Hoofswell that Ends Well

by SpearmintSonnet

There are somethings you'd rather just forget

“No... no!” Dove cried out, her eyes wide and fearful as she tried to dash around the tree, but in her haste, her hooves caught on the roots and she sprawled out on the ground. Flipping over, she gasped, “Not again! No!”

The figure before her pulls back slightly before leaning in and reaching a hoof out towards her, “Dove! It's just me!”

“No! Get away from me!” Dove pushed his hoof back as she scrambled back to her hooves, “I won't go!”

The figure stopped and stepped back away from the mare, his eyes sad, “Dove... it's just me... It's Cloudstriker.”

She stopped in her tracks, staring hard at the figure before her. Slowly the fear faded from her heart as she recognized the tall, white stallion. Her eyes began to tear up slightly as she gasped, “I... I'm sorry...”

Blazer burst through the foliage then, “Dove! Is everything alright?” He glanced between the two ponies, but saw there was not threat. Looking at Striker he asked, “What happened?”

“I don't know,” Striker said shrugging his shoulders heavily under his armor, “I just came through the trees and she freaked out.” He turned his attention to the shivering mare, “are you okay, Dove?”

She nodded quickly, her eyes darting from side to side as she shivered “I... I'm sorry I got... got lost like this...” she murmured.

“It's okay,” Blazer said with a small smile, “if it hadn't been you, it would've been me. Those ruins were scary.”

“And everything's okay now, Dove,” Striker added, “you sent up that signal flare I was able to find you, so no harm done.” He tucked his wings against his sides and added, “we should be going now, the edge of the woods isn't far and Minty's waiting for us there.”

He moved to extend his wing over Dove comfortingly, but as he did so, the mare hissed, “Don't touch me.”

Shocked and hurt, Striker stepped back and mumbled a quiet, “okay, sorry,” before silently leading the way out of the forest to where he'd left Minty.

Dovetail followed him, her horn igniting with green magic to cast a soft emerald glow in the darkening forest. Blazer watched for a moment, his brow knit in heavy concentration as the two ponies ahead of him moved deeper into the forest. What happened? The yellow stallion asked himself as his hooves lifted from the damp forest floor to carry him after his friends, why did Dove snap at Striker like that? It doesn't seem like her... Shaking his head, he picked up his pace until he was only a few steps behind the others.

The trio broke through the tree line moments later as the sun began to redden along the western horizon. Minty jumped to her hooves, a grin on her face when she saw all three ponies safe and sound. “Oh good! When I saw the green flare go up, I was worried something went wrong...” she shook her head, “I'm just glad you're all okay!” Her gaze moved across her three friends and her smile wavered, “I...is something wrong?” Dove turned away slightly, her eyes damp from silent tears and Striker shrugged, a dejected look on his face. Minty turned to Blazer as he stepped around the other two. “Did something happen?”

Blazer shook his head, “something must have happened, but your guess is as good as mine.”

Walking over to Dovetail, Minty pressed her friend, “what happened out there Dove? What's wrong?”

The other mare turned to her friend, her eyes bright with tears, “I... I ran away... into the forest.” her voice was nearly silent, and Minty had to strain her ears to hear. About to ask for more details, the green mare was cut off as Dove buried her muzzle into her mane, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed.

“Hey, it's okay...” Minty murmured, running a hoof through Dove's short hair and down her back comfortingly, “we all get scared sometimes...” She paused a moment as Dove's uncontrolled sobs calmed down slightly, “so you ran off into the forest...?”

Dove nodded, not taking her muzzle from the other mare's shoulder, “A...an Striker...” she sobbed again, slowly trying to collect herself, “Striker f-found me... and...” This time she began crying again and any other explanation she might have offered was drowned in her tears and sobs.

“Shh...” Minty patted her gently again, “It's okay Dove. Everything's okay.” I just wonder what happened, the mare thought, casting Striker an inquisitive glance. But she doesn't seem to be able to talk about it right now.

“Look, Minty,” Striker didn't move any closer to the two mares, but he raised his voice so they could hear him, “I just found her after she sent off that magical flare and... and she freaked out when I came through the trees... I'm still not sure why...” He turned away and sighed, “I'm going to go get fire wood.” Lifting off into the air, he flew back into the woods.

Dove lifted away from Minty, her eyes following after Striker. She opened her mouth to call after him, but he was gone before she could get the words out. Sighing, she turned and sat down on the ground, her head resting on her hooves.

Minty glanced at Blazer who shrugged and said, “I'll build the fire pit then and... maybe run a quick perimeter check. Just to be safe.”

“Good idea, Blazer,” Minty agreed. She waited until he was farther away before sitting next to Dove. Taking a breath, she sighed, “Dove... will you talk to me? What happened?”

The mare didn't look up from her hooves, “I... I just got startled... that's all.”

Minty's brow furrowed and her mouth pressed into a line, “Dove, you didn't just “get startled”. Striker's never been that standoffish before- it's like he's wary of you! Please... I want to help you.”

“It's not something I can talk about, Minty...” Dove said quietly.

“Fine,” Minty sighed, “I won't make you talk about it if... if you really don't want to, but can you talk to Striker when he comes back? You should at least apologize to him for whatever happened between you.”

“I... I can do that.” Dove nodded, her head barely leaving her hooves.

The green mare stood up and with a final glance at the other mare, she moved to help Blazer finish the fire pit. Striker emerged from the forest a few minutes later. He glanced at where Dove was sitting, but instead of smiling, he turned away abruptly before dropping the kindling he'd gathered into the finished pit, “good job,” he muttered quietly as he quickly assembled the twigs and dried leaves into a tent shape. “Anypony got a match?” He asked, glancing between Blazer and Minty.

“Dove could...” Blazer started, but he closed his mouth as Striker shook his head.

“Match. Please.” Minty walked over to his saddlebags where he'd left them before taking off into the woods before. Opening them up, she rummaged around until she found a small book of paper matches. She tossed them to the stallion who immediately started up a small blaze.

She walked back over to the white pegasus, wondering if she should hug him or punch him for being an idiot. She eventually settled on leaning against him and whispering, “Go talk to her.”

He shook his head, “I don't think...”

“Go talk to her,” the mare said again, more insistently. “There's no reason you two should be fighting like this.”

Striker sighed, “I don't think she wants to talk, Minty. She made it pretty clear before that she didn't want anything to do with me.”

“I talked to her after you left,” Minty said curtly, “just... please. Go talk to her.”

His eyes narrowed and he grunted angrily under his breath, “You think that just because I helped you fix your problem, you can just fix mine?”

“That's NOT what I'm doing,”Minty said angrily. “Dove asked me to tell you to talk to her, so would you get your head out of your flank and talk to her?”

Striker blinked. “Well... if that's the case...” his voice trailed off and he sighed, “sorry... I was being a jerk.”

“You kind of were,” Minty rolled her eyes, “but I'll let it pass. Something happened in those woods and I'm not sure what. But if we're going to keep traveling together, you're going to have to talk things over and patch things up.” The stallion nodded his agreement before walking over to the tan mare. He sat next to her and they began talking in low tones so the other two ponies couldn't hear. Blazer, who had been tending the fire silently, looked up at Minty as she turned around, “He's so Celestia damned stubborn,” she muttered under her breath with a shake of her head. She spread her wings open to the warmth of the fire, the cool evening air beginning to creep up on them as the sun finally touched the edge of the horizon.

Blazer nodded, laying down on the soft grass, careful to brush the ground under him free of sharp pebbles before settling in. “They both can be...” he was quiet a moment before adding, “I think there's more going on than we see. With Dove, I mean.”

“Yeah,” Minty nodded, glancing over her shoulder at the other ponies. She smiled when she saw them talking and laughing together.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the four ponies gathered around their warm fire and settled in for a quiet night.

~~~

The moon began to set slowly as night turned towards morning. Dovetail was roused from her sound sleep by a cold wind blowing across her back. Rolling over, her eyes opened slowly to see the fire burning low. Sitting up, she yawned quietly, glancing over at her three sleeping friends. I should probably get more firewood before anypony else gets cold, she thought, rising to her hooves. About to turn towards the forest, Blazer lifted his head from his hooves, his eyes blinking slowly.

“Where you going, Dove?” he asked quietly, careful not to wake anypony else.

“Just going to get more wood for the fire. I shouldn't be long.” She smiled warmly, “just go back to sleep, okay?”

“Y-you're going back into the forest?” He asked, his eyes widening slightly, “are you sure that's safe?”

“I'll be fine,” Dove said confidently, “don't worry.”

Minty groaned softly and rolled over, her eyes fluttering open, “mmm... Blazer's right, Dove... you shouldn't go into the forest alone.”

“I'm sorry!” Dove murmured, “did we wake you?”

“Not really,” Minty shook her head.

“What about Striker? Will he wake up, too?” The tan mare glanced over at the white stallion snoring loudly on the other side of the dying fire.

“I doubt it,” Blazer said with a shake of his head, “that stallion sleeps like a rock.”

Dove watched the fire sputter again and she hurried towards the forest, “I'll be back in a minute! I won't leave sight of the camp, promise!”

Neither Blazer or Minty had the faculties to chase after Dove, so they just let her go, a worried glance passing between the two ponies. They waited in near silence for several minutes until a form began to emerge from the woods. Blaze stood up, the worried look he wore melting to one of relief as Dovetail came into view, a bundle of sicks magically tied to her back. She smiled as she stepped up to the fire pit, her magic carefully placing a few of the branches across the fire before igniting the bundle into a brand new, burning fire.

“I told you it wouldn't take too long,” she said with a smile.

Minty smiled, “you're right. We shouldn't have doubted you.”

Blazer nodded in agreement before laying back down on his back, staring up at the sky, “are there always so many stars in the sky? I never noticed before.”

“Yeah,” Dove nodded, “it's really pretty, isn't it?”

“Mmmm,” Blazer nodded, his eyes lazily scanning the heavens until they rested on a strange ring of stars. He lifted his hoof and pointed, “Do stars always do things like that? Make shapes in the sky like clouds?”

Minty stared up at the constellation Blazer was indicating, “sometimes. Princess Luna keeps the stars pretty much the same, so ponies can travel at night, but sometimes, for special occasions, she creates new constellations. Didn't you learn about that in school?”

Blazer shrugged, “if I did, I don't remember.”

“We called it Luna's Mane, where I'm from,” Dove said quietly. “ever shifting and ethereal, just like the Princess.” As Dove spoke, another form emerged from the woods.

“I told you I wouldn't be long,” a second Dove smiled as she approached the fire, but she stopped short when she realized that not only was there a fire burning merrily in the middle of the camp, there was a second mare, identical to herself, staring up at her with surprise.

Blazer smiled at the new mare, “Oh, hey, welcome back...Dove...tail...” His words trailed off as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “Minty! Get away from them!” The yellow stallion was up on his hooves in an instant, backing away from the fire and the two mares as his gaze darted between them. Minty flared her wings and rose into the air as she glanced between the two mares who watched each other with identical expressions of surprise and disbelief.

“Who are you?” The first Dovetail asked, her back to the fire as she gasped.

“I-I should be asking you that!” The sticks the second Dovetail had been carrying in her magic tumbled to the ground as she lost control of the spell in her distress.

“Striker!” Blazer cried, turning to the sleeping stallion, “Striker! Get up! Wake up!”

The white stallion rolled over, “what's going on?” His voice had a weird duality to it that wasn't explained until he sat up. Two identical Striker heads rose, their eyes blinking in eerie synchronization as they glanced around at the small camp.

“Two Strikers?” Minty cried from her vantage point in the sky, “what's going on?”

The Striker closer to the fire glanced around, “Two of me? What do you mean?” Turning around, he gasped, his wings flaring out in surprise, “what's going on?” He reached out with a hoof and poked his doppelganger.

The other Striker scooted back, “whoa! This is... this is weird. What's happening? Guys am I seeing things?”

“Not unless we're all seeing things,” Minty said. Turning to the Doves, she implored, “Do you know what's going on, Dove? Either of you?”

The second Dove turned to the other ponies in the camp, her eyes wide, “the... the original inhabitants of these woods...” She glanced at the pony identical and at the same time the pair murmured, “they were Changelings.”

One of the Striker's growled at the other, “What in the name of Equestria do you think you're doing? There's only one Cloudstriker! And that's me!” He lunged at the other pony, who jumped into the air to avoid the body blow.

“Sounds like something an impostor would say!” The flying Striker grinned down at the other.

“He's right,” Minty murmured, she glanced down at Blazer, “We need to figure out who are our friends and who aren't!”

“And how are we supposed to do that?” Blazer asked, but his eyes widened and he added, “no! Wait! I have an idea!” Turning to the Dove closest to him, he asked, “What did I tell you earlier? About Striker?”

The Dove he stared intently at blushed slightly, glancing back at her doppelganger, “Ummm...”

Blazer took a few, shuffling steps forward as he added, “Whisper it in my ear, so no pony else can hear.”

Minty's eyes widened as she realized what Blazer was doing. Flying over to the Strikers, she flew between them, “Hey! What tricks did you teach me today?”

The grounded Striker grinned, “Well, answer her! If you can, you impostor!”

“So you can just steal my answer? No deal!” The second Striker glanced angrily between the two ponies as he pushed himself farther away with a quick wing beat.

Minty glanced between them again and sighed, I have to trust one of them. Landing carefully, she stepped up to the first Striker and said, “Whisper it in my ear, if you know the answer.”

Stepping up to the mare, Striker gave the other stallion a wild, confident grin, before leaning down and whispering, “First it was the barrel roll, and you performed that perfectly. And then you tried the backwards loop-de-loop, but you couldn't quite finish it.”

Minty grinned happily, throwing her hooves around Striker's neck as she cried, “Oh I knew it was you! I'm so glad!”

“Ah crap,” the changeling in the air grumbled.

“Watch out, Minty,” Striker glared up at the changeling who, after being discovered, had dropped the form of Striker and returned to his usual black, buggy appearance, his wings fluttering quickly in the night sky. “I have something to take care of...” he lifted into the air and sped towards the changeling with more speed and agility than his armored form should have. He barreled into the changeling, the pair rolling through the air and out of sight.

On the other side of the camp, Blazer was standing next to the first Dove, tears in her eyes, “D-don't you trust me, Blazer?”

The yellow pony's eyes were soft, but he shook his head, “I can't... unless you can answer the question.”

The second Dove, glanced between Blazer and the other mare, “Y-you said that... that I...”

“Oh! You know?” Blazer turned toward the other mare, his eyes wide with anticipation.

Before she could finish, the first Dove sprint tackled the second and the pair tumbled towards the woods. Blazer raced to break them up, getting caught in the middle of their fight as he cried, “hold it! Wait!” But neither Dove stopped, or rather, the impostor Dove didn't let up. The three ponies fought tooth and hoof until one Dovetail was pinned down by two Blazers. “Oh no...” One Blazer hurriedly stepped off Dove, his eyes wide with shock.

Hearing the commotion behind her, she turned away from Striker's fight. Seeing two Blazer's instead of two Doves, she sighed, “oooh boy...”

The second Blazer stepped back and helped Dove to her hooves, “are you okay there?” but instead of being grateful, Dove stumbled back a half step, her eyes wide. Blazer sighed, stepping away from her, “I-I'm sorry...”

“What are you apologizing for, you damned fake!” The first Blazer's eyes were narrow with anger. “It's your fault she's beat up like that! You started it!”

“Something an impostor would say!” The second Blazer whirled on the first, “what makes you think you're the real me?”

The first Blazer grinned, “because I know things only the real me would know! I suck my hoof at night!”

There was dead silence in the field, other than the occasional distant thump and holler from wherever Striker and his changeling doppelganger were fighting. “Um...” Minty glanced between the two Blazers, her gaze resting on the first, “that's... not exactly definitive. You could be lying.”

“E-exactly!” The second Blazer blushed, “besides! That's totally not true! I never suck my hoof!”

“Well...” The first Blazer raised his eyebrow at Minty, “if that doesn't convince you that I am who I say I am, what will? What dirty little secret do I have to spill to convince you?”

The green mare closed her eyes in thought, “I don't...”

Dove spoke up then, cutting off her friend, “I know! Blazer, which ever of you is the real Blazer, come here and tell me what you told me before. The same thing you wanted me to tell you just now.”

The first Blazer's face fell and his eyes narrowed, “Um....”

“Yeah, you wouldn't know. Just give it up and we'll pretend like nothing happened.” The second Blazer grinned as he walked over to Dove. Leaning close, he whispered something to her. Dove smiled brilliantly and Blazer turned to his impostor, “That's it. You've lost.”

The changeling glowed a brilliant lime green as he reverted back to his usual form. “Ah crap... you guys were a lot smarter than the last band of travelers to pass through here.”

Blazer stepped forward, his eyes burning angrily, “Get lost!”

“We're just trying to survive!” The changeling shouted back, his back arcing like a cat's as he hissed.

“If it's food you needed, you could have just asked,” Dove said quietly.

The changeling shook his head, making a few clicking and chattering noises before explaining, “you don't get it. We're changelings. We feed on emotions.” He lifted his head and growled, “we were only going to replace you for a little while and then leave.”

“If that's all you need,” Blazer said, stepping forward, “feel free to feed on mine. I've got plenty of emotions I don't need.”

The changeling looked him over and smirked, “Yeah... I can sense them. You really should do something about them before they consume you.”

“You want them? Take them! They been torturing me ever since I left Manehatten!” Blazer cried out bitterly.

Out in the distance there was a startling thwump followed by a loud groan and a second thump before silence fell. As Dove, Minty, and Blazer all turned to see the source of the sounds, the changeling took off towards the woods. “Sorry... it doesn't work like that,” he called over his shoulder to Blazer.

The yellow stallion turned and started to run after the changeling, but Dovetail stopped him, wrapping her magic around him and holding him in place as the changeling faded into the woods, “Hey! Come back!” He cried out, but the changeling only chuckled from the darkness before disappearing completely.

“Blazer...” Dove's voice was quiet, but Blazer rounded angrily on her before stopping and sighing. Dove stepped over to him, releasing the stallion from her magic before wrapping him in a tight hug.

“Hey... E-easy!” Blazer gasped, straining to breathe as Dove squeezed him.

She held him a moment longer before stepping back with a smile, “If you ever want to talk about... what happened... We're your friends and we're here to listen.”

Blazer sighed, rubbing the back of his head with a hoof as he stared out into the woods, “A-another time...”

“I understand.” The two stood there for a moment before the green mare jumped with a gasp.

“Oh no! That must have been Striker!” Minty turned around as she tried to locate where the second fight had gone. “He might be hurt!”

Blazer paused a moment in his fruitless search of the woods before turning and looking at the mare, “you're right. We should go find him.”

Minty nodded and lifted off into the air. Hovering high above the ground she turned in a slow circle, trying to locate where Striker and the changeling were. Two forms were standing opposite each other a good distance away down the treeline. She pointed in their direction and said, “I think I see them! Over here!”

“We'll follow you, Minty!” Blazer called from below and the pegasus mare took off into the night. She flew fast, reaching the two combatants in moments. As she landed, she could tell both had taken a beating. Where Striker wasn't protected by armor, he had scuffs and scrapes and the changeling opposite him looked worse. “Are you alright?” The mare asked as she landed next to her larger friend.

“Y-yeah,” Striker gasped, not taking his eyes from the other stallion. “He was tougher than I thought...”

“You weren't the pansy I thought you'd be either,” the changeling grunted as he favored his right side. His wings- large blue and teal butterfly wings- were fluttering gently to his sides, but he didn't have the strength to even put them away as he panted for air.

“You're really hurt!” Minty gasped as the changeling flinched.

“It's nothing,” the changeling hissed as he turned towards the woods, but a yellow stallion stood in his way. “Oh boy...”

Blazer stood on the top of a rise, his saddlebags tossed hurriedly over his flanks. He galloped down the incline directly towards the changeling, “You!” He stopped just shy of barreling into the injured changeling, “your friend said you feed on the emotions of others!”

The changeling looked up and glowered, “yeah, that's what changelings do, but unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to feed tonight... so if you'll excuse me?” He started to limp back towards the woods when Blazer lashed out, knocking the other stallion down again and stomping down on his wing to keep him from running off.

“Hold it!”

“Blazer! What are you doing? You're hurting him!” Minty started towards her friend, but stopped in her tracks when he glared at her.

“Let. Me. Talk,” he hissed before turning back to the grounded changeling. “I need this, do you understand?”

The changeling grimaced, lying totally still, “okay! Okay! We're sorry! For the love of the Moon!”

Blazer sighed, “no, look. I'm offering you my emotions-”

“You sure have a strange way of offering...” the changeling grumbled.

“-but when I asked your friend about it, he said it didn't work that way.”

“Ugh,” the changeling clicked something under his breath, “He... he was half right. You can't give emotions, okay? They aren't like fruits...”

“You think this is a joke?!” Blazer growled.

“Yeah, I'm just dying of laughter down here,” the changeling winced as Blazer's hoof dug into his wing.

Minty stepped up and grabbed a hold of Blazer with a wing, “Hey, calm down, Blazer...”

“Get off me!” Blazer shook her off, his eyes boring into the changeling as they stared each other down. “Then tell me what does work!”

“Alright, that's enough,” Striker indicated for Minty to step back before he lunged forward, tacking Blazer to the ground and freeing the changeling. “You need to chill out.” He said to Blazer and then he turned to the changeling who was struggling to his feet, “and you are going to tell my friend what he wants to know.”

“What makes you think I'll cooperate now?” The changeling asked bitterly.

“I can always let him up,” Striker said as the other stallion struggled underneath him.

“Ugh... fair point.” The changeling paused before sighing, “look, the only way we can feed on emotions is if they're directed at us. Or, rather, the pony you feel it towards.”

Blazer stopped struggling and glanced up at the changeling, “Th-that's it?”

The changeling nodded as he flexed his injured wing and flinched, “yeah.”

“Striker... you can let me up now,” Blazer said meekly. The changeling shifted uncomfortably as the white stallion stepped of his friend, but Blazer just opened the saddlebag still miraculously attached to his flanks. Reaching inside he pulled out a photograph in a frame and set it down in front of the changeling. “Can you change into her?”

The changeling glanced between the photo and Blazer, “then you'll let me go?”

Blazer nodded guiltily, “yes.”

“Fine.” The changeling took a long look at the mare in the photo before he began to glow lime green. As the color slowly crawled up from his hooves towards his torso and head, he morphed into the figure of a lithe azure unicorn with a darker blue mane and tail. After a long moment, the changeling opened its eyes, revealing brilliant jade-green orbs.

The yellow stallion felt his knees go weak as he stared at the young mare, “D-Diadem?”

The mare smiled slightly and nodded, but didn't say anything.

Minty leaned into Striker and whispered, “I think I'm missing something here. I don't get it.”

“I think I understand,” Dovetail stepped up between Minty and Striker, a small, sad smile on her face as she watched Blazer begin to cry. “That mare, he called her Diadem... I believe she broke his heart back in Manehatten. She's probably the reason he left.”

The trio watched as Blazer quietly poured his heart out to the changeling for several minutes. The words he spoke were private and so quiet that it was impossible for his friends to hear him, even as close as they were. After he was done, the mare leaned in and whispered something back before walking off into the woods, the lime green light of changeling transformation glowing from the forest before everything went dark again until the soft light of dawn began to glow on the horizon.

Blazer stood looking into the distance for a moment before shaking his head and looking at Dove, “so... should we get going?”

Dove's gaze turned toward the horizon where the sun was just becoming visible, “I suppose we should.”

Author's Note:

Stuff gets a little weird here. I apologize if it's hard to follow, but I guess that's a good thing since Changelings can be super confusing XD Have I mentioned I love changelings because I do. They are 100%, without a doubt my favorite addition to the show.