Lone Wolf: A Halfling Side Story

by Dee Pad

Part 6 - Relative

"Crimson."

"What?"

"You're supposed to be helping me."

Guise lifted his head from the couch cushions, casting a lethargic stare at Sweetmint as she glared back from the kitchen. The kitchen was looking spic and span, with immaculately polished counter tops and appliances, and any used or half-used containers and dishes either cleaned and put away, or tossed in the trash. It was unusual to see the apartment looking so clean.

Conversely, the living room was still a mess. The coffee table was still occupied with empty noodle bowls and Sweetmint's beer bottles, Persimmon's toys were littered around the floor, and even the couch upon which Guise lay was full of the cat's shed fur and dander. Sweetmint had tasked Guise with cleaning the living room while she focused on the kitchen, but he'd yet to lift a hoof to help.

Guise and Sweetmint were pretty used to lounging in their own filth—even more so for the latter given she'd been living there for three years longer than him—but he never considered the mess an issue. Now, suddenly, Sweetmint was insisting they clean the place up. Based on the state he'd seen the place in on his first visit—not to mention the odor—Guise would have figured the place hadn't been cleaned since she first moved in. It wasn't like he cared; anything was better than sleeping on a cold, jagged, stone floor. But why bother in the first place? It wasn't like they had visitors regularly, and even the one guest they'd had since he started living there didn't seem to mind the mess, and she was a princess.

"I asked you to help, so I expect you to chip in," Sweetmint scolded the lazy changeling.

Guise laboriously rose from the couch with a reluctant groan. He figured if he was going to do menial chores, he may as well get a reason why. "Why are we doing this? What's the point?"

"Look, I'm not exactly a big fan of cleaning up either, but we can't just let this place become a pig sty. I can only imagine the fit Mr. Hide would have if he ever found mold growing in this place."

Guise narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he gathered up the empty noodle cups. "Really? The landlord is the only reason you're cleaning this place up? I've been living here with you for a month, and you've never showed any concern about cleanliness."

Sweetmint rolled her eyes. She appeared annoyed by his continued complaints, but the sigh she let out sounded like she was surrendering. "Alright, I was gonna surprise you when I got back home from work, but if you're gonna be a big baby about it, I might as well tell you now. My sister's coming for a visit today."

Guise raised an eyebrow. "Sister? You never mentioned you had a sister."

"Well, let's be real, we've been dating for a while and neither one of us have really talked much about our lives before we came to Canterlot. I just mentioned my plan to open an ice cream shop, and you only talked about that asshole you knew growing up. Honestly, I've gotten the impression that neither of us really like talking about the past."

He couldn't argue with that, but his reasons for that were a little different than hers.

Sweetmint finally gave him a smile. "But, if there's anything about my life back in Manehattan that I look back at fondly, it's my relationship with my sister. For as much as my temper has gotten me in trouble, she's been there just as many times to bail me out. Plus, she's the only person I've known before I met you who was capable of dealing with my shit. So you can imagine I've been looking forward to introducing you two to each other."

Guise tilted his head in thought. Putting it like that, he was actually kind of interested in meeting her now. But that still didn't answer his question. "So you're willing to clean the apartment for your sister, but not a princess."

Sweetmint groaned loudly. "For fuck's sake, are you still gonna try and argue your way out of this? First of all, I didn't exactly have time to clean up when Princess Twilight visited, and I definitely will if she ever visits again. Second, if my sister comes here and sees the state this place is in, she'll be giving me shit about it the whole time. And not because she's a neat freak or anything, but just because she enjoys needling me about little things like that because she knows she's the one person I can never really get mad at."

Guise held up his hooves, gesturing for her to calm down. "Alright, I get it, geez."

"If you 'get it,' then why don't you actually help? I have to head to work soon, so you're going to have to finish cleaning up before I get home."

Guise grimaced at the notion. He wasn't fond of having to spend his coveted days off doing chores, but it wasn't like the apartment was very big, and Sweetmint had already cleaned the kitchen. He'd easily be able to tidy up the living room before she got off work at five. So, he gave her an indifferent shrug. "Fine, but there's still no reason to rush me."

Sweetmint grabbed her satchel and headed for the door. "Maybe, but if I get back and this place isn't spotless, somepony'll have to clean what's left of you off the walls. Capiche?"

He dismissively waved off the empty threat, though he could never keep a slight smile off his face when she tried to act like a hardass.

"And don't forget to change Persy's litter box. And try and get the cat hair out of the couch while you're at it."

"Alright, just go already!" Guise snapped, his annoyance with all these instructions reaching a boil.

She flashed him a condescending smile as she started stepping outside, clearly pleased with herself that she had somepony else to pawn her chores onto now. "Have a nice day, hun."

Guise sighed inwardly, but still managed a small grin toward her as she left. "Yeah, fuck you, too."

***** ***** *****

Living in Canterlot had its downsides for a changeling in hiding. Being within close proximity of the castle meant there was always risk of encountering royal guards, or even the princesses themselves. The average citizens of the city were mostly pompous socialites who walked around like they had sticks so far up their butts they were practically coming out of their mouths. Guise counted himself lucky that he'd found a pony like Sweetmint, not only due to her personality, but also because she lived further downtown, pretty much as far away from the castle as possible; the closer one got to the castle, the more stuck-up the people got.

But living in Canterlot came with its perks. One of the perks that Guise particularly enjoyed was the near-constant fair weather. He'd been living there for around a month and a half at this point, and there have been very few days that weren't bright and sunny. It was still summertime, but Guise assumed the weather ponies would schedule a few more rainy days, not that he was complaining. The sunny skies complemented one of the other aspects of Canterlot that he enjoyed—or rather, the area around Canterlot. From the lush meadows at the bottom of Canterlot Valley, to the surprisingly forested peaks of the mountain the city was built upon, there was no lack of pleasant scenery around Equestria's capitol.

Of course, for someone like Guise, the aesthetics weren't the important part. A quaint environment like that meant plenty of wildlife for a predator to sink their fangs into, which was exactly what Guise was doing now.

He had finished his chores at home, though whether or not the apartment's condition met Sweetmint's standards was yet to be seen. Either way, he did what was asked of him, and now he was enjoying a nice break and a reward. Well, he had yet to actually catch his reward, but Guise figured it wouldn't take long. In actuality, it had taken him a lot longer to clean the apartment than he assumed, though he'd never admit that to Sweetmint. It probably didn't help that he took liberal breaks throughout the day, both to get away from the monotony of his chores and to take a bit of time to brush up on his reading.

All of that meant that he didn't exactly have a lot of time for hunting. Normally, Guise would choose a locale further away from the city to find prey, but today, he was actually just on the outskirts of the city. He made sure to pick a spot away from any residential area where there would be more people, but that didn't mean he didn't have to be careful. He was currently searching a thicket near the face of the mountain, populated by enough trees to provide cover from both ponies in the city and the prey which he was stalking.

The problem was, he was within sight of Canterlot Castle. Thankfully, the castle's high walls prevented anypony on ground level from being able to see him, and he doubted that there were many guards—if any—stationed within the towering spires. Even if they were, he was still far enough away that he was confident that nopony would be able to identify him as a changeling from this distance, so as long as he kept within the treeline, he should have enough cover to go undetected.

Guise stealthily weaved his way between trees and bushes, keeping a vigilant eye out for potential prey. As he approached the edge of the thicket—within view of Canterlot Castle—he caught sight of a rabbit munching on some wild vegetables. Distracted animals made for easy targets. Guise managed to get within ten feet of the rabbit without being seen or heard. It would be child's play to simply grab it with his magic and snap its neck, but it had actually been over a week since he'd gotten a chance to go hunting. The occasional spoonful of manufactured cat food could only do so much to placate his desires. He wanted not only to taste fresh meat and blood upon his tongue, but to earn it. He wanted to let his primal instincts take over and pounce upon his prey as though he himself were a wild animal on the prowl. To that end, Guise inched closer to the foraging rabbit. Now concealed behind a bush less than five feet from the small mammal, Guise crouched down, licked his lips, and prepared to lunge.

A subtle cracking sound broke the silence in the otherwise peaceful thicket. The rabbit suddenly lifted its head, now alerted to another creature's presence. The odd part was, it was not Guise that had made that sound. He had a look around himself, but could see nothing else that could have made that noise. However, the sound had done a good job of distracting him, for when he turned his sights back to his prey, the rabbit was already making a break for it. Guise took a few steps out of his hiding place, but didn't go any further since the rabbit was heading toward the castle walls; it'd be too risky to pursue it any further. With a grumble, Guise gave up. He'd have to head back into the trees to find something else to hunt.

A second cracking noise caught Guise's attention, louder than before. Again, he looked around, but saw nothing. Then, there was another sound; a voice.

"Shit..."

A loud snap could be heard from above, followed by the rustling of leaves and more snaps and cracks. But before Guise could look up to assess what it was, his sight was instead directed to the ground when something landed near him with a loud thud and a pained grunt.

It was a pony; a unicorn mare with a light beige coat and a mane striped with brown and white done up in a small beehive—though currently looking more than a little messy and decorated with leaves and twigs. Her cutie mark depicted a microphone with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of it, and she was also wearing a black blazer and white undershirt. A black satchel fell to the ground beside her, and she was even wearing a pair of binoculars around her neck, though one of the lens appeared to have cracked from the fall.

Guise should have followed the rabbit's example and bolted, but he was far too dumbstruck by the sight of a pony suddenly falling out of a tree. He just stood there, gawking at this mare as she recovered from her spill.

The unicorn inhaled a sharp breath through her teeth, rubbing her chest. "Ugh, that's gonna leave a bruise." She lifted her binoculars, grimacing at the cracked lens. "Damn it, I just bought these. Wonder if they'll give me my money back if I can convince them it was faulty..."

The mare stood up, stretching her back to work out any kinks from her tumble. And it was only now, as she rolled her neck to assess any potential pain, that she realized she wasn't alone. From the corner of her eye, she spotted another individual standing not far away, and he was just staring back, his mouth agape just as much as hers was now.

"Whoa. A changeling."

Guise took a step back, as though his body were trying to get him to leave now before it was too late. However, there was a morbid curiosity stirring within him that kept him where he was. The mare's reaction was surprisingly lax for somepony who just discovered a changeling skulking around near Canterlot, and she made no effort to flee. If anything, there was an equal amount of curiosity in her maroon eyes as she turned fully toward him.

"Hello."

Guise blinked, unsure of exactly what was happening right now. He was so dumbfounded by this mare's response to seeing a changeling that he replied without thinking. "Uh... Hi."

The mare picked up her satchel, slinging it over her shoulder, then began fishing through it until she produced a pad of paper and a pencil with her dull red magic. "So, what brings a changeling to Canterlot?"

Guise raised an eyebrow, puzzled and suspicious by her continued lack of concern with her situation. "Excuse me?"

"Well, it just strikes me as a little ballsy for a strange changeling to be hanging around Equestria's capitol so casually," she said, idly twirling her pencil in the air. "Does anypony know you're here?"

Guise was utterly flabbergasted by the unicorn's gumption. To stare a creature like a changeling directly in the face and act so nonchalant about it was just reckless. Who exactly was this mare? Whoever she was, she'd asked a question. At this point, booking it out of there would only raise suspicion and likely prompt her to inform the princesses of his presence. Since he'd been discovered anyway, Guise decided it may be best to play along with this impromptu interview in hopes of getting this mare to keep her mouth shut. But he had to pick the right answers to her questions; whatever seemed least threatening.

"Uh... Yes?" Guise answered, hoping that pretending as though his presence was already known would prevent her from making a big deal of this.

However, she responded to that reply with a doubtful raise of her eyebrow, though she looked oddly intrigued. "Alright, gonna take that as a 'no,' then." She jotted something down on her notepad.

Guise was already growing tired of whatever this was, so he figured he'd get to the meat of the issue. "Okay, what are you doing?"

"I'm just asking a few questions," she stated matter-of-factly.

"You're not... scared or anything?" he inquired.

"I'm reserving judgment until I get all the facts. And your first response wasn't exactly encouraging, just to let you know."

"You realize you're not exactly in a position of power here, right?" Guise told her, his fangs glinting in the sunlight.

She wasn't fazed at all by his threat, raising her notepad and waving it lightly in the air. "Am I not? Your less-than-convincing answer just now tells me that you're here in secret, so all I have to do is tell the princesses about you and you're done."

Guise glowered at her, crouching slightly to present the threat. "You think I couldn't just kill you before you got the chance?"

She pointed her pencil at him defiantly. "If you wanted to kill me, you'd have done it by now. You basically laid all your cards on the table already by still being here."

Guise straightened up again, letting his muscles loosen up a bit. This mare was pretty brazen, he had to admit that. It was hard not to respect her courage. But the fact of the matter was that, despite what he'd claimed, she had a point: she had the upper hoof here. So how was he getting out of this?

"So, can I continue with my questionnaire?" she asked, tapping the eraser of her pencil rhythmically on her notepad.

As much as Guise despised being the underdog, he really had no choice but to indulge this mare. He just gave her a begrudging grunt.

"Do you have somepony you're siphoning love from?"

Guise hesitated to respond, but he could technically be honest with this one. "No."

The mare seemed surprised by that answer. "Really? Having trouble landing a nice mare? Or stallion? I don't want to assume."

The changeling grimaced slightly, admittedly a little insulted by her insinuation that he couldn't woo somepony. "For your information, I do have a girlfriend."

She nodded her head. "I see. Then she just doesn't love you yet, is that it?"

That one stung a little. Guise was still a bit sore about the fact that he'd been dating Sweetmint for over a month now—around the same amount of time that Shade had been dating that pegasus girl—but he'd yet to get anything from her.

"So, if or when she does, what do you plan to do with that power?" She turned her gaze toward Canterlot Castle. "Assault the castle and overthrow the princesses?"

Guise didn't visibly react to her presumption. It was a novel idea, if not a tad unoriginal, but his aspirations weren't quite that lofty. And it was at this point that he may be able to make an argument for himself to get this mare off his back. "Look, I know it might be hard to believe, but I didn't come here to cause trouble. I just wanted to get away from the Changeling Kingdom."

"Uh-huh..." She jotted down some more notes. "If that's the case, then why do so in hiding? There are friendly changelings just a town over. It probably wouldn't be too shocking to the people around here if there was one more."

"Because I don't need you ponies breathing down my neck. I don't intend to hurt anypony, I just want to live in peace without any prying eyes on me. Is that too much to ask?"

The mare stared into his blood red eyes, looking for any signs of insincerity. She simply shrugged. "Alright."

Guise blinked, unsure if he heard that correctly. "What? Wait, really? Just like that?"

"Well, I'd be a pretty big hypocrite if I distrusted you after what I just said. I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt in the name of peace between our peoples. Now it's on you to do your part and not make me regret it."

Guise let out a relieved sigh. It was entirely possible that this mare was outright lying to him, but he wasn't about to pass on an opportunity to keep his identity and presence under wraps. As much as he'd rather this whole thing hadn't happened to begin with, he was now going to have to trust this mare to keep her mouth shut.

The changeling gave her a somewhat smug grin. "Trust me, you won't even know I'm here."

She chuckled quietly. "Ah, you've got a sense of humor at least. I like that." She made a few more quick notes before replacing her pad and pencil in her satchel. "Anyway, guess I'll be off. As much as I'd like to chat more, I've got plans. I'd say, 'See you later,' but I probably won't if you can help it, right?"

Guise didn't say anything. He just watched as the mare waved and casually sauntered away, having no issues turning her back to a changeling. This had certainly been an interesting development. He'd been discovered, but she had claimed to be willing to trust him. But like he said, this was never about whether or not the ponies would trust him or not. Plus, at this point, he may have been in too deep. Being revealed now might only cause some trust issues as a result of hiding his identity for so long already, so it was better for everyone involved if he just remained under the radar.

***** ***** *****

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. With his chores complete and having filled his belly with some tasty meat from his hunting trip, Guise returned home to take a nap on the couch while he waited for Sweetmint to return from work. Persimmon seemed to have the same idea, the cat lounging with his legs extended on the back of the couch.

Guise wasn't entirely sure what time it was when he got back, nor did he bother checking, but he knew his hunting session had to be short, so he would guess it was pretty close to five at this point. But even with how little time he had, he didn't even get that much after what happened out there. He was still thinking about that, and it made falling asleep a little difficult. He wasn't too pleased with having to trust a strange pony with the knowledge of his presence, and it was likely going to be something that popped up in his mind every now and then. He was just going to have to try and push those thoughts from his head somehow.

The door to the apartment suddenly burst open. "Surprise, asshole!"

Guise jumped with a start, tumbling off the couch and onto the floor. Persimmon had a very similar reaction, bounding off in a panic toward the bedroom. The changeling looked up, struggling to regain his constitution in his state of half-sleep. Sweetmint was standing at the door with a triumphant grin, clearly satisfied by his reaction. "The hell was that for?" Guise complained, rubbing his eyes.

Sweetmint simply traipsed in, throwing her satchel onto the kitchen table as she scanned the living room. There was a look of pleasant surprise on her face. "Huh. Not gonna lie, I was kinda expecting this place to still be a mess."

"That's a weird way to say 'thank you,'" Guise deadpanned. "Nice to know you've got so much faith in me."

"Oh, don't act all butthurt, princess," Sweetmint chided with a dismissive wave. "Seriously, you need me to feed you compliments all day or something? Your 'fragile' ego need some stroking?"

Guise raised an eyebrow at her as he sat back down on the couch. "What's with you today? I'm used to seeing you come home a little pissed off, but now you just sound... Well, like kind of a bitch."

Sweetmint nodded with a quiet laugh, looking at him with a less smarmy, apologetic smile. "Sorry. I'm just trying to warm up for when my sister gets here. We're probably gonna be taking verbal jabs at each other all day, so I gotta keep my wits about me."

"Do you two get along well?"

"Yeah, we talked about it this morning, remember? My sister's practically my best friend. It's too bad she can't visit more often. I might get upset with some random nopony getting up in my business occasionally, but with her I know it's all in good fun."

"Hm. Guess I've never had anypony like that in my life."

Sweetmint trotted over to him, teasingly tousling his mane and eliciting a slight scowl from him. "Well, now you have me, so you better grow some thicker skin. And don't expect my sister to pull any punches just because she doesn't know you. She's pretty blunt, so just don't take anything she might say too personally."

Guise looked at the clock on the shelf as he fixed his mane. "When's she supposed to get into town anyway?"

"Oh, she's probably already here. She likes Canterlot, so she's probably off enjoying herself. She knows what time I get off work, so she'll probably show up any minute now. Honestly, I'm surprised she didn't drop in at Rocky's to say hi."

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Sweetmint smiled eagerly. "Ah, speak of the devil. She always was pretty punctual." She hurried over to the door to answer it, swinging it open with earnest and more enthusiasm than Guise usually saw from her.

However, Guise most assuredly did not share in her enthusiasm once he laid eyes on the mare beyond the threshold.

You've got to be kidding me.

It was her; the unicorn mare that dropped out of the tree while he was out hunting. The one person who knew there was a changeling in Canterlot, and she had to be Sweetmint's sister. Could his luck be any more rotten?

"Hey, Sis. Long time no see," Sweetmint greeted, giving her sister a welcoming hug.

"You waiting long?" the other unicorn asked.

"Nah. Literally just got home."

"Then you planning to use the bathroom right now, cuz I could use a shower."

Sweetmint was now noticing the mess her sister was in. Her mane was full of small twigs and leaves, and her clothes and coat were stained with sticky, yellow tree sap. "Sheesh, you look like you spent the night out in the woods. What the hell hap—" She let out a groan, running a hoof down her face. "For fuck's sake, you were spying on the princesses again, weren't you?"

"It's not 'spying,' it's 'investigative journalism,'" she corrected.

"It's an invasion of privacy is what it is. Seriously, how many times do you need to be caught snooping around the castle before you learn your lesson?"

"Hey, give me a little credit. I was at least a hundred feet from the wall this time."

Sweetmint just sighed and stepped aside. "Just go clean up."

Before her sister could even do that, she only now noticed the stallion sitting on the couch and staring at her with his mouth slightly agape. She eyed him up for a moment, looking confused, but intrigued. That expression looked familiar to Guise. Sweetmint observed as her sister analyzed the unfamiliar stallion, an unusually long silence having fallen over the apartment.

The mare appeared to be thinking something over, but after several tense seconds of scrutiny, she managed a smile, finally breaking the silence as she peered back at Sweetmint. "You, uh... didn't tell me you were having other company over." She shot a disapproving sneer at her sister. "Please don't tell me you're trying to set me up on a blind date."

Sweetmint scoffed at the assumption, stepping over to her sister's side. "Pfft, keep dreaming. I already called dibs on this one."

The beige mare's eyes widened slightly, giving Guise another once over. Guise could have sworn he saw a hint of amusement in her maroon eyes. "Really?"

"Yep. This is my boyfriend Crimson Neon. Crimson, this is my big sister Daily Scoop."

Sweetmint was giving Guise an expectant look, obviously waiting for him to stand up and greet her sister. He was understandably hesitant, but pensively got up from the couch to shake her hoof.

"Nice to meet you," Daily greeted with a friendly grin.

"Uh, yeah... You, too..." Guise greeted back with audible caution.

Daily cast Sweetmint a snide smirk. "You didn't mention you had a boyfriend in your letters."

The green mare rolled her eyes with a groan. "Because I didn't want to give you the chance to write a list of quips in advance. So if you wanna come up with any scathing remarks, you'll have to do so in the shower."

Daily flicked her hoof. "Oh, please, I'm not that catty. But we do seem to have a lot of catching up to do, so I'll make it quick," she declared as she dropped her black satchel on the coffee table and tossed her sullied clothes over the back of the couch before disappearing into the bathroom.

Sweetmint grimaced at the blazer and shirt transferring their filth onto her furniture. "You know, my couch is not a laundry basket," she called out, but her voice went unheard—or simply ignored—through the sound of running water.

Guise let out a discreet sigh. As unexpected as this was, it wasn't like Daily knew he was the changeling she'd met earlier. All he had to do was keep up appearances until she left and he'd be fine. Still, he wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that she was carrying around notes of his existence in her bag.

"So, what do you think?"

Guise tilted his head as he considered his answer to Sweetmint's question. "She seems... nice."

"You're allowed to be honest," she told him with a smirk. "Daily doesn't really care what people think of her. I mean, she is a journalist."

He'd already gotten that impression from her. She was staring down a changeling with not even an iota of fear just a couple of hours ago. Now that he knew that the sister he'd been told about was that same mare, everything Sweetmint had said about her was starting to sound pretty accurate. "I might need a little more time to get used to her."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Sweetmint chuckled as she headed toward the fridge.

After a few minutes, the sound of running water stopped. Daily came back out of the bathroom, her mane wrapped up in a towel. At the same time, Persimmon finally reemerged from the bedroom to investigate the third voice in the apartment. It didn't take long for Daily to notice him. "Hey, there, Persy. Glad to see your Aunt Daily?"

Persimmon sauntered down the hall, giving her a wide berth and turning his nose up at her as he made his way to the kitchen.

"Charming as always, I see," Daily deadpanned with a slight grimace.

"Catch."

Daily barely had to lift her head to snatch the beer bottle her sister had thrown to her with her dull red magic, popping the cap with a sharp fizz and taking an eager swig. "You know what goes good with beer? Ice cream."

"I see your tastes are as bizarre as ever," Sweetmint quipped as she pulled a plastic container out of the freezer. She removed the contents—a slice of neapolitan ice cream cake covered in rainbow sprinkles—and placed it on a plate, passing it and a fork to her sister.

Daily wasted no time taking a bite, savoring the mix of flavors with a satisfied moan. "Mmm, perfection, like always. So, any luck getting Rocky to let you serve stuff like this?"

Sweetmint rolled her eyes with a disdainful groan as she cracked a beer of her own. "What do you think? That guy's about as stubborn as a concrete wall. 'Keep it simple,' is what he always says. Jackass..."

Daily simply shrugged as though the response wasn't at all surprising. "Maybe I should write an article about the top ice cream parlors in Equestria. I could purposely exclude Rocky's Road to give him the kick in the flank he needs to step up his game. Or, alternatively, I could include him, and the extra business he gets as a result would force him to diversify his menu options."

"Don't waste your time. Like I said, he never listens. But speaking of Rocky's, I'm surprised you didn't stop in for a visit."

"I would have, but I got..."

Guise eyed her up. He had a feeling he knew why she didn't visit her sister at work, but how much would she actually reveal.

"...distracted."

Sweetmint gave her a skeptical look. "By what?"

Daily shrugged. "Nothing important."

Guise breathed an internal sigh of relief. Apparently his trust was not misplaced. If Daily was going to share the news of her encounter with a changeling with anypony, he'd have thought it'd be her sister. But it seemed she was a mare of her word and intended to keep that information to herself. Guise felt a little more comfortable knowing that.

Daily cast an interested look toward Guise as she took another bite of her ice cream cake. "Well, I think we've beaten around the bush long enough. I wanna know your story. Crimson, was it?"

Guise nodded. "Yeah."

Daily grabbed a chair from the kitchen table and brought it into the living room, sitting upon it and encouraging Guise to have a seat on the couch. Guise was a little reluctant considering how eager she looked, but sat down and was shortly joined by Sweetmint.

"So, where you from, Crimson?" Daily asked first.

"Fillydelphia," he answered plainly.

With her magic, Daily retrieved her notepad and pencil from her satchel and began jotting notes, earning a suspicious look from Guise.

Sweetmint rolled her eyes. "Don't mind her. It's just a habit of hers."

"I like to have references handy for things, events, or people that interest me. Don't think too much about it," Daily added. "Anyway, what reasons did you have for moving to Canterlot?"

"I just felt like I needed to get away from everything, start over somewhere else," Guise answered honestly. He had to answer honestly since that's the same reasoning he had given Sweetmint.

"I can understand that," Daily said with a nod, jotting more notes down. "Sometimes life hits you hard and you don't have the means to strike back. Mint was the same way." She smiled at the two of them. "Guess you two are like kindred spirits, huh?"

Sweetmint gagged at the comment. "Sheesh, don't give us that 'fate' and 'destiny' crap. Society's shit all ends up in the same sewer, so it just makes sense that we'd run into each other eventually."

"Not exactly a flattering analogy, but I'm with her," Guise agreed.

Daily shrugged. "Well, at least you two lovebirds are on the same page."

A slight blush tinted Sweetmint's cheeks. "Whoa, uh, let's not throw around the L-word all willy-nilly, alright?"

Daily looked between the two with a touch of surprise, her eyes lingering on Guise for a few extra seconds. "Oh, sorry. Thought you'd've reached that point by now quite frankly."

Guise was in that same boat, but as frustrating as it was, he knew trying to rush the issue would likely only make it more difficult in the long run.

Daily then gave the two of them a grin. "But you guys seem to get along pretty well. I mean, you're already living together."

"Yeah, but, admittedly, that was more for money reasons," Sweetmint said, scratching her neck.

"Still, it's nice to see my sister happy," said Daily with a fond smile. "Last time I was here, you couldn't stop going off on your coworkers, or your neighbors."

"And I still do, but I have him to vent to now, so you don't have to sit there and listen to me complain."

"It's not like I mind. What are sisters for?"

Guise glanced between the two, a question coming to mind that he figured he'd throw out there, if only to take the focus off himself for a bit. "What exactly is the age difference between you two anyway?"

Daily curled her lip in thought. "What, like, ten minutes?"

"Nine and a half, thank you very much," Sweetmint corrected insistently.

"You were the one who introduced me as your 'big' sister, Mint, and now your acting all indignant over thirty seconds?"

"I was being respectful."

"So, you guys are twins?" Guise inferred.

"Fraternal, but, yeah," Sweetmint confirmed.

"What about you, Crimson? Any siblings?" Daily inquired, readying her notes.

Guise just shook his head. "Nope. I didn't even have anypony I'd call a friend, let alone family."

Daily tapped her pencil against he notepad, humming with interest. "Hm, so, what, you grew up in the slums of Fillydelphia, fending for yourself?"

He just shrugged. "I guess you could put it like that."

The beige mare scribbled something down enthusiastically.

"You know this isn't an interview, right, Daily?" Sweetmint told her with a smirk and a roll of her eyes. "I get that you wanna know more about my new boyfriend, but I'm sure he'd like to get to know you a little better, too."

"I'm only here for a couple of days. You can tell him anything about me after I'm gone, but I won't get another chance for a while." Daily observed the bemused expression on her sister's face, and sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine. Ask away."

Suddenly Guise felt like he'd been put on the spot. He honestly didn't know what to ask. But this mare had dirt on him. She didn't know exactly to whom she was talking, but she still essentially had ammunition to use against him if she felt the need or desire. It would be in his best interest to learn a little more about this mare, just in case that information could become useful to him at some point.

"You said you were a journalist, right?" Guise started.

Daily lifted her head proudly. "Freelance, but yes."

"What's that like?"

She lolled her head back and forth as she thought about her answer. "Well, I get to travel a lot, but being freelance, that's at my own expense. That's why I lug a carriage around wherever I go instead of taking the train. Saves money on travel and accommodations while also keeping me in shape."

"Yet you keep coming back here hoping to get an interview with the princesses," Sweetmint teased.

Daily scowled with mock hurt. "I come here to see my little sister. I just try to meet the princesses while I'm at it."

"Even though you've already met them."

"I met them, yes, but I still didn't get my interview."

Guise cocked an eyebrow. "You've met the princesses?"

Instead of answering, Daily shot a look to her sister. "What, you never told him?"

Guise turned his own attention to Sweetmint. "Told me what?"

"She's actually become kind of a celebrity in the journalism biz recently," Sweetmint told him.

Guise looked between the two curiously. "And what does that mean exactly?"

Daily looked at Sweetmint, appearing insulted. "You really haven't told him anything about me, have you?"

"He didn't even know I had a sister until today."

Daily crossed her front legs with an exaggerated pout. "Guess I'm just not important enough to even mention."

"Oh, stuff it. Here, just look." Using her pink magic, Sweetmint hovered a newspaper from the shelf over to the couch to show Guise. It was the same newspaper with the article about Shade's wedding. "Daily was the one who wrote the article about the changeling wedding."

Guise's eyes widened, trying to restrain the incredulous gaze he was giving the beige unicorn. As if this mare couldn't possibly have any more reasons to concern him, now this comes up. "You were at the wedding?"

"Not just the wedding. I was hanging around Ponyville a while before that. Got a direct interview with Shade and Winter Maple. Even got to meet the princesses while I was there."

"Yeah, apparently she'd become too important to even bother paying her little sister a visit while she was in the area."

"Hey, I had to get that article to a publisher before those other vultures beat me to it."

"You see what her 'extravagant' lifestyle is doing to us?" Sweetmint said to Guise, the tone of hurt in her voice belied by the snide grin on her face. "She brushes shoulders with royalty and suddenly can't make time for me."

"Better than staying home reading those nerdy comic books of yours," Daily shot back with her own derisive smirk.

Sweetmint wasn't fazed by her attempt to insult her. In fact, she took it as an opportunity. "First of all, they're not comic books, their manga."

Daily waved off the correction with a scoff.

"Second, I'll have you know that Princess Twilight is a fan of manga, too. And not just one, but a whole bunch."

Her sister didn't even blink, staring back with doubt. "And how exactly do you know that?"

Sweetmint held a hoof to her chest and lifted her nose, speaking with the same haughty superiority as the people she despised in this city. "Because we played host to the princess just recently."

"Psh, you expect me to believe that Princess Twilight came to visit you? Yeah, right. Pull the other leg."

"She did. We actually spent a lot of time discussing Kohl the Sentinel. Crimson was here. Tell her, Crimson," Sweetmint instructed Guise.

Daily looked at him expectantly, but Guise just shrugged, having to suppress a slight grin of amusement. "I have no idea what she's talking about." He received an amused titter from Daily, as well as a firm slap upside the head from Sweetmint, though it didn't diminish his mirth. "But joking aside, she's telling the truth."

"We got a signed copy of her book," Sweetmint added, producing the book to show her sister the signature on the inside cover.

Daily didn't seem impressed, just grinning patronizingly. "That's cute. I read an early draft of the book when I met her."

Sweetmint grimaced at her. "It's not a competition."

"You brought up the princess visiting just to one-up me."

"Semantics," Sweetmint dismissed with a flick of her hoof.

Guise had to admit, now that he felt this mare was trustworthy enough to keep his presence to herself, he was actually enjoying her company. She was just as snarky as Sweetmint, and seeing the two of them exchanging verbal blows was kind of endearing.

But some questions lingered in Guise's mind, though he was reluctant to ask them. The topic had been brought up, so why not inquire?

"So, you covered the changeling wedding and interviewed them," he started. "I guess you got to know them pretty well, huh?"

"I've been pretty curious about that myself," added Sweetmint. "I haven't seen you in awhile, so I want to hear some of the details you left out of your articles."

"I didn't really leave anything out except the business with the kidnapping," Daily told them. "I was kinda sworn to secrecy on that. Seriously, it felt like the whole town was preparing to use me as a ritual sacrifice if I blabbed about it. But they've since publicized that whole deal now. I might actually head down to Ponyville after my visit here and see if they're willing to go into more detail about it."

"So? What are they like?" Sweetmint asked eagerly.

Daily simply lifted an eyebrow at the question. "What, you didn't talk about them with the princess when she was here?"

"Only briefly, but she's close friends with them. I'm sure you're not shy about your own personal opinions of them."

"I don't know what you're expecting," Daily started with a shrug. "They're perfectly nice people. Maybe a little defensive when you start asking questions they don't like, but they're basically normal members of that town. If it weren't for the fact that they were changelings, you wouldn't be able to tell 'em apart from everypony else. Shade's kid even looks exactly like a pony, but with bug wings."

Sweetmint grinned at the mention of it. "Right, the... What are they calling him?"

"Halfing," Daily answered. "You can only imagine how shocked I was to see that. I went there to ask about the wedding. I was not expecting to see a half-changeling baby when I got there."

"Was he cute?" Sweetmint asked with a giggle.

"The most adorable little amalgam I ever laid eyes on. So spunky and playful that you'd never guess he went through such a harrowing experience."

Guise saw this as an opportunity. She may have been friendly enough when they met earlier, but there was always the chance she had said those things to get herself out of a potentially dangerous situation. Now that Daily wasn't face to face with a changeling—at least as far as she knew—this seemed like a good time to see if she was being genuine.

"So the changelings in Ponyville are friendly and everything, but what about the rest of them?" Guise inquired.

Daily looked him in the eye curiously. "The 'rest of them'?"

Sweetmint placed a hoof gently on Guise's shoulder. "You sure you wanna open this can of worms again, Crimson?"

"What's this about, then?" asked the older sister.

Sweetmint sighed as she started. "Crimson is just concerned that they're not all good people."

Daily stared at the stallion inquisitively, remaining silent for a moment before answering. "I mean, the same could be said for any race or species. There are always gonna be good eggs and rotten eggs."

"But the changelings seem to be mostly rotten, don't you think?" Guise suggested.

Daily looked to her sister for a moment, observing the unsure expression on her face. She then looked back to Guise and shrugged. "Maybe, but doesn't that make the good ones all the more special? If a person is willing to abandon the only life they knew in pursuit of something better, then they must be worth a second chance. I mean, just look at you."

Guise flinched, his heart rate suddenly jumping up at her implication.

"You sound like you had a rough time of it in Fillydelphia, yet you seem perfectly happy here. I'd say you were a hypocrite if you turned them away."

The disguised changeling breathed an internal sigh, relieved, but a little annoyed at himself for being so skittish. In any case, he'd gotten an answer, and it was at least nice to know that her opinion was consistent. He smiled at Daily in response. "I never said I would, to be fair."

"It's also not like I wasn't fishing for anything suspicious when I was in Ponyville. It's important to get to know a person a little before you start making assumptions, too."

Guise was pretty satisfied by her answer. The more this conversation continued, the more relaxed he became. While there was no guarantee that she would keep her word in the future, this whole experience could at least give him a little peace of mind.

***** ***** *****

The first day of Daily's visit was spent entirely at Guise and Sweetmint's apartment, just shooting the breeze. Guise had gotten a pretty good read on the mare in that time. She and her sister were a lot alike; bold, laid back, not afraid to speak their minds. Daily had shown a tendency to get a little... personal with some of her questions, but Sweetmint was quick to reprimand her if she crossed any lines. Honestly, Guise almost wished she could stick around longer; having another person like Sweetmint around could help counteract all the idiocy and smarm that seemed to permeate this city. The only reason that was an "almost" was because of the knowledge she had. Regardless of how much he may or may not enjoy her company, or how trustworthy she seemed to be, she was still a threat to him as long as she knew there was a changeling around. She was likely to spend any extended amount of time in Canterlot trying to suss out which of the city's residents was the changeling in disguise, so the sooner she left, the safer Guise would feel.

But she was only around for one more day. Tomorrow morning, Daily would be taking her leave of Canterlot once again. supposedly heading down to Ponyville to visit Shade and Chamella, if their conversation the previous day was any indication. So Guise was actually kind of looking forward to hanging out with her a little more now that he was finished work for the day.

If nothing else, getting along with Daily might even help his relationship with Sweetmint. And that was a point that had stuck out to him more now after Daily had surmised his situation during their first meeting. Somehow, it was even more aggravating that he'd yet to earn Sweetmint's love now that somepony had caught onto that fact. It hurt his pride as a changeling more than anything, and he was determined to treat that blemish.

Guise stepped out of The Soup Spoon for the day, eager to put his work behind him. He was about to make his way straight to Rocky's Road to see if Sweetmint was ready to clock out as well, but was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Hey, Crimson."

It was Daily. She happened to be trotting down the street toward him with a grin on her face. Guise met her with a smile of his own—which surprised even him, if he were to be honest. "Hey. Good timing. I was just about to go meet up with Mint."

"Same." She glanced at the restaurant that he'd come out of. "So, this is where you work, huh? Food any good?"

Guise shrugged. "No clue. Never bothered to try it. I'm stuck in the dish pit all day, so it's not like I get to taste test the stuff. Little pricey for my tastes anyway. And knowing what the rest of the staff is like, I don't really want to spend anymore time in there than I have to. The chefs are always bickering, and the servers are all smiles until they come back to the kitchen and just gossip about all the customers behind their backs."

"Yeah, the public doesn't really see the behind-the-scenes crap in the food service industry. I've actually written a couple of articles on the subject in the past, but people seem to prefer turning a blind eye to that stuff because they don't want to think too much about where their food comes from or how it's prepared. I'm surprised a guy like you took a job like that, though I presume it was more out of necessity than desire."

"You got that right," he confirmed with a groan. "I don't like keeping my trap shut when the people around me are being insufferable morons, but I can't risk losing my job. I'm not just supporting myself anymore after all."

Daily grinned with a quiet chuckle. "It's a little weird to hear somepony saying that about my little sis."

Guise looked quizzically at her. "What's that mean?"

"You guys have been dating for, what, like, a month now?"

"Month and a half. What's your point?"

"You know that's longer than any of her past boyfriends?"

Guise was actually a little surprised to hear that. "She's never even mentioned past boyfriends."

"Not surprising, she's probably not proud of it. Maybe she doesn't want me mentioning this, but I'm sure you know about her anger issues by now."

"I'm well aware, yes."

"Well, not everypony is willing to put up with that. It doesn't help that her past relationships were with people who cared more about themselves than her. She'd never admit it, but she's a good looking mare. Could stand to do more with her mane, but that's besides the point. The point is, she's attracted the wrong kinds of people in the past."

Guise stayed quiet.

Daily smiled pleasantly. "But there's something different about you, Crimson. I know it's only been a month and a half, but it's nice to see her with a guy who's willing to stick around in spite of everything."

Obviously she didn't know of his intentions. If she knew who—or rather what—he was, she might see that he was no different than any of her past boyfriends. Nevertheless, the comment managed to elicit a small blush from him, hopefully obscured by his already red coat. "Yeah, well, it's like I told her when we first started dating: we're both fish out of water here, so we gotta have each other's backs."

Daily didn't make any further remarks on the matter, simply continuing to smile approvingly. "Well, hey, let's not keep her waiting. I wanna see if I can get some ice cream in me before they close up."

"Right. But, uh, you might wanna..." Guise pointed to Daily's styled mane. The mare plucked a stray leaf from her hair, grinning awkwardly with a slight blush. "Doing a little more 'investigative journalism'?"

"Don't tell Mint."

Guise chuckled. "My lips are sealed."

The pair made the short walk to Rocky's Road, practically across the street from The Soup Spoon. There wasn't much more going on inside than on any other day. The place was devoid of customers for the time being, and the establishment's three employees were doing what they usually did—which is to say, nothing, save for Sweetmint.

Speaking of whom, the green mare was looking a little annoyed with how little her coworkers were doing to help her out, but that was expected at this point. However, her face lit up when she saw both her boyfriend and her sister arrive. Unfortunately, she didn't manage to get a word in to greet them before Tapioca could.

"Heya, Crimson," she greeted in a sultry tone as she walked up to him, tossing her mane and batting her fake eyelashes.

Guise grimaced slightly in disgust, carefully stepping around her and trying to avoid eye contact. "Yeah, hi..." He made his way to the counter, but Tapioca followed closely behind him.

"Tapioca," Sweetmint addressed sternly, prompting the other mare to snap from her entranced stupor. "You're supposed to be cleaning up."

Tapioca rolled her eyes, returning to busing the tables. Guise couldn't help but notice the coy grin she cast over her shoulder as she walked away, purposely swaying her backside in a blatant attempt to be enticing. No chance in hell would he ever consider taking that bait, but Frosted Chips still cast an unintimidating glower in his direction, to which he responded with a more imposing scowl of his own.

"What are you looking at?"

Chips's glare immediately faltered, turning away and getting back to wiping down the tables.

Daily leaned on the transparent counter top, smirking slightly as she greeted her sister. "I see your coworkers are as eclectic as always."

"Don't even get me started. You've heard this song and dance before," Sweetmint grumbled.

"I don't mind rereading a good story."

"Yeah, well, I'd rather not go off about them when I'm about to head home."

"Think we could get a scoop before you clock out?" Daily asked, giving her little sister the puppy dog eyes.

Sweetmint couldn't very well say no to her sister, so she forced a smile. "What flavor?"

Daily perused the selection of colorful dairy treats underneath the counter. "Well, I'd be remiss if I didn't have a bowl of your mint cookie dough while I was here."

Sweetmint then turned to Guise. "What about you?"

"Same," he answered.

"Alright, take a seat. I'll have it ready in a minute," she informed them. Guise and Daily sat down at the table nearest the counter as she prepared their orders. She then placed the two bowls and a pair of spoons on the counter and waited, glaring in Tapioca's direction, who was too busy eyeing up Guise to actually do her job. "Tapioca."

The distracted mare lifted her head. "Hm?"

Sweetmint simply pointed to the two bowls, casting her coworker an irate glower.

"Oh, right." Tapioca trotted energetically over to the counter, picked up the two bowls, and delivered them to the only customers in the building. "Here you are. Enjoy."

Daily gave her a rather patronizing, "Thanks," before she began digging in. "Mmm... Damn, I've missed this stuff."

Tapioca eyed up the mare curiously; particularly her mane. "You know, your hair looks like ice cream," she commented, noting how her hair style and the white and brown stripes of her mane looked like a soft serve ice cream cone. Tapioca then turned to Sweetmint, staring at her hair. "And your hair looks like ice cream, too, Minty. You two look like you could be related."

Sweetmint gawked at her coworker with a vexed and dumbfounded expression. "You've met her before, Tapioca. She's my sister.

The other mare seemed genuinely surprised to hear that. "Huh? She is?"

"Yes," Sweetmint answered with growing annoyance.

Tapioca stared at Daily again, who gave her a casual smile and a wave. "Are you sure?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Sure that she's my sister? Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

Tapioca tilted her head, her scrunched eyebrows making it look like smoke was going to start billowing from her ears if she tried to think any harder. "I don't see it."

"You just said—" Sweetmint had to forcibly stop herself from shouting, instead running a hoof down her face in exasperation. "Just shut up already and get back to work..."

As Tapioca went back to cleaning tables, Daily took notice of the way Frosted Chips was staring at her—or rather, a specific part of her. She smiled mischievously, giving Guise a silent look and gesturing to the distracted stallion.

Daily leaned on the table, looking right at Chips. "Hey, Chips. I'm madly in love with you and want to have your babies."

She received no response. Chips just continued to stare at Tapioca.

As amused as she was, there was a hint of disappoint on Daily's face. "You know, teasing him is fun and all, but it kinda sucks some of the enjoyment out of it if he doesn't react at all.

"You just gotta be more forceful," Guise told her. He demonstrated by banging his hoof on the table, the loud noise causing Chips to jump with a start and look around as though he'd just snapped out of a trance. His eyes finally met Guise's, the disguised changeling shooting him a mock glower. "Hey! You just gonna ignore this nice girl?" he scolded, pointing to Daily.

Chips glanced at the beige mare. Daily stared back with half-lidded eyes and a seductive smile as she waved at him. Chips just blinked slowly as though the situation were alien to him, and turned his attention back to Tapioca.

Daily snickered at the whole thing. "Well, maybe not quite the reaction I was hoping for, but I'm entertained. And, honestly, a little insulted."

"Yeah, I'm sure you want him staring at you the way he stares at her," Guise said with a smirk.

"You don't know what I want," she replied jokingly. Daily spooned another mouthful of ice cream into her jaws, then stared with intrigue across the table. "Speaking of which, I've actually been wanting to ask a little more about you, Crimson."

Guise raised an eyebrow. "I feel like we talked pretty extensively yesterday."

"One evening is not enough time to get to really know a person. And you're my little sis's boyfriend. I need to make sure she found the right guy."

"Daily," Sweetmint addressed her tersely from behind the counter. "I don't need you curating my romantic interests."

"What? I'm just curious, that's all. I've got a lot of questions left. Come on, you know how I am. There's no detail too small to leave out."

Sweetmint rolled her eyes with a reluctant huff through her nostrils. "Fine. But keep your questioning out of the bedroom, alright?"

Daily waved the request off, and everypony chose to ignore the disappointed sigh from Tapioca. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway..." She turned back to Guise. "From what you told me, you had nopony to rely on back in Fillydelphia. No real friends, or family, or anypony worth putting your trust in. That about right?"

Guise shrugged. "Pretty much. When everypony around you is either just as self-serving as everypony else, or too stupid for their own good, you've gotta learn to look out for yourself. I mean, Canterlot's not any better apparently, but there was at least one person here who's worth spending time with."

Sweetmint smiled involuntarily at the remark.

Tapioca also grinned, holding a hoof to her chest. "Aww, that's sweet of you, Crimson."

"Not you, shut up," Guise corrected with a sidelong glare.

"Surely there had to be somepony back home that wasn't as bad as all that," Daily presumed.

"I mean, sure, there were people who were around more than others, but it's like I told you before, I wouldn't exactly consider them friends."

"Right, right." Daily absentmindedly jotted a few things down.

Tapioca leaned over to peer at the notepad. "Whatcha writing?"

Daily held the pad against her chest to hide it from the mare's prying eyes. "Just my personal musings. Nothing you need to concern yourself with."

Tapioca backed off with a pout.

Daily turned her attention back to Guise. "So, what were you hoping to get out of leaving Fillydelphia? Did you have a plan? A goal? You said something about 'starting over' yesterday."

Again, Guise shrugged in response. "Yeah, because when you're living a life as shitty as mine was, just leaving it all behind and starting anew with a clean plate seems like a viable option. I've got enough ingenuity and resourcefulness to figure things out."

"Hm. And your not shy about it either. I like that," Daily said with a smile of admiration as she wrote something down.

Guise grinned proudly. "It's like I told Mint on our first date: if you want something badly enough, you just have to take it. Don't concern yourself with what other people think. You might have to put up with a lot of crap sometimes, but if you're smart, determined, and a little ruthless, you can bend life to your will."

"Now that's a quote," Daily said with a chuckle, making sure to make note of that.

"He's something else, huh?" Sweetmint commented with a fond smile as she took off her apron and hairnet. She walked out from behind the counter to give her boyfriend a kiss. "You won't find any other guy in Canterlot like this one."

"Tell me about it," Tapioca agreed, practically swooning. Her reaction elicited an emasculated huff from Frosted Chips.

Daily observed the way her sister was staring at Guise and smiled fondly. "Not gonna lie, you two are definitely cute together. It's nice to see you like this, Mint."

Sweetmint gave her sister a puzzled look. "Like what?"

Daily waved dismissively. "Nothing, nevermind."

"Well, if you wanna continue interrogating my boyfriend, can you do so back at our place?" Sweetmint continued. "We were supposed to close up ten minutes ago, and I want to get out of here before anymore customers show up."

Daily and Guise finished the last of their ice cream, the former dropping some bits on the table to pay for them. She gave Guise a grateful smile. "For indulging me."

"Alright, Tapioca, Chips, finish cleaning up and lock up when you leave," Sweetmint instructed.

"Sure thing," said Tapioca as she waved goodbye. "Bye, Minty! Bye, Minty's sister!" Her gaze then became much more sultry. "Bye, Crimsy."

Sweetmint forcefully pushed her sister and boyfriend toward the door, Daily snickering the whole way. "Just go, hurry."

***** ***** *****

Daily Scoop took her final bite of her toast, licking the remaining crumbs and dabs of butter from her lips. Sweetmint and Guise did much the same as they finished off their breakfasts as well.

This was actually a little bittersweet. After another day of getting to hang out with Daily, Guise and Sweetmint were getting ready to say their farewells. Sweetmint expressed that she never liked saying goodbye whenever her sister left, as she was one of the few people in her life that didn't absolutely aggravate her. And after this whole experience, Guise felt the same way. Daily's blunt honesty, thick skin, and sharp wit were a breath of fresh air for him. He had finally found somepony else aside from Sweetmint who he could relate to a little, and even respect. It was just unfortunate that she couldn't stick around. As a freelance journalist, she was constantly on the move, looking for her next big story. But she was Sweetmint's sister; chances were, she'd be back eventually.

"Well, I'd better get going," Daily proclaimed as she got up from the kitchen table. "I've gotta walk my carriage down this damn mountain without letting it run me over."

"Is there really any rush?" Guise said as he leaned back in his chair. "Ponyville's not exactly far."

"Yeah, but it's just my first stop on my way back to Manehattan," said Daily as she slung her satchel over her shoulder. "I wanna get as much out of my daylight hours as I can."

Sweetmint walked over to give her sister an affectionate hug, a sight that Guise was pretty sure he'd never seen—even the hug they shared when Daily first arrived was quick and eager as opposed to emotional like this one. "I really wish you'd visit more often. I miss my big sis when she's not around."

Daily shrugged in an effort to look detached, but couldn't keep the fond smile off her face. "Yeah, well, you don't really need me around as much now, right?"

Sweetmint followed her gaze, her eyes meeting with Guise's. Both Sweetmint and Guise seemed a touch confused, but didn't say anything.

Daily cantered over to the door, encountering Persimmon as he walked away from his food dish. She attempted to run a hoof down the cat's back, but Persimmon ducked out of the way and kept walking, giving her a haughty flick of his tail. "I'll miss you, too, jackass..." Daily deadpanned sarcastically.

As Daily placed her hoof on the doorknob, she gave her sister one last smile. "I'll see you when I see you, Sis. Try not to destroy the city before I can visit again."

Sweetmint chuckled at the lighthearted barb. "No promises. See ya, Daily."

Daily opened the door, but paused. She looked back at her two hosts for a moment, her gaze fixated on Guise in particular. "Actually, before I go, I wanna talk to Crimson for a minute."

Guise pointed to himself, not quite sure if he understood. "Me?"

"Yeah. Can you join me for a bit?" Daily gestured for him to follow her outside.

Guise shared a confused look with Sweetmint, but she shrugged and nudged him along.

Daily and Guise stepped outside onto the second floor walkway of the apartment complex, walking a little ways toward the stairs and away from the door and window of Guise and Sweetmint's place. Daily glanced around, seemingly keeping an eye out for anypony else in the area, but they were alone.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Guise asked curiously.

With a sigh, Daily turned to Guise with a rather serious expression. "Look, I know I said I'd give you the benefit of the doubt, but I need to make sure my little sister's safe."

Guise blinked. Had he heard that correctly? "Wh-What do you mean by that?"

"You don't need to keep playing dumb. I know who—or rather, what—you are."

Guise tried to maintain his composure, discreetly glancing around to ensure they were alone. Had she really figured him out? Of course, he knew that she knew there was a changeling around, but as far as she knew, she could just be throwing out a wild accusation at an innocent pony. But the strange part was, if she was so sure she'd sussed him out, why hadn't she said anything, even to Sweetmint? "And what exactly do you think I am?" he asked, trying to play coy.

Daily smiled slightly, the question practically the same as a confession to her. "Come on, are you really going to fight me on this? No offense, but you didn't really do a great job of hiding it."

Guise grimaced, insulted. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

She chuckled. "I saw the look on your face when I first walked in. Some random stranger isn't going to react so shocked meeting a new person."

"But you wrote that article about the changeling wedding, right? Your sister even said you were a 'celebrity' in the journalism world."

"But you didn't know that at the time. But the real clincher was your story."

Guise quirked an eyebrow. "My story?"

"A guy who dealt with a lot of hardship growing up, so he decides to leave home on a whim and start over somewhere else. Sounds pretty similar to a certain other person I know. Maybe one that I wrote an article or two about."

Of course, he knew about whom she was speaking, but that was hardly concrete evidence. "You could say the same thing about Sweetmint."

"Maybe. But you've also yet to outright deny anything."

Guise let out a defeated sigh. Regardless of how much he tried to misdirect her, he'd learned enough about her in the past couple of days to know that she wasn't one to back down or doubt herself. The question now was: what exactly was this conversation supposed to be about? "What do you want?" he asked tersely, trying to keep his voice down.

"Listen," Daily started, the seriousness returning to her voice. "You said that you weren't here to cause trouble, and I don't want to come off as prejudiced or anything, but it's hard not to have some doubts about this. You understand, right?"

Guise felt similarly considering the knowledge of his presence was essentially in her hooves. "Not that I'm complaining, but... why haven't you said anything? You know your sister's boyfriend is secretly a changeling. I don't want to tie the noose around my own neck, but don't you think that's something you should tell her?"

"It's like I told you the other day: I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. You want to live your life away from prying eyes, and I'm willing to respect that as long as you can respect others, particularly my sister."

"But what incentive do you have to keep my secret?"

Daily smiled at him. "Remember what I said yesterday about Mint's past boyfriends?"

Guise stared quizzically. "What about it?"

Daily glanced toward their apartment with a fond grin before looking back at Guise. "You know, whenever I've come to Canterlot in the last three years to visit my sister, she's always grumbling and groaning about her dumbass coworkers, her snooty neighbors, or her money issues. But these last couple of days... I'll be honest, I'm not sure I've ever seen her this happy."

Guise didn't say anything.

"Look, I don't know what your ultimate goal here is, or whether your intentions here are selfish or not, but the fact of the matter is, Mint's life has clearly been better with you around. Would I like you to tell her you're a changeling? Sure, of course. I'm not particularly fond of you lying to her, but I can at least understand why; even I'm not sure how she'd react if she found out, and like I said, she's been happier since you showed up, and I don't want to ruin that any more than you do."

All in all, this was pretty surprising for Guise to hear. She was being unexpectedly understanding of his situation, and he honestly felt a little bad. He knew this was a scenario that he shouldn't take for granted, but he just felt it was a little too convenient. "So you're just going to trust me with your sister's well being?"

"You seem like a nice enough guy, assuming this isn't just some persona you put on whenever you're in disguise. But considering you've been pretty much the same as when we met out by the castle the other day, I don't feel like that's the case."

"And what if it is?"

Daily smirked, her grin actually a little devious. "Well, that's why I have this." She opened her satchel, removing a small stack of paper and holding it in front of Guise.

The changeling leaned in to look it over. There was a lot written on the paper and he obviously wasn't going to try and read everything. But it was the larger words printed at the top that caught his eye. "'In Plain Sight'? What is this?"

"Surely you've noticed all the notes I've been taking since I got here. Yeah, it's a habit of mine, but it's a habit with a purpose."

Guise finally caught her meaning, his eyes widening and glaring at her in shock. "You're blackmailing me?!"

Daily grinned smugly with a forced sigh. "'Blackmail' is such an ugly word. I prefer to think of it as 'insurance.' So, if I ever catch wind that you hurt my sister, then this little tidbit," she said, waving the papers at him, "is getting published. Your little secret will be out, and I know you don't want that."

Guise just silently scowled at her. No wonder she had been so willing to keep her mouth shut about it. She had him under her hoof the whole time and he didn't realize it. In a way, he kind of admired how underhoofed and cutthroat she was, but it didn't mean he was okay with her holding this over his head.

Daily could clearly see the look on Guise's face. She replaced the draft back into her bag and gave Guise a nonchalant shrug. "Hey, look at it this way: if everything you've told me in the past few days is actually true, then you have nothing to worry about, right? You're just here to live your life in peace, aren't you?"

Guise loosened up a little. She had a point. Pretty much everything he'd said to her was true, so there really wasn't any threat here as long as she kept her word. So he smirked confidently. "You're right. I don't have anything to worry about."

"That's the spirit," Daily exclaimed with a smile. "See, that's why I like you. You've got confidence and you don't take shit from anypony, and that's how I know my sister's in good hooves." The smile suddenly faded from her face, her expression becoming more stern and concerned. "That being said, there's one thing I need to know before I'll truly be okay with this."

"And what's that?" Guise asked with a cautious look.

"Do you love her?"

That was an important question. It would've been easy to simply lie and tell her he did, but at the same time, Guise was still a little sour about the fact that Sweetmint didn't love him yet, and he still didn't understand why.

Daily could infer the answer based on his silence. "So, when you said you just wanted to live in peace, did that mean you just needed food and a roof over your head? If that's the case, why are you bothering with my sister? Are you just after her love? Are you no different than all the other changelings? Is she just a tool to you?"

Guise knit his brow defensively. Oddly, her tone wasn't accusatory or upset, but rather inquisitive. But her questions elicited something in him: uncertainty, yet resolution. "I don't know exactly where she and I stand right now, but what I do know is that I wouldn't be here without her. I had doubts about living here when I first arrived, so it was surprising when I realized how much one person could affect my outlook on that. Do I love her? I wouldn't go that far, but I can say with genuine honesty that I respect and admire her. I don't know how much that means to you, but there aren't many people I can say that about, and the ones I can are dead, so... interpret that how you will."

Daily closed her maroon eyes in thought. "Well... Maybe that's not what I wanted to hear, but I guess I can't expect every changeling to be as flexible as Shade and Chamella. But, based on what those two have told me, just that much means you're definitely different from other changelings." She gazed at the serious expression on Guise's face. "But she doesn't love you yet either."

Guise practically flinched as she reiterated that fact, like he'd been slapped in the face.

"I find that to be a little strange considering the way she looks at you."

"What, you think she is in love with me?"

Daily shrugged. "I can't really say that, I'm not an expert on relationships. All I know is you two certainly seem to enjoy one another's company. Would you at least consider her a friend?"

Guise thought that over for a moment. He'd never had anyone he would have called a friend in the past. Shade and Chamella were acquaintances at best and emergency food at worst. Even Glory—one of the only people he actually respected—wasn't exactly his friend. He owed her one, but that was it.

But was Sweetmint different? He'd taken notice of how much he related to her, and that was one of the reasons he stuck with her this long. He didn't know that about her when he first targeted her. His justification for that was the fact that she was less cloying than everypony else around, but the more he got to know her on a personal level, the more things just seemed to... fit.

Guise looked Daily in the eye, still with some uncertainty. "The term 'companion' has come to mind in the past, if that means anything to you."

Daily took a second to analyze that, but managed a smile. "It's something at least."

Guise was genuinely surprised by her acceptance. "Just like that, huh? This is your sister we're talking about. I figured you'd want what was best for her."

"I do, obviously. And in comparison to her past relationships, you are the best thing for her. Maybe you don't love her, but I can tell you at least care about her, which is more than I can say about her previous boyfriends. So I'm willing to let you two work on this together because she seems to care about you a lot. And, based on what I've seen and what you've said, I don't see any reason that you can't start feeling more strongly about each other. Mint's happy, and you're not taking advantage of her as far as I can tell, and that's what's important. I told you that if a person is willing to abandon the only life they knew in pursuit of something better, then they must be worth a second chance. I don't want to find out I was wrong to trust another changeling. But, just in case, I have my 'insurance' to help keep you in line."

Guise managed a small grin. "And I'm going to make sure that you never have to resort to that."

Daily chuckled. "That almost sounds like a threat."

"I didn't say it wasn't."

Her chuckle evolved into a louder laugh. "Ah, I knew I liked you. Even when somepony's got you cornered, you keep baring your fangs." She held out her hoof to him, which Guise accepted without hesitation. "It was interesting meeting you, Crimson, if that is your real name."

"Same."

"I do hope the next time I come for a visit that I can get to know the real you a little better."

"I can't make any promises on that, but, for the record, I have been pretty truthful about everything. Though, whether or not you choose to believe me is up to you."

"I guess we'll see in due time, won't we?" She turned to take her leave, but paused to look back at him once more, speaking with compassion. "Take care of my sister, okay? And don't give up on her. She'll understand just how important you are to her eventually." With that, Daily gave a quick wave and she descended the stairs, leaving Guise to his own devices again.

The changeling breathed a deep sigh. This had been a rather interesting couple of days, to say the least. Guise definitely had conflicted feelings about all this, but as long as Daily was true to her word, he should have nothing to worry about. He had to wonder if she would keep this information from Shade and Chamella, but considering she wouldn't even tell her own sister, he felt he could trust her. Still, if she knew as much about Shade and Chamella as she claimed, then it was probably a good thing that he never revealed his real name. If she knew exactly who he was, then she might not feel quite as inclined to keep his identity a secret, especially from those two.

But he put it out of his mind for now. There wasn't really anything he could do to stop her now anyway. If she decided to stab him in the back, then she'd do it eventually, so there was no sense in fretting about it until it happened. Besides, if she did, and she wound up ruining his new life for him, he'd just hunt her down. So there was that to look forward to.

Guise reentered the apartment. Sweetmint was quick to meet him with a look of curiosity.

"So, what was that about?" she asked.

He simply shrugged, though didn't try to keep the smug smirk off his face. "Nothing important. She just wanted to tell me how much of an honor it was to meet me and how lucky you are to have a guy like me."

Sweetmint rolled her eyes, giving him a weak slap in the chest. "You're gonna wear out your lips if you keep tooting your own horn like that." Despite her teasing, she wrapped a hoof around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. "But, if she did say something to that effect, I couldn't necessarily say she was wrong."

If he was being honest, Guise felt pretty good right about now in spite of everything. While he was still uncertain how close he was to earning Sweetmint's love, he was still comfortable with where things were. Sweetmint's sister had put her trust in him, and where he was now was pretty acceptable all things considered. Maybe Daily's comments about his importance to Sweetmint had just gotten to his head a little, but he suddenly felt like there was no reason to rush things. It still gave him a lot to think about. Given how just one person made living amongst these ponies bearable, perhaps it wasn't just his importance to her that was worth considering.

Comments

[hehelover]

This title is odd. Maybe it’s the only noun here?

[Dee Pad]

10145593
Are you referring to the chapter title? Because I'm just going with words ending with the suffix -ive, regardless of whether they are adjectives or nouns or whatnot. Although, the word "relative" is still an adjective depending on the context used.

[hehelover]

10145841
Yeah I know, but I’d still like to consider the name of this chapter a noun among a bunch of adjectives.

[changeling khaos]

And all caught up. I'm really enjoying this. Thanks.

[Emotion Nexus]

Daily Scoop is a really good character. Almost forgot about her until the wedding came up in the conversation.

10146217
Relative can be an adjective.

"Time is relative."

[SkyChaser]

"Not you, shut up," Guise corrected with a sidelong glare.

Guise be like
https://youtu.be/V9O94UTDAJQ