I dozed off.

I wasn’t surprised. In fact, I had expected it. As paradoxical as it sounded, feeding was quite an exhausting experience. Back when I had been at Star Tracks, it took a lot of willpower to keep myself awake after feeding from Brad, as I was in another Cluster’s territory. However, since I was currently in my Cluster’s territory, and knowing I had someone standing guard, I let my mind wander free to enjoy the sensation of being satisfied and filled.

Too bad I met Mother earlier. I expected good, warm dreams. Instead, a memory began to play.

I was back in the Hive Cluster, though different and more familiar. I was smaller, younger, and more eager to please. In the center of the small flat area, I grunted as I began to expend magical energy to form a dark blue-green barrier in front of me. It took me a few seconds before the spell stabilized.

I could see Gypsy give me an encouraging smile. Beside her, Mother held no expression. No, actually, she held a more subtle form of curiosity and a dash of eagerness. Around me, I saw a few changeling guards, looking at their Queen for the signal—a sharp nod which was given mere seconds later.

I felt the magical energy wash around me as the guards lifted wooden balls, a little larger than hooves, around them. One by one, they launched them against me at blurring speeds. They hit my barriers with enough force to make me wince, the surface of the magical wall blazing with short-lived lights on impact. As more balls began rain down at me, I began to feel the familiar numbing sensation on my horn as I tried to hold on the spell, praying earnestly to keep it up until the end.

Then, it finally stopped. I looked around, breathing out a sigh of relief as all the guards smiled, their magic slowly dispersing away in the air. None of their smiles were as big as Gypsy’s, though, who looked at Mother with proud conviction.

“As you see, my Queen,” she began, “she seems to share the same potential for shield spells as her progenitor. At such a very young age, too.”

I looked at Mother with an eager expression, hoping for some small praise. Instead, I received a withering gaze.

“Marginal improvements aren’t reasons to be proud,” Queen Chrysalis replied. She looked around towards the guards. “Run the test again. This time, make it ten seconds longer.”

Gypsy looked alarmed. “My Queen, Luminous will need some rest. Her magical reserves are near exhausted.”

“Nonsense,” Mother scoffed. “I could expel more magic than that display without having been fed for days. As she is my spawn, she can undoubtedly do the same.”

“You can’t expect a youngling to be as capable as a fully grown adult, my Queen.”

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, as Mother glared at her venomously. “She’s physically an adult. I did not risk resources into the project so we could treat them the same as every natural brood.” She stared at the guards. “Again!”

The guards stared at the Queen, then back at me. I felt their magical energy wash over the thrown balls, making them return to their owners. I swallowed, closing my eyes as I tried to delve inwards, to grab any available magical energy to me.

“I’m waiting,” Mother hissed.

I almost moaned as the wooden balls launched themselves at me before I could form my shield up, but I was still able to repel the first two waves. The tingling sensation of my horn had spread throughout my head though, leaving me feeling dazed, confused, and exhausted.

One of the balls punched through the shield, deflecting slightly from the impact. It hit my knee so strongly that my concentration faltered. Excruciating pain came in next as the rest of the balls hit true to the targets. One of them hit my snout. I screamed in pain, my eyes watered. I bent down to cover myself, to be a smaller target. I shouted, “Mother! Mother!”

There was a momentary pause. Then, a cold statement. “Why are you stopping?”

I heard Gypsy beg, “My Queen, she’s exhausted. You can’t possibly think she can continue!”

There was a snort. “Pain is a good teacher. She is the only survivor of the project. She is my spawn, and a spawn of a strong unicorn who could cast a shield big enough to cover an entire city.” There was another pause. “You are too soft on her, Gypsyfly.” And finally, there was a bark of order. “Continue!”

It was a second later before the pain came again. Then darkness.

I woke up a little more violently than I liked. Phantom pains of the dream lingered slightly, but were soon replaced by an overwhelming warm sensation draping all over me. Blinking, I noticed one of Shaun’s arms hugging my side. I couldn’t help but smile. Shifting slightly, I turned over to look out the window, see if that would give me a clue on how much time had passed since I fell asleep.

It couldn’t have been that much. The velvet skies were bright with glittering stars, and below that was Silverfly in her Silver Lining cover, gazing inside and eyes wide. I blinked for a few seconds before sighing, then giving her a glare. She straightened slightly as I magically lifted Shaun’s arm out of the way, earning a small sleepy groan from him, before I slowly made my way towards the window. Slowly, I mouthed to meet me at the entrance. She immediately nodded before flying away.

It took her a moment before she finally knocked on the door. I let her in, and whispered, “I told you to stay in place.”

“No one was around!” Silverfly weakly protested. “And I wasn’t in my Primary form.”

“Great. So, instead of getting caught being a changeling, you’ll be caught for being a voyeur.” When she pouted, I smiled. “Enjoyed it that much, have you?”

She blushed. “It… it was fascinating. And the emotions… they were so different from the one in the Feeding Chamber!” She blinked. “Does feeding really expand Love that far?”

I shook my head. “I projected a little emotion so you could feel it a bit. However, when you feed, I recommend you contain them so you won’t broadcast it to any potential enemy changelings around.”

She smiled. “When I feed?” She looked over me, some excitement escaping her. That got me chuckling.

“Slow down there, Silverfly. You have a long way to go before getting there. So, what are your observations? Any questions you need answered?”

Silverfly pondered for a moment before nodding. “It was… longer than I expected.”

“What, the feeding?” I asked.

“No, the thing before that,” she clarified. “The whole dinner thing. You certainly took your time there.”

I nodded. “For a lot of good reasons. Primarily, I wanted to give him the metaboliser and the booster.” I raised my hoof before Silverfly could interrupt. “And yes, I could have dosed him here, but this is where understanding ponies and humans come into play.

“Feeding is different for them. A lot of the act ties down to socialization and cues. It’s something I realized the hard way: being overly eager or overplaying my hoof had scared off most of my potential assets. I still feel embarrassed thinking about those times, let me tell you.”

Silverfly nodded. “So basically, take it slow?”

“Yes, but more importantly, connect,” I replied. Seeing her blank stare, I sighed. “Love is basically all their emotions put forward during the act of feeding. The more connected they feel to you, the more energy they give out. And to connect to an asset, you have to be an important part of their lives.”

The young changeling nodded. “Does that mean this human writer thinks you’re important to him?”

“Right now, Shaun’s feeling me out, and likes me well enough. However, he isn’t completely invested.” I looked at her. “Didn’t you notice how small the energy felt, compared to the one in the Feeding Chamber?”

Silverfly gave me a flat look. “I thought that was because I was, you know, a little farther away.”

I chuckled. “True, but even if you were a bit closer, you would have felt the difference.”

“Okay, so, is that normal?” she asked. “Feeding on him, even if he isn’t invested?”

“In a way,” I replied. “Like I said, the act is part of their social culture. It’s a good indicator if the two subjects are compatible. In fact, it’s used to find out whether the potential asset is a keeper, to see if developing them further and making them invested, is worth the time.”

Silverfly frowned. “So, the first feeding is important?” When I nodded, she asked, “But what if it was… well, not a good feeding?”

I smiled. That was a good question to ask. “It’s not the be-all and end-all. But you’ll have to work harder if the first impression wasn’t too favorable.”

“So, be very good at feeding?”

I snorted. “No. Well, yes, but not only. Talking to and spending time with them will help endear you to your assets.”

Silverfly seemed to sigh. “All of this seems… hard.”

“Worthy things usually are,” I advised sagely.

She frowned a moment before nodding. “So, the date was to help establish a connection between you two, which is part of their cultural thingies. And sleeping with him is actually part of a step to make him feel invested in you.”

I nodded. “That, and it was also a good way to recharge since I’m about to investigate the changeling deaths.”

She seemed to ponder over that for a moment before nodding. “You always seem to do things for multiple reasons.”

I smiled. “I like to be efficient. While not exactly necessary when being an infiltrator, Silverfly, it’s something you should learn to do as well.”

She frowned, once more going to a pensive mood. “Okay, so… what’s next?”

“Next step is for me to evaluate your performance.”

That got her blinking.

“I spotted you six times, with three different disguises,” I continued. “Let me tell you why.”

Silverfly spent the next fifteen minutes frowning as I pinpointed exactly how I spotted her, complete with examples on what would have happened if a hostile changeling or an Equestrian spotted her. I may have oversold it a bit on the consequences (and I was pretty sure she knew I was selling a bit of horse apples to her), but never let it be said that pinning the destruction of all the Hives in Equestria on a poorly disguised changeling was not an effective method in getting a point across.

“So, work on the posture, and always ensure that you don’t appear too obvious in your observation. A good disguise is a first step, but it’s the attitude that will sell it,” I finished. Looking at her, I could tell she was slightly annoyed. Whether it was because she was recognizing her own failures or because I was laying it rather thick on the lecture, I couldn’t be completely sure. “You understand?”

Her head snapped up and she began to nod quickly. “Yes, yes!”

“Good.” I nodded. “Now, as punishment for your poor performance—”

“Punishment?! That’s not fair—” Silverfly protested immediately, before I pinned her with a hard stare that quieted her once more.

Satisfied, I continued. “Now, as for your punishment, I need you to go back to Embarr Corner after sunrise. The place will be closed, so go knock on the back door. Ask for Wasp, and tell her Lumi needs a breakfast special.”

“Why can’t you do that?” she whined.

“Well, one, it’s your punishment; and two, I need to stay close in case Shaun wakes up.”

“Um… why?”

I smiled. “Connection.”

Silverfly stared at me for a moment before huffing. “This whole culture thingy is really complicated.”

“You’ll learn fast, Silverfly,” I replied honestly, leaving out the fact that her dreams of being an infiltrator were gone if she couldn’t.

Once she was out of the door, I slowly made my way back to Shaun. I wondered if I should have warned her about Wasp’s penchant for passwords. I could almost imagine Silverfly and the Independent fighting.

Ah, well. It would be another good lesson for Silverfly. Not everyone, not even allies, will agree with you.

Sliding on to his bed, I was surprised to feel him stir. “Hush,” I cooed softly, extending one of my forelegs over him. I rubbed him gently, making him murmur before he settled down, back to sleep. I took note that he could potentially be a light sleeper, which could add to some difficulty when I started exploring his place in the near future. Maybe I should just do that when he was at work?

Instead of answering my own question, I just concentrated on studying him. I fixed in memory everything I could—the feel of his skin, the pitch of his light snores, and any murmur of his dreams. Surprisingly, his emotions were also pretty strong even in slumber, but were chaotic at best, shifting from one spectrum to another; from palpable fear, to warmth of familiarity with a hint of exasperation.

Part of me wondered what his dreams were.

Oddly, the statement ‘stupid brother’ was repeated. I may have smiled at that. I guess we both had problems with family, though I hope that his brother wasn’t plotting his demise. Unlike Mother.

Before I knew it, I felt the first ray of sun, its warmth blanketing my back. Strangely enough, when the light hit Shaun, he too stirred. He grunted a series of sounds, which I have absolutely no idea what they were supposed to mean. It took him a moment to open his eyes, which then focused on me. He blinked slowly, then let out a breathe.

“You’re still here,” he whispered.

“Is that a subtle way of throwing me out, Mr. Bradley?” I asked, smirking.

“Huh. Oh. No, no. I just thought last night was a dream.”

I raised my eyebrow at him for a moment, my smile widening. “Okay, that was a good line.”

“Hmm, I thought so too,” Shaun replied softly. “I was going to add that last night was too good to be true or something along those lines.”

“Are you complimenting me to have another repeat performance?” I asked naughtily, nudging his side gently. He chuckled, weakly.

“I would love another go if I didn’t feel as weak as a baby,” he muttered. He sighed. “I’m a bit… disappointed.”

“Was I that bad?”

“No. You were… perfect.”

That statement would have been trite if it wasn’t for the fact that he was being perfectly honest. And as a changeling, I took whatever compliments I could get, especially in that area.

I kissed him in the cheek. “I think you were perfect too.”

He smiled before shaking his head. “I thought I would have given you a much better performance. Maybe next time I’ll play more of my strengths.”

“Which is?”

“Linguistics.”

I giggled. “Your accent does give me the shivers. And you do have a rich vocabulary to wow me with your never ending adjectives.”

“I do occasionally get praised for the talents of my tongue.”

“Which is well earned,” I interjected before kissing his chest, which made him shiver. “In fact, I consider myself talented in that area as well. I am sorely tempted to see who’s actually better at it: you or me.”

He groaned. “You’re evil.”

“Call it incentive for next time,” I replied with a wink.

“Hmm, sounds good,” he muttered, his arms surrounding me before he gave my neck a small kiss. While it wasn’t scorching hot as last night, it made me want to hug him tighter.

We stayed in each other’s embrace for a moment, basking in the warmth of the sun and of each other before Shaun shifted slightly.

“Not that I don’t want to stay with you, but I think one of us should be making a bit of breakfast.”

“Don’t worry,” I replied. “I had that taken care of.”

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow before he sank back to bed. I smiled as he went back into my embrace. “Is there anything you can’t do?” he asked.

“That would be telling.” And before any of us could say anything, I heard the doorbell ring. “And I think that’s breakfast.”

“Good, because I’m hungry,” he said. He extricated himself from my embrace, sitting up, allowing me to admire the skin of his back. There was a pause before he turned to me. “Aren’t you supposed to get up?”

“Yes.” I smiled wickedly. “But I had this fantasy, you know. I was always curious how a human dresses.”

I heard him snort. “Minx,” he said.

“Yes. Yes I am.”

He laughed, but obliged soon afterwards as he stood in front of me, fully exposed to Celestia’s light. I made a show of licking my lips. He in turn made a show of putting his clothes on very slowly.

Needless to say, Silverfly was not amused when I finally opened the door much, much later.