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Things Are Rarely as They Seem

by Orcus

Chapter 21: Nightmare's End

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Persica found herself alone, in the spot where she had lost him. The sky above was black, missing both the moon and the stars. The air was cold and clammy, as well as dry, but no snow was present. She could see nothing in the rank surrounding forest, but she detected a dark presence within it that quickly made itself known.

"You did it. You did it, like a stray, worthless mutt." The voice that greeted Persica's ears was threatening and foul, but for once, she was ready for it. "Before I punish you like the dog you are, I want to ask you why. Why did you choose to betray me in such a callous and uncaring way?"

"I did not betray you," she said, growling defiantly. The brief moment of quiet that followed told Persica that the presence did not expect this reaction, but still it went on with its tirade. Persica could hear it move about in the brush surrounding her; snapping twigs and rustling leaves as it circled about, looking for her blind spot.

"Who is this wretched changeling to you? Who is he to you that you would so easily become seduced by his foolish antics? Were you truly this desperate to be sated by the touch of a stallion that you would lay with a beast?"

"He is no beast. He's the one person I've been looking for in my life. He makes me feel good about myself. He makes me... happy."

Like a raindrop snuffing out a candle, a horrible laugh erupted from the presence that froze the blood in the pony's veins. "No. You yourself know in your very soul that he isn't the one you've been 'looking for'. He's just a figurehead. A proxy. Nothing more, and greatly, greatly less. He'll never compare to what you really want."

"You're wrong. I know he is," she argued back, stirring an anxious hoof over the dirt below her hooves. It grunted and growled, then in a flash of movement, a dark shape approached her and stood directly in front of her. The haze of the inky darkness was too thick to make out, but it took the basic shape of a pony.

"How can that be, when you still want me." The presence suddenly poked an icy hoof of shadow at her chest with enough force behind it that Persica could feel her rib bones there splintering under its ghostly strength, but still her features were rigid and unmoving in spite of the burning jolt of excruciating pain. "Deep down, in that miserable, unfaithful heart of yours, you know that you still need me!"

Persica's face was stone. "No. I don't need you. I don't need to fear you anymore." She then took a single step forward, pressing against the force against his chest, and clearly surprising the entity as she said its name. "I'm not afraid of these wretched confrontations of ours any longer, Chantilly."

The beast unleashed a wretched scream of outrage that rang in Persica's ears so loudly, they might as well have been bleeding. Lunging forward, it engulfed her completely in its horrible, light-less form. Persica flinched away as it enveloped her with predatory intent, expecting only the worst.

What she felt next was not gnashing teeth that were set to inflict a gruesome death upon her, nor long claws that would go on to tortuously tear her to bloody pieces, but the pleasant warmth of sunlight hitting against her hide. No agony came upon her, only what one would feel from a typical warm summer day, and that was all.

The pain in her chest no longer ailing her, Persica only opened her eyes when she felt a pair of warm, familiar hooves suddenly embrace her, and a sniffling cry come against her splayed-back ears.

Recognizing the feeling before she even saw it, Persica knew from instinct that it was Chantilly who was holding her, and not only had Persica noticed that, but her surroundings had also changed. Where she now stood was an otherwise uninhabited field bearing long, golden grass as far as the eye could see, that swirled around in the wind like the briny surf of the ocean. Above them, once a cold night sky, was cloudless and as blue as glistening sapphire.

"I-if you go with him... if you keep him..." the tone had descended from a threatening growl and turned to a softer, sadder voice. Chantilly's voice. "You'll... you'll forget me. You'll forget me and all th-those times we spent together. You'll forget the bond we formed and shared since we were foals. The love we gave one another. You'll forget it all."

With a trembling caution in her movement, Persica carefully, carefully wrapped her hooves around her husband's shivering form, and through the soft, light blue fur that lined his back. She held him close, letting him cry into her shoulder as the beginnings of teardrops formed into her own eyes. It felt so vivid and real; the wetness building up on her shoulder fur, the sounds of the passing wind, the heartbeat of Chantilly's chest... all of it felt like it was happening in reality, even though she knew good and well that this was a dream.

"I would never forget you," she decided to speak in a tender whisper; working up the words through a startled mind that was choked up with emotion. "I never will."

"I just... I don't want to go. I don't want to go," he sobbed. "I don't want you to stop loving me, as you did before. Before that creature made you take me from you."

"I do love you still, but I'm moving on. I have to," she calmly spoke. "Just because I love you long after I've lost you doesn't mean I can't give my love to another. It doesn't mean I can't share it. I'll always love you as much as I did before when my times comes, that I promise you, Chantilly."

The two held onto each other for a long while. The wind whistled past them, and the tall grass they stood over would brush along their legs. Persica didn't want to let him go, and she knew he felt the same. When that did eventually happen, Chantilly took his face off of his beloved wife's shoulder, and raised it to her own.

"I'm sorry. About everything," he started to apologize, his tone still cracked, but a little more stable now as he looked into her eyes with his handsome, near-luminous green ones. "I'm sorry about all those nights of hell I put you through. I cannot say it enough."

Persica grinned past her tears, and managed to let out a single, somber chuckle. "There's nothing to be sorry about, Chantilly. All those dreams were of what I saw of you last. Not who you were. Just dumb figments of my worst imagination, that's all. What you are now... this is who you are. This is who you are to me."

There was a silence, and it only lasted for a few moments until Chantilly spoke again. "Our daughter... Peach Blossom... what's she like?"

"She's beautiful. She's smart. She's got your eyes and your personality shines like the sun in her. And she's probably got your silver tongue too, judging from all the times she's convinced me into permitting a few things."

He smiled. "That tongue's gotten us both into more predicaments than I could have ever hoped for. Or wanted."

"I've raised her well," Persica went on. I've taught her almost everything I know, everything you would have taught her, and... she might have even made me learn a few things along the way."

"And I'm thankful for this," he sighed, leaning his face in to her own. Neither could fight the longing feeling of affection that was taking its inevitable hold, and the gap between them soon closed.

When their lips touched, for the last time, Persica and her husband shared a long, final kiss with much bliss following. Before their mouths separated and her wonderful dream came to its conclusion, Persica heard the sound of her beloved Chantilly Cream say one last thing into her ear as a precious, soft whisper. A whisper that also sounded like that of another voice she knew and cared for in equal measure.

"I love you... Persica."


Persica's eyes slowly opened, coming face-to-face with a dark figure beside her on the bed she was upon; his muzzle sitting next to hers as both rested on their sides. What she once saw as the pony Chantilly Cream was replaced by Habeas the changeling. He was fully asleep, but he was mumbling something.

"I love you... so... much..." the changeling unconsciously repeated, his hoof tightening slightly around her waist a little bit. His grip was still a little loose due to the fact that he was still out of it, but it was still firm enough to let Persica know that he didn't want to, and most certainly wasn't going let her go.

Seeing no reason in moving as of yet, she just laid there with him, savoring the moment and enjoying his presence. The lower region of her body still felt very much sore from the way Habeas held and pleased her last night, but it was a light, soothing pain. Having done what she did; stripped every last one of her defenses away and opened herself up to him in such a private manner brought comforted feelings to her still-weary mind that surprised her fairly greatly, and she found herself quite okay with it.

Morning light was shining through the blinds of the window nearby, but by the pinkish-reddish hue of it, it was early morning. Knowing that there was plenty of time to spend before having to move around and prepare for the full day, Persica continued to use the time to remain relaxing in the bed and bide her time for Habeas to wake up. He eventually did a meager few minutes later, starting with a murmur that came squeaking through his mouth. When his eyelids groggily lifted, the first thing they spied was the waiting face of the mare he adored looking at him.

She smirked toward him with a lazy, loving eye. "Morning."

"Morning," he repeated back, smiling happily. Persica crawled a few inches closer to him, putting her snout up to his and giving him a kiss, which he gave back. "How are you feeling?" he asked, once it ended.

"Mmm... satisfied," was all Persica sighed, stretching her limbs out from under the sheets that covered them both. "Last night was spectacular, Habeas."

"It was," he agreed in a whisper, the memory of it still fresh as a daisy in his mind. "Thank you for letting me share it with you, Persica."

"I should be the thankful one," she insisted, snaking her front hooves around his form and pulling him in a little closer across the mattress. "If it wasn't for you, Habeas, I... I may never have opened myself like this. To anyone, ever."

"If it wasn't for you, I might never have found a... special somepony," he remarked back cheerfully, a minute passing by when he heard the light growl of Persica's stomach and felt it rumble against his chitinous hide. His brows raising, Habeas thought of what it meant.

"You sound hungry."

"Well... maybe I am a tiny bit," she tittered, the embrace ending softly like a pleasant, fleeting breeze. Careful of disrupting the sheets covering the mare, Habeas rolled himself about and started to leave the bed. As he left her side, Persica couldn't help but take notice of a particularly striking, glittering sheen his transparent, insectile wings now seemed to posses on his back. It was a little bit different from what they looked like before, but it was a minor feature overall.

"You just get up and ready at your leisure, and I'll go make you some breakfast," he smiled, searching for and quickly finding his handkerchief on the ground nearby; having previously lost it in the heat of the tender moment they shared the night before. "Any dishes you may wish for me to serve in particular?"

She chuckled as she looked to him tying the bandanna around his neck, laying her head flat against the pillow again and sending her long mane sprawling out over it like water spilling out from a tipped-over glass. "Surprise me."


Peach Blossom just couldn't get over how cute Honey Bee was. Now that she was old enough, Apini deemed her fit to be in the company of others. She crawled around, through the carpeted floor of the house's main living area. Honey mumbled childish gibberish as she did so, and played with Peach Blossom and Bumble with as happy of a face as a baby could have.

Watching the three children from the corner of the room, smiling, was Apini. There was a look of calm awareness on her face, and she was ready to act if anything drastic was to happen to any of them, even in spite of the relative safety of their surroundings.

She watched her young daughter mosey about the room as the other two children spoke to her; both fruitlessly asking her to do simple things in a language she did not yet understand, but found much amusement in hearing. Honey had very recently matured successfully from a small grub into an equally-small nymph, which meant she now had the ability to change forms. Using her changeling magic on her, Apini cast a spell that would make sure she stayed looking like a foal of her young age, until she was old enough to learn how to control her powers. She had accomplished it with a common spell most changelings knew and could use on each other, and was completely harmless.

Eventually, Honey came across some toy wooden building blocks laying on the floor. For the next several minutes she went on attempting to stack a tower with them, only for it to inevitably collapse and fall after several blocks were put atop one another, and start again. But, after growing bored of it; her infant mind quick to lose interest at seeing the same outcome happening over and over again, she brought one of the wooden blocks to her face and her toothless pony mouth teethed on its edge, earning another pair of squealing chuckles of amusement and delight from Peach Blossom and Bumble. Apini was tempted to join in on their reactions, but the disguised, red-eyed changeling still wanted to keep her dignity in front of the young ones, and so instead only mumbled a silent chuckle.

It was just before lunchtime, and as Apini was about to ask if either of the older foals were hungry, the sound a hoof knocking on the front door went out. Turning her head to it for a second, Apini looked over to Peach Blossom when she realized who it most likely was, considering the time that the filly was scheduled to be picked up.

"Peach Blossom, I believe your mother is here," she spoke, looking back to the children.

"Oh? Okay," Blossom responded back from where she sat with Bumble and Honey. "Well, looks like it's time for me to go, Bumble."

"I'll see you later, then," he said in a merry voice when she got to her legs. "Have a happy Hearth's Warming!"

"You too, bud. I hope you have the best," she said, playfully punching her friend in the shoulder. Blossom leaned in and tickled the Honey as she passed by, to the infant's visible delight, and then finally fully set off to collect her things. As she did that, Apini went to the door to speak to whoever was on the other side, just as another sound of a hoof rapping against it went out.

Unlatching the lock, Apini opened it and peeked out to see two figures standing there. One was the pony she instantly recognized as Persica, and the other was a unicorn stallion of a light gray coloration.

In the dim light the doorway, Persica could hardly make out Apini's face, much less her eyes, but bid her greetings either way. "Good morning, Miss Bee," she began. "I've come for my daughter."

"Have no fear Persica, she'll be out soon," Apini said. "She's just grabbing the last of her things."

When she finished the sentence, Apini eyed the second pony standing beside Persica with a curious visage. He was a unicorn she had never once before seen around Canterlot, and as such, was curious about him.

"Who's this?" she decided to ask with a neighborly smile that replaced the inquisitive look.

"Habeas," Habeas spoke. "Habeas Brittle. I'm a... friend of Persica, here."

"'Habeas Brittle'?" Apini pursed her lips in interest. "Sounds like quite the outlandish name for a pony."

"I'm not from around here," he admitted with a single breath. "But I hope to stay."

"Mom!" a new voice suddenly shouted out from behind Apini. In a speedy blur of light brown fur, Peach Blossom, a pack over her back, whizzed by the disguised changeling, down the few steps sitting along the doorway, and up to her mother, whom she wrapped her comparably smaller hooves around in a large hug.

Seeing them as ready to leave, Apini reacted accordingly. "Have a happy Hearth's Warming, you all," she bid farewell before lightly closing the door with a creak. Peach Blossom looked to the second 'pony' after the hug she gave ended, and looked at him suspiciously. Habeas rolled his eyes and chuckled at this.

"Don't worry, it's just me," he said in the voice she recognized, causing the filly to smile contently. After double-checking that her backpack was all set, the three then set off from Canterlot, headed for home.

Aside from Peach Blossom's stories of what happened while she was gone, the walk was quiet for the most part. It was when Peach Blossom, who walked right beside Habeas as her mother led ahead, spoke to him that things became a little less so. "Mr. Brittle, I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask whatever you want," he said. "What is it?"

Peach Blossom looked a little haunted when she began. "You look like you're all better, and you and I both know that my Mom says that that means you have to go," she sadly said, her voice quiet. "Do you have to? When would you? You'll... tell me when you will, right?"

Habeas listened intently at the flurry of questions that came upon him, first responding back with a chuckle as his hooves crunched over the hard snow and ice below him. "Well, to that I do not truly know. Persica, do you know?"

"Know what?" Persica asked, slowing her pace down a tad so that Habeas and her daughter could catch up and stand on either side of her.

"Oh, just about when I'm to leave like you said I had to. Since I'm all better, and such," he said in a greatly casual voice. Persica, a lip raised and a cocked eyebrow on her face, stared back at him with her good eye and huffed.

"I said that, did I?" she inquired. "Funny you should mention it. Personally, I don't think you'll be leaving for quite some time just yet."

"Is that so?" the changeling snickered, looking briefly back down to Peach Blossom before shifting his view back to the mare and humming a purr. "Might it have something to do with the dinner we both had last night?"

"Mmm... possibly," she mumbled, her head bobbing from side to side. "It also might have something to do with a charming changeling who set it all up to begin with, of course."

Habeas simply could not help but pull his lips back into a delighted grin. "Oh, I bet you're just saying that," he said teasingly, bumping his shoulder against her. Sensing a challenge in the motion, Persica bumped him back with slightly more force.

Peach Blossom barely believed what she was seeing happen between her mom and Habeas, and her hanging jaw would tell anyone the same. It was something even a foal like herself could see was blatant flirting. Flirting? Between them? After all the hostility her parent gave to the changeling not a few days before? Wait... if they were flirting - to each other, no less - then that could only mean...

"M-Mom? Mr. Brittle?" she inquired in an unsure tone. "Why're you two talking like that? What are you hiding?"

It was then that Persica and Habeas both mutually noticed that they were perhaps being a bit too obvious on the teasing they each were taking part in, and so silently agreed to cut it back a fair ways on their rambunctious behavior. "We're not hiding anything, sweetie," Persica spoke. "We're just..."

"...Having a playful conversation. Between adults," Habeas finished for her. The mare quickly nodded in agreement, and as she did so, Habeas turned his head to Peach Blossom and winked at her. The filly was at first confused, but she received the message all the same. A message that was much more like a wish granted than anything else. A smile, large and wide, grew over her face and she only just managed to contain her unkempt joy.

If she was getting this correct, her mother and Habeas actually liked each other. They liked each other! They did! It had to be! There's no other way they'd be acting like this if it wasn't so! They liked each other!

And for the rest of the trek, with this new fact boiling in her mind in a most delightful way, Peach Blossom practically danced all the way home ahead of the two, her happiness that drove the motion absolutely and unbelievably colossal.

Next Chapter: Come the Spring Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 2 Minutes
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