"Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the conquest of fear."
–Lord Blueblood, Duke of Canterlot, 4 BCE

Cpt. Thunderball Spotted at Stormbirds Concert With Long–time Coltfriend
By Phrase Mark

The Stormbirds took Ponyville made a surprise guest appearance yesterday evening at a local concert to raise money for the War Veteran's Fund. Fittingly, celebrated SAS officer, and national gay icon, Thunderball was present, along with his coltfriend of many months Creme Brulee. The pair spent a romantic evening together at the Sweet Apple Acres concession stand, which conclude with an invitation to join the bands for a private gathering in the Apple family barn.

When reached for comment, the Daily Sun was told to "Get lost" by the Stormbirds, They Might Be Humans, concession stand staff, and the event organizers.

Creme Brulee's head hit on the kitchen table and sent his dinner plate rattling towards the edge. How had the Daily Sun taken a photo of him? This sort of thing seemed to happen every time he ran into Thunderball, as if one or the other was being followed. It was a wonder the pegasus still tolerated his company.

While Creme Brulee made no secret of his attraction to stallions, but he was fairly certain that Thunderball was as straight as the Roebuck Tower. Thunderball had more than enough reasons to avoid him but Creme Brulee supposed that Princess Twilight would hardly have kept the soldier around if he was not capable of being open minded.

Still, Creme Brulee figured that he owed Thunderball something for the latest article. His backyard garden had a respectable variety of flowers in it, and five minutes of searching resulted in a delicious bouquet of flowers.

Guest hours might have been over, but that had never stopped Thunderball from sneaking out into the town, and Creme Brulee saw no reason for it to prevent him from making a discrete visit. Despite his size, which rivaled Big Mac, Creme Brulee was surprisingly agile; he barely made a sound as he crept up to the hospital. His brown coat blended into the shadows very well, almost as if it was adapting to the background, though that would have been impossible for a pony.

The lights were out inside, but he could hear voices. Eavesdropping on a private conversation was rather poor form, but Creme Brulee's curiosity got the better of him as he gently placed his ear on the door.

"– every time I wake up now," Thunderball grumbled. "Feels like something's trying to get inside my head when I'm sleeping."

Creme Brulee could make out a mare responding to the complaint, and it was not one of the nurses. "Interesting. You said it's progressed over the course of the last few months?"

"Ever since I was hospitalized. I thought it might have been a side–effect of the trauma or medication, but it should have gotten better, not worse."

"While drugs are more Daisy Cutter's field, I am familiar with the medication you've been given, and headaches are not a common side effect. Do you suppose they are a psychosomatic in origin? Perhaps related to the nightmares?"

"Maybe? They're often concurrent. Nightmare starts, then I'm wide awake with the mother of all migraines. At least it keeps the nightmares from playing out."

"And you waited until now to do something?"

"Well what was I supposed to do, Flash Point? I couldn't talk to anyone here about it, and its not like the first thing I thought when the headaches started was that I was under some sort of psychic assault."

"But your mental barriers are keeping them out, right?"

"As far as I can tell, my hypno–conditioning's held up pretty well."

Creme Brulee furrowed his brow. Surely he had misheard?

"While it can theoretically last a lifetime without maintenance, it usually requires regular upkeep. When was the last time you meditated?"

"I haven't had the peace of mind for it since Saddle Arabia."

"And now?"

"I'm severely out of practice. Maybe you can help?"

"Before we begin, would you like to tell your coltfriend he should come in and explain himself?"

The door swung open before Creme Brulee could react. He found himself looking at Thunderball sitting upright in his bed with a unicorn next to him on the mattress.

"Uh, hi? I brought flowers…" Creme Brulee fumbled with his bouquet under the mare's furious glare, though Thunderball seemed much less upset.

"You can set them on the nightstand." He pointed to the empty vase on his nightstand, and Creme Brulee obliged. Flash Point shut the door immediately after he entered.

"How much did you hear?" She growled, earning herself an angry glance from Thunderball.

As big as he was, Creme Brulee found himself trying to hide behind Thunderball. "Um, enough to suggest a dream catcher?"

"Ancient superstitions are no match for proper mental discipline. Flash Point shot him a cold glare before shifting her focus to Thunderball. "Remember to meditate. Let me know if anything — and I do mean anything — comes up, sweetheart."

Thunderball waved to her as she winked out of existence, with barely more fanfare than a light turning off.

"Hm, you know, I thought it'd be more… dramatic." Creme Brulee finished thoughtfully. "When Twilight does it, there's usually a burst of magic energy. Unless she's stressed, then there's an explosion."

"You can suppress the teleportation signature, but it requires a good deal of finesse. Most ponies don't bother." Thunderball turned his head towards the bouquet and took a healthy bite out of the flowers. "So, what brought you down here this late at night?"

Creme Brulee's cheeks reddened. "Well, I know how bothered you get when ponies think you're gay, so I thought I'd cheer you up."

Thunderball casually waved his hoof through the air. "Don't worry too much, I'm over it. Ponies like me spend most of our careers out of the public eye anyways. This'll all be a distant memory after a year or so."

"That's nice." Creme Brulee's smile did not quite reach his eyes, and his ears drooped slightly. "So, I guess I won't be seeing much of you after you get out of the hospital?"

"That depends on what my orders are, I suppose." He paused for a moment to consider his options. "Princess Twilight has offered me a position, and one doesn't refuse a request from royalty. The alternative, I suppose, is for me to go back into the service. I'll probably serve out the rest of my career behind a desk at regimental headquarters."

"Does it bother you that you only have two options?"

Thunderball shrugged. "Celestia points, and we obey."

"Over the hills, and far away?" Creme Brulee cocked his head. "But that doesn't mean you'll always be in the army. You're going to get discharged one day, right?"

The room grew quiet as Thunderball looked out the window. "To be honest, I never really thought I'd live this long."

Creme Brulee sat down next to the bed and asked softly, "Well, what would you do if you had a choice?"

Now it was Thunderball's turn to blush. "Well, I've always thought I'd like to be a teacher. Work with kids and all that."

"Has seeing Twilight teaching the Cutie Mark Crusaders inspired you?"

Thunderball gave a wistful smile. "They remind me of my childhood. Me and my cousins, a bunch of blank flanks sneaking into places we didn't belong, stealing things, and making an unholy mess in the process. It was fun while it lasted."

Creme Brulee cocked his head. "What changed?"

"We disagreed as to the appropriateness of our activities," he said tersely, looking out the window. "Then I joined the army and we lost contact with each other. It was a long time ago, ancient history. Nothing you need to concern yourself with. How've you been?"

"A–alright." Creme Brulee swallowed nervously. "I like it here, I really do. Much better weather, plenty of food, good friends, a steady job, no beatings…" he gave a weak laugh as Thunderball raised his eyebrows at the last one.

"I've had a lot of time to reflect on myself, and my place in the world. I think I'm a better pony because of it, even if…" he trailed off and sighed. "Well, to be honest, I wish I could change myself as easily as I could change my appearance." His voice sank into a dry whisper. "You know, when Chrysalis attacked, I just hid myself in the library basement. Like a coward."

Creme Brulee shot Thunderball a timid glance. "And then you nearly died fighting her off. I…" He blinked, as tears started welling up in his eyes. "I wish I could fight my own battles for once, instead of running and hiding."

Thunderball reached over and put his foreleg around Creme Brulee's shoulders. "Don't be too hard on yourself. None of it was your fault. Besides, I think you're very brave. You left the safety of the hive to start a new life in Equestria, despite not knowing anypony and risking being caught. It takes a lot of courage to pursue your dreams in the face of the unknown."

Creme Brulee laid his head to rest on the mattress and sighed. "I suppose so. But they say it's easier to move mountains than change one's nature, and sometimes I believe it."

The Adjutant–General of the Hive poked the clay scarab with her horn. It tingled as it encountered a pulsating field of magical energy emanating from the artifact. Perhaps it was due to the general lack of magical knowledge in the hive — very few changelings could do more than their natural transformation magic, even if they had the capability to learn spells — but she could not for the life of her figure out what the enchantment did.

"I'm tired of waiting, A cold voice hissed from behind her. The Adjutant quickly dropped to her hooves and bowed as Queen Chrysalis stepped in front of her and took the scarab. "What does it do?"

Adjutant trembled — Chrysalis had been in a foul mood ever since her defeat in Ponyville, and had lately taken to imprisoning those who had failed her. Or, in some cases, banishing them. Occasionally, when she was feeling especially vindictive, she would imprison them in the places they had been banished. "I don't know, my Queen."

"Useless." The glow of magic illuminated the section of floor in front of Adjutant's eyes. There was a loud popping sound, followed by the sensation of several heavy objects landing on Adjutant's skull. Stars swam in front of her as she realized that she had been hit by several encyclopedias.

"I found some research material on those pyramids while you were faffing about," Chrysalis sneered. "I expect you to give me some idea of what the scarab does by tomorrow morning, or I might decide that we need to reduce the population of the hive slightly to deal with the current food shortage."

"Of course, my Queen." Adjutant bowed as Chrysalis's retreating form.

The encyclopedias might have held the answer, but there was no way Adjutant would get through it with a night's effort. She left the books where they had fallen, and made her way down to the feeding chamber. It was time to poke around in the head of their latest guest. Adjutant soon found herself standing in front of a cocoon, and pressed her horn against the window.

"Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we?" She whispered to the sleeper within.