The Royal Guard was sent to protect Dodge Junction against the changeling threat. There, a pegasus soldier Called Morning Rays finds something that will change his life forever.
The Changelings were pushed back after their failed attack at Canterlot. But even with their members scattered around the Badlands, they threaten the borders of Equestria, seeking revenge. Dodge Junction being in the most immediate danger, the Royal Guard is sent there to protect it. There, a pegasus soldier Called Morning Rays finds something that will change his life forever.
Author's note: Cover provided by my friend EverfreePony!
The train arrived at the Appleloosa station with screeching wheels, raising a cloud of dust and sand around it. The conductor stepped out of the train and proceeded to open the carts doors, dozens upon dozens of soldiers marching . Some were veteran soldiers coming from Canterlot, others were newly assigned recruits but all of them wore their golden armor and carried heavy saddlebags on their backs.
Waiting for them on the station was a beige earth pony mare with brown mane and tail, she had a scar crossing her left eye and wore a much more detailed and complex golden armor. “Attention!” She commanded her soldiers, the troops quickly falling into formation.
“Alright, listen up! My name is General Iron Hoof, I’m the superior officer in charge of this operation. My job is to make sure that each and every one of you are well-equipped, well-trained and well-fed so you can do your jobs well. Screw up and you’ll know why my name is Iron Hoof, you hear me?!” she yelled, stomping her hoof to emphasize her point.
“Yes, ma'am!” Bowed the soldiers in reply, strengthening their posture.
“Good. Squad leaders, step forward!” With this new command, four ponies took a step forward, two unicorns, an earth pony and a pegasus.
“Lieutenant Sharp Spear!” The first unicorn saluted in response. “Your team is in charge of West Appleloosa, report to your posts for further instructions!”
“Yes, ma'am.” He saluted again, acknowledging her orders, he turned to his squad and rallied. “Let’s move out!”
After his soldiers had marched away, General Iron Hoof continued, “Captain Arcane Scroll!” The second unicorn saluted. “Your team is in charge of East Appleloosa, report to your post immediately!”
“Yes, General.” She saluted her leave and gestured for her troops to follow.
“Sergeant Mighty Buck!” This time, the earth pony saluted. “Your team will stay here, in South Appleloosa, go to the barracks and wait for your superior's instructions!”
He saluted and walked away silently, his squad following behind. Now there were only six soldiers remaining, they all wore different armor compared to other squads, and the same could be said about their squad leader.
“Special forces Morning Rays!” The pegasus saluted with his wing, light yellow feathers reflecting as much sunlight as his armor. “Your team is in charge of Dodge Junction City right?” General Iron Hoof asked, checking her papers.
“Yes, ma'am, we were designated to track and find the changeling hive, ma’am!” he replied as his team confirmed his affirmation with a salute.
“Unfortunately, Dodge Junction City doesn’t have the infrastructure necessary to house our barracks so your squad will stay in the east barracks, understood?”
“Yes, General!”
“Dismissed, soldiers.” General Iron Hoof saluted goodbye and began walking away when Morning Rays interrupted her.
“General, may I have a word?”
“What is it?”
“I have a friend in Dodge Junction City that offered me a place to stay, I know it’s a bit far away from operations, but I believe it to be beneficial both to my job as a tracker and for the ponies that live there, in the case of changeling sightings.”
General Iron Hoof pondered for a few seconds, checking her papers, she listed something before returning her attention to Morning Rays. “Okay, I allow you to stay at your friend’s, but I expect you to be here earlier than everypony else you hear me?”
“Yes, ma'am! Thank you ma’am!” he saluted again, holding the position until she went off to continue her work.
“Lucky guy, you get to sleep in a comfy bed while we have to stay in the barracks.” A mocking voice teased him. Turning to his team, all his teammates spied him with cheeky smiles. Knowing what was about to happen, he braced himself to the teasing.
“And who your generous friend might be, captain?” a gray unicorn with light blue mane asked sarcastically. His name was Grey Shade, he was the trapper of the squad.
“Is it that damsel in distress you saved a couple of months back from the changelings?” asked a light blue earth pony with darker blue mane, fluttering his eyes mockingly. He was the squad’s hunter by the name of Blue Sea.
“Yeah! How was her name again? Berry Lee?” This time it was Lilie, a white and yellow pegasus mare, the squad’s scout.
“Yes, it is her, and her name is Cherry Jubilee. Believe me, she’s not a damsel in distress…” Morning Rays replied, finally having the chance to defend himself.
A pink unicorn with red mane interrupted her squadmates before they could continue their teasing for all eternity. “Either way when you finish moving, why don’t you scout the area we’re supposed to work? It would be a lot easier for me to search for any magic traces if I don’t have to worry about my surroundings.” She was the magic tracer of the squad, Path Finder.
“I planned on doing that. Well, I gotta catch the train, see you tomorrow team,” Morning said when he heard the train’s whistling, signaling its approaching departure.
“Bye captain!” his team collectively said among some more teasing.
A few minutes by train was all that was needed for Morning to reach his new home, Dodge Junction City. It was similar to Appleloosa but much smaller, the city was mostly composed of wood houses and farms, with few shops to supply the basic necessities of its citizens.
There, waiting enthusiastically for his arrival was a beige mare with red mane and tail, she had beautiful green eyes and a charming countryside style.
As Morning Rays stepped out of his cart he quickly found who he was looking for, he walked up to her, gave her a bow of courtesy and said, “Thank you for providing me a place to stay here Miss Jubilee, I’m sure it’ll help me a lot.”
The mare smiled and gave him a snicker, “Hey now, after all the help you gave me, you sure earned it dear, also, please drop all that formality, you can call me Cherry.”
“Hum, yes Miss Cherry.” He bowed again.
Cherry rolled her eyes, accepting that it would be the most casual way Morning would call her. She gestured for him to follow. “Well, come on now, Ah’ll show you where you’re staying.”
Following her, Morning was led through the commercial center of Dodge Junction City, a single street filled with general stores, saloons, a bank, a clinic and a small school at the end of the street. Walking by, Morning noticed that even though the town was small, it was bursting with life. Fillies and colts rushed to the school, eager for a new day of discovery and learning, ponies walked from store to store buying all the fresh vegetables and berries that the city was famous for growing.
At the end of the street began the residential area, even more ponies could be seen going to their daily routines, Morning took notice that most of the ponies around here were earth ponies. ‘Looks like the earth pony lineage and traditions live strongly here.’ He thought.
Passing the more modest residential area, huge farms could be seen stretching over the horizon. Oranges, strawberries, pineapples, carrots, cucumbers, all farms had acres and acres of fresh and delicious food that provided for most of Equestria’s needs. At the end of the road stood the biggest farm yet, cherries.
The property went farther than eyes can see, trees with red and yellow cherries beautified the gardens with intricate, almost mesmerizing, patterns..
Miss Cherry beckoned him inside, as they passed around her workers, she greeted and complimented every single one of them, so they worked hard and happy in return.
She opened the huge doors that led to the parlor. The two storey house had pristine white walls with red curtains and golden decor, making it the most elegant residence Rays has ever seen, it was almost like a countryside palace!
Miss Cherry led him to her office, offering him something to drink to which he asked for water. She poured him a glass and asked, “Well… Ah know we discussed this before but, are you sure you don’t prefer to stay here? Ah have lots of vacant guest rooms you could use.”
It was a tempting offer, but still, not what Rays needed. “I’m sorry Miss Cherry, but I would like to stay in the worker’s house you mentioned. He retired recently, right?”
“Ah, yes. He was loyal and hardworkin' as it gets, but now he deserves a rest…” She sighed, reminiscing her old friend. “Well, if you’re sure about that. Miss Spring Flower?” She called her secretary, a pink coated unicorn mare with white mane wearing a pink and yellow flower adornment on her tail rushed to her side.
She entered the office through a door on the left that Rays didn’t notice before, apparently, that led to a library. “Yes, Miss Jubilee?”
“Would you kindly lead Captain Rays here to his new house at worker’s house N° 34?”
“Yes, of course! Follow me please.” She bowed.
Spring Flower led Rays through Miss Jubilee’s property, crossing the lines upon lines of cherry trees that extended as far as the eye could see, at the end of the orchard they’ve reached the worker’s residential area. It was at the far end of the property, almost its borders.
House N° 34, the farthest house. It was a simple house with red wooden walls and yellow roof. Morning Rays was born and raised in Canterlot where all buildings were made of stone or concrete. It was a different, but a welcome experience for him..
“Here are they keys,” Spring Flower said, grabbing his attention.
He got the keys with his wings and thanked her, waiting politely for her to leave the neighborhood so he could explore the house.
The house was charming, comfy and completely furnished, the only thing missing was some personal decor, which he brought a few. The kitchen had enough room for two ponies to walk comfortably. The living room had a comfy looking sofa next to the chimney so he could warm himself once winter arrived. The bathroom had a really big tub, if it was anything bigger it could be called a jacuzzi. The bedroom wasn’t as spacious as he expected, but it was good enough, a double sized bed and bedside table furnishing it, it even had a small retractable stair to the attic. All in all, a pretty cool house, and the best thing was that from the living room, he could clearly see the borders between Dodge Junction City and the Badlands.
Morning quickly returned to his room to unpack. He only brought a few essentials, some clothes, his personal hygiene products and polishing oil for his armor were stored in his cabinet. Grabbing the last items with utmost care, he pushed his saddlebag to the side and proceded to the bedside table. A golden photo frame with shiny pink letters spelling 'Family" on top of a heart containing the picture of a white pegasus mare with blue eyes and yellow mane hugging a smiling pegasus filly with an orange coat, red mane, and emerald eyes.
Smiling, Morning placed the photo on the table, and in front of it, he placed a single, small white tipped orange feather. Now that everything was in its proper place, Morning stretched his wings and gazed upon the horizon. It was time to scout the area.
Morning Rays thought that the Badlands were an easy place to hunt these changelings, but he was wrong. As he was scouting the area for his team, he noticed how many rock formations and caves there were! At certain parts of the border, the rock formations were so dense it was almost a maze.
‘Good thing I’m a pegasus,’ he thought.
With a mighty flap of his wings, he went to the skies, now able to see the Badlands in its full glory. Well, not exactly “glory”. This place only had rocks, dry dirt and the occasional dead bush.
He wasn’t the first pegasus to fly over the Badlands, in fact, Princess Celestia had the Wonderbolts searching for the changeling hive a couple of times before, but they never managed to find it. It was probably hidden underground, and that made his job all the more difficult.
As he was soaring through the sky, he noticed a strange plateau in the distance. It was surrounded by smooth and relatively even walls from all sides like it was carved by something. Gliding down, Morning landed on the far end of it to investigate.
He took a few careful steps forward, trying to make as little noise as possible. As he followed a path to the other side, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched. He turned his head around, looking for any possible trap but there were no place to hide as the walls had not a single hole or irregularity. It was too perfect to be natural.
He reached a dead end at the other side of the plateau, colossal walls trapped any earthbound creatures inside it. Morning extended his wings to fly away when a clicking noise echoed around him. Turning around, he jumped into a defensive stance as he followed the echoes. In his frantic movements, he accidentally kicked a loose stone. It went rolling down, tapping an incredibly loud staccato on the quiet rocks.
Morning flinched at the disturbance and tried to catch the stone before it gave away his position even more. His hooves grasped only air. He watched as the stone rolled toward the base of the back wall, expecting the crash to sound at any moment. But, nothing happened. The stone simply phased through the wall, leaving only a wide-eyed Morning as proof of its existence.
‘What the hell?’ he thought, approaching the wall with caution.
He examined the rock. It was like any other rock around here, smooth and even. He plucked a feather from his wing and poked at the rock cautiously. Like the stone, the feather just phased through the rock wall with little resistance. He pulled the feather back and noticed that it was perfectly fine, no damage to be seen. Gathering his courage, he closed his eyes and walked in, a creepy chill running down his spine as he walked through the wall. Opening his eyes at the other side, his courage was instantly tested at what stood before him.
Changelings were known for many things, and one of these things were the holes they had on their bodies. This tunnel was littered with holes everywhere, on the walls, on the ceiling, even on the floor! Some of the holes would close only for a new one to appear someplace else. Morning Rays had no idea what a changeling hive would look like, but he knew it couldn’t be more convenient than this.
As he went deeper and deeper into the hive, he failed to notice the absolute silence there was. He was focused on not getting captured too much. After following several twists and turns, he reached a big chamber illuminated by green blobs of weird bioluminescent slime. The air was heavy and humid, reminding him of the barracks after a full day training.
There were several paths ahead of him and he didn’t know where to go. Not wanting to be captured, he chose to return to his base and come back with his team later. He was about to turn back and leave when a voice echoed through the tunnels and reached his ears.
“H-hello? Anypony there?”
Morning’s ears shot forward as he jumped in surprise, his wings flared open, ready to back him up if needed.
“Is anypony there? I need help!”
He heard it again. This time, he could recognize the voice belonging to a young mare. He tried to find the source of the voice,but the echo made it difficult to find the right direction.
“Please, help me!”
His ears swiveled to the side, left! Morning followed the leftmost tunnel down to another chamber. The chamber was completely covered in hardened changeling slime, just like what they used during the invasion of Canterlot. There were more holes scattered around the walls, but these didn’t move like the ones he encountered before.
At the far end of the chamber, a lavender earth pony mare hung from the wall, her hooves bound by the slime. There was a big, strange green gem on the ground in front of her, softly pulsating with magic. When she heard Morning’s steps, she raised her head to look at him, hope filling her eyes.
“Thank Celestia you found me! Quick, help me out of here!” she pleaded, tugging at her bounds.
Morning approached her with caution, his ears scanning the surroundings. It was a changeling hive after all. “Don’t worry, I’m here to help. What’s your name?”
“I-I’m Purple Grace.”
Morning bit at her bounds, tugging with all his might, but before he could free her, green flames enveloped her body, burning away her soft fur and replacing it with the hard black carapace of a changeling. Morning backed away in surprise.
The changeling hissed at him, baring its fangs. Suddenly, all the tunnels of the chamber were swarmed with changelings, all flying toward Morning Rays, carrying the same green gem.
Morning backed against a wall in a defensive position. If he was to go down, he would go down fighting! But to his surprise, all the changelings zipped past him, leaving the hive in a dark cloud of buzzing wings. All but two changelings, the one on the wall, now frantically trying to free itself, and an armor-clad changeling, glaring at Morning menacingly, paid him any attention.
‘That’s a warrior?’ Morning had heard of these before. Some officers of the royal guard reported the rare armored changelings during the attack at Canterlot. It seemed that much like ants and other insects, the changelings had different castes like drones or warriors.
Supposedly, warriors were stronger and more resistant than drones, taking almost three guards to subdue one of them. But there was something wrong. This warrior’s stance was loose, its movements lethargic. It hasn't even lit up its horn with magic. It almost felt like it wanted to intimidate Morning out of the hive rather than fight him.
Morning’s thoughts were interrupted when the warrior charged at him, forcing him to beat his wings and jump to the side. But as soon as Morning’s hooves left the ground, the changeling shot to the air with blinding speed and tackled him back to the floor.
Pinning Morning under its weight, the warrior opened its mouth wide, almost like in a yawn. A magic string began seeping away from Morning as he felt sick. The changeling was draining his life energy!
Morning began to panic. ‘I thought changelings only fed on love!’ he thought, struggling to free himself.
He flared his wings, drawing the warrior’s attention. Taking the opportunity, he head-butted the insectoid hard. The warrior backed off in pain, holding its mouth with its hooves, one of its fangs on the floor. Blood dripped from Morning’s forehead.
He quickly got to his hooves, dashing to the stunned changeling. He locking it in a tight grip, he shot to the air in a loop and landed on top of the warrior, knocking it out.
With the fight over, Morning let out a heavy sigh of relief as he walked back to the changeling stuck in the wall. It lit up its horn with green flames, charging a spell to attack its shackles, but it was only able to produce a few sparks before its magic faltered, leaving it visibly exhausted.
“You okay there buddy?” Morning asked with a hint of concern, the changelings might be a threat, but that didn’t mean they should be treated with disdain, that wasn’t Morning’s way. Besides, Princess Celestia herself made it clear to all her guards to not harm the captured changelings.
The changeling quickly composed itself, trying to convey as much confidence as possible. “Of course I am, pony.” It spat the last word like it was a sour taste in its mouth. “I can leave whenever I want, if that’s what you’re thinking. But someling must protect the hive from creatures like you!”
With a small grin creeping on his face, Morning Rays approached the mysterious gemstone to inspect it. It had a smooth, dark emerald exterior, the size of a small watermelon and probably weighed didn’t weigh more than a basket of apples.. Morning could see a weak pulse of green magic coming from the gemstone’s core, maybe it was some sort of incantation?
Running a hoof across the gemstone, Morning asked the trapped changeling, “Say, what exactly is this thing?”
The changeling, looking everywhere but at Morning, replied nervously, “I-it’s nothing! It’s just a stone.”
“Uhum, if it’s just a stone, why is it pulsating with changeling magic?” Morning asked again, cocking his head to side.
“Okay, okay, it’s a soothing stone,” the changeling admitted with a chittering of wings.
Raising a brow in doubt, Morning asked, “A soothing stone?”
“Y-yes, we use it to calm the hive, but it doesn’t work on ponies!” Tugging at its restraints, the changeling continued, “I told you what you wanted to know, now release me!”
Morning balanced the gemstone between his wings and turned to leave. “You know, for a changeling, you don’t lie that well.”
Green flames enveloped the changeling once again, turning it into Purple Grace. With her ears dropping to the sides and the saddest puppy eyes imaginable, the changeling cried, “Please mister, you can’t leave me here!”
Without looking back, Morning answered with a smirk, “Don’t worry miss, I’ll rescue you tomorrow!”
Turning back to his normal self, the changeling roared in anger, causing Morning to laugh. “YOU JERK!”
The journey back home was an arduous one, Morning Rays tried to carry the gemstone in his hooves so he could fly back, but if there was something that his friend, Path Finder, taught him was that magic is a very sensible and very unstable thing. The moment he began his flight, the gemstone began pulsating faster and faster due to all the shaking. Morning ultimately decided that walking home would be safer.
The moon was beginning its ascension through the starry sky when he finally got home. As he entered the mostly empty house, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh, it was a sigh of exhaustion after the long walk, but it was also a sigh of sadness.
Morning carried himself into his room on the second floor. Walking through the door, he carefully placed the mysterious gemstone on a chair in the corner and proceeded to fall limply onto his bed. After a couple of minutes, he shifted around so he was facing the ceiling, mindlessly feeling the bedside table with a hoof to try and grab his family’s photo.
Morning threw a distant gaze at the picture, focusing at the white mare. ‘You always were a better flier than me…’ he thought, a painful smile crossing his muzzle. Returning the photo to the table, he grabbed the orange feather carefully. He placed the feather on top of his chest and closed his eyes with a heavy sigh, exhaustion finally taking its toll on him and drifting him off to sleep.
Morning Rays was soaring through the skies of Canterlot, wearing his golden armor, only this time it had big scratches and dents all over it. His flight was faulty and uneven, bruises and cuts all over his body made every flap of his wings an uphill fight, but he needed to reach the castle as soon as possible!
All around the city the royal guard tried to fight off the magical creatures that had flooded the streets, following the magical energy of the Secretariat Comet’s empowering light. Timberwolves, hydras, cockatrices, manticores and all sort of mythological creatures, lured by the comet’s magic amplifying effect, took the opportunity to wreak havoc upon pony lands.
Morning Rays managed to land somewhat gracefully on the castle’s balcony where Princess Celestia, in full battle armor and holding a lance in her hooves, expected his report.
Bowing, he took a deep breath to recompose himself. “Princess, we managed to repel the beasts attacking Ponyville, we left a large battalion posted there at the ready in case the monsters return.”
Heaving a sigh of relief, the Princess nodded. “Good, you did a great job soldier, but I can see you’re injured, report back at the soldiers’ yard for examination and rest, I and the rest of the guards will take control of the situation here.”
Bowing even lower, Morning continued, “Thank you Your Majesty, but with all due respect, I can still fight, surely some sector of the city needs reinforcements!”
Celestia’s motherly eyes hovered over Morning’s beaten form for a few moments, pondering if it was alright to let him fight in this condition. She was leaning against it, but his look of determination convinced her otherwise. She knew that he would join the fight anyway so she nodded her consent slowly. “Alright, but be careful my little pony.”
Morning snapped straight up and saluted her with added enthusiasm. “Yes, Princess!” And with that, he went off.
Morning took a few minutes to visit the yard and ask for a quick pain numbing spell before departing, his wings were still sore, but at least he could keep a straight flight now. He flew over the entire city, helping the guards where needed, most of the creatures were already repelled by the Princess’ powers. Only a few were left to deal with.
A pack of timberwolves was skulking around the residential area when Morning landed near the designated squad of guards. “How can I help around here?” he asked a fellow unicorn guard, identifying him as the squad’s commander due to his unique armor, the detailed shoulder pads and sapphire encrusted chest piece revealing his rank.
A look of relief crossed the commander’s face as he saw Morning. “Oh good, a pegasus.” He pointed at some districts with a hoof while he explained, “There are still some civilians locked inside their houses, we need a pegasus to fly ahead and scout the area for any trapped civilian so our unicorn team can escort them to safety.’
Morning saluted and took off to execute his new orders. After a few minutes, most of the still occupied houses were marked and their residents evacuated, leaving unscouted only the district Morning lived in. “I hope Heart and Glory are okay…” He feared for his family as he quickened his flight toward his district, but he knew his wife was a resourceful mare, she would have evacuated their house as soon as the danger arrived, besides, there were other families that needed his help
As soon as he spotted his home he landed right next to it, anxious to know if his family had already evacuated the area. His heart almost stopped when he saw his door broken to pieces, hanging from its hinges. Timberwolf claw marks ran over its wooden frames. If they tried to get in, his family must have been inside!
Morning ran inside the house, searching every room for his wife and daughter, but only finding more signs of struggle and a broken window in Glory’s room. They must have escaped! Jumping out of the window, Morning called their names with all the power his lungs could muster, desperate to see if his family was alright.
After frantically flying around for about a minute, his mind racing a thousand miles away as he tried to figure out where his family could be, he caught a glimpse of a white and orange pegasi at the corner of his eyes “Heart? Glory?” he called them, flying as fast as he could toward them.
“Rays!?” The white pegasus called back, carrying an orange pegasus filly on her back. The little one looked at him, her emerald eyes glimmering with tears. ‘It’s them! They are safe!’
The couple flew to each other as fast as possible, eager to feel each other’s embrace and make the scary moment disappear. But with only a few meters between them, a giant cockatrice blocked their path. A reddish shimmer was all Morning could see before time slowed to a crawl as he saw Soaring Heart and Glory plummeting from the sky, slowly turning into stone.
‘No…’ Was all he could think. He tried to dodge the cockatrice to reach them, but the creature was determined to make Morning its lunch. Desperate, he threw caution to the winds and dashed downward, the cockatrice in hot pursuit.
“Girls!” he cried, trying to reach them.
Soaring Heart, almost completely petrified, gave her daughter a strong push toward Morning, tears running through her eyes as she pleaded before completely turning into stone, “S-save… G-Glory...”
Morning folded his wings for maximum speed, he needed to catch them! He managed to get a hold of one of Glory’s orange and white feathers before the wicked cockatrice smacked his side with its tail. Hitting a wall, the last sight he saw before losing consciousness was his family crashing to the ground…
Morning shot out of bed, tears running freely from his eyes, his fur and sheets mauled by them. He frantically searched for Glory’s feather, wanting to make sure he didn’t lose it. Finally finding it on the ground next to the table, he returned it to its place and got up.
‘There won’t be any sleep tonight…’ he thought as he went to the bathroom, thinking of something to do to try and forget what happened.
Washing his face with cold water to shoo the sleepiness away, he thought about spending some time with his squad. Knowing them, they were probably at the bar at this hour.
‘Time to pay Appleloosa a visit.’
After washing himself to be more presentable, Morning Rays took off to the town. His room, now out of sight, flashed with a blinding sickly green light for a split second, sparks of magic escaping through the open windows.
After a ten minute long flight, Morning spotted the Appleloosa saloon and landed across the street, they noisy sound of laughter coming out of it confirming his suspicion on the whereabouts of his squad. By the sounds of it, they were not the only squad appreciating some strong, earth pony alcohol.
Trotting across the street toward the saloon doors, Morning was surprised when a batpony in dark blue armor all but burst through it, almost hitting him in the process.
‘The night guard?’ Morning wondered as he walked inside. The saloon was as classic as it could. There was a small country band playing their happy tune, pool tables swarmed by half-drunken ponies trying to play , the strong smell of alcohol that accompanied them, and fair enough what looked like half the night guard were happily chatting and laughing with their day guard brotherem.
“I didn’t know the night guard was summoned here as well…” Morning quietly muttered to himself.
“Well, somepony has to actually work here while you lazy day guards are sleeping, right?” said a husky voice from behind Morning, a familiar voice in fact. Turning to see who it was, Morning was surprised to see his old friend, Dusk Wing. He was a big, dark grey thestral with dark purple wings and navy blue mane, a cocky grin complimenting his piercing yellow eyes.
Rolling his eyes before grinning himself, Morning shot back, “Well, I think we deserve some rest after saving the day time and time again, don't we?”
There was silence between them as they began what one would think was a staring contest for a few moments. Not able to contain themselves anymore, both burst into laughter as they closed their distance to properly greet each other.
“It’s been a long time Dusk, what news you brought with you from Canterlot?” Morning asked, walking with Dusk toward the bar counter.
“Eh, nothing new really, Princess Cadence is still trying to perfect that love collection spell of hers to feed the captive changelings. I still don’t know why we don’t just get rid of them,” Dusk said with a hint of annoyance, waving a hoof dismissively.
“Damn, at this rate, we won’t have enough love to feed all the changelings we capture here…” Morning thought aloud, bringing a hoof to his chin.
Dusk huffed before answering, “They could all starve for all I care…” His remark earned a disapproving glare from Morning, causing him to raise his hooves defensively. “Hey, I just want to protect my mistress’ country is all.”
Morning rolled his eyes but remained silent, a bit of worry persisted at the back of his mind, but he wanted to change the subject. “I always find it funny how the night guard refers to Princess Luna.”
Shrugging, Dusk replied, “Eh, maybe it’s because of how much more… personal our mistress treats us, she knows each and every one us by name and looks after us. Princess Celestia has much bigger army that I don’t think she can have the same level of intimacy with every single one of her soldiers…”
Pondering for a moment, Morning nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right…”
“Ey captain! Fancy seeing you here, lad!” a voice called behind them. It was Blue Sea, carrying four mugs full of cider on his back as he held the fifth mug in his hoof. “Come join us, will ye?”
Morning laughed, he always found silly how Blue Sea would start talking like a pirate when he was drunk, Path Finder even tried to cast a lying detecting spell on him one night to discover if he was faking it or not. To their surprise and amusement, he wasn’t, he was just like that.
“Oh hey there Blue Sea, I see that you already got drinks for the whole squad,” Morning commented, giving his friend a wide grin.
Confused, Blue Sea looked around, searching for said drink before realizing what Morning was talking about. “Oh, aye… right… I’m gonna go… give them to the squad…” He tried to fake his good intentions before continuing toward his teammates. Morning watched his tipsy friend before returning his attention to Dusk, who was getting up from his seat.
“Well, it’s getting late, time for work. Good seeing you around, Morning,” Dusk said, holding up a wing to Morning which he high fived with his own.
“See you, Dusk,” Morning replied before following Blue Sea to his squad.
Deep within the walls of the hidden changeling hive lay the figure of the green changeling Arch-Queen, Queen Chrysalis. Her holed hooves dangled from her ebony throne as she rests her head on its arm, her mind aching from the loud complaints of hunger from her subjects over the hivemind, her grumbling stomach the only thing louder than their squabbles.
A loud knock on the door disturbed her rest, adding more strength to her headache. With a pained groan, she announced, trying to regain some sort of regal pose. Her children couldn’t see her weakened like she was. “You can come in, warrior.”
The doors immediately opened to reveal a bruised warrior, he sported a nasty crack on his back’s carapace and had a limp to his left back leg. He walked meekly toward his queen, keeping his head to the floor the whole time. “M-my Queen, I’m here to report that one of our secondary hatcheries have been-”
“I know. I’ve seen it over the hivemind,” Chrysalis interrupted, raising a hoof to silence the warrior. Her slitted emerald eyes pierced his mind like the sharpest dagger, making her displeasement known. “What about the eggs?”
Dropping to his knees in a low bow, the warrior gulped before answering, “The caretakers managed to secure the eggs… except one. He stuck himself in a wall, trying to fool the invader who managed to defeat me and steal the egg…”
The queen’s annoyance was almost palpable, the air was filled with green static as Chrysalis lit her horn with magic. She got up from her throne and walked slowly toward the whimpering warrior with a nasty hiss. The warrior was about to beg for mercy when Chrysalis released her magic into the hivemind, severing the lost eggs’ connection to it.
Chrysalis raised the warrior’s head with a hoof to look deeply into his eyes. “Tell the caretakers to release the suppressing spells, I need those hatchlings into my army as soon as possible, understood?” she barked. Getting a frantic nod as an answer, her eyes shone with a sickly green magic as she chased away the cowering warrior. “Now leave!”
She walked back to her throne, massaging her temples with a hoof. An unfortunate loss, it’s hard to keep the hive fed as it is, the hatchling will starve to death in the hooves of those damned ponies…
The moon was almost at its peak, its silver light illuminating Morning Rays’ empty room. The crickets were singing to the sound of silence on such a peaceful night. The starry canvas that was Luna’s beloved night sky reaching the mysterious gemstone resting on his chair. Its light green light danced to the night’s beauty.
Suddenly, there was a flash. The air was filled with a soft light green static as the gemstone flashed again, and again. Faster and faster each time it expelled its magical aura. Finally, with one last blinding flash, there was a crack. A stream of dark green, translucent goo seeped from the small fissure as another crack has formed beside it, then a third one. More and more ooze poured out of the weird gem as a fourth crack sent a small piece of it falling apart, revealing a small dark grey spike in its place. The impact made the gemstone roll and fall to the floor, shattering it and spilling the dark green goo all over. From beneath a large fragment of the gemstone squirmed a black and white little larva.
The tiny creature gave a little yawn, teeny tiny fangs showing out of its mouth, its eyes still shut. Tired after all the work, it stretched its little front legs and abdomen. Fully waking up for the first time, the newborn’s senses were bombarded with an array of senses.
It could feel a cold breeze brushing against its frail, soaked body, causing it to seek protection at a deeper puddle of the comfortable, thermic goo it was used to.
Now back under the big fragment from which it merged, it could feel the pleasant scent of grass and flowers being carried over by the previously assaulting breeze, the little larva took a deep breath, filling its lungs with those pleasant scents, feeling its body relax even more.
As it yawned once again, a small drop of goo fell into its mouth, surprising it. Its sour and weird taste made the little baby’s face scrunch up in disgust, quickly spitting the terrible substance.
The baby’s actions were interrupted by the melodic crinkling of crickets and hooting of owls outside, night’s most beautiful melody. The baby was hypnotized by it, its song compelling it to come out of its shell.
Opening its big, reflectionless, emerald eyes for the first time. The baby was taken by the gorgeous sight that was the white full moon and the constellations that illuminated the navy blue night sky in their humble glory.
The newborn’s wonder was interrupted by a new, strong, sudden sensation. Hunger. It was a consuming feeling in its chest, it left its body trembling, and the baby couldn’t focus on anything else. The little larva looked around, everything was so big! Nothing attracted its hunger, and it was all by itself.
A sudden sense of loneliness passed through the baby’s mind as it searched for something, anything that would make that horrible feeling of hunger go away. Its instincts finally found interest in a particular item, Morning Rays’ family photo on top of his bedside table.
The baby looked eyes on its target, searching for a way to reach it. Looking around, the baby found out that there was a bed sheet dangling from the bed. With determination in its eyes, the little larva’s journey began.
The baby wiggled across the cold floor, leaving a small trail of goo in its wake. Reaching the sheets, the baby tried to scale them with its tiny legs but it proved to be impossible. Pondering for a few seconds, the baby sank its teeth into the cloth for extra support while it gripped the slippery fabric with its hooves. Slowly but surely the baby climbed the sheets, eventually getting on top of the bed. Up there the cold breeze was even stronger, causing the baby to shake. Seeking shelter from the unrelenting cold, the baby dug under the remaining sheets and, like a caterpillar, wiggled beneath it toward the bedside table.
With no more sheets to protect it from the cold, the only obstacle left was the gap between the bed and the table. The baby went to the bed’s edge to see if it could reach the table but instead, it was faced with a really big drop. If it fell, it would be in big trouble.
Backing up, the baby retreated into a pillow. Curious, the baby stepped onto it, testing its resistance. It was, in fact, a relatively hard pillow, maybe it could use it to reach the other side! Using its tiny horn as a hook, the baby pushed the pillow out of the bed and on top of the table.
Quickly crawling to the other side, afraid it would fall under its full weight, the baby finally reached its destination, but like it feared, the pillow gave up and fell as soon as its chubby abdomen left it, leaving the baby stuck at the table. As it approached the photo, the little larva felt a weird aura in it. It was sweet and calming, but more importantly satisfying.
The baby stood as close as it could to the photo. But being directly in front of the window, the chilling breeze cut right through the baby’s soft fragile skin, freezing it. The larva desperately tried to find some cover. Grabbing Glory’s feather, the baby quickly covered itself with it, feeling an even stronger aura than it did with the photo.
With nowhere else to go, the baby curled into a tiny ball under the comforting aura’s feeling held against the merciless breeze.
Feeling a bit tipsier than he should, Morning Rays decided to land at his front door instead of trying to aim through his open bedroom window. He still remembered the last time he drank with his team and hit a wall on his flight home, a broken rib was not worth a couple of minutes he would save having to walk into his room.
Once inside, Morning went to the kitchen, grabbing some oats to eat and returning to the living room. Sitting on his red couch, Morning began eating his oats as he thought about the recent events, his assignment as a “changeling hunter”, his weird encounter in the changeling hive, the involvement of the Night Guard…
Now that he thought about it, those changelings at the hive were acting really strange. Changelings were known for having some really tricky magic spells that complemented their natural shapeshifting abilities, but none of them cast a single spell. In fact, he was completely outnumbered but instead of overpowering and capturing him, the changelings fled. Even the warrior he faced seemed to be holding off against him…
His thoughts were interrupted by a strong, cold breeze that came through the kitchen windows. Damn, I know Ms. Cherry told me it gets chilly here during the night, but I didn’t expect it to be this chilly…
Remembering that he left his bedroom window opened, Morning got up and went up the stairs to close it. Better close that window before it blows Glory’s feather away.
Opening his bedroom’s door, Morning almost slipped as he stepped into a weird, slippery ooze on the floor. What the hell? Morning inspected the puddle, recognizing the light green tone of the fragments in it. Was that the soothing stone? He noticed a small trail of goo, following it, he noticed his pillow on the floor beside his bedside table and a strange grey spotted white ball under Glory’s feather.
Getting closer, he noticed the strange ball was weakly breathing!
“What the hell is that?” he thought aloud, looking back at the puddle of ooze in the middle of the room.
“Wait…” he continued. A nervous look rushed to his face as he put the pieces together. “Is that a newborn changeling!?”
Morning froze as this new realization settled in. There was a newborn changeling in his room! A million questions flooded his head as he tried to think what to do. Is it dangerous? What is it doing on his table? How did it manage to get there? Is it okay?
Settling on the last question, Morning cautiously approached the baby changeling, no reaction. Maybe it’s sleeping? he thought, poking at the baby with the tip of his hoof. Surprise and worry dominated his mind. It’s freezing!
Throwing all caution to the wind, Morning’s fraternal instincts kicked in in full force. He quickly enveloped the baby tightly in his bedsheets and hurried downstairs. He gently set the baby on the couch and proceeded to shut all the windows. With the windows closed, Morning quickly threw some wood on the chimney and started a fire. It would take a few minutes to heat up, but it had to do.
Getting back to the changeling, his mind was set in a state of panic and dread, the baby stopped breathing! Morning quickly got the baby in his hooves, getting it closer to the fire, laying it in the warming carpet, he began applying a simple cardiac massage in hopes of jumpstarting the baby’s heart back.
Again and again, he would press the baby’s chest and wait a few seconds, no results. Things were getting dire. Heavens, please, don’t let it die on me! he thought, again, and again. He knew it was a changeling, and some ponies, like Dusk Wing, thought of them only as monsters, a threat. But it was a life, a new life! He won’t give up on it!
Minutes felt like hours as Morning alternated between the hearth massage and attempts to warm it by rubbing the sheets around it. His legs were getting sore to the point of hurting, but he kept going. Finally, he felt the most amazing thing he ever felt in the past years. He felt the baby’s lungs filling with air as the baby began breathing again.
Morning slumped to the floor with the larva tightly held against his chest, letting out a long sigh of relief and a silent prayer to Celestia. He did it, he saved the changeling!
The baby woke up in a bit of a haze, confused and weak. It felt Morning’s warmth and clung to it, glad that the cold was gone. Then it noticed Morning himself. Its young mind filled with glee, it wasn’t alone anymore! But deep down its instincts warned it, Morning wasn’t its species… was he a threat?
That thought was completely buried when the baby felt that same soothing aura. This time it was coming from the creature in front of it. In his desperate attempts to bring the baby back, Morning’s empathy and care fed the changeling, relieving its agonizing hunger.
The changeling larva quickly knew that it could trust Morning, happy for not being cold or alone anymore. It left a soft yawn and went to sleep.
Hearing the little yawn, Morning suddenly felt all the stress and work hit him in the face like a punch, feeling completely tired. His body demanded him to sleep, but his mind wouldn’t be able to rest. He just managed to resurrect the baby changeling, but he didn’t know if he was really okay. He needed to stay awake all night to make sure the baby was fine.
With a sigh, Morning thought aloud, “There really won’t be any sleep tonight…”
The first rays of sunshine reached Morning Rays’ face through his closed bedroom window, gently caressing his fur with their inviting warmth. Like he suspected, last night was indeed a restless night, his bloodshot red eyes serving as proof to that. He spent the whole night checking on the little changeling as it slept soundly on his pillow.
Such a tiny thing… Morning thought. Stretching his back, he got up from the chair that served as his resting place, doing some little jumps to shake off the sleepiness and unlock his stuck joints. Feeling a little better, Morning proceeded to the bathroom to start his daily routine.
After brushing his teeth, taking a quick bath and preening his wings, Morning went down to the kitchen, his grumbling stomach demanding to be fed pancakes and apple tarts. Checking his fridge, Morning got the last remains of his stock to prepare his breakfast. Gotta stop at the market later.
The morning birds sang their beautiful serenade, perched at Ms. Cherry’s trees outside Morning’s kitchen window, but he paid them no mind, his brain so numb from the lack of sleep that it didn’t register a single sound. That is, until that particular noise that every parent is trained to detect even a mile away. The sound of a crying child.
Morning ears shot up in attention, pinpointing the source of the alarming sound. Indeed it came from upstairs. Throwing all the ingredients on the kitchen balcony, Morning flew up the stairs to check up on the baby.
The baby was still rolled into his bed sheets, lying on his pillow. With a sigh of relief, Morning sat next to his bed and took the baby in his hooves, slowly rocking it up and down, cradling it.
Try as he did, the baby refused to calm down. It must be hungry, Morning thought. Hurrying down the stairs, Morning swiftly cut some apple slices and returned to his room, offering it to the baby. The little changeling larva sniffed at the apple slices for a bit but then slapped them away and, it resumed its crying.
“It’s all I have!” Morning explained, trying to convince the baby to eat the apples but to no avail.
Gotta stop at the market right away! Morning corrected his previous thought. He secured the baby on his back between his wings and walked up the stairs back to his room. Where should I put it…? Morning wondered, scanning the room for the safest place to put the baby in. Maybe on the bed? No, it could fall… So, the floor? Might be too cold… Morning thought back and forth for a couple of seconds. In the past, his parenting instincts were always on overdrive making him kind of a overprotective dad, and part of being an elite soldier of the royal guard was thinking about all the possible paths ahead of him so it didn’t help either.
Settling between the two options, Morning dropped his mattress on the floor, where he made a makeshift cradle of pillows to keep the baby secured. Satisfied, Morning gave one final overall look to make sure the windows were closed enough to keep the cold breeze away but not enough make the room too warm. Happy with the result, Morning gave one last instruction before leaving, “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”
During his short flight toward the center of the town, Morning’s mind was bursting with thoughts to the point of overheating. What should I do? Should I report it to my superior? But it’s so tiny and frail, it won’t survive a cell with other changelings! But I can’t keep it in secret, it would be treason! Maybe the other changelings would take care of it? But the princesses are having trouble feeding all of them, would the changelings even be able to care for it?
His train of thought was put back on the rails as he approached his destination, Dodge Junction’s market street. The street was as busy as the last time he walked by, thousands of ponies walking through and fro, buying and selling goods to their neighbors. The street was the blood and life of the entire town, it kept the bits and goods flowing. If there was any place he could find something to eat in this town, it was there.
Landing in the middle of the street, another troubling thought crossed his mind. A thought that he neglected to think about this whole time; What do changelings eat? Panic took over Morning’s expressions as more and more questions followed behind. Do changelings even eat food? If they do, what do they need love for? Do they only eat love? All his doubts and questions converged on a single conclusion. “Oh, boy…”
Was it so complicated back when he was a father? He wasn’t sure. The only thing Morning was sure at the moment was that he needed to buy food, and fast! Taking a deep breath, Morning tried to calm down, seeing as his feathers were beginning to stand on end. Focus soldier! You can do this. First some vegetables.
Reaching one end of the street, Morning quickly located multiple vegetable stands displaying their products. All the food seemed fresh and delicious, surely there was something the changeling might like…
He walked to the closest stand, Maggy’s greenery. Behind the counter stood a young light green earth pony mare with light red mane, wearing a dark brown cowgirl hat. She gave him a big bright smile when he approached.
“Howdy friend! What can I getcha?”
“Hello miss, how much do you want for some lettuce and broccoli?” Morning inquired, feeling his bits pouch weight with a wing to see if he had enough money.
“It would be five bits, sir!” the mare announced in a sing-song tone. Happy with the price, Morning gave her the bits and put his newly acquired greens in his saddlebags.
Back in the main street, Morning proceeded to the fruit stands. There a brown and yellow earth pony stallion got his attention, he was walking down the streets, carrying a bunch of bananas and pots of honey on a tray on his back. “Bananas and honey, sweet and yummy! Four bits a bunch or two bits a pot!” The stallion announced his products. Felling on the mood of eating some bananas himself, Morning approached the stallion and bought a few.
Satisfied, Morning began his walk back home but was interrupted by a familiar voice calling his name.
“Captain Rays, so good seeing you around these parts!” the voice called. Turning around, Morning was greeted by a gleeful Cherry trotting toward him, two saddlebags strapped to her sides.
“Miss Cherry, it’s good to see you.” Morning bowed his greetings. “But please, Captain is just a title, you can call me by my name if you’d like,” he offered with a smile.
With a mischievous grin, Cherry feigned surprise and quickly replied, “Oh I’m sorry Mister Rays.”
That got a chuckle out of Morning, recognizing it was the same thing he did yesterday. An uncomfortable silence fell between them as their eyes were still locked between one another. Cleaning his throat, Morning was the first to break the silence.
“Well, what brings you here, Miss Cherry?” he asked, mentally facehoofing because of the lame question.
Blushing, Cherry averted her eyes. “Oh, A’ah was bringing some cherries to supply my store over there,” she explained, pointing a hoof to an elegant yellow and red painted shop, its wooden walls and style resembling a saloon. “Would you like to have some? Freshly harvested, grown with care and love!” Cherry offered him a pouch filled with cherries from her saddlebags.
Thinking it would be a good idea for the changeling, Morning checked his bits before asking, “I’d love to, how much you’d like for them?”
“Oh, no Ah’m not charging you anything, you can have them.” Cherry politely declined, hoofing him the pouch of cherries. Still, Morning wouldn’t have any of it.
“No, please, I want to pay for them, I also like to earn my things the right way, you know?” Morning insisted, remembering how Miss Cherry prided the hard work on her farm.
“Ohh, okay then. It would be ten bits.” Cherry gave in with a chuckle.
A bit expensive, but Morning was sure the quality would make it worth it.
Landing her the bits, Morning waved his goodbye and was about to leave before she interrupted him again, “Oh, Mister Rays, I almost forgot!” She went inside her shop for few seconds, leaving a confused Morning waiting at the door. She returned with a letter in her mouth, the royal guard seal dangling from it.
“Ah got this letter in the mail, it had my address in it so Ah thought it was okay. It’s for you.” She hoofed him the letter.
Opening it with his wings, Morning took a quick read through its contents.
‘Captain Morning Rays, due to the recent (and unexpected) arrival of the Night Guard, all today’s activities have been postponed while a more precise schedule is organized between the Dawn and Night Guard.
I expect to see you early tomorrow.
-General Iron Hoof’
She must be really pissed off… Morning thought before realization hit him. That’s perfect! Now I have more time to make sure the changeling is okay!
Saying his thanks, Morning began his walk back home before he was interrupted for a third time. “S-say, would you like to drink some coffee with me? M-maybe tea?” Cherry asked, trying to hide a light blush forming on her cheeks.
It was a tempting offer, but Morning had to take care of the baby…
“I’m sorry Miss Cherry, I can’t right now. Maybe another day?” he offered with an apologetic smile.
Visibly deflating, Cherry nodded, her ears at the back of her head. “Oh, sure, you’re busy… bye, Mister Rays.”
“Bye, Miss Cherry.” Morning bowed again and left.
Feeling lonelier by the minute, the baby changeling wiggled around the room, trying to find something to sate its hunger. Its attention was, again, drawn toward Glory’s feather. The baby didn’t know why, but that feather had such a comforting aura, the same aura it felt when the big creature took care of it. What could it be?
Getting closer to the bedside table, the baby tried to think of a way to get to the feather. Still, a bit traumatized by last night's events, it refused to try and scale the bed again so it looked around in search for another, safer, way.
It noticed that the feather was dangling halfway out the table. It felt so light and soft to the touch last night, maybe it could be shaken off? With a new plan in mind, the baby began its attack.
Resting its front legs on the table, the baby used its soft, but surprisingly muscular abdomen to lightly push against the table, adding more and more force as it felt necessary. After a few dangerous swings from the table, the feather guided through the air, softly landing on the baby’s snout, causing it to backpedal in a sneezing fit.
Calming down, the baby got the feather with its tiny fangs and carried it to its cradle. Now that its senses were a bit more sharper, the baby could feel an entire array of feelings emanating from the strange aura. It had a purplish pink hue, it was so pretty and soothing. It made the baby feel warm inside, like its magic was feeding it. It smell was so alluring, even more so than the smell the breeze carried last night. And it was sweet, so much sweet, better than that weird thing the big creature tried to feed it.
With the feather in hooves, the baby patiently waited for the giant’s return, but as time went on, the soothing aura seemed to get weaker and weaker, fading into nothingness.
The baby could hear noises coming from below, the big creature has returned! Quickly losing interest in the now, aura-less feather, the baby wiggled itself towards the door, leaving the feather behind.
Morning Quickly left his groceries on the kitchen balcony, grabbed a clean plate and put a tiny slice of banana, broccoli, and lettuce alongside some cherries and a bit of honey. Flying upstairs he was about to open the door when an old habit kicked in. A long time ago, when Glory was just a filly, she had the habit of taking naps behind closed doors. After both him and his wife accidentally hit her multiple times when opening the door, they acquired the habit of searching for any shadow behind it, and indeed there it was, the moving shadow of the changeling larva trying to climb the door.
Chuckling to himself, Morning gently opened the door so the baby had time to get out of the way. Almost like a puppy greeting its owner, the baby spun around and backpedaled, trying to maintain eye contact with him.
“Sorry for the wait. Here we go…” Morning said, trying to calm the baby as he lowered the plate.
As soon as the baby had its eyes on the food, it instantly felt the alluring smell of sugar. It dove in, devouring the fruits and honey like a parasprite while tossing the greenery out of the way. It especially ate all the cherries first, as it felt the most appealing to it.
That voracity earned a chuckle out of Morning, who remembered how Glory used to dive in her morning cereal during breakfast as a child. But he also noticed that the baby managed to leave all the broccoli and lettuce without giving it a single bite, almost like it knew it didn’t like it.
Hmm… Interesting… Morning went back to the kitchen and brought all his groceries back up, it was time for a little experiment.
He offered the baby a banana slice. Sure enough, the baby ate it. Then he tried to envelop a smaller banana slice inside a lettuce leaf. Without missing a beat, the baby swiftly unraveled the horrible leaf to reach the banana. It was like it was drawn toward sweet food. Next, he put a slice of banana, honey, and cherries in front of the baby. To his surprise the baby instantly went for the cherries, consuming them in a single gulp, then it ate the honey and lastly the banana.
Morning scratched his head in confusion, if it was only a matter of sweetness, the honey should be consumed first. Why did it prefer the cherries?
While Morning was absorbed in thought, the baby stealthily went for the honey pot, since it was the closest target. The baby tipped the pot, smearing honey everywhere and wiggled itself inside, to it, the honey pot felt like a sweet version of its comforting pod. Still trying to find an explanation for the mystery, Morning eventually spotted Glory’s feather lying inside the baby’s cradle. Curious as for how it got there, he picked it up and inspected it. Everything was normal. Strange, the baby was also holding it last night… Then it all seemed to click as a memory of the encounter with Cherry revealed itself in Mornings mind.
“Would you like to have some? Freshly harvested, grown with care and love!”
Morning embraced Glory’s feather as he thought aloud, “Maybe it can detect remaining love in objects?” Still, there was a piece missing. What about the honey and the banana? Maybe love taste sweet like it?
His voice got the baby’s attention. Looking at the gentle giant in front of him, the baby was confused. There it was, the feather that just a couple of minutes ago had lost all its magic was once again full of energy… maybe the creature was the source of this energy? Looking at some remaining cherry juices on the plate, they were charged with that weird aura as well, and the creature was the one who brought them. Maybe the baby was right.
Finally spotting the baby tucked inside the honey pot, Morning chuckled. Feeling a bit tired from his walk back, he lay on his bed, some previous thoughts running through his head once again. What should I do with it? I can’t turn it in, can I?
Morning lifted his head so he could look at the baby, the cute sight of the baby sucking at its tiny, honey coated legs almost giving him a heart attack.
Buck it…
“I guess I can’t keep calling you “It” can I?” Morning asked the baby, getting up from his bed and sitting in front of it.
The baby could feel a pretty small stream of that magical aura coming out from the creature and going directly to her. It wasn’t as strong as it felt from the feather, but it was there.
“But what should I call you? Are you a boy or a girl?” Morning continued, rather asking himself than the baby. Thinking back to the baby beside his family photo, something inside him, you can call it a father’s instinct, told him that she was a filly. But what to call her?
Looking at the babe again, splashing and playing with the honey, he had his answer. “Hello there, Honeydew,” he called her. “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Morning Rays.”
Honey’s gaze looked into his, and somehow, someway, she understood.
