Chapter 34: Day of Relief
Sunstreak felt much better about the day, his mind taken off of everything else, he had just proven one of the greatest mysteries of his village had just been solved! He was still sad about his friend, but he wasn’t going to let that hold him back.
“So when is she supposed to arrive?” Sunstreak asked, standing at the train station, he was a bit antsy about all of the Guards positioned everywhere. “I’m not exactly comfortable here…”
“Just relax.” Twilight replied. “Getting nervous whenever a guard walks by is going to arouse suspicion.”
“I can’t help it.” Sunstreak whispered. “I don’t want to get thrown back in a jail cell.” Anytime a Royal Guard walked by the two of them, Sunstreak couldn’t help but shiver slightly. Especially with Unicorns, one spell and Sunstreak could kiss freedom goodbye.
“Just… answer the question…”
“A few minutes. Just calm down…” Twilight said. “You’ll draw somepony’s attention.”
“Sorry…” Sunstreak replied. “I’m just glad we got Sunspot back before this… I don’t want her to get caught up in this…”
“You’ll be fine Sunny.” Twilight said calmly. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“yet…” Sunstreak mumbled, earning him a punch in the side from Twilight.
“Don’t give me that attitude. You know full well you wouldn’t do anything like that.” Twilight replied.
“yeah… but again…do the guards know that?” Sunstreak asked. “To them I’m just another insect…”
“As long as my brother is Captain of the Royal Guard, they’ll listen.” Twilight said, smiling reassuringly.
Sunstreak sighed. “You’re right Twilight…” He looked up at the lavender unicorn. “No point in focusing on the bad…” He looked up to the sky. “Although… that is disconcerting…”
Twilight looked up and saw a few Pegasus Guards flying above, looking for any kind of disturbances. A few of them flew off from the group and held positions around the station.
“Probably just a safety precaution.” Twilight replied. “After all, Celestia is very serious about checking everypony that comes into Canterlot.”
“Makes sense…” Doesn’t work… Three of them got past with little opposition. “So how long has it been on lockdown?”
“It was like this when we got here.” Twilight replied. “So I’m not sure exactly…”
The trains whistle echoed through the station, drawing both of their attentions towards the tracks. The steel behemoth was beginning to pull into the station. It spewed the gray smoke into the sky as it began to screech to a halt, sending small sparks into the air.
“11:30 from Ponyville!” A brown Earth pony shouted as the train slowed. “All off for Canterlot! All aboard for Manehatten!”
The ponies on the train began to walk off, which was a large minority given how many were getting in.
“How are we going to find Rarity in this mess?” Sunstreak asked, all of these fancy ponies looked the same to him, both in normal and via emotion, all of them had a small spark of fear, and a lot of some weird gold color that Shade just thought was Pretension.
“Just look for the tower of bags.” Twilight replied.
“Say What?” Sunstreak asked confused. “Tower of bags?” Sunstreak took off from the ground to see above some of the ponies’ heads and top hats. “Ah… I see what you mean…”
By the train there was a rather large pile of suitcases and bags, looking like someone had packed the entire Carousal Boutique in as many bags as possible. Some of which were actually bulging.
Before he could fly over, Twilight pulled him down to the ground with her magic. “Rules… no flying right now. You will draw attention to yourself. Stay on the ground and wait.” She hissed.
“Yes my Queen…” Sunstreak replied, mumbling it so that nobody else but Twilight heard it.
“I’ll hit you for that one later.” Twilight said as Sunstreak picked himself up.
“All ponies entering the city must submit to a disillusionment spell!” One of the Royal Guards called over the crowd. “Pegasi will ensure that everypony is checked. Any attempt to avoid a check will be seen as an act of aggression!”
“They are taking this far too seriously…” Sunstreak mumbled. “This is almost like when they told me to stand up and face the wall with a broken leg and a giant stab wound.”
“It can’t have been that bad.” Twilight replied. To which Sunstreak gave her a look saying ‘Oh really?’ and she replied. “Alright so maybe it was.”
Sunstreak watched as the Unicorns all scanned the ponies walking through. A few of them were using small illusion spells, such as color changing spells and the like, but no Changelings yet.
Sunstreak let out a bored sigh. “I don’t know why they are bothering with this.”
“Why is that?” Twilight asked, the two of them looking on the ponies and sometimes guessing which one was going to have an illusion spell on. “Third row.”
“I’m going with five.” The mare in the fifth row’s hair changed from a luscious green to a grey color. “Called it. Anyway… Acari would have sent the word out to the other Hive's by now… and they have a few ways around it from what I’ve heard.”
“Such as?” Twilight asked. “Number four.”
“Going with one.” Sunstreak replied. “I don’t know exactly… but I’ve heard tell of another few factions inside Canterlot. I’m not sure how they got here, or how they avoided the searches, but they did.”
The stallion in the third row’s coat changed to green. “Should I inform-”
“No. You shouldn’t.” Sunstreak said. “From what I know… none of them are militant. One’s a doctor, one saved me, and I don’t know about the other.” Sunstreak watched one of the other unicorns. “As far as I know all three of them have no intention of doing anything rash. So there is no reason to tell anyone about it.”
Twilight looked suspicious. “I…I’ll trust you. I won’t tell Shining Armor… For now… Anything else you want to tell me?”
“Nothing that you need to know.” Sunstreak replied. Twilight opened her mouth to retort, but Sunstreak was faster. “Rarity’s been cleared.”
Twilight looked over, Rarity had just been checked by a Guard and was now walking over to the two of them.
“Twilight, darling it’s simply wonderful to see you again.” The white unicorn said walking up to them.
“Same to you Rarity.” Twilight replied. “How’s Spike been?”
“Oh he’s been an angel. He’s been keeping the Library from bursting into flames. Less about me darling, how have you been?”
“Fine… We have a lot to talk discuss.”
“Hey Sunstreak!”
“Sweetie Belle?” Sunstreak said, looking away from the two mares to see the small filly running up to them. “What are you doing here?”
“She’s here with me.” Rarity replied. “She insisted on coming to see you.”
“Not that I’m not flattered… But uh…” He leaned into Rarity. “Does she now about me and…you know?”
“Well… Not fully…” Rarity replied. “I told her what she needed to know. That is the main reason she wanted to come with me.”
“Wonderful… I hope that you told her how important it is that it remain secret.”
Sweetie Belle nodded. “My mouth is sealed.”
“Now we simply need to bring my things to the room.” Rarity replied turning back to the large tower of bags.
“Ugh…” Sunstreak groaned, “I predict pain…”
Sunstreak was correct, there was much pain focused on him, coming mainly from him carrying a majority of the tower of bags, he luckily had figured out how to use minor magic by creating a small horn, so he could take off some of the weight, but he didn’t get to use it very much, as ponies would probably freak out at a Pegasus using magic. So he had to deal with the tower of bags until they got to the same floor as the apartment.
“You can stop now Sunny.” Twilight said.
“Oh thank God!” In a wisp of green flame, Shade lifted the bags off his back. “What the hell are you keeping in these? Cement blocks?”
“Don’t be ridiculous darling.” Rarity replied. “I had to bring my-”
“I don’t care…” Shade replied transforming into Comet. “I really don’t…” Comet followed behind Twilight, carrying the bags in his magic. When they got to the apartment, Comet placed the bags in a side room, and turned back into Shade.
“I would hate to see you on camping trips…” Shade said after placing the bags in the side room and closing the door. He then proceeded to fall onto the floor.
“Daddy!” Sunspot started to run over, but saw Rarity and Sweetie Belle and ducked into a side room with a small squeak.
“Oh… and who was that?” Rarity asked.
“That was Sunspot.” Twilight replied.
“I’ll explain.” Shade replied. “Just let me…get my legs to work again…” Shade tried to push himself up, but fell a few times. “Screw it…” Shade buzzed his wings and lifted himself up.
“Sunspot…” Shade said, trying to open the door. “It’s alright…”
“Daddy. They want to hurt me!” Sunspot said through the door, Shade could tell she was scared. “They were there!”
“No…” Shade replied. “They wouldn’t do that…”
“I-I saw them Daddy!” Sunspot said through a sob. “They-They wanted to hurt me!”
“Sunspot…” Shade said softly. “Sunspot… please open the door, I’ll tell them to go… Please Sunspot…”
There was a pause from behind the door. “okay Daddy…”
“Rarity… could you and Sweetie Belle wait outside for me?” Shade asked. “Twilight…please.”
Twilight nodded. “Come on you two. Give them a little space.”
When all three of them left, Sunspot unlocked the door. Shade pushed open the door and hovered in to see Sunspot underneath the bed.
“Daddy?”
“I’m here Sunspot…” Shade said as he laid down next to the bed. “What’s the matter?”
“The-They wanted to hurt me!” Sunspot said.
“No… No they didn’t…” Shade replied. “They’re friends of mine.”
“Friends?” Sunspot repeated. “They don’t look like your friends.”
Shade had to agree, out of all of them, Rarity was probably the odd one out. She was the only one that basically thrived off Canterlot culture, the others looked more fit for Ponyville, and given Sunspot’s first impression with Canterlot society, he didn’t blame her.
“Well…the older one is an acquaintance. I think you would like Sweetie Belle… she reminds me of you.”
“Are you sure they won’t hurt me?” Sunspot asked, Shade leaned down to look under the bed.
“Sunspot… let me tell you a secret ritual I know about.” Shade replied. “Come out from under the bed and I’ll show you.”
Sunspot looked at the older Changeling, before crawling out of the small space.
“This is known as a ‘Pinkie Promise’ it is the ultimate promise. To break the Pinkie Promise, is to unleash a demon that should never be tampered with.” Sunspot’s eyes widened. “And I’m going to teach it to you. First, raise your right hoof.”
Sunspot did.
“Now…follow my motions.” He placed his hoof across his chest, pulled it away, and raised it to his eye.
Sunspot followed.
“Now repeat after me.” Shade repeated the motions. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a Cupcake in my eye.”
Sunspot copied him.
“Now I Pinkie Promise, Rarity and Sweetie Belle won’t hurt you.”
“Really?”
Shade nodded. “All they want to do, is help us make it safer for both of us to go out in public. So promise me you’ll give them a chance.”
Sunspot nodded. “How are they going to help?”
“I’ll let them explain.”
A few minutes, and a lot of shyness later, and Sunspot was sitting in a chair, Rarity behind her looking at what she had to work with.
“Are you quite certain you want me to do this?” Rarity asked. “After all, Twilight did say that you would be quite violent towards any harm.”
“I have faith in you Rarity. Which is a lot more than I can say after the first time I met you.”
“Oh yes that… By the way, I have been working on that outfit for you, but it may take a while longer to get a hold of more Rubies. I used my last ones for Sapphire Shore.” Rarity began.
“Yes…that thing…” Shade replied. “Listen…just tell me if you can do it or not.”
Rarity flipped her mane. “I can handle anything darling.”
“Great… I need some time to think about something…” Shade said, walking into one of the bedrooms.
“So how long has Sunstreak been a Changeling?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Meadow… Where the hell are you?
Shade’s mind went back into planning mode. He had three different Queens helping him search for the Hive, yet none of them had managed to find out anything! Meadow was still missing, he was determined to find her, but these stupid distractions kept getting in the way.
He used his magic to levitate a map of Canterlot over to him, unrolling it, he placed it on the floor.
Okay… So accounting for locations where Ovi has been searching, and taking out the possibility of them being in the Castle, Hospital, Docks, or Park. That still leaves huge spaces. Not to mention the possibility they are underground. With the whole Mountain being carved out, they could be planning a second invasion and no one would know before it’s too late.
But they wouldn’t try something like that, the guard are still on lockdown, the brute of their forces are here, and not to mention the freaking Sun Goddess that lives right here.
Shade rubbed his face with his hooves. “What I would do to have a Tracer right now…”
Shade looked over the map again, the city was huge, far too big for him to check by himself, and even if somehow the entire Royal Guard were on his side, it would still take days before he found anything of any real use.
“Come on Shade… Use that brain of yours.” He mumbled to himself. “What would you do in this situation?”
Behind enemy lines, needing to stay out of sight, and away from any kind of magical detection. I have a platoon of soldiers, possible civilians, and the only way to gather food is to replace somebody.
“Think. Think. Think.” Shade hit his head with his hoof. “What would I do…?”
Find the biggest threat, neutralize it, and then work on funneling civilians out of the city before a war broke out. Now what is the biggest threat to…
Shade looked out the window at the castle. “Biggest threat… That would be them…”
The first challenge would be Celestia, but she needs to keep running the day, if she vanished, it would send Equestria into a panic, they don’t want a panic, so how would they deal with it? Replace someone close to the biggest contender, Shining Armor… they need him and Cadence to do that bullshit repulsion thing…
“No… No that wouldn’t work…”
After the first time, they would be looking into Cadence far too much for her to be useful, any slip up could get the insurgent captured. Shining Armor would be the next obvious choice, but he needs to lead the Guard, and they are still probably looking into him…
“A base of operations… They need it… So where?”
Shade pulled the map closer, looking at all strategic points on the map, cross referencing distances from where he knew the hives were, to patrol routes, to where he traveled, distance from Castle, distance from Park, nearest wall location.
Shade rubbed his head again. “What if they aren’t in the city?”
The best strategic point is the hospital, infinite love from those families, close to the castle, nobody would think to check the wounded soldiers for being changelings… But Cytes would…
“Okay…Okay…” Shade said to himself. “Remove the possibilities of staying hidden. If I put a hit out on Celestia, how would I-?”
With the change in gears from occupation to Assassination, Shade began to think more openly.
Good distance… Thin glass… Direct line of sight to the throne… Quick exit… But the Guards…
Direct approach is too risky… The power of the Sun would easily destroy any single man strike teams… Even a squadron would have trouble. You would need to neutralize her powers… But how do you turn off the sun?
His mind played through all possible scenarios, a single man strike team would get obliterated before they even came close to her, and if they did, then Luna would be a new contender.
Neutralizing their powers is the only way I can see it working… But how? With Polar opposites, you cannot hope to neutralize one without strengthening the other… So how would they try and…
Shade’s eyes widened. “A mass… Overthrow…”
Shade took apart the plans. “If they don’t go after Celestia and Luna… then who is next in power… Not Cadence, that’s for sure…”
The Queens! They wouldn’t be that stupid… would they?
“No… They’re desperate… Not suicidal…”
Shade rubbed both sides of his head.
Maybe I’m looking too deep into this… Ceymi is a new Queen, so how would she…?
A knock on the door broke his concentration.
“Shade? Are you alright in there?”
Shade shook his head vigorously. “I’m fine… Just… Thinking about what the hive is planning…”
Shade opened the door.
“You come up with anything?” Twilight asked.
“No…” Shade replied, through a sigh. “I can’t think of anything that makes sense from a strategic standpoint, either through Assassination or Occupational standards, anything the Hive attempts is insane.”
“Did you say assassination?” Twilight asked.
Shade nodded. “I’m trying to look at it from every angle. Everything is telling me their plans are crazy. I even went into the thought of ‘what if they try and attack the other hives?’.”
“Well what did you come up with?” Twilight asked curiously.
“The Hospital would be the first target, but after that, the Hives would converge and destroy the Swarm, there is no way for them to handle it stealthily… And a brute force attack will end with every Changeling getting incinerated or something…” He let out a deep breath. “And I still don’t know where Meadow is. I don’t have a clue! And that’s what ticks me off!”
Twilight put her hoof on his shoulder. “We’ll find her.”
“I just hope we can do it before something happens to her…” Shade’s tone became serious. “And if I am too late, I will personally snap their Queen’s horn, tear her wings off, and drown her in a pool of her subjects blood.”
Twilight backed away from him.
“Sorry… Too graphic… I’m just…”
“Stressed is what you are.” Rarity pointed out, still working with Sunspot. “What you need is to take your mind off the whole situation for a while. Stress doesn’t get you anywhere.”
“You’re probably right…” Shade replied. “I have been kind of stressed out the past few days…”
“Oh I completely understand darling, now you have not only Meadow to look after, but this little gem here. Parenthood is never an easy thing to suddenly have happen, many of the most prepared parents I’ve seen don’t get it right until the second foal.”
“Well…Technically this is the second one.” Shade replied. “I’ve got no idea where Meadow is, and I have no idea how to find out…”
“What about these other Hives you were talking about?” Rarity asked. “Surely they could lend some assistance.”
Shade sighed. “All of them are busy handling their own situations.”
“Such as?” Rarity asked.
“Dealing with wounded, watching over their Princess or something, and Acari is helping me handle the Sunglider issue…”
“Sounds as though you have your work cut out for you.” Rarity replied. “Well I simply must help you with this stress problem of yours. A relaxing day is all you need.”
“That would be wonderful… Maybe I could figure out some other reason to originally invade, besides food?” Shade said to himself. “There didn’t seem to be a lack of it at the Hive…”
“So why do you think they attacked?” Twilight asked.
Shade shrugged. “Could have been for any number of reasons. My knowledge of Changelings is still limited, but it could have been for territory, power, economic purposes, a reputation thing, maybe Chrysalis just felt like it… I mean… She doesn’t seem to be the most stable ruler now does she?”
“Not going to argue with you on that…” Twilight replied. “Her plan wasn’t too good to be honest.”
“Oh come on now…” Shade replied. “You’re a smart girl Twilight. Admire the plan a little.”
“Are you siding with her?” Twilight asked.
“What? Why would you even ask that?” Shade asked getting aggravated, but he stopped himself by taking a deep breath. “Okay… listen, from what I’ve worked out, the plan was for you to kill Cadence in rage. Instead of save her, if that had happened, then there was no way they would have lost. A slight miscalculation. No idea why she even kept Cadence alive… But then it… I’m gonna shut up now.” Shade said as Twilight stared at him, her horn beginning to glow.
“I second that motion.” She replied, her horn dying down a bit.
“If you two are going to be firing magical beams at one another, could you please do it in the next room,” Rarity asked. “I would prefer I not injure Sunspot while I work.”
“Sorry Rarity…I… I really need that day off…”
Rarity smiled. “Of course darling. We all need a day off once in a while. If you could get a foalsitter for Sunspot here, I can take you out for a relaxing day.”
Shade smiled. “I have just the mare for the job…”
“Darkblaze, we need to change your disguise.” Blackout said, looking at the newspaper. “You are going to get yourself caught by somepony.”
“Your exaggerating.” Darkblaze replied. “We haven’t been caught yet, and even if we are, what are they going to do? Acari is one of Celestia’s most trusted advisors, she can vouch for us.”
Blackout lowered the paper. “Really? For me, there are reasons why I could be released, but you were there, we have no way to know what you did and didn’t do, Acari has been respectful, but will these nobles really be that happy about it?”
“Oh come on…” Darkblaze replied. “I’ve had worse than anything these nobles could throw at me.”
Blackout raised her eyebrow. “Like what?”
“Spitfire’s Hell Week during Wonderbolt training.” Darkblaze replied with a shiver. “Worst… Infiltration… Ever…”
Blackout smirked. “Maybe that will teach you before trying to join a military force.”
“Queen Chrysalis demanded it, and I couldn’t feel my wings for weeks…”
“So how is Antenna doing?” Blackout asked, raising the paper again. She was looking at the recent claims of Changeling sightings around the city.
“I don’t know how much longer we’re going to-”
There came a knock on the door. Causing both of them to transform into their disguises.
“It’s Sunstreak…open up.”
“Snake Eye?”
“Yeah…open up… I need to talk to Candy Floss.”
Tornado Dust walked up and opened the door, stepping aside to let the red Pegasus in. “What is this about?”
“Well… Rarity has come up with the idea that I need to relax for a day… and I have to agree, as I just sent about half an hour looking into any possible way that Ceymi could kill Celestia…” Seeing Lyra’s expression, he added, “None of them worked out in the end…”
“Well what else made you freak out?” Tornado asked.
“Meadow going missing, I have no idea what Spine is planning, and I have no idea where either of them are… It’s just…”
“Well I think it’s a good idea for you to calm down a bit.” Tornado replied. “So why do you need Candy Floss?”
“I need her to watch over Sunspot while I relax for a while… I figured she would enjoy that.”
Tornado Dust looked back at Lyra. “You want to tell her or should I?”
Sunstreak looked between the two of them confused.
“She’s currently strapped to the bed…” Tornado Dust replied. “We… didn’t want her to… Kill somepony to get to Sunspot.”
Sunstreak looked at him confused. “Oh right…from yesterday’s tests… Sorry about that… Twilight was curious about Paternal Protection responses. She just picked up Sunspot with her magic as a test…”
“That explains the Caretaker instincts.” Tornado replied he pointed at the bedroom door. “She’s just in there if you want to tell her.”
“Anything I should know?” Sunstreak asked.
“She goes for the neck.” Tornado Dust replied. Making Sunstreak stare at him for a second, before he walked up to the door.
“Antenna?” Sunstreak asked through the door, not wanting to intrude on anything, or get shot by magic. “I need to speak with you…”
“Well then come in… I’m not going anywhere.”
Sunstreak pushed the door open to see the changeling tied to the bed with what looked like several lengths of rope. “Hello Antenna.”
“What do you want?” Antenna asked.
“I want you to look after Sunspot…” Sunstreak replied.
“About time.” Antenna replied. “Where is she?”
“She’s just across the hall, Rarity is helping me modify her disguise a bit so that she looks more like my daughter than like me…”
“You left her alone!” Antenna shouted. “With a pony!”
“She won’t hurt her.” Sunstreak replied, seeing Antenna’s scared look. “She’s just gong to change up Spot’s mane a little. Nothing too big.”
Antenna calmed down a bit. “I don’t like this…”
“She’s a dressmaker. What is she really going to do?” Sunstreak asked, “Are you willing to help or not?”
“Yes I am… I just…” Antenna looked sad. “I don’t want my only remaining job to fail…”
“Remaining job?” Sunstreak asked.
“My job was to look after the Queen, and care for the Nymphs…” A tear rolled down her chitin. “I was with her… She told me to live… I don’t want to disappoint her…”
Sunstreak walked up next to her. “It’s alright. You’ll make her proud… I know you will.” Sunstreak was sure that she meant the Queen had told her to live, but that made him think, Is she truly that evil… To tell a servant to live free, instead of watch their leader slowly die? Another thing for him to think about later. “Here let me help you out of there.”
Sunstreak led Candy Floss across the hall, and introduced her to the other two mares in the room.
“So Candy Floss, do you know how special Sunspot is?” Twilight asked.
“Every foal is special, I’ve been a foalsitter for years.” Candy Floss replied. “Won’t be worse than when I took care of Filthy Rich’s daughter.”
“Yes but are you aware of…”
“Yes… I am.” Candy Floss replied. “I can handle it.”
“Aaaaand… Done!” Rarity announced. She moved away from the chair, and Sunspot looked back at them. Her mane was no longer as unkempt as Sunstreak’s, it was now sleek and looked like it had been well cared for, it was slightly longer now too, but in front it had been styled after Sweetie Belle, while in the back it seemed to be more poufy.
“How do I look Daddy?” Sunspot asked Sunstreak.
“You look perfect Spot.” Sunstreak said hugging the little filly. “Now just remember, this is what I want your base form to look like now okay.”
“Okay Daddy.”
After Sunstreak let go of the hug he let the filly look at Candy Floss. “Now Sunspot, this is Candy Floss, she’s going to look after you for the day.”
Unlike every other time she met a new pony, she didn’t try to hide from Candy Floss, instead she ran up and hugged her. “Hello Miss Candy Floss.”
“Hello Sunspot… Aren’t you just a cute little filly.” Candy Floss replied. “How long do you need me to look after her?”
“Probably the rest of the day, if that’s no trouble…”
“None at all.” Candy Floss replied, she looked over at Sweetie Belle. “Do you need me to watch her as well?”
“No, Sweetie will be coming with us.” Rarity replied. “Now if we don’t want for it to be cut short, I suggest we leave now. Otherwise this will have been for not.”
“Alright Rarity.” Sunstreak replied. “Let’s go.”
Sunstreak had been following both Rarity and Twilight while they caught up with each other, Rarity telling Twilight all about what was going on in Ponyville, and Twilight filling Rarity in on her research. Meanwhile Sweetie Belle had been asking Sunstreak questions all the way.
Sunstreak didn’t mind answering the questions, he even managed to apologize for kicking her in the chest before his horn exploded. So that was another weight off his mind.
“So if not all Changelings are bad, does that mean that some of them would want to join in pony lives?”
“Well one of my closest friends before the attack actually told me that he wanted a life away from the hive.”
“Cool… hey do you think they would want to be a Crusader with us?” Sweetie Belle asked, her eyes wide.
“Huh…” Sunstreak replied. “I’m sure a few of them would… but the problem is we don’t exactly… gain Cutie marks… Maybe a Hybrid could…” Sunstreak began thinking about what a Hybrid Changeling would look like, which brought back memories of his first meeting with Acari. “We’ll just have to see when I finally settle down.”
Sweetie Belle gasped. “Do you have somepony in mind?”
Sunstreak looked at the eager little filly. “That’s for me to know, and you to find out later. In other words, no. I might eventually though.”
“We’re here.” Rarity called.
Sunstreak looked up at the building, it was a light comforting blue color, with a variety of flowers designed on a wide sign in front of it reading; The Lotus Garden: Spa and Hair Styling. Sunstreak had seen the building a few times, but he never thought it was a spa it always looked much more like a pool to him, then again, usually he was flying very quickly in one direction.
“Huh… I should have known it would be a spa…” Sunstreak said as he looked at the building. “I’ve never had a spa day… To busy with other stuff out in the Fiords…”
“Like what?” Twilight asked.
“Hunting Phoenix Rays, tracking down the Nightmare Fog, Mourning, having military duties. All that jazz.” Sunstreak replied as the group stepped into the Spa. Almost instantly, Shade was hit with the pleasant aroma of lotus and jasmine.
Rarity walked up to the counter and talked to the spa pony for a bit, before motioning for them to come over.
“Now Sunstreak, I’m not sure what you would enjoy…” Rarity said. “Do you have any-?”
“I just need a day to unwind… whatever you recommend.”
Rarity nodded and pointed to one of the options with her hoof. “Give him this one.”
The Spa pony nodded. “If you could follow me please.” She led the four of them through a set of gilded doors, behind which, Sunstreak could see all the rich ponies who could afford this kind of thing daily, it wasn’t too difficult to pick them out, they were the few who didn’t look the least bit calmed. When the Spa pony was leading them to the back of the room, she stopped Sunstreak from going into the back room.
“I’m sorry, but we need for you to go somewhere else.” Sunstreak opened his mouth is surprise. “Just follow Ortho here.” She motioned to another Spa pony that Sunstreak could have sworn he remembered her from Ponyville.
“Follow me please.” Ortho said, leading him to a separate back room, that was locked with three different keys for some reason….
When the two of them walked in, Ortho closed and locked the door before turning to Sunstreak. “You are safe here. You can drop your disguise.”
Sunstreak turned to her in surprise. “Wha-What disguise?”
There was a flash of blue light and a Changeling was standing where Ortho was. “Therapy Drone 59, Ortho. Nice to meet you.”
Sunstreak was surprised at first, but loosened up slightly. “Hi…”
“Welcome to the Changeling section,” Ortho said. “This is where we can relax without fear of getting caught. The herbal bath is ready.” She pointed to a large tub that reminded Sunstreak of what he saw in the Ponyville Spa.
“Are you from Ponyville?” Sunstreak asked Ortho.
“Yes…well I was… I got pulled back for an incident that occurred earlier this week. Cytes pulled me back here until Ponyville is cleared out.” Ortho led Sunstreak to the tub, where he smelt the various aromas of the bath.
He lowered himself in, as the warm water washed over him. He could feel the warmth from it, almost as his muscles instantly relaxed from the combination of the herbs and the water. He let out a relaxed, “Ahh…” Before feeling his disguise melt away.
“I could get used to this…” Shade said as he sunk into the bath, closing his eyes and letting the warmth and pleasant smells lull him into a state of relaxation. All of his troubles just seemed to wash away.
Meanwhile, under the Hospital, Cytes walked through her Hive, looking into the various chambers that held a few still recovering Changelings. They had managed to clear enough space in the Hive to get the Changelings out of the halls and into their own chambers, which was both a good and bad thing, half of them had survived, while the other half, including all of Chrysalis Changelings they had from the original invasion, had died.
They made sure to keep the assassin alive, he was still in a coma and was only given enough Love to remain alive. Cytes wanted to find out everything she could about him, and about Ceymi.
She was looking over a red-eyed Changeling soldier, whose horn had been snapped off from landing into the outer walls.
“How do you feel today?” She asked the Changeling.
“Still can’t feel the Hive Ma’am.” He replied, his horn had been reconnected using a layer of hardened emotional gel, meant to help with deep damage.
“And how does the rest of you feel?” She asked.
“I can walk, but I’m not sure if I can continue to use magic.” He replied. “My horn is still disconnected from the main base. I cannot even hear my brother.”
“Hmm…” Cytes replied. “Why don’t you try and levitate something for me?”
“Ma’am… I’m not sure that is smart.” He replied as Cytes was pulling a small sphere out of the wall. “It could harm you.”
“Nonsense.” Cytes said, placing the sphere on a small table. “Try to levitate it for me.”
“Of course Ma’am…” He replied. Focusing on the sphere as his horn began to glow a deep red color. The orb was surrounded by it and wobbled slightly while Cytes watched.
Before it could lift off the table, one of the Changeling doctors flew through the blue membrane. “Queen Cytes!”
The Sudden switch in attention caused the Changeling’s horn to fire a beam that rebounded around the room, causing all three Changelings to duck and cover their heads. Once the magic had hit the small sphere, the sphere exploded.
“Eh heh… Sorry…” The recent entrant said nervously as both his Queen and the other soldier glared at him.
“What was the reason you had for barging in here without first consulting me?” Cytes asked pushing herself off the ground.
“Apologies my Queen…” The Changeling replied bowing. “But… The Love Moth we hold wants to make a deal.”
Queen Cytes looked over the damages the magical outburst caused, before looking back at the Changeling. “What kind of deal?”
“She… She says she has information on a large group of captured ponies.”
“And?”
“She didn’t say what she wanted,” The Changeling replied. “She said she would only speak with you…”
Cytes sighed. “I’m sorry Commander, we are going to have to cut today’s meeting short.”
“I understand Queen Cytes. Do what you must.”
Cytes followed the Changeling out of the room. “This better not be a waste of my time.” She said as she walked alongside the Changeling. “I want Celestia on the line as soon as I find out the location.”
“Of course My Queen.”
“And I want Pupa to search it before then so that we can be certain there is no deception going on.”
“Of course your majesty.”
Cytes passed through the thick blue membrane separating the prison from the rest of the hospital.
She walked up to where the female Changeling was floating with her back turned to Cytes.
“What do you want?” Cytes asked. “I thought we had a deal.”
“I’m not the one with the deal.” She said, not turning around. She pointed her hoof at the other Changeling. “He is.”
Cytes looked at him. “Is this true?”
“Y-Yes Cytes…” He replied.
“Well?” Cytes replied. “What do you want?”
“I-I-I”
“Chrysalis damn it…” The female Changeling said turning to Cytes. “He has information on a group of ponies that we foalnapped before the invasion. But he’s too much of a timidly Nymph to say it.”
The male nodded.
“Since we already had a deal Cytes, he wanted to try and get Bloodpool out, they were old friends or something, but since I know that isn’t going to happen, let me tweak my deal a bit.”
“I’m listening.” Cytes replied.
“Let me see my daughter, tomorrow, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know about the storage location” She switched to an almost venomous tone. “And tell whoever is looking after her that I want to see them too.”
Cytes thought over it for a moment, she had planned to reconnect with Shade later that week when Rose Petal was fully recuperated, as she had a lot of trouble sustaining her energy, so Bloodpool must have taken some of her energy for his attack…
“Very well…” Cytes replied. “I will see that it is prepared.” She removed her glasses and pulled the pod off the wall with her magic. “But if I find out you are lying to me, about any of it, I will ensure it is the last time you see her before you are tried by Equestria.”
“I will hold up my end of the deal, just let me see my daughter.”
“If you answer me one thing,” Cytes said. “Who is he?” Cytes looked at the other Changeling.
“To me? Nothing. To Bloodpool? Everything. Ask Bloodpool yourself if you don’t believe me.”
Cytes placed the Changeling back on the wall, picking up her glasses. “Once he wakes, I will. Now I have an operation to get approval for…” She walked out of the room, thinking through her options, it was fully possible that both of them were lying, trying to work out a deal. But the possibility of a stockade of ponies was too big of a risk to take…
“Lifeline!” Cytes shouted through the hive. A small caretaker flew up to her. “Yes Queen?”
“Get in contact with the scout watching Shade, we need him.”
Shade felt monumentally better when he woke up, his muscles felt fresh and all of the stress he never even noticed was gone from them. His carapace now had a nice sheen to it, so whatever was in that bath, was really good at what it did.
The rest of the Spa visit was nothing really spectacular, he was given the standard treatment, most of which Shade paid no attention to, mostly because his mind felt like it was a better idea to just accept it until it was over.
When they were done, Sunstreak walked out of the backroom with his normally unkempt mane combed back, his singed feathers cleaned, and while no one would hopefully see it, his fangs had been sharpened, so that was interesting in case he needed to bite down on something.
“So Sunny,” Twilight said as he walked into the lobby. “How was your first spa day?”
“I can’t believe I never did this before.” He replied. “I see why you enjoy it, I haven’t felt this good in a long time.” Sunstreak flapped his wings. “I feel… so refreshed.”
“Well that is the point darling.” Rarity replied, flipping her mane. “To leave you refreshed and rejuvenated.”
“Like the mighty Phoenix rising from the ashes.” Sunstreak replied. “Only…probably with less fire…”
“Something like that, yes.” Rarity replied. “Now may I suggest we get back before dark. I am not a particular fan of wandering Canterlot at night, beautiful as it is.”
“I’m with Rarity. I still need to write the report for today, and Sweetie Belle still needs her sleep.” Twilight said.
“Alright then. Let’s get going.” Sunstreak ran a hoof through his mane, losing the combed look. “God I hate when my hair is combed… feels like I should keep it like that… Aw well. Live and let live.”
The group walked out of the Spa, the sun was beginning to set, casting an orange glow through the sky. They walked back towards the apartment, when Sunstreak heard something that caught his ears by surprise.
“Fish for Sale!”
Hmmm….. Sunstreak stopped to look towards the source of the call, it seemed to be coming from a Griffin. His head was that of a seagull, while his body reminded Sunstreak of a Snow Leopard. His eagle talons were tipped red and Sunstreak saw the cat-like tail he had.
Sweetie Belle noticed that Sunstreak had stopped. “What are you looking at?”
“FISH! Get your fish here!”
Sunstreak noticed Sweetie Belle’s nose turned up from an unpleasant smell.
“Don’t like fish?” Sunstreak asked. “I can understand it… Just tell me.”
“Why are you looking at that fish?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Well… I think I’m going to have to buy some…” Sunstreak looked at Sweetie Belle’s expression before he turned to make sure that no other ponies were around. He ducked down and let his fangs pierce through his disguise. “You think these are just for show?” His fangs vanished. “Not that I hate vegetation, I was just raised on meat.”
“Sweetie darling, what are you two doing?” Rarity asked.
“I’m thinking of buying some fish.” Sunstreak said, looking at all three ponies expressions, it was clear none of them liked the idea. “For personal reasons. I’ve gained quite a taste for fish since it stopped me from ravenously biting everything.”
“Are you sure?” Twilight asked. “I don’t know if we can really explain why you have it…”
Sunstreak rolled his eyes. “Well…then it’s a good thing we have a window… and a creature whose wings double as fan blades. I’ll make sure the smell is gone.”
“Well… If you’re sure…” Twilight replied. “Here…” She gave him a small bag of bits.
Sunstreak walked up to the Seagull-Griffin’s stand. “Hello there little pony.” He said in an accent that Sunstreak could have sworn was from the north. “How can I help you today?”
“Actually, I was hoping I could procure some of your wares.”
The Griffin was clearly unprepared for this response. He blinked a few times before staring at Sunstreak. “Who put you up to this?”
“Pardon?”
“I know you ponies don’t eat fish, so why are you doing this?”
Sunstreak looked right up at the Griffin, he looked to make sure that no other ponies were around. “Well… It’s kind of a secret… But uh…” Sunstreak motioned for him to come near. Once the Griffin was close enough, Sunstreak whispered. “I’m not a pony…” He flashed his fangs again.
“Oh…Well then…”
“Scream and lose your one…” Sunstreak looked around the street. “And only customer.” He flashed a friendly smile. “I just want some fish…”
“Well… I’ve never been one to turn down a customer. What suites your fancy?”
“It doesn’t smell that bad.” Shade said as he took the bag into the apartment, to more ponies over reacting, except Pinkie… That mare is the strangest out of all of them…
“How can you say that?” Rainbow Dash replied. “It smells terrible.”
“Well to you maybe…” Shade replied, grabbing a pan from out of the cupboard, “but to me it is nowhere near as bad as That” he pointed to the cupboard that held the first containment crystal, “compared to that, this thing is a bouquet of roses.”
“Alright… Just get rid of it as soon as possible alright.” Rainbow Dash replied. “I never understood Gilda’s love for that stuff…”
“She was a griffin, they eat fish, deal with it.” Shade said as he lit a small fire with his horn on the counter. “I’ll be done in fifteen minutes. Then I’ll deal with the smell.”
“I don’t think fish cooks that fast.” Twilight pointed out.
“It does if you have a hot enough flame.” Shade replied, “And since I prefer manipulated fire methods, this won’t take too long.”
In all fairness, it didn’t. Shade was finished in just under fifteen minutes, and the smell was gone in less than twenty.
When he was asked as to why he had to do that by Sweetie Belle, Shade simply replied. “Fish gotta swim, Dragons gotta eat.”
The remainder of the day crawled by, switching quickly from Sunset to night. Shade had a check with Sunspot to make sure she could hold onto her new form, luckily she could, and was able to switch to that one just as effortlessly as before.
Now, Shade lay on the couch, with the small Changeling filly sleeping on his backplate. The two of them slept there, unaware of the shadow watching them from the window. His black wings buzzed silently as he flew towards the window, but instead of ramming into it, he phased through the window without making a sound.
He walked over to where both Shade and the filly were located, his horn glowed black as he lifted the filly off of Shade’s back and placed her on the other side of the room, before he placed his hoof over Shade’s mouth.
“Shhh….” He hissed as Shade woke up from the strange changeling covering his mouth. “I bring a message from Cytes. Nod if you understand.”
Shade nodded his head. And the Changeling removed his hoof.
“The queen has an urgent request for you. She wants you to bring the Nymph to her tomorrow. Nod if you understand.”
Shade nodded again.
“Good.” The Changeling’s horn glowed black as he pulled a small blue crystal out of a small bag on his side. “You will need this.” He placed it in front of Shade. “Once you enter the Hospital, head to the receptionist and tell her who you are. Once you do that, head to the elevator and place the crystal into a small port near the floor buttons. Nod if you understand.”
Exactly what you expect.
“Once the crystal has been placed, touch it with your horn to activate it. You will find yourself inside of the Hive, you are to go to throne room, it is a straight shot from the elevators. Nod if you understand.”
Ditto Mark.
“The Queen has allowed for you to tell one of your allies about this, they are to come with you. If any attempt is made by them to interfere with the inner workings of the Hive, they will be punished. Nod if you understand.”
…..
“Excellent. Now Cytes will speak with you tomorrow.” The Changeling replied, walking away. Shade followed him with his eyes, and saw him stop at the window. “Enjoy your night.” He stepped through the window, phasing through it in a cloud of smoke.
How the fuck?
Shade looked out the window, but couldn’t see any sign of the Changeling. I have to learn to do that…
Shade looked around the room, now fully awake from the sudden burst of adrenaline he got when the Changeling woke him up. He saw Sunspot laying on the other side of the room, so he picked her up and placed her back down on the couch.
Damn it… now I’m awake… What am I going to do now?
Shade looked around the room, looking for anything he could do, and his mind fell on a book on the table, Shade walked over to it, and read the title. “Magic for Dummies: Foals First Spells.”
If I were anybody else…I would feel insulted…
Shade picked up the book and started to look through the table of contents. One spell caught his eye though.
“Lie Spell”
So that is a thing….
Dear Shining Armor,
This morning, Shade was sitting up on the roof of the apartment building, he had a bad dream where he relived the killing of his best friend, it hit him really hard. We spent half of the day trying to cheer him up, and along the way we discovered that General Dragon Dust was a Dragon from the Burning Fiords before he joined with Equestria.
Aside from that, Rarity came for a visit today and helped Sunspot, the Changeling Filly, tweak her disguise a bit. Nothing else really to report today, as it was much more focused on relaxing Shade’s mind.
From,
Twilight Sparkle.
Fun fact: That inner monologue with Shade was me actually trying to figure out where I was going with this. 
Don't know why I decided to keep it in...
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Must be a nice ability to have, phasing through slid matter.
train's
Carousel
timid
location.”
ponies'
suits
Foal's
7175045 someponies hate grammar griffins some don't and then there is me I only do it based off of story and how accurate you are so good going and keep it up and don't take crap from anypony else
Conjuring flames doesn't count as combat magic? Does the spell Twilight put on him sense intent and/or 'targetting something animate'? Or did she make an exception for smaller flames in the initial casting? Turn it off for a while somehow?
7267216
It senses intent to harm. This was explained several chapters ago.
Why cant we be friends... That song is playing in my head right now... Chrysalis hive has all other hives plus Equestria against them... Should they not simply build a huge destraction on high tail out... I wonder what Luna is doing...