Chapter 12
The sudden appearance of three large ponies in the center of the throne room would certainly have startled every pony nearby, were there any. The room itself was conspicuously empty for the middle of the morning. Shining Armor blinked and looked around nervously, the utter lack of sound and movement in the room unsettling.
“Princess, I –”
“When I received Twilight’s letter, I requested the throne room be temporarily cleared and all my meetings placed on hold. Relax, Shining Armor,” Celestia said, smiling sweetly and nodding her head slightly, “Why don’t you take your wife back up to the Honeymoon Suite while I ask for some ponies to gather? It may take a few hours, but I will let you know when an appropriate audience is ready. You should have plenty of time to prepare and… unwind,” the great white mare finished, offering a knowing smile to the nervous prince. “You will also find the halls clear on the way there. If you haven’t already, I would strongly suggest coming up with something to say this afternoon.”
“Y-yes, your highness,” Shining offered in reply, the usually confident stallion seeming smaller than normal.
“Please, Shining Armor, you’re my prized pupil’s brother and my niece’s husband. I’m your dear Auntie Celly now, no need for the ‘your highness,’” Celestia said softly, trying to hide a smirk. It was difficult to do in the governmental position she found herself in, but Celestia did like to try to ease tensions when she could. Not many ponies knew how to react to their pseudo-immortal goddess princess cracking a joke in the middle of an awkward silence, however, and she found herself more often than not having to keep the habit to her closest acquaintances. Shining Armor opened his mouth to apologize for the mistake, but a quick sidelong glance from Celestia silenced him before he could.
“Thank you… thank you so much, Auntie,” Chrysalis replied, forcing a light smile to her face, “We will be ready by this afternoon.”
---
Afternoon came. When Celestia had said she had invited the entirety of the city of Canterlot, she had not been exaggerating. Shining stood several paces back from the balcony, out of view of the throngs of ponies filling the Royal Court, nuzzling his wife softly. To say he was nervous was an adequate statement – there was only one moment prior in his life he could compare to his nerves now. Just over seven months ago, on one knee, bent down before the love of his life, waiting for an answer. Even still, he had been fairly certain of the reply he would get, so he considered this moment slightly more nerve-wracking.
Come on, Shiny, what’s the worst that can happen? Mass panic, riots, lynch mobs coming after her for taking so long… ok, so there’s a lot bad that can happen. Another bead of sweat dripped down his brow, his breaths coming in shallow, rattling pants, not at all the picture of the Captain of the Royal Guard that Equestria had come to know. He felt on the verge of tears. He closed his eyes and buried his face against her shoulder, desperate to hold in his terrified sobs. The possibility that somepony might try to… No, I can’t think like that. I have to show them how much I love her and how much I trust her, and they trust me, right? Right. Right…
“Mares and Gentlecolts!” Celestia’s magically amplified voice cut over the dull roar of murmurs and musings coming from the horde of ponies outside. Silence reigned as the reverberations of her monarchal greeting faded. Shining Armor’s blood ran cold. He couldn’t feel his own hearbeat. I’m not ready I don’t know what to do I’ll screw up and –
It was soft. It was gentle. It was slightly warm and a little damp. It was his wife’s lips meeting his own. Shining looked up, his eyes meeting those of the black mare he vowed to spend his life with. The big green, catlike eyes told him everything he needed to know.
I trust you, they said, I love you and I trust you and no matter what happens next that will not change.
“Allow me to introduce to you, once again, Prince Shining Armor, Captain of my own Royal Guard, and Princess Cadance, the Princess of Love! They’ve been trying to keep a low profile, enjoying his first few days of marriage like any newlywed stallion and mare should,” Celestia paused for a moment, allowing a soft chuckle to roll through the crowd, before resuming, “but now, he’s here to make a special announcement, one all of Equestria needs to hear!” The crowed roared, and Celestia’s horn ceased glowing, cutting off the vocal magnification, “Something you needed to hear a long time ago,” she muttered to herself as she backed away, allowing room for Shining Armor to step to the front and center of the balcony overlooking the Court.
A wobbly hoof extended as Shining Armor softly trotted forwards into the sunlight. A goofy, lopsided, half-smile adorned his face, the kind one sees on the face of somepony who knows everything is about to go completely and horribly wrong.
“Greetings, citizens of Equest-”
“Your voice, Shiny!”
Shining Armor looked down off the balcony, towards the source of the voice. His sister and her friends stood near the front of the crowd, not far too far away so they couldn’t see but not so close as they’d have to crane their necks. His sister pointed to her horn. Oh right.
“Greetings, citizens of Equestria! Even after I got married my sister is still making sure I get everything right,” the prince said with a nervous laugh, the amplification spell now properly in effect. “There’s something I learned a few nights ago. In fact, it was the night I got married. An interesting bit of information that I felt… several emotions about, to be completely honest with you all,” he began, still unsure if his heart was moving blood through his body. “My wife is unlike anything I’ve ever known. Her kindness is immeasurable, her love incalculable, and her beauty beyond words. None of you have ever really seen her, despite what you might think you know. Yes, confusing, I know. Before I tell you this information, though, I need you to know something – I love her, and I trust her, and I will be there for her through anything this life can throw at us.”
Confused whispers to neighbors in the crowd multiplied thousands of times over became a hushed sound not unlike a soft breeze to Shining’s ears as ponies tried to piece together the strange speech their newly crowned Prince was making.
“Is she pregnant?”
“Is she a he?”
“Is he a she?”
“My fellow ponies, please,” Shining Armor continued, suddenly all eyes upon him again. His mouth suddenly dried out and he swallowed heavily, feeling a spike drive itself through his throat, “My wife… my wife is Queen Chrysalis, the changeling.”
Silence. Complete and total silence the likes of which had never occurred before, and would likely never occur again. Just for a second, the world seemed to stop. Ponies looked at each other, too confused to properly form sentences, eyes conveying the obvious question to each other: Has he gone completely mad?
Shining Armor looked over his shoulder, making eye contact with his wife. He nodded, and she stepped forward to join him in the sunlight.
Silence turned to screaming faster than Shining Armor’s sister turned pages in a book.
“You will be SILENT!” Shining Armor roared, all nerves gone in an instant, his amplified voice heard clearly throughout the entire courtyard and beyond, ”Can you imagine the shock to me? Having loved her for seven years before knowing this? Finding this out on the very night I thought I married Princess Cadance? Surprise, my wife is a dead ringer for the pony that tried to ruin my marriage! And you know what? It took me all of about two minutes to know that it was her, it had been her, and it always will be her!” Shining yelled, all the blood that had drained from his body filling his face as rage filled him, “And you know what? I don’t care anymore! I don’t! I love her with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength, and that should be enough for you! And if it isn’t, I don’t know what is.”
Shining panted and snorted, his rant complete, and took several deep breaths in an attempt to dispel the dots blinking in the edges of his vision. He hadn’t meant to explode like that, he really hadn’t, even though he had anticipated a much harsher and harder to quell reaction from his audience.
“I…” he began, pausing for a moment to take another breath, “I am under no spell, this is no trick. Some of you in this crowd today knew this already, and it was as big a shock to you as it was to me. My parents, my sister, a kind Zebra living in the Everfree. They found out, and they accepted her. I believe you can find it in your hearts to keep loving her as the princess you already knew. You know what she told me that first night? ‘True love never changes.’ And she is completely right. If you loved her even one one millionth as much as I do, you can accept this. I… I have no more to say,” he sighed, his horn losing it’s illumination. He forced himself to stand tall, one arm protectively over Chrysalis’ neck, holding her tightly, waiting for some response, any response.
A single voice rang out in the crowd.
“I ACCEPT HER!”
A yellow Pegasus standing near his sister had here eyes screwed tightly shut as she yelled those three words, repeating them over and over again. His sister joined, her other friends, the ponies near them – another source in the crowd; his parents. Around the edge of the courtyard the Royal Guards joined in, an increasingly loud chant. Chrysalis smiled, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. The entire congregation of ponies was unified in love for their Princess. Celestia smiled at the pair from the shadows, quietly repeating the mantra to herself.
The dam broke, a smile and a sharp exhalation broke from Chrysalis as she began to weep in front of the assemblage of ponies. There was confusion, yes, but the intensity of love from the crowd before her was matched only by the intensity of the love beside her. Her knees wobbled for just a moment before giving way, a familiar shoulder breaking her fall. She looked to her right, and saw her beloved husband’s own crying eyes, joyous sobs shaking his body. She darted forward, lips meeting his briefly, before leaning into him. The sound of the crowd seemed to fade, and her world contained only herself and the magnificent white stallion who had pledged himself to her for eternity.
This is love, complete and unfiltered. This is what every day will be like from now on, forever. This is true love, never changing, always. My knight in shining armor, I love you.
---
Two years later…
Shining Armor awoke. He opened his eyes slightly, guessing it to be late morning based on the position of the sun. One of the downsides to being the highest ranked officer in the Royal Guard was that he had basically been relegated to a paper-pusher, since there were almost no issues that needed him physically present to be resolved. It did come with some perks, though, Shining Armor’s personal favorite being the ability to sleep in on weekends. While his guard training usually woke him up early instinctually, every now and then a particularly tiring night might leave him in bed until nearly noon. A familiar, no, two familiar pressures were nestled beside him in the bed – he rolled his head to look, finding the still sleeping face of his wife next to him, and his baby sister laying softly between them, the tiny purple Alicorn filly’s wings ruffling every few seconds as she dreamed. For just a moment, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end, then he relaxed again. Shining Armor gently nudged his wife with a hoof, and the black mare’s eyes slowly blinked open. Shining Armor nodded his head towards the filly, and a giggle escaped Chrysalis’ mouth.
“You know, Shiny, wondering who we’ll wake up next to next never gets old,” Chrysalis said, scooting closer to her husband and nuzzling him, “But sometimes seeing your sister is a little weird.”
“My sister? Are we forgetting the time we woke up with a little Luna laying on top of you? I swear that morning took a decade off my life.”
Chrysalis giggled again, the gentle shaking of her body translating through the bed and into the filly between them, waking her. A flash of green fire and Twiley disappeared.
Bearing the confused frown anypony has when woken from a dream sat a little white changeling filly. Her big, teal eyes took a moment to focus, before finding her mother. The frown became a smile in a moment, her little fangs revealing themselves as her lips rose. She lunged forward, dark blue mane streaming behind her for the momentary flight. Chrysalis rolled her head to dodge her daughters horn, which was unusually pointy for a filly her age, and hugged the child tightly with her forelegs.
“Good morning mommy! Good morning daddy,” the little voice chimed, wings excitedly buzzing, “Come on sleepy heads we have to go! We need to go see Auntie Twiley!”
“Good morning, Aurora,” Shining Armor said, heart still swelling with pride every time he saw her. As it turned out, the Changeling pregnancy term was significantly shorter than a pony’s, and the first few months of development went by much faster – while she was barely a year old, she could already form simple sentences and understood nearly everything said to her. Thinking about it, ‘Auntie Twiley’ probably had something to do with it – that mare was baby-crazy, but hadn’t found that special somepony yet to make her desires a reality. Instead, she had taken to giving reading and writing lessons to the newborn Princess whenever she got the chance, and had even tried to teach her some simple magic. As the promptly singed Alicorn had found out, Aurora wasn’t quite ready for that.
Today was indeed scheduled for a lesson, but Shining Armor had a surprise – instead of going to visit his sister, Twiley was coming to Canterlot today, and the family was going to visit the Museum of Equestrian History. It wasn’t necessarily how Shining Armor would have spent a lazy Saturday, but Aurora had been begging to go for some time now and it was the perfect thing to do with Auntie Twiley.
“Oh, I suppose you’re right, Aurora. Come on, let us out of bed, we’ve got a big day ahead of us.”
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An update? YES!
I was worried you'd forgetten about this, but thank god I was wrong
Anyway, another great chapter, keep up the good work
Five bucks says this one ends up the canon ending due to audience demand if nothing else, and that the sequel (if any, crossing my fingers for this one) deals with the loose end that is the rest of the Changelings in the manner I predicted in an earlier comment somewhere.
3068661 dude... this isn't a dark fic!?! that was just plain old fashion brutal and dishonorable to mess with the corpse of someone who has been dead for over 17 years. enough said.
D'aaaaww
...There are two chapter 12's?
I love this story and I love this ending, so happy for them ^_^
Wonderfull! we need a liquid pride emoticon just for this fic.
“Is she a he?”
“Is he a she?”
That was hilarious
I'd love to see a sequel to this story revolving around the couple's adventures raising Aurora with Auntie Twiley, even if it's just a few disconnected short stories.
Just for the last few paragraphs I've giving you an up vote. Yes those few lines in this chapter gave you an up vote. Brain is still broken though to many processing errors not your vault it's my problem...
This story is awesome.
And how are they supposed to tell?
Several days ago, you were convinced some disguised male Changeling was the love of your life. The ponies have every reason not to believe you.
This chapter was the one that finally broke my suspension of disbelief. It wasn't that everyone believed the story of Cadence. Not the fact that they openly accepted her in minutes. No, it was the fact that the first to shout in front of a briefly/potentially hostile crowd was Fluttershy.
That said, I laughed and still managed to enjoy the story.
My main complaint is that every time a problem came up, it got squashed flat almost by the turn of the page. The humor is a large part of what kept me reading, rather than the tension brought by conflict.
(I secretly hoped they would have been forced to retreat to some secret cabin in the woods to be happy together)
D'awwww, that was so sweet.
Nie to check out the other ending...
Cya
Raziel-chan
Why isn't the same thing that happened to the transformation of Chrysalis happening to Aurora.
7796242 I'm guessing it has to do with finding their special 'someone'.
7796242
It might be triggered by romantic love, parental love triggering it would be a problem for most changelings and it was supposed to be so rare as to be mythical.
Can I call bullshit? Because I call bullshit. This was handled terribly and would never turn out this well.
(Cute kid though)
The speech could've gone so much better, especially knowing that Shining didn't properly mention how the attacking Chrysalis was an imposter, AGAIN.
He really is a blockhead. Like, I accepted how he's not good at speeches, but this is ridiculous, especially after supposedly learning his lesson.
True ending.