> The Life Of Blitz > by LyNx_X_PiE_PiE > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: Foal Play > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This was the beginning of my life! I was born into a world that made no sense to me at all. I was born into the world thinking that all of my changeling brothers and sisters were right. How wrong I was… I was a special changeling, being half unicorn and half changeling after all. Nopony realised this for the longest time. I would just act as any old changeling. The old queen, Chrysalis, wasn't the kindest to anypony. She would always scream at certain changelings and avoid screaming at others. I was thankfully one of those others. Chrysalis began to find out more about me, as she began to notice me changing constantly. Not changing shape or form, to try to blend in, but how I just naturally was. I had began to take on a coloured mane, blue to be exact, while all of the other changelings followed the traditional root of Chrysalis' darker green mane. She took to me like I was her own little foal. That was something that didn't go down well, secretly, with my true mother. My mother was just any other changeling mare, only she escaped from the hive occasionally to talk to a stallion that she bonded with. A unicorn stallion to be exact. That was my father! He was amazing, but I didn't get to see him at all, until something happened to him and my mother, but more on that later on. Anyway, I was born from my mother and then she placed me among the group of changelings that Chrysalis has made. It was a sad time for her, but she had to do what she could to live. Ponies didn't understand how hard it was to be a changeling. It was like living in the royal guard for your entire life, with stricter rules. Most changelings were punished, including me, if we were to step out of line. So Celestia knew what would happen if Chrysalis found out about me not being hers. My mother would most likely be beheaded if Chrysalis found out. My mother occasionally offered to protect the newborns, just to see me happy. I didn't know that that caring mare, watching over me most of the time, was my own mother. I was split away from most of the other young changelings. I didn't really like this, but I didn't have a choice if I liked it or not. I was special to her. Chrysalis wanted me to be her actual foal, but I didn't want to be. I wanted to be and live the life of a normal changeling, but she told me that I wasn't a normal changeling. At least give me the option to choose if I wanted to be yours or not. The worst thing that she could have done, was force that decision upon me. This lead to me gaining my anxiety and then made me super unsociable. When I was to be taught, like all of the other changelings, I would get constantly bullied. This made me cry from time to time, because of it hurting so much. I didn't want to be different, but I had no choice. My mother gained a promotion a couple of years later and was offered the opportunity to look after me personally, to be my personal guard going around the hive. Chrysalis did this because I got bullied for being hers, but I did appreciate it greatly. It was a couple of days before I began to speak openly to my mother, not knowing it yet. She was so happy to talk to me and I was happy to tell her everything about my day. She told me the stories about her and my father and then told me about who I really was. I gave her a hug and that was her final straw. She cried as I hugged her. I was so happy that I had found my mother. My actual family! She did what Chrysalis didn't, she gave me a choice. She said that I could continue being Chrysalis' foal, or I could keep my mother being a secret and actually being in my actual family. I chose my true mother and I'm so glad that I did. A couple of years later, my mother was still my guard, but I still secretly treated her like my mother should have been treated. A hero! Only Chrysalis got jealous of what me and my mother had. She talked to my mother about what she was doing and my mother spilled the truth. Chrysalis didn't react like I originally had anticipated. I thought that she was going to shout at her and kill her or something like that, instead, she invited me to talk about my situation. I talked about how much I loved both my mother and Chrysalis. Despite Chrysalis being heartbroken beyond repair, she understood us and we understood her. She wasn't happy, but she was cooperative. She hated my mother, but wanted what was best for me. If my true mother made me happy, then I should go with her. I began to cry and I turned to my mother and nodded, before turning to Chrysalis and hugging her, thanking her for what she had done. Chrysalis made a deal with me and my mother. She told us that if we were to leave, then she wouldn't send a force to go after us. We would be free to live normal pony lives, but if Chrysalis saw us at all, she would kill us on sight. We both agreed and began to leave the hive. A couple of changelings came to send me off. A changeling mare cried as she hugged me. She was going to be the one to miss me the most. Despite all of the other changelings, she liked me the most. I didn't really have too many feelings for her at the time, but she was beginning to grow on me. Me and my mother made our move. We exited the hive, as the entrance closed behind us. My mother signalled for me to hop onto her back and I happily responded by jumping on and grabbing my mother's neck. She flew off in the direction of the closest town. The town where she met my father. As we were traveling along, I took a look at the sky, as the clouds painted the sky like… like… I didn't really have anything to describe the clouds like, cause I only saw the inside of the hive, that was all dark and gloomy. The clouds were so beautiful! I wanted to just fly towards them and just lie down on one and go to sleep, but I didn't realise that that was physically possible. My mother talked to me about all of the sky as I watched the sky turn from a light blue, to a bright orange. It was truly remarkable! I had seen nothing more beautiful than this, other than my own mother of course. I respected Chrysalis for allowing my mother and I to have a choice this time. I don't think that I would paint Chrysalis a bad pony, just somepony who wanted what was best for the changelings. We arrived at the town and saw many ponies ahead of us. My mother landed behind a bush and looked at me. She asked me how good my shapeshifting skills were and I changed into the bush that we were next to. My mother smiled at that and then looked through the bushes and changed into a pony that she could see. She looked back at me in her new form and then raised an eyebrow. I looked through the bush and saw a colt on the opposite side of the bush. Before my mother could say something, I changed into the colt. I looked at my mother with a little chuckle. She smiled. She changed the gender of the pony she looked at and looked like any normal mare. She tilted her head slightly before signalling for me to do the same, to change the gender of the pony I was. Because I wanted to stay as a colt through the end of this, I looked through the bush and then saw a nice filly that I could change into. I changed into her and then changed my gender to a colt. I raised my eyebrow to my mother, getting a surprisingly happy smile from her. I remember what she said. It was: "That's my boy!" She whispered it into my ear. I could tell that she was proud of me. We walked out from behind the bushes and she brushed the leaves out of my mane. She said for us to go and find my father and then talk to him about all of this. I nodded to her orders and followed her around. She knew instantly what house was my father's and went up to knock on the door. A unicorn stallion opened it up and I smiled. My mother said something stupid, but I remember it so well. It was something like: "you been missing something or somepony? Hey hun… it's me and your son. Chrysalis kicked us out of the hive." My father was speechless as he looked at me and smiled. He slowly placed some items he was carrying with his mouth to the side and walked closer towards me. I was happy to see him, but I could tell that he was slightly confused about me and I'm sure that I would be as confused as him too if my son and my marefriend returned to me after years of separation. My father smiled happily and opened his forehooves as he hugged me tightly. He was actually crying as he held me. He was a father. He was my father! I was so happy to finally meet him. Out of nowhere, he looked over to my mother and quickly moved over to her, pushing her in and closing the door behind him, placing me in his magic, before placing me on a chair. "Have you named him?" My father stated aloud, catching me by surprise and making me jump. "Not yet, my love. I was kind of wanting you to name him, since you named me too." My mother stated. "Mother? What did father name you?" I asked, being curious of what my mother's name was. "Your father named me Shadow. This is only because I would follow him everywhere, when I could get out of the hive." Shadow said, looking over at my father with a smile. "Your father's name is Copper!" Shadow added, still gazing into my father's eyes. "I got a name for him! How about little ol' Blitz?" Copper suggested, gaining a smile from me and my mother. "I like it! What about you son? Wanna be called Blitz?" Shadow asked carefully. "I love it! Blitz it is! I'm a fast learner and careful adapted to my surroundings. I love it! Thank you father!" I blurted out with excitement in my tiny little voice. It was settled that we would live with my father. We learnt to love living as a family. A real family! > Chapter 2: Blending In > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been a couple of weeks since me and my mother had left the hive. My father was more than happy to see us, but we had to adapt to everything new that was thrown at us. My father, now a dad, had to take some more responsibilities to look after not only me, but Shadow as well. My mother had to look after Copper and me too, but also had to focus on getting a job, so that she could earn some bits. I had to focus on one thing, going to school. That was the only thought that went through my mind when I got out of bed. The beds outside of the hive, were nice. They were way more comfortable than the silk like goo that we used to sleep in. This was part of the adaption process I guessed. We just had to focus on not being found out about, otherwise we would be exiled or something, or even worse. That motivation of not being found out about, got me out of bed. I stood up and stretched my forehooves and hindlegs. I slowly walked over to the next room, where Shadow and Copper had been sleeping. Copper didn't own a double bed and only had one bed in his room, so Shadow had to share it with him. I'm sure she didn't mind at all, getting to snuggle up with my dad. That brought a happy warmth to my heart, making me smile. I knocked on the door and coughed. Shadow turned over, looked at me and smiled. "Morning Blitz!" She cooed, nuzzling Copper with so much affection, I didn't know if it was hurting Copper or not. "We are both really tired because we were doing some work last night, so you might need to give us a couple of minutes." She added, looking back at Copper as he began to wake up. "Ok Shadow, but I need to say, it's a bit hard to sleep when your 'work' consists of moaning and shouting loudly for dad to buck you harder." I chuckled. "And yes, I know what you are actually doing, so you don't have to talk about the birds and the bees to me, thank you." I added with a mischievous grin. Shadow blushed and Copper went wide eyed. The both looked at me with concern and I laughed. "Ever since we got here…" I whispered, just loud enough to allow them to hear it. Shadow went an even brighter shade of red, as she blushed more and that prompted Copper to start blushing as well. "But… but…" they both stammered simultaneously as I walked out of the room. I didn't want them being awkward with me. They could show as much affection to each other as they wanted, I didn't really care too much. As long as they were enjoying themselves. I had no say in their love life or relationship. I only wanted one thing, for them to be happy. I trotted downstairs and then through the living room, into the kitchen. I changed into the colt I had originally, when I was getting here and went to go and have some breakfast, consisting of mainly just oats. It was bland, but it was alright. Changelings at the hive never used to eat, but I occasionally did from time to time. Changelings could live off love or food, which I quite stupid really, since food was renewable and so was love. This was probably why my mother didn't eat so much, she just loved my dad and shared her love with him, even though it was impossible for him to convert love into food. The gesture was there though! My mother was so generous to us and everyone else to be honest. Probably the nicest changeling you'd ever meet or hear about. I was eating my oats and looked to the side. Copper walked towards me with a smile, still blushing slightly. He keeps his eye on me as he lifts the spoon I was holding with my magic, with his, and ate a spoonful of oats. I just watched him, with a smile on my face. "What tastes better, those oats or mother?" I asked with a grin. He spat the oats out with shock and confusion of what I said. He looked at me with an angry scowl. He laughed shortly after. "Shadow taught ya well I see!" He chuckled, cleaning up the oats he spat out. I contemplated the thought. For how long she was actually looking after me, she was doing amazingly well. "Yeah, she has!" I said with a calming voice. I took the spoon from my father's magic, then proceeded to continue to eat my oats. Shadow came down shortly after, looking quite nice as the mare she changed into. She had an orange coat, with a pink mane and tail. She looked awesome. I was a little light blue unicorn with a purple mane and tale. I didn't mind the purple mane and tail, it looked quite nice to be completely honest. Copper had dark grey fur, but had a bright brown mane and tail. He looked the best! I got up and placed my bowl into the sink and proceeded to wash it. As I did, I heard Copper talking about some job opportunities that they might have for Shadow. She really wanted to follow up on what she was good at. Being a guard. That would be a little difficult, but not impossible. I turned to see my dad holding a saddle bag with his magic. "Come on son! Time to get you off to school." He said proudly. I slowly walked up to him with no questions asked. I grabbed the bags with my magic and put them on. A perfect fit! I looked up at Shadow and Copper and smiled. I hugged them both as we began to walk up to the door. We opened it to find that the day was early and the sky was bright. The clouds covered the sky with a thick blanket of warmth. We strolled up the road, finally being a complete family. Ponies looked at us like we were normal, for the first time in my life. That's all I wanted! We continued to walk up the road and found the school for fillies and colts. We walked in and got me in with the crowd. I had to leave my parents, again. I waved off to parents as they waved back. I looked around and found one of the teachers. "Umm… excuse me miss! I'm new here! Is there anywhere that I need to go?" I asked, a little anxious. The teacher smiled and signalled for me to follow her. Suddenly, I didn't feel so normal, as fillies and colts looked at me like I was a freak. I wish I didn't have to hide my true identity, but I would lose everything if I revealed myself. Eyes darted over at me from every angle, coving ever part of my body with invisible lasers. They were evaluating me! We went inside, away from all of the other young ponies and walked down a corridor. I assumed that we were walking to the Headmare's office. My assumptions were correct after we turned a corner to see a sign with the words "Headmare's office!" Written on it. I chuckled at my luck. The teacher looked back at me and stopped at the door, pointing a hoof at the door. I knocked on it as the teacher left, down the path we had taken to get here. The Headmare opened the door with a warm smile. "Hello Blitz! Lovely to meet you! I'm the Headmare of this beautiful school, as I'm sure you're aware." She said with a chuckle at the end. I smiled, being less anxious to be with the Headmare of the school. She seemed pretty nice, a lot nicer than the changeling teachers, that's for sure. We talked for a little while, talking about where I originally came from and why I was here. I had to lie so much. I hated it, but this was the only way that I could keep undercover, keeping my true identity hidden. After about half an hour, the Headmare showed me to my class. We walked down the corridors as we headed to my class. I was seated in my class, ponies all around me. They all seemed to be not enjoying being here. Some of them just looking like they were about to fall asleep and others just ignoring the teacher. I was just looking at the teacher, waiting for my next task to be told to me. I always used to love learning, especially learning new things. I was even told that I was a hard worker and was rewarded a little. So if the rules were nicer, then surely the workload would be too, right? The teacher shouted at all of the students to follow her instructions. They all froze and stopped what they were doing and began acting like I was. They began to wait for instructions. We were told to do writing from a book and change the words to make them sound more formal and informal. It wasn't too difficult, but it was a little challenging. Nothing I couldn't handle though. I completed the work and waited for everypony to finish. I could tell that the teacher was proud of me, being able to get work to the deadline, with some additional work. I was a hard worker. I was about to get ready to leave, when the teacher called me back. It was the end of the day and I would just need to wait for Shadow and Copper to arrive or at least one of them. I walked back to the room and then knocked. "You wanted to see me miss?" I asked, being a little nervous. She nodded and pointed at a chair on the opposite side of the table. I gingerly sat on it and looked at her. "Blitz… I am truly amazed by your knowledge at this age! Did you come from a school higher up?" She asked, curious about my past. I nodded. "Yes miss! I came from a stricter school that taught for longer hours." I admitted, not lying about any of it. She nodded and smiled. "You're an asset to the class! I wish more of the pupils were like you." She told me flatly, making a smile appear on my face. "Thank you miss!" I stated. "You may be dismissed! Enjoy the rest of your day." She commanded, waving me off. I hopped off the chair and walked away. As I walked down the corridors, I noticed some of the older ponies were coming and going. I didn't worry about anything. I got outside and waited for Shadow and Copper, but it had been half an hour after the pickup time and they still hadn't arrived. That still didn't worry me. They probably were still at work. I began to walk out of the school and then down the roads and paths that lead to my home. Before I could get on the final path home, I saw some older ponies, from the school. They looked at me with amusement and then began to approach me. I turned to look at them and didn't hesitate to stay still. They walked over to me and pushed me against the wall with their magic. Two unicorns and a pegasus! My saddlebag dropped on the floor as I got pinned up against the wall. They were suffocating me! Either I had to use my wings to life me up, without them noticing, or had to resort to using my magic. I chose the latter! I teleported to my saddlebag and picked it up. I looked up as two hooves punted me into the wall. At this point, I was in agony! I shrieked as my head hit the wall with a terrifying force. I could taste blood! I weakly looked up at the bullies. "Wh...what do you want?" I asked, choosing my words carefully. They all laughed. "To hurt you and to welcome you to the fine old town." One of the unicorns said. I was bucked into the wall again. This sent a shiver of pain rocketing down my left hindleg. I screamed! A bolt of lightning flared from my horn as I shot a bolt of electrical energy at one of the unicorns. It hit him and burnt him a little. He winced as he looked at the wound. I used my magic to strike another, before a ring of some sort was rammed on my horn, preventing me from using my magic. They forgot about the burns and went about hurting me, bucking me and throwing me against the wall. This happened for a solid minute, before they saw that I had just given up. Blood poured from multiple wounds on my head, as well as from the wounds on my body. The bullies turned to see a guard looking at them. He looked past them to look at me, cowering and looking like I had been through hell and back. He scowled at them before teleporting them somewhere. He quickly looked at me as I slowly got up. "Stay down! I can help you!" He whispered, making me slightly confused. I looked at him and sighed. "You… you could have helped me avoid th… this!" I stated flatly, wincing in pain as I grabbed the ring and yanked it off my horn, then proceed to pick up the saddlebag. I held it with my magic. He looked at me, like he was admiring my work or something. I ached all over my body, from my head, to my hooves. "Those were some damn good skills with those magical bolts. You need to remember that ponies don't learn spells like that until they hit adulthood." He stated, making me a little worried that he knew I was a changeling. He crouched down to me and changed his face, into the face of a familiar changeling. "Th… Thorax?" I blurted out, a little too loud, which ended up with me coughing up a little blood. He nodded. "Queen Chrysalis ordered us out to hunt for love and said that if we found changeling living in the world, to eliminate them… but you know me. I wouldn't hurt a fly!" He explained, allowing my to breathe a sigh of relief. "They named me Blitz, Thorax! My mother is called Shadow. Keep it to yourself! Please!" I blurted out, before I started coughing badly. Thorax backed up a little and nodded before teleporting away, leaving me on my own. I got to the house and opened up the door. I clambered inside and closed the door. I could hear talking in the other room, something about missing the time to pick me up. I didn't really care about them missing it, I only cared that they were ok. I hopped on into the room on the three legs that were barely working. Copper and Shadow were talking at each other and turned to look at me… and froze. B...Blitz? What happened?" They both said in unicen. They both rushed up to me as I fell to the floor. My eyes barely able to stay open for any longer, as I looked at both of them. They both wore looks of panic and fear. "T… Thorax s… saved me!" I blurted out below them. I closed my eyes and felt the pain leave my system as I fell unconscious. > Chapter 3: Plagued Minds > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I awoke from my unconsciousness with a sharp pain in my head. I was in my bed! My parents were not in my room, but they shouldn't have needed to be there for when I woke up. I looked at a clock on the wall that had just passed seven o'clock. I didn't know if it was the next morning, or the same day. I was soon to find out as I struggled out of bed. I was in agonising pain, but that didn't stop me. I sat up on my bed first, aching from the beating that I had taken, and used my forehooves to pull myself off the bed. The pain was horrible, but I had to cope with it. I stood up and immediately winced at my left hindleg. I had to lift it up to avoid it hurting so much. I couldn't walk on it, so that ruled out some of my plans. I gingerly walked over to my window and pulled open the curtains. I hadn't changed into my other form, because I was hurting too much. I peered around carefully as I looked into the sky. It was slowly turning darker, meaning that it still was the same day. I closed the curtains and slowly hobbled across and out of the room. I opened my wings to carefully hover down the stairs. My wings were super stiff, but I could still use them, it would just ache more. I reached the bottom of the stairs and didn't even attempt to land. The thought of going through as much pain as I had originally did, was the last thing I wanted. I continued to hover and peaked around the corner. Shadow was working in the kitchen and Copper was sat on the sofa, watching the TV. I hovered up to him and smiled. He looked at me with a little shock, but then found a comforting look to warm my heart. "You're quite the resilient one, aren't ya?" Copper spoke softly, having a little unsteadiness in his voice. This might have been because he had several bottles of alcohol on the floor. Most of them were empty, but a couple were unopened. I landed on the floor softly and lifted my left hindleg off the floor. I then looked at it, as I continued into the kitchen. I didn't dare sit down, as the pain was still in my mind of my leg hurting too much. Instead, I tapped Shadow on the side, with my magic. She turned and smiled. "You feeling better then Blitz?" She asked, wearing a scared look on her face. I nodded and that completely wiped the scared look off of her face. She looked at my leg, lifted off the ground and scowled. "You've fractured your leg!" She blurted out, while I was looking for something to eat. I turned to look at her, wearing a blank expression. She smiled. "Don't look at me like that!" She commanded. I chuckled in response to her. It was an hour since I had woken up. I was downstairs, watching TV, or trying to at least. Shadow and Copper had gone upstairs and I had an idea of what they were doing. A mixture of noises rang out through the floor and entered the room where I was, drowning out the noise of the TV. It was getting a bit much, so I did the only thing I could, I got up and hovered up the stairs. I came to the door and turned around, a little angry that I had to do this. I used my good hindhoof to buck open the door. I wasn't surprised to find Copper and Shadow doing some love making of their own. Copper tried to cover up what he was doing and Shadow turned her head around to see me stood there. Shadow smiled, probably still in bliss as she has her tongue draping over the side of her maw. "Dad… stop! You don't need to cover yourself. I saw more action happening in the hive, than you have here. I don't care if you two are having sex! It's just can you keep it down? I can't think or hear the TV with you two moaning." I stated. Shadow smiled and nodded. Copper did the same, still not uncovering his private area. I didn't care about anything sex related. It was natural to have feelings for another, enough to get your privates out and interlock with your significant other. It made me chuckle when I thought about it being like a gun. You had to put a magazine into the allotted hole, to make it work, or in this case, fire! I looked back at Shadow and smiled. "Thank you son! Best son!" Shadow drunkenly stated, still being in a bliss type of moment. They were both intoxicated! My mother in love and my father in alcohol. Great! I turned and hovered back down the stairs and flew onto the sofa again. I was able to lie down, but only in a specific position, so that I didn't lie down on my leg. I scrolled through the channels and stumbled across most colts wet dreams. Porn channels, or chatline channels featuring hot mares and stallions. I didn't have much opinion on these channels. They were here for lonely mares or stallions wanting phone sex. I quickly scrolled past them all, none of them appealing to me whatsoever. I was the type of pony or changeling that just wanted somepony to be there for me, lovingly of course, but I wasn't too big on having sex with anypony. I was probably too young to be thinking about these things, but I wasn't a normal colt. I was a young changeling! A young changeling with pony features. I pondered that for a minute, while looking around for a little mirror of some sort. I found one in the kitchen and then brought it to my face with my magic, while staying on the comfort of the sofa. I looked into it and saw that there was little change I had to a normal changeling. I had developed coloured eartips and the end of my horn also had the same idea. I had blue eyes, which came from my father having blue eyes and also my mother having dark green eyes. I wasn't sure that my eyes were one hundred percent blue, but it was very prominent showing it off. My mane and tail were still like a normal changeling's, but it was super bright. Again, my mane and tail was also blue. I was just a blob of blue and black, until I changed into somepony else that is. I looked at the TV and settled on watching a documentary on pony life. If I was wanting to blend in, I would want to know more about pony kind. I left the TV on the channel and then turned to look back at the mirror. All of the marks and cuts on my face, made me look more like a normal changeling. The evil creatures that wanted to enslave ponykind, or so they were depicted as. I just wanted to live a normal life, but if what happened today kept happening, then I probably wouldn't see my life's long haul. I wanted to do something about all of this. I had to do something about this. Sat up and grabbed a towel from the kitchen and rolled it up before putting it into my muzzle, to avoid me biting myself and muffle the screams I was about to have. I grabbed my left hindleg with my magic and then pulled it. It hurt really bad, but it needed to be done. Well, it didn't really, I just wanted to try something. I didn't work! I winced in pain as I tried to increase my pain tolerance, but it didn't work, at least that's what I thought. I needed to build up my strength somehow. I would probably want to start doing this at my age just to allow myself some opportunity to adapt to everything, by becoming stronger. I put the mirror back into the kitchen and continued to watch the documentary on pony life. It was interesting to see all of the ponies and their historical factors. I enjoyed learning, so this was inspiring for me. I turned off the TV and headed upstairs. I flew to the top of the stairs and looked into my mother and father's room. I saw something terrible but lovely at the same time. They were asleep, which was the lovely part, but my dad, was visibly still inside Shadow. They must have fell asleep in the afterglow of their time. I didn't care too much. They loved each other, that's all that mattered. I loved them for that! The perfect couple, one from ponykind, the other from the pony's enemy's side. I walked into the room, ignoring the lewd scene before me and pulled the blanket over both of them with my magic. I kissed my father on the head, then followed it up with a kiss to my mother's head. She responded by cuddling Copper more, which was a bonus for Copper I guessed. I flew to the door and closed it behind me. I smiled as I flew to my bedroom and lied down on my bed. I rested my head on my pillow and closed my eyes, hoping that I could bring justice on those ponies who hurt me today. I had to walk to school with my busted up leg. I was escorted by Shadow this time, due to Copper getting up and going to work earlier today. I was still battered and bruised from yesterday, but Shadow and I didn't care. We just wanted to get to the bottom of this. Everypony looked at me and just… stared. I felt like an outsider again, but due to my injuries, I didn't worry about it. I had other matters to attend to. "I'd like to talk to the Headmare of the school." Shadow stated, looking angrily at one of the teachers. She signalled for us to both follow her, again. Shadow looked back at me and smiled. "We're gonna get to the bottom of this son. One way or another!" Shadow convinced me, with a smile. I nodded before looking around at all of the parents, fillies and colts looking at me. I could hear the whispers of different conspiracies, like my parent beating me or something like that. Also, conspiracies like forcing their child to fight, or even their parents don't care about what they do. That got me angry. We reached the Headmare's office and thanked the teacher for her assistance. Shadow looked at me, before knocking softly on the Headmare's door. She opened it with a casual smile as she looked at Shadow and then she looked down at me and froze, changing her smile for a worried look. "B...Blitz! What happened to you?" She stuttered, looking at my form. I didn't meet her eyes. Instead, I looked at the floor, hoping that she would sort this out quicker, just so that I could get on with my day. The Headmare told us to enter her office and we entered the office without hesitation. Shadow sat in a chair and I sat on another. The Headmare closed the blinds on her window and sighed. I looked at Shadow with hope that we could do this quickly. She met my gaze and hushed me. That made me smile. "I'm going to try to connect to you more by being my normal self. None of this 'I've done this, I've done that' malarkey. Just pretend like I'm one of your friends, one of your mates." The Headmare stated softly, taking a seat in her chair. "O… ok then!" I stated, sounding a little surprised that she wanted to try to connect with me. "I was walking home, alone, and these ponies approached me. They were wearing different types of clothing, mainly ones with hoods. They said that they were beating me up to make me feel worse and to welcome me to the town." I stated, looking over at Shadow. She nodded and then I looked back at the Headmare. She pondered that for a moment before raising a hoof up. "Did the ponies look older than you?" The Headmare asked, looking at me like she knew something. I nodded and then she rubbed her chin with a hoof. "Right! You two stay here quick. I'm going to gather the ponies that wore hoodies. Just to reassure me, they consisted of two unicorns and a pegasus right?" She added, questioning me further. I nodded with a little smile. She wore an angry look, but didn't want me to notice it. "One second please!" She stated, opening the door in front of her and then storming through it, swiftly closing the door behind her. The Headmare came back minutes later, with the ponies that hurt me. They realised who I was and looked at me with angry looks. They all lined up next to the wall in the Headmare's office and scowled. She grabbed a ruler with her magic and slammed it against the table, scaring not only me, but also the three ponies and Shadow as well. The ruler snapped from the force that was put into slamming it onto the table. "You three were on your last warning and you just blew it! You have given me no choice but to do one thing. You're all expelled! Exiled from this school for all that you have done!" She roared, looking angrily at them. One of them looked at me and Shadow, followed by the other two. Shadow sensed something was going to happen, then got up and guarded me. The hive said she was one of the best at what she did, so I knew that I was well protected, only… she couldn't use her magic, nor could she fly. One of the unicorns looked over at the Headmare and lashed out for her, she reacted by moving back and pinning the unicorn to the wall with her magic. The other unicorn picked up the ruler, or what remained of it and struck the Headmare, making her drop the unicorn. They all turned to me and Shadow. Shadow kept her hindleg on my chest and pushed me back a little. I charged up my magic, just incase my mother was to fall. I needed to charge my magic to make my spells ten times more effective and powerful. The original burns I inflicted on them, were not even charged. The pegasus launched himself at Shadow, which she immediately grabbed the pegasus with her muzzle, before spinning around and throwing him against the wall. That stunned him slightly, allowing her to shift her focus on another target. Next was the one of the unicorns! She ran up to him with some force and pinned him against the wall before grabbing him with her mouth and throwing him against my side of the room. He hit the wall with a loud 'thump' and crashed against the floor. I was not in a state to fight, but I kept my eyes on Shadow, just in case she needed the help. She looked at the pegasus, who got up and charged at her. The unicorn pinned her up against the wall and was about to grab the ruler again to hit her with it, before I released the charged shot I was holding. I released a bolt of lightning at the unicorn, which shocked him badly, as if he got shot by a bolt of… what I shot him with. He screamed with agony and turned to look at me. His eye twitched with anger as he threw the ruler at me, the broken point enterex past my fur and penetrated my body. It penetrated just below where my wings were. Luckily, not my wings. Shadow screamed out as she used her magic to pull the unicorn off her and pinned him to the floor. She spawned an anti magic ring to place on the unicorn's horn and did the same to the other one. She used a healing spell on the Headmare and looked her dead in the eyes. The Headmare looked at me and got up instantly, then ran over to me. Shadow did the same, changing her appearance to have a horn, trying to play this off. Some more ponies came in and tried to help us. They constantly administered a special healing spell that repaired my wound for the most part, but it left a mark that would eventually be covered over by my fur. After about fifteen minutes, all of the ponies had left, taking the 3 ponies with them. They were going to a very, very bad place. Shadow was helping the Headmare put all of the things in her office back. I was just sat down, trying to recover from what had just happened. The Headmare kept looking at me and Shadow and kept sighing. "Thank you so much for this… umm, I never got your name." The Headmare stated, making Shadow turn to her. "I'm Shadow!" Shadow announced proudly, fixing a painting to the wall, so that it was not tilted. She then went up to see me. "How you doing Blitz?" Shadow asked. I smiled at her, which was the only answer she needed. We both moved the chairs and sat on them both, watching as the Headmare mimicked us, on the opposite side of the table. "So… how was it that you could use magic, without a horn and now have a horn?" The Headmare asked, slightly confused. Shadow looked at me and sighed, admitting defeat of being found out. "If I show you, can you promise to not tell anypony? Also, we need to close and lock the door and also close the blinds, so that nopony can see!" Shadow commanded. The Headmare wasted no time in closing the door and locking it, followed by the blinds being closed. She then used her magic once more, to turn on the lights, so that everything was bright. She nodded. "After all that happened, I kind of owe you for the help." She said with a smile. Shadow got up and walked a little back. She lost her disguise and smiled at the Headmare. The Headmare didn't look worried at all! She was really calm about the situation. "Blitz, may I ask if you are a changeling too?" The Headmare asked, a soft smile on her face. I got out of the chair and changed, just like my mother had done and revealed my normal self. The Headmare got up and slowly walked up to me, Shadow keeping her eye on the Headmare. "I've seen you before, changeling I mean." She said, looking at Shadow. She looked down at me and smiled with a little concern. "But I have never seen a pony and changeling hybrid." She admitted. I looked at Shadow worryingly, and Shadow opened her mouth to speak, before the Headmare cut her off. "I'm sorry if I make you feel a little uncomfortable. I really am! I only wish to have a look at you. You have my word that I won't tell a single soul!" She stated, looking from me to Shadow. Shadow smiled and then changed back to her earth pony form, without a horn. I changed shortly after and sat in the chair again. "I'm happy to help you two in anyway I can!" The Headmare whispered, making sure that only we could hear her. Shadow chuckled. "I think I'm going to like her!" Shadow said to me, before looking up to the Headmare and having a little chat. I smiled, before getting up and looking out the window, through the blinds. We had someone on the inside helping us. Our lives were becoming just that little bit easier. > Chapter 4: Realising Potential > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- At my age, getting out of bed was a huge struggle. I managed to do it, most of the time. I was only a couple of years from being an adult changeling, so being in my teen years technically. We were living in a different house! My father got a promotion to work in Canterlot and he hindered the offer, until he found out that it included a house for us to stay in. Copper changed his mind shortly after and we moved to Canterlot. Who could have thought that changelings could live in Canterlot, without anypony noticing? Not us, that's who! Shadow officially made it into the royal guard. The Headmare told them about Shadow's actions in the office. She explained how not only did Shadow saved my life, but the Headmare's life as well. She was now working at the rank of a captain in the guard. She was respected by many ponies, including ponies of the higher ranks in the guard. She was a respectable mare. I changed my form instantly, as I got out of bed, and casually walked over to the bathroom. As I approached the bathroom, I looked at the closed door beside me. My parents bedroom was shut. I opened it and wasn't surprised at what I saw. Nothing! My parents were never here when I was awake in the mornings. They would get off to work early to make a better example of themselves. I closed the door back up with my magic and made sure that the door 'clicked', before heading into the bathroom. I turned on the tap in the bathroom and sighed. I was a little lonely most of the time. I didn't want to focus on making friends, cause nobody liked me. I didn't want to disappoint them or even lie to them, so I never focused on it. I used some magic to splash some water over my face, before drying my face with a towel. I sighed again, just wishing that I was able to see my parents as often as I used to. I turned off the tap and completely dried myself fully, before moving down the steps to the ground floor. I walked into the kitchen and sat down. I didn't really need to do anything. I didn't really eat in the morning, even though I should have and I didn't really have anything to hand in at highschool. Most of my time involved looking after myself and the house, while Copper and Shadow worked. I looked at the clock on the wall and sighed, rubbing my hoof through my mane. I had about half an hour to myself before I needed to head off to school, but what to do, I thought. I had an idea to do something… lewd! That idea instantly left my mind as I thought about what I had to do today. No masterbation for me today, I thought, but the idea was still there. "Maybe later?" I questioned myself. I wasn't quite sure on where, or how I would, but maybe. Once I got back? Maybe. I got up and walked into the living room. There was some money on the shelf, left for me to have my lunch later. I picked it up with my magic and carried it to my saddlebag. I placed it inside one of the pockets and picked up the saddlebag itself. When the Headmare was helped by us, she kept to her word. She didn't tell a single soul about what we were or how we actually were. In fact, she was a close friend of Shadow's now, occasionally talking to Shadow about some gossip happening in the little town we used to live in. My mother occasionally met up with her and had a fun time with her. The Headmare's name was Mist. She didn't tell us until a couple of days after the event had happened. She had even left as being Headmare of that school and was now working closer to where she lived. Ponyville! So Shadow would sometimes catch the train to Ponyville to meet with Mist. It was a kind of a nice thing for Shadow, being able to speak openly to someone outside the family. She had friends and work colleagues. Copper had friends and work colleagues too, but I didn't. I struggled to find ponies to talk to. Nopony was into the stuff that I was into and I was scared that if I bonded with someone as a friend, they might find out about what I really was. I pondered that as I sat there. I looked at the clock again and then grabbed the saddlebag and plopped it on my back, before grabbing my keys and making my way to school. I locked the door behind me and sighed, before making my way to Canterlot highschool. Ponies past me, as I trotted to school. I kept my eyes on the ground as I prepared for another day of learning. I loved it, but found it difficult with all of the ponies around me talking and laughing all the time. It was kind of a big distraction to me. Laughter and just voices in general, messed me up all the time. As I walked into the grounds of Canterlot highschool, I took a look around at all of the ponies around me. It hurt me a little, but that was just something I had to deal with. A couple of ponies looked at me and I immediately looked at the ground, as I trotted across the grounds. I sat up against a familiar wall, the wall that was next to the library of the school. It was probably the only place that was empty most of the time. I loved that about this place. The fact that it was empty most of the time, meant that it was quiet most of the time. I rested my back against the wall and looked up at the sky. I sighed and closed my eyes. I could hear the sound of hoofsteps traveling towards me, not away funnily enough. I opened my eyes to look around me and saw a load of mares surrounding me. I thought to myself that this could only be bad. Either these mares had come to make fun of me, or they were in heat and wanted a stallion to rut them silly. I wasn't interested, but wanted them to get away from me, so I talked to them for once. "Can I help you?" I asked, not expecting about 5 of them around me. They were some of the more popular mares, making my thought of them all being in heat even stronger. They all look at me with a little bit of sadness and worry. One of them spoke, while all of the others moved back. "Umm… hey! We noticed that you haven't really talked to anypony here so, we wanted to come over and see whether you wanted to have ponies to talk to." She admitted, making me a little surprised. I pondered that and then spoke the truth. "I haven't really spoken to anypony because I have had a terrible past with making friends, so I just stopped trying, due to getting bullied and mistreated by anypony else that I tried to make friends with." I told them blatantly, trying to make them feel little to no sympathy for me. They looked at each other and all wore different expressions. "Do we look like we could fucking bully you? That's your past! Some ponies can be complete assholes, but… we try not to be!" The same mare joked, before a couple of them sat next to me, then followed by a couple more. The only mare left standing, was the one talking to me. She shortly sat down, right in front of me. Right before I was able to say or do anything, the mare in front of me began to introduce me to all of the others. "Going from left to right from your perspective, you got Jade, Clover, Scarlett and Cyan." She explained. I looked at all of them respectively, from Jade, to Cyan. I then looked back at the mare in front of me. I raised an eyebrow towards the mare. "So what's your name then?" I asked in a curious manner. She began to blush and then looked down at the floor. Oh fuck! I am an idiot! I'm Lavender!" She blurted out, purely out of embarrassment and stupidity that she didn't introduce herself first. I was contemplating all of this, but then let it settle on the fact that I wasn't gonna get away from all of these mares. They weren't gonna leave me alone at all, unless this was a sick and twisted joke to make me feel worse, but I had a feeling that it wasn't. The mares to the left and right began to chat as I slanted back against the wall. A couple of ponies came over, consisting of a couple of stallions and mares. The looked at me and then looked at all of the other mares here. They all looked up at the group, with a look of confused scowl. Lavender got up and stood her ground. "What do you want?" Lavender spoke aloud, standing her ground. I didn't get a good look at some of them. The group of mares who approached me consisted of two pegusi, two earth ponies and a unicorn. The stallions looked angrily at the mares and then looked at Lavender. One of the stallions punched Lavender across the face and then laughed as she winced in pain. There was no mercy coming from the stallion. The mares beside me went over to Lavender and helped her up. She had stumbled from the punch and was recovering from the quick and lethal blow. This was when I got up and walked towards the stallion. He eyed me like a hawk as I approached the group. I stopped in front of them and shook my head. They looked at one another and laughed. I smiled! "Keep laughing! That is what always makes ponies like you too cocky. Put your bits in your mouth and hit somepony who is equipped to handle the situation!" I stated, wearing my smile like a medal. They stopped laughing. "That shut ya up! I like peace and quiet here, so if you don't bring that with ya, fuck off somewhere that you're wanted!" I ordered. The stallion turned around and prepared to buck me. I was ready for him, grabbing his hindlegs with my magic and forcing him down as he tried to buck me. Funnily enough, he was very unsuccessful. I wasn't gonna get to cocky, but I had a feeling that my mother had taught me well since the first attack. One of the other stallions went to tackle me, but I dodged him, making him fall past me. The mares just looked at me as I looked back at them. I used my magic on one of the mares that were approaching me, a bolt of magic that didn't hurt her, pushed her back slowly. I span around and pinned the main stallion against the wall, pinning him up against the wall by his neck. He began to find it hard to breathe, as I held him off the floor. "Leave those mares alone!" I commanded him, with a raspy vicious growl. He nodded as much as he could and gasped for air. I released my hold on him and pushed him away with my magic. I turned back to the mares on my side and saw that the stallion that charged for me had started going after the mares. I whistled to him and for his attention. "Fuck off back to your area, or I'll shame you just like I did your mate!" I roared to him. He smiled. Wrong answer! I teleported behind him and forced him to the floor, spreading his forehooves and hindlegs out as he laid on the floor. I jumped over him and turned to face him. I quickly looked over to the Lavender and then saw that she had a massive bruise on the left side of her face. The must have hurt! I looked back down at the stallion and then back at Lavender. I teleported the stallion to his mate, still splayed out on the floor and proceeded to walk towards the mares. Scarlett and Jade were watching out for anypony else. Scarlett being an earth pony and Jade being a pegasus. Behind them, Cyan and Clover were helping Lavender. Again, Cyan being the Pegasus and Clover being the earth pony. That left Lavender as the unicorn. I looked back at the group of stallions and mares, walking away from my new group of friends. I walked up to Lavender and sat down beside her. I looked at her and sighed. "So what was that about?" I asked, confused on who that stallion was. She turned to me and blushed slightly. "That was my ex! He was an asshole and didn't respect me at all, as you could see. He was a little abusive as well and I didn't like that." Lavender said, shivering a little. I felt a little awkward, but I placed a hoof on her shoulder. She looked at me and smiled. "We all didn't get your name!" She stated, perking her ears on end. I smiled a little. "It's Blitz!" I chuckled, feeling better about myself. As soon as I did tell them all my name, the bell for the highschool classes rang. I got up and turned and lowered a hoof to Lavender, to help her up. She smiled and blushed a little, before accepting the kind gesture and wincing as she got up. I had no idea why she winced as she got up, but I had my doubts about if she was ok or not. We all separated to your lecturers and began our day. Scarlett was in my lecturer, so she came with me. During the morning time, Scarlett talked to me about many things that she likes to do, in her spare time. She was quite nice actually and her drawing skills we unmatched by any artists that I had ever seen. I spent a lot of time on the internet. It was the only thing I could do, since I didn't want to spend time making friends over doing the required workload. Now that I had ponies to talk to, I felt a little more relaxed. The day rushed forward towards lunch without me contemplating anything. I walked over to the canteen, brought myself some food, then sat down in my spot next to the library. I used my magic to hover my food in front of my face, taking bites out of it every now and then, while looking around at everything that was happening around me. Clover and Scarlett walked up to me, followed shortly by Jade and Cyan, as well as Lavender. Lavender smiled at me, as I smiled at her. She sat the closest to me, whereas the others sat with a moderately big gap between us. Lavender was practically against me. "I hope you don't mind me being this close, I'm a little on the edge now!" She spoke softly, placing her head on the floor as she lied down. I looked down at her with a caring smile. She looked at me and sighed. She placed her hoof on the next to mine and positioned it inside my two forehooves. I wore a soft smile, looking into her eyes. "Thank you Blitz." She added before closing her eyes. Before she did though, I lifted her head up lightly and placed her head on my saddlebag, so that she didn't have to keep her head on the floor. She looked up at me and blushed a tiny amount. She closed her eyes and relaxed, rubbing the inner part of my forehoof. "That's the most relaxed she has been in years!" Clover called out to me. I looked down at Lavender and smiled. I didn't want to ruin her bliss right there, so I just rested my head against the wall. I looked up at the approaching rain clouds. Clouds that the pegusi should have cleared. Looking at the clouds, they were way too big to be moved by pegusi alone. I saw some cover close to us, that was also empty, as the rain began to appear. I could feel some water droplets falling onto my head and then called out for all of us to go to the cover. They all nodded and rushed over there. Lavender got up slowly and walked to the cover, escorted by me. I could tell that she was out of it, but this hour of lunch break was the perfect time to get some rest. I got under the cover, that was barely able to cover us all, and laid down. Lavender joined me and sighed, watching the rain. She looked at all of the others as they were chatting away. She looked really tired, so I guessed that she didn't want to talk. I placed my saddlebag in front of me and Lavender and placed my head on it. Lavender poked me with her hoof and I turned to look at her. "You mind if I place my head against yours on the saddlebag?" She asked, a cute little blush still prominent on her face. I nodded and placed my head back on the saddlebag. This was shortly followed by Lavender placing her head on the saddlebag too, then moving her head next to me, rubbing it up next to mine. It was nice, having somepony here to relax with. She moved her body next to mine and again, placed her hoof in-between my hooves. I was technically holding her hoof. "I owe you!" She whispered into my ear, so that only I could hear. I smiled and closed my eyes and relaxed with her. I left it a few minutes before I opened my eyes again. I looked at group and smiled. "What's the time?" I asked in their general direction. Cyan looked at her watch and smiled. "Time you woke Lavender up! The bells gonna go any minute." She said with a smile. I nudged Lavender a little, before going a little closer to her. "Lavender? It's time to wake up!" I whispered in her ear. She opened her eyes slightly and sighed. I smiled and helped her up. We both yawned as we got up, making each other laugh a little. Lavender didn't talk at all. She just smiled. Again, like this morning, we all headed off into our own individual classes, only this time, everypony but Jade and Clover were in the same class. I sat at the front in my magic class, like always. Lavender, Cyan and Scarlett were all sat next to each other. I looked around before the lecturer came in, to see Lavender talking to Cyan and Scarlett. She looked at me and then eyed the empty seat next to me. She teleported her stuff next to me and then walked over, while everypony in the class was chatting. Nobody noticed her move, apart from Scarlett and Cyan. Lavender sat down and looked at me. "We are going to be good friends!" She promoted, earning a little smile from me. I was going to be having a very happy couple of years. > Chapter 5: True Colors > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was adapting very well to my life. I had some close friends, I had some close enemies, I even had somepony to keep close to me. About a year after I met Lavender and her friends, I got closer and closer to her, until she couldn't hold back. She asked me to be her special somepony! I was speechless, but I couldn't say no. We were a happy couple, a sample of what most relationships should have been, only… nothing was straightforward in my life. I was getting ready, not for a casual night with Lavender and her friends, I was invited to the Gala. It was kind of a sketchy time to be a changeling, going to a VIP Gala. VIP meaning very important pony in this case, as it was a pony only even. Technically, I didn't belong there, but who was going to stop a secret changeling from dancing with the pony he loved? Nopony, that's who! I picked out a suit, one that would show my true taste of colour and design. I picked out a dark blue and grey suit. It matched me properly, as myself that was, but not so much as my camouflage. Just a netting over my true form. That made me a little anxious at the night of the Gala, as I put on my suit. Shadow looked me over and smiled. "My boy's all grown up!" She chuckled, a tear coming to show itself, as it slid down her face. I looked at her with a brighter and more encouraged stern glare. She continued to chuckle to herself and I began to notice that she wasn't chuckling. She was crying! I lifted her head up with her magic and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Suck it up soldier! You may be a tough as fuck guard, but really, you're really just a softy on the inside." I joked. That got Shadow to smile. She was more worried about Copper than anything. I had to look after her while Copper was away working. He was going to be gone for a while, so I made it my duty to help Shadow out as much as I could. She had the night to herself and I encouraged her to go crazy, like I was going to do. I told her to invite some of the other guard friends around and any of her close friends here and to have a house party of some sort. She pondered the idea and she nodded. I promised to clean up the mess in the morning. She really did deserve this! I was ready for the night of my life, literally! I didn't know which way this night was going to go, or what was going to happen, but I knew that this night was the night to change it all. Shadow was still her insider counterpart, meaning that she was camouflaged as well. We didn't want to reveal who we were quite yet, but we found out by Thorax, that he made an appearance in the Crystal Empire a little while ago. This gave me the confidence to change to my normal self, but I needed to wait for the perfect opportunity to do so. I was about to embark on the journey to the Gala location. It was a little distance, but I thought that I might be able to catch the train from the closest train station. Shadow poked my head with her hoof and smiled at me. Her grin was the biggest I had ever seen on her. She changed to herself and turned around. "This might be one of the coolest ideas to get to the Gala. Flying in on a changeling guard! A changeling royal guard!" She suggested, winking at me. Everypony was getting there easily and in many fantastic ways. I didn't want to be the odd one out from doing that, so I pondered that idea for a second. I looked confused and a little scared. Maybe this was how we would tell everypony that we were changelings all along. "That might be cool Shadow, but what if…" I stated, getting cut off. "I've already thought about that Blitz! We have evidence in the form of Mist." She stated, putting my anxiousness at ease. We both looked at each other and then sighed, being perfectly in sync with one another. "You ready for this Blitz?" Shadow asked, holding her hoof up to me. "As ready as I'll ever be!" I stated, taking Shadow's hoof in mine and climbing onto her back. Shadow walked up to the door and pulled it open with her magic, then proceeded to close and lock it up. We lifted off the ground and soared into the sky. Shadow got some weird looks as she flew up, but thanks to Thorax, everypony had second thoughts on changelings being evil. It was nice to see my mother, flying about. It reminded me of the hive when she occasionally flew up the stairs, but knowing that we were traveling to a place that would either set me up for life or ruin me instantly, made me really, really nervous. I relaxed a little on Shadow's back, as we moved across the sky. I loved the sky, the clouds, the colour, everything! It amazed me so much! The fact that pegasi could move all of this, like it was nothing, amazed me so much. I learnt about the earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns, but the pegasi stood out above all of them. Technically, I was all three, being able to use telekinesis and having the ability to fly. Although it was not as fast as a pegasus, it was still flight. I also was pretty strong for a changeling, but Shadow was way, way stronger. "How you doing champ?" Shadow called out as she changed her wings into some pegasus ones. The transformation was perfectly smooth. We went from hovering to gliding in a seamless transition. It was truly magical, and strangely satisfying. This transformation allowed Shadow to travel at a much greater speed. I felt more air flow through my mane, I was disguised still, so it was a completely different feeling. It was nice. "Nervous! Just nervous!" I called out to her, air creating a constant loud noise as we continued to travel. She chuckled a little as we approached our destination. We were way too high for anypony to notice. We were hovering above a chapel, streamed with decorations and lights. We could make out a lot of ponies down below us. "I got an idea that will make you very popular, if you're up for it?" Shadow stated, turning her head to me with a wicked smile. I nodded and watched as Shadow lit up her horn. "You're welcome son!" She added before she let out a shriek and lighting up the sky with a bolt of pure green energy. I looked down at all of the ponies below. All of them were looking up. What a grand entrance, I thought to myself. We slowly lowered ourselves from the sky, as I looked around with a stern look. I could see some ponies with mouths agape. Every pair of eyes, were on me. We came about twenty five meters from the ground and stopped. We looked around and I stood up on Shadow's back. I jumped off before slowly hovering with invisible wings. Shadow lowered herself slowly, matching my pace. I turned and looked her in the eyes. She smiled evilly at me, showing her fangs in the process. If Copper was here, he would be saying that that move was cute. We landed on the ground and I turned to look at everypony and kept my head held high. I wore a heroic look as I evaluated the ponies in front of us. Shadow walked up beside me and tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to look at her and watched as she saluted me. I bowed to her and looked back at everypony, still seeing them all stunned and confused. A guard approached Shadow slowly and she turned and held up her ID. The guard slowly took it off her and looked at it. He nodded before giving it back to Shadow. She held out her hoof and the guard tapped her hoof. Was… was she really getting a hoof bump at the Gala? For fuck sake Shadow! I chuckled at the scene. "Really Shadow?" I questioned. She nodded and smiled back at me. I began to walk forward, having Shadow and the other guard following me. Did Shadow tell this guard to do something? I thought about it for a second or two, before I shook off the thought. We moved slowly, making my presence known, probably only because there was a changeling that I had at hoof, while everypony else didn't. I looked around as I scanned for them, then I saw them, perched next to a massive tree. The branches seemed to cut off most of the sunlight that was still left and replaced it with a life like feeling of dread. They turned to look at me with surprise, seeing that there was a unicorn guard and a changeling guard following me. Cyan, looking beautiful as ever, was wearing a light gold dress. It perfectly complimented her golden like mane. I may have liked her the least out of the group, but she was still beautiful. Her cyan colored fur properly counteracted her mane and dress, allowing her to stand out in a crowd. Clover, was wearing a light green dress, to accommodate for her mane too, but Clover's dress was woven from a silk like substance. It almost looked as reflective as metal, making the light shine off her dress. It dazzled me, but I loved the design of the dress. Her dark grey fur kept her in the crowd, unlike Cyan's fur. Scarlett, my closest friend from the group, wore a light grey dress. This was unexpected, but nobody cared. She looked beautiful, regardless of what dress you put her in. Her hazel mane and eyes perfectly complemented themselves alone and her red fur made her look admittedly adorable. Jade was a strange one and also the funny one. She came in a suit, a black suit with a black tie. At least I wasn't the only one wearing a suit in this group, I thought. I smiled at that and continued to walk towards them all. Jade wasn't straight, so I was not surprised at all to see that she was wearing one. It made her look so smart, even if she wore casual clothes all the time. It matched her black and green mane, as well as her green fur. It too, made her look kind of cute. Last but not least, my special somepony! She was the best, the top mare, the mare I loved. She wore a pure white dress, which made me a little surprised. She had purple stripes in her mane, so I thought that she would have gone with something along the purple lines, but what I didn't realize, was that my mare was actually wearing a purple dress. It was just reflective and also super bright. It too was made from a similar looking substance that Clover had on her dress. Maybe a protective coating? Who knew! The dress perfectly complimented her fur, which was a light bluish purple, more so than it did her mane. That made her definitely stand out above the rest. "Blitz!" Scarlett stated. I got a mixture of expressions and a charging Scarlett galloping at me. She slowed and hugged me and looked at Shadow and slowly moved back. I looked back and chuckled. "Shadow! Stop scaring everypony!" I giggled, making her smile. Scarlett went past me and gazed at Shadow, being curious. "Shadow? Please be careful with Scarlett." I commanded, making Shadow nod. I turned back to see that Lavender was walking towards me. I watched as she closed the distance and hugged me. She plastered me in kisses and nibbled on my ear a little. I blushed a little, refusing to look at Shadow, but I knew that she was watching and smiling. Lavender stopped kissing me and I began to breathe. She blushed a little and looked at my suit. She wore a confused look when she noticed that my colors didn't notice my mane or my fur. "I got something to tell you later. I got something to tell everypony later." I admitted. She just tilted her head and looked worryingly at me. "Nothing to worry about, just something that I can now get off my chest." I added. She nodded and continued to hug me. I looked back at Shadow and smiled. "Shadow! Meet Lavender, my special somepony!" I loudly announced. Shadow looked at Lavender and extended her hoof. Lavender replied by shaking Shadow's hoof back. "Well Blitz, I think that I can stay here, if you want me to? I may or may not be the highest rank here, but that doesn't stop me on my day off to watch somepony I know grow up." Shadow explained, making me smile. "That and all of the ponies might wanna know about me." She added. I nodded and hugged her! She blushed a little. "Blitz, keep yourself in check!" Shadow commanded. I immediately stopped hugging her and walked back and kissed Lavender, making her close her eyes in the process. She enjoyed it at least. Everypony was walking into the chapel, so we all followed, trailing behind some of the popular ponies. I had made a name for myself during my time at highschool. I had defended ponies from bullies, had been bullied for others to not get bullied and sorted out relationship problems with ponies, as well as giving them advice on life in general. I had experienced harsher issues at a younger age, during my years at the hive. I loved helping people in the end, so I was perfectly able to give them proper advice. As we walked into the chapel, Shadow stopped at the door and began to talk to the guards. I guessed that she knew them all, so I didn't give it a second thought. If she was happy, this would have been my reward for her, to make sure that she was happy and having fun with some colleagues. She couldn't boss them around, but she could give them some orders and they would respect those orders. They respected her! There were tables with names on them, from when we booked them in advance. I was sat on the table with the entire group, plus three extra ponies. They were close friends too, ponies that I got along well with. We sat there and talked for what seemed like hours, before I became brave enough to get up and go to the highest point on the chapel, so that everypony could see me. Lavender and the rest watched me as I stood on a balcony. I lit up my horn and created a high pitch humming noise. It went on for a couple of seconds before I got the attention of everypony. "Everypony hello! I hope you are all enjoying your night! I have been waiting so long for my time to be able to do this." I stated loudly, making sure that everypony could hear me. "I have been keeping this a secret for a while and I feel like I need to tell everypony about it now, about who I truly am." I added. I took in a deep breath and then reared up on my to hindlegs. Everypony thought I was going to jump off the balcony first, but I had other intentions. I began to hear cheering and then ponies actually began to stand up and clap their hooves against the floor. I smiled before I moved back a little. "I am Blitz Nova! I am not a pony! I'm a changeling!" I stated loudly as I changed into my real form, then I noticed that all of the room went dead. Dead quiet! My ears folded back and then I looked around at everypony and wore a scared expression. I didn't realize what I had done. I had killed the mood of the Gala!I looked down at Lavender and the group, all of them wearing a mix of emotions. Cyan was grossed out, Clover was confused, Jade was wearing a smug grin, Scarlett wore an amused look and Lavender… she just smiled. One by one, I began to hear the clapping of hooves against the Gala floor, then more hooves, until all of the room was a mixture of clapping and cheering! My ear were still splayed back and I was blushing, which was a new addition to my appearance. Jade grabbed Lavender and picked her up, dropping her off next to me, before landing on the chapel floor again. I slowly moved back and smiled, not sure how she would like me, knowing that I had lied to her about myself. "This is why I have my suit like this! It matched my mane and eyes. I…" I admitted, before getting muted by Lavender, placing her hoof on my muzzle. She lifted her hoof off my mouth and kissed me passionately. My eyes went completely wide, then immediately shut as I enjoyed every second of her passionate kiss, not feeding on her love at all. I was keeping my belly empty for the meal I had picked. Lavender broke the kiss and then looked at me in the eyes. She didn't say anything as she stood on her hindlegs and forced me up with her magic. I too was stood on my hindlegs. She wrapped her forehooves around my neck and swayed from side to side. She just wanted me to be me, I could pick that up, but there was something that I had not picked up on. That was how pleased she was with me, I could feel her affection in the air. She closed her eyes and rested her head on my shoulder, as we continued to sway from side to side. I teleported us down onto the floor of the chapel and she opened her eyes. "I love you Blitz, regardless of what you look like! Regardless of what you are, cause to me, you're any normal pony!" She spoke softly, getting a couple of cheers from some ponies around us. I looked around and smiled as I began to fly. Lavender pulled me back to the ground with her magic and looked me in the eyes. "Never change again! Please?" She asked, giving me the cutest eyes she ever had. I nodded and then teleported her to her seat. I teleported myself shortly after and then we all had fun and had a casual laugh, together! The night went on and I was happier than ever that people liked my original form. Lavender called me cute, because of my blue accessories being my ears, horn, wings, as well as my mane and tail. I was so happy on the night! Ponies loved me and respected me, ponies wanted to hang out with me all night, ponies even wanted me to meet with them on several occasions. I had a couple of drinks, and so did nearly all of the chapel. I was asked to give the true story of how I got to where I was on that very night. I was happier than ever to explain, getting Shadow to sit next to me. I told them all that she was my real mother, which made me blush a little, but she was so happy, I didn't care about embarrassment of any kind. When it was time to go to a Gala after party, I wasn't invited. I didn't really care at all, I was in pure bliss that my night had gone so well. Shadow was too drunk to fly home, so I carried her home, since I was able to fly. It was a super long and tiring journey, but eventually, we got back. Shadow was drunk, not too drunk, just drunk. She couldn't hold her weight in alcohol for shit! I opened the door with my magic, using the key to unlock the door, and entered. I closed the door and placed Shadow on the sofa, before locking the door and closing the curtains. It was late. Shadow began to cry a little. I turned and sat down beside her. She was crying a little, but I didn't know what was bothering her so much. "The only way that this night could be perfect, is if my stallion was here!" She stated, tears running down her face. I looked at her with concern and did the only thing I knew how to do. I hugged her! It worked a little bit, but she cried into the hug. I had an idea of what to do. I got the attention of Shadow and changed my form. It matched Copper's form perfectly. I turned on some relaxing music and then held my hoof out to her. She hesitated, but then took my hoof. I held her like Lavender her done to me, wrapping my hooves around her neck and standing on my hindlegs. Shadow continued to do the same, but Shadow was smart. She changed her form into Lavender, just for me. I blushed a little. "Like mother like son!" I cheekily stated, gaining a little smile from Shadow. We swayed slowly as the music continued. Shadow and i loving the company of one another, but never going too far as to do anything we shouldn't. We cut off the dancing as the song ended and smiled at one another as we changed back. "Blitz? Thank you so much! I loved every second of it! We should really get some sleep, cause I'm a little tipsy, and your Blitz! My baby Blitz!" Shadow muttered to me. I nodded, heading up to bed and tucking her into bed. I loved her! I would always love her! She was the only family I had here, so I had to keep her close. She was asleep by the time that I tucked her in. I moved into my bed, being exhausted by the events of today. My bliss! My bliss of a day, was soon to become a nightmare. Little did I know that as I was asleep that night, I was being betrayed... > Chapter 6: Inherited Skills > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I sat down on my solid bed. The material of it felt like paper, not having a bounce to it, or any comfort or warmth to it either. I sighed and looked at all of the paintings on the wall. It made me a little happier to see all of Shadow's passion, displayed on the walls around my room. A small smile escaped from my locked up mind, as a tear fell down my cheek. The thought of all of my decisions descended upon me in an instant. I blinked and then looked out the window. Ponies were moving about, enjoying themselves and showing love and affection to others. I turned to look at my door slowly opening and could see a familiar looking pony enter my room. This was no pony though, this was my mother, Shadow! She looked… not right. Those were the only words I could use to describe her now. Copper was dead, so her emotions were dead too. Just the thought of her getting torn apart from him, hurt me a little. Actually, it hurt me a lot! Shadow looked at me and then the window. She sighed and then walked towards me. She sat on my bed and looked at me with scared eyes. I walked up to her and kissed her on the head and then sat down next to her. Shadow rested her head against mine and then closed her eyes. I looked at her as she did this and then saw as a single tear made an appearance on her face. I used my hoof to wipe it off of her. Shadow was a broken changeling. She only had me left. That was it! I was grown up, so I wasn't her little colt anymore, but that didn't make me any different from being her son. I was there to protect her and keep her sane. I was sure that she was happy to have me still here. She had never been the same since Copper died. Once she found out he did, something inside her broke. A knock came from the door of my room. I looked over and saw Emination stood there, looking a little worried. Emination was a unicorn mare that loved to be a kind soul. She didn't see eye to eye with me all the time, but when we did, it made us both smile. Her dark grey fur didn't add any vibrancy to the already dull room, but her mane did. It was the purest of whites. It made me a little confused that a mare could have a mane as bright and white as Emination's. The look of worry was still portrayed on her face, as she just looked. Emination and I, we went back a little while. When I found out that Lavender had slept with somepony else, during the time I was dancing with Shadow, I was mentally depressed. Nothing could snap me out of my trance, until Emination met me and showed me that I shouldn't put myself down. She took me in under her hoof and treated me like a true friend. She told me her entire backstory and it surprised me that she was originally married, then got divorced, due to not getting on with the stallion. Overall, she was a sweet mare, although she didn't make the best choices. Shadow got up off my bed and I followed her lead. Emination, or Emi as we all called her, moved to the side, allowing Shadow to pass. I sighed as I walked up to Emi. I hugged her and then watched as she walked after Shadow. She was such a caring friend. She did what she thought was right and stuck to it. I admired her for that. She was a role model of what all ponies should be at least. Yeah she might have told me a fair few lies, but doesn't everypony? I didn't like to, but originally, I had to survive. I followed both Emi and Shadow down to the kitchen. I stumbled on the final step and fell flat onto my face. Emi turned to laugh, but Shadow turned and rushed up to me. She helped me up and looked at Emi with angry eyes. She was probably too much of a protective parent. I held Shadow back and turned her face to mine. "Stop it! You're way too protective. I'm not a colt no more Shadow." I stated with a scowl. Shadow sighed and then turned to look at Emi with a saddened look. She looked at her for a second or two, before letting her head fall to the floor, a look of disappointment on her face. I had to admit, I felt a little bad that Shadow was like this. It was probably the thing I hated the most. "Sorry Emination! I was a fool, an idiot, and a little bit to protective of Blitz. I'm truly sorry!" Shadow announced to her, looking back up at Emi, with pleading eyes, hoping that Emi would accept the apology. Emi didn't say anything, instead, she hugged Shadow and smiled while doing it. I smiled from that and that action made Emi that little bit more likeable and trustworthy. I passed them both and walked into the kitchen and grabbed a snack. Before I was able to open a cupboard, I got pounced on by another friend. I fell on the floor, as a sapphire blue pegasus jumped onto me, nuzzling into my skin. I winced slightly and then opened my eyes to see Azure perched atop of me. "Hello again Azure! It would have been nice to not pounce on me. Maybe you could have given me a hug or something?" I said to him. He blushed a little and hopped off me and tried to pull me up. It didn't work! I flew up and landed on all hooves. I just looked at him for a fair few seconds before I went back to the cupboard and got out some snacks. I used my magic to bring a chair to me and sat on it as I looked at them all. They didn't give me the same expression. Shadow wore a noble and also scared look. Emi wore a not really bothered look, mixed with a look that I couldn't recognize, maybe sadness, maybe confusion? Azure was happy, bright and also just a little bit doubtful. That gave him a little bit of a cute look to him. I didn't really wear an expression, as I looked at the mirror, I wore probably the most blank expression that anypony could have worn. It was like that rock loving mare that I saw. She didn't really smile, well, she didn't smile at all. My life was not perfect, but it was going places. I had my motivation on a small job. It was capturing some images of the surroundings. I was paid a little bit for my work, but the bits that I did got, went towards helping Shadow with payments for the house and for getting us food. It wasn't really necessary, because we had money from Copper's will and that was pretty much it. The house and some money. My job helped out at least. The time was coming closer to making us all depart for our jobs. Shadow was now a General and that gave her a lot of power and authority over other ponies or guards. Emination was a content creator, as was Azure, but Emination had a bigger following of ponies that enjoyed her content. Azure was happy to help lend a hand whenever needed, as well as doing his job. They were all motivated ponies. Shadow left without a word, as she did normally. She just vanished out of thin air, without a trace. She obviously left for work, but she couldn't say bye to me, not after that being her last word to Copper. We were both older and wiser, but that didn't stop us from missing him. He was my dad after all, so I was bound to miss him. Emination left, but told me that she was here for me whenever I needed her, which helped me relax a little. As for Azure, he wasn't one to leave me. He enjoyed my company so much, that he would happily stand next to me. Unless it was urgent, or I told him to go, he wouldn't. He was one of the most loyal friends that I could ask for. I wouldn't trade our friendship for any amount of bits or fame or… anything. He was an amazing friend and I trusted him the most. "Azure, you gotta get to work bud." I announced, smiling at him. He nodded. He gave me a hug and flew off, stopping by the door and looking back at me. I smiled and waved him off. He then turned and them flew out the door and closed it behind him, before flying into the sky and disappearing. I smiled that he was so trustworthy. I loved him for that. After everypony left, I was able to think about myself. I slowly finished munching on my snack and walked up to the window in the living room, bringing my snacks with my magic. I peered out the window and spotted some fillies and colts playing outside. It was heartwarming to see all of the ponies playing together, making friends and enjoying life in general. I wish that was my childhood, but it wasn't. I had to accept that. I walked to the door and opened it, standing to the side of the door and just watching them. There was something so special and nice about watching somepony else having fun, or maybe it was just due to the fact that I enjoyed helping others. I got so much affection and praise for all of it, but I didn't want that. I just didn't want to see them down or sad. I pondered this for a second and sighed. I realized that I treated others better than I did myself. I laughed at that thought, before brushing it aside and making room in my mind for my project I had coming up. I was crazy about photography! It was my thing! Although I couldn't get a cutie mark, that didn't stop me from doing what I loved. I finished my snack and grabbed my camera with my telekinesis and closed the door behind me, locking it shut as I strolled outside. It was a nice day. It wasn't too cold for me and it wasn't too hot for the others. I couldn't feel the heat because I was a changeling. I was cold blooded. I pranced down the path, a smile on my face, as I looked around for anything that stood out today. Shadows passed by me as I looked around for something that was special, out of place, or even odd. I was happy during this time, nothing to bother me, nothing to distract me, nothing to ruin the peaceful bliss that I was experiencing. I took flight, in search of something that could be amazing. I flew up into the clouds and soared through them. It felt fresh as I flew face first into them. It was like getting slapped in the face, with air! This made me pause and think about something. Copper! I pondered the thought of it. The thought that Copper was somewhere up here was ridiculous. That was the reason that I didn't believe in a life after death. My belief on it was that when we died, we died, just to fill up the void of invisible air around us, with no connection to anypony else, only Celestia and Luna to talk to. It was a touchy subject to break down in my head, so I didn't press on forwards with thinking about it. Shadow was unhappy enough that Copper was gone, I didn't want to be like her. Yes, I did grow up with Copper as my real father, but I was closer with Shadow. I missed him a hell of a lot, but that didn't make me stop worrying about Shadow. She had gotten really depressed when he left the world and I was the only one there to help. I wish I met Azure and Emination earlier, because at least then I would have been able to have help through the struggle. Sadly, that wasn't my reality. My reality was that I was alone helping Shadow through her darkest times. I shook my head and flew back down through the clouds and saw a little hill. It was not that big, but big enough to stand out. I was surprised that I hadn't seen it before. It overlooked Canterlot, only by a little bit. It was barely above the rooftops of the houses, but it gave me a big enough view so that I could experiment with it. I dropped my saddlebag lightly onto the floor and then proceeded to open it. Inside was my trusty camera. It had seen better days, but it was such a beautifully good camera, that I really didn't care about getting a new one. Sure it was a little worn out, but it had experience to it. Years of experience and use to be exact. I looked around at the surroundings and took photo after photo. I tried to keep ponies out of the photos, to avoid consent form, which I didn't really have. I got multiple images that were breathtaking, such as the sun casting shadows over the city of Canterlot, details from the building that lead everypony's eyes to the exact same location and a couple of the wildlife around, ranging from cute bunnies, to viscous looking birds. It worked I guessed. I packed up my stuff, being here for multiple hours taking photos, and made sure that it was all locked in a metal case, within my saddlebag. I made sure to keep my possessions safe, so I made it look easily stealable from the outside, but super tough on the inside, just like me and Shadow. I picked up the saddlebag and placed it lightly onto my back. I looked around and saw a certain somepony walking towards me. Shadow walked slowly towards me, carrying a coffee in her telekinetic grip. I smiled at the sight and turned to face her. "Hey mom!" I shouted, smiling brightly at her. She smiled back, which surprised me. She walked up to me and wrapped a hoof around me, embracing me as much as she could. She pulled back from what I thought was a hug and passed me the coffee. "I saw you up here and thought that you might like something while I'm around." Shadow explained, being happy to see me. I grabbed the coffee with both my hooves and balanced on my hindlegs. I took a sip of it and was invited to take another, due to the delectable taste of the coffee beans. I gave her a happy smile and moved closer. "I've finished up here. I was about to be heading home, but since you are here, I could hang on for a little while longer." I stated truthfully. "I've actually got to get going. I'm on guard duty, patrolling Canterlot." Shadow explained to me. I nodded and then uses my magic to hold my drink, as I hugged her. She hugged back happily! She then kissed me on the head, before trotting off back down the hill. I too was about to walk down the hill, but I just wanted to sit there and enjoy the view, while having something to keep me occupied. It was a solid fifteen minutes that I sat there. I got up and placed the coffee cup I'm my bag. I then began to trot down the hill, taking the usual path home that I normally did. I tried to make it to the areas I wanted to, to avoid certain ponies from coming into contact with me. The bad kind of ponies. I darted through several alleyways and dark areas and sadly, stumbled across some of those ponies. I kept looking back as I passed some other ponies, acting like I wasn't scared of them. One of the stallions stood in my way. I didn't really have time for that, so I jumped over him, using my wings to launch myself over them all. They watched as I stopped after my jump and turned to look back at them. They all turned and started to slowly walk towards me. Yeah sure, they might have had weapons, but I had training, from a General. I slowly walked back and turned and trotted softly into the open, for every pony to see me. I could notice a guard across the way, so I didn't worry at all. The guard looked at me as a couple of the stallions walked up to me, weapons in their magic. I looked at the guard and raised my hoof up to him, making him know that I had it under control. He still kept a sharp eye on us all though. Ponies turned to look at the scene and the stallions looked around, seeing all of the ponies looking at them. "Come on then! If you want to fight me, don't be scared to do it in front of a crowd of ponies." I stated, making me their focus again. One of them lashed out at me, blade in their magical grasp. I lit up my horn and used a spell that Shadow had taught me. A disarming spell! I flashed the area in front of me and pulled their weapons from their magic, like a magnet. When they regained sight, I lashed out and used an electromagnetic pulse to cancel their magic from working. They were left surprised. I had been taught so much from her. She was my inspiration. Before I could act, the guard came up with some other guards. They all looked at the stallions that held the weapons originally and scowled. The stallions tried to run, but they were cornered. The backup guards took them away in an instant and I was left with the guard that watched it all. "You got some bravery boy, as well as some skills to boot. Where did you get those spells, if I may ask?" He asked, as he cocked his brow, looking surprised that I knew such spells. I shook my saddlebag and smiled. "General Shadow Nova taught me. She is my mother after all." I stated loudly, with a stern face. He laughed a little and then placed a note in my saddlebag, with his magic. "Must run in the family then. If you feel like you want to join the guard, we are recruiting for positions that are listed on the form." He chuckled before saluting at me and vanishing, teleporting away. I smiled and turned to walk home. I pondered the idea of it on the walk back home. It was an option that was available to me, so I had that to think about. I got to the door after a grueling walk back home. I unlocked it with the key I had and stumbled inside. I closed the door with my magic and then proceeded to place my saddlebag on the table. I wanted to have a break from all of the ponies around me and the world in general. I turned on the TV and lied down on the couch. It was relaxing, being able to relax like this. Before I could truly relax though, a knock came from the door, followed by somepony entering. I turned to look as Azure came into the room. He looked like he had a bad day. That made me feel a little worse about my day, but I enjoyed him being with me at least. I tapped the couch seat next to me, making him notice that I wanted him next to me. He gingerly walked over and flopped down onto the couch, resting next to me. That wasn't good enough, so I tapped on myself while looking at him. He knew what I was getting at, but felt a little embarrassed about doing something like that. "Relax Azure. You're home!" I stated softly, reassuring him that I meant him no harm. He slowly scooted himself over so that he was next to me. I didn't care as I lifted him up slightly and gently placed him on top of me. He was warm, very warm, but he was still sad. I had to change that. "What's wrong bud?" I asked, doubt at the end of each word. He looked at me and smiled softly, placing his hoof on my muzzle. "I'm fine Blitz, just tired. Really, really tired." He stated honestly, making me relax a little. He got up and stretched, before laying back down and spreading himself across me. He was really warm! I wrapped my hoof around him and cuddled him a little. We just watched TV together, as he laid next to me. His head pressed against my neck, making me super comfy. I kept using my magic to rub his side, stroking him softly and making sure to rub across his wings. He cooed at the motion, making me smile as I watched the TV with him. About an hour and a bit after Azure got back, Emination and Shadow walked in together, making no noise as they entered, trying to scare us. I looked back and saw both of them, coffee in both of their magical aura and them both smiling. I laughed a little and got a different reaction from both of them. Emi chuckled a lot, looking at Shadow. Shadow… Shadow just went to the floor with a chuckle, nearly spilling her coffee on the floor. "For fuck sake Blitz! Can you not have good hearing, just for once?" Shadow chuckled, regaining her ability to stand, walking into the living room. I chuckled lightly, still stroking Azure with a hoof and my magic. "Well, my mother did tell me to use my ears more, so you going against what you said?" I asked with a sly smile. Shadow laughed a little at that and walked into the kitchen. She shook her head and winked at me. I winked back, not allowing Azure to see it, or Emi. "Actually Blitz, can I speak to you quick?" Shadow asked, still smiling but going back to a serious manner. I lightly lifted up Azure and kept him in the air as I walked over to Shadow, still looking back at him, just to make sure that I didn't drop him on the floor. "What's on your mind Shadow?" I asked as I lowered Azure onto the couch. I turned to see her smiling brightly. She gave me a hug and blushed a little. "Somepony told me that they saw you disarming a group of ponies of their weapons. That was a Lieutenant of the guard! He talked to me about it, back at the barracks and told me that he was proud of me. He recommended that you joined the guard, but I said that it was entirely your choice." She explained, making it clear to me. "Let me think about it. I'll get back to you about it later, alright?" I asked. She nodded and I turned to walk into the other room, but before I did, I received a hug from behind and got whispered something in my ear. "I'm proud of you son!" She whispered. I turned back with a blush on my face and smiled brightly. I turned back to Azure, who had let Emi sit down on the couch too. I walked past them and walked up the stairs, then went into my bedroom. I was probably going to end up taking the job, but I wanted to keep my photography as a side project. I was happy and proud of myself. Life was good again! > Chapter 7: Unsuspecting Schemes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Waking up was still the hardest part of my day, although, I now had motivation to do so. I was going to apply for the position in the guard. I thought that I had the correct mindset to do so, so I thought more about it before I went to sleep. I opened my eyes to see a scared Azure in my bed with me. I chuckled as I remembered what happened. It was heavily storming last night, so Azure was unable to travel home. He didn't live with us, but I would have enjoyed the company if he did. Since he was unable to get home, we offered him to stay here. He slept on the couch, until noises were heard around the house, scaring him and making him feel uncomfortable. He came up to me, while I was still awake and I allowed him to sleep with me, just so that he wasn't scared. He was still asleep when I opened my eyes, but that didn't stop him from being enjoyable. I rubbed his head with my hoof as I sighed with happiness. I saw his eyes open slightly and look at me. I smiled softly. He smiled too as he moved closer to me, wrapping a hoof around me and trying to bring me closer to him. I took the hint as I moved closer to him. He opened his eyes fully and kissed my nose, making me blush slightly. One of his wings unraveled and wrapped themselves around me, pulling me in a little closer. I was happy to be a little closer to Azure. He was a beautiful stallion, it just sucked that he was occasionally at work for most of the day. I looked into his eyes and blushed. I had him in my bed before, but I didn't have the feelings I had this morning. I was a little compassionate during the mornings, so as he kissed me, I kissed him back, placing a kiss upon his head. He smiled and blushed heavily. I wanted to have this painless bliss forever, but sadly, we had to get up, at least I thought we did. It was still storming outside, so I thought that it was later than it actually was. I thought it was like 8am, but it wasn't. It was about 6:30am. That gave us some time! As I came back from checking the time, Azure turned over, allowing his wings to flash in my face, blinding my vision for a second. I wrapped my hindlegs around his and then wrapped me forehooves around his waist. His wings were super warm, so I nuzzled them slightly and sighed happily. His tail thrashed as I pinned it in-between my hindlegs. I snuggled into him, kissing his neck slightly and allowing us both to relax. He enjoyed this way more than I did and with that, getting into the mood, he lifted up his leg. This revealed something that was… his penis. He was getting so into this, that he showed me his penis. I just stared at that and then looked up to him again. "No… not yet anyway. I'm not that type of stallion." I whispered to him. This made him close his legs as quickly as he could, blushing and tensing hard. I continued to kiss his neck and smiled. "It's alright! Just relax, you just jumped straight to it." I stated quietly as I turned his head and kissed him on the lips. His eyes went wide as I kissed him and then he relaxed, his wings were the only thing tensing now. I pulled away from the kiss and watched the emotions on his face change, every five seconds. I placed a hoof against his chest, gesturing that I was ok with this. He blushed and rubbed the back of his head, chuckling lightly. "Sorry Blitz, but I have just enjoyed you so much recently, that I was just surprised that you went for it." He stated softly. "I love you Azure! I know that you love me, cause you have told me multiple times." I announced quietly, placing my hoof on his neck. "But i do though, that's why I keep saying it." Azure added. I smiled at that before kissing him on the lips on more time, before getting out of bed. He was speechless, but I could tell it was the good type. That was the wake up call that he too needed. I pranced to the door of Shadow's room and knocked on the door lightly. Shadow opened the door, her skin was slightly darker at the eyes and she had her magic on. She kept the door open that only her face was revealed and was using her hooves to keep the door in place. I smiled as I made her aware that I knew she was doing something, behind the door. She followed my eyes and blushed before trying to close the door. I held it open with my magic and chuckled. "How long you gonna…" I asked, before Shadow answered my question before I even finished. "Give or take another five minutes now, because you disturbed me. It would have been another thirty seconds, but no!" She lightly pouted as she stared at me. I smiled and kissed her on the head, getting a slight view of what I expected was happening. I chuckled at I closed the door. "Ah! Copper's gift is treating ponies well still I see!" I shouted, making sure that Shadow could hear me. I could hear a bang on the door, followed by a chuckle and then a louder than expecting moan, all from the opposite side of the door. "Attention seeker!" I joked, as I began to walk downstairs. Azure followed me down there too, treating me as well as he did himself. I got to the bottom of the stairs and passed through the living room, into the kitchen. I smiled as I opened the cupboard door and pulled out two bowls and some oats, now with honey. I chuckled to myself as I made me and Azure some breakfast. I kept the oats out, just so that Shadow could have some, if she wanted some. I kept looking at Azure as I ate my oats. He was such a sweet little soul. He kept me as happy as I could ever be. That was all I wanted! I rubbed his cheek with a hoof and admired the thought of him. I did love him, it may have seemed a little gay, but it was true! He made me happy, that's all that mattered. If I made him happy and he made me happy, doesn't that make it bad if I loved him? No! Of course not. Love comes in all shapes and sizes, breeds and ages. We both smiled at each other, loving the comfort of the other. Emination knocked on the door and smiled as I looked at her. I smiled, having two of my best friends here with me, knowing that both of them would be here for me, every day. "Hey Blitz! Hey Azure! How are you two doing?" Emi asked as we stared at her. "We're ok, just got up." I stated calmly. I finished my oats and went to clean my bowl. I cleaned it and turned to see Shadow had come down. "How was it? You done?" I asked with a smirk. Shadow smiled and blushed more. "It was blissful and yes. I made sure to finish!" She stated, winking at me. I laughed a little and then sighed happily. I was having a great morning so far, it could possibly get even better though. I was only waiting on Shadow to get off to work before I was able to apply for the guard job. I was going to do it! I wanted it to be a surprise for Shadow to see me when I got back from it. I looked around at them all. Emination was happy, Azure was happy beyond belief and Shadow had a cute smirk on her face, probably still riding her high off. I closed my eyes and yawned a little. I opened my eyes to see Azure approaching me, bowl in his mouth. I took it and turned back to the sink and washed it up. As I was washing it, Azure came up behind me and stood on his hindlegs and nibbled on my ear, wrapping his hoofs around my waist. I leaned back a little and rested my head on his neck. The convocation become quieter and quieter, until the convocation between Emination and Shadow stopped. My ears picked up on this and I turned to look at them both. They were both smiling, which made me feel a little awkward. Azure went and sat on a chair beside Shadow and kept his eyes on me. I turned around, after I finished washing Azure's bowl and walked over to him, keeping eye contact with Shadow. She wore a serious look, which made me worry a little. I kissed Azure on the cheek and blushed a little, still keeping direct eye contact with Shadow. Shadow, to my surprise, got up and slowly moved towards us both. Without warning, Shadow kissed Azure on the cheek too. This surprised both me and Azure, but that put a smile on my face. "You're all family, so I don't mind giving you all motherly affection." Shadow stated, walking over to Emi and kissing her on the head. Emi blushed a little and smiled, closing her eyes. Shadow then turned to me and ran at me. I caught her as she pounced and then smiled. She placed a kiss on my head, then my cheeks and then my nose, following it up with a boop on the nose. I went cross-eyed for a second or two before looking angrily at her. "Kisses I can accept, but boops… boops are unacceptable!" I yelled at Shadow, blushing and smiling angrily at her. I looked at Azure as he wore a devilish smile on his face. "I'll be sure to use that to annoy you." Azure pointed out. I walked back a little, not liking the idea of him booping me all the time. They were my weakness! Shadow and Emi chuckled and I blushed spectacularly. My face was just a shade of blue at this point. Shadow ran up to me and booped me before teleporting to her job. I went cross-eyed for a couple more seconds before I pouted. I was happy about Shadow leaving, but was still annoyed as I continued to look at my booped snoot. It was an annoyance! I hugged Emi and Azure as I ran out the front door, changing my appearance so that Shadow could not recognise me, if she did see me at all. "Bye Blitz." Azure yelled, as I left the building. They both had the keys to the house too, so they were able to lock up. I raced down the path towards the city centre of Canterlot. I was looking to register with the guards of Canterlot and was praying that I would be able to do it. Sitting in the waiting room was a little rough. I had been waiting a little while and was just a little bored. I watched out the closest window, as guards were constantly patrolling around the building. A pony in uniform came in and I changed into my usual self. It was the Lieutenant of the guard, the one who thought I was capable of good things. He signalled for me to follow him, so I did what any good guard did. I followed orders. I asked him if he could keep this position quite, as I changed to the pony I used to use. He chuckled and nodded. I told him it was a gift for Shadow, since she wanted to be the best and wanted me to do the same. He smiled at that and told me to change as she was going to be meeting me shortly. She had to meet the new recruits most of the time. She enjoyed it the most, from what I heard. I was given some beginner uniform for the guard position. It was like the normal armour, but sacrificed speed and mobility, for more protective plating. It was just like Shadow's armour, but had a helmet with additional armour plates and armour that stretched out more, covering most of the body. It looked cool, but very protective. I put on the uniform and held a mirror to myself, as I observed what I looked like in it. I looked awesome, but my tail was a little too long. I shortened my tail a little, so that it still looked natural, but also so that it was comfortable in the armour and not sticking out. I followed the Lieutenant and listened to all of his orders, abiding by them as much as I could. They were orders like opening doors for him and moving things around, but he was just testing what I would do for him. I caught sight of other members around and smiled to each of them. We finally got to the area where Shadow was going to be and we sat in some seats and waited. I could see some other ponies, doing guard duty. Basically, waiting by the door, guarding it. Shadow opened the door to her office and signalled for me to go in. The Lieutenant stayed and watched from his chair. He was seeing if I was confident. I knew what he was up to, so I smiled and walked into Shadow's office. It was basic, but very well kept. Everything was in place and all of her work was tucked into cabinets. Shadow walked behind her desk and smiled at me, pointing at the chair on my side of her desk. I gingerly approached it and sat down. "Welcome to the guard barracks! We are so honoured to have you here with us." Shadow announced loudly. I chuckled and smiled. "Thank you ma'am! I hope that I can help." I stated, as I bowed my head to her. We continued to talk about all of my qualifications and experiences that I had to contribute for this job. I told her that one of my family members had been a beautiful example of a guard and made an example to them. She smiled at that and chuckled at it. We exited the room together as Shadow locked her office before turning to the Lieutenant. She looked sceptical, but still kept a somewhat cool appearance. "I'm sorry, did I get your name private?" Shadow asked quickly, trying to get my name and move on. "It's Lightning Fast!" I truly stated, not lying at all, because my name was German for lightning fast. Shadow looked a little sceptical at my name, but it brushed off on her as the bell began to ring. Shadow sighed, looking at me with a smile. "You're free to go Lightning. I expect to see you tomorrow for basic training, which I am training this time." Shadow bellowed. I nodded and then walked down the corridor. It began to rain and I used my magic to summon an umbrella. I opened the side door and looked back at Shadow and the Lieutenant. They saluted me, and I saluted back. I stepped outside and ran down the road, umbrella in my magic. As soon as I got away from any lines of sight, I changed into myself, which my chitin skin and my holes. I chuckled at the thought. I teleported to the front door of the house and unlocked the door. I entered and closed the door behind me, sitting on the couch with my semi damp armour. Since it was a mix of metal and cloth, I just ignored it. I lied down and turned on the TV and waited for all of them to return. I closed my eyes and relaxed, slowly falling asleep. When I opened my eyes, nothing had changed, apart from the TV turning off and the time. It was nearly time that Azure would come back. I stood up as I heard the door creep open, looking at the main door. Speaking of Azure, he came in and paused as he saw me in uniform. He blushed a little as he went from having a negative, just wanting to go to bed look, to a oh my fucking god Blitz look. He just stared at me as he began to move closer. I smiled at him and chuckled. "So… you joined the guard I see?" He questioned, sounding more like a statement, rather than a question. I nodded and watched as he kissed me and hugged me. "I missed you Blitz!" He whimpered, nuzzling into my skin. I laughed and nuzzled him back. "I missed you too Azure." I replied, pushing him onto the couch and wrapping around him. I kissed him passionately and smiled. I heard some noise outside and thought it was nothing, until I heard someone shout from outside the door. I ran up and saw something that scared both me and Azure as we looked. Somepony was getting hammered… in the butt. It was a funny thing in context, but seeing it, was fucking disgusting. In public, that was not something that anypony wanted to see in the comfort of our homes. Azure covered my eyes with his wing, as he pushed me back and closed the curtains. I blushed slightly, wanting to see how long that stallion could last. Azure picked me up and stared at me blankly. He didn't want my mind being full of those thoughts, so he kept me indoors. I didn't know what to do in that moment, so I teleported back over to the couch and dragged him with my magic. He gave out a little squeak, as I dragged him in for a hug. Emination barged through the door, surprising me and Azure with how early she was. She slammed the door loudly and gasped. I looked over to her and saw the expression on her face. It was like she had just seen two ponies fucking in the… oh yeah, there was! I chuckled that I forgot that Emi had to get in the door and those two were outside, going at it. I nearly broke down in laughter there and then. "Did you two see how much they were going at it? It makes me a little jealous that he's got the balls to do that." Emi stated, shivering from the thought. "Nevermind, I'd fucking hate it as much as anypony else. Those thoughts give me the shivers." She added. We just looked at Emi, staring blankly at her as she walked to the kitchen. I was just confused at this point about if she liked the lewd scene or not. She was just confusing mare, but that's what made her fun. Azure kissed me on the cheek when Emi turned away. I smiled from the kind and sweet gesture and thanked him. "You look amazing in your uniform Blitz!" Both Emi and Azure stated at the same time, making them look at each other and chuckle. I sat on the couch and watched some TV. Azure joined me and cuddled up beside me, nuzzling my neck and purring softly. He was a fucking cat! I knew it from the start. Emi just watched from the doorway, a cup of coffee in her magical grasp. It seemed like hours that we watched TV for before we heard Shadow enter. I looked at the door as Shadow sighed at the door. She turned around and gasped. I chuckled as I watched her expression change. "I saw everypony today, that came to join the guard. How did you get through?" Shadow questioned. I got up slowly, trying not to wake a sleeping Azure and changed into Lightning Fast. She was shocked. "I feel so fucking dumb right now. That's the English version of your name. Wow… so dumb!" She chuckled, making me smile and feel a little better. "You're welcome!" I added to the end of her sentence. She looked angry and then chuckled even more. I felt like I had made her day. I walked up to her and hugged her lightly. Shadow embraced my hug and then closed her eyes. "I'm proud of you." Shadow whispered, as I enjoyed the sensation of being a guard. I was going to have my first assignment tomorrow, so I needed to be ready for anything that anypony could throw at me. > Chapter 8: Expected Cuts > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guard training. It was successful, but that's all I could say about it. Apart from the discrimination and the immaturity, it was good. Shadow respected that I didn't break at all. It did make me feel a little down, but that wasn't something that Azure couldn't fix. As I came back from being at guard duty one day, I noticed that Azure had been a little quiet. I eventually found out that something tragic had happened in his life, so he didn't want to speak. This made me a little sad, but I understood that this was his choice. This didn't stop him from being sweet with me though, it only strengthened our bond. He told me everything, although in writing and drawing. That always made me chuckle, always! A couple of weeks later, I was working confidently in the guard. Shadow was able to watch over me and monitor my moves, while I worked. Emination had stopped visiting for some reason. I guessed that it was because she was being sweet on another stallion, one that she enjoyed the company of. I was happy for her, so I encouraged it, for her to follow him, lending a hoof to help him. I didn't expect her to stop visiting altogether though. As for Azure, he was my pegasus! Somepony that would take care of me all of the time, when he was around. He had started a job out somewhere, I didn't really ask him about it, but it was a job he enjoyed nonetheless. With that in mind, I didn't question him about it at all. I respected all of his decisions, that was that. I was sat outside an office of a VIP. The pony needed to be escorted to Canterlot castle. This was the first assignment that I had to give me full permission to enter the castle. I was excited, but very, very nervous. I kept a watchful eye on the VIP that I was looking after. I wasn't nervous about watching over and escorting somepony, it was just that I didn't know what to expect when entering Canterlot Castle. I looked inside their office and saw them walking out towards the door. They opened the door and smiled at me. "Ready to go Blitz?" They asked me, making me a little confused. "Sir, surely it would be me asking you, right? As for your question, I am ready. I am always ready!" I stated clearly, making him smile. "You are correct Blitz, but I care for my guards. Remember to just relax. You can act like your usual self around me." He answered, making a smile appear on my face. I turned and then looked at a new changeling approach is, not the dark chitin skinned type of changeling, the new brightly colored type of changeling. It haunted me and also annoyed me that I missed the events that occurred at the hive. The changelings had changed. They learnt to share their love with each other, making them look brighter and generally happier. That brought a smile to my face. I would have changed too, due to my feelings towards Azure, but I didn't, I couldn't change. I admired the colors of each and every 'new' changeling, because it showed off how no two changelings were the same. It was pretty nice knowing that, but I felt a little awkward about talking to other changelings about it. The changeling bowed at the VIP and the VIP bowed back. I smiled as I looked at them both. I took a sip out of my coffee mug as I watched them. "Hello! Nice to see you again Thorax." The VIP announced. I spat out my coffee onto the floor and began to cough. Thorax looked at me as I was choking on air at that point. I shook my head and blushed a little. "My bad! Sorry, I didn't realize it was you Thorax." I admitted, making the air around us a little awkward. Thorax just smiled, having an idea of remembering who I was. *Wait… Blitz? Oh my God! I haven't seen you in fucking years." Thorax shouted with excitement, placing a hoof over his muzzle. "Sorry!" He added. I chuckled and smiled at both of them. "Oh please Thorax, don't be sorry. Here, it's acceptable. At the castle on the other hand, that's a different story." The VIP chuckled. Thorax gave a brief chuckle and grinned. I looked at Thorax and relaxed slightly, enough to make me feel a little relaxed, but not enough to make me bring my guard down. We slowly began to walk, as Thorax and the VIP began to talk lightly. I could have eavesdropped on them, but I decided that there were more important things to be listening to. My surroundings! I didn't want to trust myself with any unauthorized information as well, so I just kept my eyes and ears on looking around. We exited the building and I pursued the two as they continued to talk. I looked around and saw some ponies looking at all of us, as we walked by them with stern and serious expressions. I shook off the thought of them being a threat. I instead, I tried to relax and think of the better parts of the world, other than constant fear. I shook my head to clear my mind and walked beside them both. We were getting closer to the castle, which made my nerves stagger and stutter on each other, making me more anxious. I looked around and saw a stall, selling flowers and other various goods. I quickly teleported over to it, picked up a bouquet of flowers and left a generous tip of bits, before teleporting back to the others, all without them noticing. When Thorax turned to bring me into the conversation, he noticed the bouquet and smiled. He didn't say anything, but he knew that I wanted to make an amazing first impression. I was going to be gifting the flowers to both of the sisters. It was just a polite gesture, so I thought that they would appreciate it if a random changeling or guard showed them some appreciation. I felt a little embarrassed about it all, but I didn't threat or make any other decision. This was the correct response that should have been in place. We saw a crowd of ponies gathered around an area. We all noticed it and they both looked at me like I was a guard on duty. I was a guard on duty, but on a different type of duty. Patrolling duty was my main duty today, but I was still a Canterlot guard, meaning that I still had to do other duties too. I sighed and walked past them both and tried to get past the ponies in the crowd. Sadly, I was unsuccessful, so I resorted to using my magic to move ponies out of the way. As I was moving through the crowd, I spotted what was happening in the middle. Two ponies were fighting. One looked like he had been hit with death's hammer and the other looked like he had been slapped multiple times with a knife. I moved in and used a telekinetic push spell, that allowed me to not only stop the fight, but push all of the other ponies watching, out of the way or knocked them down. I saw them both looking at me, wearing angry eyes. I had stopped the fight, all I had to do was call for backup. I shot up a ball of magic and waited for a couple of seconds, before backup arrived. Three unicorn guards appeared next to me. "A street brawl was happening! These two were fighting with a huge amount of ponies watching as you could see." I stated bluntly. They nodded. "We'll take it from here. You got a VIP to escort." One of the guards commanded. I nodded my head and moved back over to Thorax and the VIP. As I did, I felt something land hard against my back left hindleg. Thorax ran over and zapped one of the ponies wildly, making sure that they couldn't make any sudden movements. Thorax looked at the other pony with an angry scowl. "You don't wanna end up like him, do you?" He roared. The other pony shook his head as quickly as possible. Thorax turned back to me and sighed. "Blitz, you've got to get to a hospital or something." Thorax added. I shook my head, looking at the VIP. I then looked at my hindleg and saw that there was a knife stuck deeply inside it. "Take it out!" I commanded Thorax, watching him become more and more hesitant. I closed my eyes and placed something soft in my mouth. He didn't really want to do it, but it would ensure that I'd be okay. With a force that made me cry in an instant, he yanked it out with his magic. It was buried in my hindleg, buried deep. Thorax dropped the sharp object and ran to my side. He looked at my face with visible concern. I smiled as brightly as I could, making him worry less. The VIP got a bandage from his magic and proceeded to wrap it around the stab wound. It hurt to Celestia and back, but I had a mission to achieve. I had to escort the VIP. I flew the rest of the way to the castle, alongside the VIP and Thorax. I still had no idea why Thorax was needed there, but I wasn't gonna go against anypony's word. I trusted ponies until they lied to me. Some more guards were present at the gates. I smiled at then as I told them what was happening. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have requested the safe arrival of this VIP. I have been ordered by General Shadow Nova, to escort the VIP directly to them both." I listed. The guards at the gate chuckled. "We know, you didn't have to say all of that. We just had to check who was going in, but for being formal, you got it spot on." One of the guards chuckled, until he saw my bandaged leg. "If I may ask, what happened to your hindleg Private?" He added, looking a little worried. "There was a fight in public and I broke it up, but got hurt in the process." I truthfully announced, looking back at the bandage. He looked a bit sceptical about that, but shook it off. "You may enter Private Blitz. Oh and before I forget, Thorax, Celestia has requested your presence in the main corridor. She wishes to speak to you in private." He announced proudly, smiling as he told the first part, but then changing to a more serious facial expression for the second. The gate opened up and we entered into the castle grounds. It looked beautiful here. It was so green and bright, giving the area a happy aura when you saw it. The moment was short lived when we moved across the courtyard and into the main corridor of the castle. Thorax saw Princess Celestia standing to the side. Celestia took one look at all of us and smiled. She slowly walked towards us and I stood my ground, standing a little bit behind the VIP. Celestia went up to Thorax and whispered something in his ear. He nodded and teleported away, before Celestia came to me and the VIP. "Hello you two! I trust that you had a safe journey getting here. Am I correct with that?" Princess Celestia asked, before getting called by another guard. "Sorry about this! My sister shall continue this conversation with you. I really must go!" Celestia added before teleporting away. Me and the VIP looked at each other and walked into the throne room. Inside the throne room, was a chair for the princess of the sun and one for the princess of the moon. Princess Luna was sat in her throne, observing our actions. We stopped moving as we got to the end of the red carpet. "Hello there you two! I see my sister has had to vanish for a little while. So, I'll have to be in charge while she is off doing things." Princess Luna shouted, using what was called a 'Royal Canterlot Voice' or RCV for short. It badly hurt my ears, that was all. It was just loud, that was it. Luna saw that we were stunned by the voice, so she softened her voice, adding a brief chuckle mixed in with it. "My apologies! I do that to make myself sound more powerful. So, who do we have here?" She asked, coming closer to us. I bowed and then told her my reason for being here. "Princess! I have been ordered by General Shadow Nova to escort this pony to your location. I hope I have not disappointed you in anyway Princess." I stated, with a patriotic tone to my voice. Luna only chuckled. "Try it less formally Private Blitz." Luna commanded, chuckling lightly. I blushed a little before taking a deep breath. "I've been told to bring this pony here." I stated flatly, still having a blush on my face. Luna chuckled with a smile on her face. This was funny to her I guessed, watching her subjects get messed up and awkward. I probably would too, if I had as much power. "So you're the business pony my sister was on about? We'll have to go over it all in a little bit. Can you proceed to the next room over and wait?" Luna asked, become more serious than ever. The 'business' pony nodded and calmly walked into the next room, shutting the door behind them. Luna turned to me and smiled, making me smile back awkwardly. "You're relieved of your duty!" Luna ordered. I didn't quite get the memo. "I'm sorry Princess, can you repeat what you just said?" I questioned, ears folding back. "Please don't be scared of me Blitz, I said in a sophisticated way, that you were done with your mission." She calmly replied, making me relax a little. I nodded and thanked the princess. I passed her the flowers I originally had picked up and she blushed at me. She waved a hoof at me and walked into the next room, as I walked to the main door, back to the entrance. It was a nice feeling meeting the princesses, but I had my job to do. I abided by my rules to follow and respected all that was said to me. I raced across the city, as fast as I could on three legs and stopped after I reached the barracks. Without hesitation, I opened the door and shimmied inside. I strolled down the corridor and then knocked on Shadow's office door. I waited patiently for a response and was gifted one shortly after. Shadow opened the door, her eyes full of wonder as she looked at me. "Ah, I see you have completed the assignment I had sent you on Private. Did you get there…" She was about to ask, before she saw the bandage on my hindleg. She looked at me with soft worry and doubt. I sighed softly as I showed her my leg. She scowled at first, but then she smiled a little. "I'm guessing something happened and you protected the VIP?" She asked, a stern look on her face. I shook my head. "Incorrect General, I was attacked while dealing with a fight amongst two ponies. A sharp knife entered my hindleg and Thorax successfully took it out." I reasoned, seeing a smile on her face. It may have been a small smile, but it was a smile no less. I smiled back, the pain died down for the most part. "Well, I suppose that you have sustained injuries on the job. Get to the medical wing of the barracks and get that wound patched up and then be on your way." General Shadow commanded. I nodded without a word as I slowly flew down to the medical wing. I was patched up in an instant, but I now had a visible scar on my hindleg, just below my butt. It annoyed me, but there wasn't anything I could have done to prevent the scarring. Shadow came into the medical wing and found me. She walked over to me and rubbed my head. "I maybe on duty, but you're still my son. You going to be safe getting home?" She asked, her ears folding back. I nodded. That brought a smile to my mother's face. She had to treat me like a normal guard, but I was her son and she had to keep care of me too. I hugged her lightly, before teleporting out of the building. I was feeling a little drained of magic on that day, so I decided to fly home, slowly. As I did, I noticed that there was some shouting in the distance. I slowly flew over in the general direction of it. What I was surprised to see, was that some random fuck of a pony, was messing with my Azure. I landed a little away, still wearing my guard attire and walked towards him. As soon as I got close enough, I could see that Azure was a little scared and upset. "Is something wrong?" I asked, making them both notice my presence. They both looked at me, eyeing my form. Azure walked back a tiny bit, as the stallion next to him snapped his anger back to Azure's direction. "You're just not meant to be here!" The stallion snapped, making Azure move back a little and become even more scared. I stepped in front of the stallion and looked him dead in the eyes. "Discrimination is a crime you know, so I suggest that you move along, before you get punished for it." I threatened, making him stammer a little. He slowly turned around and walked away, muttering under his breath at me. Azure saw my leg as I kept an eye on the stallion. I turned back and looked at him, my ears folding back. "Let's go home. I'll talk to you about it once we get there." I told him, getting a nod in response. As we closed the door to the house, I took off my armour and stripped the plating, something I didn't know I could do. I then placed it in the corner of the room and looked back at Azure. "Alright! If I tell you what happened to me, tell me what was happening to you. Got it?" I asked, getting another nod from him. I was only going to get those responses out of him, but that didn't stop me from loving him. "Alright! I dealt with a fight earlier and paid the price for it. So, what about you?" I asked, making him a little anxious. He didn't do anything for the longest time before he lifted his wings up, revealing some… Stripes! He was a zebra! That didn't surprise me, nor did it change the way I thought about him, or felt about him. I still loved him! I walked up to him and hugged him, making his wings wrap around me. That stallion discriminated him and I felt angry. I grabbed him tightly and laid on top of him, nuzzling his fur and making him feel right at home. This was still technically his second home, but I would have loved him to live here. I pulled a blanket over us both and watched for his expression. He wore a look of happiness and joy. For a zebra and pegasus, he had amazingly soft fur. I heard a knock at the door, ending the blissful pleasure that I was experiencing with my stallion. I flew off of him and landed next to the door, opening it and seeing Thorax on the opposite side of it. I let him in and he happily entered, making me a little happier seeing him here. But that got me to question myself. Wasn't he meant to be with Celestia? He walked into the living room and had a look around, then walked into the kitchen, then came back. I looked at him flatly, being a little confused. So, Thorax, may I ask how you found where I live?" I asked bluntly. He smiled, looking down at Azure and then looking back up at me. "I saw you enter here, so I assumed that this was your home." He replied, wearing a smug smile. I pondered for several minutes, before finally, I came up with something that would catch Thorax off guard. "What have you done all day?" I asked, seeing that he was a little bit sceptical. "I've been managing my kingdom I now reign…" Thorax posted, making me cut him off. "Let me firstly say that you have been in Canterlot for the last week, according to what you said to me and that you have somepony looking after the kingdom, while you are in Canterlot." I admitted. "Who are you?" I shouted, bearing my fangs and teleporting Azure behind me. Thorax began to laugh as he changed in a familiar looking Changeling. Chrysalis! Chrysalis pinned me to the wall and then stabbed me with her horn. She used a sleeping spell on me. I was useless in this situation. As I lost consciousness, I saw Azure fly out of the house. He was probably my only help in this situation. All of my vision faded to black, as I lost all of my consciousness. > Chapter 9: Realities Demons > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The door slammed behind him. Azure panicked for his life, not knowing what to do at that brief period of time. This was one of the scariest events that he had ever seen and for it to happen about five feet away from him, it must have shook him. He spent a couple of seconds worrying, before he took a deep breath and looked around. The first idea on his mind was to get help. Azure spread his wings and took a deep breath, before flapping his wings and launching himself into the sky like a rocket. He then leveled out and tried to gain some speed by angling down a little and straightening his body. He picked up some superior speed and pierced some noise into the air as he flew past ponies. Azure was heading in the direction of the guard barracks. He needed to get all the help he could and he wasn't going to leave it to chance. He rolled past buildings and trees until he got to the barracks. He took in another deep breath and released all of his nerves and tension, through one deep exhale. He opened the door to the barracks and was face to face with two guards. Azure's ears folded back in worry as he looked at the two guards. He thought back to Blitz being in trouble and then stood up strong and proud. He pointed past the guards, towards some paper and a pencil. The guards looked at the paper and one of them walked over to grab it. They passed it to Azure and saw that he was writing something with the pencil that was with the paper. The message was clear to the guards when they saw it and they happily escorted Azure to Shadow's office. Azure kept the paper and pencil, as he walked with the guards to the General. The guards knocked on the door for Azure and then they both stood behind him. Shadow opened the door and was surprised to see Azure stood there. "Is there something I can help you with Azure?" Shadow asked, being slightly concerned by Azure showing up here, as he had never done so before. Azure wrote something for a little while and then paused. He looked up at Shadow with a tear in his eye. "Azure, are you okay?" Shadow asked comfortingly. Azure looked angry next and then finished writing. He turned the paper to Shadow, as she began to read it. She looked at Azure and then the guards. "Is everything alright General? You don't look too happy." One of the guards stated. Shadow glared at them and wore a blank expression with pride. She shook her head. "I need all guards to my home address! Private Blitz has been taken hostage by Chrysalis!" Shadow shouted. The guards nodded and then ran off. Shadow grabbed Azure and teleported them both away. The pencil and paper were left and floated to the floor. The pencil rolled over the paper and kept the paper open. Azure wrote 'Blitz is unconscious and has been taken captive by a large changeling at home'. Shadow teleported to the castle, Azure still with her. This was Azure's one chance to see the castle in all of its beauty. He took one look around and was mesmerized by the scenery. It was so beautiful, but there were bigger issues to attend to. They went through the main halls and into the main room. Luna was the only one there and she was in the middle of a conversation. Luna looked past the ponies she was talking to and paused the conversation on a mediocre note. "Shadow! We don't see you here very often. What do you need?" Luna asked. Shadow bowed and then looked angrily at Luna. "Thorax, we need him for something that has happened." Shadow commanded. "I'm afraid that that won't be…" Luna announced, before getting cut off by Shadow. "It's about Chrysalis! She has Blitz!" Shadow called out, being a little upset and then cowering a little. Azure held Shadow and comforted her. Shadow appreciated that, Azure was sure of it. Luna went wide eyed and looked visually shocked. Azure took in the sight the princess and was a little scared that somepony with that much power and authority, was wide eyed. He thought that she would just handle it and that there would be nothing more of it. That thought alone made him worry just that little bit more. Shadow looked at Azure and noticed the sudden change in his expression. She placed a hoof on his shoulder and rubbed it a little. Azure looked at her not with a smile, but with a look of guidance. With that, Shadow wrapped a hoof around Azure and squeezed him a little, making a little 'eeek' escape from his mouth, which he then covered with his hooves. "Thought you were trying to stay silent?" Shadow chuckled, trying to distract Azure as best as she could. It worked a little, but not as much as she hoped. "He's going to be alright, I can assure you little Azure." Shadow added, making him smile. He looked up at the roof and then closed his eyes. Shadow just looked at him as he did and rubbed his fur with her hoof, comforting him. Azure opened his eyes to see another royal princess approaching them both. Celestia was walking down the carpet, towards the ponies. "Can you all leave us to talk for about five minutes?" Celestia asked the ponies and creatures that were talking to Luna originally. The group all nodded and began to walk out of the room. As they left, Thorax entered through the door and looked back at the other ponies. He was mildly curious to know what was happening. "Shadow and umm… You! Can you please leave me and my sister to talk about these issues? Take Thorax with you and a couple of guards. This is serious! You need to get back ASAP!" Luna commanded. Shadow turned to look at Thorax and then nodded as she looked back at Luna. Thorax did as he was told and came with Shadow and Azure, as they both exited the room and closed the door behind them. "Alright, what the hell is going on?" Thorax asked in a direct manor, just wanting an answer. Shadow stopped mid march and turned to Thorax and stopped. "THAT PSYCHO BITCH HAS BLITZ!" Shadow shouted from the top of her lungs. She was sure that the two princesses heard that and really didn't care if the whole of Equestria heard it. Azure placed his hoof on Shadow's shoulder again, calming her in an instant. Shadow sighed and looked down at Thorax. "Sorry that I shouted Thorax, but as you can see, I'm a worrying mother." Shadow added, smiling at Thorax. "It's ok Shadow! You don't have to apologize to me, I understand that you're frustrated and all, but we have enough ponies here to outmatch lonely Chrysalis a hundred times over." Thorax calmly admitted to Shadow. That made her nerves go away a tiny amount and made her smile a little too. That made Azure smile a little too. "Thank you Thorax! I needed that boost to boost my confidence. Now, let's go to the barracks and gather some guards." Shadow ordered with a stern smile. Azure wasn't smiling as she said that. Instead, he was thinking about Blitz in general, wondering if he was ok. Azure just worried too much when it came to worrying about certain ponies that he liked. He was too nice and caring. Shadow, Thorax and Azure travelled to the barracks. Shadow asked some guards to escort them all and for them to help with the situation. They all agreed to help as much as they could. "Azure? I'm sorry to tell you this, but can you go home?" Shadow asked, making Azure look at her with angry eyes. "Just so that you don't get hurt!" Shadow added, blurting it out as quickly as she could. Azure nodded and began to fly back to his house in the clouds, watching as Shadow, Thorax and a couple of guards proceeded down the streets and pathways. Azure looked forwards and flew up into the sky, towards his home. Azure travelled through the clouds, touching each cloud he passed, with his wings. Each feather brushed against the cloud, as if he was trying to tickle them all. Azure did a little spiral and dove below the cloud level, then above it again in an instant. He smiled as all of the badness flooded out of his mind and was replaced by the best parts of his life. He landed on the porch of his house and unlocked the door. The house was structured clouds, that were molded together to make a house and a floor. It was nice. Azure entered the house and closed the door behind him. He sighed happily and then went to make himself a hot drink. He walked around his house, as he held his hot drink with his wings. It didn't burn them, because they were just feathers covering the fur he had. He looked under his wings and sighed. He regretted not telling Blitz that he was a zebra first, but Blitz was now in trouble and he couldn't do anything to help. He kept walking around and stopped to look at something. He placed down his hot drink down and picked up a framed photo. It was a photo of him and Blitz. They were out at a club, with Emination and Shadow. Shadow was there with some of her friends from the guard, same with Emination, only her friends were from school and work. Azure's friends were there, next to him, but as for Blitz, he didn't have anyone with him. That made Azure feel a little sad. In the photo, Azure was hugging Blitz and Blitz was enjoying it. That made Azure sit down and think. He constantly thought about Blitz and right now, Blitz had nobody but Azure by his side. Azure picked up his drink and gulped it down, burning himself the littlest he could as he took the initial sip, before placing the drink down on the table and rushing back out. He grabbed two scarves and a hat for himself. He wrapped the scarf around his neck and placed the hat on his head. It was getting a little chilly, so he thought that somepony would appreciate a nice warm scarf, once he saw them. He opened the door and closed it behind him, flying straight down with the extra scarf in his muzzle. He saw Canterlot within a matter of minutes and raced down lower and lower until he was striding on the ground, travelling towards Blitz's home. He was running for a tiny bit, until he came to a load of guards surrounding the area. Azure looked past and saw Shadow in the distance, with Thorax next or her. She had a weapon out and was pointing it in the direction of… Blitz! Azure barged by the guards as they used magic to bring him back. He got dragged back and then flew back up into the clouds, before getting teleported by Thorax. "I got you Azure!" Thorax stated, keeping Azure behind him. Thorax had cast a shield to protect them all. Blitz had bright red eyes. Azure instantly noticed that the changeling in front of him, was not Blitz. It was Chrysalis! She changed back into her usual form and then laughed. "He's such a boring changeling, nopony to feast on and just so… bland." Chrysalis stated, annoying all of the ponies in front of her. Shadow kept her cool, but Azure could see that she was stressed. He watched every move that Chrysalis made, just wanting to see Blitz again. Chrysalis teleported Blitz to her, making Shadow tense a little. "Oh? I felt you tense there! You want me to make you cry by hurting your most precious boy? It seems that he is the only thing you have left." Chrysalis announced, making Shadow wince a little. Chrysalis smiled evilly, making Azure get a little mad at her. Blitz sat down, feeling a little light headed. Azure extended a hoof, hoping the impossible, to hold Blitz steady. Chrysalis was just wasting time at this point, making all the ponies angrier and angrier, but they all had to keep it cool. They had to make sure that Blitz was out of harm's way, before they could do anything to Chrysalis. Chrysalis saw that Azure held his hoof out to Blitz and took Blitz's neck with her magic. Azure went wide eyed at the sight. Chrysalis bit lightly into Blitz's neck and then bit down hard, making not only Shadow break, but Thorax and Azure too. Thorax dropped the shield and charged at Chrysalis with thunderous speed! She put Blitz in the way and Thorax, Blitz and Chrysalis went tumbling. Shadow dragged Blitz out of harm's way and growled at Chrysalis. Azure placed the scarf around Blitz's neck, covering the wound as best as he could and dragged him away a little bit and then wrapped his wings around Blitz's body, keeping him warm. Blitz opened his eyes slightly and booped Azure's muzzle lightly. That made Azure blush and kiss Blitz on the head. Azure closed his eyes and rested his head against Blitz's. Blitz kissed his cheek as Azure did this. Shadow yelled as Chrysalis zapped Shadow with her magic. Shadow went into a defensive stance as Thorax zapped Chrysalis with her magic. Chrysalis yelped in pain as she tried to hold off Thorax. Blitz got up and held Azure around him. Azure slowly let go and Blitz charged his horn, making a dark blue aura envelope his body. He lifted himself up as he watched something that would scar him for life. Chrysalis walked up to Shadow, while she was on the floor and charged her horn. As Chrysalis was about to end Shadow, Azure flew into her with full speed, knocking her over and cancelling her spell on Shadow. Chrysalis charged her horn again and shot a bolt of beaming energy at Azure. It hit! Azure was sent flying and was dragged along the floor, burning his fur and hurting his wings. He winced in pain as Blitz looked at him, speechless. Blitz lit his horn and sent a beam of magic at Chrysalis. It hit her with force as she too, was sent flying across the way. Blitz rushed to Azure, hoping that he was going to be ok. He wasn't. Azure was conscious, but he was hurt. He had cuts and scratches all over his body. It looked painful, but Blitz tried to help as best as he could. He got a medkit from his magic and opened it. He then proceeded to wrap bandages around some burnt areas of Azure. He had multiple burns and marks under his wings, on his stripes. Blitz proceeded to wrap Azure up, making Azure wince loudly. "It's ok bud! I got you!" Blitz whispered into Azure's ear, making it twitch. Blitz stroked Azure, giving him comfort and affection. Blitz turned to Chrysalis, being angry as ever. He walked over to Shadow and checked that she was alright, then went over to Thorax to check him too. Once he was happy with all of that, He turned to Chrysalis. She charged at him, magic flickering about as she rammed him. He dodged her charge and zapped her with a piercing bolt of lightning. She turned and teleported behind Blitz, charging her horn for a blast. Blitz turned and got a face full of electricity, as Chrysalis let loose a stream of energy from her horn. It burnt his face! Azure saw the events that unfolded in front of him and wore a look of uncertainty. Blitz fell to the floor as Azure shouted his name, in his own head. Blitz looked lifeless as Azure slowly crawled over to him. He held his hoof and rubbed his side, with the other hoof. Azure tried to wake him, but Blitz wasn't stirring. Azure sighed quietly, a tear running down his cheek and landing one Blitz's chest. Shadow pounced onto Chrysalis, making her fall over and stumble. Thorax joined in and catapulted himself into her, making her wince in pain. Azure looked back up and watched as Chrysalis' horn lit up, under Thorax and Shadow. She let out a bolt of energy from beneath them, spiralling up around the air, before landing on the floor and forcing Chrysalis up. Thorax got sent across the road, spiralling out of control and hitting a wall with full force. He ached for about a good ten seconds, before pulling himself up with as much energy as he could muster. He got up and stood, ready for Chrysalis and her next move. He looked over towards Azure and Blitz and saw that Blitz was unconscious. He looked pissed! Shadow got launched so far, that she got catapulted through a window. The window of their home! No pony could see Shadow, as ponies tried to get to Chrysalis. Shadow was most likely hurt, but no pony was able to get to her, without distracting Chrysalis. Azure stood up and reared up onto his hindlegs and stood still. Chrysalis turned to him and watched as Azure balanced on one hindleg. She was a little amazes, but that was shortly lived as she sent a bolt of energy towards him. He dodged it! Azure jumped into the air and disappeared into the clouds. This made Chrysalis angry, but also allowed a couple of medical ponies to get into the house. They were finally able to treat Shadow. Chrysalis roared as she looked down at Blitz, still unable to move, even unable to open his eyes. Chrysalis picked him up with her magic and threw him across the road, smacking the curb on the opposite side and making a loud crack noise, coming from his back. Azure plunged down and smacked Chrysalis with his hindleg, ripping a hole in the air around him and shaking the ground. He landed softly, as Chrysalis flew a little distance from the force of the hit. She was pissed! She roared as she flew towards Azure, hitting him with stray bolts of energy. Since she wasn't firing charged shots, she did little to nothing to Azure as he kept her busy. Thorax saw Shadow limping as she came out of the building, so he rushed over to help her. Some of the guards began to shoot charged bolts of energy, up a Chrysalis. They ceased fire when Shadow roared at them, ordering them to stop. "Don't be stupid boys! You might hit the pegasus!" She called out, being slightly interrupted by a cough. She looked up at Azure and then looked over at Blitz. She screamed! She rushed over to him, tripping over twice or three times, before getting to his side. "Blitz?" She called out. Nothing! She checked his heartbeat and was relieved to feel the familiar beating in his chest. She sighed angrily, knowing that Blitz was probably unconscious at the worst of it. Out of the corner of her eye, Shadow saw the princesses walk towards her. They both saw Blitz on the ground and gasped. Princess Celestia went closer to Blitz's body and used a spell on him. Shadow was sceptical about the spell that she was using, but knew that Celestia knew what she was doing. Luna placed a hoof on Shadow's shoulder and stood next to her. They were interrupted by Chrysalis charging her horn in front of them. Princess Luna tried to shoot a shot at Chrysalis, but she didn't have any magic to do so. Chrysalis laughed evilly, eyeing them all. Celestia tried too, but her magic failed too. Shadow tried next, then fell to the floor from lightheadedness. Celestia and Luna held their hooves out, to catch Shadow before she hit the floor. They all looked at Chrysalis, ready for what she was going to do. Chrysalis turned to grab Azure with her magic and let a bolt of energy out at him, locking onto him and following him, hitting him in the wing, directly! Azure fell to the floor from the pain and Chrysalis dragged him into the pile of ponies she had in front of her. Chrysalis threw Blitz out of the group, making him hit the wall of the house and lying limp, like he already was. The knock against the wall made him conscious again, but he was smarter than Chrysalis had thought. He waited for Chrysalis to speak, before he would make his move. "Hahaha! I've been ahead of all of you! I was using that little rat over there, to drain your magic dry. An absorbing spell works well on unconscious victims! Now I can dispose of all of you in one charge. Any last words?" Chrysalis spoke, putting herself into a bubble of magic, to protect herself from anything else. "G… go fuck yourself!" Shadow stated, under her breath. Chrysalis lit her horn and Blitz teleported in front of all of them, eyes glowing blue, due to all of the magic that he possessed. He turned to look at them all and smiled. "I'm not letting anyone else get hurt!" Blitz roared at them, before placing them all in a protective shield, like Chrysalis had done to herself. Blitz smiled at he turned back to Chrysalis. "So, Chrysalis? Where were we?" Blitz asked, snarling at her, showing his dark red fangs. She winced as she noticed that he was bleeding from nearly every part of the body. Blitz's eyes turned bright green and his horn bubbled with magic. Luna and Celestia were yelling in the background, but everything was being muffled. Chrysalis released a torrent of beams, hitting the protective shield and doing nothing to it. Blitz stepped through the bubble, exiting it's protection. He launched himself at Chrysalis and stuck his horn in her neck. She screamed out in pain and then pushed Blitz off of her. She looked at Blitz's horn and looked… Worried. "W… What do you just do?" Chrysalis roared, making herself a little shaken. Blitz didn't answer. He turned around as Chrysalis was about to zap him and unleashed a beam of destruction. It blistered the air around it, making it seem stretched and non life-like. Chrysalis unleashed her own beam, trying to split Blitz's beam. It didn't work. Chrysalis disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Blitz wasn't done with her. The smoke cleared and revealed Chrysalis, with Azure in front of her. Blitz paused. He thought about all of the good times that Azure and him had had. He didn't want any of them to go to waste. Not a single one! He didn't want Azure being in the way, so he teleported him away, before tackling Chrysalis. Blitz pinned her down, making sure that she wasn't able to get away. It worked for him! Blitz lit up his horn again, bubble after bubble of dark magic closed his vision, mind and soul. All the noise, was just drowned out. Blitz became light headed, as his vision darkened. He needed too end this insufferable torture. He needed to end it now! His eyes went bright green and he released the magic he held, straight into her face. The magic backlashes and sent Blitz spiralling out of control. Blitz flew backwards and impaled himself onto a large jagged piece of glass. The reason this happened was because Chrysalis struggled and messed up his focus, making the spell ineffective. Chrysalis was flung into orbit, vanishing out of sight. Chrysalis needed to learn not to mess with pony's families. Blitz closed his eyes as his vision faded to blackness, a sight that he was familiar with. Azure opened his eyes, having been in pain for a long while and looked around. He noticed the Chrysalis was not there and that Thorax was looking him over. "Since when were you part zebra?" Thorax asked aloud, sounding surprised and excited. He laughed softly. Azure joined him a little, before stopping dead in his tracks, as his eyes rolled over Blitz. Azure forced Thorax off of him and rushed over to the war-torn changeling. Blitz was unconscious and scarred beyond belief. Blood trickled down the glass that he was impaled on and Azure could only sit and watch. He didn't know what to do. He fell to the floor and let loose a steady stream of tears, quietly crying. Blitz didn't deserve this! This all shouldn't have happened! Those two thoughts kept echoing within Azure's head, making him sink lower and lower into the ground. Thorax placed his hoof on Azure's shoulder and sat down beside him. Azure didn't look at Thorax, because that would only make the pain in his heart worse. A magic aura wrapped itself around Blitz's body and pulled it off the glass slowly. Celestia placed his body on the floor and walked over to him. Celestia realised that Blitz was doing something, when he held all of the magic from them all. The discharge that he just outputted was actually meant to do that. He released all of the magic that he absorbed and returned it to all of the ponies that he had taken it from. That was a smart move, using the blast to catapult Chrysalis away and launching him into the glass, purposefully. The glass impaling him would have slowed his momentum down enough to not be lethal, not as lethal as him breaking his bones on a brick wall. He must have made himself get knocked out or something, to make the pain not an issue. Celestia just stared at Blitz's body, lifeless with a pulse. Luna was taking care of Shadow and Thorax was taking care of Azure. Celestia teleported over to Luna and talked to Shadow. Shadow listened to Celestia, but was sceptical about her response. Shadow nodded and teleported away. Azure looked at Blitz's body and walked over to him. He hated seeing anypony like this, especially his best friend, his special somepony. Azure turned to Celestia and listened to what she had to say. He nodded and looked back at Blitz's body. He placed a kiss on the top of Blitz's horn and got teleported away by Celestia. That kiss from Azure sparked something in him. It lit a path in his mind. Inside Blitz's mind, it was black. No light to guide him, until he felt something kiss the top of his horn, then a light appeared, approaching his position slowly. Blitz walked towards the light that the kiss had made. The blackness rippled and changed into the same texture as sand paper. This made Blitz uneasy and made him fall over. He sat on his rump and held his head, as it kept spinning. He was now walking through a sea like feeling of the path. He didn't want to give up, so he kept going. He got up! He began to pick up his pace, making his journey harder, but he kept it going. He paced down the path that was pulsing with light, like a heartbeat of some sort. It was regular intervals that the light illuminated the path. Every five seconds it would show the path, which for right then, was straight. Blitz rushed down the path, making no progress towards the light. It was almost like he was trying to… die! He thought about that as he moved down the path, still concentrating on where the path was taking him. It was still darkness and nothingness around him, as he continued to pace himself. Surely, if he was dying and sprinting towards the light, the light would be getting bigger, but it wasn't. This was surely something else. As he thought about this, the path rippled and became more of a wave. Blitz took one step into the area away from the path. He was met with nothingness in front of him, but a different feeling of loneliness and guilt. This was a weird feeling for him, so he moved back onto the path. This reverted the feelings that he had and swapped them both for motivation and emptiness. Blitz looked off into the distance, as the blackness still enveloped everything. As he continued to follow the path, it became apparent that the path was changing, just like he did. The emotional trauma had changed. It was no longer emptiness, it was tiredness. He continued to walk down the path, despite all of the feelings. The pulse of light got a tiny bit quicker, flickering every four seconds. This also brought some memories to light. Very faint memories played in the background of the blackness, almost faint enough that if he didn't look and focus, he wouldn't have noticed them. The path ran to one memory and stopped. Once the light flickered, the path behind him ceased to exist. Blitz looked up in amazement and watched a memory play out. It was at the hive. Blitz was getting bullied for being himself. Out of nowhere, Shadow came over and just stared at the other changelings. They slowly backed off and then ran in the opposite direction. Blitz looked up at Shadow and smiled. "Thank you miss!" Blitz happily stated, not knowing the truth about Shadow. The look of happiness she wore on her face, made Blitz smile. Not the Blitz in the illusion or memory, but the actual Blitz, trapped in the darkness. The memory faded and then vanished into the blackness that was so apparent in this dimension. Blitz looked down at the path as it flashed and saw that it lead somewhere else. Blitz began to follow it again, trying to think to himself what was happening. It was probably his mind playing tricks on him. It was something that dark magic had an effectiveness on. It would corrupt the user into thinking that it was good to use it, corrupting their mind and thoughts, just like doing drugs. Blitz kept that in mind, as he continued to follow the path. The path was starting to loose pieces of itself and Blitz had to jump over to the next segment of it. It was only little cracks missing, not full jump lengths, but it was holes nonetheless. Blitz made sure to not put a hoof onto the darkness, as he looked around for any sign of another memory or something. There was nothingness, until the speed of the flashes changed from four seconds to three seconds. Blitz was about to pace down the path, when he saw a brighter vision to his right. He looked down at the path and saw as this one didn't end the path, only that the path behind him was fading away slowly. He had to keep moving, but watched the memory unfold. Shadow was looking after him in the hive. She was keeping him occupied while he was doing schoolwork. Blitz had homework to do, so he locked himself in his room. Shadow was always happy to help and spend time with Blitz. Blitz asked her for some help with the work and she happily complied. She helped him with the work and allowed him to rest his head on her. She was so happy to do anything for him. Little did he know that that was her motherly kindness kicking in. She wanted to spend all of her time with her secret son. That was all she wanted to do, to please. The memory faded away and he began to make out outlines of ponies in the darkness. This gave him a paranoid feeling, like something or somepony was deciding what happened, based on his feelings or what he was doing. It bothered Blitz a little bit, because he had used to care about his appearance and hated being different to the other ponies. This hit him a little bit, but he continued to follow the path, flickering enough times to give ponies a headache. He continued to march into the unknown, not knowing the next move that the darkness would take. The path was being removed from his eye, massive chunks disappearing from view, leaving the inky blackness to envelope his vision. He looked around at the path and saw that the path was slowly trying to catch him. He smiled as he thought of a time that Shadow would try to chase him. He envisioned Shadow being the darkness and wore a smile as he jumped from platform to platform, keeping an eye on the gaps. Sadly, he was not in control of his wings or magic in this place, but that didn't stop him from enjoying the fun that he could achieve in the darkness. He cleared all of the gaps and saw that the darkness was getting faster at removing the path. Blitz did the most suitable thing. He ran! He followed the path, making sure that all four of his hooves were touching the path. Three seconds became two seconds, as the light flashed repetitively, blinding Blitz every time it did. The path stopped! Blitz turned to see the path climb a wall. He wanted to try something, so he approached the wall and then touched it. It was solid. He then proceeded to place his hoof against the blackness. There was no wall. Blitz then grabbed the path and then looked behind the wall path. There was no path on the opposite side. That was trippy as fuck! He ascended up the wall, treating it like a rock climbing wall. He got to a point that the path flattened out, allowing for a little bench to appear. Blitz didn't know what to do, so he sat on it. It was sturdy and nice. Another memory played out in the blackness. This one was significantly brighter, almost as good quality as it would be in real life. He looked around as he thought. This was all in his head, so he could make all of the decisions. He teleported some popcorn to his hooves and began to munch it. He did all of this without his horn. The memory was a bad one. It made Blitz slow down on eating the popcorn and think. It was in the new house. Blitz was lying in his bed and could hear some commotion downstairs. He got out of bed, being curious to what was happening and slowly crept downstairs. He looked at the only two he could trust, arguing. It wasn't something that brought joy to his heart. As soon as Shadow and Copper weren't looking, Blitz flew across the room and hid in the corner, able to see them both normally. He changed into the colour of the wall behind him, to make himself harder to spot. He sat down and listened to the conversation. "So that's all we did, was it? We came here so that you could spend more time away!" Shadow roared. Coppers ears folded back and he looked down at the floor. "I wanted to give you and Blitz a better future. I've done that now! You're in the guard and Blitz is at school and you're both extremely happy. That's all I've ever wanted and if I have to sacrifice myself for you two to have better futures, I would!" He admitted. Shadow looked slightly upset, as she folded her ears back. "I… I just don't want to lose you!" Shadow cried. She hugged Copper and Copper hugged her back, swaying back and forth slowly. He smiled at her, a tear in his eyes. "I will never leave you! I promise…" Copper whispered, before the memory flickered off. Blitz thought about that and felt bad. Sad for Shadow crying and sad for Copper, because he failed to keep his promise, but it was not his fault for not keeping it. Accidents happen all the time and he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Blitz got up, popcorn vanishing from view, as he continued following the illuminated path. Flashes were getting harder to stand and he made out brief memories escape from each flash. It was a certain memory that Blitz couldn't escape, even though he had been running from it his entire life. Chrysalis calling Shadow a terrible mother! It was originally shouted at Shadow when she was talking to Chrysalis. The words 'Terrible Mother' echoed with each flash. He saw different ponies with each flash. First it was Chrysalis, then it was Emination, then it was Azure, then Celestia, then Luna, then Thorax, then… Copper and then after all of them, it was himself! He had never called his mother a bad one. She wasn't a bad mother, she was an amazing mother. Shadow was born a mother! She was perfect for it all. This was how he knew that the dark magic was behind all of this. It lied to him and slipped up! The path vanished and appeared on the opposite side of a dark pit. The blackness separated the path that Blitz was on and the path on the opposite side. It was a long jump to attempt and the path on Blitz's side was rapidly catching up. He placed a hoof onto the darkness and felt that it was solid. He still didn't want to risk it! He ran backwards and turned around, before galloping forwards and jumping. He landed on the other side, narrowly avoiding stumbling back. The light flickered every second. The final memory played in from the area in front of him. It was Copper's funeral. It wasn't a moving memory, like all of the other ones, it was just an image. No voices or anything, just silence! It was Shadow stood in front of Copper's coffin. It was open at the time, that he remembered. It brought a tear to his eye. He tried to move his hoof, but he couldn't. He tried to look away, but he couldn't. He tried to breathe, but he couldn't. He couldn't do anything while this was happening. The image changed slightly, to Shadow being in the coffin and Blitz looking at her. This creeped Blitz out, but not as much as the next one did. Instead of Shadow being in there, Blitz was in the coffin and Chrysalis was looking at him. This didn't scare him, it was the fact that Shadow and Azure were dead at either side. Blitz screamed, but no voice was present in the world. Blitz wanted to wake up, to make sure that everything was alright. He turned and ran across the gap, not noticing that the light of white was now below him. The moment he crossed the gap, he fell! All there was, was an inky, oily darkness above, trying to catch him and a bright calming light that he was now falling closer to. He realised this and then gained control of his wings and horn. He was gonna do what he was best at, running! Blitz opened his wings and used his magic to boost himself upwards. The light covered the entire room, showing the pathway. The dark magic and corrupted his mind, enough to bring him to death. He was now running literally for his life. The bright light crept closer with each step Blitz took, so he began to fly. That too wasn't enough to make him escape the grip of the light. He needed more speed. He turned around and blasted his horn towards the light, following the path as he flew backwards, picking up so much speed. Eventually, he got to the start of the journey and had nowhere to go. The light crept towards him, like an animal hunting its prey. Blitz closed his eyes and then brought up several memories. One of those memories was when Azure and Blitz found each other. They were inseparable from the start! Shadow said that death couldn't keep them apart, so he was going to test that water. Motivational memories flooded Blitz's mind, making him smile. He lit up his horn and created a magical barrier in front of him. The light hit the barrier and got stuck. It wasn't death, it was the dark magic of his mind. It was trying to force him to think that he was dead, when in reality, he was unconscious. Blitz narrowed his eyes and smiled evilly. One thought came to Blitz's mind that overwhelmed him. It was a memory from his dad, Copper. It rang out in his ears over and over. He could physically hear it. Copper physically appeared next to him, placing his hoof on Blitz's shoulder. "I'm proud of you son!" Copper admitted with pride, as he walked up to Blitz's barrier and pushed against it. It was amazing! It was like battle of the minds. Good versus evil! Shadow appeared next to Blitz and kissed him on the cheek. "I need you here with me Blitz!" Shadow shouted at me, lovingly. Blitz smiled more and Shadow went up to Copper and kissed his head. "I miss you Hun!" She said to Copper as she held Blitz's barrier in place with both her magic and her brute strength. "I know Shadow, I know." Copper said lovingly resting his head on Shadow's neck, as he continued to hold the light. Emination appeared next to Blitz on the left and Azure on the right. Emination quickly ran up to the barrier and held the line with her horn. Azure didn't move. He stood next to Blitz. "Azure! You got to go." Blitz said, a tear coming to his eye. He didn't want to say that, but it had to be done. Azure nodded before kissing him on the head and looking him in the eyes, before mouthing 'I love you too' to him, before flying over and pushing against the shield. They all kept the light at bay, as they began to have a casual conversation. "So Blitz? I see that you have gotten pretty close to Azure recently. Care to tell me why?" Copper asked, shortly followed by Shadow hitting him in the shoulder, making him wince. "Sorry, hehe." He added. Blitz smiled and walked towards them, before sitting down. "I missed your humour dad, but can I ask you something?" Blitz asked, being scared for the question that he would ask next. "Sure son! Anything!" He stated, turning to Blitz, but still keeping all of his strength on the barrier. "Are you real?" Blitz asked, a tear running down his cheek. Copper sighed and then looked down and then at Shadow. Shadow looked back at him, sorrow building up in the air. Copper sighed as he looked up at Blitz's bright blue eyes, not harnessing the Princess's powers this time. "Well, all I can say is that you are the one to decide that. You have gotten to know everyone here well enough to know what everypony would say, making it hard for people to determine reality from… this! It up to you to either believe I'm here, or that I'm not here, but just a part of your imagination." He complexly admitted. Blitz smiled. "Thanks dad, at least I know that this is all in my head, because you would have just said no or yes!" Blitz laughed, breaking down a little. Shadow lifted his head up, as she continued to hold the line. "Blitz, you know that us three are imaginary, but I can tell you one thing. Imaginary or not, that is your father at his best! I'm just glad that you allowed me to have a chance to see him again." She stated truthfully, her eyes flooding with water from her happiness as she held his hoof. He smiled and kissed her on the lips. Shadow and Copper! How it should have been. That was enough for the light to overcharge the shield and break. My vision flooded with light as a smooth transition brought me back to the waking world. I was awake and I had some things to sort out. I was motivated. I had to do it. For Copper! > Chapter 10: Eroded Paths > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had a feeling that I had been unconscious for a while. I looked around at my surroundings, noticing at first that I was not still on the spike of glass I fell unconscious on, but instead, I was on a nice soft bed. I had a sharp pain in my back, which stung like hell. I didn't try to get up at first, but I needed to get some stuff done. I noticed that I was in a hospital bed, so that obviously meant that I was in the hospital of Canterlot. The bed was so soft, but it was so uncomfortable. Nice, but you definitely couldn't fall asleep in it. I looked around and used my neck to raise myself up. I bent my head backwards, elevating my body up a little and then got my hooves to one side of my body and proceeded to roll my body over, so that I was lying on my stomach. I then tried to drag myself off the bed, which worked a little, but it was very difficult to stand. The wound on my back hurt so bad and ripped my brain with bad feelings, every time I moved my body. It brought a tear to my eye, but I had to be strong. I had damaged my spine, but how bad i did it, was still a mystery. I saw that I was the only pony in the room, only that I wasn't a pony, I was still a bug. Others classified me as a horse, but I wasn't, I was a horse like bug. A menace! I was originally an enemy of pony kind. Now, now I was just a friend, an ally. I gingerly moved towards a table and leant against it, finding that leaning was easier than standing. I looked around and saw a mirror on the wall, I slowly took baby steps over to it, nearly landing flat on my face before I got to it. I stood still as I observed myself, gasping at my face and body as I stared awkwardly observed my being. I was a dreadful mess. They had cleaned me up, but not enough to make me comfortable with being 'alright'. My face was still bloody all to fuck and my face changed from dark green, to black and dark grey. It was a mess basically, but I didn't really care about that. What I really cared about, was making sure that my family was ok. That was my number one goal. I stood up proud, despite all of the pain and pressure that was on my back. I evaluated my body, my wings were cut and wrinkled a little, my face was cut and bloody and my horn had cracks all along it. I looked down at my hoof, still covered in changeling blood and torn and cut. My hindleg was probably the worst of all. It was cut and drenched in blood. The wonders of changeling blood was that it was green, as opposed to red of normal ponies blood. I looked like a war-torn mess, like somepony had just chosen a fight with a gang of drunken earth ponies. I looked rough! I shook my head slowly, trying not to hurt my back and walked to the door. It took me a lot longer than usual, but I wasn't going to disappear easily. I quickly looked back at my back, in the mirror and smiled. The doctor's first intention was to protect my back and I saw that it was stitched up tight. I looked more confident in the mirror, as I looked at myself and smiled. I changed form, into the colt I used to use. He was mature and tall, completely different to me. I was just a medium sized changeling with pony characteristics. I opened the door and began to walk, as well as I could, down the corridor. Ponies past me and just looked at me. There was a full sized stallion struggling to walk. I tried to walk normally, but limped on one of my hindleg. I guessed that three legs moving at slightly slower than normal speed would be better than moving at a snails pace with all four hooves. I walked down the corridor and then looked around in the waiting room. I saw some of the receptionists and saw some ponies in the waiting room. I avoided speaking to some and then exited Canterlot hospital, confirming my suspicions on being there in the first place. I walked a little way down the road, before changing into myself again, the massacred changeling I was. I flapped my wing together and found that, surprisingly, my wings were still able to fly, or at least bring me off the ground. I used that to my advantage and used my wings to force me into the air. I buzzed upwards before changing my wings to some gryphon like ones. I read that gryphon wings were easier to glide with, so I wanted to put it to the test. After flying a short distance to my house, I realised that gryphon wings were far less comfortable to fly with, because of their design and bone structure. Pegasus wings were lighter and easier to glide with. Whoever created that bullshit article I read the other day, obviously was not a pony lover or ever a changeling. I regained focus on my main objective on hoof, which was to locate Shadow and Azure. I opened the door to my house. It was unlocked, which made me assume that somepony was inside and active. I stepped into the house and closed the door behind me. I looked into the living room and saw shards of empty glass on the floor. Green blood was on the glass, which I could have understood that it was Shadow's blood. It looked a little painful, but I was sure that she was perfectly fine. I couldn't see her in the kitchen or the living room, so I carefully flew up the stairs, trying to be as silent as I could. As I landed on the top step, I began to hear some sobbing, coming from Shadow's room. I slowly flew over and opened it, to find Shadow lying in bed, crying. I landed beside her and kissed her on the head. She turned instantly and went wide eyed. "B...Blitz! You're awake! But… But how?" Shadow asked, stuttering with scariness. She held my cheek and i winced and smiled at the same time. She recoiled her hoof when I winced. "Sorry sorry!" She admitted. I just chuckled at her, sitting on the side of the bed with her. She sat up and rubbed a tear out of her eye. "How long have I been unconscious?" I asked holding her hoof. She looked at me in the eyes and smiled. "At maximum, about a day. Why I'm so surprised that you're here, is because Princess Celestia said that you'd be unconscious for about a week at minimum." She observed. I smiled and hugged her softly and then took a deep breath in. My body ached and hurt all over, but I wouldn't allow that to stop me. My back ached the worst of all, but that was to be expected. I just sat there, rubbing Shadow's ear and making sure that she was alright and not traumatized like she was before. I still had to find Azure and comfort him too, but for now, I had to keep Shadow not only warm, but okay in the mind. The events that happened obviously hurt her mentally and physically, but I doubt that she would have allowed that to change her train of thought. One good ear scratch later, Shadow opened her eyes and smiled at me, making sure that I had a smile on my face too. I did surprisingly, despite having the pain I did. Things always felt better when you were smiling and this was no exception. The pain had died down a little due to me smiling. "So Shadow, how are you doing? Your wounds, are they healed?" I asked, in a repetitive nature. She nodded and then rolled over. I saw that she had some bandages on her back, probably from when she got launched through the window. She had a couple of marks on her face too, which I didn't pick up on since then. It was like slight burns on her face or bruises. Either one made me feel bad for her. I was still wearing Azure's scarf, so I took it off and found it very difficult to do so. It was stuck to me with blood, blood from when Chrysalis bit down hard on my neck. That made me shudder, but I quickly regained my thoughts and passed the scarf over to Shadow, before wrapping it around her neck, keeping her warm in these cold times. She happily appreciated it. "I'm guessing that you want to find Azure? If so, then he's gone back home. He flew south, so you could try to see if you can find him. I expect that he lives in the clouds, so find a cloud house and you should be set." Shadow informed me. I smiled and kissed her on the head, before leaving the room and closing the door. I walked over to the steps and found that I was able to walk normally again, just with a slight bit of pain. It was bearable, but only for the time that I didn't focus on it. I flew downstairs, playing it safe and grabbed my guard armour. It had some heated plates on the armour, which would keep me warm in the cold weather, which was terrible for changelings, only because we were cold blooded creatures. As I placed on the armour, I heard conversation from outside, through the broken window. It was some guards coming to check on Shadow I assumed. They both entered the house and closed the door behind them. I coughed, getting the attention of both of them. "What? No knock?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. They were speechless. "Blitz! You're meant to be in a coma! How the hell did you snap out of it?" One of them asked, being surprised and a little scared. "What are you doing here anyway?" I asked, demanding an answer. "We've come to look after Shadow for a little bit. We have been ordered to do this from Princess Luna." The other spoke up. I nodded and then placed a hoof on the broken glass. It was fine dust and grains, as well as big chunks. I looked up at them both and glanced at the time. "Alright, keep Shadow safe for me. Also, can one of you clean this up while I'm out?" I asked, expecting both of them to no comply with my order. One of them nodded and then walked past the glass, trying to find a brush. "Thank you!" I stated loudly, before heading into the cold, which was now even colder due to the fact that it was snowing. I changed my wings into pegasus wings and took off into the sky, heading south, towards the one pony I had to look after. It took me a little while flying south to find a house in the sky. I didn't know if it was Azure's house or not, but I was sure that eventually I would find him. I landed on the porch of the house and then knocked on the door with a free hoof. A sad looking pegasus opened the door and folded their ears back even further when they saw me. Azure looked terrible! He looked like he had been crying since I had been impaled. I wrapped my hooves around him and hugged him close. He did the same and wrapped his hooves around me, making my back hurt more and making a small noise escape from my muzzle. He recoiled back, out of fear and sorrow. I let go from the hug and pushed him inside with my magic and then closed the door behind me, locking it shut. I kept pushing Azure backwards, eventually making him fall onto his sofa and making him tense more. I kept him on the sofa with my magic, as I joined him on it and snuggled up next to him, kissing him on the cheek too. This made him break down into tears. I kept kissing and hugging him, to calm him down. He missed me, that was sure, but I didn't realize that I meant that much to him. I wiped some of his tears from his cheek and looked at him bluntly. He tried to stop, but my look only made him worse. I sighed and rolled my eyes. I locked my lips to his for a kiss, which he went wide eyed from initially, then relaxed and let a slight moan out of his mouth. I knew that something like that would make him feel better about himself. I broke the kiss, leaving a trail of saliva connecting our lips. He opened his eyes and blushed furiously. I just smiled at him softly, giving him some of my warmth and affection. He clearly appreciated the kiss, as his mood shifted a little. He went from crying, to just being flat out worried. He wrapped his only good wing around me. I looked at the other wing, which was surrounded by a cascade of bandages and tape. He wasn't very clear on using bandages, but it worked really well. There was no point exposed, no feathers poking out. It was all concealed. Azure noticed that I was in mega distress and signalled for me to say still. He observed my body and stature and came to the conclusion that I was hurt. He continued to look at my body and then noticed my back. He touched it lightly with his hoof and I winced. He then recoiled back and stepped on a bag on the floor, tripping him over. I chuckled a little and then went to help him up. I dragged him up and just stared at him, smiling. He began to show a very faint blush, appearing on his cheeks. He pointed at the sofa and I casually walked over and lied on my stomach. He walked into the next room and came back with a potion in a bottle of sorts. He poured the most bottle onto my back and gave the bottle to me to drink. It was a bright green substance, but I was also thirsty, so I drank it happily. It tasted of lime, but wasn't sour like it always was, but it was really sweet. In an instant, I couldn't feel my back in pain anymore. I looked back at him and saw that he was massaging my back, over where the wound was and it felt amazing. I slight moan escaped my mouth, which I then covered my foolish muzzle with both hooves. That got Azure smiling and made him chuckle. I got up and stood on my hindleg, Azure did the same as I did this and I wrapped my wings around him and kissed him passionately on the lips, savouring the flavour of the lime drink potion thing and Azure's scent. It was overpowering! I left the kiss and watched for his reaction. He was speechless, like he had been for a little while. Azure looked over my body and smiled. He walked to the stairs and commanded me to follow, with his hoof. I followed quietly, making sure that I didn't hurt myself or him, getting up the stairs. As soon as we gingerly got to the top, we entered the bathroom. Azure turned on the shower unit and used his free hoof to push me into the shower. "Woah! I still got my armour on! Let me take it off first." I commanded, making him roll his eyes at me. I took off my armour quickly and placed it outside the door. Azure closed the door and locked it, making me worry a little, but I trusted him nonetheless. He turned on the shower head and placed it in his muzzle and sat me down using his hooves. He closed my eyes and nibbled on my ear, as his hooves rubbed themselves over my body. I sighed contently, humming a tune to myself. I stood on my hindlegs and leaned back into him as he cleaned me, like I was his child or something. I loved him, I trusted him. I would expect that his hooves would travel to somewhere else, where they were only meant for my hooves. I looked at him as he rubbed my stomach and then a little further down. I kept my eyes locked on his and slowly nodded. I knew that he needed to make sure I was clean everywhere, so he glided his hoof gently over my stallionhood. It felt nice, but he was only making sure that there was no blood on it, that was all. He continued to rub my chitin, while cleaning all of the blood off both of my hindlegs. He then rubbed my rump, giving it a little squeeze and then a light tap with his hoof, making me blush a little, before heading up to my back and then my neck. He looked at my neck with sympathy, as he saw the bite marks on my neck. He winced as he rubbed over them, holes indented into my neck. I turned around and wrapped my hooves around Azure's neck and kissed him passionately, opening my mouth and allowing him access to my mouth. He happily pushed forward, allowing his tongue to enter my mouth, playing with my snake like tongue. His eyes went wide with that and I broke the kiss. I chuckled a little and stuck my tongue out at him. Although we had slept together, we didn't even do anything. We only kissed, no tongues, nothing. He looked at me and smiled awkwardly, looking at me with sorrow. I held his hoof as I kissed his neck lightly. I hugged him close and felt something twitch next to my leg. I could figure what it was and looked down to see his penis slapping my leg. It was growing in length and I was impressed by his size. It was bigger than mine on a good day. I looked up at him and kissed him on the lips again, before turning the shower unit off and dragging him into the next room. I opened the door of the bathroom and then ran into the bedroom with him, before locking the door. I pushed Azure onto the bed and smiled at him, his member sticking up. "Right! We're gonna do this! Right here, right now!" I commanded. Azure held up a hoof and stopped me. He rolled me over, so that he was on top. "Blitz, let me treat you first..." Azure Whispered. "But when you do stuff with me, just remember that I'm a virgin." He added. I nodded and saw as he trailed kisses down my stomach before reaching my member. He didn't hold back as he plunged his head down onto my shaft. It was the single best experience I had ever had. I couldn't hold myself back, so I thrusted into his maw, eliciting a moan from both me and him. I used my magic to push his head down a little more and spread my legs more and more for him. I allowed him full access to me. I turned him around and made him able to place his dick into my mouth. I looked at it before closing my eyes and diving in. I watched as Azure took the horn ring off of my horn. I then used my magic to pull the ball gag out of my mouth. I coughed a little bit and then smiled at him. "Did you enjoy yourself?" I asked, obviously knowing the answer. He nodded and began to untie my hooves. I was restrained to the bed. That's all that needed to be said in that situation. As soon as my hooves were free, I galloped into the shower and turned it on. I sighed in happiness. Azure joined me in the shower, getting close to me. He went from being a mute zebra pegasus, to being one of those ponies that would never shut up. "That was fucking great Hun!" He boasted, giving my rump a loud smack, leaving a dark blue mark. I yelped and turned, making him fold his ears back. "Sorry Blitz!" He added. I turned to him and gave his plump rump a firm squeeze, before giving him a kiss on the lips. "Glad that we are both not virgins anymore." I announced, getting a plain smile from him. I chuckled as I got to cleaning myself. I was so much happier with him, so I decided that he deserved the time I gave him. I turned to him and saw that he was smiling. "Thank you blitz! You have made me so much happier!" He admitted, with a blush present on his cheeks. I held his cheek and turned off the shower head, as we both stepped out of the shower. We dried each other off and then got ready to head home, to my home. Azure put on a black hoodie and gave me a scarf and his hat that he wore, when the fight occured. We opened the door and closed it behind us, hovering down to the floor below and casually strolling home, wings over each other and tails wrapped around together. As we strolled down the road, ponies looked at us both and smiled as they walked past. It was a wonderful feeling. As soon as we got back home, I opened the door and found Shadow cooking in the kitchen. She turned to the door and galloped to me, before hugging me softly and checking that I was alright. I pointed out that Azure fixed me up, making her smile. I sat on the sofa with Azure and looked at him, smiling softly. "So what next bud?" I asked him, waiting for a response. He shrugged and rested his head on my shoulder. "Whatever you want hun, whatever you want." He replied, closing his eyes as darkness flowed into his vision. Whatever the challenges, we would overcome them all, together!