Chapter 28: Paternal Instincts
“You ready Sunny?” Rainbow Dash asked, stretching her wings on top of her cloud.
“Remind me when I agreed to this again?” Sunstreak asked on his own cloud. Rainbow Dash had insisted that he agreed to race her at some point, and she was refusing to help him find any of these stockpiles until after a race.
“It was after the thunderstorm.”
“You mean when my memories were wiped and I thought I was a Pegasus?”
“Yeah.” Rainbow replied. “I had to go and get Twilight so that-”
“You do realize that I was not myself at that time right?”
“You still promised.” Rainbow replied.
“Ugh…Fine…” Sunstreak replied, he didn’t want to argue, he just wanted to get to work. “Where are we going?”
“Mmmm” Rainbow said tapping her hoof to her chin. She was looking around the open sky for something worth racing to. “How about…”
Sunstreak felt a small prick in the back of his neck, making him turn towards the castle.
“Sunny? What is it?”
“I’m not sure… Probably nothing…” Sunstreak replied, looking away from the castle. “So where are we going?”
“I was going to say let’s just fly around the city, but you can’t leave it…so that would be difficult. Then there’s the problem of me just smoking you.”
“Yes…the agreement was for you to stay close to me… they didn’t really specify a distance, so just try to keep me within your line of sight alright.”
“Well then. I have a finish line.” Sunstreak didn’t like the smile on her face.
“Where?” Sunstreak asked trying not to just fly off now.
Rainbow Dash lifted her hoof and pointed towards a large hedge maze at the castle. “First to the center wins.”
“Alright Rainbow…” Sunstreak replied.
“Ready…” Sunstreak leaned down, getting ready to push off the cloud. “Set…” Sunstreak kept his eyes on the maze.
“HELP!”
“What…?” Sunstreak stopped. He didn’t hear Rainbow shout go, but he knew what had happened, she was already blasting across the sky. “Damn it…” Sunstreak pushed himself off the cloud and dashed after her. He knew she wasn’t trying, she wanted to have at least a little challenge, which would explain why she was doing loops in the middle of the air.
Once he got close enough for Rainbow to start flying around him, she spoke up. “What took you so long? Are your reflexes really that bad?”
“No Rainbow I just…” What had happened? “I thought I heard something.”
“Like what?” Rainbow Dash asked, slowing down to be at the same pace as Sunstreak.
“I’m not sure… I think it was someone saying ‘help’.” Sunstreak replied.
“Well I didn’t hear anything.” Rainbow replied, turning over to fly on her back. “And my ears are probably better than yours Bug Boy.”
“Alright Airhead.” Sunstreak replied. “I could have sworn I heard something…”
“It was probably nothing. Just your imagination coming up with a reason you couldn’t be as awesome as me.”
Sunstreak rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say Airhead.”
“Now come on.” Rainbow Dash said as she flipped herself over. “This is supposed to be a race, not a leisurely fly.”
“Well then let’s go!” Sunstreak replied as he focused on keeping pace with Rainbow. He was doing pretty well, even though he knew that Rainbow would still win, it was nice to see her not just fly away and see her in a few minutes.
“You’ve gotten better.” Rainbow Dash said, looking over at Sunstreak.
“Had more time to adjust than last time.” Sunstreak replied.
“So whadda yah say we try and pick it up a bit?” Rainbow Dash replied as the Hedge maze came into clear view.
“Well… I’d say you’re on.”
“There’s the Sunny I know and love.” Rainbow faced forward and Sunstreak could see the rainbow ribbon starting to show up behind her.
Not this time Rainbow. Sunstreak put all his energy into flapping his wings, but right before he could pick up speed…
“HELP ME! PLEASE! SOMEPONY!”
Sunstreak slowed himself to a near stop, turning to face away from the Hedge maze. Was that a filly?
“Hey Sunny!” Rainbow shouted back at him. He looked like he was just staring back at the city.
“Sunny? What’s holding you?” Rainbow flew back towards Sunstreak. “Sunny? Are you okay?”
“PLEASE! SOMEPONY!”
“What is that?” Sunstreak mumbled.
“What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked.
“I…I think I hear a filly.” Sunstreak replied.
“A filly? Are you sure?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking at Sunstreak.
Sunstreak turned to face Rainbow. “I think so… Just give it a minute. Listen.”
Both Sunstreak and Rainbow focused their ears, listening for any change.
“HELP! PLEASE! THEY’RE GOING TO KILL ME!”
“Got ya!” Sunstreak shouted before flying back towards the city.
“Sunny! Where are you going?” Rainbow shouted as she flew to catch up to Sunstreak.
“You heard that right?” Sunstreak asked, not slowing down.
“I didn’t hear anything different.” Rainbow Dash replied as she caught up to Sunstreak.
“How? It was practically screaming?” Sunstreak replied.
“Well what did it say?” Rainbow Dash asked rolling her eyes.
“They were begging for…”
“HELP!”
Sunstreak turned to the right, quickly flying up to a cloud and looking down on an alleyway.
Rainbow Dash flew up and joined Sunstreak. “Sunny? What are you-”
“Shh!” Sunstreak replied, pushing his hoof into Rainbow’s mouth. “Look.”
Rainbow Dash slapped Sunstreak’s hoof and looked to where Sunstreak was pointing. It was in a dead end alleyway, and there seemed to be a group of around ten ponies at one end, and they seemed to be getting closer to the other end, where…
“What?” Rainbow Dash said in surprise. “That…That’s a Changeling.”
“I noticed…” Sunstreak replied. Down in the alleyway, there was a small Changeling, which was frantically looking around the small alley, looking for some way to get away from the angry ponies. It was scratching at the walls, trying to get a grip, it kept sending out those messages. However, Sunstreak doubted that it understood what it was sending.
“HELP!”
The Changeling below made a small screech. It was afraid.
“I can’t just watch this…” Sunstreak said as he watched the group of Ponies walking closer to the Changeling. “I have to do something…”
“Well I’m all ears if you want to tell me.” Rainbow replied. “How are you going to go about this?”
“Every biological part of me is telling me to rush down there and start biting down on throats…” Sunstreak replied, much to Rainbow’s disgust. “But I can’t…” He began looking around the open sky for some kind of way to enter the crowd without it seeming like he was watching.
His eyes settled on a small black thundercloud. “I think I have an idea…”
“Um…Sunny you sure about this?” Rainbow asked as she stood on top of the thundercloud, looking down at Sunstreak.
“It’s the best thing I can come up with.” Sunstreak replied, he was busily calculating his trajectory so that he wouldn’t land on either the ponies or the Changeling. “If you have a better plan I would love to hear it.”
Rainbow just shrugged. “I hope you know what you are doing…”
“So do I Rainbow…” Sunstreak replied, turning his body down towards the ground. “Do it.”
Rainbow Dash looked unsure but flew above the cloud and dove down on it, slamming both her forelegs into the cloud, causing it to crackle with lightning that shot out and hit Sunstreak.
Sunstreak shot down towards the ground, forcing himself into a spinning collision course with the ground. When he was getting close he shouted. “LOOK OUT!”
Sunstreak corrected himself just before slamming into the ground so that he would skid to a stop in front of the group of ponies. His mane was sticking up and his wings seemed to be a bit singed.
“Stupid thunderclouds…” Sunstreak said as he looked at his wings, he tried not to look at the ponies in front of him. When he finally did, he turned to look at them with a small smile on his face. “Oh hi there. So what’s going on here?”
The largest of the group, and the one Sunstreak nearly rammed into, was a white unicorn with a sleeked back blue mane. “We are trying to rid Equestria of one of those abominations that attacked us.” He had a very pompous accent that probably only belonged to those who try too hard to be royalty.
“Abomination?” Sunstreak asked stupidly. “What are you-” The stallion in front of him pointed behind Sunstreak directly at the Changeling, in response, the Changeling ran and hid under a dumpster.
Sunstreak looked at the Changeling and gave it a small smile. “Well hello there.” He said to the Changeling. “What are you doing under there?”
“Who cares what it is doing?” The Stallion replied. “It could be trying to get us to lower our guard.”
Sunstreak’s smile vanished and he looked back at the Stallion. “You are kidding right?”
The stallion seemed confused by the question. “I beg your pardon?”
Sunstreak rolled his eyes. “Look at it.” He said. “It can’t do anything.”
“What makes you so sure?” A light purple mare replied.
“Because it’s scared.” Sunstreak pointed back at the cowering Changeling. “And I’m no expert on Changelings, but I’m fairly certain they are supposed to be bigger than that.” A small whisper sounded through the small crowd of ponies.
“We know nothing about them.” A second stallion replied. “For all we know it could be-”
“For all YOU know?” Sunstreak replied with a raised eyebrow. “What is your job?”
“Banker.”
“And… Now please…Mr. Banker. Tell me, what do you know about Changelings?”
“Well they uh…”
“That is what I thought.” Sunstreak replied. “Now…I’m not going to act like I was here during the invasion, because I wasn’t, but what did they honestly do that would warrant this kind of behavior?”
“They attacked us!” The first Stallion replied. “Who gives a damn what their reasoning is?”
“I do.” Sunstreak replied with a friendly smile. “Now…because of our limited knowledge of Changelings, wouldn’t the proper thing be to turn it over to Celestia for study?”
A few of the ponies shook their head. “I mean… I’m not against a bit of the old revenge… but not on a foal.” Sunstreak flew up to stare the Stallion directly in the eye. “Never on a foal.” He growled.
Sunstreak landed again. “So I‘m going to make a deal with you...”
“What kind of deal?” The Stallion replied, his interest peaked.
“Let me talk to it.” Sunstreak replied. “If I can manage to talk it into coming out, I will bring it to Celestia personally, if I can’t then I’ll give you free reign over the situation.” Sunstreak held out his hoof. “Deal?”
The Stallion was going over the prospects in his head, but it didn’t seem like he was going to change his mind. “And just what makes you believe you can talk to it? It is nothing but a monster.”
Monster huh? Sunstreak chuckled slightly. “Ah…yes…Monster. Well…by that logic, the Minotaurs should be treated the same way. They are monsters are they not?”
“Do not twist my words Pegasus.” The Stallion replied lowering his head to stare at Sunstreak. “If you even are a Pegasus. For all I know you are just another Changeling.”
Pushing my luck here… “And for all I know…You could be a changeling… any of you could.”
The group began looking at one another in surprise.
“I’m not asking for much time Sir, I only wish a few moments to speak with it. So,” Sunstreak held his hoof out again. “Do we have a deal?”
The stallion thought it over again. Taking wayward glances behind him, and Sunstreak knew he had placed a small nugget of fear into him, that was all he needed… “Very well Pegasus.” He shook the hoof. “You have two minutes.”
Sunstreak nodded and walked over to the dumpster where the Changeling was cowering. He knelt down to be eye level with it. “Hello.”
The Changeling held its hooves in front of its face.
“Hey…can you look at me?” Sunstreak asked calmly. When the Changeling just shook its head and kept shivering Sunstreak looked at it. “I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”
The Changeling just sent out another signal for help, and being within close proximity to it made it much more painful. “Don’t worry. I’m here to help.” Sunstreak stuck one of his hooves out to the Changeling and channeled some of the emotions he had into it, hoping it would prove he wasn’t going to hurt the Changeling.
The small Changeling stopped shaking and looked up at the hoof, sniffing it curiously. It looked between Sunstreak, the hoof, and then to the crowd of angry ponies.
“Don’t worry about them.” Sunstreak replied. “They won’t hurt you so long as I’m here.” Sunstreak looked around him for a moment, before he transformed his left eye back to its normal state briefly. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
The Changeling kept looking at the angry ponies. “Focus on me… not on them.” The Changeling obliged, looking right at Sunstreak. “Come on out. I won’t hurt you…”
The Changeling was clearly very unsure about the decision, but after Sunstreak gave it a reassuring smile, it began to crawl out of its hiding spot.
“Well I’ll be damned…” The stallion said, looking at a golden pocket watch. “One minute and thirty eight seconds.” The watch vanished from thin air. “Well…I suppose I am a pony of my word.”
Sunstreak ducked down to let the Changeling climb onto his back. “Climb up.” Sunstreak was surprised when the Changeling actually did. “Sometimes the key to speaking with something different than you is to remain calm.” And then immediately freak out.
The Stallion sighed. “It goes against my better judgment, but I suppose you will be able to…”
The Changeling on his back was covered in a green flash, before Sunstreak looked back and found that the Changeling had taken the form of a smaller version of himself without the Cutie Mark. Sunstreak’s eye twitched slightly. He didn’t pick up the rest of the Stallion’s speech.
“Thanks…that’s great. Bye!” Sunstreak said quickly pushing himself off the ground.
“I’m impressed Sunny.” Rainbow Dash said laying on top of one of the buildings. “I wasn’t sure you were going to manage it.”
“Yeah…Um… This may be problematic…” Sunstreak replied, motioning at the filly on his back. “I… I think I need some help with this…”
Sunstreak looked at the small filly version of himself that was on his back, he was waiting outside the room’s window, the filly was sleeping, and Sunstreak didn’t want to answer questions.
Rainbow Dash pushed the window open and motioned for Sunstreak to come in, he handed the filly to Rainbow and flew himself into the building. He quickly closed the window and began to panic.
“No. No. This is bad…” Shade said, quickly shedding his disguise. “What was I thinking?”
Rainbow Dash was looking at the filly. “I’m not sure…but this Changeling looks like it could be your kid.”
“She.” Shade corrected. “She’s a girl.”
“How can you tell?” Rainbow Dash asked, placing the filly lightly on the couch so that she wouldn’t wake up. “She looked like a smaller version of you from up on that building.”
“I can just tell…” Shade replied. He wasn’t exactly sure about it himself, he just knew the Changeling was female. “Probably a Changeling thing…”
“Well listen…I’m gonna go get that help we need.” Rainbow Dash replied walking out of the door. “Make sure the little Sunny doesn’t cause any trouble.”
Shade waved back and then looked back at the filly. “What do I call you?” If their cover story was going to be that he had a daughter now, then she needed a name, but what?
“Hungry…”
“You’re hungry?” Shade asked, looking at the filly.
The Filly let out a small screech, while Shade didn’t understand what the filly was saying, it was clearly still young. Hopefully she’s a fast learner…
How do I feed her? Shade asked himself. He didn’t know anything about Changeling children; he didn’t even know anything about this Changeling.
“Hungry…” The filly said again, nuzzling up against Shade’s hoof. “Food?”
Shade looked down at the filly. Okay…so my instincts led me to her, so maybe they can tell me how to feed her. Shade looked at the foal, hoping that something would click inside his mind. Eventually Shade lowered his head so that his horn was within reach of the foal.
The foal looked at it, and changed back into its natural form, and grabbed onto the curved horn with her mouth. Shade felt himself get weaker, and a small headache was forming itself, as it became more pronounced, Shade pulled his horn away from the foal.
He wobbled slightly, managing to steady himself on the small table in the middle of the room. He had a bad headache and his vision was foggy, but he could at least see that the foal was happier, and it had transformed into the miniature Sunstreak and took her place back on the couch.
“Daddy!” She said happily looking at Shade.
“Hold up…” Shade replied, managing to focus his vision. “I’m not your… father.”
“Daddy!” The changeling repeated beginning to hop up and down.
Shade rolled his eyes. “I don’t have the energy to deal with this…” Shade touched his head with his hoof, it was still pounding. “I need to rest…”
“Daddy Sunstreak!” The filly said, quickly flapping her small wings, keeping herself hovering off the couch.
“Yeah. Yeah…” Shade replied. “I guess I can’t argue…” Shade wandered over to one of the side rooms. “Now don’t go causing any trouble missy.” Shade said to the filly, before collapsing onto one of the beds.
Queen Cytes had been looking over the two captured Changelings, each one suspended in their own containment chrysalis, when the female suddenly began to get nervous.
“And just what has gotten you so riled up?” Cytes asked, looking directly at the Changeling.
“You have to let me out!” She replied slamming her hooves against the side of the chrysalis. “Please! She’ll die if we don’t!”
“She?” Cytes repeated. “And who exactly is she?”
The Changeling clearly wasn’t going to give up the information, but it just tried to break the chrysalis even more, she slammed her front hooves against the side, trying to smash it. “Please! She’s just a Nymph! You can’t just let her die!”
“A Nymph?” Cytes repeated. “What…Why?”
“She was hatched here, little over a few years ago. Please! You have to help her!” The Changeling inside the Chrysalis looked over at her counterpart. “Tell her!”
The other Changeling turned away, as if he was embarrassed. “She’s right… You have to help her. She had nothing to do with the Invasion.”
Cytes eyed the two of them for a moment, before adjusting her glasses. “And where, per say, would we find her?”
“She’s in an alleyway!” The Female replied. “Please! She’s crying for help! They’ll kill her!”
“Captain!” Cytes called to outside the room, one of her own blue eyed changelings walked in and bowed. “A Nymph is in danger. I want a team of caretakers on it now. I want to be informed about any developments they make. Understood?”
“Of course my Queen.” The Captain walked out of the room and began giving orders to the few unassigned Changelings.
“Now then…” Cytes replied, turning to look at the two changelings. “Why was a Nymph in Canterlot?”
“What do you think the problem is?” Twilight asked Pinkie as they reached the floor where the apartment was.
“Maybe they found something… Maybe Sunny is in danger! Oo! Maybe they found Meadow!”
“Perhaps…” Twilight replied. “But wouldn’t Sunstreak want to give Meadow back to Candlelight as soon as he found her?”
Pinkie gasped. “You’re right Twilight! If Dashie had to get Candie, it can’t be good!”
“Now it may not be good, but there is nothing proving it was bad either.” Twilight replied as Pinkie was beginning to over exaggerate again. “Sunstreak probably just found something important that he didn’t want other ponies to see.”
They stopped in front of the apartment door as Twilight unlocked it. “Look I’m sure it is nothing. We’ll ask him about it when we…” She pushed open the door, and saw the small filly laying on the couch. “Or…it could be bad…”
“Oh Sunny.” Pinkie said rushing over to the filly. “What did those mean Changelings do to you?” Pinkie asked while giving the filly a light hug.
“Pony!” The small filly said enthusiastically. Hopping up and down on the couch.
“Sunstreak?” Twilight asked surprised. “I-What happened to you?”
“Ponies!” The filly replied continuing to jump up and down. “Friends!”
“It’s okay…” Twilight replied nervously. “I can fix this…” Twilight looked at the filly. “Sunstreak I need you to hold still.”
The instant her horn began to glow, the filly stopped hopping and bolted from the couch giving a small screech. It ran under Twilight and hid underneath the small table.
“Pony scary!” The filly said from under the table.
“I’m trying to help.” Twilight replied. “Just don’t…”
“What’s with all the yelling?”
Twilight and Pinkie turned around to see Shade walk out of one of the bedrooms, holding his hoof to his head.
“Shade…but…” Twilight looked back and forth between the filly and Shade. “What?”
“Where’s the filly?” Shade asked, looking around the room.
“Daddy!” The Filly rushed out from under the table and hid behind Shade.
“Daddy?” Both Pinkie and Twilight looked confused.
“Long story…” Shade replied, his horn beginning to glow. “Short version is I need some energy and I feel like I was just at a bar…” After a few seconds Shade shook his head and his horn stopped glowing. “Note to self…Shock and confusion taste like metal…”
“You’re a father?” Twilight asked still shocked.
“Again…long story.” He turned behind him. “It’s alright. They aren’t going to hurt you.” The little filly leaned out from behind one of Shade’s legs, saw Twilight, and hid again.
“How long has this been going on?” Twilight asked.
“Ummm… What time is it?”
“About 11:34.” Pinkie replied, pulling an alarm clock out of nowhere.
“Then about two hours.” Shade replied. “I’m still wrapping my head around it.”
“Purple scary.” The little filly said, poking her head out from behind Shade.
“She won’t hurt you. I promise.”
The filly stepped out from behind Shade. “Hi.”
“Oh you’re so adorable!” Pinkie said trying to give her a hug, but Shade stuck his hoof out to stop her. “What’s her name?”
“No idea.”
“How old is she?”
“No idea.”
“Who’s the mother?”
“Ditto mark.”
“Is there anything you do know?” Pinkie asked excitedly.
“She’s a changeling.” Shade replied. To which Twilight seemed to instantly take interest.
“A changeling?” Twilight replied. “How did you find her?”
“She was sending out a signal through the hive mind, shouting that she needed help. So I came flying, shot myself down with a thundercloud, and managed to get her away while keeping my own cover.”
“Why does she look like Sunstreak?” Pinkie asked.
“Well…I was the first one to show her compassion I guess… And the fact that she…”
“Daddy…Pink funny.”
“Yes she is.” Shade sighed. “So… Here is the biggest problem.” Shade dropped his hoof to let Pinkie hug the filly. “I don’t want her to be discovered.”
“But I have to tell Shining-”
“No!” Shade shouted, cutting her off. “Listen…Twilight…I’m running off instinct here. That’s how I found her, and I’m afraid what will happen if someone tries to take her. Hell, I had to stop myself from ripping some pompous stallion’s throat out. Please…just keep this one thing from them.”
“I…I don’t know…” Twilight replied. “I’ll…I’ll try to ask my brother about it.”
“I’m warning you Sparkle… I’ve already lost one of them…” Shade growled as he walked up to Twilight. “I promised her…”
Twilight sighed. “I-I’ll make it work…I’ll say it-it’s for uh…study…” Twilight replied. “I’m sure they’ll understand.”
“They better.” Shade growled.
“Hey! That’s pretty good.” Pinkie said from behind Shade, he turned to see Pinkie holding a smaller version of herself on top of her head.
“Dear god…” Sunstreak said looking at them. “There are two of them…”
“Pink Fun!” The filly replied bouncing just like Pinkie.
“Is it wrong that I am frightened?” Shade asked Twilight.
“No…I can understand.” Twilight replied as the smaller Pinkie jumped off Pinkie’s head and bounced over to Shade.
“Daddy! Daddy! Look!” The Filly said as she pulled a small party cannon out of nowhere.
“Dear god… It’s worse than I thought…” Shade said. “Now don’t imitate ponies unless they say it’s okay.”
“Did you come up with a name for her yet?” Pinkie asked, hopping up and down. “If not then can I help?”
The filly turned back into her Sunstreak form. “Sunstreak!”
“That’s my name.” Shade replied. “No I haven’t gotten a name yet… Though given that she refers to me as her father for some reason, may need to be something like…”
“Sun Ball. Sunstreak Junior! Oo! Oo! Sunny D!”
“Sunspot?” Shade asked the filly, to which she bounced up and down.
“Sunspot! Sunspot!” She said happily.
“Well that settles it then.” Shade replied ruffling her mane. “Until I find out your real name, it will be Sunspot.” He stopped for a moment. “Though we are going to have to modify your disguise a bit so you don’t look exactly like me.”
“Oo! Oo! I’ll ask Rarity!” Pinkie replied. “She’s coming back for a visit in two days!”
“Well…that’s… Convenient…” Shade replied as the door opened.
“Candlelight’s here!” Rainbow Dash said.
“Don’t bother filling me in, Rainbow explained everything.” Candlelight said, levitating her Saddlebags off. “So where is she?”
Sunspot had hid behind Shade as the door opened. “She’s right here.” Shade moved so that Candlelight could see her.
“Daddy…?” Sunspot said slightly afraid.
“It’s okay Sunspot.” Shade said calmly. “She’s a friend.”
“So this is the little Changeling?” Candlelight asked, looking at her. “How old would you say she is?”
Shade thought about it for a second. “Two…maybe three.”
“Alright…I can handle that.” Candlelight replied. “Come here Sunspot.” She said to the filly. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Sunspot slowly walked up to Candlelight. When she was close, Candlelight scooped her up in her forelegs and began rocking her softly.
At first Sunspot was surprised, and looked scared, but after a few seconds, she began to nod off into a steady sleep.
“Thanks for this Candlelight.” Shade whispered as he turned back into Sunstreak. “I’ve got work to do.”
“It’s no trouble.” Candlelight replied. “Anything I should know?”
“If she gets hungry, just let her feed on some of your emotions, lower your horn and pull it back when you start to get dizzy.” Sunstreak replied. “Come on Rainbow.”
The two pegasi left the room and headed for the roof.
“You’re really good at that.” Pinkie whispered.
“Lots of experience.” Candlelight replied with that Sunspot transformed into a near exact copy of Meadow Song. Causing Candlelight to tear up.
“So what are we looking for here?” Rainbow Dash asked as the two of them took off from the ground.
“I’m looking for any large concentration of Emotional energy, you are looking for any possible locations.” Shade replied.
“Well then let’s get going.” Rainbow Dash replied. “See anything?”
Shade transformed his left eye back to normal, if anything just to make it easier to spot any hotspots. “It looks like there’s a lot of activity in the park…but that may just be because it’s Sunday.” He looked up at the sky. “And it is a beautiful day.”
“So we check the park first.” Rainbow Dash replied, turning to face the direction Sunstreak indicated. “Race you there.”
“You’re on.”
A few hours later, and still very few leads…
“I’m starting to think this isn’t going to work.” Rainbow Dash replied, making another pass over the docks. “Have we even found a single…”
“Got something!” Sunstreak replied, slowing down. He had his left eye focused on a warehouse overlooking the large expanse of sky over the cliff. There was some kind of orange glow coming from the building.
The two of them landed outside the warehouse door. “You sure about this?” Rainbow asked as Sunstreak fixed his left eye.
“Glowing light orange building… Yes.” Sunstreak replied.
“What emotion is orange?”
“No idea...” Shade replied. “We’re about to find out.”
Sunstreak pushed open the door, and found himself face to face with an orange eyed Changeling that instantly uppercut him in his jaw.
“Sunny!” Rainbow said before three Changelings jumped on her. Pinning her to the ground. “Get off me!”
One of the changelings hissed at her.
“Hey!” Sunstreak shouted, getting the Changeling’s attention. “Get off her!”
“Love bug…” One of them hissed. It motioned towards Sunstreak with its head, and a few more Changelings rushed out and grabbed Sunstreak, pulling him into the warehouse along with Rainbow Dash.
“What’s the matter?” Sunstreak asked, struggling to get out of his captors’ hold. “Too afraid to finish me off?”
“Your time will come Moth.”
“Shade… But whatever.” He looked over towards Rainbow Dash. “So…Why bother capturing her?”
“Orders.” The Changeling replied, as they passed a group of orange cocoons that held a few Changelings in them.
They stopped at two empty cocoons. “You will remain here. Until our Queen speaks with you.”
“And what makes you think I’m going to just sit quietly?” Sunstreak replied.
“You won’t…” The Changeling replied as the other three pushed Sunstreak through the membrane of the cocoon, which almost instantly began to harden.
Shade turned around and tried to slam into the cocoon, but when he tried, he felt weak, and very tired. He closed his eyes, and just relaxed.
“What did you do to him?” Rainbow Dash demanded as she struggled against the Changelings holding her.
“He is alive.” The changeling replied. “For now…”
“You’re crazy if you think you’re going to put me in one of those cocoon!” Rainbow Dash began to fight harder.
“I’m not crazy.” The Changeling replied running it’s hoof across Rainbow’s neck. “But you must be to join with them.” It moved away from Rainbow. “Put her in.”
Queen Ovi was looking over her daughter, still in bad condition. Her stomach was cut open, but she was stable. She hadn’t left her side since she had personally paid the pathetic Nymph that did it back by nearly cracking his Carapace in two.
She was in her Unicorn disguise, so that none of the ponies would notice the Queen. Until one of her of her scouts walked into the room.
“Explain yourself.” Ovi ordered not looking away from her daughter. “Why are you here?” She had instructed that she not be disturbed when looking over her daughter. “This better be important.”
The earth pony bowed. “Apologies My Queen.” It replied. “We have captured a new Traitor. He was with a Pegasus.”
“Describe her.”
“She is Cyan, Rainbow colored mane.”
Ovi sighed. “Explain the capture.”
“They came to us, and had no chance to put up a fight.”
“I assume you placed them in cocoons.”
“Of course my Queen.”
Ovi sighed. “I wish to interrogate them myself. Prepare the Changeling first.”
The Earth pony bowed and walked out. Leaving Ovi alone with her daughter once more. “Carrie… I’m sorry…” She said to her daughter, before walking out of the room.
“Wake up Love Moth!”
“Ugh…” Shade replied. Being pulled out of the orange membrane, he noticed that his horn was coated in a similar orange membrane.
“Do not even attempt to use magic.” The large Changeling said leaning into Shade. “That slime will destroy your horn if you even try.”
“Noted…” Shade replied looking at the cocoon next to him, which currently held Rainbow Dash. “What’s going to happen to her?”
“She will be interrogated for everything she knows by our Queen, and then she will not remember any of this.” The Changeling replied, pulling Shade along on a magical leash. “But first, you have to answer for your Queen’s crimes.”
Shade was pulled along the length of the warehouse, which now that Shade looked at it, was in heavy disrepair. After around six minutes of being dragged along by this large Changeling, he was pulled into a side room, which appeared to be an interrogation room.
“Sit.” The Changeling demanded, practically throwing Shade into the room. “The Queen will speak with you shortly.”
As soon as the Changeling left, Shade sat down in the chair, and bashed his head into the table. “What the hell is wrong with me?” First I get Meadow captured by Changelings, and now I get Rainbow captured by them.
“Maybe I can get Celestia captured by them next? That would show me.” Shade slammed his head against the table again. “Or maybe I’ll just off myself and end the trouble…”
“I’d be more than happy to oblige.” Shade looked up to see a black unicorn mare with glowing orange eyes. “Now…Tell me what you know about Ceymi.”
Shade blinked for a moment. “Ovi?”
“Yes that’s my name. Now who are you?”
“Shade. I-I was there when… Carrie…”
Ovi slammed her hooves against the table. “Don’t you dare mention my daughter!”
Shade leaned back from the Unicorn. “I-I I meant nothing by it. You saved my life.”
Ovi looked at Shade. “Ah…Yes I remember you now.” She replied. “You were the failed conversion the assassin was after.” Her face turned to a frown. “Which means you are also the reason my daughter is on her death bed.”
Shade’s ears flattened against his head. “I’m sorry about that… If I could have prevented it, I would have.”
“So what were you doing coming near our outpost?” Ovi asked, looking at her hoof, which she held up as one would admire their fingernails.
“Me and Rainbow Dash were looking for any kind of Stockpile of emotion containment gems… Hoping to follow someone to the main hive.”
Ovi nodded. “And you found us… Understandable…we have been stockpiling emotions here for Cytes. We needed more emotions for those few Changelings that are in very poor condition.” Ovi sighed. “And those few we can’t help… We have to place under the Ponies’ surveillance. So we are having trouble…”
“I’m…sorry…about Carrie… Again…” Shade replied.
“Yes well…You tried…and you prevented me from killing our only lead…so I think I should thank you. Now what have you been up to?”
“Staying with some of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and I’m looking for Commander Spine so that I can get Meadow back. While I’m looking for some way to help fix the guard I drained during the invasion.”
“Ah…yes. I heard about that from Cytes. Acari should be able to handle it on her own.” Ovi replied. “Well…I know that you have absolutely no idea what is going on with Queen Ceymi, so…I will just…” She sniffed the air. “You smell like a Nymph. Why is that?”
“Uhh…” Shade chuckled nervously. “That’s…a bit complicated…”
Shade began to explain the situation to Ovi, as he got to explaining what happened in the apartment, her eyes widened.
“She believes you to be her father?” She asked, a smile creeping up her face.
“Yes… I’m having trouble with this…”
She stifled a laugh. “In that case…I think we can help each other.”
Shade raised his eyebrow. “How?”
“I have access to a Caretaker. You are able to find stockpiles of emotional energy.” Ovi leaned in. “Why don’t we help each other out?”
“You want me to tell you about any possible locations for you to harvest energy?” Shade asked.
“Yes.”
“And in return…you will help me take care of Sunspot?”
“Not directly, but yes.”
“Alright…but what will happen to Rainbow Dash?” Shade asked Ovi.
“She will be fine. But I cannot allow her to speak of this outpost, it could cause problems.”
“If you allow me to speak with her, I may be able to convince her.”
Ovi looked at Shade, as if trying to determine if she could trust him. “Very well… They are bringing her here now.” With that she pushed herself off the chair and walked towards the door. “I’ll contact Acari, and she will handle the rest. Now if there are no more distractions, I have to oversee my daughter.”
Shade was left alone in the room for a few minutes before Rainbow Dash was dropped into the room, still unconscious. As she hit the ground, she snapped to attention.
“What? Where am I?” She asked looking around.
“Interrogation room,” Shade replied. “We’re being let go.”
Rainbow Dash got up off the ground. “So then why are we here?”
“Because Queen Ovi wanted me to ensure you wouldn’t reveal their secret.”
Rainbow Dash looked shocked. “And why not? They attacked us!”
“Because they thought I was part of the Invasion…not entirely false but they thought I was loyal to Chrysalis.”
“Then why the Hay are we still here?” Rainbow Dash asked. “As long as you think they can be trusted, I’ll let you tell the others.” She looked up at Shade’s horn. “What is on your horn?”
“Goo.” Shade replied. “It stops me from using magic.”
“Okay…” Rainbow Dash replied. “So what did you and the Queen talk about?”
“Sit down…” Shade said. “This is going to be complicated.”
Queen Cytes walked up to the two Changeling prisoners they had. “Did you find her?” The Female asked. “Is she alright?”
“She is safe,” Cytes replied. “She was found by another Changeling.”
Her eyes widened. “Who? What Hive? Where did they take her?” She was panicking, worried for the Nymph.
“She was found by a member of your own hive, he has no allegiance to the Queen, and protected her.” Cytes replied. Watching as this did little to calm the Changeling’s nerves.
“Who? Where is she?”
“His name is Shade. He has been looking after her with the help of the pon-”
“He showed her to them!” The Changeling shouted, slamming against the chrysalis. “No! They’ll kill her!”
Cytes remained calm. “If they do, Shade will make them pay.” She took off her glasses. “She is being watched over by friends of the Changeling. We are sending word to get a Caretaker to come and assist him.”
“Then let me help!”
“I cannot. You are a criminal. I cannot trust you to keep your word.” Cytes placed her glasses back on. “Until you prove you can be trusted, you will remain here. Unless you can give me information on Ceymi.”
The Changeling began to tear up. “I don’t know anything! She contacted us in the night. Told us Chrysalis was dead, we had to help Bloodpool, or he would have killed us!” The Changeling looked right at Cytes. “Just…let me see her…”
Cytes looked the Changeling over quizzically. “I will attempt to arrange it.”
As Cytes turned to leave, she could hear the Changeling sobbing slightly.
Dear Shining Armor,
Today was…interesting to say the least. From what Shade and Rainbow told us, they did not manage to find any substantial stockpiles of any emotions, so that was a bust. However the biggest thing is surprising. Shade found a small Changeling foal, and saved it from a group of ponies attempting to harm it.
He assured me that the foal would not cause any trouble, and she seems to see Shade as her father, and Shade has told me that he will protect her. I know that this could be seen as a bad thing, but I plan to use it to study Changeling parental responses and how they care for them.
I will keep you informed on any new advancements we make. Please do not attempt to capture the foal, which has taken the name Sunspot, as Shade did say that he may not be able to control his instincts around her.
From,
Twilight Sparkle.
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6963491 Well.... I'll give you the full rundown so far
*Florishes paper*
There are so far 8 Queens that Reside within Equestria. Pupa (Warriors), Cytes (Medical), Acari (Just), Chrysalis, Ovi (Lust), Tettix (Musical), Eupha (Joyous) and High Queen of Equestria Apath.
Each of the separate lands (Griffon Kingdom, Badlands, Yakyakistan, etc) Have their own Hives and High Queens. SO far I have come up with one for the Griffon Kingdom Avaratia (Greed). There is also another Queen that I don't wish to tell you about because spoilers You will just have to wait until I get around to that one.
As for your offer. I'll try to see if I can fit it in somewhere. I like the idea of the Hives being each representative of the main facets of the race they feed on. (Greed for Griffons/ Pride for Minotaurs) But I will certainly see if I can manage it.... It certainly sounds like my style.
Also I'm glad you like it.
6963691 Your welcome! If you need more information about my hive Let me know ok? Also I have a changeling group based on my hive, If you want to join go ahead.
... *melts from the sheer cuteness of the nymph*
free rein (it is a horsemanship metaphor)
per se
6963691 with Ovi's name sounding like a shortened version of 'ovipositor' I'm not suprised.
6963691 I'm reading this story you made I like it but are you going to show what chapter ovi encounters blood pool or will she kill him I wonder what chapter it will be
This story get more complicaded by the day... Somehow at the end its probably easyer to solve the 'big bang' of the universe than this story plot... Discord must have the time of his life watching...
Amazing story