I happily walked along the winter sidewalk, a scarf around my neck and a warm hat on my head. Skitter was walking next to me in her semi unicorn form, the only thing marking her as changeling were her insect like wings.

She was just as bundled up as I was against the freezing cold. Scarf, Jane hat and even a jacket. Changelings were actually more sensitive to cold than ponies even when shapeshifted. No shiver reflex.

“What's next on the list?” I asked her as we stopped at a cross section.
Skitter reached into her bag and pulled a scroll list out and unrolled it to have a look, “Uhm... jewelry order is done. We've been past the publisher and checked the numbers.”

I nodded, “Anything else?”

“Nothing on the list, sir.”

There was one thing left though. A gift for Skitter... and that was something insanely difficult to be able to arrange as she stuck to my side like glue as soon as I left home.

Then there was also the trouble of actually finding something for Skitter. For one thing she was not a pony. She basically had zero cares for material things and I wasn't even certain that she even understood half the reasons why ponies did things. She could copy them of course, she was a changeling infiltrator, but she didn't truly understand some of them.

Hopefully she'll like the necklace I commissioned while at the jewelers while she was browsing and keeping a eye on the door. A nice and simple silver chain with a small pendant of a silver moon with an emerald silhouette of a butterfly in flight in the middle. I think I managed to sneak it in while getting the earrings for Luna.

“Well then. Some tea would be nice then I think,” I said with a smile, “Perhaps some hot chocolate.”

That got a smile from the changeling, “That would be nice, sir.”

Chocolate was the one food it turned out that changelings cared about. Something about the taste reminded them of love apparently.

Turning to the right, I headed for the favorite cafe, “What to do after... I likely should be getting some writing done.”

The Terminator was actually a pretty good idea to work on. Classic story. Of course it would likely be more horror than action in the pony adaptation.

“Back to the castle after tea then?”

“Mmm. I think so,” I confirmed as we reached the cafe and I moved to push the door open only to find it locked.

Huh? They were almost never closed.

The light was on inside but it looked empty. Frowning to myself, I knocked on the door.

Silence.

“Maybe nopony is here,” Skitter suggested as she peeked into the empty window, “But I feel...” she started to say before she paused, “She is inside there, Silver Leaf. But she tastes awful.”

I blinked at her and knocked on the door again.

Nothing.

Fine then. Focusing on the lock, I slowly slipped my magic in between the door and door frame, feeling around before turning the lock, pushing the door open.

The shop was silent and I slowly entered, “Hello?” I asked softly without getting an answer. I glanced at Skitter who pointed towards the kitchens,

“In there, sir.”

Nodding I ducked in behind the counter and carefully pushed the door to the kitchen open to look inside. It was a small kitchen, but it had a great number of ovens and a bunch of other equipment I couldn't recognize.

What I did recognize though was Silver Leaf laying on the floor, curled up, her wings pulled around herself.

“Silver?” I asked quietly, “What's wrong?” as I moved up next to her, putting my hoof on her shoulder.

She twitched and looked up at me in surprise, her eyes filled with tears before she closed her eyes and looked away, “I-I'm sorry, L-lord Page. W-we are closed today.”

Frowning I settled down next to her I shook my head, “Forget about that Silver. What's wrong?” and put my frontleg around her.

Suddenly I had a pegasus bawling against my chest as I held her close, stroking her mane. I didn't say anything, simply holding her seemed to be the best thing I could do.

She cried for what seemed like a long time. I never knew how to handle a crying woman/mare so I just stroked her mane.

Silver slowly settled down into sniffles, trembling against me before she spoke up again, “M-... My father passed away two days ago.”

Oh. Oh no.

“Silver... I'm so, so sorry.” I whispered softly.

“H-heart attack. I-I found him in the morning. The doctors couldn't do anything,” Silver continued quietly.

That... that was horrible. I could think of very few things that would be worse to experience.

“Silver. You should be home. What are you doing here?” I asked and stroked her mane.

“D-daddy would have wanted the store to open. B-but when I got here I... I couldn't... I couldn't stop crying.”

I nodded, “I think he would like you to take care of yourself more. Come on,” I said and gently helped her up, “Let's take you home.”

“...I can't. That's...”

Oh.

“Then we take you somewhere else.” I continued gently as she leaned against my side, “Come, we have plenty of rooms at the castle.”

“But... I can't... I have to...”

“You can and you will. Come on.”

Silver settled down and allowed me to lead her out of the cafe.