Bat ponies were a convenient hiding place. Few knew of their true nature, if they even really existed, so he could pretend to be one and get few hard questions. A pity one princess knew more than most, and would not be casually brushed aside.
Bat ponies were a convenient hiding place. Few knew of their true nature, if they even really existed, so he could pretend to be one and get few hard questions. A pity one princess knew more than most, and would not be casually brushed aside.
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He considered the poster, a line of four ponies with tufted ears and rough wings. Celestia's guard came from all tribes, but Luna's... They were all unified. Did she not hire any others? The poster offered no such information, just a call to join her elite squadron.
He shook himself out vigorously, keeping the flames to a muted rustle, like embers on a stubborn fire. His ears fluffed up near the ends and wings ruffled nervously at his side, furry instead of feathery. A cutie mark of a compass crossed with a screwdriver didn't change. He hadn't been born with it, but it felt right to him. "Maybe..." He turned from the poster and strode towards the proper street. "A new start."
The palace was in sight, glowing in the dark of the night. The rest of the city wasn't far behind. Canterlot was a true city, awake at all hours. Like him, the evening promised no rest. He spread his wings, as much to test them as restless energy within them. It would be his largest test... Maybe he should work up to it? He diverted away from the castle towards where sound thumped rhythmically in the ground.
A large pony stood in front, nodding at each party-goer in kind. He thrust out a hoof in front of a lanky one. "You're too young."
The colt drooped, called out. "Aw..."
"Come back in a few years, champ." The bouncer sent the young pony away. "Next." That meant it was Skyline's turn and he came up to be allowed inside. "Huh." The bouncer looked Skyline over piercingly. "Nice costume."
"Costume?" Did he know?!
"You look like one of Luna's guards." He laughed as if the very idea were outrageous. "Hey, nice look. Go on in." He stepped aside and waved for Skyline to pass.
Skyline trotted past him into the strobing and thumping interior. He was in a nightclub and the party was in full swing. Techno beats thumped so deep and loud that his bones felt like they were shaking. A unicorn mare came up to him with a big smile and light sticks shaking in her magic. "Hey! Looking good!" Some others might have agreed, but it was hard to hear them. "Let's party!"
Skyline hadn't come to party, but shaking and gyrating actually had a lot of perks. It meant he was moving his body around. It meant he had a reason to flap his wings, and learn to avoid slapping them against other ponies and objects. He could look the utter fool, and it would just be taken as part of the festivities. In short, as places to get a first grasp on his new form, it was a great place.
That he could feel a tickle of delicious affection was a nice little cherry on top. He supped on it and traced it back to the same unicorn that had greeted him. Her eyes were watching his dancing, locked on his exotic wings and tufted ears. She liked what she saw, and that was impossible to hide from a changeling. She had seemed friendly, perhaps a little supper was in order...
He danced with her. "Do you live close by?" She did, and wasn't opposed to a little visit. Food, in the form of snacks and a nice big bite of love, left Skyline to depart her apartment in early hours of the morning, satiated on many fronts. He didn't bother waking her up, that would just lead to more heartbreak. It was better she forgot about him as soon as she could.
It was about four in the morning, so he was sure of by a clock out on the street, ticking faintly. She would still be awake, in theory...
But did he dare to approach her yet?
He flapped out his wings in a sharp strike and brought them down, lifting into the air. Skyline ascended into the dark sky, alone save the few other flyers. Canterlot was a unicorn city, meaning the skies were often, relatively, clear of other ponies. A pity he wanted to see one... "Where are you?" he grumbled as he looked about in slow circles around the city. "You can't hide that well..." But he didn't see any. No bat ponies around, save for himself. Where were they hidden?
With not a single one in sight, he landed just in front of the castle, his wings coming to a smooth halt on top of him and tucking in firmly. "Well... Not many other choices then." He'd have to try, or give up, and he didn't feel like giving up. He marched up to the front door of the castle and its two Celestia guards standing stoically.
One inclined her head at Skyline. "Luna's?"
Skyline brought up a hoof to cough into. "I'm applying, to join her."
"Oh." One of the two guards, a male, turned. "Follow me. I'll be right back." The female nodded, and let him go to lead Skyline inside. "She may be dream patrolling at the moment. We can only check. If she is, you'll have to come back at a different time."
"Of course." Skyline looked left and right, taking in the art pieces on either side. Sometimes paintings or little statues, and other times, great stained glass displays that were muted by the late night, or was that early morning? It depending on one's view of it. They were pushing into a place with less windows. Lavender hung from the ceiling in a soft smell. "Nice..."
"She loves it." The stallion marched up to a door and knocked gently. "I have a visitor for Luna."
The door cracked open to reveal the shape of a bat stallion. "On what--" He slowed to a stop, seeing Skyline. "Hm? Hm. One moment." He closed the same door, his hoofsteps heard retreating.
Celestia's guard shrugged. "Sounds like you may be in luck. You know the way back?" He pointed the way they had just come.
"I can find my way out, thank you." Skyline dipped his head at the guard.
"Very good. I should get back to my post." The guard trotted off, confident that all was well.
Skyline sat on his haunches patiently, not that he had to wait long. The door slapped open, glowing with Luna's magic as it struck the far wall. The owner of that magic strode into sight. "What?" Her eyes fell to Skyline. "I see..."
Skyline scrambled to his hooves. "Your Highness." He dipped his head at her. "I saw one of your--"
"--And you thought to apply," she cut in, finishing the thought. "There are numerous problems with this... Let us start, as they say, at the start."
An armored bat pony, the first, pushed past her, taking up a defensive position in front of Luna. "I can have them jailed, Your Highness. Say the word."
"Let us not be too hasty." Her eyes wandered over Skyline. "First, what tribe of pony do you claim as your own?"
Skyline took a step back, just to have the bat pony match him exactly. Escaping felt increasingly unlikely. He had made a mistake... but what mistake? "I apologize if I have offended... I just wanted to join--"
"--Yes, yes." Luna waved that away. "I gathered that. Answer my question, kindly."
Skyline twirled his ears back. "I... have no tribe."
Luna perked her ears in kind. "Truly? Not the answer I expected. Every pony has a tribe, given to them by birthright. By what force can you lose yours?"
"He's lying." The pony drew a spear from his side, clenched firmly in his jaws. "I can draw the truth from him."
"I have no pony tribe," hissed out Skyline, raising his hooves. "That is the truth."
"At ease." Luna moved around her protective guardian. "I hear no lies. If you have no pony tribe, then what sort of tribe have you?"
Skyline shrank back. "Another... I am not an enemy."
"So elusive." Luna placed a metal-clad hoof on his quivering nose. "And so scared... There is only one creature I can imagine that could appear in that form, speaking of things the way you do... Are you a changeling?"
Skyline tensed, which was answer enough for her. She smiled gently. "Little lost changeling. Are you here to spy on me? Do you hope to gain the favor of your queen by whispering secrets to her?"
"Stand back," barked the guard. "I'll protect you!"
"He is far more scared of us than you could be of him." Luna was cool and collected. "Do you have a name?"
"Skyline," he admitted. "Are you going to jail me? Banish me?" He swallowed thickly. "Hurt me?"
"Why?" Luna tapped Skyline on the shoulder. "Also, liar. Changelings are named for insect things. Skyline certainly isn't that. who gave you that name? You?"
Skyline squeaked at that. "I am not lying!"
"Watch your tongue." The bat guard swung his staff dangerously close to Skyline. "You stand before Princess Luna, ruler of the night."
"Gentle." Luna pressed the spear away, carrying its deadly point away from Skyline. "I wish words, not blood."
"Your Highness." Though on guard, he lowered his weapon, glaring with clear intent.
Skyline swallowed audibly. "I... left. I don't like the queen, not even a little. She gives few reasons to like her... Ponies have pony names... I picked a pony name."
"A fine pony name." Luna brought up both her hooves to Skyline's cheeks. "Tell me what it means, to you. To nocreature else. It's your name, only the meaning you hold for it has any meaning at all."
"The sky, ma'am. It is the most precious place to me." Skyline dared to glance upwards, but only the ceiling was there. "That is where freedom is, the one line I couldn't pass, ma'am, until I took the name. I am Skyline, crosser of the line in the sky. With its passing, I am free... to try, to succeed..."
"To fail," added Luna. "Freedom is a terrifying thing, as is the sky. You can go so high, but fall so low. It is vast and empty, but so full of possibility..." She squeezed Skyline's trembling face gently. "What did you see, out there, on the horizon? What line do you imagine crossing, coming here?"
"I wish to join your guard, ma'am." He swallowed thickly, feeling so dry. "I wish to prove my worth."
Luna released him, allowing him to retreat a little from her. "Ask my guards, I am strict... but fair. I love them as my own, but they need to follow my directions and please me, or I will eject them." She brought a wing down on the guard that stood there, ready. "One thing... This is a unicorn."
The guard colored sharply. "Ma'am!" He didn't look like a unicorn. He had no horn. And unicorns lacked fuzzy bat wings.
"It is the armor," explained Luna. "Those who serve me are given it, and with it, the shape, which tells the rest of Equestria who they have sworn loyalty to. If, one day, I found disfavor, he would return to a unicorn, and I would reclaim his armor."
Skyline staggered back, falling onto his rump. "So..."
"So you gave yourself away before the first move, I'm afraid." Luna looked far more amused than much anything else. "You were trying so hard to be clever..."
"Ma'am, um... Does that mean... Um." Words were so hard to find just then. "Did I fail?"
"Mmm, I wouldn't go that far... Tell me, do you speak the truth? Do you wish to serve me?"
"Yes, ma'am!" He formed a sloppy salute, sincere but without practice.
Luna swatted the hoof down. "You'll insult them looking like that. Listen to the instructions of your new peers. They'll teach you how to behave. Finish learning, and you may serve in my presence. First, learn." She turned away, walking without further instruction.
The guard stepped forward. "You heard her. You're a recruit now. Finish and you will be given a set of armor and a chance to make your vows. Until then, you are just a hopeful recruit."
Skyline dared a little smile. "Yes, Sir." It would be the first of many times he uttered those words.
The guard that had been ready to imprison, or poke, Skyline stood before him. He was scowling less, but still scowling. "Princess Luna thinks we can make something of you. Fortunately for you, I am not one to second guess her orders. If she wants you put through the paces, then we are going to do just that. Are you prepared to sweat? Are you prepared to bleed?"
Skyline turned his tufted ears back, which only seemed to annoy the other bat pony. "And stop that!" He stepped in closer to Skyline. "You have not earned the right to wear that." He tapped at his plated chest, clanging on the armor. "This is a symbol of your undying faith and servitude to our dear princess. With it, she gave us this form. You have not earned the armor, you should not have the form!"
"O-okay..." Skyline took an uncertain step back. "How am I going to do drills if I'm not in the right shape?"
The instructor drew out a whistle with a wing and blew into it sharply. "Do you think you're special? I had to learn the way I was born. As her highness already told you, I was a unicorn. I had no wings, and they forbade me from using my horn. I was less than any pony, but I had to make do." He leaned in, a quirk of a smile on his face. "It made that day I got the armor that much sweeter. If you're worried, there are different drills for ponies that earn the armor, afterwards. We aren't wasting your time, foal. We are all terrain."
He stood tall and proud. "On the ground or in the air, we are serving her needs and commands. In the darkest of nights, we will take flight. Fear has no home in these hearts! Now, names! I don't have one! So far as you are concerned, I am Sir. If I hear you addressing me any other way, you'll be paying for it. I will drum you out of the service if you make it a habit. We will address Princess Luna with deference at all times," he shouted at that last part. "She is not our friend."
"She's not?" Skyline imagined the kind face of Princess Luna, notably not doing terrible things to him. "She seemed nice."
The instructor clopped a hoof against this face. "She is a noble and true princess. Appearing kind is her job. Appearing regal and magnanimous is her duty. She is carrying out her tasks, and so will we. Princess Luna is not our friend." He waved a hoof with each syllable of that. "She is our lady. We are her servants. We exist here at her discretion. You may admire her, but never forget this truth. Our actions reflect on her. Do you want to make her look bad?" he practically screeched out, eyes wide, scowl growing with the words.
"No!" Skyline barked out, sure of that.
"Good." The instructor smiled, pleased for the first time of the evening. "Then let's do our part. First, I..." He trailed off, scowl returning. "Did you not hear me? You're a changeling, aren't you? They can be anything they want... except that. You can have it back when you earn it."
"Y-yes, Sir." Skyline erupted into green flames, but changed little. He was the same pony, just minus all the bat-like features. His wings were feathery and his ears no longer tufted. His eyes were round instead of slit. He was a pegasus, but still Skyline. "Is this better?"
"Much. Good, now let's start." And thus the work began. He had Skyline show off his fitness level to start. "Not awful, but Luna expects a lot more than just 'not awful' from her personal guard! Let's get you on the next level, hm?"
They spent the rest of the evening running, climbing, working with weights, and generally working up a rich lather of a sweat. Well, Skyline did. His instructor barked and shouted encouragement, but was not participating. "Just in case you're wondering, I have to do this too, just not in front of the pony I'm training. We all do! Every guard you ever meet is suffering the exact same way."
Skyline pushed against the ground, weights attached to him to make the action harder than it would otherwise be. "I... didn't know... sir..." he gasped out, gulping for each precious bit of air he could get.
"None of us get out of it. If we did, we'd have to turn this in." He tapped a hoof on his armor. "And we'd retire. Are you ready to retire?"
"No! Sir."
"Good, early for that." He patted Skyline's head as he worked. "Now that you're moving, it's time to stop."
"Stop?" Skyline sat up, weights falling free in the new position. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No." He brushed Skyline's back with a fuzzy wing. "But even cadets get breaks." He turned to point with hoof and snout at a new room. "Go on. I doubt you'll be the only one in there. Be back in an hour, and be ready to continue. Eat fast. You'll want time to digest, or what you put in will come right back out again, and I will laugh at you."
With the warning received, Skyline hurried out of the training room into what appeared to be a cafeteria of sorts. A large earth pony mare sat behind a counter, and she snarled at Skyline. "Take a shower." She thrust a hoof at yet another door. "Nopony gets a snack with a lather like that. It's bad for you."
"Oh, right." He was about to shake himself, but held himself back. Spattering the area, and the mare, with sweat would hardly make friends. "Be right back." He dashed on past her into the bright white tiles of the bathing area. Other ponies were there, of all tribes, even one gem pony. They were all busily washing themselves. Some were even helping each other reach spots that would otherwise be hard to get to.
Nervously, Skyline slipped into one of the alcoves and a light turned from red to green. A button on the wall. What was that? He checked himself over for anything that'd get wet, no... He dared to press the button, unleashing the hot water upon himself in a spray. He squeaked in surprise, but quickly calmed, enjoying the spray.
"Newcomer." A unicorn stallion was peeking in at him. "Nopony else makes a squeak like that. New to the corp?"
Skyline turned, water still streaming down on him. "First da--night." He examined the unicorn curiously. "You're one of Luna's?"
"With pride!" The unicorn gave a proper salute. "I know, don't look it. Can't wear the armor while you're showering. You'd look bad and be treating the armor bad and it'd all just be... bad." He glanced off and back. "You?"
"In training." Skyline pointed at himself. "Skyline."
"Piercing Thought." The unicorn offered a hoof towards Skyline. "Lucky."
"Lucky? How?" Skyline stepped to the side as he gained a shower-buddy, both being sprayed with the cleansing water.
"You don't have to learn how to fly." Piercing grabbed some soap in his magic and began applying it to Skyline without asking or prompting, just doing it. "That's a part of basic practice I'd gladly skip if I had to pick one thing."
Skyline jumped noiselessly at the touches of the bar of soap. "Oh, uh... should I...?" He reached a wing for a bottle of shampoo.
"I'm already clean, mostly." Piercing turned, presenting his back. "Though if you want to get around my spine and down from there, won't complain. Look, we have to take showers fast around here. We can't guard while we're in here, or much anything else, so..."
"So a little help is good."
"Exactly!" Piercing redoubled his soaping efforts, even if the water was washing away the suds about as fast as he made them. Still, Skyline was becoming clean. "Oh, other thing."
"What's that?" Skyline peeked around. "Besides this being co-ed. I didn't think co-ed showers were... a thing."
Piercing laughed at that. "What, upset a mare didn't take my place? Too bad!" He pointed a hoof to the interior of the alcove, the shining button. "For one, if that detects two ponies of not-matching genders, the water stops. For another, if either Celestia or Luna caught us getting up to anything in here, that'd be a real quick boot to the rump." He kicked at nothing but streaming water. "Oh, that was the other thing. There are Celestia guards in here too. Can't go making different showers for the two guards. That'd be a waste."
Soon, they were both clean. "This is my favorite part." Piercing pressed that button and it went from green to bright blue. The water stopped quickly, draining out of the alcove. "Wait for it..." When it was all gone, or at least most of it, new fans began, gusting at them with hot air from all directions. "The dry!"
Skyline turned and put out limbs to get wet parts in the streams of air, gusting the water right off of him. "Wow, that's pretty... neat actually."
"Right?" Piercing stepped free of the shower, clean and a little puffy. "Now you can get dressed and get back to duty. Where'd they hide... Oh right, in training. You don't have a uniform yet, do you?"
"No." Skyline shook himself out, dry, and then with his fur back in order. "I should get something to eat. I have to work afterwards."
"Oh, sorry!" Piercing shooed Skyline along. "I thought you were on the end of your shift. See you later, and good luck!"
Skyline emerged from the showers, clean and ready! With confidence, he went up to the counter. "All clean."
"You want a reward? I only got one." She grabbed a tray on a hoof and got to scooping in assorted things. "You're lucky. Princess Celestia's a bit of a foody, and she serves her guards appropriately."
Skyline accepted the tray with his wings, but one ear flipped back. "I work for Princess Luna, technically, in training. Does that make a difference?"
"That's all well and good." She was already moving to serve the next in line, but kept talking, "But Princess Celestia pays for this. She gets to pick what's on the menu. Her sister's guards get treated the same."
Piercing Thoughts wasn't there. Perhaps it had been his end of his shift? Skyline got to slide onto the long bench with other guards. Some wore their armor, some did not. Some gleamed with the gold of the sun, and others with the cool purples of the night. As a ratio, the day guards clearly outnumbered the night watch. For every one other night guard Skyline could spot, there were at least five, if not more, day guards.
The few, the proud? Skyline smiled gently, pride stirring in him. Also, the food was good! It wasn't bare staples to keep a guard from collapsing of hunger. It felt like the princesses were treating him directly to a fancy meal. "Mmm..." So many different parts to it too, sweet, sour, umami... If one didn't like a given portion, there were plenty of others waiting to be sampled. "This is amazing..."
A portly pegasus mare in golden armor laughed. "You must be new. Do you know where these come from?" She pointed to her own half-eaten tray of food.
Skyline looked to his own, then pointed at the mare that had served it. "Her?"
"Before that," laughed the guard. "Princess Celestia loves her food, and she wants it around. A lot of food gets made that she doesn't get the chance to eat. She cries thinking about all that wasted food, so..." She pointed at her tray meaningfully. "She makes sure hungry ponies get to enjoy it."
Skyline pressed the flat of a hoof against his cheek. "That's... Kind of smart, actually."
"Isn't it?" The mare chomped her food with a happy mmm. "One reason of many I love serving her."
Skyline hurried on the portions he decided he liked the most. He had to be ready for the rest of training.
"Tonight is a special night." His instructor paced in front of Skyline, but Skyline wasn't alone. There were others on either side of him, making four in total. "Today, we practice group formations. One of our most common duties, as a team, is to carry Luna where she wants to be. This means you need to know how to draw her carriage. More importantly, you need to not go too fast or too slow compared to the others. You need to turn with them. You need to stop with them. You are not one pony today. You are four, but you will have one mind, together." His voice seemed to grow louder as he went, as if his words were increasingly important. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Sir, yes, sir." All four of them saluted, some with hooves, others with wings. Not all of them had wings. None of them wore armor.
"As you have, I hope, noticed, your comrades are also in training. Did you think you were special?" He leaned in, brow raised. "We train ponies all around the year. Most fail. Will we drum you out or welcome you? How you do at this task has a good portion to do with it, so shape up and get your head in the game."
An earth pony bumped against Skyline, but turned his words on the instructor. "How are we gonna practice pulling an air chariot without wings, sir?"
"A fine question... for a cadet." He rolled his eyes with a soft huff. "Teamwork is the same if you're on the ground, over it, or under it. Until you're all moving in tandem, I wouldn't trust you with an air chariot, especially one with any pony in it, let alone a princess." He went to a tarp and grabbed it with a wing, drawing it free with a great tug. "Here is your chariot. You can see that this one has wheels." He kicked one of those wheels with a thud of wood and rattle of the metal involved. "Sometimes, princesses actually want to be on the ground. Sometimes you're not helping a princess. Sometimes this is the sort of chariot you will be using, so don't bother thinking of this as the 'training model.'"
Skyline advanced to where the harnesses were. "We'll wear these, right, sir?"
"That is correct. Since you're first here..." He advanced on Skyline and got to fitting him into the harness. "Get used to this, and learn how to put it on yourself. That is where we will begin." He turned to the others. "You saw what I did? Foal see, foal do. Get dressed." He pointed at the three remaining harnesses. "You won't be pulling anything if you're not in a harness. A properly trained soldier can get in and out of them in an instant. You're not one of those. Let's take the first step."
The others moved into position and started nosing and stepping and making unsure noises as they tried to get their harness on as well as Skyline's was, though the instructor had put his on. The same pony gave Skyline a menacing look and said, "Don't think this means you're free and clear. I'll be taking yours off as soon as somepony else gets theirs on. Not much training if you just let me do it."
The first other pegasus got their harness on, perhaps copying how Skyline, the other pegasus, was wearing theirs. "All ready, sir!"
"I'll be the judge of that." The instructor was on them in a flash, tightening things, loosening other things and giving advice as he did it. "Now do it again." He pulled the harness back off. "And I want to see improvement."
"Yes, sir!" The pegasus got right to work.
The instructor began to swat at Skyline, getting his harness free quickly. "Your turn. You felt it on. Make that happen again."
"R-right." Skyline inclined his head. "Permission to cheat, sir?"
The instructor turned slowly in place, having been mid-turn away. "What? Can you break that down, cadet? Most ponies don't just ask if they can break the rules. That's very bold, and other words I'll spare until you finish explaining what you mean."
Skyline erupted into flames, ending with a harness attached to him perfectly. It had to be perfect, because it was part of him. He attached it to the rig of the chariot with a satisfying thunk. "All ready, sir! Is this acceptable, sir?"
The other trainees backed away in surprise, muttering and gaping at the sudden display. The instructor sighed at the display. "I thought you were trying to be subtle about that. Well, Princess Luna has admitted you, a changeling, to the corp." He was booming in sharp barks as he went over that, leaving no room for doubt that Skyline's species was a known fact. "She will expect you to use your given talents to their best for her purposes." He swatted at the harness. "Is this as strong as one I'd put on you? Should it give out and cause your unit to fail, you will earn their anger. If you fail, they fail. If they fail, you fail. You are one unit right now."
"It won't fail, sir!" Skyline gave a better wing salute, showing off the skills gained from previous demonstrations and the practice of it over the evenings of training. He inclined his head at his unit-mates. "Can I help them, sir?"
"You are one unit." He thudded Skyline in the chest. "You may assist them just as you'd assist yourself. You all succeed, or you all fail, together."
Permission given, Skyline moved in on the closest other in the line. That pony, an earth pony, seemed more anxious than actually paying attention. "It's the changeling thing... isn't it?" Skyline frowned, wings fluttering on his back. "We're all Luna's agents."
"Yeah..." The stallion forced himself to take a slow breath. "You aren't gonna... eat my love, are you?"
"Are you going to eat my hay fries?" Skyline dutifully checked the stallion's connections and straps.
"No! Um, unless you offered?" He licked his lips with the visions of salty fried hay fries waiting to be eaten.
"Then we're the same on that front." Skyline swatted at the pony. "Did you see what I did?" When the stallion nodded, Skyline got to taking it right back off. "You have to do it without me showing it."
"Right..." The stallion got to wriggling back into position properly. "Thanks... for showing me. How do you know how? You never put it on." The instructor had dressed Skyline and then Skyline shape changed into it.
"It's part of me." Skyline tapped at his harness that was also himself. "Once you see somepony doing a gesture, copying it with your own hoof isn't so hard, is it?"
"I... suppose not..." He got the harness on loosely and began tightening straps properly. "I don't want to mess this up..."
"Neither do I." He reached over and tapped at the stallion in places. "These snug?" Some spots got tightened, and he left others as they were. Skyline looked to the other two, but they seemed to be dressed and ready.
"Looking good, or at least better." The instructor waved at the chariot. "We're going for a little walk. We want to make a circle." He waved a hoof over the wide area. "Nice and smooth." He hopped up onto the chariot. "And, look at that. You have a passenger. If your passenger falls out, you fail. Points off for bumping and jostling. Focus on smooth and orderly. This is not a race. Speed can come later."
It took more than one try to even get started. The pony in the front would walk, and the others would attempt to catch up, but the moment had already passed, only resulting in a small tug and push instead of any actual progress. The instructor blew into his whistle. "You all go together, or you all sit here and waste my time. Do you want to make Princess Luna wait? She won't be happy, I can promise you that. She'll smile, but you'll know she's wondering why she bothers with you. Is that what you want? Get it together!"
Skyline ruffled his wings on his back. "We need to go together."
A unicorn stallion raised a hoof. "We can do this!" The others joined a cheer of desire and unity. "On three." They stepped forward together with the count, and the chariot moved behind them, pulled by their motions.
"Now we're getting somewhere." The instructor pointed to the left. "But you need to go in a circle."
Skyline was on the left side, so he veered towards it. They couldn't all pull to the left, not all at the same time and in the same direction. It took some trial and error to get their angles right to start the chariot in the right circling motion. "This isn't so bad." Once they were moving in a circle, the chariot practically wanted to keep going that way, following the motion of its wheels and their guidance.
"You're getting it..." The instructor nodded from atop the chariot. "Smooth and steady."
That evening had a lot of pulling involved, and turning. He had them going left and right, sometimes with very little warning. By the end, they were tired, worn, but a bit better at the process of drawing a chariot. The instructor hopped free of his chariot. "Kudos. I didn't fall off. Don't get a big head, but that does happen, especially with first-timers. How a guard can help our princess is wide and many. From guarding places, patrolling, screening, or, yes, drawing the chariot. When you pull this."
He pointed emphatically at the chariot. "When you pull this, remember, you are also acting as the bodyguard for whatever pony is on it, which, more often than not, will be a princess. That makes you, congratulations, one of the most important ponies for miles around, and your prize is nothing but the pride of a job well done if she makes it to her destination without complaint, spoken or not."
"Remember the rules!" He stomped in place, glaring at the lot of them. "We may be guards, but we are citizens first. If another pony is in the way, you ask them to get out of it. They can see who you're carrying. It will horrify nine out of ten of them that they ever managed to be in that situation. Don't make it worse."
"Sir, yes, Sir," shouted the unit in unison.
He nodded firmly. "We are the will of the princesses, but they don't want to see ponies hurt, or crying. Agents of her will, we must remember that our princesses are kind, and so must we be. There is one exception to that." He stepped on a button, hidden in the dirt.
A diamond dog pack popped out of the ground and he jumped at them, knocking over the cardboard that they were made of with a thud of dust and dirt. "If anycreature dares to threaten our charge, we are authorized to take immediate action."
The guards spoke in soft mutters, nodding a little at the show. One, the pegasus, waved timidly. "Will we know how to, um... fight, sir?"
"Of course! That's not tonight's lesson." He turned to point at the barracks a short distance away. "You're done. Clean up, eat, and be ready for the next course of instruction." He blew his whistle with its sharp trembling call. "Dismissed!"
They climbed out of their harnesses, except one. Skyline simply stopped having a harness with a dull flicker of flames, banishing it back into the rest of himself. "That was interesting."
The pegasus snorted softly. "How did it... feel? Can you hold that even when we're flying?"
"I think so." Skyline glanced back at the chariot they were leaving. "I'll practice with an actual harness too, to be sure."
"Good idea." The pegasus hurried into a trot, to shower, eat, or maybe both.
Against the inky blackness of the night sky, Skyline soared majestically. "I didn't see this coming."
"Didn't see what coming?" His drill sergeant was nearby, wearing his armor and the sound of his bat wings could be heard as they flapped in the air. "You're joining a military unit. There may be some military actions involved."
"Right, sure..." Skyline banked to the left, eyes turned downwards as he scanned the landscape beneath him. "But dropping bombs?"
"If the princesses request it, we must comply. To comply, we must already be prepared." He pointed down at the dim little cart almost hidden in the gloom. "There."
Skyline approached closer, reaching his arm back to grasp the large parcel and holding it close to his stomach as he uttered, "I see it, sir." He worked the numbers without anyone seeing his work, getting an understanding of the speed he was going, the force of the wind, and the heaviness of the metal capsule he was holding on to. He was determined to get it exactly right. "Prepared."
His instructor banked away, leaving him to make his attack without a single word. Judgement could come after the results were in hoof.
Skyline flattened his feathery wings to make the final approach in a silent rush. He released the package and drew back, pivoting to fly upwards instead of towards the ground. A dull thump reached his ears, but he wasn't facing that way. He just flew away until some distance was put between him and his target before he dared to peek at what had happened. With a sharp tickle, he kicked his legs. It was like something had pinched him on either side of his rump at the same time. His scans didn't reveal any bugs, or changes with his legs or rump, so he shrugged it off.
"Not bad." His instructor had returned silently. "Good aim. That cutie mark of yours isn't just for show. Does it always glow when you aim? That could be a liability."
"Glow?" Skyline coiled on himself for a peek. There was his cutie mark, a compass and screwdriver combination. "It doesn't glow..."
"It did that time." Skyline was met with a harsh expression of disapproval from the commander. "Get that figured out. You don't need to give away your position just as you're attacking. That's the worst time. I thought changelings didn't even have a cutie mark unless they felt like it anyway."
Skyline responded in a weak agreement, seeming to be quite confused as he hovered slowly in the air. "I swear, Sir... Look." He erupted in flames, aiming to become a random mare he'd seen in the city. He became her entirely, except one little thing.
The instructor directed their attention to Skyline's rump, where the cutie mark symbolizing their special talents remained unaltered. "Did you plan to change that?"
The stubborn mark clearly frustrated skyline, he had tried transforming into a pegasus, a griffon, and even his usual changeling form, but all attempts had been unsuccessful. With every step, the cutie mark was still visible, not making a sound but still taunting him. "Go away!" Skyline shouted at the mark on his body, but it wasn't paying him any mind.
"Easy there, cadet." His instructor came in a few inches. "I didn't expect to have to go over this, but there comes a special time in any pony's life when--"
"--I'm not a pony," hissed out Skyline, wings fidgeting atop him. "I shouldn't just... this." He waved desperately at his mark. "This isn't natural, for... a changeling, you know?"
"It isn't natural--" The commander rolled a hoof in the air. "--for a changeling to join the royal guard, but here we are! Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you've asked us to accept you as you are. It seems, to me, that something has agreed to your demands." He pointed at the mark directly. "You may be a changeling, but you have a cutie mark. Those don't come out in the wash, cadet, so either take it as a blessing, or curse it for the rest of your days. I haven't seen anypony really figure out a third option."
Skyline hissed through his clenched teeth, flying silently a moment save for the flaps of his wings. "Right... Right. Sorry, Sir... Shall we... proceed?"
He lightly tapped Skyline on the tip of his nose. "Bold! I like it, but you're a mess, cadet. Trying to pretend you haven't been affected by this is a good way to foul things up more than they already are. Come with me." With a graceful spiral, he descended to the ground, landing in perfect form and quickly turning his gaze to where Skyline arrived shortly afterwards. "You make any friends?"
Skyline's ears pinned back. "Um. A few?" He inclined his head faintly. "Why... sir?"
"Because, I know for certain, if you tell them about this, they will want to celebrate." He snorted softly. "And that will get more done than trying to press on tonight. You're dismissed. Inform your friends, and trust their care plan to get you back on your hooves. Report to me when that is complete."
"Um, right... yes, sir." Skyline snapped a proper salute that he held until his instructor was gone. "Right..." With heavy hooves, he headed back to the barracks. It was mostly empty, but he recognized one pony there. A unicorn. "Hey, Piercing."
"Howdy." Piercing waved a hoof with a smile. "Aren't you on duty?"
"Was." Skyline sank on his bed. "Then I got... Look." He twisted in place to make his mark easily visible, pointing to make it extra clear. "Look!"
"Um..." Piercing paused and lowered his head slightly, taking his time to make a decision. "Yep, that sure is a cutie mark. What about it?"
Skyline snorted into a sigh. "Yeah, but it's stuck. Yesterday, I could have whatever mark I wanted. Today, it's this."
"That's not... something most ponies can do." Piercing dared to approach hesitantly. "So, you really are a changeling?"
"Yeah." Skyline flopped to his belly on the cot. "And changelings don't have cutie marks besides what they feel like."
"So..." Piercing sat next to the bed, watching Skyline. "Whatcha feel like?"
"I." Skyline sat up at the question. "I..." He curled an arm, hoof at his chin. "I didn't think about it for a while. There's nothing wrong with that one." He pointed to the mark he had. "But I don't like being forced."
"Well, what'd you do?" He leaned in over the bed a little. "Ponies get their marks, usually, when they do something that makes their talent super obvious." He pointed to his own, showing a thoughtful pony with little rays coming from their head. "Mine was silly... But, you're feeling bad, so this is a great time." He sat back with a snicker. "So, I was doing this puzzle. The first ten to finish, a prize! That's what the magazine said... So I was thinking super extra extra hard! And it came to me." He clapped his hooves. "Pop! And so did my mark."
Skyline furrowed his brow as he looked down upon the blemish that had been troubling him. "I was doing a bombing run."
It intrigued Piercing when he heard about those, and he quickly sat up to hear more. "Heard about those, but never did one. That's a flying thing." He pointed back at his lack of wings. "No practicing that until I get the armor."
"Yeah, well..." Skyline flapped his wings once, making a single flap. "I was doing that, making sure I was aiming right... Then... I think that's when it happened..." He remembered back to the moment when he felt the sudden pinch. "The commander said I glowed right then. Is that normal?"
"Very normal, for a pony. Not every pony glows, but enough." He tossed his head at his own mark. "Not sure if I glowed, but I sure felt it. I was so excited. How could I not be? I had the answer and a cutie mark. Double win! I had to tell everypony I could find."
Skyline couldn't help but allow a smarmy smirk to cross his face as the thought passed through his mind. "But I wasn't supposed to... I already had one!" He pointed at his mark. "It didn't even change. What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Enjoy it?" Piercing shrugged helplessly. "You already liked it, right? Now it's official. You're good at dropping things!" He hopped back from the bed. "I've heard of worse talents. Lean into it! Be the best dropper the world's ever seen!"
"Official, sure."
Skyline hopped to the ground, considering. "Imagine you're wearing a hat."
"A hat, sure." Piercing even grabbed an abandoned cap and put it on his head. "Yep."
"Right, now... imagine someone glued the hat to your head." He bonked Piercing lightly. "Now you can't take the hat off. Let's say you like this hat, but..."
"But, I can't take it off." Piercing felt over his cap, imagining it quite stuck in place. "That would be bad..."
"It's your favorite hat," taunted Skyline. "You never take it off anyway. What's the big deal?"
Piercing wrestled the hat off frantically, throwing it aside. "I get it! Alright... Well, I don't think we can get it off, so... Welcome to pony life!" He motioned towards the cutiemark on his rump with a swift movement of his hoof. "Even if I find some new talent, this mark is stuck. Once we get one, it's there. Before it comes, it coulda been anything, now it's one thing, forever."
"How do you deal with that?" Skyline slowly let his head fall to the right. "You had so many possibilities... then just one."
"We celebrate!" He pumped a hoof with victory. "I didn't think I'd ever get to run a cutie-cenera for a grown up before, but this sounds fun. Oh, let me at it! I bet a ton of the other guards, day and night, will be super stoked for this." He clapped his hooves to his face. "No promises, but maybe, if we tell them, even the princesses will get involved! This never happened before. Gallop with it!"
Skyline slowly made his way to a small mirror, taking a moment to take in his own reflection. "I'm not sure how much I..." He looked back, and he saw Piercing, who had an eager, excited smile on their face. "You can handle this?"
"With pleasure." Piercing saluted. "You have have to say yes, and I'll take care of the rest. Oh, and have fun." He waggled his hooves with the last part. "That's an order."
"You're not my CO." Skyline prodded Piercing. "But I'll do my best... Alright, go for it. Sarg said I can't come back until my friends clear me."
Piercing managed to bring a smile to his face that was twice as large as it was before. "We're friends? Officially? Oh, that's nice." He stuck out his tongue with a little raspberry. "You know, I'm going to tease you forever about that now."
"Can it." Skyline brushed past Piercing, lightly crashing his wing against the unicorn on the way past. "You'll do it?"
"With pleasure." Piercing made for the exit with a little giggle. "Since the sarg said you had to have this, this means this is on duty. Gonna take full advantage of this." He vanished with a parting cackle, hooves clopping away rapidly.
Skyline hopped onto his bed in a flop, crashing onto his side before he rolled over onto his back, wings spread out. "I thought I had this worked out..." All his plans, straight forward. All he had to do was be a good guard, a quality soldier and confidant of the night princess.
Those tended to have cutie marks, and so too did he. "I didn't sign up for that part." He thumped a hoof back against his pillow, which was kind enough to not complain about it.
Celestia stepped over a soldier that looked like they weren't aware of her presence. "Day or night, some things don't change."
Luna chuckled softly at her sister. "This may be true, but none of your soldiers celebrated this so late in their life."
"That is not the accomplishment you think it is." Celestia inclined her head faintly. "Still, that you have a non-pony member, and they've gained a cutie mark? I will give credit for that. That was... a uniquely pony thing, so far as ever I have known it. Have you ever witnessed a non-pony gaining one before?"
"I consulted with the expert on your suggestion. The crusaders swear such a thing has not happened on their watch either, and they tried!" Luna raised a hoof to her chin for considerations. "Now, changelings can have cutie marks. They'd be second-rate infiltrators if that weren't the case."
With the music getting heavier and louder with each step, they resumed their walking in the direction of the room where the sound was the most intense. As the music reverberated around them, they stepped into the room that the soldiers had taken over and transformed into a place for celebration. The decorations were fitting for a cutie-cenera, which was half the problem. They had copied everything with great accuracy, making them perfect for a small foal's special day.
There was the star of the show, being swatted, laughed at, or was that with? His expression showed little a hint that he was enjoying the attention. But he noticed their arrival with a jerk, standing up bolt straight.
Others noticed his sudden attention and, like a passing wave, soon everypony there was looking at them, and the music cut off as the wave reached somepony standing near the phonograph. "Princess on deck," shouted one of them, standing in rigid formality.
Luna made a lowering motion with a hoof. "At ease." Many of the guards there were her own, to no surprise. "We are here to celebrate, just the same as the rest of you. Just think of us as two more--"
"--somewhat large," added Celestia.
"--somewhat large," Luna sighed out. "soldiers. Just here to have fun."
They did their best to obey the order to get back to enjoying themselves. Initially, the motions were quite rigid, but as time passed they began to warm up to the idea. Luna sank beside the star of the show. "Skyline, it has been some time since last we spoke."
"Hey..." He looked away and back. "Nice to see you again... ma'am?"
"Tonight, you can call me Luna." Luna gestured to the side. "This is..." She trailed off, realizing that Celestia was already wandered off to chat with some other soldiers. "That cougar over there is my sister. I swear... Let's focus on you, Skyline."
"Hello... Luna." Skyline rubbed behind his head. "Are you... Um... What are you looking for, ma'am?"
"Luna," she corrected. "I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to do that before you had this sudden event, but it made me want to talk to you even more. Allow me to ask, has this impeded your natural abilities?"
Skyline erupted into a brief flame, becoming a second Luna. "It has not," he assured in Luna's own voice.
Luna jerked back in surprise. "I see!" She glanced along the side of the doppelganger, spotting his cutie mark did not match hers. Though he had the spotted patterns of his rump down, the actual mark was his own, the compass and screwdriver. "But you can't change that."
"I can't," he miserably agreed, shrinking back to his normal form as if the extra mass were burning away from him. "Which makes me kinda bad at... changelinging?"
"I disagree." She inclined her head faintly. "Become something that has no cutie mark, and never did. Can you do that?"
Something without a cutie mark? His eyes wandered the room curiously. "What about..." With a fresh wave of changeling magic, he became a table, empty, waiting to have things placed on it. "This work?" Despite being a table, he could still talk.
Luna leaned way off around to see under Skyline examining his table-nature thoroughly. "I don't see a cutie mark. Very good. Your mark is only 'stuck' when you are in the form of a pony. Ponies have a cutie mark, and yours is pre-determined. That isn't so bad, hm?"
Skyline returned to his usual form. "Really?" He twisted to look back at himself, but he was a pony, so he had a mark, taunting him. "What if..." And he became a dragon, who could move and look without so much difficulty. He checked his rump, and it was blank. Dragons did not have marks. "Huh... But, Luna, I swear I tried not-pony forms before, and it was there! Why is it working now?" He scowled at the obvious plot hole in his own life, right where one did not want a plot hole.
Luna smiled gently, still on her belly before Skyline, putting their heads close to the same level. "It was a new thing, and, I like to think, I'm the first that brought it up. A combination of practice and actually trying."
Skyline clopped a hoof to his head. "R-right... So... It's working now because you got it in my head to try just not having one because that's normal?"
"Is it not normal for a dragon to not have one?" countered Luna with a knowing look. "I thought everypony knew that."
"Obvious, looking back..." He had panicked. He had tried to have a different mark, but he couldn't have a different mark. His mark was set. But he could... just not have a mark at all... "Wow. I feel dumb."
"You shouldn't." Luna rose to her proper height. "You were scared, not stupid, though being scared can make us do foalish things. May I remind, you earned your armor."
Skyline glanced to where the armor was secured away. "Yes, ma'am..."
"Quite rapidly, may I remind." Luna raised a hoof just under Skyline's snout. "Don't tell me my guards are stupid. Were they daft to allow this?"
"No! Ma'am... Luna." He shrank back a step. "I am ready to serve."
"Glad to hear it." She leaned in, noses almost touching but not quite making contact. "Tonight, your order is to enjoy yourself, and celebrate the arrival of this new step in your life, even if we did not invite it."
"You heard her." Piercing came in from the side suddenly, throwing an arm around Skyline's neck. "Did you hear? He got his mark for dropping the best bombs!"
Luna inclined her head. "That hadn't come up. You excelled in that course? I had thought it abandoned, truth told. It's been... quite a while, according to my sister, since the last time any guard, day or night, was called to make a bombing run. With luck, there may never come another time... But, things happen."
"Yeah, better to know how and not need it than the other way around," argued Skyline. "And that's when I got that." He pointed back at his stuck cutie mark.
Luna tapped at her chin thoughtfully. "There are other uses for precision bombing than causing damage, Skyline. There are towns in remote locations. If you can get parcels to them precisely, they would be thankful."
Skyline made a sour face. "I joined your guard, ma'am. Your guard aren't mail couriers."
"Not usually." Luna smirked softly. "In part because most of them would not be good at it. Emergencies happen, Skyline. If something direly needs to be somewhere, I may ask you to see that it happens. You would follow my order, would you not?"
Skyline cringed, put on the spot. "O-of course not, ma'am. If you told me to... I would. That's my job, ma'am."
"Luna." She set a hoof on his nose. "At least for tonight. I simply wish for you to see that mark for what it means. Being able to get things where they need to be can have a variety of uses, and you should expect me to consider them. Harmony forfend, perhaps we may even need those bombs to drop. At least I know who I would call first, should such a need arise."
"Best bomber," laughed out Piercing, having gone nowhere. "Luna! Want a drink?" Using his horn, he grabbed a glass of something colorful and brought it over. "Like you said, tonight you're just one of us! Drink up!"
Luna accepted it, the color around the cup shifting to her magic. "Since you are kind enough to invite." She took a sip and drew the cup away. "Powerful... Do you not have work tomorrow?"
Piercing shrank back a step. "Um..."
Luna wagged the cup at the withdrawing unicorn. "I should expect a number of my guards to be nursing headaches tomorrow then. Who planned this party?"
Skyline pointed at Piercing, who looked like he wished for the ground to consume him at that moment, but it offered no such easy escape.
Luna hummed softly at the abashed guard. "You clearly care for Skyline."
Piercing's blush grew worse. "It was a chance to run an adult cutie-cenera, ma'am. I never got to do that before!"
"And a very nice cenera it is." Luna tapped Piercing on his nose. "I will inform your commanders to take it easy on you, tomorrow. Unless something comes up. You know the duty you signed on for, guard."
"Yes, ma'am!" He saluted sharply. "Sorry, ma'am."
"You've avoided me." She pointed at him, then Skyline. "What do you think of him?"
"Huh? He's a soldier, ma'am! A kin! The bastard got ahead of me... I thought I'd get the armor before him, ma'am, and he snuck out ahead of me!" He stomped as he vented his frustration. "I'll catch up, ma'am!"
Luna raised a hoof to poorly conceal a snicker. "You're already tipsy, guard. Piercing Thought, wasn't it?"
"Yes, ma'am!" he crisply responded despite any fuzziness in his thoughts.
Luna looked back to Skyline. "I meant to ask... Are you enjoying your armor?"
"I... technically don't need it, ma'am." Skyline rubbed behind his head awkwardly. "I can be that when I want to be." With a wave of flames, he returned to his bat pony form. "So--" He found Luna's hoof on his nose, a habit of her's that night. "Ma'am?"
"The armor is a uniform. I was told you can assume clothing as well, so at least look the part. It won't look right if one of my guards is without the armor that every other member of my guard wears." Luna drew her hoof back. "I understand you don't 'need' it, but it is the uniform. You'll hardly be the first pony to wear a uniform despite not 'needing' it."
Skyline worked his wings in a fidget on his back. His voice lowered to a conspirational whisper, "Do I have to wear it every time I go bat pony?"
Luna rolled her eyes. "Actually... You are performing a service for us. While you are off-duty, being seen as that deflects some of the questions that may otherwise arise... Such as why nopony sees my night guards going about their--"
"--Do ponies ask about that?" blurted on Piercing, rejoining the conversation suddenly. "I always wondered..."
"Rarely, but not never." Luna rolled her eyes at the interruption. "So, again, off-duty? You can wear what you like, that includes your form. So long as you're not imitating a specific living pony, you're not breaking any laws. On the other hoof, there is almost never a good time to look like me, so don't do that again. Hm?"
Skyline colored at being called out for that. "Sorry... I was just--"
"--I understand," cut in Luna. "Just not again. I know a changeling must see identity as... something different, but we other creatures see our reflection in the mirror as something very special. Having something else with that is quite... uncanny. Now, they appear to be engaged in some manner of frivolity. I would ask that you show me how to play."
"I got this." Piercing pushed forward. "This'll be fun! Luna vs Skyline, everypony wins!" He cheered out and led the way towards the others.
"You!" The mare hurried through the heavy beats, dashing in almost a gallop to Skyline. "I was starting to think you were a passing dream."
Skyline turned his ears back to rest on his head. He had gone to a different place, halfway across the city. What were the odds? "Hi."
"Hi yourself." She looked him over. "So, what happened? You vanished! I woke up, and you weren't there."
Other dancers, the ones that could hear, edged away from the charged conversation.
What could he say? Thanks for the snack, but I had places to be? He hadn't even thought about her since then. "Nice to see you?"
"Not the answer I was aiming for." She glared at him with renewed ire. "Seriously, what happened?!"
"You want the truth?" he tried, hoping perhaps it'd ward her away.
"Yes." Flat, final. "Truth, now."
Well... "Alright. I joined the night guard." He spread his leathery wings wide. "And I passed basic training. I'm a full-fledged member now."
"Oh." She sank to her haunches. "Why didn't you start with that? Why didn't you wake me up?! I would have understood..." She curled a hoof to her chin. "Wow, guard member. Congratulations... I though you just liked... Nevermind. Wow." She burst into sudden giggles, vibrating with the force of it. "So you've been busy with Luna, huh? That makes sense... Seriously, why didn't you just tell me?"
"It was complicated..." It really hadn't been, at the time. "I was... I was worried Luna would send me away. I was nervous." That part, at least, true. "Sorry."
"Well." Her tail wagged with rebounding energy. "Found you. Want to dance? Get any better than the first time? I swear, you were trying to shake apart."
Skyline could remember his wild gyrations as he tried to adjust to his new form. "Um... I wasn't that bad."
"I loved it." She leaned in, breath washing over his face and cheek. "The worst part was waking up and you weren't there. I thought... I thought I found a new friend."
"You did!" he blurted with more force than he meant to. "I mean, um... Hi! I'm Skyline." He dipped his head towards her.
"Howdy do, Skyline." She pointed at herself. "Ruby Rails." She fluttered her brilliant red eyes. "Care to do a new dance? You're not busy, are you? The night's young, and so are we!"
Skyline returned her smile, flapping his wings once. "You know, you're right. A little dance wouldn't hurt."
"Not even a little." She brushed past him and lashed her tail. "The beat's lively, so let's get to it." The time for words had passed, and they started the dance she had requested, and soon he remembered he enjoyed just as much. There was a lot less deception that time, but the dancing could not go forever. "I... should go..."
"If you want." She pressed against him, the two belly to belly, standing up just after a soft song. "Want to stop by? I have coffee," she tempted like it was a big pile of bits, an exotic treature to lure him with.
He laughed at the outrageous offer. "Aren't you scared? I might vanish on you again."
"You might." She smooched his cheek and fell to all fours. "You might... But I kinda like you, and I know your secrets. No running! Just let me know when or if you have to go. I won't panic, promise."
Skyline fell to his own hooves, peering at her oddly. He knew at least one secret she didn't know... "Alright..." a little snack sounded pretty good, come to think. He had basically no chances to sup on love while working as a guard. The strict military life had no room for such things. Love between members was a no go, even if one wanted another pony of the same gender. Nope nope. Love life was for off duty.
Lucky for Skyline, he was off duty, so he followed Ruby Rails to her home for the second time.
They had a perfectly delightful evening that ended with her hugging him firmly from below, he resting on top of her, belly to belly. "You are a.. wonderful stallion, just so you know," she got out, panting softly. "But you make a mare scared to even think about napping. If I close my eyes, you'll be gone in an instant, sneaky thing."
"Guilty." He touched noses with her. "That's part of my job, as a guard... Now... Now..." He thought it over. Was it the right time to bring it up? "You're pretty too." Maybe another time... "I won't run away."
"You promise." She licked his nose with a muted giggle. "Promise promise?"
"Triple promise." He crossed his chest and poked himself in the eye. "With a cupcake."
"Ooo, that's serious." She nuzzled him under the chin, working to his throat. "Now... I promised somepony some coffee... I'll get on that."
She slid to her hooves and trotted off in a hurry to make that happen.
Part of Skyline considered fleeing. The poor mare had taken her eyes off him. He could make his escape quietly and she'd return with coffee and an empty room.
"I shouldn't..." He wasn't a changeling infiltrator, trying to sneak a nibble of love. He was a guard! A royal guard! Luna's, if one wanted to be specific. A royal guard would... wouldn't rather, no... They would not treat a pony so terribly as to leave them possibly crying, having done nothing wrong.
"I accept your love," he spoke gently to himself.
A pity she heard it, coffee kettle balanced on her head and cups on her back. Her cheeks were becoming darker by the moment. "I..."
"Sorry." He sat up quickly, facing her. "I was... Sorry. I'm messing this up."
"You can mess that up all you want." She let things slide free, soon offering a cup of coffee to her guest. "Do you really?"
"No," he answered perhaps too firmly and flatly. "Sorry... I... I have a secret, and I'd rather be honest right now. You've been nothing but kind."
She released a soft "Oh" as she carefully poured herself a cup, hoping the warmth of the liquid would help her clear her mind. "What do you see when you look at me then? A fun time? A friend? Be honest, you just said you would be."
"Right..." He examined the mare curiously, fluttering his wings. "Ponies can be so fast."
She recoiled an inch, more of a flinch really. "Ponies? Aren't you one?"
"No." With a rush of flames, a bug sat on her bed, and she scrambled back in terror. "I won't hurt you."
"You're.... a changeling?" She swallowed thickly. "They... They chased me. They..." She shuddered in remembrance. "They... Are you here to catch me?" She tossed a pillow at him, slapping him across the face with it. "I won't let you!"
"Calm down." With a fresh wave of heat, he returned to his batty self. "I'm still me. I didn't catch you last time, did I?"
"Oh... no, guess not." Ruby sank down heavily. "This is a lot to take in... Were.... Did you attack? Were you there, when Canterlot got invaded?" She worked her tongue over her dry lips. "When hope felt like it was miles away..."
"It's my job, among others, to make that never happen again." He brought a hoof to his chest. "I am Luna's guard. Where she orders it, I will be there. When any citizen of Equestria is threatened, I will act. That is my job."
She let out a strangled bit of a laugh. "Wow... But what if changelings attack again? What will you do?"
"I'll fight them." He lashed his tail. "To the last, until they give up, or I can't fight anymore. I owe them nothing. I have given Luna everything, and she accepted." He angled his ears forward, tail lifting slightly. "I know... you see me and you're not feeling very trusting... But they know. Luna knows. All of them know. They trust me at their side. Trust them instead, if that helps. I will uphold the vows I made."
"No pressure," she laughed out a little hysterically, taking a deep drink of the coffee to soothe herself, her trembling calming. "If Luna gave a chance... I'd just be admitting she's a better pony." She set her cup down. "So... Cookies!"
"Cookies?"
"Favorite flavor." Ruby rose up and headed into the kitchen. "I have vanilla, chocolate, nut bonanza?"
"Thank you." Part of it, he reasoned, was her just wanting to stop staring at the problem. Still, she was welcoming him to stay, to eat with her, and not be chased away. She knew the truth, and he was still welcome. "I will have what you're having, and enjoy it."
"Smooth talker." She returned with a tin of vanilla and chocolate cookies and placed them between herself and Skyline. "Say 'ah'." She fed him one, slower than one technically had to, but the sensual slowness of the feeing was a strong hint, a shouted message that her heart was still open. "This scares me," she admitted. "Are you alright with that?"
"If you're alright with me." He inclined his head. "You asked what I saw." He pointed at her and reached to ruffle her chest. "I see a pony I'd like to be friends with."
"Which means you don't see a friend already." She stuffed a chocolate one in her own snout. "That's fair... really... My friends tell me I rush into these things way too fast! I barely know you... I didn't even know your name before today... And here I am, ready to say yes to your marriage proposal. Look at me." She grabbed another cookie to stuff in herself. "That was silly of me. Sorry. Skyline." She offered a hoof. "I would love to learn you. Maybe we could be great friends? Let's find out."
He met her hoof with one of his own. "Let's find out," he echoed with a growing smile. "What do you like to do, besides dancing?"
"I love a stroll through the park." She hopped up to the window and pointed down at some night-hidden park. "The city has so many of them. Celestia loves them, and I agree with her. Nothing like a stroll to clear the head. If you have good company, even better. A light drink on a warm day? Mmm... kinda perfect." She smiled at the pleasing thought, her fear chased away for the moment. "Do you like that?"
"I never tried that." He joined her at the window. It was mostly darkness, but some street lamps at least hinted at the park in the short-distance. "I wouldn't mind trying it, next time I have a day off?"
"Then, I say, that's a date. A friend-date. We're not mare/stallion yet. Cool down!" She was as much chastising herself as anypony else in the area. "When's your next day? You have tomorrow off?"
Skyline chuckled at the thought. "No... This isn't a vacation, just a day off. I'll have to go back to work." He pointed to the door. "Can I leave while you're awake this time?"
"I'd... Part of me wants..." Alright, she wasn't sure what she wanted exactly. "Thank you, for asking. Having you vanish again would have been... just awful." She walked with him towards the door. "You know where I live. Stop by, say hi. Send a letter. I won't be mad to hear from you.
Skyline leaned in, touching nose to her cheek. "Let's take that walk sometime." He stepped free of her apartment. "Thank you. Um... good night. Luna watches over your sleep. We will watch over the rest." He saluted sharply and marched off.
She burst into fresh giggles. "Silly thing..." She closed the door gently and returned to her evening duties.
Skyline smiled toothily at a fellow bat pony. "Looking good."
"Feeling good." Pointed, then a bat pony, paced in place with a smile of his own. "It's... No offense to her, but it feels like I'm a princess now. I got my wings." He spread those new parts wide. "Even if I don't have my horn right now."
Pointed was wearing the traditional night guard armor. The chest plate gave him the form, and took away his horn. They weren't false princesses or princes, having but one, false, tribe. "You already know how to fly." It took him but a moment. "You're a changeling."
"Guilty?" That hadn't been a new fact around there for a while. "What brings that up all of a sudden?"
"You knew how to fly the whole time." He hesitated then, considering that. "But changelings fly way different." He flapped his arms in his best, poor, imitation of a changeling buzzing their wings, then a more... batlike flapping. "Different. How'd you learn how to do both?"
"Practice." Skyline lifted an ear. "Did you expect some kind of crazy changeling magic? We don't have one for that. We turn into something, we have to figure out how it works. Like when I was Luna that one time, I didn't know how to Luna. I couldn't have patrolled dreams."
"Wait..." He prodded Skyline firmly. "That wasn't a drunken dream? You did that?! You mad idiot... She could have torn you in half for doing that! If we... The whole gang of us woulda been on you after she had a turn, if we were... thinking straight."
"Luna is a kind princess."
Piercing nodded at that idea. "She is... One of many reasons I signed up for this job." He flapped his new wings. "Stop distracting me. You're my hookup."
"Hook up?" He peered at his squad mate. "I won't break rules for you. What rule would you even want broken?"
"None of them." Piercing pointed back at his flapping wings. "Show me how these work."
Skyline spread his own wings. "One moment." Such training would require going outside, and he was on duty. That meant he had to put on his armor properly. With a fresh wash of heat, he was dressed for the occasion. "There we go. We should check if anypony else wants flying lessons."
"Did somepony say flying lessons?" came from about fifteen feet away, a gangly earth pony rushing to join them. "I could use one."
Piercing swatted at the new pony with a wing. "Not without your armor you don't."
"Oh, right. Be right back." He hurried off to get properly suited, and gain his wings.
Skyline led what ended up being four hopeful souls outside. "Now, being bats, the easiest way to start flying is to start from high up. But, we're not bats." He hopped in place. "We have strong legs. What can strong legs do?" He didn't really wait for them to think about it. "They can jump. A good jump is more than enough to get the whole thing going. Just like a pegasus."
One of them raised a hoof. "I've seen a pegasus take off without jumping." Another muttered in agreement.
"Practice, and strong wings. You can work to get both of those. Until you get there, a good jump makes up the difference. You all know how to jump, right?" That prompted most of them to try their jumping skills. None of them seemed unable to do that at least. "One thing..." He spread his wings flat. "Any of you know if you can strengthen wings you only... get with that armor, or do you start over each time you put it on?"
On the way out of the castle, Skyline stopped by their commander's office to tell him what was going on.
"Thank you for informing me, and the initiative." He waved them on. "Enjoy your flights. Oh, take Lemon Patty with you."
Skyline had never met a Lemon Patty... But one of his gang knew where they'd be. A mare staring in a mirror and flapping her wings. She was clearly new with them. "We're going for flight practice. They have assigned you to take part."
Lemon whirled on Skyline and the others. "Oh! Um... I'm not that good..."
"That's the point," laughed out Pointed. "None of us are, or we might not need the practice. Let's use these things." He jumped and flapped and even managed an awkward gliding flight of a few feet ahead. "Woah! I did it!"
Skyline patted his friend with a wing on the way past. "Exactly what I was getting at. A good jump makes starting this a lot easier. All things with wings have a few options. They jump, they run, they fall, or they do some combination of all of those. The ones with the strongest wings just flap, but don't assume you're starting there." He folded his leathery wings in tight. "We are bat ponies. Our wings have different advantages."
"Like what?" asked Lemon. "Um, sir?"
Well, he was the leading soldier of that drill. He accepted it. "We're maneuverable. We could outdo the Wonderbolts if we practiced hard enough. Once we're in the air, these bad boys can turn us around and make turns bird-wings just can't match. Unfortunately... That is not true of any of you right now. Let's learn the basics first."
So he had them running and jumping to get wind in their wings. False starts had them tumbling, often laughing it off and trying again, harder. The 'successful' launches had their own problems, with soldiers sailing without being able to properly stop or steer. They careened wildly out of control, with Skyline chasing and shouting orders at them.
Bruises were the call of the evening, but spirits were high. They had taken flight!
Piercing was one without many bruises, a fact Skyline noticed. "You seem to be doing well."
"I'm copying you." Piercing lifted his head into a proud strutting motion. "You're not the only creature that can copy what they see."
Skyline pointed away from himself. "Yeah? Show it. Fly to the castle." The castle wasn't too far away, across a clearing of grass. "Go on."
Piercing took a galloping step, but launched himself into the air on the second hoof fall, leaping into the embrace of his wings on the air. He was aloft, carrying himself on his own power. He flapped for lift and control, but he was controlling it.
Skyline clapped as he watched the basic flight across the field, and others began watching with impressed features. "Very good." He trotted over to meet up with Piercing. "You really were watching and learning. I'm impressed."
"Thanks." He folded his wings back against himself, on the ground properly. "That feels so good... How do you ever not fly?"
The demonstration got the rest of them back to trying even harder. Skyline watched with a little smile. He'd have them at least in the air at the end of the night, and that wasn't a bad bit of progress. "I'll be telling the commander how well you all did. You should all be proud tonight." They cheered as one, and one crashed with joy.
The practice would continue.
"Sister." Celestia considered her smaller sister. "Your guards."
"What about them? Are you jealous?" Luna adopted a smug grin. "They are very loyal."
"Very loyal... But also a bit... out of fashion."
Luna's smile turned into a scowl instantly. "What do you mean? They look regal and imposing!"
"Which are two qualities the modern Equestria doesn't strive for," gently argued Celestia. "These are kinder times."
"Your city was just attacked not long ago! Kinder times..." Luna stomped with a loud equine snort. "You're such an idealist, sister."
"Always was, always will be." Celestia didn't even try to argue that. "And it's got us this far..."
"I do not mean to belittle your accomplishments, sister mine... But my guards do not pose a risk to what you have built." She ruffled her wings on her back. "We have two guards, and they get along just fine."
"Sister... I understand what you are doing. You don't want to stand in my shadow."
"I am your shadow," hissed Luna, wings popping out. "I am the shadow to your brilliant light. It feels silly to even argue that.
Celestia took a soft breath, calming herself, and perhaps giving the moment a chance to deflate. "Poorly spoken on my part. You, dear sister, are a beloved shadow. You watch over our dreams, and guard the night."
"As do my guards." She inclined her head. "Or do you imagine all attacks will come when your sun is out to greet them?"
"Most..." She sighed out. "But that is aside the point. I'm not seeking to disband your guards. They are good ponies, and one changeling."
Luna huffed at that. "About that! The changelings demolished your guards, and I recruited one into mine. Where do you come off saying your way is better?"
"I wasn't trying to imply that." Celestia walked to a window and pointed through it. "Look."
Luna hastened to her side. "What am I looking at?"
"The city, our city." Walking along, smiling ponies went about their business, safe and happy.
"What... about them?" Luna raised a brow at the scene. "I am doing my part to keep them safe, sister. As are the guards."
"I made the same misake..." Celestia pointed harder. "Even this city carries that stain... I'm glad it's passing. Once, only unicorns lived here, if they weren't one of my guards. And my guards, a monolith, seemingly all one pony, repeated endlessly. Intimidating and strong."
Luna looked at the ponies with a new angle. Most were unicorns, but not all. Some pegasi and earth ponies were in the mix, all going about their day. "How did you change then?"
"I stopped forcing it. Guards."
The door swung open, two ponies poking their heads in. One was a unicorn. The other an earth pony. One a stallion, the other a mare. "My guards show what I want, and I want a unified nation, not of one thing, but of celebrating all that makes us grand, which is every tribe, and every gender."
"Ma'am?"
Celestia gently waved for them to go, and they did. "This is a change. I was wrong, but I have admitted it."
"But..." Luna paced in place. "My guards are..."
"A lie," finished Celestia. "We can't celebrate a tribe that doesn't exist."
"There is another fix for that, sister mine..."
Celestia raised a brow at that. "What would the other fix be? You've... made me cautiously curious."
Luna brought her forehooves together. "Excellent. If the bat ponies were to become a true tribe, then we can celebrate them. All that remains is to make them a reality."
Celestia flipped her wings out, only for them to slowly refold. "Sister... How do you plan to do that? The making of an entire tribe is no small feat you are proposing... To start, you need a pony of the new tribe."
Luna cracked a coy smile. "I have one. You met him. A good and loyal pony."
Celestia went through the guards she had met. They were all fake... Except... One who didn't wear the enchanted armor. "They aren't a pony! No offense to them... But they aren't!"
Luna shrugged her shoulders. "Have we confirmed if changelings and ponies can make foals or not? If they can, and he remains as a bat pony... perhaps..." She cycled her hooves, working through the scheme in her head. "And then we have a new tribe, to celebrate."
Celestia deflated with the powerful sigh she pushed out. "Sister... Before you get too far into these dreamings, have you considered speaking to him? This is a matter that involves him quite severely. To do it without his leave is unthinkable. Without his willing consent, it musn't be pursued." She raised a hoof. "Actually... We can't get that consent."
"Why not?" Luna scowled as she stood up.
"We're his boss, Luna. This sort of question can't come from us. He may say yes to not be fired, and that is hardly the position to start this from... He would be your cherished guard even if he declined, I hope?"
"Not get sleep?" Piercing was sudsing himself, the two standing in the shower. "Never saw that before."
Skyline frowned. "What? You never saw anycreature not sleep perfectly before?"
"Not that." He willed a bar of soap over to help cleaning Skyline. "A member of Luna's guard. Being one of hers usually means some good Zs."
Skyline caught the soap from the air with a wing, taking over using it on himself. "Well, not last night. I had the strangest dreams."
"Wanna share?" he asked with a little shrug. "We're partners in arms and all."
"Not the sharing kind of dreams." He shook himself free of suds and circled around to get the water everywhere. "We'd get in trouble, sharing that."
Piercing took a step back. "That kind? You got a, you know, personal friend? The close and snuggly kind, if you're in for that?"
"No." A flat denial, received and understood. The conversation died away and Skyline emerged, cleaned, if showing signs of a night of little rest.
He sat in the cafeteria and munched on breakfast. It was a fine breakfast, no quick eggs and slop for soldiers. It was fit for a princess. Celestia demanded the best to pass her lips, and what failed to reach them was there for soldiers to enjoy. That meant cookies, cakes, and various caffeine sources were also on tap. He sipped at a mug of coffee, trying to shake away the fog of the night before.
One could forgive him for not even noticing others making room around him suddenly. He only looked up when something, or someone, heavy settled across from him. Across from him was their ultimate commanding officer. Princess Luna, watching him intently.
"Can I... help you, ma'am?" He wasn't, technically, on-duty yet. Skyline was still eating breakfast!
"Taking a moment." She looked him over intently, perhaps too intently. "Mmm... Perhaps she is right."
He set the mug down with his wings. "Ma'am?" He could but guess. "Your sister, ma'am?"
"One and the same." Luna curled a wing in front of herself. "She cautioned me that I cannot ask you something, but I think you have exactly the reason why I can do exactly that."
"What is that, ma'am?" He nibbled on a bit of light cake, watching her. He was awake then. He could see the others avoiding that part of the table by quite a margin. "Is this open to others? They can hear us."
"It involves all of the night guards." That had some looking over. "But you, to start. I have a question, one I'm uncertain of, but do require the answer of, before I can consider moving forward."
"Yeah?" He lifted a tufted ear. "How can I help, ma'am? Is this a... changeling thing? I can't think of too many other things I might know that you don't already."
"Actually... yes. Astute of you." She set her hooves on the table, eyes matching his. "If a changeling were to... copulate... would they have children of whatever they were imitating at the time, or not?"
Skyline went still. His fork clattered to his plate. "Ma'am? Did I hear you correctly?"
"If a changeling were to, say, be a pegasus, could they have a pegasus child with another pegasus?" pressed on Luna, as if a simple understanding were the root of the problem.
"I..." He looked around. It felt like every single eye in the room was fixed on him. "Well..." He tapped his hooves awkwardly together. "Ma'am... We should... start with the basics, ma'am."
"The basics, yes." Luna nodded without argument. "Let us begin there. Continue."
Skyline turned a hoof on himself. "I am a changeling. They are not ponies. They aren't even mammals, ma'am."
"Yes?" Luna waved for Skyline to continue.
Skyline applied a hoof to his face. "We 'propogate' in a cluster of eggs in the hive. New grubs emerge, and they grow up to be new changelings. Yay." He looked up at her with a faint frown. "Ponies don't do that."
"They do not." Luna did not seem deterred. "But you skipped a step. How do these eggs come about? They don't just... appear... I assume?"
Skyline buried his face in his hooves as faint snickers sounded from those watching. "I'm not and never was one of those changelings, ma'am. I don't know. I never did it... I know more about how ponies do it than I ever did learn how changelings go about it. That wasn't my job. We changelings tend to be very focused on our purpose." He pointed down at his cutie mark. "I thought this meant ponies were too, in theory. Why do all of them know about it?"
"We have many purposes." Luna sat up proudly. "I am a guardian of dreams, and a princess. You are my guard. But we are not only these purposes. Either of us may find a special somepony we wish to make a family with, and that is a grand thing. I could take up baking, if it did not interfere with my royal duties."
Images of Luna with a baker's hat on entered Skyline's mind. "I see. But I'm a changeling."
"Not the way you envision it." She set a hoof on his nose. "You do not have a task for your hive. You have no hive. You live with us ponies, as a pony. We have accepted you, and you, I hope, have accepted us. Your purpose is, now, what you make of it. A glorious thing, terrible it may be at times." She pointed at a night guard that jumped at the motion. "You. How are ponies made?"
The poor mare blushed. "Well, when a mother pony and a father pony love each other very much..." The room erupted into laughter as the mare shrank on herself.
"Do changelings not have a similar tale?" Luna inclined her head. "Surely they have something they tell their little ones when they ask where they came from."
"I just told you. We come from eggs in the hive. Luna, ma'am... why are you asking? I don't have a special somepony, nor feel the urge at the moment to seriously fix that."
Luna tapped her hooves gently. "Let's put this aside a moment. My question stands. If a changeling and a pony were to fall in love... could a child result?"
Before Skyline could answer, she thrust a hoof at him. "Theoretically, not specifically involving you."
Skyline let out a slow breath. "There's a story. You could call it a folktale, or a legend. It has no proof, but it hasn't gone away. Take it how you like it... But they say, a long time ago, across a river and a mountain, where true desire can be found..." He could see Luna was fixed on him, along with the rest of the room.
"Love came quick and easy, the hive was full, the changelings fat and pleased." The ponies looked less pleased at that part. "But there was one drone that wasn't happy, even with that. She had so much love, it must have... overflowed." Skyline frowned at the idea. "She had so much, it spilled back out of her. Instead of taking it, she gave it back. She fell in love with a creature, and tried feeding them some of the love she had too much of."
"Aw," crooned out one of the many watchers.
Skyline stuck out his tongue, curled in disgust. "Why it happened, noling knows, but it happened, and he didn't even keep it! He gave it right back, so she was full, so she gave it back, and they kept pushing it back on each other. Full of love she couldn't get rid of, she found... another way to use the love."
Luna perked. "I would hear what method that was?"
"I'm getting to it." Princess or not, it was like an eager child at times... " She swallowed the love down deep and gathered it up. She made a special egg with it, one noling had seen before, or since. She laid one egg. Just one!" To him, a clearly strange event. The ponies did not gather the import of that event. "And from that egg... the result of their love."
Luna clapped, visions of her plan coming together. "Was the child of the father's race? A hybrid? What was it?!"
"Who knows?" Skyline shrugged with a little smirk. "She was out of love, so she ate all the love he had to give, and he was so used to giving it to her. She left him dry and went back to the hive, like a sane changeling. The end."
Luna sagged, deflating dramatically at the sharp end of the story. "But..." She clopped the table before her. "That can't be the end! What of the child? What happened to it?"
"She didn't know and didn't care. She went back to the hive and forgot the whole thing. Her queen forgave her for running off when she gave a nice big offering of love when she came back."
Luna scowled at Skyline. "This is an ancient story. You are not a changeling like this. If you had a child, there would be no hive to return to. What would you do, were you overburdened with love?"
Skyline stroked his chin with thought. "I'm not..." the kinship of his peers was nice, but he wasn't overflowing with love. "Still, no... No, I wouldn't go back to any hive. I don't have one." He raised a brow at Luna. "And you wouldn't want any offering of love I gave you, I assume?"
"I would not." Luna shook her head firmly. "So what would you do?"
"Well! If I was that full..." He licked his lips, imagining having so much love... It was a delirious thought, to be so full one could explode with it. "If I was that full... I could do what she did."
Luna perked her ears. "But you are a stallion!"
His brows fell as one. "I am a changeling. I'm whatever I want to be, ma'am. I could put the egg in somecreature else, but that might be rude." He colored at the idea of it. "Very rude... You don't want me to do that, I imagine?"
"That... is a future concern." She hissclicked softly, a calculating look on her face. "But, even if we don't know the result entirely... That changeling mare, she did have a child. That child was hers. That child was his. A changeling and a not changeling had a child."
"Ma'am."
"Hm?"
"While you are very interesting and I enjoy working for you, I have no interest in you as a special somecreature." He tried to speak calmly and rationally.
Luna blinked at him as the room exploded into laughs, gasps, and some incredulous noises. Someone had just shot down Princess Luna, so coldly at that. "I wasn't asking!" She stood up, pushing the bench back in the motion. "Enjoy your breakfast. We will speak later." She marched from the room, defeated, but not sullen in appearance.
Piercing landed right where Luna had been a moment before, helping others to push the bench back into place. "You did not just do that!" Though, clearly, he had witnessed it. "If Luna showed interest in me, I wouldn't even know what to do, and you just... came out and said 'no thanks'? Are you mad?" Voices rose, others in clear agreement, and gathering around the changeling that was a bat pony.
Skyline pushed his plate away and stood up, grabbing the plate with his wings. "I'm done with breakfast. I'll see you all out on the field." He ended up with a crowd following him, demanding more satisfying answers despite his attempts to ignore them all.
It was only the stern glare of their commanding officer that got them back into line to start their duties of the day. Being a guard didn't pause for gossip trades, much as they'd prefer to focus on that.
"Sister." Luna stepped around Celestia on her throne. There were no supplicants at that time. "Sister... Would you be upset if I went... hunting?"
Celestia cocked a brow. "There are very few things I could imagine you'd need to hunt, and fewer things I'd want you to hunt. What have you in mind?"
Luna sat and brought up her hooves together with a calculating smile. "Just one more changeling. Just one."
Celestia lifted the other brow to match. "You're kidding. Changelings tend to be very good at not being seen away from their hive, and at their hive, they are a force to be reckoned with, with a queen that would not favor such... poaching of her talent. This feels like an effort doomed from the start."
Luna snorted softly. "You have not been very supportive, sister mine."
"You are not thinking this through." Celestia glanced at the guards, who were doing their best to not pay attention. "What is the limit, and what are you inflicting on a future foal? To live as the only of its kind? That hardly seems a kind destiny, even if well-minded."
"I didn't say it has anything to do with that," defended Luna with a huff. "You are assuming things."
"Am I wrong?"
Luna looked away, rather than answer that question. "Besides, they wouldn't be. They would have an entire family, ready to deliver love and support. An extended family, even. Foals would weep to have such a large and supportive family."
"A family that is only wearing their reality as a suit of armor, literally." Celestia shook her head slowly. "Are you certain this is a good idea to entertain?"
"Your age has made you cynical." Luna trot off to see her schemes made true.
Celestia sighed gently. "That was a low blow."
Skyline soared with several others in tight formation. Their target was ahead of them, barely visible in the gloom of the night, but they had torches, which made it easier to pick them out. They being their target. None of the night guards carried any light. Sharp squeaks let them know they weren't crashing into anything, including each other.
It had taken practice for them to learn to use sonar properly. A funny thing, but one didn't need to be a bat to do that. Even a normal pony could learn to use sonar, but most didn't, as eyes worked pretty well. Big bat pony ears and being told, no, commanded to figure it out was motivation enough to get them all practicing until they could do such night missions.
Skyline waved to the left and right in precise motions, sending the others breaking away. They had a plan already worked out, long before they got there. A new squeak, a coded keyword that few but other bats would be listening for. The target was ready, guard was down. Hit it fast, get away. That was the goal. Skyline drew higher, not wanting the light they were aiming by to reveal him.
They were almost there and he checked the heavy package attached to him one last time. The straps were secure, the release felt ready to go. He couldn't test that, not that late into things. It'd work, or not, at that point. The night wind ruffling his fur, he made silent calculations on where to be and when to... "Now." Saying it was not required. It was for nopony's benefit. He yanked the cord in a rough pull and his flight became a wobble with so much weight being freed all at once.
He banked with the sudden momentum, wheeling away from his target. Hit or not, he'd do no favors to anyone on his side by sticking around. He could hear crashes behind him. He wasn't the only one bombing that night. Some dull thuds of things hitting the ground, but also splintering wood and squeals of abused metal. Ponies were shouting and panicking. They hadn't expected a bombing run in the middle of the night, clearly.
Ponies were creatures of the day. An attack in the night? Who would do that?
Skyline smirked at the thought. They would. Guards of the night. He let out a laugh, feeling far enough away for comfort. "She watches our dreams!" he shouted.
"We watch the rest," came the callback as others fell in line with him. They cheered as one, pride and triumph thick in the unit.
The return flight was unimpeded, smooth soaring through the uncombative skies. They touched down at the castle and most of them got to stripping themselves of the harnesses that held their attack salvos. Skyline went to the commander to report in. "Target struck. Lemon Patty was on over watch."
"Very good." He reached with a wing to pat Skyline. "I'll check with her for the rest of that report. Any casualties?"
"None, sir." Skyline glanced back at the others. "All intact and ready for more, sir. Do we have another assignment?"
"Let me check with Lemon first." He waved a wing dismissively, already headed for Lemon Patty. "Soldier!" She jumped, and he got to pressing her on the details of how the run actually went. The ones doing the dropping couldn't also see the result of it, not if they wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.
Someone had to play over watch, to see what happened from just far enough away and not take part in the bombing itself.
"Sir! The tower collapsed. They took supports out with two boulders, the rest couldn't stand upright. Minimal pony injuries. Operational successful, sir." She saluted with a leathery wing at the end of that. "That is all."
The commander nodded at her. "Excellent. Did you hear them? Did they see what hit them?"
"They were in disarray, sir." She glanced away and back. "I think they were wondering where their night watch was... sir? Where was their night watch? They had a watchtower with no pony in or on it. That's not normal, is it... sir?"
The commander chuckled softly. "That would be us using the tools we have, soldier."
"Oh..." Lemon glanced away and back. "May I ask which tool that is, Sir?"
"All harnesses accounted for and stowed," barked out Skyline, returning to report that. "Will that be all?"
The commander threw an arm over Skyline. "Right on cue. Besides being a crack bomber, he's still a changeling. They have specific talents he lent us tonight."
That only made Lemon Patty more confused. "But he was bombing, sir... How could he be doing something else at the same time?"
Skyline flipped a tufted ear back. "I infiltrated them over the last week. They thought I'd be watching the tower tonight."
The commander snorted with a cruel smirk. "You were! You watched that tower very closely... Good job, all of you." His voice raised as he addressed all of them at once. "You're off duty. Get some rest and be proud, knowing you made Equestria a little safer."
The crowd cheered in victorious cries and many wing-slaps were traded in shared joy. Lemon wasn't quite sharing it. "Sir... Why did we bomb that? A tower isn't much of a threat to the country."
"You ask a lot of questions." He prodded her in the chest. "But, this isn't a secret, lucky you. The ponies holding the tower had it in their mind to make use of their fortifications to stir up trouble. They thought they were well beyond the sight and reach of any law. Taking it down like that? They won't make that stupid thought again."
"Oh." Lemon turned to Skyline. "Thank you."
"You're welcome? What am I being thanked for?" He peered at the mare with some confusion. "Just doing my job. Same as you."
"Y-yes..." Lemon inclined her head. "I was more impressed at your work, besides the bombing and being a guard. Spying on them meant you were away from the rest of us. You were in danger, but you did it anyway, without backup. That's... very brave."
Skyline colored lightly at the praise. "Just... part of the job. Um. Sir, retiring."
"See you tomorrow evening." They nodded at one another and he let Skyline withdraw. "Poor thing. You made his night, and made him flustered at the same time. Now, what are you waiting for? Get some rest."
"Sir, yes, sir!" She hopped to trotting off, rather than risking any further shouting.
Skyline skipped getting a bite. He didn't feel hungry just yet, so he walked past the room, cutting through it and those who were taking part to get to the hallways that led to the dorms. "Soldier." He knew that voice. Luna was standing just out of the way, where one could maybe not see her if they weren't looking for her. Who'd expect a random princess? "Come here."
He came as requested. She was the ultimate commanding officer. "Ma'am?"
"I want to speak frankly with you. Is this a good time?" She angled an ear at him. "If it is not, that is fine. Speak honestly."
"I'm not busy. We just finished a mission, ma'am." What was she thinking? He couldn't tell by looking at her. She seemed calm enough. More strange questions? That felt quite likely.
"Good, and congratulations. This way." She led the short way to a sitting room with a table and a few cushions around it. Tea was already set and she used her magic to pour out two cups, pushing one towards Skyline. "If you like."
"Um..." Being served by his boss felt odd. "If you insist, ma'am?" He took the cup and sipped it lightly. "How can I help, ma'am?"
"First, you will listen." She leveled a hoof at Skyline's tufted ear, even poking it, making it flick in the contact. "See that?"
"That's my ear, ma'am. What about it?"
"You are the only creature in all the nation with that model of ear... That isn't being forced into it with specific magic armor." She slowly brought her hooves together. "Bat ponies are not a thing. Not properly... I would like to address that."
He perked, both ears going up. "Ma'am? How would you do that, ma'am?"
Luna nodded slowly at Skyline. "I'm looking at what I hope can be one of the answers. You are a bat pony. You are also a changeling, but you are a bat pony. That's why I asked what I asked. Do you carry the potential for a new tribe of ponies? How deep does changeling imitation go?"
"Uh..." He was not hiding his confusion very well. "I never tested, ma'am? How would I test that?"
"I am glad you asked." Luna tapped the table between them. "Because I want to do just that. From what you've told me, there is at least one way forward. You need to be filled, gorged with love, to the point you can't take another drop."
Skyline darkened, thinking of the story he had shared. "I can't do that, ma'am."
"Why not? Be honest. If it cannot be done, simply tell me why."
Where to start? "For one... I don't have that much love, ma'am. I'm not hungry... The... others like me enough." He gave a shy smile at that. "Enough to live on and be happy, ma'am."
"Good." She set her glass down, her glow fading from around it. "Then if we get you a little more, we can start fattening you. The question that is far more pressing, is do you want to take part in this?" She leveled a hoof at Skyline. "Let me be perfectly clear. I don't control who and why and when you decide to have a child. That is your decision alone, save for wanting my guards to be proper while on-duty. This is your decision, not mine, not anypony else. If you say no, I will pout, but move on. Even a princess can't demand that. It will have no bearing on your standing as a guard of mine."
"You look haunted." Piercing shook himself out, not wearing the armor at the moment, so no wings on display. "Shouldn't you be happy? You led that, and it worked out pretty well."
"Thanks." Skyline brushed his pelt with the brush held in a wing, working slowly through the soft fur. "The mission was fine. Good job, by the way."
"Thanks!" Piercing tapped at his chin. "One thing bothers me, just a little. The way we do it, we can't see who hit what. Patty was watching, right? She didn't say who actually scored the shots."
"She doesn't have to." He ran the brush over the top of his head, getting his mane in order. "Especially not in the sitrep. That the tower was hit and went down was the important bit of info, along with none of us getting hurt doing it, and we didn't murder them in the process."
"Yeah, sure..." Piercing snuck up on Skyline, not that he was all that stealthy. "But aren't you curious? We carry that big boulder, I'd like to know what mine did."
Skyline worked the numbers in his head, imagining the rock he dropped at the angle he dropped it. He could see it clearly, in his mind, crashing against the support of the tower with a mighty crash. He was sure he was one of the two boulders that hit directly, helping bring it down. "Well... In the end, we're a team. If we get the job done, together, we're doing it right."
"Too damn modest!" Piercing swatted and punched at Skyline with a laugh, looking far more amused than actually upset. "Now what has you looking so odd?"
"Well..." He hadn't been told it was a secret thing... But it was embarassing... Still... "This will sound odd. Remember the questions Luna asked about?"
Piercing tensed. "Hard to forget! What about it?"
Skyline directed a wing at himself. "She wants to do that, to me. Or with me, I guess. She wants me to get so full of love... Um...." He was coloring despite his efforts to just relay it. "To get so fat I can't do anything else but to make an egg. That would be the first real batpony, in theory."
Piercing blinked slowly, working through that with his namesake thoughts. "Huh... I know changelings aren't ponies... So set me straight. With ponies, you need a boy and a girl pony. You know what they do, right?"
Skyline shoved Piercing back. "I know more about how ponies make ponies than how changelings make changelings. Yes, I know how that works. Why are you even bringing that up?"
Piercing shrugged helplessly. "I'm just wondering, do you need to get cuddly with a lady... or a guy? If you're the one making the egg... Are you being the lady?"
Skyline narrowed his eyes at Piercing. "Whether I make an egg or not, I am a guy." But his expression eased. "Silly ponies. Changelings don't work that way. If you could turn into a dragon at any moment, and one day you breathed some fire, does that make you a dragon? Of course not. You'd still be a pony. A pony that can be a dragon. I'd be a guy that laid an egg, because he can be whatever he wants."
"Oh..." Piercing sat up, brushing his chin with the flat of a hoof. "Guess that makes sense enough... So... Does it matter who you get love from?"
"I... don't think so?" Skyline inclined his head. "Just that they give me so much I overflow, which is... like a fantasy. A fantasy a lot of changelings share, but never expect to actually run into. Normally... If we started feeling even a little full, we'd hurry home and drop off most of it. There's a whole hive waiting for a bite... But..."
"You don't have a hive." Piercing waved a hoof over the barracks. "You have a barrack of soldiers. And we don't need a share of that."
"Exactly." Skyline seemed to brighten as Piercing understood the parts of the problem. "Still, imagine it, try. It's like being told to eat so many pies you want to throw up, but to keep eating anyway. They're good pies! The best... But keep eating. Keep eating until something happens."
Piercing shrank back, ears wilting. "I don't like it nearly as much when you phrase it like that..."
"Yeah... All I have to do is open my mouth and keep eating. Past any reasonable limit." Skyline rubbed his belly, imagining that overfull state. "And we only have an old story to hope works. It might, or I might just explode. Or just find a new way to vomit Equestria's never seen before."
Piercing did his best to try to imagine it, but he didn't even know what eating love was like to start. The pie example was all he could work from... "Say... Can a pony try some love? Just to see what it's like?"
Skyline went still enough his brush fell to the ground with a clatter. "I... don't know. Ponies don't have the stuff to pull love out of something. Something would have to push to love at you." He mused silently a moment. "Actually, I guess you do do that, sometimes. If you have a special somepony and they love you, you feast, in your own way. That is part of why ponies are happy being married, right?"
"Point! Point..." Piercing nodded slowly. "But I'm trying to imagine how someone could be so happy being married they overfill on marriage happiness... What would that even be? Changelings are not ponies... No offense! You're great, but not a pony."
"Not a pony," agreed Skyline with a little chuckle. "But Luna hopes I can make batponies a real thing, instead of just ponies playing pretend. There are other things that bother me though."
"Okay... So let's assume you do it, pop, egg." He made an egg pattern in the air. "What else is the problem?"
"Why? Why does Luna want this?"
Piercing inclined his head. "I have no idea. Did you ask her?"
"Maybe I should." Skyline snatched his dropped brush with a wing. "Look, I've learned to really like being a batpony, and I can stop whenever I want, wherever I want. But it's not the same for you."
"I'm warming to it." He stood in such a way one could be fairly sure his wings would be wide, if he had any at the time. "I like flying. It was a pain to learn how to do... but I bet it was a pain for each and every pegasus foal ever. I miss not having my natural talents while I have that one."
"Hm." Skyline considered Piercing, his horn and general unicorn shape. "Hm."
"What are you plotting?" Piercing tapped his hooves together. "Look... Um... changelings are pretty adaptable, right? Kinda their thing, right?"
"Right?" Skyline raised a brow. "Why?"
"So..." Piercing rubbed his hooves slowly together. "So... If you had the choice of cuddling a guy or a girl, assuming both were your type, which would you pick?"
Skyline put his brush down, lest he drop it anew. "Um... Okay, so... Let's approach that logically. As an infiltrator, which is what I was, it'd be my job to snuggle whatever pony I could that looked ready. If they had information, or ready to give up some love, or were just in the way and snuggling could get them to move. Snuggles were not... how I showed the kind of love you're hinting at."
"Oh..." Piercing looked away and back. "So... how would you show the kind of love I'm hinting at?"
I wouldn't! At least, Skyline thought that. Changelings took love. They didn't give it... "You are asking the strangest questions tonight..." But then, it came to him. "Oh!"
"Oh?"
"Oh." Skyline prodded Piercing with both wings. "You like other guy ponies, don't you?"
Piercing darkened swiftly. "Sorry!"
"What are you sorry for?" Skyline prodded at him all the more with the tips of his wings. Bat wings could prod about as well as fingers. "If you liked me, you shoulda just said so."
Piercing blinked dumbly, rocking with the prods. "You're... okay with that?"
"What did I just say? Changelings don't work that way. Guy, girl, not much difference, other than what form I might take to enjoy the love you're ready to give. Since you already like guys, that means the form I'm in is already fine."
All nicely logical. Perhaps too much so. "And if I liked girls?"
With a rush of fire, Skyline became a lady version of himself, batting their lengthened lashes. "Then I could be that," they said with their softened voice. "But hunting my squaddies for love is probably against some rule, even if it's a rule they never wrote down, seeing as I'm the first thing they'd need to write it for."
"Yeah..." Piercing tugged Skyline's tail suddenly with their magic. "You're still you... but I prefer the guy form." One more tug like turning on a lamp's pullstring and Skyline flared, becoming his usual self. "It's not.. hunting exactly if they want to be caught."
"Want to be..." Skyline turned slowly at the pony. He could feel it. Piercing was pushing love at him. How long had he been doing that? Had Skyline just not been paying attention? He'd been so busy just trying to be a quality soldier, to make them proud, to make himself proud... "You... You're walking up to a predator and waving your rump at them, extoling how delicious you are. You realize that's kinda strange, right?"
Piercing chuckled nervously at the description. "It's not exactly like that... You're not going to hurt me."
"In a pod--"
"You don't have a pod."
Skyline inclined his head. "I can make one. In a pod, love is taken until the creature in it is drained dry, left as a barely living husk that doesn't even have the motivation to keep itself alive. And changelings aren't known for caring what happens after that. I eat emotions. That's what changelings do. I don't want to hurt you."
"Then don't." Piercing smiled nervously. "You could make a pod, and shove me into one, but you don't have to. You don't want to. So don't."
"You make it sound so simple..." But maybe it was? Ponies were so optimistic at times... "Back to the point! If I made a batpony... If that even works... This feels unfair."
"To you?"
"Not to me." He waved a hoof at that. "Assuming it works, it won't hurt me. But the foal will have a lot of ponies around it that aren't even comfortable being what it just is. Somecreature has to show it how to fly and how to be a bat pony. It'll ask awkward pony questions too. Who will be its father and mother and uncle? I'm not sure how many we have ready to be those things. We're soldiers!"
"I like being a batpony?"
Skyline prodded him once. "You just said you wish you weren't stopped from being a unicorn, which makes me think."
"I like thinking." Piercing nodded with the remember joy of a good thought. "Share?"
"Well... bat ponies aren't... defined. They don't exist..." Skyline cycled his hooves slowly in the air. "Who's to say there aren't any horned bat ponies? Or stocky ones built like an earth pony? Maybe some of them can use magic, like a unicorn. Who says there aren't?"
Piercing blinked slowly at the idea. "Well... Right now, Luna says." He pointed at his armor. "I put that on, I lose my horn, and my magic. I get wings. I doubt she'd want to make a bunch of new alicorns."
Skyline smirked at that. "Who says a horned batpony is an alicorn? They're a different tribe. Different rules should be expected. What would a princess batpony look like? I don't know. Why would anypony until it happened?"
"Interesting... I like this thought... But you have to do something first, before any foals."
"What's that?" Skyline was smiling, feeling a little better.
"Talk to Luna. You have an in with her. See if you can't talk her into letting me keep my horn." He pointed up at it. "I'll be an even happier guard if I can do it with this."
Skyline was a soldier first. He rested, recovered, and got back to duty as was his duty. "You're off bomb duty."
He tensed, ears twitching. "What, sir?"
His captain shook his head. "Order from the top. You are not to be endangered."
"Not to be..." Skyline glanced across at the other soldiers. "I'm one of them, sir. I'll take on the same challenges any of them would! I know the risks, sir."
"If she gives an order, we follow it!" He calmed his fluffed up fur. "I know you're upset. I even know why... But she commanded it. We are here for her. You know that."
"Right..." Skyline sank back, frowning. "Then what am I doing?"
"Have no fear. There's plenty to be done." There were piles of administrative tasks to be done, that had no risks other than paper cuts or insanity.
"Waste of my talent." Skyline stormed through the gloomy hallways. It was late in the evening. Most day-oriented ponies were quite asleep. But the night guard wasn't, nor was their mistress. "I work the angles. I figure the momentum..." Calculating taxes wasn't quite the same...
There was exactly one pony that could put it all right again. He'd walked those halls, though they had been less empty that other time. He'd come closer to day hours, so day ponies were about more often. "This is your idea," he grumbled as he went, scowling on his way. "You want my favor..."
There was her door, with two night guards standing resolute watch over it. "Hey." He knew them, they knew him. No strangers there. "Is she in?"
They inclined their heads in opposite directions. A mare and a stallion, both with tufted ears and fuzzy wings. The mare shook her head. "She's in and on dream patrol. You should know that."
That made sense... It was late enough in the night she'd have started that... "I need to talk to her."
"Too bad." The mare snorted at the idea. "We are not allowed to permit that while she's on patrol. Keeping her safe during this time is our most basic function, all else be forgot."
Skyline sighed hard enough he deflated. "She wants to talk to me."
The stallion raised a wing at Skyline. "What was your name?"
"Skyline." Skyline adopted a rigid pose of order. "Did she mention me?"
"Nope." The stallion waved Skyline off. "Come back when she's awake."
Skyline took a step back. "But..." They weren't moving, set in their task. He wouldn't budge either, if he were in their place. "Alright..." He turned and trotted back to the main hallways. "There's more than one way..." He headed outside and took flight. "I should report this, if it works."
Sure, he had plans and schemes, but he was still a soldier! He spread his wings and jumped into the air, taking flight into the sky that grew dark quickly as he left the light sources of the palace. He banked around and orbited the stone walls along the outside. "And you should be about... here." He had to work from where he had been, inside. That wasn't as easy as it might sound. He'd never seen the walls outside that part of things. "This should... be it."
He came up on the large window there and clung to the wall beside it. There was only one way to be sure that he knew. He leaned in and had a peek. It was dark. His eyes widened to take in more of what little light there was, bringing a gloomy and largely uncolored vision to things. There was a large bed, and in it, a lump. A big lump. A royal lump.
He'd have to report that working...
He was proving the guards in front weren't doing their job, and he felt bad for that part. Still, better that such flaws were found and fixed before something actually bad happened. At least he wasn't there to hurt Princess Luna. "Just talk." He grabbed the window and opened it. At least, that was the idea.
The window rattled lightly, but was firmly closed, and locked. "Too easy..." He pressed and felt along the edges of that window, searching for a weak point. He didn't want to break it! That window belonged to Luna. He was to guard her things, not be the one smashing them. The defense had still broken. Any real enemy could break that window. But he wasn't that. He had to figure some other way in, and the window wasn't giving up so easily.
With a flick, he drew out a thin and long bit of metal. "Didn't think this'd really come in handy." How to pick a lock had come up. Why? He still wasn't sure of that, but it had been insisted they had to know it. He slid the wire into the seam of the window and wriggles it about, holding it with his wing joints with a stuck out tongue. He had to find the latch, and only by sound. He could hear the pin jiggling and jostling in there, but there was nothing else to work off of.
In the night's dark, he was nothing but the jostling of metal on metal. He had no cover but the little nook against the window itself. The wind blew across him in cold gusts, and he had nothing to protect against that. It was at that rare moment he regretted not wearing the proper armor. He turned the wire at a new angle, trying to... It bumped against something new. He felt around it with the rattling of thin metal. "Yes..."
He wedged it in there and pulled, just for the whole wire to bend sharply, not stiff enough to push against the latch. "Blast..." He tucked the wire away and looked around for something, anything, that could serve better at the job. The windowsill was clean and empty.
He had nothing... Nothing but himself. "Dummy." Himself wasn't nothing. Himself was everything! With a flash of fire, he extended his hoof into a thick wedge at the end, shoving into the place. With a rough yank, he pushed the latch out of the way, opening the window, and falling into the room awkwardly..
Luna sat up with a gasp into the dark room. "Who is it?!" She glared into the dark, but it was living up to its name. "Come where I can see you."
"Ma'am." Skyline picked himself up, shaking his hoof back to normal. "Sorry to bother you."
"Skyline?" Her horn glowed as she willed several lanterns to glow, allowing vision in the room. "There you are. What are you doing here? I didn't call for you."
"No, you didn't." He took the time to close the window behind him. "Sorry, ma'am. This is about the bat pony foal idea."
"You have my attention." She waved him closer, showing no anger at his presence. "Did you decide to do it?"
"No, I had thoughts. I wanted to talk to you." He turned from the window. "If that's alright?"
"We're already talking." Luna stepped down from her bed. "I didn't expect to wake to you."
"Sorry..." But how to avoid that, he couldn't think of right away. "Ma'am, let's get to the point. To start, your guards can be made more effective and happier."
Luna's brows went up together. "Both, at once? Easily?"
"Maybe?" With a flash, he was wearing the proper armor. "I don't know how easy it is to adjust these."
"What does that have to do with it?" She prowled forward at him. "And how does this relate to the bat pony situation?"
"I'm getting to it, ma'am." Skyline sat on his haunches, not retreating or advancing on her. "Your guards want to be themselves. The unicorns want their magic. The earth ponies want to be stout. There's no reason bat ponies can't have either thing. We decide that. We're deciding that right now, ma'am."
"Deciding that..." Luna trailed off, absorbing the idea. "I see... There's more to it."
"Of course, ma'am. I had a feeling there was." He spread his leathery wings. "May I know?"
"You may." She reached out and trailed a hoof along some unseen line along Skyline's form. "Ponies, unlike changelings, have specific lines of magic. The armor adjusts those lines, but the lines remain. If they went in too many directions, the pony would pass out... or worse. An alicorn--" She directed a hoof at herself. "--is the epitome of such engineering, and quite complicated at that. Even then! We do not typically bring all three tribal lines to bear at the same time."
Skyline frowned with the new thoughts and new angles. "So a bat pony with a horn..."
"Would have difficulties." Luna nodded slowly. "Especially if they tried to use magic while flying. Think of... this like blood. A pony has so much blood. You want more places for that same blood to flow. That is a problem." She brought her hooves together. "We don't want night guards collapsing from the air mid-assignment."
Skyline turned a wing on himself. "Why can I do it?"
"You're not a pony." Luna shrugged at that. "You don't play by our rules. For better or worse. You can do things we can't. We do things you cannot. Different creatures, but getting along, in this case." She reached a wing for him, brushing his side. "Different, but equally grand, hm?"
Skyline colored lightly and stopped thinking so hard, instead opening himself to feel for a moment.. Luna was pushing love at him. It wasn't as strong as Piercing had been. Luna was... loving what Skyline could mean, not Skyline, as a person, or an appearance, exacly. It was a different love. "For any foal we create to not live in misery, they need a family. To have a family, we need ponies that don't just put up with being what they are, but celebrate it." He coughed into a hoof. "What's a unicorn brought up thinking unicorns are odd? A miserable one, I imagine, ma'am."
"Hm." She paced about him in a circle. "Hm... That you're thinking about this, it pleases me." She sat down in front of Skyline. "You're really considering this."
"Of course." He lifted tufted ears at her. "That..." He came to a stop there, frowning. "Blast it... The pony parts are getting in the way."
"Pardon?" She looked him over. "I know you aren't a pony. What part of pony is getting in the way of what?"
Skyline turned a wing on one of his cutiemarks. "I'm working the angles, ma'am. Since I got this, it comes... naturally, and unasked for at times. That reminds me!"
Luna recoiled at the sudden loud shout. "What is it?"
"Ma'am?" The door cracked open. "Is everything alright, ma'am?"
Luna made gently soothing motions at the door. "Everything is fine." She turned her attention back to Skyline. "What has you upset?"
"How dare you, ma'am! You took away my duties." Skyline clopped a hoof at that. "I'm a soldier!"
"You may become something else." Luna curled a hoof to her chin. "You are the maybe-mother of an entire tribe. I can't risk you being harmed. You work the angles, you know which one I'm coming from, Skyline."
That he did brought no comfort. "Hmmph... I don't... I'm not a broodling!" He reached to rub over his belly. "Sadly for you, that wasn't my job, as a changeling. I was an infiltrator. The idea of sitting there and making it my job to make more is... That's not what I was raised to do."
Luna reached to join his hoof with hers. "Only for a little while, I promise, and even then only if you agree. Just to get us started... Then they can do it the old fashioned way."
"How?" Skyline stood up. "Ma'am, how? You have one batpony. One batpony doesn't make two. Even two bat ponies barely makes more, and not very well."
"You work angles." Luna leveled a hoof at Skyline. "Work them." Her horn glowed as her door swung open under her magic. "Skyline is to be permitted at any time."
"Ma'am!" agreed both guards on duty, even if they gave Skyline an odd look for being there at all.
Skyline nodded slowly. "Right..." He could take it as a victory. He'd earned access to her when he wanted it. That was no small thing... "Thank you for listening, ma'am."
"Thank you for putting your thought towards my affairs." Luna drew herself to her full height. "I expect much from your considerations. Now begone. I have dreams yet to monitor."
One last bow, and he stepped free of her room. The door closed, just narrowly missing his back end. The two guards were glaring at him openly with Luna's calming presence removed. "I will give a full report."
"Oh?" demanded the female.
"How I compromised the room." Skyline pointed back in Luna's room. "We can't allow that to remain."
The male shook his head. "We cannot. As soon as you can. Luna falling to harm due to our inaction would be inexcusable."
The female huffed at Skyline. "You should get hung out to dry, sneaking into her chambers like that."
The male crossed a leg in front of her. "She gave us orders. She has already judged him."
"Hmmph." She turned up her nose. "By the way..." She glanced at the door as if it may explode open at any moment. "I heard what the princess asked of you. You think, just because you can be whatever you want..." She made odd outlines with her hooves. It was hard to pantomime a changeling. "You know how to be anything."
"Um... I don't." Skyline inclined his head. "There are many things I've never tried being before." He curled a hoof on himself. "It took practice to not look like a fool in this form."
The she-guard blinked, caught off guard by his humility. "Oh, um, good... But that goes for what you and her are thinking about, if I figured it out properly."
Skyline sat before them. "Please share."
She inclined her head slowly. "You really want to know? I thought... this would be the part you'd tell me to shut up..."
Skyline angled his tufted ears at the guard. "I welcome any ideas you have... This is a complicated situation."
She softened into a smile. "Huh... Well, alright then. Look." She pointed to Skyline's middle. "You have no idea how to mare. You have no female energy, or expertise. Even if you went ahead and did what changelings do to force an egg to happen... You'd still be..." She rolled a hoof in the air. "What, 95% stallion? Now, I know, changeling, you can look however you want, but that isn't the same as being."
The male guard coughed into a hoof lightly. "100% here."
She rolled her eyes at that meek defense. "Please. High 80s at best." She reached a leathery wing towards Skyline. "If it makes her happy, I approve. We're here for that. But you aren't ready. Whatever you make, you will be their mother. Let that sink in. Not pretending, you can't pretend this, they will know... You have to be their mother, or call this whole thing off right now."
Skyline curled a wing under his chin. "Why can't somepony else be the mother?" He scratched with the wing knuckle through his own fur. "Wouldn't be the first child with a new mother."
The lady guard huffed. "What, from the moment they're born? How cruel... That will leave a mark on them for the rest of their life..."
Skyline looked genuinely blank. "But... But..." He made an egg shape in the air with his hooves. "I lay an egg." The guard mare nodded. "It's laid. The result can hatch with whatever mare is ready for them, right there."
The guard raised a hoof, but it fell slowly. "Changelings... do change... that... pun not intended, but accepted." She huffed slowly. "Right... But there... How do I explain this...?" She clopped her hooves to her cheeks. "It's hard to put in words, but a foal knows, deep inside. They may never get words for it, but they know. Their mother ditching on them isn't something they forget, even if they never find out with words. Don't do that."
Skyline considered with a slow frown. "Alright... But that means you want me to stop guarding too."
"Wha?"
"I can't be performing as a mother but also a guard, at the same time." He pointed at the mare. "Would you bring a newborn foal to work?"
"Not guarding... I would make myself available to Her Ladyship for whatever she could find use for." She flashed a bright smile then, fanged batpony smile on display. "I'm South Shore, by the way, nice to meet you." She offered a hoof.
He took it, tapping with her. "Skyline."
"Almost everypony knows who you are." She made shooing motions. "Go do what Princess Luna asked."
"Good luck," barked the male guard. "I don't get it, but Princess Luna wants it, so, good luck."
Skyline offered a nod to both. "Thank you, South Shore." The male got a name too, but no name had been given to return. "About that report." He hustled back to the dorms to sit down and get to doing just that. He outlined exactly how he gained access to Luna, including detailed ideas of how to plug up that security breach. Even if he had found it useful, it shouldn't remain for a moment longer than it had to...
"What's that?" Piercing sat down right next to him, peeking at the words Skyline had just written. "Looks technical."
"It is." Skyline folded the paper firmly. "Security breach and how I suggest addressing it." He felt a tickle. Piercing's love had increased. He liked it when Skyline talked fancy and precise? "I'm going to turn it over to the captain."
"May I?" His horn glowed, not wearing the night guard uniform. "I'll rush it over."
"Thank you." Skyline surrendered the note into Piercing's waiting arcane grip. "Come back afterwards, I want to bounce a few things off you."
"S-sure!" Piercing scrambled off in quite a hurry.
"Poor thing." Another guard was laying on his bunkbed, top bunk. "You are an awful tease."
"I am?" Skyline turned to the guard. "How?"
"I've never seen a stallion so deeply head over heels before... Heard stories... But never actually saw it before." The guard chuckled softly. "It's just as silly as they say it looks. And you're just treating him like normal. Either kiss the guy or let him go."
Skyline flipped an ear back, coloring faintly. "Changelings are not good at loving. What he wants, I don't... have. I can take his love, but giving it back... Isn't really what we do?"
"Get off it." The guard waved Skyline away, dismissing his objections. "You like him, don't you? He's a friend, right?"
"Sure?" Skyline spread his wings, just to fold them restlessly. "How does that help?"
"So you can feel things." The guard rolled over on his bed, away from Skyline. "So either kiss the stallion, or not. Stop pretending it could go either way. Make a decision."
Skyline furrowed their brow for a moment, but suddenly a new idea surfaced. "When he comes back, tell him I went to the library." Skyline made a beeline to the place, surrounded by the many books of Canterlot's archives. The library staff secured the books that were considered off-limits in a forbidden wing of the building. He couldn't walk in there.
He also didn't need to. What he had in mind was in the front. He grabbed books with his wings as he went along slowly. "That... that... Oh, yes, this one." He formed a pile of them and set them heavily on a table. "Pony family structures!" he announced to none but himself, but he seemed pleased with it at least. "Let's do some digging."
"Skyline?" Skyline looked up at his name being called, coming back into the real world. He looked quickly to the clock on the wall. Hours had passed with him hard at study! "Skyline?" Piercing came around a shelf of books and hastened up to him. "There you are." A chorus of shooshes made him color. "Sorry, um..."
Skyline directed a wing at a nearby chair. "Have a seat," he advised quietly. "How'd it go?"
Piercing sank onto the chair. "The captain looked it over and said to thank you, and that he's really mad... But to thank you. What are you doing in here?" Piercing looked around curiously. "I like the library too."
Just the place for some deep thoughts... "I was reading about pony families." Skyline gestured at the pile of books in front of him. "They are not like changeling families."
"Um... what are changeling families like?" Piercing hopped up and over, bouncing the chair to Skyline's side. "If you want to share?"
Skyline could feel it. Piercing was radiating a steady passion. It was love, waiting to be snacked on... "Under Queen Chrysalis... Dysfunctional may be the most charitable term you could use. Broodlings are commanded to make new changelings. They do. They help raise all grubs under the keen watch of Chrysalis. When they're adults, they are given tasks in the hive, and that's the end of that." He tapped at one large pile. "Pony families are way more complicated..."
"Yeah..." Piercing rubbed behind his head. "Mine's mostly normal? I have a mom and a dad and they raised me. Um, I have a sister, she's nice."
Skyline perked a tufted ear at that. "Tell me about her?"
Piercing blushed softly. "Oh! Uh... She's nice. I said that... She works with books, really old ones." He waved around. "A library like this, but she specializes in books so old ponies can't even read them. She fixes that, and fixes the books, so they don't turn to dust."
"Huh... Interesting." Skyline nodded slowly at the idea. "I was reading. You have a basic family. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not the only kind." He tapped at the books with his wings. "Some have more than two, some less. The parents may not be the actual parents. Raised by relatives, or kind strangers. Families come in so many forms... A mom and a dad, two moms, two dads? Maybe just one kindly grandparent." He spread his hooves, turning them skywards. "I don't think I can provide a basic family."
"You can do whatever you want," called Piercing in a supportive way, or so he hoped. "You're really clever."
"Thank you." Skyline inclined his head. "But I don't want to stop being a guard. If I take on the mantle of motherhood, I'll have to stop being a guard, at least a little while... Besides, it's not healthy." He shoved the books side, allowing one to rise to view. "This book speaks of those risks." He flipped it open. "A pony should not make children with their siblings, or other close relatives. It makes weaknesses come to light, and the children grow weaker and weaker."
"Oh..." Piercing rubbed at his cheek. "No offense, but 'making foals' isn't something I have a lot of experience with. What I do, doesn't make foals..."
Skyline considered that. No... No, that was very unlikely... "I suppose not. But I am being asked to think about that specifically. May I kiss you?"
Piercing's eyes contracted to little dots. "What?"
"May I kiss you?"
Piercing slowly blinked. "We were... This is out of nowhere..."
"I was told I'm being mean, and I don't want to be mean." Skyline leaned in. "May I kiss you?"
"S-sure, um, ho--" He didn't get to finish the question, Skyline pressing against him. Their lips collided, awkwardly at first, but passions were lit and soon they melded against one another in a fond exchange..
"What are you doing?!" A librarian approached with the deepest scowl one could muster. "Read, or get out."
Skyline walked along through the hallways with far too many hoofsteps. Oh, no, perfectly normal, considering he had another pony right next to him.
"So..." Piercing was wriggling and looking as awkward as a pony could be. "Are we... a thing now?"
"What thing?" Skyline glanced as if to see if something had formed between them. Nope, just air. "What thing?" But something ticked. "Oh, a family? We have no children."
Piercing blinked at where that ended up. "You can have one of those without children."
"You can?" Skyline paused his walking, hoof going for his chin. "Is it still called a family? I thought those were for children."
Piercing put a hoof to his face. "Changelings... A family is just whenever more than one pony decides they love each other and stay together. It can have foals, or not. Sometimes, ponies aren't even romantic. They just decide they like being with each other and stay together, and that's still a family."
Skyline tossed his head towards the barracks, still some distance down the hallway. "Are we a family? We live together."
Piercing looked ready to deny that, but the words didn't come, instead thought. "Huh... yeah, sure, you could say that. We'll be a family even if we got another job. But that's a different, uh, kind of family. Still, family." He thumped against Skyline. "There are a lot of families."
"Okay, sure... Ponies are complicated." There was no doubt in that statement. "So what 'thing' were you asking about?"
Piercing waved between Skyline and himself, resuming their journey at the same time. "You kissed me, and that was a... That wasn't a 'hi, good to see you', kiss. You meant it. So... You didn't ask or say it... But are we boyfriends now?" His tone implied he wasn't against the idea, but doubt was thick in that.
Skyline wrinkled his nose. "Explain this to me." He stepped out of the way of a high-class pony taking up much of the hallway a moment. "Why are you so eager to be drained by a changeling?"
"You don't have to do that. You didn't do that when you kissed me. Same thing... I can enjoy some grass without eating it." He lashed his tail with a huff. "We're not just animals. We think, we love, we think some more. We do things besides just the first thought that comes to mind."
Skyline stepped into the barracks, nodding at some others that happened to be in sight. "And what do you suggest I do? What's the second thought, if we're tossing out the first one?"
Piercing poked at his maybe boyfriend? "You enjoy being around. Cuddling, kissing, talking about things, maybe play a game or two?" He huffed. "Do changelings do any of that with each other?"
"Not usually. That all sounds like... infiltration techniques. I know those. You want to be infiltrated?"
Piercing raised a hoof, looking ready to face-hoof, but stopped before finishing. "Actually... yes. Exactly, but the goal is different."
"The goal is usually information, or to feed. What are you saying it is?" He cocked a brow at the confusing unicorn.
Piercing pointed to a startled mare soldier. "Why would you hang out with somepony that wasn't for information or to get something else you wanted?"
The mare sat up, rubbing the side of her unadorned head. She was an earth pony, with no extra parts. "Well... if I didn't want anything, then I'm there becaue I want to be. I must like the pony. Are you asking what we'd do?"
"That's an advanced topic." Piercing turned to Skyline. "Let's get the basics first. That's it. Ponies that like each other like hanging out. If they hang out too much, they become family. Sometimes this is a big deal, and sometimes it's a quiet thing nopony even talks about, but ponies that like other ponies make families of all kinds."
"That's... simple." Skyline sank to his haunches with a smile. "Thank you for being simple for a change."
Piercing swatted at Skyline gently. "I'm not trying to be complicated! But... good. Good."
"So, you two?" The mare they'd bother was then looking at them, waving a hoof between the two. "You a thing?"
Skyline's fur fluffed up. "Yes." He thrust a hoof at the mare. "You are also part of this thing."
The mare blinked. "What? No. Um... No." She shook her head quickly. "We're not that kind of friend. I barely know either of you besides being a night guard."
Skyline's brows fell in a flat expression. "I was just told fellow guards are part of a family."
The mare laughed, tense but true. "Oh! Yeah, sure. We are that. We're not romantic though. That's the thing I was asking about. Take me out for something to eat before you just say we're that kind of thing."
Piercing leaned in towards the mare. "Sorry about this," he whispered to her loud enough that Skyline could her it easily. "He really doesn't know what families are for. I'm trying to show him."
"Oh..." She slid to her hooves. "Well... Do you like him?" She angled her head at Piercing, but her eyes were on Skyline squarely.
Skyline glanced aside at Piercing. "Sure? He's clever, a good shot, and reliable." He nodded once with each thing he went over.
The mare colored faintly. "Good, good... That's a start, now..." She sat to cycle her hooves. "Do you like him personally? Think of him as if you two weren't both guards. Would you want to be around him? Why?"
"If we weren't guards?" Skyline frowned in the thought. Would they have met? No, that wasn't the question. They already met. What if they dissolved the guard the next day. Who would he want to be around anyway?
"Wow." Piercing leaned in a little. "I know deep thoughts when I see them. Share?"
"I didn't consider this before." He nodded at the mare. "Thank you. That was a very good question. I'll have to think about it."
Piercing smiled brightly. "Sometimes a good question is the first step to an even better answer. Can I help?"
"I think I have to figure this one out..." He went in to kiss either on the cheek, leaving both colored as he walked off towards his bunk.
The mare rubbed the spot they had kissed her. "Is that... how he says bye? Some unicorns are like that..."
"Sometimes." Piercing glanced at the withdrawing form of the bat pony that was actually a changeling. "But they aren't one of those."
"So!" She climbed onto her bunk and sank down onto it. "Do you like him? He has an excuse for unsatisfactory answers, you don't. So, out with it."
Piercing retreated half a step. "Um... Yeah, I like him."
"And why?" She leaned forward, batting her eyelashes. "Name three things you really like."
"You are being very pushy..."
She brought up her hooves together. "Guilty. Answer?"
He looked about, to see where other eyes were on him. He had become the centerpoint of attention. "Ugh... Um. I know he picked it... But he is pretty."
She inclined her head. "Pretty? Not the word most use for a stallion."
Piercing burst into nervous laughter. "But he is! Um... He's a boy-pretty. Stallion pretty..." He rubbed awkwardly at a cheek. "But that's just one. It'd be... kinda shallow if that was it."
She rolled a hoof slowly. "So number two...?"
"He's mysterious... in all the good ways. He's steadfast and reliable. The two together makes him..." Piercing flopped to his haunches. "That's three... Stop teasing me."
"Never," she sang out. "But you did the three, so you're free to go."
"Gee, thanks." He walked past her, making sure to swat her with his tail on the way past in an act of petty vengeance.
The next day, their captain had them doing drills to keep in shape. While that was happening, he called Piercing and Skyline over. "It's come to my attention that we need to have this talk. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia smile on love in all its various forms." He paused to cough into a hoof. "But not while on duty. To be extra clear on this, no kissing, hugging, fondling, or otherwise getting affectionate. Since you two are in a relationship, I will be avoiding in sending you two out on any of the same missions."
Skyline nodded without argument.
That was alright. Piercing had arguments enough for both. "What?! But we serve as a great team. Why would you break that up?!"
The captain raised a brow. "You have, but when things get tough and decisions need to be made, we don't need one of those factors being your plus ones. That isn't smart. This is not a kind position. You've gotten lucky, so far, but sometimes you have to make choices that leave a pony hurt, or worse, and that was the better option." He let out a slow breath. "I'm not doing this as punishment. You understand that, hm?"
Skyline poked Piercing with an extended wing. "Besides... Until we resolve things, I won't be sent on any missions anyway..."
The captain shrugged at that. "He's not wrong. Keeping fit, that we can do, but he's to stay grounded and in sight for the immediate future. You're missing very little. But, rules are rules. I just wanted to be clear on them." He crossed his arms. "No missions together. Possible exception if that mission's a peace duty, on the ground. You two want to help a noble with a chore together? I won't stop you."
Skyline saluted sharply with a wing. "Sir, yes, Sir!"
The captain glared at Piercing.
"Sir, yes, sir," he got out, with far less enthusiasm. The command had been given, and they were sent off to finish their training drills.
Lemon Patty galloped at Skyline's side, the two doing a wide circle around the field. "Is it... true?" she asked between heavy breaths. "You and Piercing? You're... He's your special somepony?"
"He is special." Far more focused on running than talking, his breath wasn't nearly as ragged.
"But is he your special somepony?" She edged in closer. "You like stallions more than mares?"
"No." Skyline turned an ear at her. "All ponies can be good, or bad. How's your flying?"
She colored, quieting a moment before she could regain herself. "With your help, I've gotten... a lot better." She wheezed for breath, focusing on that for a time as they ran along. "Thank you."
"Glad to hear it." He slowed to a stop, the lap completed. As Lemon slowed with him, he directed her towards a water fountain.
She eagerly took a sip, but only a sip, still breathing hard. "Alright... Phew... Um..." She looked him over curiously. "So... You had a marefriend before?"
"No."
She blinked softly. "Then how do you know you like both?"
"Because I've had both." This was stated flatly, as if it were obvious. "As both."
Her face went redder than it should have been possible to do. "Oh! Oh... That... Oh..." She went for a fresh drink of water. "Oh... Sorry. This is new... But you're a changeling. This makes sense. Um... So if you could have either, as either, which do you like the best?"
Skyline raised a hoof to his chin, considering that. "I prefer being male. That is why I am one now. I can be a lady, it's not bad, I just prefer being a stallion."
She laughed, louder than she planned. "Sure! I like being a mare." Not that she had experience the other way around. "So, okay, stallion... Which do you--"
"On the field," roared the captain, directing soldiers towards their next activity. "We're not done."
Skyline began towards that next task. "Let's not get in trouble."
"N-no! That would be bad." She set her question aside for the time being. In the middle of workouts was, perhaps, not the best of times to find out the true nature of her changeling squaddie.
Skyline knocked at the door. "You summoned, ma'am?" He glanced aside at the guard on either side of the door he stood before.
"Come in," came Luna's voice, muffled by the door. The guards nodded as one, hearing the command.
Skyline was free to go. He pressed the door open and stepped into the moodily-lit bedchambers. Luna was seated before a mirror, gazing at herself, and Skyline from that angle. "Ma'am." He closed the door behind himself and walked towards her. "How can I help?"
"I wanted an update." She sharply turned from the mirror to face Skyline. "On your thoughts. This project can't continue without you, so..." She rolled a metal-clad hoof in the air. "A bit for your thoughts?"
"No." His face was even, eyes searching over her. "Not until I hear yours. Ma'am, why do you want bat ponies so badly?" He flicked a tufted ear. "Don't get me wrong. I like this form, growing fonder of it by the day. But that's hardly reason enough for all of this. Tell me why, the real reason why."
Luna nodded slowly, weighing her words before speaking.
"You are right to question my motivations," she began. "The truth is, I have always felt a kinship with the night and those who dwell in darkness. For so long, the bat ponies existed only in myth and legend. I wanted to change that."
She rose and paced around Skyline, her armor clicking softly. "To have an entire tribe connected to my night would be a great comfort. The bat ponies could be a balance to my sister's bright day. And..." she hesitated.
"I confess, part of me hopes such a tribe may help me feel less alone. For all her good intentions, Celestia cannot truly understand my affinity for shadows and dusk. Perhaps a pony of the night could."
Luna stopped before Skyline, meeting his gaze. "Of course, this is not only about me. The night deserves its own tribe and champions. If you consent, together we could make that dream a reality."
Her eyes were alight with fervor. "I know it is much to ask. But will you stand with me, Skyline, and bring bat ponies out of legend and into life?"
Skyline rose to his full height. "That can't be entirely true, ma'am. There are ponies, right now, that enjoy the night. They revel and dance. They drink and make love." That said Love made him salivate a little he kept to himself. "Times have changed, Your Highness. The night is no longer a still time of quiet. But you still want a night tribe?"
Luna nodded slowly. "You make a fair point. Ponies today are not so fearful of my night as they once were. And yet..."
She gazed out the window at the inky black sky. "The night remains distinct from Celestia's day. It has always called to me in a way the sun's brightness never could. Even if other tribes enjoy the night, none are truly bound to it as their destiny."
Turning back to Skyline, Luna continued, "Imagine if there were skilled flyers to guard the night, messengers to swiftly carry word through the dark, scholars to study nocturnal magic. The night deserves such specialties in a way it does not yet have."
"It is true, I wish for ponies who share my affinity," she admitted. "But I also believe the night itself warrants champions of its very own. The moon should have a tribe as the sun does."
Luna met Skyline's eyes earnestly. "I know I ask much. But will you help me bring about this dream, not only for myself but for the night itself?"
Skyline twirled an ear back. "I... That's a better way of looking at it." A little smile peeked free. "Focus on that. Ma'am, I appreciate you, but you come across as self-centered at times."
"Me?!" Luna recoiled at the suggestion. "I guard the dreams of everypony! I act in their best interests. How can I be self-centered?"
"Half of it is how you say it, ma'am." He turned to point outside. "You made it sound like this was a project for you, about you. As if this was your project, dreamed up by you. Any new tribe we create is in... for a hard start. New lives are hard, for anycreature. A tribe isn't different."
Luna's eyes widened at Skyline's words, then her ears drooped in thought.
"You're right," she said slowly. "In my enthusiasm, I have been thinking of this primarily as my own vision. But any new tribe must be about more than my desires."
She began pacing, her hoofsteps echoing in the large chamber. "A tribe needs a purpose, an identity. It must bring something to Equestria that does not yet exist. You are correct that I have been focused inwardly, not considering what bat ponies could offer to others."
Luna stopped and faced Skyline resolutely. "Then let us reframe this. What could a night tribe provide that would benefit ponykind? What niche may they fill? I still wish to make this dream reality, but you are right that I must approach it as more than my own fancy."
She met his gaze. "Help me see beyond myself in this matter. How can we shape the bat ponies into a tribe that serves Equestria and the night, not only my desires? I will follow where your wisdom leads."
Skyline smiled at Luna, more genuinely. "You're getting confused, ma'am. You already gave a few good reasons. You want a tribe that lives at night. Studies it, savors and celebrates it. Some of them may stir during the day, just as some day ponies stay up to enjoy the night, but they would be a tribe of the night." He reached up to rub at his tufted ear. "Since we're discussing it, what were your thoughts on letting the guards keep their tribal gifts? Horned bat ponies and stocky ones that remind you of earth ponies. All winged, of course, but with tribes in the tribe of their own, like day ponies."
Luna frowned with thought. "I had considered your words. I do listen! Allowing the guards this... I could do, but is it wise to make the whole of the night tribe follow in this way?"
"What's the alternative?" Skyline shrugged lightly. "Have night pony foals that are all defaults, wondering why some of their supposed kin look so very different than they do? Why do none of us have horns? Why are some of them so heavy? Foals, children of any kind, are observant. They'll see, and they'll wonder."
Luna nodded slowly, considering Skyline's perspective. "You make a compelling case. Consistency and kinship among the tribe would be important."
She began to pace again as she thought it through. "If we allow diversity from the start - horns, sturdiness, and of course wings - then it will simply be accepted as the norm for bat ponies. The foals would see that variety amongst their kind and not question it."
Turning back to Skyline, Luna dipped her head respectfully. "Again, you show wisdom in this matter that I lacked. Very well, if we are to bring a night tribe into being, let them reflect the diverse gifts of all ponykind from the beginning. It shall be a union of all tribes under the banner of the moon!"
Her eyes shone with excitement at the thought, but she tempered it with a demure nod. "But as you say, we must think of how they shall serve Equestria. I am listening - what other counsel do you have for shaping this potential new tribe?"
Skyline took a step back, nervously fidgeting. A lot of responsibility was suddenly being heaped on him. His words could shape the future of an entire tribe of ponies. Three, technically? Maybe more? The scope of it was staggering. "Well..." He plumbed his knowledge of ponies, and an idea came to mind. "To start, the night watch, yours, is fine, but it's one force in one place. Ponies, most of them, have only trust to keep them safe at night."
He paced, far less agitatedly than Luna had. "Scholars of the night, casting their eyes on the stars and moon. Um... I don't know why..." He nervously paced in place. "Why do ponies look at stars?" He was but a changeling infiltrator. The reason behind astronomy was entirely beyond him. "Um! But... they can do it easier! They're awake when the moon and stars and things are out. You mentioned nocturnal magic. Does pony magic change during the night?" He has as many questions as ideas. He was trying, with what information he had. "Um..."
Luna smiled warmly, clearly appreciating Skyline's efforts despite his uncertainty. "Peace, you needn't have all the answers now. This is but the first step in a long journey."
She paused, gathering her thoughts. "You make excellent proposals. Yes, expanding the night guard beyond Canterlot would bring comfort and safety to all of Equestria's ponies. And you are right that scholars of the night sky and moon's magic are most needed when the sun slumbers."
Luna began slowly pacing again as she continued. "Magic does change in subtle ways under the moon's glow. And you are wise to recognize there is still much we do not understand about the cosmos. Unlocking such knowledge would surely benefit ponykind."
Turning back to Skyline, Luna said, "I believe we have the core purpose identified - to be champions and custodians of the night, in all the myriad ways that may manifest. This shall guide us as we take the next steps toward nurturing a tribe."
Luna met Skyline's eyes. "Again, I thank you for your perspective. I would be lost without your wisdom. But working together, we may yet realize this dream."
Skyline tensed, just for a laugh to bubble free. "Oh! You are using flattery." He waved a hoof at Luna. "I know that technique. It can be very effective. You're inflating my self-value, so that I give you what you want. Without me, this project is... over before it even begins." He sank to his haunches. "I hate that it's working... I can already feel the love, of ponies, of my fellow guards, of you..." He could feel the radiant adoration of Luna, soaking into him warmly from her direction. "I have nowhere to put it. Unless I run away, that egg will happen."
Still, it was his admission that it was coming, perhaps not entirely with his consent. "But even that we can't be... entirely sure of," noted Luna, tapping her hooves together. "This remains a myth, an old-mare's tale... How confident do you feel it'll even happen?"
Skyline let out a tense breath in the warm room. It smelled of lavender, one of Luna's favorite plants. He'd heard it helped calm creatures. He wasn't feeling very calm. "I can't say... I don't know. It may just hurt me, or kill me... Luna, ma'am. I would ask... that you protect me, if there's still a me to protect. This is stupidly dangerous. This whole project is crazy." He smirked a little. "But here we are."
Luna's expression grew solemn. She stepped forward and placed a gentle hoof on Skyline's shoulder.
"You speak truthfully. There are no guarantees of success or safety in what we attempt. I allowed my zeal to blind me to the risks."
She met his eyes earnestly. "You have my oath that I will do all in my power to shield you from harm. Your life is infinitely precious, with or without a new tribe arising."
Luna nodded slowly. "Perhaps we are both fools to entertain such unlikely myths. And yet..." A small smile returned to her lips. "I find it difficult to abandon this dream. But it must remain only that - a dream - unless you are willing."
She searched his face. "Skyline, for your sake most of all, but for Equestria's as well... will you take this leap with me into legend? The path ahead is shrouded, but I believe together we can see it through."
Luna extended her hoof in invitation. "What say you, brave one? Shall we embark on this mad quest to bring bat ponies out of myth and into life?"
Skyline took a deep breath, the weight of Luna's request pressing heavily on him. To bring an entire tribe out of myth and into reality - it was a daunting task. But as he gazed into Luna's earnest eyes, he knew his answer.
"I will do it," he said finally. "For you, for the night - for the chance to make real what only dreams before."
Luna's face lit up with joy. She embraced Skyline, thanking him profusely for undertaking this perilous journey with her. As they discussed the path ahead, Skyline felt a nervous energy building within him. He was venturing into the unknown, but Luna's faith gave him courage.
Over the next days, Skyline spent more time with his friends and loved ones. He shared guarded hints of what he would attempt, seeking their support. Most were startled, even concerned, but ultimately wished him well. His fellow guards especially seemed to understand his loyalty to Luna's vision.
Piercing was one of the ones that reacted most powerfully. "Do you need help?" He slipped his helmet into place. "I'm here for you. Um, what can I do?"
Skyline could feel the love radiating from Piercing. "You're already doing it." He kissed Piercing's cheek, getting it to warm up. "Now even more. I still don't entirely understand why you love your predator so much... But thank you."
"Silly." Piercing was studying himself in a mirror, making sure all his armor was on right. "Love is not a thing you give away and you lose it."
"It... isn't?" Skyline raised a tufted ear at that. The scent of the armor oil reaching him. The barracks often smelled of that, and a bit of sweat. "We take, and it is gone, usually..."
"But you aren't taking it." Piercing turned from the mirror, satisfied. "I'm giving it. There's a big difference."
Skyline considered this as he watched Piercing prepare. The concept of freely giving love without losing it was foreign to his changeling instincts. Yet that seemed to be what Piercing was doing.
"So you can just...keep loving, without running out?" he asked.
Piercing chuckled. "Pretty much. It grows sometimes, even." His expression became serious. "But Skyline, what you're doing...it could be dangerous. Are you sure about this?"
Skyline took a deep breath. "No. But Luna believes, and so I must try."
Piercing stepped forward and embraced him. "Then I believe too. And my love will sustain you, no matter what comes."
The sentiment warmed Skyline, even as it baffled him. Perhaps a changeling could learn to love after all, with time and friendship. The latter of which the ponies seemed so eager to push towards him. It was so confusing, but also... kind of nice.
He had been grounded. No missions. His hooves would remain on the ground, at least officially. He could fly if he wanted to, but not in any official capacity. Having little else to do, he wandered the halls of the castle, searching for ponies in need of him.
He spotted a prim and fancy looking stallion. "Excuse me." Piercing went up to them, feeling no intimidation of class. "Can I assist you?" Skyline waved at his armor. "I'm with the night guard."
"Oh, I see." Fancy Pants inclined his head at Skyline. "I say, this is the first time one of those just came up and asked how I was doing."
Skyline hadn't asked that! But he knew better than to mention that fact. "Can I help?"
"Since you're offering... I was headed to the library." He pointed the way. "But I won't say no to a helping hoof."
Skyline walked with Fancy Pants through the ornate castle halls, hooves paffing gently against the soft carpet they were walking along. The ornate windows hung on either side, brilliantly colored. Fancy Pants made idle chatter as they went, commenting on the windows and architecture.
"So what brings a stalwart fellow like yourself to offer help to a pony like me?" Fancy Pants asked.
"Oh, I'm not permitted to take part in missions presently," Skyline explained. "So I've time to assist around the castle."
"Not allowed to take part in missions! My word, whatever for?" Fancy adjusted his monocle with his magic.
Skyline hesitated, unsure just how much to reveal. "I've a...special assignment from Princess Luna. It requires me to remain here."
"A special assignment from royalty? You must be a pony of particular talents." Fancy nodded at Skyline, still walking.
Skyline gave a small smile. "I'm a changeling, sir."
"A changeling!" Fancy Pants looked at him with fascination and a little clear surprise. "Extraordinary. You must tell me how that came to be, sometime. Oh, here we are."
They had reached the grand doors of the royal library. Skyline moved to open them, but Fancy Pants waved a hoof.
"Allow me. Can't have you doing all the work, now can we?" His horn lit up and the doors swung open gracefully, revealing the lines of books that Skyline had seen before. "I came to do a little bit of particular research. You're not the only one with an assignment, though I did give this one to myself."
Skyline advanced with him, into that place thick with the scent of old scrolls. He could hear other ponies reading, sniffling, and turning pages. It was a place of study. "What assignment would that be, sir? Do you know where the books are?" There were so many. He figured it'd be quite a while if he had to dig through them all...
"Fortunately, I do." Fancy led the way, tail swaying with his steps but showing no further sway than that. "Right here." He waved at an aisle.
Skyline looked up at the plaque that said what it was. "Property laws?"
"Property laws," echoed Fancy with all due gravity. "A heavy topic, and the one for today. One must be informed on what one plans to argue, I dare say."
Skyline tilted his head curiously. "Argue, sir? Are you a lawyer then?"
Fancy Pants chuckled. "Oh goodness no, though I do have more than a passing familiarity with such matters. Let's just say a friend of mine finds herself in a tricky property dispute, and I aim to help her case."
He scanned the shelf, humming tunelessly to himself as he searched for a particular tome. "Ah, here we are - Principles of Equestrian Property Law, 15th edition. Just the thing."
He levitated the large book off the shelf, blowing dust off the cover. Flipping it open with his magic, Fancy Pants grinned. "Now then, let's see about untangling this little mess, shall we?"
Skyline watched with interest as Fancy began perusing the dense legal text. "Is this what you do, sir? Help friends with things like this?"
"On occasion, though I prefer less dreary affairs. But one must make use of one's talents where one can." Fancy glanced back at Skyline. "And what of you, my changeling friend? How do you employ your particular gifts outside of royal orders?"
Skyline considered the question. In truth, he had never contemplated using his abilities beyond their prescribed roles. But watching Fancy freely wield his influence on behalf of another, he wondered what else he might do...
"I suppose I'm still discovering that," Skyline said. "This life as a guard is new, but full of possibilities."
"Positively rife with them, I'd say!" Fancy agreed enthusiastically. "Why, with your prowess, you could likely teach even a bumbling unicorn like myself a thing or two. What an adventure you have ahead of you!"
Skyline dared a little more of a smile. "One talent I have, sir, is to see the angles of things. In the guard, that's often... literal. But it works besides knowing how to throw things."
"I should hope so." Fancy's magic turned the book carefully. "You didn't strike me as the barbaric sort. Go on then, tell me what angles you're considering."
Skyline felt his guard dropping. That aristocratic pony was surprisingly easy to talk with. "Luna, Princess Luna has put a large task at my hooves. I could be the father of an entire new tribe of ponies." She hadn't said to keep it a secret! "And I think I want to help... No, I know I do. I just don't want to hurt myself doing it."
Fancy lowered his book, his attention pulled. "And... dare I ask, why would you suffer the risk of injury? Father of an entire tribe, you say? That's quite the endeavor. Fanciful, I would say, but I don't imagine this is any flight of fancy on your part." His tone became serious, regarding Skyline. "Please do change the subject if I'm being untoward."
Skyline considered for a moment, then decided to share more. "It's no fantasy. The princess believes bat ponies could become a true tribe, with my help."
He went on to explain Luna's vision in bringing the mythic ponies to life, and the role she hoped he could play by bearing the first of their kind. Fancy Pants listened intently, occasionally interjecting a thoughtful "hmm" or "my word!"
When Skyline finished, Fancy stroked his chin. "A tremendous proposition indeed. I can certainly understand your trepidation, venturing into such uncharted territory. But if anypony is up to the task, I'd wager it's you."
He smiled kindly at Skyline. "While I may move in lofty circles, I'm no stranger to risking comfort for a worthy cause. If this endeavor might benefit ponykind, and you feel compelled toward it, then I say bravo!"
Fancy's enthusiasm heartened Skyline. Perhaps nobility and guardsponies weren't so different after all.
"To stand at the dawn of a new age, shaping history itself..." Fancy mused. "What an opportunity! Of course, you must be cautious as well. But have faith in your princess, and yourself. With the love of family and friends to guide you, even the most impossible dreams can take flight."
He winked. "And on that note, might I invite you and the princess to tea sometime soon? I'm simply dying to hear more!"
Skyline laughed, the anxieties in his heart easing. "I would like that, sir. And I will place my faith in Luna, and in all of you who stand with me. Um, but I can't promise she'll want to have tea. I can't speak for her, sir. I can only ask."
"And that's all that I ask, well, and to help me. You did volunteer." He began grabbing smaller tomes in his magic. "I will need all of these brought to my manor. Having a second set of hooves will make this so much easier." He passed roughly half of them towards Skyline to hold on their skilled and powerful wings. "I wasn't sure you could hold them that way, but there you are."
So they made their delivery, dropping off the books where Fancy could pore through them. Skyline set down the many legal tomes just in front of Fancy Pant's door for his butler to move. "Thank you." Fancy Pants nodded to Skyline. "But, your task is complete, and a larger stands before you." He set a hoof on Skyline's chest. "Go forth, and do what you know you must. You have my cheering support behind you."
Skyline had only just met the stallion, but that support felt like it meant something... "Thank you, sir."
It struck him as he walked towards the palace. He had done something new. He told someone not in the military that he was a changeling. Not because he had to, or even felt urged to. He just did it, and it wasn't even a big deal. "Maybe..."
He focused on... not focusing. He focused on becoming normal, on not being shifted, of returning to normal.
But nothing changed. He lifted one wing, then the other, checking over and above them. He could see nothing wrong with his wings, or his body. But he remained a bat pony. He raised a chin. "Dragon." With a rush of flames, he was a dragon. "Mare." He was a mare. "Foal." He was a foal. "Normal." He was a bat pony.
Celestia stepped around him slowly, bringing herself in front of him. "You work for my sister, do you not?"
"I do, ma'am." Skyline bowed towards the solar ruler. "May I help?"
Celestia smiled gently. "I'm glad you're just as eager to serve one sister as the other." She leaned in, neck craning in. "I know what she dreams of, and it seems you're at the center of it."
"Ma'am?"
Celestia raised a hoof under Skyline's chin, ruffling the fur there as she raised it to meet her eyes. "Such a heavy task she's placed on your shoulders. Speak truthfully, Do you consent to this?"
"Ma'am." He turned his whole form towards her, wings fidgeting on his back. "You're being quite direct."
"I am." Celestia glanced across the hall where other ponies slipped around them. "But this is a question that deserves a direct question, and an equally direct answer. If you feel pressured, I will shield you from her. Say the word, and I will give that promise."
Skyline hesitated, conflicted by Celestia's offer. On one hoof, Luna's request weighed heavily on him. But he also did not wish to defy his princess.
"Princess Luna has been kind to me," he said carefully. "I believe her dream could benefit ponykind."
He met Celestia's gaze. "But I thank you for your concern. If I feel unduly pressed, I will seek your counsel. For now, I have volunteered, but the choice remains mine."
Celestia studied him a moment, then nodded. "Luna is dear to me as well. I simply wish to spare you harm." She smiled slightly. "But you are no helpless foal. I will respect your decision."
She placed a gentle hoof on his shoulder. "Know that my door is open, if you need guidance or respite from this burden. Be well, brave one." She looked ready to leave, but hesitated. "You are a changeling." That wasn't a question. A statement. "Why did you leave your hive?"
Skyline pinned his ears against his head, tail lashing once. "Ma'am... I didn't like it there. Most don't... But most don't do anything about it." He dipped his head at Celestia. "Changelings do not have kind and gentle rulers, like ponies do."
Celestia snorted gently, raising her head. "What an indirect praise, but praise none the less. Know that you are one of mine, so I will do my best by you. Come, let's walk." She resumed the walk she had started the conversation with. "I have business, but I would speak with you further."
She brought him to a meeting with a town mayor. They had problems with a migration of beaverish animals. "We'd get rid of them, but your laws say we're not allowed to," complained the mayor with clear annoyance in her voice. "So what do we do about them?! They're everywhere!"
Celestia nodded patiently. "I see... But, you noted, they are migrating."
"Yeah?"
Celestia smiled at the irate local lawmaker. "Then they will get rid of themselves, if you can tolerate them a little longer. Now, are they actually damaging anything?"
The mayor sighed loudly. "Mostly they're in the way. It's like swimming through the things!"
"Inconvenient for your ponies, I could imagine..." Celestia tapped at her chin with a faintly calculating smile. "But... Your problem could also become a benefit. Your town is the only one they cross on their way. For other ponies, they are a rare sight, only visible in text books."
"How does that..." The mayor trailed off, getting where Celestia was going. "Oh! I'm such a foal." She clapped her hooves on either side of her head. "We're sitting on riches and complaining about it! Princess, ma'am, you're a genius!" The mayor hurried away with a happy smile on her face.
As Celestia and Skyline left the mayor's office, Skyline reflected on what he had witnessed. The princess had deftly transformed a pony's negative outlook into an opportunity. Her wisdom and patience were an inspiration.
Skyline wondered, not for the first time, whether he could ever measure up to the expectation placed upon him. Bringing a new tribe into being was a tremendous responsibility. And despite the support of Luna and his friends, doubts still plagued him.
Sensing his unease, Celestia gave him a reassuring smile. "Patience and perseverance," she said kindly. "Every worthy goal has its challenges. But focus on the ponies you will help, and your purpose will guide you." She brought a wing to his back. "There is something that has been... You have something about you."
"Hm?" Skyline backed and turned to face her. "What?"
"It's difficult to put into words..." She tapped at the ground. "I've only felt it from mares, truth told."
Skyline's ears flickered wildly a moment. He was not in a mare's form. He looked himself over quickly to be sure of that. Nope, he was a bat pony stallion. His new default, it seemed? "What did it mean, when you felt it before?"
Celestia walked past Skyline, continuing her route. "Usually, it meant the mare was soon to become a mother. They have a gentle glow around them. It's always pleasant to see."
Skyline was stunned a moment, but scrambled to his hooves and chased after Celestia. "You can see when ponies are... That's a thing?!"
Celestia turned an ear to Skyline, trained on him as she walked with him at her side. "I have been a princess for many... many moons. You pick up a few tricks, especially when it comes to noticing such things. Newly married ponies, ponies bereaving... I'm not reliable on this one, but, sometimes... I can feel when a pony's birthday has arrived." She chuckled to herself with such thoughts. "Rare, but a lovely excuse for some frivolity."
Skyline's mind was reeling as he tried to make sense of Celestia's words. Could she truly detect signs of impending motherhood in him - a changeling? He had agreed to Luna's request in hopes of bringing bat ponies to life, but doubts still lingered.
"Are...are you certain, Your Highness?" he asked carefully. "Forgive my skepticism, but as a changeling..."
Celestia gave a gentle laugh. "I confess it defies all I know as well. But the signs are there - a glow I cannot ignore." She studied him thoughtfully. "Perhaps your union with the bat pony form runs deeper than either of us knew..."
Skyline considered this, anxiety and wonder vying within him. If it was true...could he really fulfill Luna's dreams? And what would it mean for him. Would his position as a guard change? Would others look at him differently? Would he look at himself differently?! Would he even survive...?
Celestia seemed to sense his inner turmoil. "Easy, brave one. Nothing is certain yet. But nurture the possibilities, as you nurture those under your care." Her voice was kind. "Whatever comes, you do not walk alone. Now come - we have much yet to do today."
Though his mind still swirled with questions, her words steadied Skyline. Leaving her felt like a non-option. Escorting a princess wasn't a combat mission in the palace, and he'd accepted the task. It was his mission as surely as any other. "Hm. Permission to muse, ma'am?"
Celestia nodded to a passing noble. "I would be delighted to hear your musings. Please."
"Alright." Skyline moved in at her side, matching her pace. Fortunately for him, she had a slow and stately gait, which wasn't hard to match. "If I'm making that egg, that means I'm taking in a lot more love than I can deal with, if the story's right." He trembled softly. "That's a... heady thing to think of. I was starving before I came here, and now I'm... this?"
Celestia hummed gently. "I would not wish any creature of my land, pony or not, to be hungry. But, the way you speak of it... Are you in danger? A pony can eat too much."
"The egg is what happens." Skyline ran a hoof over his belly, where an egg was growing, in theory. "But I have no idea what comes after that. Will I be empty again, or start making a new egg, or just die? I don't know, ma'am."
Celestia considered Skyline's concerns thoughtfully before responding. "Your worries are understandable. To create new life is no small matter." She met his gaze. "I cannot promise this path will be free of peril. But you need not walk it alone. Together we will find a way to see you through, with care for your wellbeing."
Celestia's horn glowed softly. "The legends offer some guidance. When a changeling bears life, it draws deeply from the love that surrounds it. You must be well nourished first." She smiled. "And nourishment you have in plenty, from Luna's radiant hopes, and the steadfast love of those around you. Hold to that light, and it shall sustain you."
Skyline felt his anxiety begin to ebb at her reassuring words. But that crashed suddenly. "Wait! You have legends about Changelings making life?" He circled around ahead of Celestia. "Tell me!"
Celestia came to a rough stop, her path blocked by the suddenly fluffed up bat pony. "Hm? I thought you knew the same tales. That is what you were speaking of, was it not?"
Skyline shook his head quickly, shrinking from a few glares he was getting from ponies going past. He was blocking Celestia. That was something most ponies just didn't do. "Sorry, um... The story I know is a changeling story, shared by changelings. Yours is a pony one, by ponies." He perked his tufted ears. "I thought you didn't know much about changelings."
Celestia walked right around Skyline, continuing her path without a word for his obstruction. "I've heard of them, before your former queen made her appearance. She caught me... by surprise, but I had heard of them. There are stories, myths, and accounts. You've visited the library, I know this."
Skyline nodded as he caught up with her. "Sure... Um, but I wasn't looking that up."
Celestia wore her kindly smile, unphased for his sudden energy. "Then, perhaps... I've given you a new thing to look up?"
Skyline glanced away and back. "Permission to do that?"
Celestia gently waved Skyline away. "Granted. Good luck."
"Thank you." He bowed as low as he could, just to bolt off towards the library.
He crashed into someone he knew on the way, almost literally. He skidded to a halt to not finish the physical meeting. "Oh, hello."
Lemon Patty recoiled in surprise, but it turned into a brilliant smile. "Skyline! I feel like it's hard to see you outside the barracks these days. What are you up to?" She wore the night guard uniform, and thus the appearance of a bat pony herself.
"I was going to the library." He pointed. "Um, it's part of things."
Lemon inclined her head. "Can I help?"
"Don't you have things to do?"
Lemon shook her head. "Not at the moment. If you don't want help..."
"No! No.. Come along." He nudged against her, turning her towards the library. "It's about changelings though."
"You're one of those." She realized a moment later, burying her face in a hoof. "Which you know, duh. Sorry. Um... So... We don't get a lot of chances to just... talk... What's it like, being a changeling?"
"What's it like, being a pony?" He retorted with such speed, one could imagine he'd used that retort no few times.
"Point..." It could be hard to measure something from the inside, as it were. "Let's do some research." They both hastened with smiles to dig through some books. "What are we looking for?"
"Changelings." Skyline curled a wing to point at himself. "Look for changeling books, about changelings. Any book that even mentions them."
"Changeling books..." She veered away to begin the search in the grand library of scrolls and tomes. "Don't you know everything about changelings already?"
"Do you know everything about ponies already?"
Lemon snorted softly. "You have a point but stop that!" Properly admonished, she focused on the hunt for knowledge.
"Here!" Lemon added a book to the growing pile on the table. "I had no idea we had so many books on changelings... They didn't teach any of this in school."
Skyline grabbed a stool in his teeth and pulled it over in the same motion he threw himself onto it. "Changelings don't even have schools... Just passing words on from 'ling to 'ling. Um..." He glanced away at the other ponies studying quietly and back to Lemon. "I'd like to visit one of these schools."
Lemon giggled. "Aw... So cute. You looked, for just a moment, like a foal eager for their first day. I'd love to help, but we're in the middle of something. What is that something?" She waved at the books. "We have tons of books, what's next?"
Skyline took a slow deep breath, nose filling with the scent of ancient paper. "We read. Um, I read. You don't have to. This isn't an assignment of yours."
"I don't have a better one." She hopped up onto a stool next to Sky. "So we read. What are we reading for?"
Skyline reached with his wings for the first page of the first book. "I need to know more, everything really, about changelings. I need to know every secret ponies have managed to find about how they work. Especially the insides. Any hint of changeling anatomy, bring it."
"Insides of changelings, got it." Lemon grabbed for her own book and got to leafing. "Oh... That makes sense, come to think of it. That's your job, right?"
"I don't want that to be my job." Skyline flipped to the next page with his wings, eyes trained on the words. "But it's become one, and I want to know what's happening inside me."
"I would too..." She rubbed at her cheek. "If I had a foal coming, I'd want to know everything." She glanced sidelong at Skyline. "That's a very female thing."
Skyline tensed at Lemon's words, though he tried not to show his discomfort openly. The prospect of essentially becoming a mother still felt alien to him despite his changeling physiology.
"I suppose nature has her own ideas about me," he said, attempting lightness but unable to keep an edge from his voice.
He turned his attention sharply back to the book before him, as if hiding behind the pages. Diagrams of changeling anatomy met his gaze, along with dense text describing metabolic processes and reproduction. Yet as his eyes scanned the information, he found none of it put him at ease.
There were too many uncertainties. Would these pony analyses even apply to his situation? What if attempting to create new life went horribly awry?
Skyline's ears pinned back against his head as scenarios of failure played out in his mind. His breathing quickened and claws instinctively emerged from his hooves, scraping the table.
Noticing his agitation, Lemon reached out a hoof tentatively. "It's okay to be scared you know. Anycreature would be." Her voice was gentle.
Skyline closed his eyes, trying to collect himself before panic set in completely. He focused on the soothing tones of Lemon's words until the tension in his muscles began subsiding. There was comfort in not facing this alone.
"I don't know if I can do this," he admitted at last, hating the vulnerability in his own voice. "The expectations are so high...what if I let everycreature down?"
He turned and met Lemon's earnest gaze. "You all have been so supportive and I'm grateful but...in the end I'm still just me. One lone changeling against the weight of history."
Lemon reached past him, to the book he had been reading. "That looks like it might help."
Skyline turned sharply back to it. "Hm? Oh." He sighed at the pages. "It's fine, but it's going over the usual way... A lady changeling, or one willing to play the part and a guy changeling, or one playing the part, gets together, does the thing two ponies would do, and a grub or few happens in whichever is playing the role of female."
"Okay..." Lemon raised a brow slowly. "But any changeling could play either? Any changeling could be a mom if they wanted?"
"It's not the same." Skyline fell forward, flopping chin-down on the book. "To start, the normal way, the lady 'ling is stuck in lady 'ling mode. They can become other ladies, but all ladies until the grubs happen, at least their eggs." He turned a hoof at himself. "But am I a lady? I am not... But there's an egg in here. That's not normal."
Lemon hummed and swayed with thought. "Okay... But that narrows things." She put down the book she had been searching. "If the book talks about the usual, we can put it to the side and keep looking. I'm ready to keep reading, Skyline."
Skyline sat up slowly, a little smile forming. "Thank you... Let's keep going." He browsed forward in the book. "Thank you, really... You're being so supportive."
It was just then he thought to check. The warmth of her gentle love was there. Not a hot passionate one. He was loved as a dear friend, not a potential lover. It was still love.
Skyline paused, the smile growing on his lips as he sensed Lemon's affection. To changelings, love was sustenance - yet for that confusing time Skyline tasted that new variety: love freely given in friendship, untainted by deception or coercion.
It filled his core with warmth, easing some small part of the gnawing anxiety. He now understood what Celestia meant about being nourished by those around him. Changlings did not really "love" in the pony sense, and yet...
Perhaps Lemon was not the only one discovering that truth. Could taking refuge among the ponies be changing him in turn? It was a curious thought.
Lemon tilted her head curiously as Skyline gazed at her with new eyes. "What's on your mind?"
He chuckled softly at the question. "Only that I'm grateful," he replied evasively, unsure how to articulate what he was feeling.
Lemon seemed satisfied with the simple answer. "Me too!" she chirped. "Now, what next? We're changeling experts on the case!" She playfully struck a detective-esque pose that made Skyline genuinely laugh aloud.
The tension in his chest eased. With Lemon's help, perhaps he could unravel the mysteries still surrounding his improbable new role. And even if the undertaking brought only hardship in the end, these shared moments of warmth made every uncertain step worthwhile.
"The game's ahoof!" Skyline declared with mock theatricality. They eagerly returned to delving through page after page, buoyed by camaraderie in the face of the unknown. And though specters of doubt still whispered in Skyline's mind, they seemed - for now at least - to have lost some sway over him.
It took hours of digging and rooting about. A few times, a fellow guard would wander in, spot them, and leave without a word. Lemon should have been doing other things, but they left her when they saw her helping Skyline.
Little fragments of information, gathered by ponies in the past, rose to the surface. It seemed changelings had, often by accident, been the starting point of a few species that had gone on to become quite self-sufficient.
One 'ling had bridged griffons and ponies, untold moons ago, and the hippogriffs had resulted. The changeling had wandered off, confused and uninterested, but the new species had done well for itself.
Dragons and ponies were brought together, with a changeling serving again as that unwitting bridge. That one had remained with the kirin for a time, serving as mother for the rest of their life, but they had also done well for themselves.
One thing unified both cases. "They weren't alone."
Lemon shook her head at that thought. "They weren't. The hippogriffs was a community project. So many griffons and ponies came together to get that started." She colored faintly. "If I read that right, there was love, um... even physical involved."
From one, came many, with genetic snag points avoided by mixing in other creatures that were closely related.
Skyline was smiling. "I get it... I see how we can do this. It all makes sense now."
A surge of relief and growing conviction stirred within Skyline as the pieces came together in his mind. Studying the archives had illuminated a path forward, improbable yet no longer unthinkable.
He met Lemon's expectant gaze, sensing her unspoken question hanging in the air between them. Taking a steadying breath, Skyline gave voice to the epiphany those tales of mythic hybridization had sparked.
"The secret was diversity," he explained, struggling to articulate revelations still coalescing rapidly. "Every past success drew from an array of fathers, not just one. And the mothers, though alone in bearing children, were never isolated."
He paced in tight circles, words flowing faster. "Don't you see - having one bat pony sire risks weakness, but having many begets strength! And with a whole community involved in nurturing the offspring..."
Skyline trailed off, a fire kindling in his eyes. "It can work! Between my nature and all of you to support me...this dream can survive contact with reality. We will flourish together!"
His voice had risen to nearly a shout in fervor. With visible effort, Skyline tempered his zeal, not wishing to seem mad, or get yelled at for making noise in the library.
"What I mean to say is...I cannot succeed alone." He extended a grateful hoof towards Lemon. "But maybe, with friends like you who become family...we can guide this new herd together."
Lemon clasped his hoof firmly, meeting his gaze with equal parts amusement and resolve. "Quite the rousing speech there! But you know what - I believe it too. We're with you, Skyline."
Buoyed by her solidarity, the last of Skyline's doubts burned away. What emerged instead was a sense of soaring purpose. The future remained unknown, but as they left the archives with new understanding, Skyline felt anything was possible with such allies at his side.
"This means Luna will lose her guard."
Lemon recoiled with shock. "What?! I don't plan to quit. None of us do. You know that. What would make you say that?" She looked around as if somepony would spot such treacherous words. "Seriously..."
"I am serious." Skyline sat up, crossing his arms. "For this to work, Luna's project, her guard must, at least a little while, give up guarding. We, all the guard, will be the loving family for this child, for this tribe. We must welcome them into ponykind with genuine love. Them, and more of them."
"She's not going to like that," murmured out Lemon in barely a whisper. "You... will need to talk to her first before you go around shouting that at every night guard you run into, or any guard you run into, really..." She reached hesitantly for Skyline. "Talk to her first."
Skyline drew in a slow breath as Lemon's warning gave him pause. In his excitement, he had let zeal carry him forward without considering how Luna might receive this new vision. Would she see the dissolution of her night guard, even temporarily, as a necessary step - or an unacceptable breach of trust?
"You're right," he conceded, exhaling a nervous chuckle. "Boldness outran wisdom for a moment. I must speak with Luna before advocating anything that would diminish her forces."
He glanced back towards the palace that was as much home now as hive had ever been. "She may resist...but surely she will see that establishing enduring bonds between bat ponies and the community is paramount. And for that, we must be nurturers first, warriors second."
Skyline furrowed his brow contemplatively. "Although if she insists on maintaining militant readiness even now, we shall find a way to balance both roles. Her trust and needs are paramount."
He turned back to Lemon with a small, hopeful smile. "But with tact and care, I believe Luna's heart will welcome this new direction once she understands it fully."
Lemon still looked anxious but nodded encouragement nonetheless. "I hope you're right. Just remember she's a princess first, friend second. Tread gentle, Skyline."
"Of course." Skyline hesitated, then pulled Lemon into a quick, grateful hug. "Wish me luck. And thank you for everything!"
Before she could react, he set off for Luna's hall with purposeful strides. Apprehension and conviction warred within him. But Lemon's guidance had been wise so far. Now he must simply help Luna glimpse the future he saw unfolding thanks to her vision - and have faith she would embrace its fullest potential in time.
Skyline arrived at Luna's door. The guards nodded, knowing him. He'd come there often enough to warrant that. "Is she in?"
"She is," barked the larger male. "Is this concerning her project?"
"It is." Skyline nodded. "I have news for her, mostly good."
The smaller female reached for the door with a wing, knocking. "Ma'am, Skyline to see you."
"Send him in," came muffledly through the wood.
Both guards backed away, allowing Skyline forward. He opened the door and stepped into the dim room. "Ma'am? Luna?"
"Right here." She sat before a great and wide mirror atop a desk. "Have you news?"
Skyline closed the door first, then went to Luna's side. "I know how to do this, so they grow strong and happy."
Luna turned in place towards Skyline. "Do you? I am most gladdened to hear that, Skyline. Please, tell me the details."
Skyline spread his wings. "It can't be done with any single mother, nor single father. To raise a new creature, pony tribe or not, requires an existing community. I will be the start, but it must, must, then pass on. The community must love each I make, in every way. When they grow large enough, they will find mates, those mates must not be the ones I created."
Skyline inclined his head, pondering that future. "They must grow among ponies, raised among them as fellow foals, to marry them later. We must keep track of who is pairing with who, to avoid... complications. But they must have a family. I can't, alone, provide a family."
He frowned softly. "Especially not if you would have me making more eggs, to increase the odds of this."
Luna nodded slowly along with the tale Skyline was weaving. "I see nothing we can't do, so far. But you speak as if there were some great catch involved. What is that catch?"
"We need a family, and we have one." Skyline stood as tall as he could muster, barring shifting his form. "The night guards. They must become this family. They will already be the bat ponies the foals will expect."
Luna inclined her head left. "Why is that a catch?"
Skyline snorted. "That is a full-time job, ma'am."
Luna wrinkled her nose. "I should think not. Parents work while raising foals, and if you have a whole group, why would they all stop working with so many hooves already assembled to the task?"
Skyline considered Luna's perspective thoughtfully. She made a reasonable point - parents often maintained careers while raising young. And with the night guard acting as a collective family, there would be no shortage of caregivers to nurture the fledgling tribe.
Still, uncertainties lingered in Skyline's mind. "There is truth in your words," he conceded. "But this is no ordinary foal we discuss. To establish an entire new pony tribe - the first bat ponies - requires deep bonds between parent and child."
He paced the royal bedchamber, searching for the right words. "Raising a foal alone can be difficult even for two devoted parents. But we endeavor to cultivate an unknown new people, shrouded in myth. The burden upon each guardian will be immense."
Skyline stopped and met Luna's gaze. "If duties divide the night guard's care too thinly...might we not lose the young ones? I do not wish to gamble their wellbeing for convenience's sake."
He stepped closer, tone gentle but conviction shining in his eyes. "You have been more than a princess to me...you have been the nurturing mother of my fledgling place in this world. I would wish the same enveloping care for each of the bat foals born into my keeping."
Skyline extended a pleading hoof. "Grant the night guard furlough when the offspring come, I beg you. Let the bat ponies' first familial bonds shape them wholly, unencumbered by competing obligations. Only then can they flourish as you desire."
He hesitated, then added carefully, "Of course the decision is yours, Your Highness. I speak only from my longing to see this bold vision properly realized."
Skyline awaited Luna's decree with bated breath, hoping she would accept the temporary sacrifice required to seed a new age for pony, night guard and bat pony alike.
Luna touched her hoof to Skyline's. "If I have served as mother, then that proves it quite nicely. I have never set down my duties as princess, and yet... Here we are." She touched her nose to Skyline. "Your fears are justified, but they have grown out of proportion. You're not giving your fellow guards enough credit."
She sat up. "But I have been considering your other words. I don't think you were wrong. Denying the guards their tribes was wrong of me... I was too narrowly focused on a very specific dream... Let bat ponies be... a modifier. Like crystal ponies. Most of them are a particular tribe, but others exist. Most bat ponies, pegasus type. Some, horned. Some, robust. All three tribes will be found within them, and they will see this reflection in their caretakers, and the ponies they brush against in the world."
Skyline smiled, feeling a rising warmth inside of him. "That's... great, ma'am." He could imagine the guards rejoicing at the news. "How long will it take to adjust the armor?"
"That is already in the hooves of ponies more suited to that task." Luna waved that thought away. "The guards will guard, but the care of the foals will be their assignment as well. I will go easy on them." She winked at Skyline. "They will be quite busy."
Skyline chuckled, relief flooding through him at Luna's reassurances. The night guard would maintain their purpose while still nurturing the precious new tribe - an elegant compromise he had not thought possible. Luna's wisdom and adaptability never ceased to impress him.
Still, logistical concerns lingered at the back of his mind. "Going easy on the new parents is welcome news," he remarked. "But even your most lenient schedule may overwhelm, guarding alongside foal-rearing..."
He furrowed his brow contemplatively. "Perhaps the day guard could assist at times? With so vast a force at your sister's command, a few could surely be spared for night watch now and then."
Skyline waved a dismissive hoof before Luna could protest. "Oh, I do not propose dissolving your forces into one indistinguishable whole!" he added hastily. "Merely...borrowing a few trustworthy souls upon occasion, to ease the burden."
He gave Luna an entreating look. "Forgive my mother-hen tendencies. In truth, I know not whether I prepare to lay one egg or dozens; such mysteries still elude me. And we'll want more, likely, afterwards."
Skyline sighed, a note of wonder entering his voice. "But if a whole hidden people emerge from my unlikely calling, and I aim to guard them well!"
He blinked, surprised at his own passionate outburst. Perhaps this maternal role was influencing him despite himself. But the drive to safeguard the future bat ponies felt inexorably right.
"Well. Um..." Skyline coughed, embarrassment tinging his features at getting carried away. "I only mean bolstering our ranks could help." He gave Luna a sheepish smile. "But as you say, we shall manage either way."
"We shall manage." Luna placed a hoof at her own chest. "Together. You will be their mother, but so will I, and the guards in front of my door. They will not suffer for lack of options." She chuckled at the idea. "The very first may even feel a bit... buried in parental choices."
Skyline smiled, hope raising by the moment. "Better than the alternative... I only had one parent, and she had no time for me, in the end." The words had come out before he thought about them. "Oh..." That he even had emotions about his upbringing...
Sure, he had ultimately rebelled, but... "Oh." He sighed softly. "Sorry, ma'am. I got distracted."
Luna pressed a hoof against his chest. "You are not 'distracted'. You are having feelings, as they say. And you are entitled to them." She smirked softly. "Celestia insists on it. When I was... a thousand moons ago, I would have sooner died than admit I was housing such things." She looked towards her window and rose to pace towards it. "We live in a new age. Bring that foal, or foals, and they will be loved. As will their mother."
Skyline absorbed Luna's words with a contemplative gaze. How strange to hear the Moon Princess, the stoic embodiment of the night, claim feelings were her right. But her transformation mirrored his own in seeking refuge among the ponies.
Perhaps together they walked a path of discovery, unlearning the shackles of their former lives in favor of Equestria's more enlightened ideals.
Skyline joined Luna beside the window, stars glinting distantly through the glass. Placing a tentative hoof on hers, he spoke, "I still struggle to name the sensations stirring within me...hope and fear entwined, a heart so full it might burst."
He gave a nervous chuckle. "I suppose such is the prerogative of expectant mothers everywhere. But know this journey has already worked profound changes upon me...thanks in no small part to your inspiration."
Luna turned to him, eyes glinting with what might be the faint shimmer of tears. Impulsively, Skyline drew her into a fierce embrace.
"We shall traverse this strange new realm together, my friend," he avowed, voice thick with emotion. "And when we emerge on the other side, perhaps we shall find ourselves transformed."
Luna returned the hug with sudden intensity, silent thanks ringing louder than shouts. No matter the role that awaited Skyline, they would face it as kin. Such bonds the loveless hive could never replicate.
At last Luna pulled back, features composed in her familiar sphinx-like smile. "Well now, no call for such brooding when we've an entire tribe's fostering at hoof!" Her laugh rippled rich and deep. "Let us to work!"
Skyline's returning grin needed no words. The future remained uncertain, but with Luna and the night guard at his side, he feared no shadows. Bat pony, mother and Guardsman alike, he would don each mantle proudly to shepherd this bold vision into reality.
"One thing." Luna tapped his nose with the flat of her hoof. "I am your princess, not an idle friend. Though my heart soars alongside yours, we can't have ponies thinking there's more to it than that."
Skyline rubbed his nose, cheeks burning. "Yes, ma'am... Sorry."
"Don't be sorry." She turned an ear at Skyline. "You certainly didn't force me to return that hug..."
A hint. Skyline smiled as he turned for the door. "I'll spread the news, if that's alright?"
"Go on." She brushed him away with a powerful wing. "Start with the ones at the door and go from there. I'm sure they'll be excited to hear it."
Skyline saluted sharply before bursting into a trot for the door. He glanced back, but pressed on, opening the door. Outside, he saw the two guards and slipped out to join them.
"News, from Luna." Both perked at him. "The foals I... birth..." He couldn't stop the blush in his cheeks. "They will be yours too. The whole night guard will be their mothers and fathers. Um, other good news."
The mare clapped her hooves together. "Aw, that sounds nice. What else?"
The stallion raised a doubting brow. "Uh..."
"Luna is working on adjusting these." Skyline tapped his armor. "To let us keep our tribes. Expect stockier night guards and horned night guards soon."
The stallion pricked, interest grabbed. "Really? Wow."
The mare burst into laughter. "You're told you're become a parent and that's no news compared to..." She squinted at Skyline. "What do pegasi get? Night guards already have wings."
Skyline raised two uneven hooves and brought them together. "This is a balancing. The others are being brought up to where pegasi already are. Um, so, nothing? They get to be happy for everypony else."
The stallion shrugged. "Well, alright. Still not sure I'm ready to be an uncle..."
Skyline gazed in a mirror, examining herself. She was a she, a pretty bat pony, who would become a mother. "Time to be serious."
"About?" Pointed came up alongside Skyline, looking into the same mirror, and examining Skyline in it. "Why the mare disguise? Are they sending you somewhere secret?"
"No." Skyline inclined an ear. "But I am taking up a big role. I will be a mother soon." She put her hooves at her belly, which showed no sign of what was happening. "I decided I should allow that gender to come out. Acting a mother while insisting I'm all male feels... silly, really."
"Wow." Pointed rubbed at his cheek. "So you... just swapped gender, like that. Wow. I don't think a pony could flick that switch so easily." His face was haunted with awe and wonder, just trying to imagine that idea. "I'm a stallion... Um, and I'm happy that way."
"I am also happy as a stallion." She fluffed her face gently, giving both of them a fanged smile in the mirror. "But I can be a mare, and I think I'm even a nice one. Am I pretty?"
Pointed blinked softly. "Um, I did tell you... I prefer stallions."
That prompted Skyline to still herself and feel. Pointed's love had lost its hot spiciness. She was not what he physically wanted. There was only the warmth of a friend, but he remained a friend, a true one. "That's too bad."
"Huh, why?"
Skyline inclined her head. "I still like you."
That got Poined to flush brightly. "O-oh! Um..." He tapped his hooves slowly. "I, uh... Wow."
Skyline shrugged, turning back to her reflection. "You know, most ponies aren't 100%."
"100%... what?" Pointed looked into that same mirror, studying Skyline's mysterious face. "Um, you are pretty, objectively, you know? Definately a pretty and mysterious bat mare."
A little touch of spice, thrown on the smoldering coals. Skyline chuckled gently. "100% inclined. Many ponies are lost somewhere in the middle." She wobbled a hoof. "75% gay, 50% gay, 25% gay. You can be anywhere in there. Only a few are 100% or 0%, but they sure do love to be in denial."
Pointed blinked slowly as understanding dawned. "You mean...I could be sorta attracted to mares and stallions both?" He frowned contemplatively.
"Huh...never really thought about it that way." Glancing sidelong at Skyline's alluring new form in the mirror, he had to admit she cut a striking figure. Still, uncertainty gnawed at him.
"Maybe you're right, but...these feelings have always seemed pretty clear-cut to me," Pointed murmured. "Fellow guard stallions catch my eye...pretty mares, not so much."
He scuffed a hoof against the floor, then met Skyline's gently smiling gaze. "But I guess exploring is healthy now and then. And you're not just any mare."
Impulsively, Pointed leaned in and planted a swift kiss on Skyline's cheek. Drawing back, his own cheeks flushed brightly.
"There! No lightning bolts or nausea," he pronounced with a nervous chuckle. "So guess I can't claim to be completely opposed."
Pointed exhaled slowly, nerves settling. "Still gonna take some getting used to though, I admit. Never been with a mare before...and one who isn't always a mare at that!"
He waved a hoof airily. "But hey, guess that'll keep life exciting eh? And uh, thanks for opening my eyes a little wider." Pointed flashed a lopsided grin. "Who knows, maybe we guards need to be more flexible to nurture your little tribe."
His expression grew thoughtful. "In fact, maybe that flexibility would be a good tradition to pass down. Could help unify all kinds of ponies down the road."
Pointed nudged Skyline playfully. "Look at that - you're already shaping generations and you haven't even laid your egg yet!"
Skyline could feel that fire stoked higher, erupting into a little cheery flame the more she just let Pointed talk on and on. Sometimes, being quiet was the best way to learn, and influence. "Shaping generations already, hmm?" She mused, turning back to the mirror with a contemplative gaze. "An intriguing notion."
She examined her feminine features pensively. "I hadn't considered the broader influences these changes could spur. Not just birthing a tribe, but transforming perspectives."
Pointed nodded along eagerly. "Right? Your little herd could act as living bridges between tribes - and other barriers too." He leaned a shoulder against the glass. "With you as their anchor, who knows what new connections they might forge?"
Skyline smiled softly at the thought. "Harmony from the most unlikely of origins...there is a certain poetry in that." She tossed her head with a silvery laugh. "Perhaps your flexibility advice should be another legacy I bring!"
Her amusement quieted as she studied Pointed seriously. "But in truth, little is certain beyond the next few moons. Except..." Skyline extended a hoof to clasp his. "That I am glad to have you at my side, no matter the road ahead."
Pointed's cheeks reddened again, but his grin shone bright and warm. "Wild dragons couldn't pry me away," he proclaimed. "We're in this together, Skyline."
He brushed a kiss across her hoof gallantly. "And I look forward to discovering just what that means."
Yep, his fires were burning. With it, the love he was radiating was powerful, and she could feel it fueling the egg inside her. Having allowed the female state to have a proper place in her, it felt like foal's play to feel that egg, growing and safe within her. It loved the bath of love Pointed was providing.
So she didn't discourage him. "My gallant knight. Think of me, but you do need to report."
"O-oh! Right!" He fluffed up his mane, threw on his armor, and charged off to get his duties done.
Skyline smirked faintly. "Mares have some advantages..." It was kind of nice, wrapping a poor lost stallion around her hoof. "But this is about you." She rubbed her belly gently. "What sort of bat will emerge first, hm? Is this what broodlings feel like? I... suppose it is."
She had accepted that job, to see the next generation came to be. "Off to work." But it wasn't her only job. She got to hers, even if they refused to send her out on any real tasks that took her from the castle.
Skyline reflected on the strange new sensations sweeping through her as she went about her administrative duties. Though grounded from field missions, paperwork and planning were still her lot.
Yet paperwork felt trivial beside the miracle unfolding within. She stroked her belly, as yet unchanged, but a fierce protectiveness was rising unbidden. Was this a glimmer of the broodling impulse from ages past?
It seemed her body had accepted the maternal role with an alacrity that surprised her. Though she retained the ability to shift forms, this feminine self now felt cloaked in purpose - a vessel to shelter new lives.
Despite her steadfast calculations, a startling tenderness was taking root. She imagined tiny heartbeats quickening beneath her own and fierce love kindled at the thought. Pointed's attentions had only strengthened the cascade.
Skyline shook her head with a wry chuckle. She had known desire's hollow pangs before, but this awakening need burned with selfless fire - to nurture, teach, defend. A mother's passion ignited by fate's spark.
Was this enduring zeal what broodlings through the ages felt, compelled by queen and colony to yield young without thought for self? Yet now removed from hive pressures, such purpose came gentle, a calling she embraced by choice.
Skyline caressed the subtle swell once more, awe rippling through her. "Hello little one...what wonders do you portend?" she whispered. A new age was dawning not only for bat ponies, but all of ponydom. And she would nurture that fragile dawn with a mother's endless devotion.
As she walked on through her quiet tasks, anticipation quickened Skyline's pulse despite herself. What would that wondrous first glimpse be like? Filly or colt or something else entirely? Heart thrilling, she faced the future boldly. Come what may, a mother awaited.
Time passed almost in a blur. She did as she was asked to do, but her thoughts went to her young more and more frequently. "Stop." Skyline did stop, blinking at the mare that had said it. "Yes?"
"You are distracted." Her horn glowed, taking the papers free of Skyline's grasp. "And it's showing as you put those in... I don't think you even know where you are." But she was smiling despite that. "I am putting you on maternal leave, and I'll inform Luna. She can roast my bottom if I'm making the wrong decision."
"But you're not even a commanding officer!" Skyline spread her wings wide. "And you're dismissing me? Is that even allowed?!"
"Not usually." She put two hooves gently on Skyline, one to a shoulder each. "As a fellow mare, I'm sending you off duty. Go, rest, and put your focus down there." She inclined her head towards Skyline's belly. "Good luck."
Skyline sank to her haunches. "Is it... that obvious?"
"It is." The mare took her hooves away. "You're close. Stop working. You're already doing so much in there. That's work enough." She smooched Skyline on the forehead, no passion, only kindness felt. "Go."
Skyline stumbled towards her quarters in a daze, the other mare's surprising compassion swirling through her thoughts. Had her condition truly become so evident? She studied her profile in a passing window, seeing little obvious change.
Yet she could not deny the quickening deep within, heralding tides of transformation still submerged from outside eyes. The paperwork guardian was right - momentous work was underway beneath Skyline's surface stillness.
She entered her room and practically collapsed onto the bed, breath leaving her in a great rush. To finally lay this emanate burden down felt sweet relief. Yet as she nestled against the soft blankets, loneliness crept in as well.
Wasn't a doting partner supposed to await expectantly in these pivotal hours? Sadness pricked Skyline that none had stayed to fill that role. Perhaps she was fooling herself imagining any stallion could embrace both sides of her changeable nature.
A mother lacking a mate...so be it then. She had walked solitary roads before. Still, Pointed's fleeting passion rekindled bittersweet yearning for what might have been. Could he have remained tender beyond flirtation, welcoming child and sire alike with equal devotion?
The question lingered painfully unanswerable as Skyline curled against her pillow. But she would greet her destiny with courage regardless, unsupported or no. This lonely eve remained but prelude to tomorrows unfurled in love's first cries.
Perhaps in time affection would return twofold from the little lives she sheltered now. And for their shining potential, she would gladly pass through any fire. This night yet held reckoning...but dawn, however distant, must come in time.
Until then she must stand fast - bolstered by memory of kinship past and possibility of families yet to bloom. This would be motherhood's sustaining twin pillars, when other comforts slipped away. Bat pony and Guardsman both found strength in standing vigil.
So she kept her patient watch in shadowed stillness, hooves curled round the precious cargo within. One lone light holding back the darkness...waiting, yearning, for the luminous love to come.
Besides, she wasn't alone. She had countless friends among the guards, and even outside the guards. The ponies of the castle had grown to know and accept her, most beyond the faint embers of recognition. That was what let the egg grow, that overwhelming love.
She was single, but she was not alone. She wrinkled her nose. "I am the mother of all..." She turned an ear back. "Well, not all..." Her thoughts went to Celestia, who held that title even more truly. She was, without doubt, the mother that sat over all of Equestria, roosting it gently.
Skyline rubbed her egg, grown so large within her. "Is it almost time?" She could feel a faint movement within her. "Almost... Almost..." She faded into a light sleep, dreaming of her child. In that comforting maelstrom, a name came.
Skyline remembered little of that dream, except the important part. "Night Arrow." Visions of a sharpened shaft piercing the night danced through her mind. "My little Night Arrow." She rubbed at her belly, and it, too, had changed. She had swollen come the morning, and that had big meanings.
Mothers in Equestria only visibly plumped up when things were getting serious. "About time for you to come out..." She snorted, imagining she were the night bow, ready to fire that Night Arrow into the world. "Don't be silly," she chastised herself. She doubted it would be quite that easy.
But another thing had become clear. She was likely only creating one child. Only one name had come. Unless a second was hiding so well even its name was concealed, she would create but one.
A pity she had read so many books, she knew it was possible. Roughly one in ten twins a pony had, which were already rare, one twin would do just that, hide gently away. And the mother, and everypony else, would have no clue until they were left holding two foals, dazzled and amazed.
Skyline cradled her swollen belly. "That would be fine too..." She felt ready. "I'm bringing myself to the doctor." She slid to her hooves and made her way down the hallway, towards the royal infirmery and the birth staff that awaited her. "I hope they're ready for a changeling..."
Becoming a pony for them felt right out. A changeling birth was best handled as a changeling. She had an egg in her. It would come out the changeling way. Even if the child that emerged from that egg would, then, never be a changeling... "What a curious child you are," she spoke gently to her stirring infant. "I love you already..."
Could she do that? Changelings took love. They did not give it.
Yet, there she was, giving, joyfully. And it felt... natural. And yet, completely strange. "Excuse me." She went up to the counter. "I feel I'm about ready to deliver this egg."
The nurse that had been idling there suddenly started. "An egg?! Oh, yes." She had been informed. "Miss Skyline, please, this way. She guided Skyline along gently as if she may shatter into pieces at any moment. "One leg at a time..."
"I'm not that fragile," Skyline laughed at, but accepting the guidance down a short hallway into a room with soft colors. "Ooo, I like this..." A fine place to curl and lay and egg. "There?" She pointed at a considerable pillow.
"Exactly." The nurse fluffed up the pillow and waved Skyline closer. "How are you feeling?"
Skyline approached the beckoning pillow with a blend of trepidation and excitement quickening her pulse. "Nervous as a griffon on skates," she admitted. "But ready too."
She carefully lowered herself onto the soft bedding, wings fluttering with anticipation. The nurse fussed kindly over her, plumping another pillow beneath Skyline's head.
"First birthening jitters are perfectly normal dear," the elderly earth pony assured her. "Just trust in your body - she'll know what to do when the time comes."
Skyline managed a tense chuckle. "At least one of us will. I haven't the faintest idea!"
Another contraction rippled through her then and Skyline tensed - was that preliminary labor or simply digestive rumbling? Unable to differentiate, she looked anxiously at the nurse who patted her hoof.
"All in due course - try to relax best you can." She dimmed the lights with a flick of magic from her horn. "I'll be just outside should you need me. But chances are you'll drift a while yet before the main event."
As the nurse ambled out, Skyline focused on steadying her breathing. Strangely, the semi-darkness brought some calm. She found comfort enveloped in night's familiar embrace, as though Luna herself soothed her from afar.
Letting tension seep from her limbs, Skyline reflected on how improbable this moment had once seemed. A former changeling spy turned royal progenitor...what curious tapestry did fate weave? She could scarcely believe the role that now fell to her, brimming with tremulous potential.
The novelty of that thought lent courage enough to meet the next contraction rippling through her without panic. She was venturing beyond all maps into uncharted territory - but somehow love's lantern lit the passage however uncertain.
Easing back as the tightness passed, anticipation and anxiety danced equal measure through Skyline's mind. Yet she would greet this destiny with head held high, come what may. Too deep had bonds taken root to turn back now; through her, dream stood poised to become reality.
"Alright little one, our time draws nigh," she murmured, caressing her taut belly. "Let's discover what wonders lie beyond this waiting night - together."
Whatever daybreak revealed, they would face it as family and tribe entwined - a new people born of unlikely genesis but nurtured in love's constancy.
With a shuddering gasp, it was... all over, so suddenly. The widest part of the egg was free, and with it, the rest came almost easily, spilling out onto the soft pillow beneath her. She heaved for air, panting but smiling. "Ha.... Ha, yeah... Ha..." But things were not calm within her. "What is--"
"Twin," called out the nurse, gently rubbing at Skyline's belly. "Such a blessing."
"A blessing." Skyline turned an ear back. "But I only have one name."
The nurse dabbed at Skyline's forehead with a wet rag. "What's that name? Maybe it's both of them."
Skyline blinked at that. "Night Arrow? Night and Arrow?"
The nurse flashed a gentle smile. "I can think of worse names for... Two bat ponies just like their mother."
"Night and arrow," sighed out Skyline. "Which are you then?" She reached for her first egg. "And are you the bigger one, or the smaller one."
"Bigger." The nurse nodded. "The second is almost always smaller. The bigger one gets out of the way for their smaller sibling. Just the way it works."
"Then you must be Night." Surely the larger of the two words. "Time for Arrow to join us."
Skyline stroked the glossy shell of the first egg with awed tenderness, marveling at its pearlescent sheen. The cherished name rolled off her tongue. "Night, my darling...I can't wait to meet you."
Another contraction gripped Skyline then, heralding little Arrow's impending arrival. She bore down with panting effort as the nurse gently supported the precious egg that held hopeful Night.
With a final push Skyline cried out at the strange sensation. Then slender Arrow tumbled free to rest beside the elder twin, pale surface still dewy from the womb.
Laughing and weeping tangled within Skyline as she beheld the pair nestled together - two lives from one dream realized. She drew the delicate ovals close with trembling care, joy and worry commingling.
"My precious children...welcome." She brushed each shell with devoted lips, wishing she could see the lives flourishing within. Were they curled tight as buds still...or kicking tiny hooves even now, awaiting release into her arms?
As if in response the larger egg - little Night - gave a faint shudder that brought fresh tears spilling down Skyline's cheeks. "Eager already I see! Easy now..."
She looked beseechingly up at the kindly nurse. "How long must they remain confined? When will I meet them truly?" Even as the question left her lips, the slimmer twin quivered delicately as well.
The nurse patted Skyline's hoof. "Patience love - the shells still harden." She lifted Arrow with practiced care, inspecting the glossy curvature where tiny fissures were just appearing. "But dawn will see them free if all goes well."
Skyline fairly trembled with anticipation, imagination racing. Would they resemble her in these bat pony guises, tufted wings and wide ears? How soon would their eyes open, personalities unfold? She ached to discover every perfect detail.
Sensing her eagerness, the nurse smiled knowingly. "Rest if you can...you'll need your strength for the hours ahead!" Yet seeing Skyline's gaze already lost to dreaming she laughed. "Or perhaps spend this night imagining instead. Either way, all will be well."
Clasping her newfound treasures close, Skyline let eager scenarios fill her mind's eye to pass the long night watch. Whatever morning revealed she would welcome with tears and laughter - this eve remained only prelude to the main song still awaiting first refrain...a mother's lullaby for lives that were hers.
Soon she would cradle son and daughter to her heart - but even now, love swelled vast beyond all reckoning. Her strong night arrow had flown at last...and by its flight, miracles followed two by two.
The nurse fled to a book, flipping through it with her magic as she double-checked her words and actions. "Lucky me..." One of the first changeling birthing nurses in positively an age or three. "Two happy eggs and a happy mother to go with them."
The nurse hugged the book. "Sign enough I did an acceptable job..."
But she heard a crack. "Oh." So much for waiting for the morning. "Skyline! Miss Skyline, your children are already hurrying to greet you. Let's see these wonderful little bat ponies, hm?"
Skyline startled from her imaginings at the merry call, gaze drawn to her precious burdens as though magnetized. And there upon the nearer egg - little Night if memory served - a jagged seam was splitting round its curvature!
"They can't wait it seems!" Laughing in joyful disbelief, Skyline helped ease the quivering shell as the initial crack lengthened. A high-pitched cheeping emerged from within, so poignant her breath caught.
Then suddenly the smooth casing ruptured apart in scattering shards - and a damp little snout poked through! Skyline's heart threatened to burst as well as she beheld that darling nose questing at open air for the very first time.
"Hello, my sweet..." she choked, gently drawing the glistening foal from the remnants of his incubator as he mewled protests at the light. Then she had him against her chest, sodden coat as ebon as the night itself - her beautiful colt with velvet ears still creased from containment.
"Oh you marvelous boy..." Nuzzling his downy fur, she traced one folded wing that seemed oily with the remnants of the womb as he squirmed. "Hush Night my darling...mama's here."
As if soothed by her voice and heartbeat, the colt - Night Wind she realized with a thrill - nestled deeper into her embrace. And Skyline wept unabashedly to feel his fledgling psychic presence meshing with her own.
"We made it my little love..." she whispered. "The first glorious bat pony breathes free by our bravery..." She glanced down at the second egg holding unknown Arrow, still untended. But priorities were clear.
She offered the unhatched twin a fierce smile. "Just a moment more my next surprise - mama must welcome your brother first!" Then she turned her full focus back to the mewling life held safe against her breast.
The long night was ending - but watching her gorgeous foal find first sight, sound and scent, a whole new dawn was just unveiling its tender glories. And through tear-veiled eyes, the sleepy world had never seemed so wondrous.
But sleep would have to wait, the second egg trembling. But it wasn't cracking as swiftly as Night Wind had. It rocked and jostled, but... Skyline cringed at the sight. "Do we help them?!"
"Not so quickly," gently urged the nurse. "Breaking free is part of the process. You can root for them. Comeon, little Arrow. Punch through. It's in your name."
"Yes, please." Skyline popped a bottle into Night Wind's grasp, to the colt's happy squeal. "Come, join us. I have some for you too."
The nurse kept glancing at a clock on the wall, counting silently, but visibly with motions of her lips. The egg was slowing. She took a sharp breath. "You stay here, with Night." She grabbed Arrow and fled from the room without another word.
Skyline watched with blood that ran as cold as ice. "N-no..." Was her second already in trouble? She never felt quite so helpless.
The nurse brought the egg not to a doctor, well, she did gather one of those, but the ultimate destination was a hatchery, where chicken eggs were brooded and hatched.
The doctor was just as confused to be there. "Well... if my patient is an egg..." He reached for a sharp poking device. "Poor thing hasn't broken the shell... If they were a chicken, we'd just write it as a loss and move on."
The nurse scowled at that. "They are not a chicken, and their children won't have shells. Luna's orders were very firmly clear. You get that foal out of there if at all possible."
The doctor held up a hoof at the nurse. "I will do my job, you do yours." He sat with a huff and leaned in, examining the egg. "A pony, in an egg..." With delicate taps of his surgical tool, he looked for the weakest part of the shell. "Now let's find where you should have broken out..."
With diligent taps, his ears danced as he heard which parts sounded different than others. "Right... here." He began to tap, lightly, then harder. "Don't be pressed against this side..." He couldn't be absolutely certain, but he kept on tapping, weakening the shell until it cracked with a loud snap, and a portion fell away, revealing the membrane just beneath. "Almost... You can't breathe through that."
He put the poker aside and grabbed a set of tweezers in his magic. "Let's break this..." He pressed the tweezers against the membrane and pulled, breaking it and pulling the fragments away, allowing the air of the operating room to rush into the cavity and give the foal their first real breath.
At the sudden influx of air, the damp foal within gave an explosive sneeze that sent the doctor recoiling as fluid droplets spattered. But the shocked little snort heralded deeper breaths from the revealed muzzle as the newborn gulped its first lungfuls.
"There now...ease yourself..." the doctor soothed. Gingerly he reached in to help extract the gangly creature - a filly by her developing anatomy - as she squalled protest at the handling.
"I know, I know dear heart...just another moment..." Carefully the doctor nestled the flailing orphan onto a warmed towel, wiping goop from her squished features as she wailed displeasure.
"Can't blame you one bit for that caterwauling," the nurse crooned, hastening over. "Quite the ordeal hatching without mama to help!" Gently she massaged the distressed filly, working to calm her as the doctor inspected baby Arrow closely.
"Good color, respiration stabilizing, reactions all normal..." Eventually he nodded satisfaction. "A bit small from having the runt egg I'd guess, but she'll likely rally swiftly."
The nurse beamed. "That's our girl! Already a little fighter like her name." Arrow's mewling had subsided to sniffly whimpers, instinctively nuzzling toward the nurse's warmth and familiar scent.
Swaddling the shivering foal securely, the nurse clucked soothingly and turned to hurry back - but Arrow set up an immediate bleating protest at the motion. The elderly pony hesitated...then inspiration struck.
"This babe needs her mama...why don't you take her?" she suggested, offering the bundle to the doctor. "I'll ready Skyline so she can feed them both quickly." Before he could argue, she pressed the baby into his hooves.
"There now precious one...we'll get you all settled right soon," she assured the wide-eyed filly trying to focus on this stranger cradling her. To the flustered doctor she flashed a wink. "Just cuddle her close and come meet Skyline - she'll do the rest!"
Then she bustled off to prepare their waiting mother, leaving the doctor staring awkwardly down at the new life mewling against his chest. What an odd beginning for the little scrap...but she seemed a hardy sort. Meeting her anxious dam was surely essential now though.
"Right then young miss, let's go find your family." He gently rewrapped the blanket to keep cold air at bay and made for Skyline's room. Such an unusual first patient! But the charm of new life stirred even his weary old heart. This small herald signaled new and hopeful things unfolding for ponykind.
He emerged into the room with a smile, child floating peacefully, though they roused the moment they entered, as if they knew. "Miss, I have something for you." He brought the floating parcel over into Skyline's shaking hooves.
She drew Arrow close, nuzzling them and offering a bottle instantly. "My little Arrow." She paused. "Sure Arrow. You are Sure Arrow." The child didn't respond, too busy gorging on their first bottle. "Night Wind." She nuzzled her first napping colt. "Sure Arrow." She kissed her filly. "Both.... Both so...." She couldn't find the words, only the measureless warmth exploding inside her. "Welcome." She hugged both close and fell over with them.
The doctor nodded at the wonderful sight of new mother and children snuggled together. "You should get some rest. They'll be tired too. You've all done a lot. Where is that nurse?"
She entered as if prompted. "Bringing the mother what she needs after all that." She put a plate down next to Skyline that smelled of tasty and nutritous snacks, teasing with savory notes and a hint of sweetness.
Skyline perked. She hadn't been thinking of food at all, but suddenly it was all she could think of.
Despite her bone-deep exhaustion, hunger pounced ravenously as that tempting platter's aroma wafted over Skyline. Yet both babes seemed equally riveted upon their first meal, little Sure Arrow nursing with gusto while her brother dozed in blissful contentment.
Skyline's stomach growled embarrassingly, but she resisted the impulse to simply devour her own repast with both children still snuggled so close. Instead she forced herself to nibble daintily, not wishing to disturb either babe.
As she gradually sated the sharpest pangs, warmth suffused her simply beholding Night Wind and Sure Arrow's perfect miniature forms. To think such fragile splendors had emerged from her own miraculous flesh! She traced each downy cheek and velvet ear with awed tenderness.
They seemed minuscule wonders of the world - surely no creature had ever been so tiny yet so flawless. Skyline still struggled processing that these precious beings were hers alone to nurture and safeguard. A sublime gift and daunting charge in one.
Yet, gazing into half-lidded eyes as the pair gradually relinquished their eager feeding, a swell of fierce protectiveness rose in Skyline beyond the mere pull of duty. Transfixed by newborn-soft muzzles milk-drunk with contentment, she knew viscerally there was no trial she would not endure nor distance too far to travel if her foals' wellbeing hung in the balance.
They were hers, echo of her own flesh, and she their bulwark against all hostile forces in the harsh world awaiting them beyond this sanctuary. But for now, both slumbered cradled in her devoted embrace. And for Skyline no greater bliss existed than guarding these small surprises fate had bestowed.
She had not dared dream of a partner to share parenting's joys and trials...yet now love's vessel brimmed beyond capacity for two babes alone. She silently swore that fathomless font would shelter little Arrow and Night Wind through every gale...always a beacon guiding their flight till they shone bright enough to breach the vault of heaven themselves.
No matter the obstacles still shadowed before Skyline swore that right then - she would be enough for the child she had never imagined might fill that yearning hollow space inside.
She awoke to a new presence entering the room, a large one that demanded attention. She sat up, her foals stirring with the motion. "Who?" But her vision came to her. "Ma'am, Luna. How..."
"Your orders are to be a mother." Luna smiled gently down on them. "Two... I hadn't even dared to dream it possible. Twins are rare enough in ponies." She paused, considering. "Hm, how many eggs does a changeling have at once? Do you know?"
Skyline's tufted ears danced with thought. "If we're talking about a normal changeling... One to three eggs is entirely normal." She took an unsure breath. "Look." She held up her foals towards Luna as if offering them unto a god. "Look at them... They're real."
"They're real," echoed Luna, awe in her breath. "Bat ponies have arrived. None can argue their presence. Skyline, you have done Equestria a service it can never repay you for entirely. But your duties have not ended. They will need a mother, at least until their hooves are firmly beneath them."
"I will be their mother forever." Skyline rubbed her face against each little bundle. "Sure Arrow. Night Wind." She nuzzled each as the introduced them to Luna. "And I am their mother, Skyline. That is just the way of things."
Luna's eyes shone with welling emotion as she leaned down to meet the newest subjects of her realm. She extended a hesitant hoof to brush the wispy fuzz of infant Night Wind's mane, then traced filly Sure Arrow's delicate cheek.
"They're exquisite," Luna whispered in a choked voice quite unlike her usual imperious tones. Clearing her throat she straightened to adopt a more formal posture befitting royalty. "Do forgive the, ah, breach in decorum. Yet how often does one bear witness to a new tribe's nascency?"
Luna turned her luminous gaze to encompass mother and babes together. "We welcome you, little ones, as honored citizens of a hopeful new era. May your family flourish generously under the moon's benevolence."
Her official proclamation made, Luna softened once more to bestow an affectionate nuzzle upon each tiny forehead in benediction. Straightening again she addressed Skyline earnestly. "I can scarcely express my gratitude. That my dream now breathes before us in such tender perfection..." She trailed off, uncharacteristically overcome.
"Suffice it to say you shall lack for nothing raising them, my friend." Impulsively Luna pressed her cheek to Skyline's, then drew back with stern composure restored. "Now I must away to make preparations befitting such wondrous arrivals."
Inclining her head respectfully she concluded, "Rest and cherish this fleeting span, Skyline. Soon enough formal debuts and public curiosity will encroach." Her smile turned wry and knowing. "So guard them jealously these precious early days when they yet belong only to you."
With a swirl of her starry mane and tail Luna swept out, leaving stunned contentment in her wake. The dreamer in Skyline thrilled at her words, even as the ardent mother pulled her babes closer. However brief this secret span, she would etch each flawless memory with love's permanence.
A soft knocking made Skyline jump. "Who is it?"
"Me," came a soft masculine voice.
"Piercing? Come in?" Skyline inclined her head at the door as Piercing Thoughts walked in slowly. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard... it happened. I wanted to see, and be sure you're alright." He closed with her with a gentle smile. "You look alright."
"I feel... fantastic..." She rocked with her foals slowly. "If you're curious, which I imagine you are, I'm feeling pretty close to all female right now, 90%? I don't know what 100% is, but every fibre of my being wants to mother these little ones as hard as I can... But I will shift again, later... when they don't need me every second." She nuzzled them in slow motions. "Sure Arrow... Night Wind."
"What nice names." Piercing went in, but paused for silent permission. A little nod let him finish the motion, nuzzling each. "Hi there, little things. Night wind? Sure Arrow? You listen to your mom." He sat back with a grin. "Uncle Piercing's here to help too!" He spread his bat wings wide. "You'll have to learn to fly one day."
That's when Skyline noticed something. "You have your horn! When did that happen?"
Piercing looked up at that horn atop his head. "Oh, right. While you were on maternity, they swapped out our armor." He turned left and right, showing it off. "Bat pony, with a horn. I love it. Like it?"
Skyline smiled at her friend. "It suits you."
A squeak brought her attention to Night Wind. "Hmm? Our Uncle's just showing off. He does that."
With shared love, care, and effort, the patchwork family of the guards, both night and day, accepted the two little foals as their new charges and kept many eyes on the two.
This proved quickly harder than any of the guards had expected. Night Wind and Sure Arrow had lungs ready to inhale the world, and exhale its destruction. Little Arrow was especially likely to shake the walls themselves with powerful screeches that had ponies dashing for cover and valuable artwork sliding to the ground.
Learning to manage the two was made a priority. Bottles, nannies, and patience were the most effective means of ensuring a good night's sleep for the poor parents. Still, love, affection, and careful work yielded fruit. They calmed more and more as weeks passed into months.
Walking, babbling, and smiling, the two had secured the hearts of those they had tortured just shortly before. Those little noises grew in volume as Luna poked her head into the nursery. They knew her, and reached for her with warm greetings, as sensible as a foal could be at that age. "Lu-lu!" called out Sky Arrow.
Luna smiled at the two, but looked onwards to Skyline. "You have performed well. They are growing strong and well. Be proud." Her horn lit softly. "But I need to speak with you, outside."
Skyline blinked. "Right now?" She turned an ear towards the two playing. "They're happy like this."
But Night Wind, looking a bit peeved at his mother's distraction, shrieked it was time to play. The guards made haste to bring out the toys and trinkets to hold the two back from the upsetting noise.
Skyline gave a parting pat with one of her wings on the way out. "What's wrong, ma'am?"
Luna nodded. "Nothing, directly. Directly. You are doing very well. Two legends, brought to life." She took a slow breath, sides swelling a moment. "They exceed my expectations, such delightful things, and residents of the night, hm? Now--" She sat up fully. "They are advancing towards a point where they can live without you for short times."
Skyline's wings twitched in alarm. "Short?"
Luna nodded. "It will become time for you to return to work. But before that, you will need to work on your skills." She pinned an ear back swiftly. "I don't mean to press you directly into dangerous assignments. That would be a rude welcome back, and you are still their mother, working or not."
Skyline sat up. "I suppose... that makes sense. I'm not... I'm not sure." She frowned. "It feels like I'm abandoning them. Again."
Luna leaned in, bumping her head on Skyline's. "We will not allow that. All of both guards love them dearly. They have so many parents who would sooner toss themselves off a roof than see either of them harmed."
Skyline bobbed her head. "I know. I know. I just... I know, I understand, I do. I agree. I want to return to my duty, and I have two small bundles of chaos to raise. But I worry. How would I go about finding another mother? What if they forget me?"
Luna chuckled, a low noise that echoed as she rose smoothly. "Those two adore you enough to remember you for little absence. Just an hour or two, working towards longer. You deserve to live too, and you have a family. Lean on them a little."
Skyline sighed. "I know. I do know." She chuckled. "And thank you."
Luna shrugged. "You're not the only one to feel like this. Every mother feels it, I am told." It was not as if Luna had ever, though she rethought that. "Hm, no, I suppose I do. I want the world from those little ones, and will do whatever it takes to see it, which means raising them properly." She perked her ears with a sudden new thought. "Have either begun showing any talents we should be aware of?"
Skyline blinked, surprised by the abrupt question. "Oh! Um... neither have horns, if that's what you mean, not a glimmer. And I haven't seen any magic at all." She tapped a hoof on her chin. "Two perfectly standard bat ponies, as standard as they can be, being the only two true bat ponies in the world."
Luna chuckled. "What a curious pair indeed." She glanced back at the doorway. "I could not ask for better guardians." Then she turned her head back to Skyline. "Go in. The time is almost past. Back to work with you soon. Prepare." She smiled. "You will do fine. Your family is behind you."
Skyline grinned, bowing her head. "It is a curious feeling, ma'am." She rubbed gently along her side. "I want some male time." She shook her body, wings spreading to balance herself as the shaking hit its zenith, fur fluffed. "I don't regret being a female, a mother especially, but I miss boy-me."
"You should figure out what you like." Luna stretched herself up high. "When you get time." She smiled gently, turning back towards the castle proper. "Bond. Enjoy them while you can. We will return you to work, then we will return you to yourself. You deserve both."
Skyline walked back in to see Night Wind and Sure Arrow rushing over with joy in their eyes. "Momma! Momma! Momma!" The pair hopped onto their back legs, pressing their front hooves against Skyline. Skyline forgot the complaints she had just spoken. With the two little darlings clutching to her, she felt like she was in a fine place, as the perfect thing. She gathered both up firmly with a pleased noise of her own, the three bats purring at one another. "I'm sorry I made you wait for me. Auntie Lu-Lu just needed to talk to me."
Night Wind cooed out, "Talk? About what?"
Skyline stroked the boy's face. "Work. I think I'm going to start getting back into work soon."
The two tilted their heads, expressions of confusion on both.
Skyline nuzzled either gently. "Most ponies work, to help the world around them, contributing in their different ways. And there are so many ways." She spread her wings. "Mama is a guard! Strong and fierce." She flashed her sharp teeth, cuddling them warmly. "I protect you from all the big scary monsters in the night. And sometimes in the day."
The two gave a delighted gasp at the mention of 'guard.' "You're a guard? So cool!" Arrow clapped her hooves. "They play with us a lot. Will you play with foals too?"
Skyline giggled, rubbing the two. "They may be a little rough with me for a few minutes. I need to get back into fighting shape, so they'll practice with me." She snuggled the two gently. "No foal playing, not while I'm working. I'll have to come home and pounce you two to get my foal snuggles in."
Arrow sat down hard with a pout. "Aw, but... But..." She looked sad. "But I want to play!" She folded her ears down. "They play tag with us a lot!"
Skyline tapped at her cheek with a thought. "Hm. It's time you two met other little ponies your age. You need friends who aren't all adults." She touched noses with Arrow. "Doesn't that sound fun?"
The two peered at one another, and then nodded, wiggling excitedly.
Skyline chuckled. "You may be the first bat ponies ever to be in preschool." She laughed a little harder at that. "Even if it'll be more military than usual." She nodded to herself, imagining the guards with all their little foals. "It'll be fun." And adorable. She kept that part to herself. "I'll talk to your uncles and aunts tomorrow."
***
The next day, Skyline marched through the castle with a foal attached to either side of her barrel. Ponies smiled as she passed. Some waved, others said hello. All of them seemed happy to see her, or the foals. Perhaps both? She couldn't be entirely sure, but the love was strong.
With them, she walked into the barracks. The guards there sat up sharply, some of them wearing their bat pony armor, others appearing as their normal selves. Skyline nodded at them all. "Hello, good to see you all." With her wings, she gathered her young and set them down. "These two are ready to make friends. Some of you have little ones around their age. I propose we have play days, where they can all meet and play."
One of the mothers, a unicorn, leaned over the edge of the bench, smiling warmly at Skyline and the two young bat ponies. "Of course. We should also give them a chance to shift. I imagine it'd be confusing to only ever see bat ponies."
Skyline nodded. "That's part of what I want to do as well." She put a hoof up, speaking clearly to the children. "Which of you wish to be a pony right now, like mama is?"
The two looked confused at the question. Sure Arrow pointed at herself. "I am a bat pony." Swift Wind nodded with firm agreement.
Skyline erupted in brief flames, soon wearing her proper night guard armor, glinting with dark steel. "I mean a bat pony who is also a guard, steward of the night, loyal of Princess Luna." She leaned in closer. "Auntie Lu-Lu."
The two seemed a little scared by that, but it passed swiftly. Sure Arrow swallowed. "O-oh..."
Skyline lowered herself to the floor. "Oh? Something wrong?" She got a little lower still, inviting touch. She accepted both into her waiting arms. "I wasn't trying to be scary." She considered that. "A little scary. But not a bad kind, not to you two."
Sure Arrow gave her a squeeze, burying her face against Skyline. "I just wanna play! Why be a guard if it's just gonna be like... learning?"
Skyline could feel the rumble of voices of the other guards, the women particularly. She laughed musically, shaking off the thick atmosphere. "I'm getting ahead of myself. You two are foals. Having fun is the point right now." She tapped either on the head. "So, will we have other foals here soon to play with?"
The two looked at each other, and then nodded.
Skyline turned a sly eye to the other guards. "Soon, yes?"
A collection of chuckles went up. The guard with foal, or foals, gave a wink as conversation picked up, turning to planning those play days.
But the foal in Skyline's care seemed to find the armored equines rather intimidating, shying away to hide in Skyline's embrace. The little colt, Night Wind, whimpered pitiably while his sister watched anxiously. Skyline buried her snout against him, nuzzling softly. "I'm still mama, wearing the armor or not. I love you, and so do they. You've met them before."
"And they're so big..." He started to tear up.
Skyline rolled him onto his back, rubbing gently at his belly and making him laugh. "There are so many different types of ponies too! See? Unicorns." She tickled under his chin, which had him squirming with more giggles. "Pegasi." She rubbed at his neck and jaw, all the way to his withers. "And two cute little bat ponies." She nipped at his belly, making him jump with a joyous squeal, fighting her off with a smile.
Skyline pulled him in, snuggling him gently. "They love you two, and you'll love them." She looked into his eyes. "I know you will." She gave him a little squeeze. "Now let's go home." With a new flare of green flames, Skyline was back to being without her armor, scooping up her foals to get them in her saddlebags. "You two will have so much fun. The hard part will be picking which new friend you want to play with first."
She set them down once they were safely home, and set out a meal for them, but only one for herself. The foals ate without fuss, happy and calm once more. Once they were full, she saw them curled up for a nap. "I will do my job." Her job was to be a mother. That felt a bit odd to have, as a job, but it was hers for the moment. She nuzzled each napping foal. "Gladly."
Skyline watched over the many children. Most were not hers, but she felt almost as protective over them all, as if she had somehow become their mom, at least for the moment. Most of the foals didn't return that feeling, too busy meeting one another, playing, or trying to get into trouble. Often varying mixtures of the three.
Still, one pony was worth her notice. A little white filly with a blonde mane. She was skipping through the grass with a smile, a ball held in her magic, bouncing it in the air. She had her eyes on Night Wind, approaching in wide circles. "You want to play? Play? Play?"
Night Wind, and Sure Arrow, were having a fine time just rolling in the dirt, wrestling and growling at one another. They turned their eyes to the filly and bounced to their hooves. "Yeah!"
Skyline watched with a smile as the filly led the other two in a game of catch, tossing the ball between each as they jumped for it. She looked around and went over to the proud father of that filly, also watching. "They're getting along so well."
The father nodded with a happy sigh. "You love to see it." He nudged against Skyline. "When are you returning to active duty, by the way? I imagine you're going to be back before too long."
She shrugged. "Whenever the Princess tells me. I will miss them, but... I'll still see them. My captain is giving me light duty first, to make the transition easier, on everyone." Skyline was quiet a moment, watching her foals play joyfully. "Part of me wants to sit on them until they're done growing. Another part wants to put it down and get back to 'real' work."
He put a wing over her. "I've been through that. The only cure is time." He glanced over. "Your two look to be having fun though."
She nodded. "Yes." Her eyes followed them as a second foal joined in and the game shifted almost without prompting. They were tagging one another, racing around wildly with big smiles and squeals of feigned terror or monstrous appetite, depending on who was it at the moment. "I didn't even teach them how to play. Is it instinct for little ones?"
"Some say it is, or very close to that." He nudged her gently. "Don't worry about them. I'll bet they're even going to do great in school. They'll learn what they can and be happy as anything." He stroked his chin gently. "First Bat Ponies, uh, the first natural ones, you know what I mean. You and me are bat ponies, but we weren't born that, right? They are that, all the way down."
Skyline smiled at the little foals chasing each other. "I think we made some cute little ones." Her ears perked up as Night Wind and Sure Arrow's ran into a new friend, asking if they could go fishing. "Fishing? Yeah, I guess so. That sounds fun." The new foal was a bit older, old enough to know what fishing was and old enough to want to go do it. "But I'm coming along." She rose to her hooves and started a light walk after the cloud of excited foals, most of whom had never fished before. "Get all together! Let's go fishing!"
Night Wind and Sure Arrow took the lead, bringing their new friend up front as well. They raced into the pond, and they tumbled and played there for several moments. But the older foal wanted to fish, and wouldn't be denied for too long. He gently pinned those who were running and began explaining how to do it.
Skyline knelt down at the side of the pond, resting her head on folded forehooves to watch the children happily. For a moment she lost herself to daydreaming, imagining them splashing together, exploring, flying. But when they actually tried to fish she returned to focus. The children were dipping their faces into the water and attempting to bite down on the prey within.
But the biggest foal didn't like that. He grabbed the others by their tails and pulled them all out of the water, holding them in place. "Use the rods," he explained, shaking the one he held in his mouth. "Not your body, silly."
But Sure Arrow wasn't having that, sneaking up along the edge of the pony, eyes on a particular fish. Bat Ponies had sharp teeth and slit eyes for a reason, focused squarely on his prey, that colorful little fish.
"No! No!" The filly squeaked, but was quickly dragged back, Night Wind with his teeth firmly sunk on her tail, dragging her back. "Naughty!"
Sure Arrow dived into the water with a great splash, scattering the other fish. The foal that had wanted to fish squeaked in horror, but that changed when Sure Arrow popped free, a fish caught in their snout. "Look! Look!" She dropped it. "Catch and eat."
The foal with the rod snorted. "Uh huh. But the real way to fish." He looked over at Skyline. "Your foals fish funny."
Skyline laughed gently at that. "They do. But it's new, not bad." She waved that colt closer. "They're not trying to be mean." She put her ears forward. "But your way is the most efficient and kind way to catch your food."
He stuck out his chest. "That's what I'm trying to show them."
Skyline reached into the bag she had brought, and pulled out a little bag of food. "Poke these on your hooks. If we're lucky, we'll lure the fish in."
The foals cheered as the ponies gave them some worms. Skyline watched with a smile, but it faded a moment when she heard one of them sniffle. She was going to intervene, but Sure Arrow was already there, scurrying up to the sad little foal. "It's okay."
"I-I just wanted to bite them..." the colt stuttered.
Sure Arrow crawled into the little pony's lap. "I did too. I did, I did!" Sure Arrow hugged the foal they didn't even know yet. "But we're different."
Night Wind flashed his sharp teeth. "We have fishing teeth. Good for chomping." He bit on the air a couple of times. "Like this. Grrrr. Raaaaa. I'm a dragon."
The colt sniffled, but was already feeling better. "Can... I be a dragon?"
Sure Arrow giggled at the idea. "You can be anything! But." She pointed at the colt's head, where a horn resided. "You are mostly a unicob." They had mispronounced a unicorn, but seemed unbothered. "They're special too!"
Night Wind bounced to the colt's side, holding his hoof. "They're cool too!" He held a worm in front of the colt's face. "Try it with the rod!"
The colt winced a moment, then grabbed it, and held the worm near his hook, but not on it. "I can't stick it in. I don't like it."
Sure Arrow patted the colt's cheek. "Maybe it'll be okay. But, um..." She looked around a bit, and then rushed over to the bait bucket, reaching in. "No worms!"
She grabbed a juicy grub, and scurried over, offering it to the colt. The colt peered at the strange wriggly thing a moment before shaking his head. "I don't want to hurt."
Night Wind perked. "Oh!" As if it all made sense. "Give." They snatched the colt's rod and dashed off with it, returning with a lure attached, metal instead of something alive. "No hurt, ta da!"
The colt perked, grinning. "No pain."
The three of them grabbed the three remaining rods and lined up.
"No pain, no pain!" Arrow and Wind sang out.
The parents gently guided their foals away when their pile of caught fish seemed tall enough. The next game was decided by them all as they led the foals to the fire pits and they soon had little flames going, the smell of roasting fish filling the air.
The oldest colt put a hoof over his own. "My mom told me that... fish have feelings too."
Night Wind stared at the fish they'd caught. "Do you think so?"
Sure Arrow licked her lips. "I don't want to be mean..." She sighed, eyes on the cooked fish. "I'll be mean tomorrow."
Skyline stepped in with a little grin. "Many things have feelings, but everything gets hungry." She leaned in. "All we can do is try to respect our prey, and make their end as gentle as we can. Mmm, I'm so proud of you all today." She lashed her tail behind her with an almost purr. "Such a big topic for such little foals."
They all squirmed with the praise, enjoying the heat of the cooking. But once they were all cooked, Skyline leaned in to sniff. "How does it taste?"
Sure Arrow put it in her muzzle, and then spat it out. "Ow..."
Skyline took the fish. "See, it's hot." She used a wing to block any escape, and then blew on it, cooling it swiftly. "Eat."
Sure Arrow shoved it in and munched down with delight. "Good!"
Night Wind stuffed his own into his mouth, coughing out little clouds of smoke. But that didn't stop him, resuming happy chomps into the new food with happy noises.
The other foals were in shock. They couldn't just chomp into fish like that. They all had the flatter teeth of an herbivore, and just mashing the fish didn't work nearly as well. One of them, a little filly, pointed at the two bat ponies. "How are you doing that?!"
Skyline tilted her head at the exclamation. "Ah. You know they have sharp teeth?" She displayed her own.
"Uh huh." They pointed to their father, a stallion with a small horn on his head. "But I don't, and he doesn't. How do I get sharp teeth?"
Skyline held up a finger. "Two ways, and you only get the first. Be born with them, like me, and my two. The other..." She pointed to the earth. "Find yourself a rock." She smirked faintly. "Forks and knives are rocks, I remind. Use them and the fish won't stand a chance."
Skyline saw one of them looking back, the child of an earth pony. "And, a reminder. Even if you're an earth pony, you're a pony, and you have magic."
They perked, their parent leaning in. "You know what? Earth pony magic is very special." This prompted a little conversation on the subtle magic of earth ponies, and how they helped the rest of Equestria feed themselves.
Skyline ruffled her wings. "Now, Bat ponies, that's another story." She reached a wing out to ruffle the back of each of her two. "We're still learning what they can do, but I already know they have some amazing tricks."
Sure Arrow pointed at her greasy snout, stained with the fish she devoured. "We have teef!"
Night Wind took a deep breath and let out a high pitched squeak. "We can squeak!"
The other foals, all looking eager, all made their own attempts. A few let out similar squeaks, if far less sharp and penetrating. But the colt with a horn grinned, pointing it at the sky. "I can do something cooler!"
Attention was diverted as the colt began to paint the sky with bright fireworks. They had no bangs or booms, which was perhaps for the best, but the bright colors and effects had their attention for the time.
Skyline looked left and right at her fellow parents. "This was a great idea, I think. I hope some of these friendships last forever."
"Friends and family are the best sort." The unicorn beside her smiled. "Now let's get them cleaned up, please."
"Of course." Skyline moved to collect the two dirty bat ponies, tucking them under her wings as she walked off towards the castle with all of them in tow.
Though that magic day of meeting and play was coming to an end, she could imagine many future days of discovering the world alongside their new friends.
Luna paced with slow steps in the spacious chamber, the luxurious furnishings largely ignored in favor of a gilded window overlooking the gardens below. A pair of young bat ponies and their new pony playmates scampered around on the lush grass, a sunlit tableau of innocent merriment. Yet Luna's expression was troubled.
"I sense your concern." Celestia stepped through Luna's door without asking. "Can I help? Last I heard, you were getting exactly as you had planned."
Luna pinned an ear back. "In part. But." She looked down on the frolicking foals below. "Perhaps you were not entirely incorrect, sister mine. This is no fast project. The bats need years to grow, to mature into proper ponies, to find mates of their own and start families." She closed her eyes a moment, envisioning her plans. "My greatest fear is not their potential as soldiers, but that their numbers will fail to increase swiftly enough."
Celestia inclined her head. "Swiftly enough for what? Are you losing patience in them?"
"No! No." Luna turned to Celestia with a huff. "They are everything I wanted, but it feels like staring at a tree sapling and willing it to be fully grown overnight. I adore them. I want them, now, but that is denied. I feel foolish and impatient for such thoughts."
Celestia reached over, hugging Luna tight. "Do you remember what you told me when you first wished to start a family? It does not matter how long it takes, but that you do not rush the growth of your new creatures. Give them a hundred generations if it's necessary. What is time to us?"
Luna sagged at that. "You speak sense, as always." She shot her sister a petulant look. "Perhaps you are right. You ruled over this realm for over a thousand moons, and I grow impatient in just one or two?" She buried her face behind her hooves. "They are doing nothing wrong. They are perfect, that is what drives me wild. We are trotting down the right path, I feel."
Celestia gave Luna a gentle pat. "They are doing well. Skyline will be ready for duty soon enough."
Luna smiled warmly at that. "She is performing splendidly in her dual roles as mother and soldier. Her pups, though." Luna sat, watching the pups playing, both bat and not. "They will be many years, and, perhaps, they won't want to be soldiers at all. They are thinking ponies, and will have the right to be as they wish to be."
"They may take to it like ducklings to a stream." Celestia chuckled. "They are new, and want to learn more. And to play, of course. There is plenty of time to teach them more as the world progresses around them." She leaned closer to the window. "I will admit being wrong in this. They are such lovely creatures, these ponies you helped guide into the world. I am proud to have them among the ponies of Equestria."
Luna laughed, touching her nose to Celestia's. "You have helped more than any other. I would not be the Luna I am now without you. Thank you, Tia." The two were quiet in their gentle nuzzles, the tension fading between them as they cuddled a time. Luna stood up. "Enough pouting! I am getting what I wanted, just slowly, but correctly. I should be down there, playing with them like a caring grandmother, instead of hiding."
"I don't think they mind," said Celestia. "They have a fine group of parents to care for them." She shook her mane. "Besides, there are a number of royal duties you are neglecting right now."
Luna flipped both ears back. "I will see to them, though why you schedule me for things I am no good at is beyond me." She prodded Celestia. "I am no good at random public appearances and you know it."
Celestia wrapped a wing over her sister. "It is a skill like any other. Practice is the only way to improve familiarity."
They wandered away from the window, towards other tasks that called them.
Sure sailed in a grand hop, her wings carrying her the rest of the way to the top of a fridge. Other foals watched on with wide eyes and breathless gapes.
"Almost." She reached a hoof towards the grand prize ahead of her, hanging on barely with her others.
Her mother, the only non-pony in the room, applauded loudly. "Amazing. You will be soaring through the skies soon."
The foals who were watching spun around at Skyline's abrupt appearance. She strode forward towards Sure just as the filly got her hooves on the cookie jar, just to have the jar gently taken away and replaced with a fond nuzzle. "My little dive bomber. You're taking after me, hm?"
Sure stuck out her tongue, held up by Skyline, away from her cookies. "I had it!"
"You certainly did." Skyline nuzzled her daughter gently. "But that'll give you a bellyache if you just devour them all." She tucked Sure under a wing. "Back to playing then?"
Sure squirmed. "But!"
"Oh?" Skyline cocked her head. "I suppose you could talk about other stuff."
Sure folded her arms in a mighty pout. "I worked hard for cookies."
"You did." Skyline set Sure down with the other foals. "I suppose you should get something, brave explorer."
The foals, Sure included, looked hopefully on Skyline as they popped open the cookie jar. Sure was the first to grab a cookie, nibbling at it, while the rest reached for one.
Skyline made sure each foal got precisely one of those little sweet treats. "A little snack. Your parents will be sore at me if I send you home with spoiled appetites, hm?"
Sure flopped onto the ground, whining at her mother's joke. "I'm still growing!"
Skyline walked off with a soft chuckle. "That's right, growing, little one." She put the jar back where it started. "And growing needs the right food. Cookies don't help, but they taste good, don't they?"
The foals nodded. "Cookies are good."
"And apples?"
The foals nodded again. "Apples too."
"Strawberries?"
A third round of nodding.
Skyline smiled gently at the great collection of them. She hadn't envisioned herself as a caretaker for a crowd of eager foals. Then again, she hadn't really thought of herself as a her very much, if one got down to it. Breeding was for specialists. "All of them are good, in moderation. Enjoy your cookie, and get back to playing, out of the kitchen. The cooks don't appreciate hooves on the counter."
Skyline left the foals behind with a satisfied smirk as they returned to whatever game they had been playing prior to Sure's sudden need to see how high she could climb.
She met with a maid. The castle had many of those, and this one smiled at her gently. "I got them back to other things. Keep an eye on them." The maid nodded at the order. "I have to get to work."
The foals were big enough to be away from her a little while. With a rush of flames, Skyline, the stallion, returned. "Missed you." He enjoyed the steps and the feel of the altered form and its play of muscles moving forward. "Off to training, where I will be working, but not sweating."
He wasn't alone, as his captain and commander met him at the doors. "Captain. Commander." They bowed to one another. "It's good to be back. I'll need to spend extra time on the forms today."
The captain put out an arm. "One thing, Skyline. Make that two. One, welcome back." The commanded nodded along with that. "But two, you remain tied up in a vital mission for Princess Luna's pleasure. You won't be sent out on dangerous assignments, even after you're given a full physical clearance. Do you understand? We won't let anything happen to you."
Skyline opened his mouth and shut it. "I suppose I could complain, but." He bowed his head. "I understand, and thank you." He huffed softly. "Still, I want to be back in shape. Chasing after foals is great, but not the sort of shape a soldier is expected to have. Permission to get to the field, sirs?"
They parted their arms with a shared smile. "Granted."
Skyline didn't need to hear it twice. He trotted out across the yard, stretching his wings out, and his arms. It was a common misconception that changelings didn't need to work out, they could fashion muscles however big they wanted, whenever they wanted, but that just wasn't true. A changeling built on what was already there. A strong changeling would be even stronger when they took a new form. A frail changeling would always be a frailer example of what they became.
Nothing in life was free, and changelings didn't get to skip that, or leg day.
He flexed his wings as he charged the gate, wings catching the breeze to lift him off and up into the sky. He glided to the middle of the field, dropping down onto a firm patch of ground.
Pointed was on the opposite end of the field, the unicorn pony smiling brightly at Skyline's return. "Ready when you are."
Skyline extended his hooves, sliding into a fighting stance, a grin on his face.
"Oh, wow." Pointed took on a fighting stance himself, curling his armor-given bat wings. "From nothing to sparring? You're itching to go, huh?"
Skyline responded with a tackle, the fighting begun with swinging hooves and attempts to tackle. As he had feared, some of his edge had been worn away by family life, but there was a pleasure in pressing the blunted metal of his skills against the sharp whetstone of his fellow soldiers, grinding the sharp point back into place with their spirited battles.
But in the end, Pointed proved superior, with a horn spike aimed at his throat. "You've been distracted lately, my friend." He removed the tip from Skyline's neck. "But you're in a much better place now, aren't you?"
Skyline rolled upright and sprang to his hooves. "Shameful, but I'll get better. He closed to thump head to head with Pointed. "I have good ponies to practice with, huh? So, run?"
"Run." They both broke into a gallop, going around the circuit of the practice field side by side. "While you were busy playing mama dearest to those cute fluffballs, we did a decisive strike on those hooligans, the ones that had the tower, remember them?"
Skyline's nostrils flared as he pulled ahead of his partner. "Yeah, I do. They were annoying. How'd you bring them to heel?"
"Diplomacy." They reached the end of the run, and turned around to repeat it. "Their leader was the smart one. We just needed to offer her a little respect, a little leeway, and she gave it right back."
"Hm." Skyline smirked, keeping up his pace with the firm thud-clop of the proper gallop. "Sometimes just talking is the right thing to do. Congratulations, to everypony."
A cheer went up as Skyline and Pointed returned to the center of the field, Skyline bowing for their applause.
The captain stepped in, putting a wing over Skyline's shoulders. "I just told them you're back, as you heard. You're a bit of a popular story these days." He prodded Skyline with a bat wing. "Those foals of yours are practically our mascot, what we fight for, under Luna, of course."
Skyline looked around at the gathered guards and his eyes widened at the sheer size of their support. "I don't even know some of those ponies."
The captain grinned at Skyline. "Because some of them are day guards." He gave those a glare. "Who shouldn't be here unless they're volunteering to practice with the night watch!"
A few guards fled, but some stuck around, joining the night guards in their spirited exercises. Skyline chuckled, basking in the love he felt radiating from the guards of Equestria, for him, for the little family he had made, and for the kingdom itself.
After a few hours of that, Skyline slowed to a stop, slick with sweat and huffing for breath. "Ugh, I need to get back into shape. That shouldn't have me huffing like this so quickly."
Pointed thumped against him. "You've been busy with other things. We'll beat you into shape, promise."
Little clops sounded from the edge of the field. Skyline turned to see his foals charging right at him with radiant smiles. He started in clear surprise. "What are you two doing here?"
The two dashed into his waiting arms. He swept them both up with a delighted laugh. "Oh, you're sticky. I wonder why." He flicked a hoof against Sure's nose. "Naughty little monster."
"And you're stinky," taunted Sure in reply.
That didn't deter Night Wind from snuggling in against his hardworking parent.
Skyline inclined his head. "I thought you'd be a little less eager to charge at me when I was a stallion, and working. Not even a little surprised?"
Sure shook her head quickly. "No way. You're still mama." She looked ready to kiss, but thought better of it. "Stinky mama."
"Yep." Night Wind stretched up against Skyline's chin. "Even when you change, you're still you." He giggled at his little pun.
Skyline rubbed cheeks with his foals before setting them down. "Well, now you got my stink all over you. Time for all of us to enjoy a shower, hm?" The foals cheered, seemingly eager to follow Skyline anywhere, shower included. "One thing." He detoured to the captain with a salute. "Permission to head out, sir?"
"Granted." His eyes were past Skyline, to the foals. "Cute little things. I'll expect you back tomorrow, soldier. We have a lot of work to do with you."
Skyline nodded, turning to head back to the castle proper, to the showers. "Yes, sir. Tomorrow. But let's get the little ones home for now."
They scampered around Skyline, teasing him with little hugs and calls. He smiled the whole way, unable to resist with the presence of his foals and their eager trotting. He was a father also, and that felt like a fine thing to be. Everypony in." He gestured into the shower stall. "Let's get all that stink off of us."
There was one little problem. The shower refused to turn on. Skyline scowled at the controls that didn't respond. "Hm, just." He tapped it insistently, but it hit him. "Right. Stupid thing. They're not a stallion or a mare. They're fillies!" He glared at the shower that refused to be co-ed. "Now I have something to yell at Celestia about." He grunted, pushing the shower's buttons in sequence. "It'll have to be that or just separate the water systems."
Skyline led his foals out of the shower just to spread his wings. "We each have to take a shower. A contest, let's see who gets clean first, and best. If I can smell any stink, you fail."
The foals shrieked with delight at the idea. All three of them went into a separate stall and the giggling cries of the foals filled the showers as they raced to get soapy and clean.
Skyline, fresh from the shower, watched with a smile as his foals chattered amongst each other, curled together in a happy heap.
"Let's inspect you." He snuffled at the foals, detecting only the fresh scent of the soap on each of them. "Good job! Looks like Sure Arrow is the speedy one today, but I'm proud of you both, getting nice and clean. I'm so proud of all the hard work you put into getting all of that dirt off of you."
The foals wiggled against him in happiness.
Skyline nodded to himself, feeling ready to start his trip back to his room with the two at his sides. "Do you know what daddy does for work?"
"He protects us." Night Wind pressed gently against one of Skyline's legs.
Skyline nodded. "Exactly right, but it's a little more complicated than that. We protect the citizens of Equestria, all of them, and, yes, you two." He nuzzled at the snuggly Night Wind. "We fight so other ponies never have to." He thought a moment, wanting to pick his words carefully. "Do you two want to be fighters, like daddy and mama?"
Night Wind frowned. "I like hunting..."
Sure Arrow held up her arms, extending her wings. "Duh! We're your foals." She stuck her tongue out at Skyline as she stomped along. "But I'm gonna be even better than just a soldier, just you wait!"
Skyline felt his heart swell. He spread his wings over the both of them. "I'm so lucky to have you two."
The foals grew up quickly, their bodies reaching maturity almost faster than their minds could keep up. Still, they were foals, and their antics had to be endured.
Sure Arrow took off through the garden with Night Wind hot on her tail, their chase ending at the top of a fountain. They touched down on the lip of the pool, dripping wet.
"You're getting slow!" Sure Arrow laughed. She looked down at the shimmering surface of the pool and leaned over, staring at the distorted image of her snout. She grinned at the sight and swiped the water with a wing, splashing Night Wind with it. "How're you gonna be a good soldier if you can't go faster?"
"I don't wanna be one of those." Night Wind stuck out his tongue as his sister. "And I dun' gotta be." He coughed a few times, trying again. "Why do you wanna be a soldier so badly?"
Sure hopped down, going over Night Wind gracefully to land on the other side. "I want to be a great soldier, like mom. I want to protect ponies, so they don't have to fight."
Night Wind inclined his head left and right, considering that. "Protect me?"
Sure went up to touch noses with her brother, annoying as he was at times. "If you won't be a soldier, yeah, I'd be protecting you, and I won't let a single bad pony or creature bother you!"
Night Wind fell into the pond with a yelp. Sure Arrow made sure he wasn't in danger of drowning before giggling softly at him. She helped him up with a nudge of her snout.
He clambered up and out, leaning on her. "No fair, you surprised me." The two were giggling though, laughing at the mishap. "Um, I hope you get to be a super great soldier."
She hugged him from the front, nuzzling into his shoulder. "Thanks. So if I'm doing that, what do you plan to do? Not a soldier, you said that."
"Mh." Night Wind dipped his fingers into the water, sloshing them gently. "I want to do more, I guess."
Sure perked, grinning at her brother. "Really? A soldier already does a lot. What can be more than that?"
Night Wind tapped his hooves gently. "I want to be like mom too."
Sure's eyes flashed. "You'll be a soldier then?!"
"No!" He nipped at her with a laugh. "I want to be more like mom when she's not a soldier. I want to be a caring and loving pony."
Sure Arrow sank back with surprise. "Really?" She leaned on him gently. "I don't think anyone could do that better than you. You're a great bat pony!"
He wrapped his wings around her gently. "You do so much that I don't. That's the beauty of our two different things."
He spread the wings out on either side. "But I don't know how being a bat helps with this. Anypony can be a caring pony, just most don't." He clapped his hooves suddenly. "You'll have to be twice the bat."
She nudged him back, bouncing a bit in place. "Yeah! That sounds cool. I'll be the best bat in the world." She slapped him on the back with a wing. "You'll see."
He laughed, willing to cede his portion of 'bat' to her. "I was thinking, um, foalsitter, or teacher! Yeah, teacher. I could help little ponies learn things and grow up to be great ponies."
She hummed softly, swaying back and forth. "That is a neat idea."
"See? You already love it." He poked her gently. "Teaching foals things is fun, and I don't know many ponies that don't like being around little ponies." His face soured briefly. "Well, okay, not everypony is patient enough, but I am! I just want to hug them and help them."
Sure bounded away suddenly. "It's time," she cried, racing away and aborting the conversation.
Night Wind pouted at that. "Oh, come on, Sure! Come back, it was just getting good. I wanted to know your dream." He groaned as Sure kept running without hesitation. He broke into a swift gallop to catch up to where she had parked herself. "What did you gallop off like that for?"
"There." She pointed with a wing as soldiers came into view below. There was their mother, or father at the moment, racing along. They were with other soldiers, all galloping firmly. "They're training. Aw, I wish I could be with them." She leaned against her brother. "Can we train?"
"Um, maybe later? Let's go see if we can get a peek." Night Wind dragged Sure with him to a high perch overlooking the field. The ponies were practicing their moves one after the other, diligently working to be prepared for whatever being a soldier meant. "They sure are busy."
"The best kind of busy." Sure flopped into place, watching them with a smile. "One day, I'll be down there." Her eyes fixed on their father. "You know he's a changeling, right?"
"Yeah?" Night inclined his head at that. "Why? I thought everypony knows that."
"If he's a changeling." She pointed at him, then herself. "Why aren't we changelings?"
Night poked at himself as if hidden changeling features would pop out. "I don't know, we just aren't." He wiggles his big bat wings. "But I like being a bat pony. Even dad likes being a bat pony. He's a bat pony almost all the time."
Sure chuckled at the clarification. "I guess, but... would being a changeling be cooler? He's pretty and stuff, but, you know."
"Changelings have to eat love." Night Wind put a wing over her. "Can't be a bat pony without love. No love means no food, no life for them." He burst into giggles. "But I love them a lot, so that has to help."
"I love daddy too," she whined out. "Don't count me out. I wanna join them and do soldier stuff. That's even biggerer love!"
Night hugged her firmly, nuzzling into her. "We both love him. It isn't a contest."
"It is is I say it is." She hopped back, giggling, and almost tossing herself off the perch.
Night caught her with both hooves and wings, dragging her back upright. "Careful." He turned to look over the field, his mind on something. "Can I ask you a weird question?"
"Uh, sure?" She shrugged. "But only if I can ask you a weird one too."
Night Wind squirmed a bit. "Okay." He swallowed nervously. "Would you... if I asked you out, would you say yes?"
Her response was an instant punch in the gut, leaving him gasping and hunching over. "Why would you ask that? I'm your sister."
He flopped over to his side, wheezing. "But you're the only other bat pony ever."
She stuck out her tongue. "So get a girlfriend who's not a bat pony then. You think I have tons of bat ponies to choose from? I want a strong and handsome stallion that'll fight alongside me." She sighed with the dreams of future romance. "It's not you."
"Ow, sorry." He pushed back up, trying to regain the breath she knocked out. "I guess I should have thought a little before I blurted it out." He rubbed at his cheek with a hoof. "You mad?"
But she wasn't even paying attention, caught between watching their father train and thoughts of some future soldier that'd salute so perfectly her heart would be won over. "Mad? Hah. I'll forget it by breakfast, and so will you."
"Promise?" She held up a hoof. He touched it with a nervous smile. "Thanks." He took a few steps away from the overpass. "C'mon, let's play something besides watching dad."
***
Skyline marched through the dim hallways, the scent of lavender teasing his nose. He rubbed at it a moment. "Ugh, I hate lavender. Luna goes overboard sometimes." He snorted the last of it out as the source of it, the dining area, came into view.
Inside, Luna was waiting for him with her eyes on him the moment he came into view. "Skyline. Have a seat." She gestured with a wing at a chair across from her. "I wish to talk. And apologize."
"Apologize?" Skyline approached with a cock of his head. "Whatever for? You've treated me wonderfully since I arrived."
Luna was quiet for a moment. "I am asking much of you." She let out her breath with a woosh. "You have born two wonderful children, and raised them towards being fine ponies, but we can't call this done with only two. Skyline, allow me to get to the point, we need more of them, and you're the only source we have."
Skyline paused, thinking it over. "More children? Well, that's going to complicate things." He rubbed at himself with a hoof, squirming in his seat. "Giving, um, birth. It was work. I don't regret it, not one bit. It was amazing in many ways." He chuckled softly. "I was just getting pretty comfy back in my male side. Your highness, you request so much from me."
Luna grimaced, nodding at that. "I fear that is the truth. You will have to carry these eggs to term, as the mare." She pointed at him. "But I shall not demand it of you. This act, it is not one that should be forced. You are loved, are you not? You have the fuel to do this It is your choice alone."
Skyline rested his head on the table. "They're beautiful creatures. They should not be denied the world simply because I am a selfish changeling." He grumbled softly. "This is going to drag me off the squad again. I don't want to just laze around."
"And you will not." Luna sat up at that with a smile. "Now that we've seen how you react, we know you can participate in most things until the final moon, and then you can relax, a little while, to prepare for the big event. Your family will grow, and we'll all be here to support it."
Skyline fidgeted in place. "I think I'd prefer being female fulltime, if it's just for breeding. I don't mind being a mare. I can endure it."
Luna raised a brow. "Endure hardly sounds comfortable. I remind, this is your body. None other can claim control over who you are." She put out a wing, reaching to gently touch his hoof. "I care deeply about the comfort of you, and of the two you have given this world already."
He blushed at her kind touch. "O...kay. Okay." He took a quick breath. "Okay." He laughed suddenly. "My little ones are going to get a younger brother, or sister? Maybe both? We can't know." He smiled brightly, looking down at his own tummy. "We should invite my parents."
Luna cocked her head. "Skyline. You told me you don't talk to them."
He took a deep breath. "True." Inviting random changelings to the castle had very little odds of working out. "I wish we could. I miss them sometimes, even if they were pains. They were still my parents." He shook the thought away. "I'll get on it, Princess."
"I have complete faith in you." She waved over the food. "But I did not get this for display. Eat. A growing mother needs their nutrition."
They ate together in a gentle sort of companionable silence, only the tinks of silverware as they savored the delicious food that had been set out for them by diligent servants. When they were done, Luna cleared her throat. "Remember, there is no pressure on you."
Skyline nodded at that. "I understand, but I want to. I can't really explain it." He flicked back a tufted ear. "If it means bat ponies can be real, and happy, I want to help with that. I don't want my foals being alone."
Luna smiled at that. "You're a good mother. Or, both, really." She looked up. "Skyline, if you do not mind, I need to meet with some ponies." She slid to her hooves. "Royal duties take few breaks. But, I was most delighted to speak with you, and I expect we'll converse more as things progress. My door remains open to you."
Skyline tossed and turned in his bed, sleep evading him as his brain scrambled to process what he had learned earlier that day. He was going to be a mother, again. This time, it was intentional. This time, he was ready. He squirmed happily under his covers.
In fact, he was so caught up in those thoughts that he failed to notice the bedroom door creak open, the little forms of Sure Arrow and Night Wind slinking inside. He only knew when they landed on him silently, forcing the sleep from him instantly. What resulted was a moment of wrestling with them, a surprised squeak turning into laughter as he hugged his children tightly. "Little demons! Why did you wake me up?"
Sure Arrow and Night Wind stared up at their parent with innocent little stares. "We wanted to stay with you." They flopped on him in unison. "We're growing up now."
Night Wind reached over to press against the side of his father. "It's happening fast, dad." He hugged him tighter. "Are we getting old?"
Skyline wrapped a wing over both of them. "Old? No, I can't use that word on either of you yet." He smooched the top of each of their heads. "You're not even adults! You're headed for the starting line, don't be thinking about the finish one just yet." He sat up, tail curling. "But, since you're both here, maybe we should talk."
Sure Arrow squirmed a little. "About what? I was just following Night Wind, and." She covered her mouth and turned away.
Skyline gave Night Wind a look, then Sure. "Right, just following." He snickered gently, but let that one drop. "The princess, Luna, she wants more, um. I may have to visit my old home, get some help, or try to. That will take me away from—"
They both looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Just come back?" Sure Arrow clung to him. "We don't want to be alone, especially not now. You're both. It's fine to go, but we won't stop missing you."
Night Wind nodded along. "We'll miss you if you're gone longer. Just bring the new foal when they get here, alright?"
Skyline's ears pricked up. "How did you know there's a new foal planned?"
Night Wind smiled ever so smugly. "You're a mom."
Sure Arrow nudged against him. "And a dad, and good at both. Of course there's gonna be another foal. Will it be a sister or a brother?"
Skyline smiled at his children. "I love you too so much, but I don't know. They don't exist yet outside an idea. Did you know a father decides, usually, but the way I do it, there is no real father, so, to be honest, I really don't know." He touched his nose to either of there cheeks. "I'm glad you two came as you are, proved either could happen."
They nodded up at their parent. "Alright," said Sure Arrow. "Go if you need to. We'll be good kids."
"But it's still the night," said Night Wind. He pointed out into the darkness. "So, um." He fidgeted in place. "I want to go with you, but Sure Arrow's a better pick. She's faster and stronger. Take her, um, please."
Sure Arrow colored at her brother's praise, even if she didn't argue it. "That wasn't my idea, I promise! But, uh, please? It'll be my first official mission!"
Skyline smiled warmly at the two. "My first official mission was to infiltrate and learn a group of ponies to manipulate them into giving us information. It was a difficult and important task, and I'm proud that you're already outdoing me." He touched her face gently with a hoof.
He drew a heavy breath, the urge to keep her in the safest place warring with wanting to promote her growth. "You'll need to follow each and everything I say until we get back. I am more than your father if you come with me. I'll be your commander, and a soldier always obeys their commander. Do you understand?"
Sure Arrow straightened up immediately. "Yes, sir." She looked every bit a soldier ready to dive into their first dangerous assignment, all pride and excitement.
"That's a good filly." He ruffled the top of her head, then looked to Night Wind. "You're getting an order too, young colt. While I'm away, the ponies at the barracks will be filling in for me. If you need anything at all, you go to them. If they can't do it, you march right up to Luna and ask her. Do not feel bad for asking, they all already promised to see to you."
He kissed the tip of Night Wind's nose. "Be safe and smart. Stay where they tell you to stay. But I'll be home soon."
He stood, stretching his limbs with a series of soft pops. He spread his bat wings wide, stretching them in turn. "I thought I was going to get some rest, but we have a mission to do."
"I'm ready!" Sure Arrow jumped up, spreading her own wings to mimic her father's posture. She seemed eager to jump into the task with all the excitement her small bat foal body could hold.
Skyline moved to the window and pushed it open with his hooves. "Close this behind us." Without further preamble, he launched into the night sky, Sure Arrow after him a moment later. The pair flew off into the cold night air, off to the hive that was Skyline's original home.
It was far, as distance tended to be for ponies, but the trip was well-known to him.
Back Home, Night Wind drew the window shut with his wings and latched it with a bite and twist of his head. "Good luck." He swallowed thickly, already feeling powerfully alone in that moment. "Come back quickly." He turned to his empty nest and snuggled into it. He didn't fall asleep for a long time.
The next morning, Skyline stood on the edge of his old homeland, the other changelings already watching him. With a rush of flames, he took on his changeling form. It was no longer his default, relaxing only made him a bat pony, but he could become a changeling if he tried. "Skyline, returning."
The perimeter guard peered at Skyline, then to Sure Arrow, hiding behind him. "You brought a snack for us?"
Skyline stepped to put himself in the way of the view of Sure. "She is with me," he growled out, full of menace. "I bring news. I need to meet with at least ten other drones, now."
"That's a lot of drones," said the guard.
"Why can't you talk to just one?" asked a second.
"I need the numbers for approval of the Queen," hissed Skyline, lifting his chin.
The changelings shared a confused look. The first one shrugged. "If you're wrong, Chrysalis will be so mad at you."
The second snorted. "Wouldn't want to be in your horseshoes." He headed into the depths of the hive, passing along the message.
A swarm of other changelings poured out of the hole, chittering with curiosity at the odd visitor.
Sure Arrow grabbed onto her father's leg. He drew her forward despite her fear. "Behold, a new kind of pony."
The drones collectively stared with wide eyes, amazed at the sight. One raised a hoof. "What do we do with them?
Skyline spread their changeling wings, thin and insectoid. "You follow me."
The drones were used to following orders. Skyline sounded like they knew what they were speaking of, so if they commanded, they should follow that changeling.
As they flew away, Sure Arrow dipped in closer. "Dad, how do I help?"
"By being quiet right now, but you, little dear, will be what they look at to know what it is we want them to make more of. You're looking at your uncles and aunts, once they get going."
A flurry of wings, the sound of buzzing in the air as the changelings darted back and forth, gathering around Sure Arrow and Skyline.
"You dare bring a pony into our midst," shouted a guard, charging headlong towards them. "What trickery is this?"
Skyline steeled himself, wings fanning out to shield his daughter. "There's no deception. I'm here to take advantage of easy love. The ponies are ready to surrender it, buckets of it." He hissed gently. "For the queen."
The guard stopped, hovering in front of Skyline. "Easy love?" They glanced to Sure Arrow with a frown. "Explain yourself. Who is this creature?"
Skyline spread his wings, the color shifting to the same hues as Sure Arrow. "She is the key to that easy love. All I need are a few drones." He waved a hoof at the ones that had followed him. "I will return fattened with love for the hive."
The guard seemed skeptical. "I suppose I could spare a few, if the queen approves. But, you'll have to prove the bounty you seek."
Skyline tensed. He had been hoping to avoid seeing, let alone speaking, to the queen. "Time is of the essence. If we miss this chance, will you be the one to explain our failure to the queen?"
The guard shuddered in place, backing up from Skyline and his child. "N-no." They lowered their head. "Forgive me. I will accompany you."
Skyline kept himself in the way of Sure Arrow. "I thank you." With that, he began to guide the little troupe to Canterlot.
His jaw was tense the entire time. He had planned to return with just drones. Having a guard there complicated things. His mind whirred busily with thoughts of how to adjust his plans for that, or how to get the guard to play along with things.
"You need to change," suddenly piped up Sure Arrow. "Ponies will freak out if they see a bunch of changelings flying in at them."
The drones looked to Skyline and the guard for directions.
Skyline changed, erupting into flames as he relaxed into his new natural form. "Like this. Like her." He pointed over at Sure Arrow. "Be bat ponies, all of you."
The drones changed quickly, eager to adapt. They took on the appearance of bat ponies, mimicking Skyline and Sure Arrow with uncanny precision.
Skyline smiled gently at them. "Yes, just like that." He looked to the guard. "You too. You wanted to come with us, don't blow our cover."
The guard went through the change, settling into a bat pony form as well. "Huh." They curled their wings. "I have heard of your kind, bat ponies, but I've never actually met one." He couldn't know that they were, until recently, just a lie.
All changed, Skyline led them towards the castle, swooping in to zoom over the city of Canterlot whizzing past beneath them. He breathed the fresh air and enjoyed the sensation of flight as they moved past the last obstacle between them and their prize.
Skyline slowed to a hover, touching down gently on the balcony. Sure Arrow joined him. He nodded at her as he panted, trying to catch his breath. He turned to face his assembled squad. "Here is how this will work. We've tricked the ponies. I tricked the ponies. If we keep these forms, they will love us. They will love us fiercely. We don't even need a pod. You'll grow fat with the love." He inhaled slowly. He knew what he was signing them up for, but couldn't warn them without giving it away. "You." He looked to the guard. "We have arrived safely. Why are you here?"
The guard looked at the group with a sour expression. "The queen demands constant reports of you, Skyline. I am here to watch you, ensure you don't fail in some manner."
Skyline exhaled a long breath, considering how to get the guard to leave without making a mess.
Sure Arrow advanced, looking over each changeling-bat in turn. "Good. Good. Good, alright. Good." She stopped at the guard. "Awful."
The guard jumped at that. "What?!"
Sure Arrow prodded them firmly in the chest. "You are awful. You suck at this. I know what a changeling looks like, and you look like you want to eat me, and you shouldn't." She flicked them in the nose.
The guard let out a sneeze, and, with the reflex, the changeling form broke down, leaving the guard in his natural state.
Skyline stepped to his daughter, pressing his hoof against her nose. "Sure Arrow. Enough. What did we say? Obey orders." He was scowling, but there was a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. "Guard, you have one duty, to guard. You have kept us safe on the journey. Thank you. Return home. Leave infiltrating to infiltrators."
Sure Arrow crossed her forelegs. "He sucks. I can smell his hunger from here." She glared at the guard.
The guard rose, grumbling at her. "You are but a child." With his cunning retort fired, he darted off into the night sky, leaving them to their work.
