Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic belongs to Hasbro and was created by Lauren Faust. Some ideas about Changelings and the Hive are borrowed from Silver Wing. This story and OCs belong to their author.

OCs: Calamity, Raven Wing, Granite, Indigo Sky, North Star, Tiger Lily, Poppy Rows, etc.

Notes: I haven't been this productive writing-wise in a long, long time. I'm working on some other fics right now as well (for FIM, but also in Kingdom Hearts, Supernatural and Heralds of Valdemar fandoms), but Starless is turning out to be right in the forefront of my brain right now, apparently.

Also, I know that "changeling(s)" shouldn't be capitalized, as it's not a proper name or title. However, at this point in Starless, Callie puts much more importance on her own race than any of the other pony races, so given the way she thinks, I'm capitalizing it.

STARLESS
Chapter Four
By Senashenta

Why did she care that Indigo was gone? Why did it matter that she had died? How had this small, fatally injured unicorn mare managed to work her way into her heart so quickly?

Was it because she had been hurt, helpless? Because Calamity had pitied her? Because they had talked, gotten to know each other? Because Indigo hadn't judged her the way she had always assumed the Outsiders would? Or was it simply because the other pony had called her "Callie", used the familiar nickname that only her few real friends used?

Was that it?

Did she consider Indigo a friend, even after only knowing each other for a few short hours?

Calamity didn't know. All she was sure of was that Indigo had just passed away right in front of her and her insides were all twisted up into knots—tears stung in her eyes, but she forced them back. She was a Changeling. Changelings were strong—they were predators. Changelings didn't cry.

But then, Changelings didn't panic, either. They didn't hear a little snapping twig and run off into the middle of nowhere. They didn't get themselves so lost that they had no way of getting out, no way of getting home again.

She had done those things. She had done all of those things—and more.

A lump rose in her throat, and Calamity swallowed thickly. She still had one hoof resting against Indigo's shoulder, but now she let it lower to the ground again. Her gaze stayed pinned on the other pony, though. She blinked against tears again—but this time she lost the battle and they spilled from her eyes anyway, trailing down to drop from her chin onto ground below.

"Indy…"

Calamity took a deep breath, then sniffed slightly and reached to scrub the tears away, leaving smears of dirt across her face. Then she looked around, surveying.

There—a few feet away. Another pile of rocks from the cliff slide.

She knew there was no way she could dig Indigo from under the pile of rubble where she was currently trapped. She couldn't dig a grave the bury her properly. But maybe she could cover the rest of the unicorn in stones, to save her from wild animals. To put her at rest, as much as possible. Even if they hadn't known each other for very long, had only just started the beginning of a friendship, Calamity felt compelled to do at least that much.

Changelings were a sort of unicorn themselves—or, she supposed, closer to alicorns. They sported both horns and wings, after all. But unlike the alicorns, or even the unicorns, Changelings' magic was mostly limited to their shapeshifting. They did have a bit of magic beyond that, but very little—enough to lift and carry their dinner dishes, or to work a hoof file—that sort of thing.

She thought, though, that if she strained it, if she worked hard enough, she could manage to carry the necessary rocks to give Indigo a proper burial—and she was right.

It was hard, exhausting, and by the time she was finished she was close to collapsing. When the last stone was in place and secure she stood back to survey the results—and while it wasn't perfect by any means, it was good enough considering the situation.

A tiny cross made of sticks was the final touch. The grave would bear no name, but it would have a marker at least.

Calamity was just setting the cross in its place when she once again heard a twig crack and the rustling of bushes in the distance.

This time, though, she forced herself not to panic outright—the instinct was there, though, the emotion welling up inside her, pushing at her thoughts, trying to shove all reason and logic out of the way.

Fear was a base emotion, bitter and strong, instinctive and hard to fight against.

She battled it anyway, because last time she hadn't and look where it had gotten her.

The sounds weren't coming from behind her this time, but from above. After a brief moment of confusion, sapphire eyes lifted to the cliff again, skimming up the sheer face—and just as they reached the top, a voice called out, faint and still some way off, but definitely there, definitely speaking, definitely not her imagination—and definitely calling for Indigo.

"Indy—! Indigo! Are you out there…? Indy!"

Indigo had been so sure, so certain that no one would find her out here. That she was too far lost in the Everfree for any of her family or friends to locate her, rescue her, save her and bring her home.

But Indigo's father was a cartographer, right? So it made sense that he, at least, would be able to navigate the twists and turns of the forest. And now the voices were calling out, hoof beats getting closer every second, and the panic began to edge its way into the edges of Calamity's mind again.

They were nearby—close.

And there she was, a Changeling, standing next to the body of the pony they were searching for.

Calamity knew what they would think if they found her like this. They would assume that she was responsible for Indigo's death, and when they decided that, her fate would be sealed.

Would they banish her? Execute her? Would they throw her in jail? Hold her hostage? Interrogate her until she revealed the location of the Hive? Any of those were possible—and all of them were horrifying ideas. Yes, she was certain she would never see the colony, her home and friends again.

"—Indigo!"

The panic began to overtake her. Calamity looked around desperately as the steps and voices grew ever closer. But there was nowhere for her to go. The bush was too thick, and her wings were still ripped and broken—she couldn't fly away even if she could find a break in the canopy of tree branches and winding vines.

Then the cliff side began to crumble slightly again, reacting to hoof beats and movement, sending tiny rocks, dirt and grit falling down around her head—and Calamity made a final, desperate decision.

Closing her eyes, she took a breath and exhaled slowly. By the time she opened her eyes again a short moment later, her black hide had shifted to dark purple-blue. Her spiked mane and tail had transformed to soft, flowing hair. Bight, luminous, pupil-free blue eyes settled down to "normal" cobalt. Finally, her wings faded into nothingness.

When she was finished, a pony identical to Indigo Sky stood next to the pile of funeral rocks.

Calamity shifted, looking down at herself, then back toward her predictably blank haunches. No Cutie Mark. That could be a problem, if she was stuck around the other ponies for too long. But for now it was fine—and just in time, too.

"Indy! Is that you…?! Guys, I found her! I found Indigo!"

Calamity swallowed thickly. "Y-yeah. I'm here."

Who was that? Was it Indigo's father? One of her friends? The only thing Calamity knew for sure was that it couldn't Indigo's mother or her friend, Poppy Rows. The pony currently standing at the edge of the cliff and looking down at her was a stallion, not a mare.

"Just hang on, we're coming down…!"

The rest happened so fast Calamity barely had time to think: three ponies—two unicorns and one earth—had scrambled down the sharp incline next to the worn cliff face and hurried over to her.

"Indy!" The earth pony all buy flung herself at Calamity, tackling her to the ground in an enthusiastic hug. She wasn't the pony who had called out from the cliff above, but she clearly knew Indigo. "I knew we'd find you! And we did! Here you are and—ah!" She seemed to pause for a moment and moved back to look down at Calamity, blinking. "Are you okay?"

Calamity had been about to reply with something along the lines of I'll be fine once you get off of me when one of the unicorns—the stallion from the cliff top—reached over and pried the earth mare off of her, setting her to the side and out of the way.

"Indigo, are you alright?" And then, "I mean, you're hungry, I bet. But otherwise?"

Otherwise? Her wings hurt. But given that at the moment she supposedly had no wings, she decided to skip that reply. Instead she shook her head, shifting awkwardly and hoping she wasn't giving herself away already.

"Just… dirty." She replied, and smiled faintly. "I'm alright."

"Good,"

The second unicorn was older than the other two ponies and with a compass rose for a Cutie Mark: Calamity assumed this was Indigo's father. A minute later, she was quickly maneuvered toward the hill they had come down only moments before.

"Come on." North Star said, sounding relieved and exhausted at the same time. "Let's go home."

Calamity had no choice, so she went.