"I still think you're overreacting."

"I still think you're underreacting."

"I'm gonna have my Titan with me!"

"Will you be in it for this 'meeting'?"

"Well... no, but-"

"There we go."

"C'mon Rachel, this isn't you. What's up?"

"Maybe, Cervius, it's the fact that we now have someone besides ourselves to care for."

"I'm-" began a flanging voice before getting interrupted.

"Is that it? I think there's something deeper than that."

Again, the child tried to speak, "Hel-"

"Whatever you're thinking, stop."

"I'm thinking you're-

"I will tear off your ba-"

The Changeling just rolled his blue on blue eyes as the two humans continued to argue. Sighing, he settled his head on Rachel's thigh as he looked at the screens that showed the outside world. He didn't really know what was going on besides that Cervius had to be at a meeting. And, for some reason, he had to come as well. This led to Rachel putting up a fight before saying that she would come as well to protect the child.

Protect from what? the young Changeling thought as he watched the open fields zoom by. They had long past the small village that Cervius had spotted. Luckily, they had been able to skirt far around it and were no on course with a large mountain that held a glistening city on it's side.

"Hun?" Rachel began in the soft voice she reserved for the Changeling, "You okay?"

"Yeah," the kid replied with a sigh, "I just don't want you two to fight anymore."

"Oh, dear, I'm sorry. It's just that Cervius is a bit hard-headed, is all."

The Changeling heard Cervius's snort over the coms.

"Like the pot calling the kettle black," the Pilot mumbled, his microphone barely picking it up.

"What was that?" Rachel asked, the venom returning to her voice.

Groaning, the Changeling tried to bury his face into Rachel's thigh to drown out the arguing. It was going to be a long trip.

-------

The wind blew softly, causing the grass to wave lazily. The Changeling breathed deeply, enjoying the scent of nature, as he laid on his side in the green growth. He found himself closing his eyes in bliss as a hand stroked the back of his head. They had stopped a couple minutes ago to eat lunch. Now, at the Changelings asking, they were just enjoying the world around them... with gargantuan robots standing sentry, of course.

"Y'know," Cervius began as he stood with his hands on his hips, "it's amazing how much you tend to miss of the world when inside a Titan."

"Yeah," Rachel breathed. She sat next to the Changeling, her hand stroking the back of the Changeling's head.

"Miss Rachel?"

Rachel giggled as she looked down at the alien child, "I've told you before; just Rachel is fine."

"Rachel?" the Changeling began again, the uncertainty obvious in his voice.

"Yes?"

"What's my name?"

After a couple seconds with no answer, the Changeling opened his eyes and rolled to his stomach. With worried eyes, he looked up at the female human to see her staring at him with conflicting emotions: shock, sadness, pity, fear, anger. They all fought for control of her facial muscles. Finally, she settled for a soft smile at the young alien while her eyes showed nothing but kindness.

"No, hun, I don't. Would you mind telling me?" Rachel asked with that same smile.

"I..." the Changeling buried his face in his hooves, "I don't have one."

"You don't have a name?" Cervius asked, crouching down next to Rachel. The Changeling shook his head.

"I wasn't named before the..." the kid trailed off, his eyes growing distant. A caress on his cheek brought him back to reality and into focus on Rachel's kind smile.

"Would you like us to name you?"

The Changeling nodded weakly, "I-if you wouldn't mind."

"How about Onyx?" Cervius suggested, "Because his chitin looks like the stuff."

"I was thinking of Hope, because that's what he brought to us," Rachel stated, causing the Changeling to bury his muzzle behind his hooves in embarrassment.

"What do you think kid?" Cervius asked, looking down at the Changeling. The kid proceeded to bury his face further behind his hooves as he mumbled his reply.

"What was that dear?" Rachel asked.

"I like them both," the kid replied softly, taking his muzzle from behind his hooves.

"Onyx Hope?" Cervius tried, his mouth moving as if he was tasting the name.

Rachel smiled as she cupped the Changeling's face in her hands, "I think that's a great name. Don't you?"

The newly named Onyx Hope nodded his head with a large smile on his face. Onyx then thought of something, causing his face to contort to confusion.

"What is it bud?" Cervius asked.

"Well," Onyx began in his flanging voice, shifting nervously, "remember in the cave when you told me not to change my voice?"

"Yep."

"You said that I should never change who I am."

"I sure did," Cervius confirmed, a brow arching up in curiosity.

"Well, why do you guys speak of me like I'm a colt still?" Onyx finally asked as he looked between the two adults.

"Well-"

"Onyx, hun," Rachel interrupted, seeing Cervius struggle for the words, "We don't want you to change who you are. It's just that it's hard for us to call a living being an 'it'."

"Why?"

"Kid," Cervius began, "where we come from, calling something 'it' is like saying that it's not alive. 'It' is used to describe non-living things. To call you an 'it' would be degrading you."

"And we defaulted to boy, colt, names because where we come from a society where the males had important roles in society," Rachel finished.

"Oh," Onyx replied. After a couple seconds of silence, he continued, "So you call me 'him' because 'it' is for things like the dirt and grass?"

"That's it bud," Cervius answered as he rubbed the top of Onyx's head. Had he had a mane, it would've have been messed up by the action. As such it was just a soft noogie.

"Thanks," Onyx stated as he jumped into Cervius's chest and hugged him tightly. The Pilot returned the hug with vigor.

"You're welcome Onyx."

"Alright boys, break it up. As much as I don't want to, we should get a move on," Rachel stated as she looked up at the sun that moved steadily across the sky.

"Ya heard the lady, Onyx. Let's mount up," Cervius stated as he picked up the Changeling and moved to his Stryder.

"Are you sure you got him?" Rachel asked with a hint of worry.

"I'm sure," the male Pilot replied as he climbed into his Stryder one-handed.

"Be safe," Rachel chided.

"Just mount up," Cervius ordered. Rachel let the retort die in her throat as she saw the large smile on Onyx's face. Nodding, the female pilot climbed into her own Stryder and sealed the hatch. Within seconds, both Stryders were moving toward Canterlot once more.