Return to Stalliongrad [Closed: DerpRavener and RedCedar]

[RedCedar]

Red nodded as Naj thought out loud about his sister's reaction. Some of it made sense, that was for certain. He was just trying to reconcile it with what he knew about Powder, trying to find a pattern in her thought. "The thing is, I get the feeling that a true infiltrator wouldn't reveal themselves to me as a changeling under normal circumstances. It would just be easier that way. Even if they knew me or my feelings for you, or about changelings in general, it would be simpler and less risky that way." he mused as he walked along, his brow furrowed in thought still. Breathing a sigh, he said, "I would have hoped that just the fact that you showed Powder the truth would have been convincing enough, but, I guess not."

 

A smile slowly crossed his lips, though, as Naj expressed her concern for him again. It seemed strange, but that regard for his safety was very comforting to him, because it reminded him how much she cared for him. "I promise, if I encounter any others, I'll be very, very careful, and I will tell you about them as soon as I can. You're right, I have no real idea who is who to start with, so staying skeptically cautious is probably best at first," he said. Much as he was touched by her concern for his well-being, he also didn't want Naj to worry needlessly.

[DerpRavener]

Red argued that a real changeling infiltrator would never have revealed their true species, and that Naj was willing to should have been enough to prove she hadn't meant any harm.

 

Naj wasn't sure she agreed with it, but she couldn't think of a good way to refute it.  “Yeah...” she begrudgingly agreed, though it wasn't the firmest agreement.  Infiltrators were trained to be creative.  While it might not be their first choice, she could easily imagine an infiltrator 'coming clean' in a calculated effort to gain somepony's trust as part of a larger plan.

Although, that would make them a known quantity, wouldn't it?  Naj voiced her next thoughts aloud.  “A changeling could still be sneaky after revealing themselves, but then everypony would know a changeling was there and could watch out.  And even if they were inclined to like changelings, they would still have a much better chance of spotting anything nefarious that the changeling tries.  A good infiltrator would never take the risk of doing anything that makes you think 'changeling' in the first place.”  She snorted and added, “and a bad one you don't need to worry about regardless.”

She went back to addressing Red.  “Yeah, I think you're right.  Though I still had to think it through, and to be fair we did kinda spring it on them...”  She rubbed a hoof against the back of her head.  She nodded, partially to herself.  "This just makes me think she needs some time even more."

 

Naj nodded solemnly as Red promised her that he would be careful and come to her immediately if he found any other changelings.  “I appreciate that, and I whole-heartedly agree, at least with the being careful bit.  I don't want to tell you to push them away, but if they're too friendly, or start trying to get close I'd be careful.”  She wasn't even really the expert on changelings though, or at least she never felt like it.  She was a lot more knowledgeable than the average pony, sure, but she'd never gotten past the lower ranks and she'd ultimately dropped out of infiltrator training.  There was still a lot she didn't know.  “But really,” she said after a moment, “if either of us sees anything really suspicious we should probably go to the nearest guardsponies with it.”

[RedCedar]

Red listened to Naj's voiced reasoning as they rounded the last bend and came towards their home again. She seemed to think there might actually be an instance where a changeling could try gaining a pony's trust by revealing themselves. Maybe she was right. Nothing would stop them from changing into a different disguise in the blink of an eye if the tactic failed, but it still seemed to be more risk than a changeling would be comfortable with, especially one intent on doing harm. He certainly hoped a little time was all it would take for Powder to see that Naj wasn't a threat, to him or any other pony.

 

“If either of us sees anything really suspicious we should probably go to the nearest guardsponies with it.” Naj suggested, and Red immediately nodded his agreement there. "Absolutely," he said. "No sense trying to figure out motives if they really are up to something. Let the guards handle it." Coming to the door, he opened it up, mentally making a note that he would have to get a new key made for Naj, and then shut it behind them before turning to her once more. "I hope you're right and Powder does come around eventually, because I absolutely want to keep you around for a long, long time." he added, reaching over to give her another hug.

[DerpRavener]

Naj leaned into the hug, and smiled.  “Oh I wouldn't worry about that,” she began playfully, “at this point you couldn't get rid of me even if you wanted to!  One way or another, I plan to stay.”  Her smile faded, but only slightly.  “Worst comes to worst, I can just keep a respectful distance.”

That was only the worst case scenario though.  “I still have faith in her.”  Granted, Naj didn't know the mare that well and she still had some doubts, but that didn't stop her from having faith in Equestria overall.  “I haven't seen anything yet which makes me think she can't change her attitude, and anything less...” She took a moment to choose just the right words. “...feels unfair.”

 

It wasn't long before they arrived back at Red's house- their house in a way, Naj supposed, even if she didn't have any ownership of it.  “Home, sweet home,” she said as they approached the door, as much to get used to the concept herself as to make any sort of comment.  She yawned.  “I don't know about you, but I have a few things to think about.”

[RedCedar]

 “Worst comes to worst, I can just keep a respectful distance.”

 

Red looked deeply into Naj's pure blue eyes after she said that. "You'll never have to keep any distance away." he said firmly, giving her one last hug before Naj's yawn became infectious and he caught it as well. "Yeah, me, too. Or, maybe it was just all the food," he said with a smile. "Sweet dreams, Naj," he said.