"So how did you get here exactly?" Asked Amaz as she lead the 'sightseeing tour' through the Hive. She held up a torch with her right hoof. It was not needed, both of them had night vision after all, but Amaz hadn't asked Thunder about that just yet, she decided it was better to not dive into things that are not her responsibility.

"Oh, I - uh..." Thunder stottered, surprised at the sudden, rather personal question. Until this point Amaz had been rather quiet, almost completely silent actually. He himself had thought about asking her some questions, though his mouth always shut itself before he was able to get any kind of question out.

"Oh, I hope that wasn't too personal. Just ... forget about that question." Amaz said in an apologizing voice. Amaz had always been a rather timid Changeling, she was not somebody who would get angry at others easily. Usually, she was angry at herself, for making mistakes.

Thunder's thought process stopped as he heard Amaz's comment. His eyes immediately locked onto hers, seeing the anger that she had towards herself at that moment. "No, no! Don't worry!" Thunder said in a calming voice, though his voice was not one to be particularly calming. "It was just... unexpected, that's all. I'd be happy to tell you..." Thunder's good mood suddenly died off as he realized what he had just agreed to. He would have to tell somebody about him and Shade, their time in Canterlot as Royal Guards and how Shade had betrayed him...
Already, his hate grew once again. Reminded of his past, the betrayal and the horrible things the Changelings had done to him and...

his loved one...Luna...

"What am I even doing...?" Thunder thought to himself as he doubted his actions. "I am a Lunar Guard, a Pony! I'm not some filthy, evil bug! I know for certain that Chrysalis is planning an invasion, I gotta stop her!" He thought, his enthusiasm growing with every new word.

"Are you alright? Thunder?" Amaz asked in a worrying tone. Thunder had not noticed how his inner rage was visible on the outside, his face visibly portrayed it, same as his body stance did.

Thunder looked back at Amaz, shrugging off his previous thoughts, for the moment at least. "Yeah. Yeah, sorry about that. It was... nothing."

Amaz wanted to let out a small chuckle, though her mood only let her smirk slightly. "Sooo... are you sure you want to tell me?"

Thunder sighed briefly, replying: "Yeah...yeah I am."

Amaz's smile widened at Thunder's confirmation, though she was still doubtful at even asking the question in the first place. One way or another, Thunder would have to tell her about his past. Something he was not all too fond of.

"It all started back in Canterlot..." Thunder started.

"Me and Shade had been friends for a long time, though...I used to call him 'Blaze' back then. We two met at the Royal Guard Academy . We both became friends relatively easy, spending the little bit of freetime we had together. When we graduated from the Guard's Academy we both went seperate ways, me signing up to the Lunar Guard, him to the Solar Guard. We were both upset at us not being in the same Guard, but it seemed we both knew exactly which Guard was the best one for us. Even then, we would meet up between our shifts and spend some time together."

Thunder closed his eyes and continued. "Then...everything changed..." He began, taking a deep breath. "Shade offered me a meeting between me and-" He stopped briefly, thinking it would be unwise telling Amaz of his secret love for Princess Luna. "-somepony I liked. I, of course, accepted, being the typical blind, stupid fool that I am. When it actually came to the 'meeting' though..."

Once again, Thunder stopped. This time though, his eyes were filled with tears. His heart simply wasn't ready for the horrible things Shade had done. He had hurt Luna, his true love, he had betrayed him and all of Equestria and got the Princesses captured. How a heart could possibly withstand such horrific things, Thunder did not know. All he knew was that his heart surely couldn't. He was sure that if he put a hoof to his chest, he could have felt his heart slowly break into tiny pieces.

That was until Amaz interrupted. "What's wrong, Thunder? Why the tears?" She said in a caring voice as she got a little closer to Thunder.

Thunder wiped away a few tears, replying in a mix of both words and sobbing: "Nothing you'd understand...nobody would ever understand."

A worried look plaqued Amaz's face at the sight of Thunder's emotional pain. She got close to him until she stood to his right, putting a hoof around his neck. Thunder looked up to her, the two now staring at each other face to face. Amaz was the first to speak during the situation, saying: "You're right." Thunder's eyes showed his surprise as they widened a bit, he had expected her to try and cheer him up but not that. "You're right, I could never understand." Amaz now pulled back the hoof she had laid on his back and walked a few steps.

She stopped, not looking at Thunder as she continued. "I can't feel love, Thunder. It's biologically impossible for me."

Thunder's eyes grew as wide as they could. Shade, or any other Changeling or Pony for that matter, had never told him that Changelings were unable to actually feel love. Of course everypony knew that Changelings ate love but... that they couldn't love themselves?

"Amaz...I'm..." Thunder stottered, he looked for the right words to apologize to her. Thunder very quickly realized that he lacked the vocabulary to express himself correctly. "...I'm so sorry. I...I am so, so sorry." Was all he could muster.

Amaz giggled bitterly, replying: "Don't be. It's just the way I am."

Thunder took a few steps towards her, asking: "But why? Why can't you feel love yourself? What makes you unable to love?" His question was made of pure curiosity though to Amaz it sounded more like an insult of sorts.

"I'm sorry I'm unable to love, alright? I'm not one of you, I'm not a pony. I am..." She sighed deeply, "I am a Changeling..."

Thunder felt her pain as if it was his own. He realized it was pain similar to the pain he had felt a few moments ago, when he had to remind himself of Canterlot, Shade and Luna. He couldn't imagine not being able to love, how such an important and passionate emotion could simply be...missing.

"You're right, you are." Thunder said in a caring voice, as caring as he could muster at least. He moved up to Amaz, standing by her side just as she had done before. "But being a Changeling doesn't mean you can't feel love, does it?" Thunder was improvising, he had no idea how Changelings worked biologically but he was sure that every lifeform was somehow able to love.

Amaz opened her mouth to reply, though closed it again, rethinking. She had asked her Queen about this before, she had said that Changelings couldn't feel love because they didn't need to. They would take the love of others anytime they felt like they needed love. However, that answer caused a whole lot of other questions in her mind. Why would they not just 'produce' love themselves? What made Changelings unable to love themselves? Why did the Queen support this? Could the Queen feel love herself?

Amaz finished her thought process, now looking back at Thunder and replying: "I don't know..."

Thunder was as surprised as he was happy. He had expected her to give an answer like "Of course I can't feel love." but it seemed that she was in doubt. That was the reason why Thunder was happy about her answer too. It meant that she was not sure. That there may have been a chance of her being able to feel love for herself. He didn't know how, but he had to somehow convince her. He had to convince her that, who- or whatever told her that she couldn't feel love was wrong.

She had to experience love for herself.

"Amaz." He started, looking into her eyes. "Have you ever..." His thoughts drifted off as he continued looking into Amaz's eyes. "Loved?"

For a moment all was silent. It was just the two Changelings and the silence, the crackling of the torch interrupting the dead silence on occasion.
Both Amaz and Thunder continued looking into eachother's eyes. Their faces looked as if they had been hypnotized, like they weren't themselves.

Then Amaz slowly shook her head from left to right and vice-versa, keeping her eyes fixed on Thunder's eyes at all times.

Thunder wanted to speak up at first, to reply to Amaz's answer. However, right as his mouth opened it was as if he was mute. The sight of Amaz suddenly took his breath, stopping him from saying anything. He gulped, continuing to watch Amaz. He could see that Amaz was going through the same feeling at that time.

The two heads then moved closer to another, seemingly unnoticed and unintended, and stopped right before colliding with each other. Once again a time of silence set in in which nothing happened. Only them, staring into each other's eyes. Their Changeling eyes seemed so beautiful and charming all of the sudden. Those cold, blue eyes, eyes all Changelings shared. Yet those, at that very moment, seemed like something entirely different. They told a story, a story none of the two Changelings knew, yet the eyes called for them, wanting somebody to finally patch up their past wounds and find a safe place in the world. The eyes seemed to speak to them, quietly whispering:

"I'm here for you."

Then their heads drifted towards each other, meeting in a deep, emotional kiss. Thunder's and Amaz's eyes closed in enjoyment. After a few seconds their lips seperated again, leaving the two Changelings to staring into each other's eyes once again.

This time though, the silence did not last long. Thunder's face grew a smile of joy as he gave out: "And?" He started, "What about now? Have you loved now?" His smile turned into a slight smirk.

Amaz, just now realizing what had happened, began crying in joy. In a joyful voice she said: "Yes. Yes!" She suddenly pulled Thunder into a tight, joyful hug. Her voice now louder and more joyful than before, continuing with: "Thank you, Thunder! Thank you! I...I love you! I love you!" Amaz was overjoyed, she had never dreamed of actually loving before, and suddenly this feeling, this warm and comforting feeling, overcame her.

Thunder smiled back at her just as before, though in though he was not as happy. He had always loved somepony else, he loved Princess Luna. He had sworn to not love anypony else, he commited himself to loving her, even joining her guard to get closer to her.

And now, this random Changeling enters his life, not even a pony, and claims to love him. Normally Thunder would have laughed at the mere thought of him loving a Changeling, he would have laughed out loud. But now, as much as he tried...he couldn't. The smile on his face as Amaz continued to hold him in her hug was genuine. The comfort he felt as she held him close was genuine. The feeling he felt for her were genuine.

...The love he felt for her...was genuine.

His whole life Thunder had looked for love, claiming he had already found his true love. His whole life it seemed that he would never get the chance to truly love, his loved one was simply too important than to even talk to him. And now...now he had love. He had more than enough of it, he felt it. He felt the love's warmth. He still had questions, he knew he did, but at the moment those questions held no importance to him. For that moment nothing mattered. Nothing but one thing.

Love.