Stalwart chuckled as he watched the antics of the two foals, "Come back here, we haven't even gotten the fire lit!"

They ran back and looked at him, eager to assist with their stick swords.

He chuckled and shook his head, kneeling down to them, "Hey, hey, what do you two think you're doing with those?"

"Fighting the evil griffin bandits." Violet said

"Yeah, and the dragon thieves." Nymph added, making a swishing motion around her.

"Oh really," He chuckled, "And what will you do if they fight back?"

"Defeat them!" Violet proclaimed raising her sword. "For we have Justice and Friendship on our side!"

"And cake! You promised cake too." Nymph smiled around her stick.

"Well, just be careful you don't hurt anypony, or hurt the cake." he said, thinking back to his days in the guard, and how he chose the shield for that very reason, bringing back those old memories before shaking his head and thinking, 'I'm not THAT old...'

"We’d never hurt the cake." Violet said.

"I know. Don't hurt those gryphons or dragons too much, or I'll give them your cake anyway to make them feel better." he chuckled, looking to see if Tere got the last bit of firewood.

Tere had taken on the form of a strong earth pony to help with the task, but Stalwart smiled as Violet’s eyes widened in horror.

"I will do it you know… I hear they like Strawberries a lot, so no hurting them too badly." He chuckled, noticing that Nymph turned to him.

"But, if they're coming to take our cake, why would you give it to them?"

"Because you could make a friend by sharing it with them." He said, "You never know."

Violet blinked, pondering this idea.

"What about dragons?" Nymph asked, "They don't like cake... do they?"

"Perhaps we should ask Spike next time we meet him." he replied.

"He likes cake with gems in it." Violet said, having met her mom's assistant many times.

"That means more strawberries for you." Stalwart winked. He turned to Tere, "that'll be more than plenty, thanks again for getting the last batch. Now to see if I still can get a fire started…"

Tere nodded as he returned to his natural form. "If you require assistance just let me know.”

"You know, if you have any tricks to start a fire beyond the bow and stick, I'm all ears." He said, rubbing the back of his head, "I forgot the matches at home."

"Flint and steel, as well as a lighter, and this." He pointed at his horn.

"Yeah, that would help." Stalwart said, backing off, "Shame you've got that hard back or I'd owe you a massage in downtime."

"Can still feel a massage." Tere shrugged. His horn lit with a green glow, and quickly a spark struck the dried leaves and soon after, a small fire started.

"Nice. Thanks." he smiled, "All right fillies, gather around. Once the fire gets nice and warm, it'll be time to introduce you to s'mores."

The pair were instantly by the fire, watching it intently and willing it to warm up quickly.

"Careful fillies, give the fire a little room." he said, getting out an extending metal stick and a bag of marshmallows, sticking one on the end and holding over the fire. "So this is the first step, getting the marshmallow over the fire safely.”

They stepped back and nodded, watching him closely.

He rotated it slowly over the fire, "Wanna get it nice and golden brown, that's when you know it's done and ready. Nymph, help pull out the crackers and chocolate from my bag will you?"

Nymph nodded, and quickly went to his pack, then carefully grabbed the packaging with her mouth, not knowing a levitation spell as she put it nearby. Violet watched the marshmallow catch fire.

Stalwart chuckled as he spotted it catch, then calmly brought it closer to his face. He kept it at a safe distance, then blew hard to make the fire go out.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Violet asked

"No, but it can happen, just makes it cook faster. Violet, get out a cracker and lay a small block of chocolate on it, this is almost done."

She nodded and used her magic to line a cracker near Stalwart, placing a piece of chocolate on it and waiting.

Stalwart placed the marshmallow on the chocolate, then said, "Now another cracker on top to make a sandwich, and then it's ready for eating!"

She added the other cracker and held it out to Nymph. Nymph took a bite of it, eating almost half before smiling wide at the gooey nature of the marshmallow.

"If gut!" she said as she started to chew happily.

Violet looked at Stalwart as she prepared another one, ready to try one of her own with that endorsement. Stalwart already had another marshmallow cooking over the fire, and she watched with the chocolate and cracker held in her magic.

With an expert move, Stalwart pulled the marshmallow out of the fire, and carefully laid it on the chocolate so she could put the cracker on and he'd pull the stick out from in the gooey white center. She placed the cracker on it and took a bite so hard, the marshmallow squirted almost entirely out the other end.

"Oop! Got to be careful of that little filly." He chuckled, "What do you two think?"

Violet blinked confused as she looked at it. "It tasted like chocolate."

"That's because most of the marshmallow squirted out the back." he smiled, "Let's make another."

"I want seconds please!" Nymph called.

Violet nodded and set the chocolate one to the side.

Stalwart soon had several more marshmallows cooked and ready for the foals. Nymph accepted the chocolate one, adding the marshmallow and readily eating it before saying, "One more please!"

Stalwart soon made two more and hoofed them off to the fillies, chuckling at their antics before turning to Tere, "What about you, want one?"

"I suppose I could have one." He said as Violet bit into the one made for her. She was careful not to squirt this one out the back this time.

Stalwart soon had Tere’s made and hoofed it off, "There ya go, still hot."

He held it in his magic, asking as he waited for it to cool, "So then, what time would you like to enter the hive tomorrow?"

"Midnight!" Nymph called.

"I was thinking after breakfast." Stalwart said.

Tere chuckled. "That sounds good."

"But I wanna see Dawn’s cocoon tonight…" Nymph said, sounding disappointed.

Tere smiled and patted her head. "You will little one, but wouldn't you rather be awake to see it so you don't fall asleep?"

"I can stay awake..." she said with a yawn.

"Oh I'm sure you could, but I don't think me and Mr. Stalwart could, and it wouldn't be fair if he didn't get to see too."

"Oh... well ok then." Nymph answered.

"I’ll get the tent ready." Stalwart told Tere before going to the pack and expertly unrolled it.

Tere took a bite of his smore as Violet finished hers, Violet lacking the enthusiasm of Nymph.

Soon enough, he had the tent up and laid out their bedding inside, "All right fillies, into the tent, it’s late and we adults have bedtimes to watch."

The pair he called out to were already fast asleep beside the fire, curled around each other

"What a pair. Want to get Violet while I get Nymph?"

"Do we separate them?" Tere asked.

"Only to lay them together inside." He answered, picking Nymph up. She stirred but didn’t resist, mumbling, "jus' res'in my eyes."

"I know Nymph, keep resting those eyes, just getting you on a nice blanket."

Tere carefully picked up Violet with his magic, treating her as if she were the most precious cargo on the planet. Stalwart had set Nymph down and Tere stepped in and set Violet next to her, and the pair slept close, much like he imagined siblings who got along well would do.

"Any foals of your own? You're pretty good at this." Stalwart said quietly as they moved away from the tent.

"None, work keeps me busy. I was talking to a caretaker."

"Shame..." he replied quietly, once again thinking they worked quite well, "no partners either huh? Why not?"

"Work." He repeated. "My job tends to take me all over the place for months at a time usually."

"Not found anypony who would understand then?"

"Haven't looked. I don't usually have more than a week between assignments, and I spend that time relaxing and preparing."

"Ah." He said, slightly disappointed, "as long as you're happy with your life at least. Know what mission you'd be on next?"

"Nope. Not told ‘til I'm handed the file while en route."

"I see." He replied more solemnly, feeling sadness. He had grown to like Tere, but if they didn’t desire a connection with other ponies, it was his choice. Others in the guard chose similarly, but he could not.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head, "It’s nothing. Started imagining how things might've turned out if I met you before I met Dawn."

He blinked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I'd probably have tried courting you. You're a good stallion, and I would miss you when you go, considering how well we've been working together."

"No clue.” Tere shrugged, “While the entire hive is bi-sexual I'm not exactly interested in courting. I've seen what that does in my line of work, and it's rather pointless. So I will just wait for whenever I retire."

"Well, you'll always have a place with us if you want it," he said quietly before heading into the tent, laying down and settling near the foals.

Tere nodded as he watched the fire, taking up watch around their camp. Just because they were close to the hive did not mean they were safe.

Stalwart soon started to doze as he kept an eye on Tere through the flap before falling asleep near the foals.

Stalwart slept well, but woke early in the morning like usual. He moved gently to avoid waking the still sleeping foals before stepping out of the tent into the cool air, a blanket on his back.

"I'll take over your watch if you need some sleep Tere."

"I'm good." He said, the fire now small but ready to be stoked for breakfast.

Stalwart settled next to Tere after he zipped up the flap behind him, so the foals wouldn't get out without them noticing.

"Anything to report from last night?"

"Saw a few rabbits."

"They say hi or did they leave you alone?" he asked, not minding either way.

"Huh?" Tere blinked, trying to figure out if this was some sort of joke.

"Did they come over and say hi?" He chuckled, "Or do animals not come over to you to talk where you’re from?"

"What in the name of the Mothers are you talking about? Animals can't talk. They are barely sentient, if that."

Stalwart blinked, looking at him seriously, "I know that the smaller ones, it takes ponies like Fluttershy to speak to them, but clearly you haven't met our local dairy cows who sell their milk and cheeses to us at the market."

"How do cattle sell anything?" He asked, confusion growing. "And flutters spoke to them on a more primal level and understood them the same way. It wasn't actually talking."

Stalwart blinked before smirking, "Guess I'm going to have to take you to market to prove it to you. I don't know if Ms. Buckles is back from her vacation, but she can talk to animals like Fluttershy and is a veterinarian.”

"If what you're saying is true, I probably should go and get the snares I set up."

Stalwart blanched before saying, "Yeah... you'd better."

"Damn… rabbit is very good." he said getting up and heading for the trees.

Stalwart looked a little sick, trying to calm himself with the watching and tending to the fire. After a bit Tere returned with the snares. Stalwart gulped silently, looking at them before commenting.

"You really meant it. Why would you eat another animal in the first place?" Stalwart said, surprised.

"Because rabbit stew is good?" He said.

Stalwart shook his head, unable to place his discomfort. Tere opened his mouth and showed him the sharp teeth it was filled with. "The griffins are carnivores as well."

"I...” Stalwart hesitated, remembering that point, “I know, and yet, it is hard to imagine, eating the muscle of another living creature, knowing it had feelings, thoughts, memories of its own, many of them intelligent enough to be our equal... it's too much like wanting to eat your cousin for my taste."

"Well, back home animals aren't like that really. They have intelligence but nothing like what you are describing." he said

"Do they not have feelings or memories then?'

"Everything feels Mr. Stalwart. Everything has memories. Even plants ‘feel.’ If it is alive, it feels, and anything with a brain has memories. How else do they know where food is, where to sleep, what to avoid or where they were born."

"Then how could you eat something intelligent when you wouldn’t want to be eaten in their hooves?" Stalwart asked.

"Because basic intelligence and low level sentience isn't the same as sapience like what you and I are."

Stalwart shook his head, not understanding or agreeing, but stopped as the zipper to the tent started to open, making noise. Tere looked over as the half asleep fillies tumbled out.

"Good morning fillies." Stalwart answered, "Sleep well?”

Nymph merely nodded and looked around for food.

"Yeah." Violet said, yawning as Tere started to cook some eggs.

Stalwart wasn't about to continue the talk, deciding to change subjects by commenting, "We'll see Dawn after you two eat."

Nymph nodded again and looked at the eggs hungrily, a small smile crossing her face at that news. Tere worked on them, humming to himself as he did.

Stalwart wondered how Dawn was doing to distract himself, whether she was comfortable, whether she will be any different from before, and many other fears. He knew she would come to no harm, but it still didn’t stop his concern.

Tere was curious as he watched Nymph, surprised that she seemed to act like she really was hungry. He found it odd.

Nymph definitely was hungry. She knew how to taste emotions, but it did not sustain her most of the time, not even after months of being with ponies who said they accepted her as family. Very few felt like they actually gave her love, Dawn being the biggest one, and now Stalwart being another. She rarely felt the need to eat when around Dawn, but she still felt the need to eat to sustain herself otherwise.

"Are you actually hungry for pony food?" Tere asked as he cooked.

"Yeah." Nymph replied as she wiped her eyes, "I need to eat like everypony else."

Tere blinked, brows furrowing in confusion as he considered that answer.

"What?" She asked, confused.

"Just,” Tere said, pausing before saying, “that's really odd."

She shrugged, "Been that way since I was littler."

Tere blinked again, thinking, ‘So very strange…’

"What?" She asked, her inability to taste his emotions and cluing her in to how he was feeling was making her nervous.

"Just… changelings don't need pony food."

"They don't?" She asked, very surprised.

"No. I mean, we can and it will generally slow down our needs, but it doesn't sustain us. It's mostly converted into materials we can use to build with."

"What are we supposed to eat then?"

"Emotions?"

"Any emotion?" She asked, "I try eating but I'm always hungry for more when it’s not love…"

"Love is most, filling but any emotion will do. Just not taste as good or be as filling. What you have to be concerned about is apathy."

"I..." she frowned, not able to understand, "then why am I always hungry when I can taste how they feel?"

He blinked. "Well sensing emotions and feeding are two different things. We always sense them but we aren't always feeding."

"Oh... that’s no good..." Nymph said.

"Well, just like ponies, you can smell food all you want, but doesn't mean you're eating it."

"How do I eat it then? All I've eaten is love and happiness"

"Um....you...just do?" He said tilting his head. "I'm no caretaker."

"Oh." She said simply, looking at the pan, "is it food yet?"

He put the eggs onto a plate. "Yes."

"Yay!" Nymph cheered.

He gave her the plate, serving some of the eggs to Violet, then set one for Stalwart. Stalwart accepted his and ate slowly, watching how Nymph at quickly and showed her hunger, while Violet ate with her usual etiquette.

They soon finished and Stalwart checked with Tere, "Should we leave the tent up?"

Tere got to his hooves and stretched, then began putting out the fire and gathered the plates. "Shall we go?"

Stalwart nodded, taking that as an answer, "I'm ready. You fillies ready to see Dawn?"

Nymph immediately perked up at the idea, joining Violet in smiling at what was about to happen.

"Well, mind leading the way Tere?" Stalwart asked.

Tere nodded and began to walk.

Stalwart held the rear as the two foals followed Tere. Stalwart felt slightly apprehensive, but kept it under control. He trusted these changelings, perhaps not as much as Dawn did, but significantly over the ones from his own world and his dad’s stories.

They soon reached a small natural cliff on the side of a hill, and when they got close, there was a cave. Tere walked in toward that cave without any hesitation. Stalwart followed the foals in, trying to keep sight as they continued, and his night vision tried to kick in once the light of day was lost, struggling to do so.

Soon he felt something other than stone directly under hoof. It was smooth and gave a little with each step. A distant buzzing echoed through the cave, causing instinctual fears to kick in, even as he fought to keep it down.

"What is this stuff?"

"That material I mentioned." Tere replied back. "It's quite versatile and can be used to make just about anything we need. It’s easy to alter with our magic to be a cocoon, something soft for nymphs or a substance as hard as stone."

"I... see." He said, not quite understanding, "It feels soft enough, I guess."

"Well yeah. Who wants to walk on something hard all the time?" Tere asked as they passed by a small glowing section of wall.

"That's why you get carpeting though, right?" Stalwart chuckled, intending it as a joke.

"Do you have any idea how hard it would be to get carpets for something the size of a small town, much less without being noticed?" He asked looking back and missing the joke.

"Fair point…" Stalwart agreed, feeling silly to have brought it up as a joke, "Not much light down here."

"Nope. It's for the exact reason you just said. We can see, others cant." He said as the buzzing grew louder the deeper they went.

"Ah... I swear it sounds like I'm entering a beehive." He said quietly, feeling more nervous, despite his best efforts to suppress it.

"Well, it is a Hive, even if we are not bees." Tere said as something flew over them in the dark.

Stalwart flinched instinctively before following along, missing Nymphs look of both fear and wonder. She felt at home, but felt like she shouldn't, after her loyalties to Nightfall and what he went through.

They soon could see a bit more light up ahead. "Forgive my hive mates. Work pauses for no one. You understand?"

"I understand." He replied, "How much further?

"Right up here." He said walking in the better lit room, showing the corner where a dark green cocoon rested.

It was twice the size of Stalwart, a slightly bigger than average pony. They all moved forward carefully, looking at it, though all Stalwart could see was a faint outline of a shadowy shape inside.

Nymph looked on in wonder and amazement, looking closely before asking, "Is it really her?"

"Seeing as we only cocooned one pony, and unless she was able to somehow replace herself in there, I'm going to say yes."

Nymph pressed her head and eyes up close to the cocoon, as if trying to see her better. She looked up at the head, then down at Dawn's legs before saying, "Then why does this pony have a hole in one of the back legs?"

"Beats me." Tere shrugged, then looked at her. "You have good eyes. Most can't see to well into cocoons to see any detail except a vague shape.

She puffed out her chest proudly, "It's a small one, but it's there."

"You're sure she's ok?" Stalwart asked, turning to Tere in clear concern for his mate.

"Positive. These things are designed to hold prey to harvest love from. Can't get love unless the prey is kept safe"

Stalwart slowly stepped forward, barely seeing a murky frame in there at all and put a hoof gently onto the surface of the cocoon. He soon took a deep breath and let it out, slightly shaky as his emotions and fears started to rise and he mouthed a silent prayer for the first time in his life, that his wife come back to him soon, unchanged. Didn’t help his wife was being referred to as prey.

Tere put a hoof on his shoulder.

"Thanks..." He said quietly, taking another breath and steadying himself as he replied, "I don't know how to explain why I'm so nervous, but I trust you Tere... you've not been wrong or led me wrong yet."

"Because she is your mate. Something would be wrong if you didn't worry about her while something like this was going on."

"Yeah..." He replied, removing his hoof.

Nymph went up to the egg and put her hoof on it, silently saying a few hopes of her own before turning back to Stalwart and asking, "Did I do that right?"

Tere chuckled and watched how Violet was walking around the egg, looking at it analytically.

Stalwart looked to her as well, answering, "You did fine Nymph. What about you Violet?"

"I've never seen someone cocooned before... fascinating…"

"What do you mean?" Stalwart asked, confused. He would have thought she had seen this several times before.

"Well, there hasn't been much reason for the hive to capture prey since well before I was born so I've never seen this."

He started to feel slightly upset again at his wife being called pray before he calmed himself. She was just a foal, and he knew he had reason to doubt they viewed her as prey after all they had told the pair of them.

"She is young and… odd." Tere whispered to Stalwart.

He nodded, barely speaking at a whisper, "Don't have to tell me twice..."

Tere chuckled softly.

Nymph looked in the cocoon before saying, "She’s been in there for 2 days. Isn’t she hungry?"

"No. All her metabolic functions have been slowed."

"But won't she need food still?" She asked, concerned before noticing a small movement, a leg kicking before she was still again, drifting slowly toward one of the walls. "Is she ok?"

Dawn seemed to float to within hairs of the cocoon’s shell, and Stalwart noticed the hole in her right hind leg, it was small, about the size of a bit, but present.

"No, she won’t." Tere repeated. "And she is alright. Nothing would harm her here."

"Nymph was right… I do see the hole." he said, genuinely worried now. Something was happening to her now, something he didn’t understand.

Tere put a hoof on his shoulder again. "I swear to you she is alright, and she will stay that way."

"I hope so… my biggest fear right now is that she will come out far different than the mare I loved." He said quietly to him, just for his ears as Nymph stayed with Violet, curious about what she was looking for.

Tere looked at him. "Do you love her for how she looks or who she is?" He asked.

"Who she is of course." He replied without hesitation then chuckled, "Though she is quite the looker of course."

"But is your love of the conditioned on her looking like that?"

"Of course not." Stalwart replied "I just worry she'll be changed more than just her form, like if she’ll be a different pony somehow."

"That I cannot say." Tere shrugged.

"And that is the source of my worry." he said solemnly, taking a deep breath and letting it out slow before trying to distract himself with the antics of Nymph and Violet.

Violet now had a clipboard and goggles on as she wrote in it while looking around the cocoon.

"So, what's our little filly's thoughts on this?" he said, sounding a bit more cheerful, if hollowly so.

"It's fascinating." She said. "I’ve also never seen one this big. Though I suppose the workers were accounting for her being an alicorn."

"What else do you notice?" he asked, rather interested in Dawn herself. He could barely see more than the ankle and the hole a hoof's length above it, not seeing her form beyond it. Nymph was right, it was small, a little bit smaller than a bit.

"Well, this is as I said, a larger cocoon then normal used for pony sized prey. It has a standard design of being rooted to the ground, but not so much so that it can't be moved if need be. The construction would fit aunt Celestia if she were captured."

"Violet," He said solemnly, trying to have patience due to his friendship with Tere and fighting his insecurities, "Do you want to keep calling Dawn, my wife, prey? It's not very polite."

"Oh, I'm not calling her prey. I'm just saying what the cocoon was for. If she was injured, I'd say it was for healing as that's the only other use for them." She said not sensing the tone as she was focused in her notes.

Stalwart turned to Tere, as if begging for patience and then took another breath and asked, "So, what have you noticed about her? Or are you more interested in the egg?"

"Well, she looked like a vaguely formed shadow because I can't see into the cocoon."

"I can, kinda." Nymph volunteered.

"Yes I've noted the apparent hole in her leg." She said.

"What about her back by the tail, did you see how she doesn't have fur there anymore? Looks like small scales." Nymph offered.

Violet wrote not reacting in the slightest

"What else did you notice Nymph?" he asked, turning his attention to her as his fur wanted to stand on end.

"Not much else… She looks like she's sleeping peacefully otherwise. Her feathers are all over the place though."

"Probably due to the Mix pushing them around."

"You mean none of you can see it?" she asked confused. "It's right there." she pointed

"Nope." Violet said.

"Why not?" she asked, genuinely confused. "I'm a changeling, I can see it."

"Not all changeling are exact copies of each other. Just really similar." Tere told her.

"Oh." she replied simply, going into thought. She started to wonder what Dawn as a changeling would be like, but saw how uncomfortable Stalwart was and kept her question for later.

Violet soon finished her notes, and the clipboard and crayon vanished.

"Any common things to watch for when she hatches?" Stalwart asked, about ready to head out.

"Not a clue!" Violet said cheerfully.

Stalwart kept his gaze toward Tere, where his question was intended.

"As the Princess said, don't know. Something is apparently happening, but this is all unknown territory in our history… quite rare."

"Something tells me Violet would want to test this and see if this only happens to alicorns or to other ponies." He said, "I've seen enough. I'm sure you'll let me know when she hatches so we can come see her then."

"Probably." He said, chuckling and turning toward the entrance.

"Come on fillies. Time to go." Stalwart called

"Aw… ok." Nymph said, disappointment clear on her face.

Violet followed behind and Tere begin to lead them to the exit

Stalwart stayed to the rear, keeping an eye on the girls as they left, and soon they saw daylight ahead.

Stalwart felt relief when he saw the light of day once again. They headed to the tent, and he started getting ready to take it down, suspecting they would head home afterward.

"So back to your home?" Tere asked as he watched.

"Yeah, we can make some pizza or something, a trip to town market will show you what I meant about what we talked about this morning, since we'll need some more cheese."

Tere shrugged.

"All right, I've known you long enough to know something else is on your mind. What is it?" he asked, stepping over to him.

"Nothing. Merely enjoy camping."

"Well, we don't have to leave just yet." He said, leaving the tent set up.

He nodded. "So… are fish people?"

"What?" He asked confused, "Are fish… huh?"

"Well… I enjoy fishing… so… do they talk like the other animals?"

"I… no, they don't. They're often used for feeding the gryphons and pet dogs and cats and the like."

"Ah good. Then how about we go fishing?"

"Sure." He said hesitantly, looking to the foals to see if they liked the idea, only to see Nymph looking curious and slightly happy at the idea.

Violet just looked curious

"Looks like we're going fishing fillies," he said, turning to Tere, "I don't suppose you have some equipment or something of your own. I haven't fished at all, except for once when Pops told me I had to fish to get a pet dog. Gave up on the idea a bit quick." he chuckled.

Tere had two fishing poles and a box of tackles. "Never leave home without my rod and spare rod."

He chuckled and then said, "Well, hope you can teach all three of us how to fish. I definitely don't know much about it."

"I should be able to." Tere smiled.

Nymph followed, wanting to learn from this teacher, in case it can help her survive.

They hiked to a small river. Stalwart followed the foals and soon the group reached the nearby river

"Now what?" Nymph asked.

"Now we find a nice spot to set up." Tere said.

Stalwart watched, preferring to let them both have a chance to try.

"What makes a good spot?" Nymph asked.

"That… hmm… that's hard to explain." Tere replied, frowning slightly. "Just something you know."

"But… how do you know, if you had to know it in order to know it?" Nymph asked, head slightly tilted in thought.

"It's… ‘just a feeling’ I guess is the best way to describe it."

"Oh, ok." Nymph replied, seeming satisfied with that answer. "So what do we do after that?"

"We sit, toss some bait, wait a bit then cast the lines."

"Are we at a good place to do that now?"

Tere looked around. They were at a small bed in the river with a few trees and some all grass. "Hmm…" Tere thought, looking at the surroundings, judging it critically before giving a small nod. "I'd say yes."

Nymph watched expectantly, wondering what is next.

He set his box down and opened it, showing all manner of hooks, as well as a jar of bait he opened, showing strange crumbled… something, and used his magic to pick some of it up and then threw it so it landed in the water a bit away.

Nymph looked at all the things in the box, then noticed the crumbling, asking once some of it landed in the water, "What's that?"

"Bait."

"So fishes will try to eat it right? How long before they do?"

"Yes they will, and in a bit, but we have to be quiet so as not to scare them. Fish are jumpy and fishing is all about patience."

"Ohhh." She said, growing hushed and starting to crouch down like a predator waiting to pounce

Tere smiled, and took a seat just as Violet sat as well.

Nymph continued to watch expectantly, trying to wait, growing more impatient after 5 minutes of waiting.

"Now then. Want to learn how to use a rod?" Tere asked.

Nymph perked up turning to him and saying in a hushed voice, "Quiet, you'll scare the fishies." She paused, then nodded, "But yes, show me."

He chuckled and carefully picked up the rod in his hooves. He grabbed a basic hook and carefully applied it. He figured she was too young for that, so he didn't explain it for them yet.

He then begin to explain about how to cast and real in and to avoid breaking the line in a very hushed voice.

Nymph lingered on his every word, fascinated.

After he explained he demonstrated by casting the line and then passed her the rod before doing the same for Violet. "And now you wait for the big pull."

"That's when we feel a tug and see the line move right?"

He nodded. Nymph held on, hoping to feel that tug any moment, sharing the intent look that Violet had as well. Tere simply smiled at the foals and watched.

Nymph was focused on her task, painfully aware of the time passing as she tried to watch for fish and hoping one would bite. Every once in a while, the line would bob but never sank. She looked back to Tere, anxious, as if worried she was doing it wrong.

He smiled at her and patted her head. "Patience little one."

She frowned, trying to be patient as she turned ahead, trying to wait just a little longer.

There was a hard pull on the line. She instinctively pulled back on it, surprised by the movement, "I think I got one!"

"Easy now,” Tere smiled, “reel it in. But don't let too much tension get on the line or go to fast or we will get away."

She nodded, pulling just a little harder than it did, trying to bring it closer while not wanting the line to break.

"There you go. Easy does it." He said, getting the net ready.

She continued to fight, feeling tired as she fought the fish, but tried in spite of it, working slowly and getting excited as it started to splash in the surface water.

"Almost… almost… " Tere encouraged. One more moment as it flopped around he brought the net under it and scooped it up.

Nymph grew very excited and dropped the fish into the net and danced around in place at her newfound skill.

"Very good little one, looks like a salmon." Tere smiled at her.

"Is it tasty?" Nymph asked with a smile.

"Very." He said.

"Yay!" Nymph said, suddenly realizing she should be quiet, then danced around by jumping away from the bank like an excited little deer before continuing to prance and dance about.

Tere chuckled and looked at Stalwart to keep an eye on her.

Stalwart went over to congratulate her and gave her a hug, which she accepted briefly before dancing around him excitedly.

After a bit more time, Violet reeled in a salmon as well.

Nymph smiled happily and came up to Violet, giving her a hug happily afterward, "You got one too!"

Tere ruffled their manes before looking at Stalwart. "Will you be wanting any for dinner or no?"

Stalwart considered, "I suppose I could try, but I don't know. I haven't had any before."

"That's fine." Tere smiled and took one of the rods before casting, as the fillies were too excited to fish.

Nymph continued to dance, "We caught a salmon! We caught a salmon!"

Tere chuckled softly at their antics as he watched the water, just relaxing.

Violet was jumping around saying "Yes, yes, yes, yes!" Over and over again.

Nymph jumped after her and tagged her on the side, saying, "Tag you're it! Come get me!" before dashing off back toward the tent, Stalwart following closely enough to keep an eye on their antics, considering the last match of tag.

Violet blinked and then took off after her with a grin.

Nymph ran around the tent, trying to keep Violet at bay before hopping with a small buzz over the firepit. Violet ran around it chasing her. Nymph slowed after a little while, getting tired from all their running.

Violet tackled her with a wide grin and they went rolling as Tere approached the camp with another salmon.

Nymph laughed and playfully tried to fend her off, kicking away not too hard, rough-housing as Stalwart came over to play with them both.

"And a big white Pony comes to take on the heroines of the hive!" He announced like they were on a radio dram, being slow at pushing them, being very careful and smiling wide to help them have a new game, "What will they do to bring him down?"

Violet gasped and her wings buzzed as she started to fly around him.

Stalwart gasped in mock horror and reached a limb out to her, unable to reach, even as Nymph started to get the same idea and flew in circles around him. Together the pair flew back and forth, darting close to Stalwart but always avoiding being hit.

Stalwart playfully reached for them before sitting on his haunches, waiting for their inevitable strike. Nymph dove in at his rear, intending on landing on his back to hug him around the neck in a mock stranglehold.

Violet went for his legs to do the same, quickly grabbing both legs and held them together against her body with all of her little body’s might.

Stalwart continued the commentary, giving a playful low-voiced roar as he began falling on his side, naturally being mindful of the foals. "And the white stallion goes down! He struggles against the heroines! Have they bested the big mean pony?" He called as he moved his legs slowly, easily lifting Violet.

Violet held his legs tighter, trying to keep him from struggling. Stalwart moved about for another minute before flopping carefully down, acting like he had been beaten by playing dead. It wasn’t very convincing, but even so, Nymph whooped and stood on his side carefully on two hooves, grinning widely. Violet joined her, wings buzzing in excitement.

Suddenly, Stalwart moved, rolling over and sweeping them up into a hug where he had both foals trapped under him.

Violet cried out in panic, not expecting that and the sound of galloping hooves approaching could be heard.

Stalwart booped her on the nose before stepping off of them carefully. "You got me good in our game little fillies, but I think our food is ready."

Tere ran into the camp, horn charged for a spell as he looked around.

"What happened! What's going on?" He asked quickly, beside him in his magic was a pistol at the ready.

Stalwart looked at him in confusion, saying, "We were just playing, caught little Violet by surprise but she's ok. See for yourself."

Tere walked over and looked her over before he holstered the pistol back into his jacket and sighed. "I heard her cry out and though something was attacking."

"If something attacked," he said more seriously, "I would hold them off and send the foals to you."

"You cannot be too careful with the future if the hive." He said, turning to go back and get his stuff that he had dropped when he heard the cry.

"Fair enough. Come on fillies, let’s see if Tere needs help with your food." He said, nudging them up off the ground.

They got up, both blinking and feeling guilty about making Tere worry.

Nymph nudged Violet, giving her a toothy grin before reminding her with a giggle, "Hey, at least we beat Mr Shield."

"Yes we did." She said proudly as Tere soon returned with his gear and the fish.

Nymph giggled, "We make a good team." She said before switching thoughts, "What does salmon taste like?"

"Depends on how it’s cooked." Violet said.

"Oh. So how does it taste the way Tere is doing it?"

"Never had it cooked over a fire." She said, watching Tere descale it and clean the fish.

Stalwart looked away, still a bit sensitive to the subject of empathy with a living creature, even if they weren't intelligent, and watched the area around them while Nymph approached, "What are you doing Mr Tere?"

"Cleaning the fish and preparing them for cooking"

"The fish was in the water, isn't it clean?" she asked innocently.

"Not for eating."

"Oh. Then what are you cleaning?"

"The scales, the bones and the organs." Tere explained.

"Oh, do we not eat those?" She asked.

"Nope. We eat the meat." He said as he finished one fish and moved onto the next.

"Ohhh." Nymph said simply, having no more questions, so she looked to Violet.

She noticed Violet watching Tere work as he cleaned the fish, and tried to watch him continue herself, but despite her curiosity quickly became bored with the repetition.

Soon, he had the fish skewered on a stick and over the fire. Nymph watched the fish, head tilted.

"Won't it burn?" she asked

"Not if it's done right."

"How do you do it right?"

"Watch it, know how long to cook it for and turn it over before it burns." He said, adding some spices he had.

"How long do you cook it for? I wanna help." She said, looking antsy.

"A bit. Don't have any clocks, so just need to know." He said. "Why don't you get us some water and the plates?"

"Okay!" Nymph said, heading off to the river without anything to carry the water in.

Stalwart chuckled, grabbing a water bottle he had by the gear and left to follow her.

Tere watched the fish. The sticks were stuck into the ground, held close enough to the fire to be in the heat but not risk falling in.

Stalwart and Nymph soon returned with water in the bottle, Nymph heading to the gear to pull out a plate, holding it in her mouth. Tere turned the fish over as they approached and Nymph felt herself lick her lips and sniff the air.

"It smells nice... What'd you put on it?"

"Little salt, little pepper and some lemon."

Nymph rubbed her belly appreciatively, genuinely hungry enough to eat the whole fish she caught. He carefully felt the fish after another few minutes and smiled.

"Ah, perfect." He said, pulling them away from the fire and putting them on the plates.

Nymph stood up, buzzing her wings briefly, "Are they food now?"

Tere chuckled and held out the plate with a fork for her, giving her a nod.

Nymph smiled happily, taking the plate, setting it down on the ground, and took a big bite out of the top of it.

Tere chuckled and handed Violet hers, who used her magic to carefully cut it up, and then Tere held out one for Stalwart as he held his own.

Nymph ate readily, hungrily, before wolfing down a good chunk of it, juice dribbling down to her chin as she smiled, "Is so good!"

"Thank you." Tere said as Violet ate politely. Tere glanced at Stalwart as they ate, wondering just how comfortable he really was with eating meat.

Stalwart looked between them, looking a bit more comfortable at the idea than he himself originally had worried after their conversation, eating at his own relaxed pace.

Tere gave him an encouraging nod.

Stalwart looked up at Tere and nodded slowly back, taking a deep breath and then taking out a napkin to bring to Violet's face, "Messy filly, Violet's younger than you and she's much more clean!"

"But she has magic I don't!" she protested, trying to go back to eating.

"I could teach you a bit, would you want that?" Violet offered.

"If I can use it, yeah." she said, feeling a little nervous.

"Why couldn't you use it?"

"I haven't been able to use anything else yet..." Nymph said, getting a little disappointed, but digging into her food some more, having already half eaten her fish.

"Well, you've had ponies trying to teach you changeling magic is why. That would be like an earth pony trying to teach a pegasi how to fly."

Nymph shrugged, slowing down how fast she was eating and chewed more thoughtfully, only a quarter of her fish remaining, where Violet still had half of hers.

Tere looked over again to see how Stalwart was doing.

Nymph listened to Violet’s lecture while Stalwart kept his eye at the fire, keeping to himself and quiet, rather than looking at the fish that were still uneaten.

"You OK Stalwart?" Tere asked.

"Hm? Yeah, just thinking." he said quietly.

"About?" He asked quietly, so as not to disturb the foals at they ate.

"The fish thing, and Dawn mainly. I can't help but worry about her, but I trust her. And yet, this is the first time she's pursued something in the last year other than her healing lessons to other ponies. I was worried about what she’s gotten herself into, without talking to me about it at all… She's competent, if airheaded."

Tere put a hoof on his shoulder

"I know, I'm focusing too much on it and it's out of my control, and yet, I can't help it." He shook his head, chuckling quietly, "Funny, cause I've never dealt with this feeling this strong before."

"And that shows you to be a good mate."

"Was that ever in any doubt?" he chuckled, "I'll just be glad when she's back, and then I can know that she's still the same Dawn I fell in love with.”

Tere nodded sympathetically.

"If you had to guess, why would Dawn be changing the way Nymph said?" he asked, hoping for just about any explanation.

Tere shrugged. "Alicorn magic has always been an amalgamation of the three tribes, and now she's part of the link of a fourth race and being exposed to massive amounts of our history, magic, and way of doing things."

"So, because she's an alicorn, she's becoming part changeling too?"

"I guess? I have no clue. She's the first outsider ever."

"Does that maybe maker her special? Being the first 'n all?" Stalwart asked.

"Quite."

"Well, that's something I guess." He said, unable to stop his anxiety. "What does the hive think of this? I'm sure you've shared what Nymph and Violet have pointed out."

"We are quite fascinated with this. No one from an outside out race has ever changed.

"What are some of them saying?" he asked, seeing how Nymph was having her horn glow and trying to grip onto a piece of her fish, struggling to do so.

"Just wondering if she will remain a pony or come out a drone. Or possibly another queen." Tere said.

"A queen? Isn't that a bad thing?" He asked, alarmed. "You already have Chrysalis, right?"

"The princess is a queen type." He gestured to Violet, reminding him.

"Which means you all already have an heir, right?"

"Yes so?"

"Isn't it bad to have more than one queen?"

"No?" Tere said, sounding surprised at the idea. "Whichever queen is stronger will control the hive."

Stalwart blinked, unsure what to ask about next. He had talked with Tere about how strength was desired before, and yet it was hard to imagine how that fit in with his experience in Equestria to compare to.

"It's fine. I know it's hard to understand." Tere nodded.

"Does that mean that I'll be involved if there's a fight within the hive?" he asked after a minute

"Not at all. It would be a changeling matter and you're a pony.”

He thought, turning to the now successful Nymph who was holding the remains of her fish up in front of Stalwart.

"See! I can float things now!"

"Levitate." Violet corrected.

Nymph finished off the morsel of food as she walked back to Violet and gave her a hug, quite happy at this skill, and didn't seem to mind that she was learning from someone who was younger.

Violet patted her head with a small smile.

Stalwart chuckled, "Well, we can talk about this more later. It's what, midday? Will we take them on a hike or head home?"

"Hmm… depends. You want to sleep in your bed or out here?"

"Sleeping in a bed is always nice." He chuckled adding in a small tease, "Is that even a question?"

Tere shrugged. "I'm fine anywhere.”

"I'm fine anywhere too." he replied, "but I like sleeping in a bed. Come on fillies, let's get the tent packed up so we can head home.”

Tere nodded and while they worked on putting away the tent, he tended to the rest of the camp.

Once everything was packed, Stalwart put it onto his back and chuckled, "Everyone ready to go home?"

The fillies and Tere nodded.

"Then let's be off to back home!" he said, heading the way back to home as Tere brought up the rear.

Stalwart soon guided them home from their camping trip and visiting Dawn, and once inside, deposited the gear at the entrance, satisfied that they arrived.

Most of the tent city that had been there was now gone, with just a few guards and the BCD remaining.

"Where is everypony?" he asked confused, though not wanting to ask until they were inside.

"Moved to the site. Just a few guards left here to guard your place, and the BCD… well they don't want to move, really."

"I bet... though if they caught word of what Nymph discovered about Dawn, think they would?" he joked.

"Most likely not. This is her home. Why go to her when she will come to them?"

Stalwart felt slightly deflated when he heard that, and chuckled emptily, "You have a point."

"Relax. They keep mostly to themselves, as you've seen."

"Yes, but if they're anything like Twilight, they wouldn't dream of passing up looking at my wife when she comes back. First pony drone and all that."

"No doubt, but then, she is counting on that." Tere said.

"Why would she count on it?" he asked

"She was worried about changes and what it might do to her."

Understanding started to set in at the realization that she was worried about it too, likely for his sake, and had already put in a request to find out more about it. Somehow, he felt relieved, even if he didn't understand what they did to know.

Tere watched him, as the foals had run off to the rest of the house.

"I hope she hatches soon." He said quietly. "I think I'll take a shower. Mind watching the fillies a little longer while I do?"

"Not at all." He said. "You go relax."

Author's Notes:

Here have some more diabetes!

And i apologize for this being reuploaded but there was a miscommunication between me and my editor

I have a PATREON with fair rewards. Every bit is greatly appreciated and helps me out.