Epilogue
Firefly sat at the kitchen table on the second floor of the Sweet Roast Cafe. Across the room, her husband was preparing a couple cups of coffee. One caramel mocha and one iced Equestriano with a dash of cream. She watched as he packed the portafilter and set it in place.
As Fine Roast turned on the espresso machine, he looked back at her and smiled. She returned her own smile in kind. Such comfortable silence wasn’t unusual to them, but it was the first time they’d had it without her disguise.
Barely an hour ago, they’d been crying together. Him because he didn’t have to lose his wife. Her because it was the first time ever that she’d felt she had a husband and lover. No more lies, no more deceit, no more forcing a rift between Firefly and Sweet Leaf’s emotions.
She had played with fire and it burned her disguise away. Yet, rather than cast her out, he held her close and soothed her wounds.
Firefly still felt it had to be a dream.
Fine Roast finished pouring the cream into her cup and brought both to join her at the table. He set hers down and sat to her right. He blew on the liquid in his own and drew in a sip of mocha.
“So,” Roast started lamely, once he'd swallowed his mouthful.
“So,” she repeated.
He sighed. “Where do we go from here? Do we just continue on like nothing happened?”
“I… I don’t think that’s possible.” Firefly looked down at her cold drink. “Not entirely, anyway. I don’t know what’s going to happen over the next few weeks and months. I don’t know how bad it was for my hive. I haven’t heard anything from them.”
“Your hive…”
She took a deep breath. “Roast… I-I don’t want to abandon my hive. I won’t turn my back on them. They’re my, well, my family.” She closed her eyes, not wanting to see his response.
Firefly felt a hoof take hold of her own. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. Instead of anger and scorn, she felt his love and comfort. She couldn’t help but give a shaky smile.
“Firefly…” Roast said, “I would never ask you to leave them.”
“Thank you.” She smiled for a moment, but dropped it as she continued. “I don’t know what they’re going to ask me—to tell me to do. I don’t know what I’d do if they told me to… to bring you.”
He squeezed her hoof. “I trust you, and I trust us. We’re going to have to lean on each other. I don’t know what ponies are going to do either. All I know right now is you’re mine and I won’t let them take you from me.”
She squeezed his hoof back. “Right. I won’t let them take you either,” she said with determination.
Silence reigned for a moment as they both pulled their hooves back and drank from their cups.
“Firefly?”
“Hm?”
“What about Bobby Pin?”
Firefly furrowed her brow. She hadn’t thought of the timid changeling since the night before. “I… I don’t know. I honestly fear for her. She’s nearly brand new to all this. I don’t know how she’s going to make it.”
“What do you mean?” he asked as concern painted his face.
“When she came by, she asked if she could have some of my love. There wasn’t time and she left without any. Those ‘purple things,’ as you called them, are love crystals. The three in particular were my emergency rations, you could say, in case something went wrong.”
His lips pursed. “Is there anything we can do for her?”
Firefly couldn’t help the little grin that crossed her mouth. “Thank you for being you.” She felt the smile dissipate. “But no, likely not. If she was smart and did what I said, she’d have left town last night. The only thing we can really focus on right now is ourselves.”
He merely nodded and looked back at his cup.
She wasn’t sure what would happen from here. How would Equestria react to the failed invasion? What would the hive do? How would her crystals—
Her eyes went wide.
“What is it?” Roast asked, voice tinged with concern.
“My crystals,” she said quietly. “I… I can’t tell them.”
“What? What about your crystals? Is something wrong with them?”
“No.” She shook her head and looked him in the eyes. “No, my crystals are, well, special.”
Roast tilted his head in confusion.
“A while ago,” she continued, “over a year now, my queen fed on one of my crystals. It turns out my love is different from other changelings’. It’s really dense and is more ‘nutritious’, I guess you could say.”
“Why’s that? Do you, erm, collect differently than other changelings?”
She smiled at him. “I didn’t used to think so, until today that is.”
His eyebrows furrowed in further confusion as he looked at his coffee for answers. A moment passed and she answered for him.
“It’s you.”
He looked at her again.
She set a hoof on her own chest. “I mean, you love me. Changeling me, not my pony disguise.”
Recognition lit up in his face as he understood.
She rolled her eyes with a little smirk. “Yeah, don’t let all that pride go to your head.” She smiled at him for a moment longer before taking on a more serious expression.
“Since then, the queen’s been wanting to know why. Hay, I’ve been wanting to know why.” Firefly shook her head. “Now that I know…”
“You’re afraid to tell them,” Roast finished for her.
“I can’t tell them,” she said firmly. “I have no idea what they would do. I can’t imagine the queen would be at all happy with me for falling in love with my source.”
“Source…” her husband tasted the word.
“It’s what we call the pony we gather love from.”
“Ah,” he ah’d. “I take it what we have isn’t common?”
Firefly snorted. “Common? This is unprecedented. As far as I know, no pony has ever loved a changeling. And...I’m not really sure a changeling has ever truly loved a pony either.”
“Well, I guess we better keep it under wraps then.”
“For both our sakes.”
A comfortable silence fell between them again and Firefly. As long as the hive didn’t ask her to bring him in, it could work. She was already a skilled actor, she just had a different role to play. Though, this time it would be as a duet. She’d once fooled her love and now they would have to fool her hive too. No big deal.
Definitely no big deal.
“Hey.” Fine Roast set his hoof on hers and broke her out of her reverie. “Whatever happens we’ll face it, together. We’re going to be okay.”
“Yeah.” Firefly breathed deep. “Yeah, I think we will.”
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Well that was shorter than I was expecting. But great all the same. Guess I gotta follow you now.
sequelsequeqlsequelseque- *reads A/N* HECK YES
Ten outta ten.
9804912
For me, I've read enough to have a pretty decent understanding of how fiction works. I'll admit I have room for growth, but that just means I have to write more, like the sequel.
And you'll definitely see more of Bobby Pin.
9805332
That should explain not answering your buffer question. I'm glad you liked it all the way through though! I hope to deliver just as well, if not better, in the sequel.
9805565
Yes! Sequel! Soon™.
And I had a small bout of inspiration and deviousness when making that little snippit. I'll admit I'm rather proud of those three teeny words.
9805731
Fair enough. Then may I ask how much of a buffer you plan to have on the next story, per chapter? Like "I'm going to write X chapters before I post chapter 1, and I have a goal of X or Y chapters in the buffer as I go."
so nice. I want more!!!
9805773
To be completely honest, I'm not sure yet.
Because I have a rather demanding full time job and other life commitments, I may not have the luxury of having a buffer like Kris Overstreet or other daily release authors out there. The sequel will not be released daily like this one was, unfortunately. This fic was finished before release because I wanted to get the readers something they could fully sink their teeth into without having to wait long periods of time between chapters. The sequel will not be able to do this.
9805814
I'd be okay with weekly updates.
In the author's notes for The Maretian, Kris was always describing how ragged and spread-thin he was with all the other non-writing stuff he had to do, so don't sweat it.
And don't worry; I have a job too, so I know how it is.
9805856
I did.
Also, I was under the initial impression this took place in Canterlot, as well. It's a little bit more difficult to imagine what Hoofington looks like.
There's a mistake here. You used the character's name before he was introduced.
I've read loads of stories just like this, but they never seem to get old. This is yet another good one.
9805906
Whoops! Thanks for pointing that out and I'm glad you're enjoying the story.
Pretty good. Nothing ground-breaking, but solid execution.
If there's one thing I think this story is missing, it's a view of the day-to-day relationship between "Sweet Leaf" and Fine Roast before things get complicated. We get a brief glimpse, but it quickly gets overshadowed by the plot, which leaves their relationship almost as something to be taken for granted. Which I guess is just another way of saying I wanted more.
I love stories like this. Well done
Now for a sequel that gets them to the Season 6 finale and the trials they will need to face until that day.
Great story! Saw this fic purely by chance when it first popped up in the New Stories section, and I'm really glad I checked it out. I loved the characterizations of Sweet and Roast and the writing felt natural throughout.
9804912 I didn't notice the sign up date at first so I'll admit I was rather pleasantly surprised at how well written it was
Finished reading. Excellent stuff. You've done an excellent job showing the relationships Sweet Leaf built up and the divided loyalties that left her with. Good work evoking the tension amongst the infiltrators leading up to the invasion, as well as the flurry of fear and paranoia that followed it.
Finally finished this. Good job on this story! I usually don't like OC-based stories, but you did well making me care about the characters. I notice a hint of Mistborn with the discussion of how emotion sensing and manipulation is something everyone does in some sense.
Azure Notion hasn't shared it on this site yet, so I guess I will. I commissioned artwork of Sweet Leaf and Fine Roast:
https://derpibooru.org/2145437
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/9/16/2145437.png
Maybe he'll make a blog post about it.
Finally some good fuckin changeling fics.
Seriously, I havn't read something this good with this much properly thought-out headcanon and lore since Phoenix_Dragon, please keep up the amazing work, I loved almost everything about it and it's good to have something that doesn't take the "all changelings steal love because they're evil" route for once.
Loved it, keep up the amazing work, now I have to follow you for the sequel!
Charming... mostly.
Well, I'm glad I decided to follow up on this after seeing it on EQD. :)
I absolutely love this and I cannot wait for more! Bring on that sequel!!
It's a great story that basically ends on a cliffhanger but still has a satisfying end.
BUT WHY DOES HE TAKE SO LONG IN THE SHOWER HMMMMM. KELPIE?!?!
I just realized that this is the first story you have published here on fimfiction. You have certainly hit the ground running with this tale here. It's an interesting idea that the love a changeling gathers will somehow be more nourishing and tasty if the pony truly loves the changeling himself or herself, rather than simply the disguised form that pony sees. You'd think that would be something Queen Chrysalis would be able to embrace but if the past is anything to go by, she would not handle this news well at all and that could spell trouble for Firefly and Roast. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and look forward to the sequel (now that I know there is one in the works based on the comments).
9801765
What does FNG stand for? Nothing is coming to mind when I try to interpret that.
Best way to help them is probably to keep making these overcharged little love crystals
Heck, just the fact that any disruption of their life will put a permanent end to those might be enough for the hive to leave them to their affairs.
Oh, Bobby Pin is screwed. Too bad.
Wait, she hadn't figured that out yet? Wow
I think she should tell them. It'd be hilarious to see the ensuing social revolution among changelings.
Okay, this got a chuckle out of me.
That was very nice. A somewhat predictable pattern, though honestly, wouldn't want it any other way.
Looking forward to the sequel!
10021804
If you reply in a different chapter than the one the comment was posted in, people don't get notifications. And the fic's main page dumps your comment on the last published chapter.
I think Arkon was referring to Bobby Pin's derp at the end of chapter 4, and designating the poor inexperienced infiltrator as a "F*ing New Guy".
10070471
Thanks a ton for all the comments. I'm still happy that people find it to be an enjoyable little trip.
I never intended it to be very subtle. The end was always in sight, at least a little bit, and I wanted the journey to be what mattered.
Thanks also for the little grammar finds. With five people looking it over, even a smaller story like this will still have problems. But...
I swear I found this three times and I swear I fixed it three times! I probably accidentally reintroduced it when getting the story prepped for EqD. Regardless, thanks for re-finding it for me!
And I am still working on the sequel and it will be significantly longer than this. But life has a way of getting unhappy at you for existing and spontaneously decides you need to pay more dues. Regardless, it is still in development and I have zero intention of not finishing it.
10070674
And a nice journey it was. This story caught my eye because I wrote a story which goes a bit similarly, only it's the changeling who's the one intent on saving the relationship. He has a pretty odd queen, though, one who never ingrained such a rigid "for the hive" mindset into her subjects
Heh. I gave up on that place a long time ago. I dunno if they loosened up on accepting fics over the past five years, but... they rejected a fic that's since been consistently in the top 10 of highest rated changeling fics on the site here. So yea, at the time I got that rejection, they seemed a tad out of touch with reality, to me
Alas. I'm all too familiar with that. I'm just glad to occasionally find the time to read stuff, these days. Good luck on the sequel
10070475
You know, that's the first time anyone's mentioned this; that was a helpful tidbit. Thanks for that and explaining what FNG was.
10071462
You're welcome. it's especially hard for authors to figure this out, since they get notifications for all comments posted on their stories anyway, so they don't notice if they're missing the specific reply notifications
So yea. If you're browsing a fic's main page and decide to respond on a comment, and that comment is not on the last published chapter, just click the chapter link in the comment's header, and then reply to it from there.
What I find dumb is that they could eliminate most of this bug just by just making the message links in the notifications section go straight to the message in its chapter, rather than on the fic's main page
Awesome story! and hey, it's me fro deviantart :) told ya i'd give it a read and I loved it! can't wait for that sequel you're planning!
10235010
Hey! Welcome to Fimfiction! Nice to see you again.
Thanks for the read and the comment. I'm really excited to get the sequel out here soon. I've spent a long while preparing it and I hope you and all the other readers enjoy it.
Thanks again for dropping by!
10235036
just finished reading it, looking forward to the sequel
Definitely looking forward to the sequel!
The high-level concept of the story sounds simple (enough so that I'm surprised I haven't read such a story before). Still it's never a cliche romance or spy story, despite having elements of both. And it's really well executed. After every chapter I needed to know more, without breaks. I haven't been this excited about a new story and author in a long time!
I especially liked the group of 'lings with their very different personalities. So I'm excited to see that the sequel expands on that.
10241395
10259418
10306568
Sequel was posted, by the way. In case you missed it.
This is a beautiful little story
We need more great stories like these.
Very well done
The Monk
“maybe one day she’d get someone willing to pay hundreds for an apology gift for her. Hopefully it would just be an apology for forgetting an anniversary and not one for assaulting a member of a dinner party. Amethyst didn’t want that much excitement in her life.” -Dropbear
10359848
What is that a quote from? Another story?
10392505
Yep, all the quotes I use are from Authors and stories on this site.
The Monk
“On her doorstep was Twilight Sparkle. While Derpy deeply respected the mare, like most in Ponyville, they wished she'd either switch to decaf, or start hitting the harder stuff.” -Dan_s Comments
10392514
How do you pick a quote? And do you force yourself to put a quote at the end of every single comment you make, ever?
(Edit: Answered in PMs.)
Would love to see a sequel set after To Where and Back Again. Just to see Firefly and Fine Roast's reactions. Would Firefly reform and "come out". Also no one has ever covered the Changelings returning the kidnapped ponies, something I expect was high on the list of "Things to do now that we aren't evil anymore"
Ah, yes, let's not tell her people about a discovery that could revolutionise the way they live and feed, possibly solving most of their problems.
I'm a sucker for post-wedding 'ling stories. This is no exception. Well done.
I really liked this story and I'm very glad you're working on a sequel!
10533803
Thank you and I'm glad you enjoyed the story! The first six chapters of the sequel, Unending Love have already been posted over here: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/470828/unending-love
Though I imagine you already knew that. Regardless, I very much appreciate the comment and I hope I can continue to provide you with more enjoyable content.
10534766
No I didn't know, so thank you for the link!
If the main OCs in this story were voiced, what would they sound like?
10742075
The answer to this can be found here:
Sweet Leaf/Firefly
Fine Roast
Bobby Pin/Spindle
The adaptation is still in progress, so the casted auditions will have to do for now.
"yes!! most enjoyable!" *smashes tankard on floor* "i demand another!" *clicks link to sequel*
Hey, Azure. Was wondering how the audiobook was coming. I have to say you got me interested in it.
10743366
Hey there! The adaptation is coming along pretty well. We finished recording all lines from the VAs a little bit ago and Dogman is now in the process of editing everything together. The last step (simplifying it a bit) will be to have the artists draw their still images to go with the finished audio recording and add it all together. I don't have a time frame at this point as this is a side project for Dogman and his time spent working on it has to contend with his job. In my opinion, the finished product is going to be pretty amazing. The VAs are absolutely wonderful and did a great job with their lines.
Thank you for your interest! It's great to know people are still looking forward to it. I will definitely be letting everyone know once the project is near completion.