled. “I also do not recall there being any rules of engagement.”

“You stole them right from under our noses!” Cadance said.

“I take umbrage at your accusation,” Luna said. “They needed a moment to gather themselves, so I granted them a reprieve. They are now with those that care for them. Therefore, I cannot have stolen them.”

“Whatever you did was wicked!” a colt with a Trottingham accent said. He nudged the colt standing beside him. “Did you see what she did? They sank into their shadows and disappeared!”

“Thank you, Pip,” Luna said and nodded towards the colt. “That spell has long been one of my favorites. It pleases me you appreciate it.” Luna looked at the gathered foals and smiled. “Young ones, who among you wants to dance till our elders carry us away or our hooves support us no more?!”

Every foal raised a hoof.

“Then we shall!” As she turned, Luna gave an elegant gesture with her wings and commanded, “Follow me!”

The foals cheered and followed their Princess of the Night with adoration.

Cadance stood dumbfounded as Luna led the foals away. “What just happened?”

“She outplayed you,” Celestia said, as she strode by. “Come on Cadance, or do I get the first dance with Shining?”

“Celestia!” Cadance said and trotted after the elder princess.

Comments

[TCC56]

And the shoe finally drops.

[Random_User]

10151085
I was worried I would not be able to build up to the reveal gradually enough, at one point. Setting up all the pieces for the final scene took longer than I thought it would and it turned out I should not have worried at all. I hope I did not drag things out too long.

[TasermonsPartner]

I was absolutely smiling so hard throughout this chapter that my cheeks were strained afterwards. Even in the little bits where my heart was slightly racing during the "big reveal". Of course, given the nature of the story, I knew it'd turn out alright, but I didn't know if they would be okay with him instantaneously.

I was surprised that this happened after Cranky and Matilda's wedding. I thought it was set before, and that this would explain his presence at the wedding, and we'd just kinda overlook the whole "startled foals" bit, or just be shock from him changing unexpectedly. This actually explains things better though, since the love that Cranky and Matilda have for each other is what caused him to change at the wedding, thus frightening the foals. Also makes sense that Cranky and Matilda would take care of him, rather than him just being a rogue changeling Cranky found on his adventures,

It's really kinda sweet too, since cranky spent so long looking for Matilda, that they never got to have a foal of their own before it was probably too late for them to do so naturally. This way, they still get to have a family together, and help out Kevin at the same time.

Though, Celestia seemed abit worried that Kevin would shrug off his changeling name and heritage like that. She doesn't want him to hate himself or changelings in general; she just wants a better life for him. I think Pinch can help with that. But now I'm abit curious about the others? There were twenty? Were they behind after the Canterlot invasion; or is it something else? Hmm...

I also liked how non-chalant all the princesses were throughout this ordeal, and how the inhabitant of Ponyville treat them more like relaxed friends than royalty. They've come a long way, it shows why the princesses prefer to hang around Ponyville as opposed to a place like Canterlot with far more pomp and decorum. Here, they get to be in on the fun and nopony cares if Dinky runs between Celestia's legs or Luna foal-naps a few for awhile and then dances with the others. It really is heartwarming.

Octavia's part was nice too, though it ended rather abruptly?

Still though, a great chapter! Thanks for making a great day even better!

[Random_User]

10153143
You have a very good eye for the little bread crumbs I give in the story. We have one more chapter to wrap up things with Kevin, then we are heading for the final section of the story. The after celebration meeting will address Celestia's concerns and a few other things.

I am glad you liked this chapter. I had to take a couple of runs at it and rewrite a ton before it came together.

[Random_User]

10152052
You know me. I will ship any pony with any pony, so long as it makes a some sense and will not wreck the story. Everypony deserves a chance at love.

I am glad that you are still out there and reading my crazy stories. It has been a while.