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The Visitor From Ponyville [Private]


RedCedar

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Red smiled as she placed her hoof on his shoulder. The first time he'd shaken her hoof, the feeling was so alien to him he had shivered visibly, but now he reached up with his own hoof to pat it gently.

“For now, all I can think of is getting myself to a safer situation, and maybe starting to work on the whole Hive-Equestria war situation. I've got one thing in the works, though I haven't heard back from them in a little while.”

Red looked at her curiously at that. He remembered her mentioning that he was not the only one who knew, but hadn't inquired any further, mostly for her own sake. What he didn't know couldn't be used against her, after all, on the off chance he was questioned about rogue changelings in Equestria. The thought of some plan, however, had caught his interest. "Well, you'll always have a place here if you need," he said, "But, what's this thing you have planned? Is it something to do with where you live?"

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Naj looked over at red, who had just asked about the plans she'd absently mentioned. “Hmm? Oh, right.” She sat up. “It doesn't exactly have to do with Ponyville, though that's a big part of why I'll be sticking around there. That's where I'm known to be, so they wouldn't likely find me anywhere else, and I only have a vague idea where to look for them.”

She waved a hoof. “Ahh, but I'm getting ahead of myself.” She took another sip of water, then began her story. “You remember Winter Wrap Up, and that blizzard? Moments before, I was discovered by a pony named Might Batsman. He might have exposed me if we if the storm hadn't hit then. Long story short, a day spent surviving the cold convinced him I wasn't so bad. He brought me to a friend of his, Wordsworth Psmith, and we started brainstorming ways I might peacefully reveal myself. We agreed that it would have to be done cautiously, starting with select ponies.” She laughed to herself. “He suggested Princess Celestia.” She shook her head. “Interesting pony, him. But anyways, last I heard they were trying to schedule an audience. So now I wait, and see what happens.” She folded her hooves up in front of her as she finished explaining.

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Red nodded as she explained what was going on. He figured he should have guessed who one of the other ponies that knew were, considering it was Might Batsman who also went missing during Winter Wrap-Up, and it now made sense as to why she had decided to reveal herself to him as well. As she continued explaining the key point of the plan, however, his jaw hung open much as it did when he first found out exactly who she was. "Is he actually serious?" he said in disbelief. "I mean, going straight to the top is one thing but she's also the one who could order you be exiled from Equestria, or arrested, or imprisoned, or worse." He shuddered to think of the outcome if she fell into the hooves of a vengeful Royal Guard somewhere along the way. "I hope he doesn't actually expect you to reveal yourself until the Princess makes a decision." Of course, she could start off or end up disguised as any pony she wished, but that didn't mean she'd be any better off when all was said and done.

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Naj chuckled at Red's reaction. “Yeah,” she said, “that was my reaction when I first heard it, too.” She raised a hole-filled hoof, to forestall any more worries for the moment. “But, we won't be going in without a plan.”

She smiled at Red. “As you can guess, I brought up some similar concerns, and Psmith came up with an idea. We're gonna probe things out, and if it doesn't look safe the cover story is that we're 'a group of concerned citizens looking into the possibility of changeling amnesty'.” She took another sip of water. “Supposedly, Celestia regularly receives petitioners with a minimum of scrutiny. In theory, if I keep my head down I should have no issue getting in and out of the palace.” Naj looked down at the floor, her voice growing a little more quiet. “...Now I just have to convince myself of that.”

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“...Now I just have to convince myself of that.”

Watching her looking at the floor, Red didn't seem very convinced of it, either. "Well, petitioning the Crown regarding changeling amnesty actually sounds like a good idea," he admitted, "but I think if that's going to be the case, you should probably not be anywhere near Canterlot when it's first brought up to her. If she or her Captain of the Guard get suspicious about that kind of subject for a petition, they could decide to check out anyone there for security reasons."

Red sighed a moment, looking down at the table, at his unfinished dinner. It was perhaps the best way for her to be allowed to live a normal life in Equestria, without fear, but if something went wrong, the consequences would be disastrous. "I want you to be allowed to stay here," he said softly, "I just wish it wasn't going to be so risky."

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Red conceded the point that the plan was probably the best way for Naj to properly integrate into Equestrian society, but he'd still prefer her to keep her distance, at least until things were safe.

Naj thought for a second. “Yeah,” she said, “but I don't think this is one I can really sit out. If things go well, the whole idea is for me to reveal myself in controlled circumstances, to somepony who can help. Hard to do if I'm not there. That and I'm kinda the cause of the whole thing...” She sighed. “I could probably work on some kind of escape plan though. In case something goes wrong.” She'd also had an idea about what she'd do if she couldn't escape, as a way to make sure it didn't come back to hurt anypony else in the long term, but given Red's current tone she didn't think it would be any comfort to him at the moment. She decided against mentioning it for now, and ended up just looking at Red for a moment. She gave a weak smile and said, “I'll try to be careful.”

Naj, deciding to shift topics a bit, remembered something that had come up earlier. Something she'd meant to ask about, though couldn't risk it at the time. “So, I noticed you told you the story of your cutie mark earlier...is there some way I should be responding to that in future? How do most ponies respond to that sort of thing?”

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Red returned her small smile, hoping that being careful would be all that was needed, when she asked, “So, I noticed you told you the story of your cutie mark earlier...is there some way I should be responding to that in future? How do most ponies respond to that sort of thing?”

Red thought about it a moment, then said, "Uhm, well, there's really no one way to respond to it. I mean, every pony gets one, sooner or later, so it's a fairly common topic. Usually ponies who become friends swap the story of how they got theirs at some point." He took another sip of water before adding, "You might want to make sure you have a good one for when you're Spring Breeze, in case the subject comes up again with some other pony." he added.

"Anyway, I told you because it came up, since I was out there planting in the first place, and I thought you might otherwise wonder why I was so happy doing that without thinking I was strange." he said with a bit of a smile.

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Naj started to talk, saying “I have-” before stopping herself partway through. Though she'd wanted to say she had a story, that wasn't really true. She had a strong idea of what it represented, but she'd never actually thought up an explanation for it. “I guess that's something I'll have to work on.” She thought about it in silence for a little longer, but quickly determined that it was something she couldn't finish quickly. Not to mention that would be a bad idea anyways, this wasn't the sort of thing that she should rush.

Naj finished her water, and stood up off of the couch. She looked over at Red, saying “I think I'll head toward bed, unless you had anything else you wanted to ask.” She stood there for a moment, inviting him to say anything that came to mind.

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Red thought about it a moment, but then finally realized all his questions could take all night. "Honestly, there's lots of things I'd like to ask you about. I was curious earlier about what it was like to live in the hive," he said, "what it was like when you were younger, and growing up, and how you decided to do what you did." he could have rambled on all by himself as it was, just asking the question, but he figured that might have been a bit much all at once.

"That could take an evening all by itself, I'm sure. If you're tired, it can wait until tomorrow." he said, then added, "But it was a lot of fun having you out there today. Thanks for coming."

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Red had a lot of questions, most of which seemed about life at the hive, but he decided that they would be best saved for another evening, as otherwise it was a topic they could be discussing all night.

While in some ways Naj would have enjoyed talking more, she thought it was just as well. Red's days off started tomorrow, so they'd have plenty of time. She nodded, and said “I've got some things I want to-” she yawned, interrupting her sentence, “...think through right now, anyways.” Naj chuckled a bit. “I'm a bit more tired than I realized. I guess I'm still not fully rested, yet.”

"But it was a lot of fun having you out there today. Thanks for coming."

Naj smiled. “It's good to hear that.” It didn't seem like much, but if it was a way to contribute she was glad she could provide it. “Thank you, for inviting me here. It's a big help.” She moved towards the stairs, saying “I'm gonna gonna get some rest, so, I'll see ya tomorrow." before she disappeared into the upper level of the house.

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Red wasn't surprised she was tired, since she'd not only traveled here just recently but came out for a hike all day as well. "Sleep well," he said, smiling to her. After she had gone up stairs, he finished his salad and then decided on an early night himself, as they were going to be having another long day tomorrow.

Unfortunately, he found himself thinking more than sleep as well, especially about the plan she and the others had come up with. It could either work very well, or go horribly wrong, and it was the horribly wrong part that kept him up far longer than he intended, before he finally fell asleep.

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Naj found herself at the base of a large, alabaster wall with gold trim, standing in front of a large wooden door. This was it, she supposed. Now was the time for her big confrontation. Somewhere beyond these doors, lay the alicorn who held Naj's future in hoof. She took a breath, and pushed open the doors. Striding through the courtyard beyond the wall, she couldn't help but notice how empty the place seemed. There were a couple guards at the gate, standing stoically at attention, but aside from that the walls seemed empty. Particularly, she didn't see any other petitioners, or her companions for that matter. Strange, but she payed it no mind for now. She had a goal, and couldn't let little things distract her.

Much to her dismay, the throne room itself was also empty, not just of ponies but of the princess herself. Now she was starting to get worried, something was seriously wrong here.

The door boomed shut behind her, and she heard a voice. “Did you really think it would be that easy?”

She whirled around. Another drone was standing in front of the door. A drone missing an eye, and leaning heavily to one side, keeping his weight off his left foreleg. He had a malicious smile on his face. “Did you think you could just walk in here, and talk your way out of the consequences?”

Naj was frozen in shock. The drone lifted a hoof over her head, and brought it down-

Naj woke with a start, breathing heavily. Looking around the room in a panic, it took her a moment or two to get hear bearings, and remember that she was staying with Red Cedar. She lay back down.

After a few minutes of rolling around, she came to the conclusion that she wouldn't be getting back to sleep. Deciding there was nothing for it, she rolled out of bed, and went downstairs.

The clock told her it would only be a few minutes until morning, so no big loss. Walking into the kitchen, she got herself a glass of water, and after a few minutes of staring at it decided to pull down a cookbook as well. Naj sat down on a chair, took a sip of water and started flipping through the cookbook.

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Red groaned into his pillow as it became abundantly clear that, for today, Celestia had risen the sun with the express intention of annoying him personally. He tried to blot it out for a moment, but he was used to rising early, even when he fell asleep late from his thoughts. With a yawn and a stretch, he somehow managed to roll onto his hooves beside the bed and half stumble down the stairs.

Making his way into the kitchen, he realized he wasn't the only one awake early. "Mmmm... 'Morning. Sleep well?" he said sleepily to Naj as he started to make a large pot of tea. Noticing what she was reading, he asked, "See anything you'd like to try?"

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Naj looked up to see Red shamble his way into the kitchen, and she returned his greeting with a smile and a slight nod before turning back to the book. “Morning, and well enough.” She held off mentioning the full truth for a moment, not wanting to worry him to worry unduly, but soon reminded herself that she was past keeping secrets from him. Her nightmares were common enough that he'd probably find out sooner or later, and she wasn't sure how he'd feel about being kept out of the loop like that. “Bad dream,” she said eventually, and then gave him a reassuring smile. “But I've had worse, so don't worry about me. I got most of the night.”

She returned to flipping through the cookbook, and continued, responding to Red's other question. “I dunno yet. So far, the things that look interesting look a bit beyond me, and the things that I'm confident I could manage aren't grabbing me.” She closed the book and returned it to he shelf, deciding that she'd take another look later but wanting to set it aside for now. Looking back at Red, she asked, “How was your night?”

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“Bad dream, But I've had worse, so don't worry about me. I got most of the night.”

Red nodded, managing a weak smile. "Sorry to hear that," he says, pouring the boiling water into the teapot and letting in steep a while. He didn't ask what it was about, because he didn't really want to bring up anything she didn't want to talk about, so he left it to her to decide how much she was going to tell him.

"So far, the things that look interesting look a bit beyond me, and the things that I'm confident I could manage aren't grabbing me.”

Red nodded, although the irony of a creature who didn't truly need to eat looking through a cookbook wasn't lost on him. "Well, if you'd like to try your hoof at one of them, I'd be happy to show you how." he said. It would definitely be an interesting experience.

“How was your night?”

Red sighed, fetching down two mugs from the cupboard. "Actually, not that great, either." he admitted. "I was lying awake half the night thinking about what you said last night." He filled the two mugs with tea, then brought them to the table before going back and fetching some milk and sugar and then sitting down. "This usually helps me wake up." he said. "I don't know if you've ever had tea before but if you don't like it as is you can try milk or sugar in it. I like both."

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"Well, if you'd like to try your hoof at one of them, I'd be happy to show you how."

Naj considered for a moment as she kept looking through the cookbook. “ 'Stuffed mushrooms',” she read aloud. It attracted her attention as, while the hive didn't have large quantities of solid foods, but fungus generally made up the bulk of their supplementary food. She thought it might be nice to start somewhere vaguely familiar. Looking over at the oven however, she had second thoughts, at least for now. “...Let's save it for later,” she said eventually, “I don't feel up to starting the morning literally playing with fire.”

She took the offered tea in her hooves. “Thanks.” She sniffed the mug, before doing anything else. It didn't have a strong scent, but the faint herbal there was pleasant. She took a sip, and then put the cup down on the table. “Hot,” she said, “but otherwise it seems good. I'm gonna let it cool.”

Naj looked over at Red, with a slight frown. “I'm sorry to hear I kept you awake, did you come to any conclusions?” She was very curious about his ideas on it.

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“ 'Stuffed mushrooms',” she decided on. Red nodded, peering over at the recipe to make a note of what they would need to get at the markets to make them. When she suggested saving them for later, he smiled and nodded. "Good idea," he said, "Those would be better for dinner anyway, at least to a pony's palate."

“I'm sorry to hear I kept you awake, did you come to any conclusions?”

Red sighed, sitting back down beside her. "Well, it wasn't really you who kept me awake, more like me and my overactive mind sometimes," he said before taking a long sip of his tea. "I really don't like the risk involved, but at the same time, I really can't think of a better way, either." he said, gazing at the table in front of him for a long moment before raising his eyes to look at hers. "So, if that's what needs to happen, I'll help where I can, but, I want to be there with you when you go and see her."

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"So, if that's what needs to happen, I'll help where I can, but, I want to be there with you when you go and see her."

Naj looked at Red Cedar for a full minute, concern evident on her face. He was evidently concerned about her, and so it seemed that if he couldn't either dissuade her or come up with an alternative he wanted to be there with her. On the one hoof, that last thing she'd want to happen was for Red to be put into the line of fire. She'd forgive herself if he got hurt somehow.

On the other hoof, she couldn't exactly claim she'd be perfectly safe, only to turn him away on account of possible danger. She didn't want to be a hypocrite. And if she was being honest with herself, Red's presence would probably be a much needed help for her nerves. And hay one more pony willing to vouch for her, if she did end up revealing herself, could only help her case. “Alright,” she said eventually, having all the right arguments though still feeling some hesitation, “I'll let you know when things start to get moving. Just...if something does go wrong, no undue risks, okay? Just worry about getting yourself out of danger.”

She stood up, her disguise returning with a green flash as she started re-opening the curtains around the first floor. After spending a few minutes on that, 'Spring Breeze' had opened them all and morning light spilled into the room. She returned to her seat, and picked up her tea once more. She took a sip, and happy to move to lighter subjects, had a happy smile as she asked, “So! Where should we start today?”

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“Just...if something does go wrong, no undue risks, okay? Just worry about getting yourself out of danger.”

Red didn't know whether to laugh or cry at that. By comparison, he was hardly the one in danger. A few years spent in prison for harbouring a changeling would have been nothing compared to what could be in store for her. At the same time, though, the look on her face spoke volumes about the worry she was feeling. Part of him wished he could show Celestia that look right now to prove that this was a changeling who didn't mean any pony any harm any more. Seeing the look on her face, he wasn't about to argue semantics. "I promise," he said, "I won't let anything happen to me, but you do the same, all right?"

After watching her change back into the pegasus he met her as, watching her open the curtains, he said, Well, I thought I'd take you up into Rasya today, where all the unique little shops I told you about are, he said. We can go over the bridges through Ostrov, too, so you can see the river and the city centre. It's neat to look at even if it is mostly offices and appartments. But first," he declared, rising from his seat after taking a sip of tea. "I, at least, need something to eat. Did you want anything?"

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Naj smirked at Red's response to her condition. “I suppose that's only fair.” Again, she couldn't ask it of him and then turn around and simply ignore such a request herself. Granted, she was trained for combat, and had the experience dealing with overwhelming circumstances. She thought that qualified her to handle a little more than him. Strictly speaking though, the concerns applying just as much to her as they did to him. She didn't have any intention of taking more risks anyways, being in Canterlot would be risk enough.

---

The plan for today was to visit a shopping district which held a variety of unique and interesting stores, and the city centre, which was supposed to have a certain beauty to it even if there weren't any particular attractions there. “I look forward to it,” 'Spring Breeze' said with a smile. She shook her head at his question of if she wanted anything to eat. She wasn't a huge fan of his cooking, from what she'd tried of it, and anyways it would be irresponsible of her to use resources she wouldn't get much benefit from.

Which was all well and good, except that now there was what for 'Spring Breeze' was an awkward silence with little for her to actually do. There was one thing that came to mind though, at least to make conversation while they were still in the house. “I was thinking about my cutie mark story last night, among other things,” she said, “And given that 'I' am a pegasus and what my cutie mark is, I thought surviving a heavy storm would make sense, though I'm still working on it. Any thoughts?”

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Red nodded when she refused breakfast. He wasn't really surprised, he'd stuffed her with enough food the previous day. He made himself some toast and a plate of hash browns, coming back to the table with them, pouring himself another cup of tea.

"I thought surviving a heavy storm would make sense, though I'm still working on it. Any thoughts?”

Red pondered it a moment. "Possibly," he said, "Though, that's really more of an event than a reason for having a cutie mark. I mean, maybe the storm brought out your cutie mark, but your mark represents your talent, not something that happened in your life." He took a few more bites as he pondered, remembering what she had said earlier, back in Ponyville, about the best cover stories she was able to come up with had a grain of the truth in them. "Tell me, in reality, how good are you at flying?" he asked.

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While he didn't find it a completely flawed idea, Red expressed doubt that a storm is the sort of thing for which one earned a cutie mark.

'Spring Breeze' rubbed her chin in thought. “So at best,” she said after a moment, “it's a quick and dirty solution, and not something I should rely on long term.” That meant it wasn't something she had to worry about right now, but if she intended to keep using this identity she'd need a better story eventually. Unless of course, her audience with Celestia went well, but that wasn't something she was willing to count on just yet.

Responding to Red's question, she said, “I'm no stunt flyer or anything, but I can do well enough in the air. It's important to keep your options open in combat, so even if I'm not flying that much I make sure to keep able.” Realizing she hadn't explained the full idea behind the cutie mark yet, she continued. “My working idea for it's meaning was adapting to the situation, or 'going wherever the wind blows' sort of thing. So, being able to survive the storm by adapting to the hazards, was the idea.” She let the words hang in the air for a moment, not asking a specific question but hoping Red would provide come commentary.

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“My working idea for it's meaning was adapting to the situation, or 'going wherever the wind blows' sort of thing. So, being able to survive the storm by adapting to the hazards, was the idea.”

Red nodded, his mouth full of a bite of breakfast again, before swallowing it and answering. "That sounds better, actually," he said, running it over in his mind. "Quite a bit better. And, let's face it, it's also pretty accurate in describing you." He had to admit, it suited her perfectly He wondered just how much of herself and her own experience she put into that story.

Realizing he had, in fact, never seen Spring Breeze fly, he added "If you want to keep in practice, you might want to take a little flight over the bridges when we go. I understand it's quite a sight up there."

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'Spring Breeze' apparently had the right idea with her 'special talent', as when he'd heard the rough story she had behind it he thought that sounded a lot better, and her resulting smile was somewhere between satisfaction and relief at doing a good job of it. He further said that it sounded like her, and though she wasn't sure how much that was true it was a good sign nonetheless. As somepony who wasn't necessarily the best liar, she found it easiest to work as much truth into her story as possible. It made sure there was less to keep track of.

Red suggested that she could practice flying over the Stalliongrad's bridges, as they crossed them. 'Spring Breeze' thought it was a good idea, and in fact thought she might take it a step further. Nodding, she said, “it might be worth flying the whole way then, or at least as much as I can. From the air is the best way to get a look at a new place sometimes and,” she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, “to be honest I probably haven't been getting in quite as much flying as I should be...I'd stay nearby of course, just that I might be above you for stretches rather than beside.”

With the day sufficiently planned, she sat quietly for the moment. Her tea had cooled off by this point, and now that it was a reasonable temperature she found it had a mild but nonetheless quite pleasant flavour. She sat at the table sipping her tea, waiting patiently as Red finished his breakfast, looking forward to getting the day started but not in any rush.

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Red nodded, smiling, as he finished off the rest of his breakfast. "That's okay. I'll keep an eye out for you. The view should be great, though." he said with a smile. He had been looking forward to showing her his home town since she'd arrived. He drank down the last of his mug of tea, cleared the table, then set about making a sandwich, which he stuffed in a saddlebag along with an apple. "I figure if I eat on the go rather than stopping anywhere, it won't look as odd that I'm eating and you're not." he explained.

Finally, Red excused himself, disappearing into the bathroom upstairs and coming down a few minutes later with a clean coat and a brushed mane and tail, smiling to Spring Breeze. "Ready when you are," he said.

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