A mare cloaked in a dark hood trots across the streets of Ponyville. Her breath, calm; eyes scanning around for any oddities. The early morning mist still fills the air. She knows the routes, the building to search for, and in no time finds a familiar dwelling. Her hoof gently knocks on the door, steady hoofsteps follow before the door slowly swings open.

She is met with a weary Noctral, sorting only a sleeping blindfolded wrapped over his forehead. "Hey, come on in. Thanks for showing up so early." He turns around and heads back inside. The mare follows, shutting the door behind her and locking it. The interior was modest, yet spacious; a clean space that was sparsely lit. The stallion makes his way to the kitchen and turns on a small light in the corner. Turning around, he pulls up a chair by the nearby table as his guest approaches. She sits down and pulls back her hood. Her striking, jade green eyes pierce the darkness. The earth pony follows with a warm smile to her old friend. "It's good to see you, Niv. It's been some time."

"It has," she nods, "So, what's up? You sounded exhausted over the phone. Rough day at work?"

"Yea, operation into the Everfree didn't go exactly as planned." His eyes glance over to his brace, "We fought more of those demons, one actually dragged me into Tartarus."

"What!?" Nivalia gasps before being shushed by her friend. "You... you we're actually there?"

"It's... as one might expect." Ebony leans back on his seat, stretching back his wings, "Hellfire, brimstone, and monsters abound. The whole thing was just... surreal. Thankfully we had backup from Equinox to support us." His eyes break contact with her gaze, "One didn't make it. It..." Coldsteel pauses, a little longer than usual before continuing. "Wasn't easy, but we made it out with what we were looking for. A unicorn named Asher also helped us out. And, of course..." He nods over to the living room, "Your best employee. I tell ya Niv, your shop's security is in good hooves."

"How is she?"

"She's alright, a bit drained so don't push her too hard today." Ebony looks over to the darkness of his living room, "Fox found one heck of a friend. She's been with us through a lot."

Nivalia looks over in the same direction, "Yea, she's a tough one I'll give her that. So, any news I need to tell her?"

Ebony shakes his head, "No, just let her know I went to the library. I have food stocked and everything so you two eat up before you leave."

"Of course, Captain," Niv jokingly replies. Ebony rolls his eyes and gets up, slowly pacing through the living room to his bed upstairs. The changeling follows, but sleeps on the recliner next to the orange unicorn. A couple of hours later, Coldsteel would head out with the book and leather jacket. Before Tinder would wake up, Nivalia would awake to start cooking breakfast.

"Hi sweetie! It's Niv. Your breakfast should be ready in a few minutes." A glass of water floats out of the kitchen and lands gently next to the unicorn. "Take a drink of water and stay there. Ebony told me you two had quite an adventure yesterday. Were at his place right now." Nivalia finishes up her second plate of pancakes and drizzles it with some syrup. "He left a couple of hours ago to get some work done. He didn't want to leave you alone, so he called me over to be here when you wake up. Just take your time and meet me in the kitchen when you're ready."

Nivalia sets the two plates down onto the table and takes a seat, besides the two plates of pancakes, there was orange juice, fruit, and other morning sweets to eat. "Oh, yea, he carried you over here from the camp. I guess he didn't want to wake you up so he just came here, plopped you down, and clocked out for the night. He called me sometime after you two got here to let me know." The changeling levitates a fork over to Tinder's plate before digging into her own meal. "I'm just glad you two are safe from the whole ordeal."

"Yea, I've had a few times where I thought the same thing." Nivalia pours herself some orange juice before taking another bite of her pancakes, "But a tough one. Plus, he had you backing him up. Still, I do worry about him sometimes." She notices Tinder's struggle to levitate her fork, "How are you feeling, Tinder? Going through something like that I can imagine putting quite the strain on you."

"That's a good thing," Nivalia replies, "Monsters and demons can do terrible things to a pony I can imagine. I'm just glad you two are safe and sound." She takes a deep breath before putting her fork down, "I know we have work today, but don't worry about doing actual work. I know you've had a rough time and I don't want to push you too hard. Plus..." Nivalia pauses and takes a deep breath, "I need to talk to you about something, to all the workers at The Herbiary in fact."

"I uh..." Nivalia plays around with her food before looking back up at Tinder. "Well, you know about my secret. About what I really am, being a changeling and all. I was at Canterlot with a few friends; we went to a small festival being held at the town square." She breaks her gaze away from her, "One thing led to another and... I got found out. My disguise broke and..." Nivalia paused for quite some time, trying to fight back some tears, though a couple manage to trickle down her face. "There was mob and..." She raises her hoof to her mane and lifts some of it up. On the side of her head was a small scar, a couple of inches in length. The changeling drops it back down before continuing, "They tried to kill me, Tinder. They kept... they kept yelling 'Squash the bug!' and I was so scared." By now she didn't even bother fighting it back, instead just started crying. "They thought I stole some things but I didn't! But they didn't care, they just thought I was some monster that needed to be slain."

Once Nivalia feels Tinder hugging her, she returns it back ten fold. Tinder would feel a warm, tingling sensation throughout her body, strong enough to block whatever pain she would feel from her injuries. She would go on crying for a short time before calming down and letting go. "Thank you sweetie, I really appreciate it." She wipes off her tears with her hoof and catches her breath, "I've had to come back here to Ponyville to lay low, but word is getting around and I'm afraid it may affect business at The Herbiary. I have to... I have to go there and tell my workers what's going on, who I really am. They've been with me this whole time and they don't even know. But they deserve to; I'm just worried about how they make take the news."

"Oh, thank you Tinder, for everything. I'm glad I have a friend as great as you." She smiles when she's offered food, "No I'm fine dear, I still got my own plate to finish. If anything you need to gather up your strength. You may be physically fine, but I know your magic has been shorting out over there." She pats Tinder's shoulder, "I got something at work that can take care of that. So for now, eat up. I don't any of this delicious food go to waste. After that, we'll head to The Herbiary and I'll break the news to them. At that point we'll see where things go."