Sunny Knight: a Pony's Tale

by TheothersideofSunny968

A Tale of Two Kings

It would be a lie if Sunny said that he didn't have nightmares about a day like this. And he wasn't one for lying anymore. But there he stood, in the royal fitting room in the Crystal Castle, being fitted for his royal attire that he would have to wear as King of the Crystal Empire.

His mother's concerned voice repeating in Sunny's head as he stood still and let the royal fitters do their jobs…

"The Crystal guards looked all over for Cadence and her family, but not even the royal crystaller could locate them with his best seeking spells. Without somepony to lead them and fill them with love, the light of the Crystal Heart will fade. The entire Empire could be swallowed up by the storm surounding it. We need you and Applejack to head to the Crystal Empire and keep their spirits high while WE go looking for Cadence, Shinning and Flurry Heart." Celestia concluded as she finished packing two sattle bags for herself and her sister, preparing all the essentials as well as a few other emergency items.

"Hold on mom" Sunny tried to slow her down, feeling everything was going way too fast for his head to wrap around. "Do you have any idea what could have happened to them? Where do you even plan on looking? Is it just you and Aunt Luna who are looking? Shouldn't you take guards!? And what about Canterlot? And Ponyville? Both of them would be unprotected! And why does Applejack need to come with me? She has other things to do on the farm. Half the farm house is in ruins!"

"I heard about your run in with Snowstorm. He was a very promising student of my school at one point" Celestia's tone made her seem disappointed. Her expression softened when she looked back at her son. "But thanks to you, he's come back to make amends, which includes leading us to Sombra's secret hide out. My sister and I will lead a group there. I have a feeling Cadence and her family are there."

"Princess Twilight will watch over Canterlot with her friends" Luna walked in, carrying some supplies with her, appearing less relaxed about the whole situation then her sister. "They can use your mirror from the farm that connect to my sister's mirror in Canterlot to travel back and forth in seconds."

"And as for Applejack" Celestia pulled a strap with great force on her saddle bag, sealing all the supplies in there before turning to her son. "YOU need HER. As much as you have grown, as brightly as you glow now, you shine when you are with her. You love her, she loves you,, and it shows. And the Crystal Empire needs that love right now."

Sunny narrowed his eyes at the floor, as if trying to read the ground.

"I know this is the last thing you wanted, but the ponies of the Crystal Empire need you." Celestia reasured her son, raising his lowered head with her hoof, greeting his redirected attention with a sincere smile. "I know you can do this. Just be yourself. They'll all love you just as much as your friends do."

Sunny gulped, fearing that alot of ponies will assume him raising to be king, even though it is just a temporary position, will be just like his father and possibly last years, and maybe even, one day, Sunny could become a dark, corrupt king like his father.

"Do you have your speech prepared?" Sunny's Auny Luna asked him, shaking Sunny free from his darkening thoughts.

"Speech?" Sunny gulped.

"Yes, it is customary to give a speech at any royal assembly, no matter how temporary it is" Celestia admitted. "Perhapse, just speak from the heart. Let them know that Cadence, Shinning Armor and Flurry Heart will be returning soon."

"Let them know that WE are on the job" Luna interrupted, smirking confidently. Knowing alot of ponies have faith in them.

"That alone could put their worries at ease" Celestia commented, but returned her relaxed expression to Sunny. "But over all, just be yourself."

'Just be myself' Sunny kept repeating to himself as the last royal Crystal fitter finished her work and cut the last stray thread. Sunny had been so preoccupied with what to say during his speech that he didn't notice what he was being fitted with. His King's cloak looked like his father's. If Sunny had been a shade of grey, he would have looked like a much younger version of his own father. Sunny had mixed feelings of pride and disgust. 'This probably isn't the best way to greet the Crystal ponies, looking like the pony who enslaved them.'

"Everything alright, your highness?" The fitter asked, knowing what displeased looks on regal muzzles looked like.

"Ugh, well…" Sunny looked himself up and down in the mirror, the armor that went with the outfit, light blueish silver, and matching crown complemented the purple Cloak, but it… it didn't seem like something that fit Sunny. More like Sunny was playing dress up with his father's cloths. "It just… doesn't seem me."

The fitter took a few steps back, looked him up, smiled then went right back to work, asking Sunny to hold still. Sunny did as he was instructed, even closing his eyes, trying to relax as he went over his speech mentally. A few minutes later, the fitter stopped and told Sunny to open his eyes.

Gazing into the mirror now, Sunny could hardly believe the amount of work the fitter had done in such a short time. The purple cloak was now a noble emerald green, matching Sunny's eyes. The armor and crown had some how changed color as well to a glimmering gold that complemented the emerald cloak perfectly. Even the gem atop the crown that mirrored Sunny's father's emerald had changed to a bright red ruby that reminded Sunny of a ripe fresh apple.

"Amazing…" Sunny admitted as he looked himself over a bit, turning around and even posing as humbly as he could. He was astonished that anypony could get this amount of work done in such a short time. He turned to the royal fitter. "How did you…?"

"I have my tricks. I know just how to bring out a pony's most prestigious look" the fitter admitted, smirking. "You think this is good, wait till I get my hooves on your wife. You two will look just divine."

"Oh, ugh, she's not my wife, yet" Sunny corrected the royal fitter pony before she left.

"She will be, though" the fitter commented without hesitation. "Better get used to it."

And with that, Sunny was left with his thoughts. The idea that he and Applejack would be getting married soon also brought mixed feeling into his heart. He wanted nothing more then to start their life togeather, on the other hoof, with all this going on, his cousin and her family missing, his father still plotting in the shadows, now his mother and aunt are on some search and rescue mission which might be playing right into his father's hooves, then there's that evil Princess Amore to deal with, not to mention when Sunny and Applejack had to leave half the farm house was still in ruins!

Sunny felt dizzy and needed to sit down. Luckily there was a small couch near by. It wasn't very comfy, being more for short sitting spells and looks rather then comfort, but it was better then falling to the ground.

"You ok, partner?" A too familiar voice rang in Sunny's ears, causing the still dizzy unicorn to look up. His jaw almost hit the ground when he saw Applejack.

His fiancé had been fitted with a simple, but graceful looking emerald green silk dress that flowed in waves at her sides, with a ribbon that swung from the front of her chest to her tail, with a ruby at the center of her chest that matched the one on Sunny's crown. At the top of her head sat a thin, elegant gold tiara that completed her whole transformation.

"Ah said, you ok, partner?" Applejack repeated herself, still concerned about her fiancé. He had been stairing at her for a few moments, his mouth hanging open, but not words were coming out.

"Ah… ugh… you're beautiful" was all Sunny could muster, which earned a small laugh from Applejack. There were so many other words he could have used to describe how wonderful she looked, how much of a dream she appeared to be, how she looked like she should be sitting in a castle of her own surrounded by acres and acres of the finest Apple trees in all Equeatria, but Sunny was worried that in his current state he'd trip over his own words.

"Well thank ya, kindly" She smiled and blushed a little. "Not mah idea of duds, but ah do think ah look good. Not as good looking as yourself, Mr prince."

Sunny's heart sank. "King…"

"Oh, ugh, right, King" Applejack corrected herself. "Kings are temporary, princes…"

"If they adressed me as 'prince' to the ponies of the Crystal Empire, it would be solidifying that I was here to stay. And they would all assume Cadence and Shinning Armor wouldn't be returning…" Sunny sighed, not wanting to think about it.

Applejack took a seat next to her future husband, making a silent comment about the uncomfortable coutch, then took one of his hooves in hers. "This ain't gunna be forever. Just 'till yer mom and Princess Luna find them. And they will, ah know it."

This still didn't put Sunny at ease, Applejack could read there was more on his mind then ever before. "This is all happening at the worst possible time. I just know my father had his hooves in this some how."

"All we can do is our part" Applejack tried to tell Sunny, realizing it didn't help.

"But we have so many things that need to be done" Sunny began to unload, worry broke across his muzzle. "The farm house needs to be rebuilt, we have the rest of the wedding to deal with, my father is still out there, doing who know what-"

One of Applejack's hooves found its way to Sunny's muzzle and stopped the flow of words. Sunny paused, looked from her hoof to Applejack's own worried expression, then to lighten the mood, stuck out his tounge and locked the hoof that was pressed against his lips.

"Yer lucky they washed mah hooves" Applejack cracked a smile. "Fer all you know, ah could have stepped in ah cow pie."

This caused them both to chuckle and for a moment, forget all their worries.

After a good chuckle, Sunny wipped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "Ya have no idea how badly ah've been needin' that."

"Probably just as much as ah have" Applejack admitted. "But in all seriousness, Sugar cube, Big Mac and ah few friends from around town are helpin' ta rebuild th' house, might even make ah few improvements to it while they're at it. Ah wouldn't worry 'bout th' weddin'. Neither you or ah are goin' anywhere. And your daddy better behave himself or yer gunna have ta hold me back, 'couse ah ain't gunna be as nice as th' Cryatal Heart was when it blasted him."

That also caused Sunny to chuckle. Applejack was a very tough mare, and the thought of his father stepping out of line, despite all his magic, facing Applejack might be one for the history books. 'Shadow King taken down by honest Apple farmer.'

"Ah'm glad ah could tag along with ya fer this" Applejack told Sunny when he stopped laughing again, her tone more gentle then a moment ago.

This shook Sunny of all his giggles and brought him back to the present. "I hate that you had to leave the farm, though… and that you had to see it in such a condition."

"Oh shoot, sugar cube, that was bad, but ya should have seen it when ah hosted th' Apple Family reunion, an' th' whole barn fell apart!" Applejack remembered that day, it was certainly one to remember. "But we got th' barn back up, an' better then ever."

That put Sunny at ease. "To be honest, ah'm really glad you're here too. Ah think ah can do this if you're here. 'Sides, how many Apples can say they've been ah Queen?"

Now it was Applejack's turn to laugh. "Not many, less you count Queen of th' county fair."

"Your majasties" a crystal guard stuck his head into their room, looking refined and lack of emotion. "I hate to interupt, but it's time to address the Empire."

"Thank you, Berry Gust " Sunny smiled and nodded to the guard, who looked shocked that Sunny knew his name, and withdrew to return to his guarding position at the door.

"Ya ready, mah king?" Applejack used Sunny's temporary title to help ease him into it.

"Ready if you are, mah queen" Sunny mimicked her, studying her reaction. But the only thing he noted was the Sparkle in her eye. Not from being called a queen, but from being called 'his'. Taking another look at his future wife, Sunny realized he had never seen a more beautiful pony in all his life.

The whole Empire was buzzing with gossip, some whispers that King Sombra had kidnapped the royal family so his son could rule, some with its all a hoax and Cadence and Shinning Armor took Flurry Heart on a top secret vacation, some even thought Cadence wanted to step down as princess of the Crystal Empire to become a full time mom and thought the whole 'missing/kidnapped' story would be the easiest way to ease the Crystal ponies into a new ruler. All the whispering dies down when Sunny and Applejack emerged from the Crystal Castle and walked up to a platform set up at the base of the castle. Everypony in the Crystal Empire had gathered around the platform, eager to hear what exactly had happened to their beloved Princess Cadence, Prince Shinning Armor and their daughter, Princess Flurry Heart. Sunny approached the podium, Applejack to his right side, and on their respective sides where the crystaller, Sunburst and his friend, Starlight Glimmer. The Cryatal ponies noticed Sunny's attire right away. A King's attire, and began muttering under their breath to one another until Sunny addressed them.

"Everypony! May I have your attention, please!" Sunny didn't use his royal Canterlot voice, trying to express his concern for the situation, which was why he wanted to address the Empire from the ground rather then from the castle's balcony where royals normally made their announcements in the Crystal Empire. The muttering died down, and a sea of eyes fell upon Sunny. Taking a deep breath, looking to his future wife for support, and after receiving a reassuring smile and wink from her, Sunny continued to address the crowd. "As you all know, my cousin, Princess Cadence, her husband, Prince Shinning Armor, and their foal, Princess Flurry Heart have gone missing."

Chattering broke out in the crowd as ponies turned to one another, but their attention quickly returned to Sunny when he started to speak again.

"In their absence, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna saw fit to appoint me and my future wife, Applejack, the temporary positions of King and Queen of the Crystal Empire" Sunny ripped the bandage off right away on that bit of news. Sunny had to speak up louder to recapture everypony's attention. "Do not get comfortable with us, though, our visit will be short, and your royal family will be returned in no time. But until they are returned, please, go about your lives as normal. Rest assured, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are doing everything in their power to find our missing family members."

"We'll, ugh, take any quesgions you have now" Sunburst said in a shaky, unsure tone.

A sea of hooves went up as ponies began calling out Sunny's original name, Soleggiato. Sunny hated hearing that name at the moment and would have to address that as soon as he possibly could.

"Yes, miss, what's your quesgion" Sunny chose a mare sitting near the front who looked like she had to fight her way though the crowd to get there.

"Prince Soleggiato, do you think your father had anything to do with the royal family's disapearance?" The mare's quesgion sent a shockwave of whispers though the crowd.

"First of all, and this goes for everypony, call me Sunny. You can address me as King Sunny for the moment. Not prince. If you want, you could even just adress me as 'Sunny'" Sunny spoke clearly to the crowd before returning his attention back to the mare who asked the initial question. "And to answer your quesgion, we do not know. But you bring up another excellent point I need to address.

"Everypony listen up!" Sunny silanced the crowd again, say for a few whispering in the back. "We do not know whether my father is behind this or not, but we do have another enemy to worry about. She tried to get rid of me and hurt my friends back in Ponyville. We don't know her real intentions, but she takes pleasure in torturing and harming others. She looks just like the lost princess Amore. But she is not the kind hearted princess I heard so many wonderful things about. If you see her, please, report it to a guard, then return to your homes and hide. She is not to be trusted."

After hearing about the princess Amore look alike, the crowd spoke more loudly amungst themselves again before Sunny chose another pony to answer their quesgions.

"Pri- er, sorry, King Sunny" the stallion corrected himself. "Its common knowlage that you are engaged, what do you plan to do if the royal family isn't returned in the near future? Do you plan to hold off the wedding? And if so, for how long?"

Taking a deep breath, Sunny looked over at Applejack, who shot him a concerned smile and extended her hoof to him. As he squeezed it gently, he looked back at the stallion and answered "if Cadence, Shinning Armor and Flurry Heart don't return I'm a reasonable time, we will proceed with the wedding. I won't have my future wife wait forever for us to start our lives togeather. But we will have to make some changes, such as having the wedding here. Now yes you, in the back."

"Yes, King Sunny" a mare called out, squeezing though the crowd to the front to get closer to Sunny. "What do YOU think happened to the royal family? Were they kidnapped? Did they leave on vacation without telling anypony? Or something else?"

"To be honest, I have no idea. I can tell you this, though, I seriously doubt this was planned by the royal family at all." Sunny admitted.

"Then how can you be so sure they'll be back soon?" The mare's follow up quesgion seemed to set the crown into a mumbling panic.

Sunny took a deep breath and waited for the group to quiet down a little, but they never did. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are looking for them, as well as some of their most trusted aids. I have faith they will find them.

"Yes, you in the front row" Sunny picked a very familiar looking pony, one who had a lengthy grey body, glasses that still didn't allow her to see very well, and atop her three toned grey and white mane sat a bird with a recorder.

"King Sunny" the mare Sunny met a while ago, who he knew as White Out spoke up, a neutral expression on her muzzle. "What do you plan to do if anything happens while the royal family is gone? What if there is a natural disaster? A monster attack? Or even, what if King Sombra attacks?"

This set the crowd into an uproar, with ponies panicking, scrambling and looking worried. White Out immediatly regretted asking this quesgion, Sunny could see the regret flashing in her face.

Sunny didn't want to use the royal canterlot voice, but it looked like he had no choice. Taking in a deep breath of air, Sunny called out "BE CALM!!!"

As if by command, everypony stopped what they were doing, froze for a second, and listened to what their new King had to say.

"If anything were to happen" Sunny started to explain. "Then it will be dealt with accordingly. Or have you all forgotten I'm no foal. I've taken on mad wizards, dragons, monsters, and even fire locusts. Applejack has seen more then her fair share of trouble too. Or did you all forget she and her friends took on Nightmare Moon, Discord, my own father and other troubles?"

Ponies began to calm brown and muttered in a low tone once again, if speaking at all.

"We aren't alone, either" Sunny added. "We have the Crystal guards here, Twilight Sparkle's best student, the great crystaller, as well as the Elements and Guardians of Harmony, should we need them. Equestria is not defenseless."

The crowd muttered amungst themselves for a second, leaving Sunny standing there at his podium, trying to appear as regal yet friendly as he could while reading their expressions. For the most part, they all seemed as relaxed as anypony could under the circumstances.

"Now, if there are no further quesgions" Sunny called out to the crowd, gathering their attention once more. "My Queen and I have to begin our daily royal duties. Should anypony have any information regarding the location of the royal family, though, any possible threats, or see Princess Amore or anything suspicious, please alert us or the Crystal guard immediatly. Thank you all for your cooperation. I know these are uneasy times, but togeather we can get though them. Just believe in yourselves and eachother."

Sunny then started to leave when something arose from the crowd that made him pause and look back over his shoulder.

"Three cheers for King Sunny!" A stallion called out of the crowd. "Hip-Hip!"

"HORRAY!!!" The crowd of crystal ponies all cheered at once.

Sunny back tracked to the podium and looked over the sea of now cheering ponies. Ponies who once looked down at him 1000 years ago. Since then, they had stood by him when an entire town's worth of an angry mob wanted to drag him away. And that was after he came clean about breaking their prince's leg in a jousting match.

"Hip-hip!" The same stallion called out.

"HORRAY!!!" The crowed screamed out once more.

"HIP-HIP" the stallion screamed out even louder.

"HOOOORRRAAAAAYYY!!!" The crowd stomped their hooves, whistles and cheered for Sunny.

Sunny never dreamed that THIS would be the reaction he got when he accessed the throne as king of his home land, but it was most certainly appreciated. Sunny walked off stage again, with his front hoof around his fiance's, and a wide smile spread across his muzzle. He had earned the respect of the Empire, now all he had to do was keep them safe while his mother and Aunt looked for Cadence, Shinning Armor and Flurry Heart. He just hoped they would find them before there was any trouble.

As they passed the Crystal Heart to enter the Crystal castle, Sunny took note that it was glowing and shinning just as brightly as if Cadence and Shinning Armor were here. He could hardly believe that it had ever shattered into a million pieces at one point….

Not far away from the Crystal Empire was a cave, cold but dripping in the icy tundra. It ran deep into a mountain, far enough that no creature would dare venture down there alone. Luckily, the two adventurers weren't alone.

Rumors had it that ponies saw what looked like a swarm of giant insects flying towards this mountain, like a dark storm cloud, then disappearing without a trace. Folks around the mountain left as soon as they hears the hissing and snapping, not wanting any part of the evil that now haunted the mountain's cave. The princesses had a good idea as to what had taken up residence in the mountains caves, especially when their decendance reveiled a rather disgusting, sticky green substance on the walls that appeared fairly new. Princesses Celestia and Luna, along with their band of half a dozen royal guards, ventured down into the catacombs of the mountain while the other half remained outside to defend and warn the venturing team about anything else that might enter the caves, or send for help should the new residence of the caves be too much for them.

"Sister, look" Princess Luna spoke in a hushed tone and pointed at what appeared to be a changeling sleeping in a cocoon.

Celestia approached it carefully, a small light glowing at the end of her horn, kept dim so as not to awaken the creature. It appeared to be in a very deep sleep.

"There's another over here" of of their guards whispered out to the princesses as he pointed to another cocoon with a sleeping changeling inside.

"You aren't going to believe this…" a second guard brightened his horn's light to reveiled a huge casum big enough to hold a castle, with its walls, lined with endless cocoons harboring changelings! It must have been the entire changeling hive! They all were in some sort of hibernation.

A rusty, dried out voice came from the direction of the entrance of the cave. "She… she told me… told me to put them in a sleep…"

The princesses turned to face the owner of the voice, their guards taking a battle ready stance, with spears, swords and shields at the ready.

A rather thin and tall changeling appeared to be wabbaling down the tunnel, a gold, but unpolished crown atop his head, broken glasses hung off balanced on the end of his muzzle, one of the lenses cracked. Wabbaling still towards the princesses, King Ha Mon, the former physician of the IronLock prison and newly crowned king of the changelings, complely ignored the royal guards and their weapons that happened to be aimed right at him.

"I was… to king… the king…" even his words seemed to stumble over eachother as he reached the end of the royal guards spear heads. He stopped walking and looked up at everypony, causing them to take a second look at him. The creature that had rose to become the Changeling King looked malnourished, exhausted, his eyes had a grey tint to them almost as if he was going blind, mis lips were dry, cracked and peeling as his words blew past them like a winter's wind.

Celestia stepped forward, speaking in a surprisingly concerned tone "Please, let us help you. You aren't well. We can help."

"Help…" Ha Mon repeated the word weakly as if he didn't quite understand the word and repeating it over and over would clarify its meaning.

Something else was off about him, or rather something was odd about the air around him. The temperature had taken a sudden chill despite there being no air flow, the space around Ha Mon had grown darker, and whispering could be heard coming from behind the Changeling King, even though his mouth wasn't moving. Princess Celestia strained her ears to try and hear what he obviously heard, but to no avail. Princess Luna did the same, only, the whispering seemed to speak very clearly to her, her eyes went wide as words began to spin thoughts into her head. Old memories began to resurface, a lesson learned was forgotten, and something deep in the far corner of Princess Luna's mind began to resurface.

"Yes…." Ha Mon hissed, his eye lids closing around his dulled eyes. His head shot up, then translucent, cracked and damaged wings flung up and carried him as high as he could in the low ceiling cave. His eyes were still grayed over, but the expression on his insect muzzle became feral, his tone loud and commanding. "Arise my changelings! Arise! Take flight! It is time to feed!"

Listening to their King's command, all the changelings began to stir, breaking free of their cocoons, hissing and screaming like the wild creatures that had become. They always seemed to be feral creatures driven by hunger before but now they had become consumed by it. Their hunger was all the drive their weakened bodies had. The call of their king only meant the promise of food. Delicious love.

Ha Mon cried out to the now awake changelings "Come, my army! We fly! Let's feed! The Crystal Heart will feed us all! We shall feed!"

"We shall feed! Feed! Feed! Feed!" All the changelings began chanting as they began to swarm down the tunnel.

"We can't let them escape!" Celestia told her guards as she focused to put up a condensed colored barrier ahead of the swarm.

The changelings didn't even flinch at the sight of Celestia's barrier.

As Celestia prepared to brace for the impact of countless changelings attacking her barrier, a strong magical blast hit the sun Princess from behind. The blast was a single shot, but it felt like a thousand lightning bolts just surged though her body. Her mind went blank as she collapsed to the ground, her constantly flowing mane had stopped moving and lay still. When the royal guards turned to face the attacker they were shocked to see an old foe standing there in the darkness.

Her coat as black as your darkest dreams, cyan reptilian eyes, royal blue armor coating her body, with a stary night sky mane and tail flowing with her radiant, but evil, power.

"The night, shall last, forever!" Nightmare Moon chuckled triumphantly as she stood looming over her fallen sister.

The royal guards tried to put themselves between Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia, but were blasted away by her magic, like swatting away flys. After fending off her weaker attackers, Nightmare Moon proceeded to gloat and chuckle, finally feeling victorious over her oppressive sister. Never realizing there was something even darker and more sinister whispering in her ear with a stronger hold over her then Nightmare Moon realized.

It was business as usual back at the Crystal Castle, Sunny had just finished a stack of papers taller then he was, when Sunburst brought in another pile even bigger then the first. The yellow unciorn slammed his face on the desk and groaned.

"How does Cadence and Shinning Armor get through all this?" Sunny asked Sunburst, dragging his face up off the flat surface.

"I'm sorry, your majasty, normally there isn't this much paperwork" Sunburst stated, readjusting his glasses on his muzzle. "But with them missing, there's alot of technicalities to go over in the absence of a missing member of the royal family. Ontop of all the usual paperwork, there are alot of papers that were in the works that now have to be redone by the, ahem, active royal member incharge of the Empire."

"Ugh… there was never this much paperwork when ah was prince 1000 years ago" Sunny grumbled, Rubbing the base of his muzzle.

"Thirsty?" A familiar voice that didn't belong to Sunburst asked Sunny as a dark hoof like appendage with a hole in it place a tall glass of cryatal berry juice infront of Sunny.

"Thank you, ah actually-" Sunny happily grabbed the glass but did a doubly take as he looked up at the one who had given it to him. A little shocked at first, Sunny almost jumped into battle mode. Luckily his brain connected the voice to the owner and a smile spread across Sunny's muzzle. "Thorax? Is that you?! What are you doing here?"

Sunny got up from his desk and gave the familiar changeling an enthusiastic hoof shake.

Thorax knew Sunny had thought he was just another changeling and for a split second felt he was a threat, but was relieved to see the yellow unicorn not only remembered who he was, but welcome him so warmly. Taking Sunny'a hoof and shaking it firmly, Thorax chuckled and explained. "A little while ago, I made my was here when I senced the strong amount of love coming from the Cryatal Empire. When Flurry Heart was born there was enough love around to keep me happily fed. But I hid in disguise, until Spike found out my secret. We quickly became friends, and he gave me the courage to be myself and show Princess Cadence and Prince Shinning Armor that I wasn't dangerous. They were relieved, and very welcoming. They even gave me a job working here in the castle so I could take in as much love as possible from being around them and Princess Flurry Heart."

Mentioning their names caused worry to fill Thorax's heart, and Sunny could feel it.

"They will find them, right?" Thorax asked Sunny in a forlorn tone as his insect like eyes looked towards Sunny for an honest answer.

"I know they will" Sunny told Thorax honestly. "Unless they manage ta escape on their own an' make it back here on their own hooves."

The idea made Thorax chuckle a little. Sunny took note of Thorax's appearance, just then noticing how different he looked from when they first met. The holes in his legs were smaller, his shell seemed to almost Sparkle, his wings looked fully healed, and the scars that had been on his shell were completly gone.

When Thorax gathered himself and wiped away a tear, still smiling, Sunny noticed his eyes even looked brighter without a hint of any negative feelings in them. "Thank you Sunny. I needed to hear that. Working in the castle, I learned alot about Cadence and Shinning Armor. They are really great. I also saw what their duties were like. And a tall glass of Crysyal Berry juice always helped them. And if you need any advice, I think I could help."

"Ah appreciate that" Sunny took in a deep breath and exhailed, relaxing his body a bit as he took a sip of the Crystal berry juice.

Sunny almost wished something would happen so he could put off all the paperwork. As if on cue, the doors to the room flew open, Applejack was standing there, no longer in her royal dress, breathing heavily while holding on to her stetson hat.

Before she could answer, Sunny stood up and was hit with a wave of fear from her. "What happened? What's going on?!"

"Changelings!" Applejack was able to muster before looking over to Sunny's side. She recognized Thorax as one of Spike's friends who she met before, and elaborated. "Other changelings! Looks like th' whole swarm's ah comin'!"

"Sound the alarm!" Sunny ordered a nervous looking Sunburst, with two crystal guards joining him on either of his sides. "Have everypony meet at the castle! Applejack, can you use the mirror to get to Ponyville and let Twilight know we might need her help?"

"Ah'll get there and back, faster then ah greased up jackrabbit" Applejack saluted, then ran out of the room.

"And Thorax" Sunny turned to the friendly Changeling, who appeared nervous just to be standing there. Sunny softened his tone and tried his best to relax his expression. "Maybe you should just sit back in the castle in the guest room. You know, where it's safe."

Thorax thought about this for a moment, but shook off his fear, and flashed a courageous expression as he stood tall and proud. "No! Cadence and Shinning Armor are my friends, and this was their home. I won't sit by while it's attacked."

Sunny was impressed by Thorax's devotion and sudden burst of courage. Looking into Thorax's heart, Sunny could see a blaze of light casting out all doubt and fear.

"Then I think a change of wardrobe is in order" Sunny stated with a confident smile. In a flash of light, Sunny had made a set or Crystal guard armor appear on Thorax that fit his changeling body perfectly, along with a spear and shield. "Will this do?"

Thorax looked himself over, unsure of what to think, but nodded, just wanting to get down and join the rest of the royal guard. Togeather, he and Sunny traveled down the winding stairway and arrived just as the Crystal guard had gathered everypony at the base of the castle.

The forcefeild around the Empire was wavering, the sky had turned black with the wave of changelings upon them. All the Crystal ponies huddled togeather at the base of the castle, frightened and scared at the sight of the swarming hive. Sunny had wished at that moment that he had kept his big mouth shut and just did the paperwork.