"Ralph, wake up." Ralph's eyes opened slowly and he blinked in the light of very early morning.
"Vanellope?" he mumbled, turning to look at her. The mint green alicorn was prancing on the spot, looking nervously towards the farmhouse every so often.
"C'mon, Ralph, we've got to go," she urged, desperation creeping into her voice and making it squeak. "The farmpony's a spy. I set up traps around the barn before we went to sleep and he tripped one. He had a magic suppressor with him." She whined at him, hazel eyes teary.
"Okay," Ralph said, immediately jumping to his hooves. The ground shuddered upon impact, yet Vanellope stood steady. She galloped out of the barn, Ralph following behind her.
The two ponies ran across the countryside, Ralph struggling to keep up with the smaller pony. She really was fast, especially when she was scared.
They passed through thickets of trees and sometimes through odd little streams of water. Though her hooves were muddied and leaves and twigs got caught in her mane, Vanellope never slowed.
Felix had to admit that having Calhoun along had saved their hides more than once. He watched as the unicorn aimed another spell and shot another changeling out of the sky. She smiled as it plummeted to the ground, trailing smoke.
"Doesn't that hurt them?" he asked tentatively, and she spun and glared at him. He instantly shrank back, wings folding over his face to shield himself from her.
"They're parasites, Felix!" she snapped. "They feed on love, integrating themselves into pony families with no thought for what they're doing. The relationships they're destroying. The dead children who mysteriously come back to life, only to be a creature disguising itself as pony."
"But the ponies who they copy are still left alive to maintain that copy," Twilight protested. Calhoun snorted in response.
"You're so naive," she scoffed. "The ponies they replace are kept alive for the copy, yes, but not for very long. Once the changeling learns the very structure and memories of that pony, wham!" She emphasised the last word with a stomp of her forehooves. Felix noted that they landed on one of the bug-like creatures, causing blue blood to splatter out. "The changelings consume the pony. They're left an empty shell. No soul. No magic. No identity. Just the shell of a pony, like the shell the monsters shed when they've outgrown their old one." She turned and looked away, as though the knowledge had been gained first-hoof. It probably had.
"Calhoun," he said gently, stepping towards her and offering her a gentle hoof.
"No, Felix! Just… no," she sighed, and trotted forwards along the path. Rainbow Dash flew lazily back to the little group and looked after her with curiosity.
"What just happened?" she asked.
"I think I may have accidentally reminded her of something she'd rather forget," Felix admitted with a wince.
"Ah, she'll get over it," Rainbow shrugged.
"Rainbow!" Twilight chastised. "The poor mare has obviously suffered some kind of severe trauma, she won't just get over it! Imagine if me or, Celestia forbid, Scootaloo got hurt or killed in some terrible way. Wouldn't it scar you for life?" Ahead of them, unbeknownst to the trio, Calhoun was smiling.
"And how do you know that?" Rainbow wondered. Felix was wondering the same thing.
"I do read a lot," Twilight reminded her with a chuckle.
What Calhoun had said, and what Twilight had added, made Felix wonder if maybe Ralph experienced that too. The trauma of knowing that he'd destroyed the town, and been given monster status because of it. But he shook his head to clear the thought. If Ralph suffered because of it, he never showed it. He liked his solitude.
Vanellope was panicking. She collapsed near a wide river, chest heaving as she gasped. The amulet sparked uselessly at her throat, her coat and mane their normal colour. It had shattered during her panicked race across country, so she took it off with her magic and threw it into the river. Her crushed wings fluttered as much as they were able to at her sides. Ralph slowly stepped towards her and lay down beside her. He rested his muzzle on her neck. Her pulse was racing, and her entire body trembled. He soon realised that she was talking, though it was more of a quiet gibbering to herself.
"They can't take me again, I won't let them, I won't go back to the dungeon. I won't!" Her voice broke off in a squeak, and she buried her face in her hooves.
"Hey, it's okay, you're safe with me," Ralph assured. "I could squash them like a bug, no matter what they are or how dangerous."
"Ralph, they tortured me!" she squeaked, shoulders trembling. Her crushed wings extended in an attempt to wrap around her face like a foal would, but she couldn't make it happen. "Those awful bug things. T-they h-hurt me so mu-u-uch." She sobbed, entire body shaking with the great heaving. Ralph got a little closer and could now see her wings properly now that her cloak was twisted around and lying on the grass rather than over her wings. The mint green feathers looked horribly mangled, but the feathers themselves were perfect. Not broken, just all out of place.
Ralph nuzzled between her wings, in the spot that always used to calm Felix if he was ever frightened. And he was frightened of so many things- scary ponies, monsters from the Everfree, nightmares, even just a scary story. The mare's shaking subsided, as did her trembling. But she still cried.
"Would you mind if I preened you?" Ralph suggested. "Your feathers could do with a good preening. It might make you feel better."
"I'd like that, yeah," Vanellope agreed with a little hiccup. "I can't reach them to preen them. But how do you know how to do it? You're an earth pony."
"My brother's a pegasus," Ralph revealed. "He always enjoyed getting his wings preened. Mum told him to do it himself but he always asked me to do it. I remember when he was still a little colt back when I was first exiled, he'd come to the Everfree at least once a week just to get his wings preened." He smiled fondly at the memory.
"Your brother is very innocent, isn't he?" Vanellope asked, directing a smile at Ralph.
"How'd you know?" he laughed.
"Because preening is a very intimate activity," Vanellope revealed. "If it's not done by the pony themselves, it's done by their mate or very close family member like their mother." She laughed at Ralph's blush. "But you can go ahead and preen them if you want. You are my special somepony, after all." Now Ralph wasn't the only one with red cheeks. "And I did say I wanted you to."
Ralph hadn't preened somepony for years, and never somepony with such broken wings or somepony who wasn't family. Thankfully, he still remembered how to do it. His teeth moved lightly over the mint-green feathers, rearranging them and smoothing them out. He only had to pluck out a few broken ones.
As she was preened, Vanellope relaxed. She hadn't been touched so gently since… well, since forever. Not that she could remember, anyway. She rested her head on her hooves and closed her eyes. Although he was so much bigger than her, she trusted Ralph. Even enough to be out here in the open with her wings out so he could preen them.
Rainbow Dash flew out of the forest on another search to find the two ponies they were looking for. Green lands passed beneath her, cut by a glimmering blue river. Soon, she found a spot of colour by the river. There was the huge red earth pony, and beside him… She abruptly stopped flying, almost falling until she remembered to flap her wings.
"No. Way," she whispered, and flew back to tell her friends of what she'd found.
"I found 'em!" she declared, hovering in front of them. "And you'll never guess what his friend really is!"
"What is she?" Twilight wondered. "I know she has a horn." Rainbow went to reply, but Calhoun leaped up and shoved her hoof in the pegasus' mouth.
"Shh!" she hushed the pony, glaring. "I've heard about this. I think I might know who she is. Green coat, awful-looking wings, black mane and tail?" Rainbow nodded, and Calhoun let her go.
"How do you know about it? Who is she?" Felix wondered.
"I can't tell you here. Might be spies around," Calhoun warned, eyeing the forest around them warily. "Where are they, Dash?"
"Follow me," Rainbow smiled, and led them out of the forest.
When they stepped out under the stars, Felix had never been so happy to see his brother.
"Ralph!" he cried happily. The stallion lifted his head from where it had been resting on the mare curled beside him. He smiled warmly at his brother.
"Hey, Felix," he greeted him happily. Felix galloped to him and slid to a stop beside him, glancing between the two ponies.
"Where were you?" Felix demanded. "I was looking for you everywhere! You had me worried."
"Sorry," Ralph chuckled. "I was just getting tired of living in the Everfree I guess. So I went to Zecora and she told me that I'd be seen as more than a bad guy if I found a way to prove myself to be good. I set out on my journey and then I found her." He nuzzled Vanellope, just to make it clear who he was referring to.
"Are you-" Calhoun broke off and looked around carefully before stepping closer to the mare and lowering her voice- "Princess Vanellope?" The mare, clearly Vanellope, glanced nervously behind her. Her wings were covered, so how…? Calhoun smiled at her.
"How'd you know?" she asked, sitting up.
"Talk in the changeling hunter community says that Candy Cloud has a major changeling problem. That correct?"
"Yes," Vanellope confirmed acidly. "One changeling disguised himself as the King and took my throne before throwing me in the dungeon."
"She escaped, fell to earth, and I decided to help her," Ralph finished.
"Looks like more than happened," Felix remarked, still grinning. Ralph blushed.
"Wait, so you're a Princess?" Twilight asked. Vanellope nodded.
"I am the rightful Princess and ruler of Candy Cloud, yes."
"Oh, forgive me for being so rude, Princess!" Twilight immediately dropped in a bow. "I didn't realise you were a Princess."
"Yeah, my disguise is good," Vanellope admitted. "But now that you all know who I am, you have to travel with me and don't tell anypony." Her face darkened at the last few words. "Don't even talk about me unless you're with ponies who you absolutely trust."
"Of course, Princess," Twilight promised.
"That's another thing," Vanellope added. "Don't refer to me as Princess, please. Just Vanellope is fine."
"Soo, if you're a Princess, where are your wings and crown?" Rainbow wondered, hovering over her, "or are they under this?" With that, she pulled the cloak off Vanellope. The mare gasped, immediately feeling oddly naked. Rainbow echoed her gasp, though it was one of horror.
"Oh my, what happened to your wings?" Felix asked. "They look terrible!"
"Broken when I was put in the dungeon," Vanellope revealed, looking to Ralph for support. He wrapped a hoof around her, and she snuggled closer to him.
"Do you want my brother to fix them?" Ralph suggested.
"Why do you have to ask?" Vanellope laughed. "I'd love to be able to fly again or at least stretch my wings."
"It might be easier if you stand," Felix suggested, raising a golden hoof. "That way it won't feel quite so much like I'm stepping on you." Vanellope froze, wings trembling with remembered pain. She heard the snapping again, almost felt it. Calhoun looked at her sympathetically.
"You are really no good at being around people who've been traumatised," Rainbow teased Felix. The stallion lowered his head, embarrassed and feeling just a little guilty. Abruptly, Vanellope stood, though she remained close to Ralph and still trembled.
"Please fix my wings, though I don't know how you'd do that without a horn," she requested, sniffling.
"At your service, ma'am," he promised, and raised his hoof again. He pressed it as gently as he could against Vanellope's wing and, though she trembled and buried her face in Ralph's side, she didn't pull away. Her whimpers turned into a gasp of shock when the mangled wing turned into the large wing of an alicorn. She almost couldn't believe it. She moved it around, twitching her flight feathers. To complete the test, she used it to wipe away her tears.
"But how?" she gasped, turning so he could fix her other wing.
"Well, that's a funny story," Felix smiled, and fixed her other wing before telling her of his journey into the Everfree Forest and his discovery of the golden hammer. Vanellope listened with rapt attention, hovering in the air. It felt so good to be able to stretch her wings again.