Somewhere in Canterlot Castle, an old painting of Clover the Clever stirred as his eyes suddenly vanished, and through them peered a pair of green draconic eyes.
“It looks like an old sitting room.”
“Yeah, it’s the only room I could find through the passageways that wasn’t visited often by anypony.”
The Clover the Clever’s eyes were put back, and there was a loud CLINK sound… and the painting slowly opened to reveal Spike and Thorax who had shapeshifted into the form of a lanky teenaged earth pony with a blue teal coat, his mane held by a mane-band and colored a darker teal blue while his eyes were the same vivid opal of his true changeling form. He had given himself a cutie-mark in the shape of a castle tower.
The air was actually a little stale and Spike snorted uncomfortably, “Ugh, it is kinda dusty in here. But at least the coast is clear.”
“Spike, are you really sure about this?” Thorax asked, sounding nervous.
“Trust me! We have everypony get to know you,” Spike assured as he led Thorax out into the hall, “you win `em over, before long they won’t care you’re a changeling either!
“Think about it, Thorax! You could very well be the hope that saves everypony from the changeling invasion, you’ll be a hero!”
The encouragement Thorax could taste coming from Spike helped calm his hunger pangs a little and even his nerves a bit, and he took a deep breath, “OK… What’s first?”
“First, we gotta-” Spike started, but…
“Spike! Where have you been, young dragon?”
Spike and thorax both yelped to see Prince Sombra, accompanied by two guards, walking their way, “Cadance told me that you wandered off, and with the way things are nopony should be alone.”
“I’m… not alone, Your Majesty! I just happened to bump into my old friend, uh…” Spike looked around as he tried to come up with a name on the fly, feeling Thorax get nervous behind him, when Spike noticed the crystal vase nearby, “Crystal…”
Then the shadowy look of Sombra’s black and cobalt blue mane, “Shade! Crystal Shade!”
He forced himself to smile as he stepped back and patted Thorax on the withers, “My good friend, Crystal Shade.”
“…Nice to meet you, uh, Your Majesty,” Thorax said meekly as he gazed up at this mighty and somewhat scary-looking alicorn who was the husband of the Princess of the Sun.
“Oh, well, you as well, young one,” Sombra kindly offered his hoof, which Thorax hesitantly shook.
“But… what are you doing here in the castle?”
“Oh, I’m- Uh-” Thorax stuttered, but Spike came to his rescue.
“He’s an… apprentice servant among the castle staff!” Spike lied, “We’ve… known each other a good long time and I ran into him doing some cleaning and… We hadn’t seen each other for a while so we decided to go and catch up!”
“Uh- Yeah! Um… and I thought Spike and I could… go and hang out in the city,” Thorax wanted to get away from here. Sure, he wanted to win the ponies over and convince them that he wanted to be friends, but starting off with an Alicorn Prince didn’t seem like a good place to start.
Sombra raised a brow and said, “Well… I’m not sure that would be wise. Spike, what with all that’s going on and has already happened, it might be safer for you and your friend here to remain in the castle.”
Knowing Thorax wanted to leave, Spike thought quickly before saying, “Well, Sire, it’s… not just that we wanna catch up, it’s… Twilight! I thought me and Crystal Shade would stop by Twilight’s parents’ house and… maybe we could pick something up from them that could help cheer Twilight up.”
Thorax nodded his head a little too excitably, Sombra giving Spike and the young earth pony he was seeing a look before sighing.
“Very well. I suppose Twilight could do with something to lift her spirits. Just be back before sundown.”
“Thank you very much, Your Highness,” Spike bowed, Thorax following suit, and Sombra and his two guards stepped aside for the two youngsters to leave.
Once they were almost to the first corner of the hall, Thorax phew’d and whispered, “That was a little too close!”
“Relax! Dragon’s honor, everything’s gonna be just fine,” Spike whispered back, the both of them unaware that Sombra watched them leave… with his eyes glowing red, and his brows furrowing.
Spike showed Thorax (in his earth pony named Crystal Shade disguise) everything the little dragon loved about Canterlot! The Wonderbolts Derby, where they watched one of the minor squadrons race with Wave Chill coming in 1st place. Afterwards, they ran into some old friends, three unicorn mares who had been friends with Twiligth and Spike before they left for Ponyville, Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine. They went as far as flirting with “Crystal Shade”, calling him cute (and they very narrowly avoided Thorax blowing his cover when he couldn’t help but sample a little of their passing fancy).
Speaking of fancy, they also came across a somewhat bedraggled Fancy Pants, who was out doing some shopping. When they asked what was going on, Fancy Pants explained his wife Fleur was getting close to her due date, and her cravings and ailments and mood-swings were becoming increasingly wearisome. But Fancy wasn’t deterred, for he still looked forward to when his and Fleur’s little one was born.
Spike also pointed out various points of interest to Thorax, such as Restaurant Row, Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, Canterlot University, Canterlot’s Grand Theatre, New Heights Avionics where Spike’s friend Blueblood produced the most advanced airships in all of Equestria, and so much more (though Spike was a little miffed that Joe’s doughnut shop wasn’t open but he recalled the baker was back in Ponyville getting know Twinken, the nephew he never knew he had).
Thorax loved every moment of it!
Being able to walk among ponies, he was able to discreetly feed on some positive emotions without giving himself away, and his body thanked him for it. But it was all these new experiences that really made it so special! Watching the Wonderbolts and being amazed by how awesome they were, being hit on a little by some flirty mares had been quite the new experience for him but something about it felt nice, meeting a weary but excited father-to-be, and seeing all the amazing things and places in Canterlot!
This is why I’m here, he thought to himself, this is the kind of life I want to give Elytra…
“Crystal Shade? Crystal Shade, yoo-hoo!”
“Huh?!” Thorax snapped out of it, and saw Spike looking at him. “Oh, sorry! Forgot, that’s my… Yeah.”
“You okay?” Spike was a tad concerned.
“Actually? I’m better than okay!” Thorax smiled, “This place, all these ponies- I was afraid before but… Now, I know I truly do want to help them! Not just for me and Elytra, but for them too! Spike, I…”
Thorax stepped past Spike, the both of them on a street that ran alongside Canterlot Park, in which dozens of foals and their parents and siblings and couple were out and about and just enjoying themselves.
“All my life, I’ve been treated as… well, y’know,” Thorax really looked upon these creatures as he said, “And… my mother told us all that all of this? It’s ours and all of these ponies are just… food and inferior!
“But then, who could defy her? Who could even disagree? We’re robbed of our right to think and choose for ourselves and told that the individual is meaningless, what only matters are the many. Most of my kind makes peace with that, they even embrace it and they become just as bad as her!
“Except now I’m free and I know I can make a difference! If I can be free, then maybe there’s a way to free the rest of them so they can have the freedom to choose, like me.”
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see Spike regarding his disguised friend with proud and warm eyes, “Y’know what, Thorax? I believe you will be the one to free the rest of them, and we’ll start by proving to the princes and princesses that you’re here to help.
“C’mon, Twilight’s parents’ house isn’t far.”
Thorax nodded and followed Spike down the way, and they came to a nice neighborhood. The houses were all pricey-looking but they definitely looked worth every bit. Some ponies were out tending their gardens, others shooting the breeze with neighbors, and as they walked down the road, Thorax asked, “So, um… You said you’re Princess Twilight’s assistant, right?”
“Number One Assistant, thank you,” Spike bragged a little with a good-natured smirk, “Ever since I was old enough to read and write, I loved helping Twilight out however I can.
“See, I was actually a part of an entrance exam Twilight was taking as a filly in order to get into Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. I was just an egg at the time, but Twilight’s test was to make my egg hatch. Of course, Twilight had no idea how a pony even hatches a dragon egg so she gave up and was polite to the examiners by thanking them for their time.”
“So… she failed her test?” Thorax didn’t like the sound of that.
“Not at all!” Spike smiled proudly, “See, the test wasn’t really to hatch a dragon egg but to see how Twilight handled failure! In other words, you could say it was a test of her as a pony. But before the examiners could say anything a bunch of CRAZY happened, I hatched, Twilight had a magic surge that caused her to cast random magical effects that Princess Celestia had to step in and calm the situation down.”
“Was Twilight in trouble?” asked an anxious Thorax.
“Actually the princess was so impressed with Twilight’s potential she offered to make Twilight her personal protégé!” Spike continued to beam as he reminisced. “She was so happy she didn’t even realize she’d earned her cutie-mark until the princess pointed it out!.”
“Wow…” Thorax looked at his disguise’s cutie-mark a castle tower.
“I wonder what it would be like to have a cutie-mark…”
“Well, I wouldn’t know,” Spike answered, Thorax flinching realizing he’d said that out loud but Spike didn’t notice.
“I mean, I’m a dragon, so I can’t get a cutie-mark either. But… If I could get a cutie-mark, I think… I’d like for it to symbolize how much I love helping others.”
Those words really spoke to Thorax and it made his determination stronger-
“Here we are- Oof! Thorax!”
“Oh, sorry!” Thorax had accidentally bumped into Spike who had stopped and pointed to a house.
It was a fine looking manor, three stories tall, with a purple and blue color scheme that had faded somewhat and despite the fact it could do with a new coat of paint it was a very lovely abode. In the highest balcony, there was an elaborate telescope with some additional instruments attached to it.
“This is Princes Twilight’s parents house?” Thorax was a little surprised, “Are they rich?”
“Not filthy rich, they just come from old money,” Spike shrugged, like it was in big deal as he led Thorax to the front door.
“This manor has been the home of the House of Esther for the last six generations. Twilight and Shining Armor’s parents are great! Their dad, Night Light, used to be a Royal Guard until he completed his degree while serving and he’s now an astrophysics professor at the University of Canterlot, and their mom, Twilight Velvet, is an elementary school teacher.”
Spike reached up and rang the doorbell, and it wasn’t long before the door opened to reveal an older unicorn mare with a marble white coat that had begun to lose its luster, her mane was purple and white, her eyes a light blue, and her cutie-mark was three five-pointed stars. She bore a close resemblance to her daughter, and when she saw who had come to visit, she squealed with delight and pulled Spike into a warm yet smothery hug, Spike struggling as Velvet gushed, “Oh Spikey! My sweetie, my baby, my joy, my most darling little helper! What a wonderful surprise!”
Still unknowingly smothering Spike, Velvet then noticed a nervous “Crystal Shade”, who had stepped back a bit (so as not to go crazy from the love he was sampling off of Velvet).
“Oh! Another surprise, you must be a friend of my baby Spike!”
She let Spike go…
*GAAAASSSSP!!!*
…and said, “Well, come in, come in, you two!” she led them inside, “Make yourselves comfortable, have a seat here in the waiting room or simply wait here in the sitting room, hm-hm! I never get tired of that joke! HONEY! We have guests!”
She faced Spike and “Crystal Shade” and said, “This way, boys, right here in the living room.”
Thorax followed the unicorn mare and a irritated (yet smiling) Spike into a nice and cozy living room with a large sofa and two big armchairs, two floor-to-wall bookcases crammed with all kinds of books, a few wall-mounted shelves with knickknacks, and on every wall was a framed picture of one or more of the family. Looking at them, Thorax noticed they also included a sapphire blue unicorn colt, some with a tall and fierce looking red unicorn stallion and another unicorn mare with a creamy-white coat and mane in two soft shades of blue. Some more pictures also included Spike as a toddler but none with any of the blue colt or the two unicorns who were presumably his parents. There was also a television but it looked like it hadn’t been used for a while.
“Make yourselves, comfortable,” Velvet invited, “I’ll just pop into the kitchen and prepare us some snacks.”
“Thank you, Velvet!” Spike sighed as he collapsed onto the sofa, Thorax hesitantly sitting beside him.
“You okay?” he whispered to the dragon.
“Uh… Twilight’s mom is… She means well, it’s just-” Spike tried to find the right words when…
“Kiddo!”
Spike perked up as he and thorax saw a tall unicorn stallion with a soft blue coat, darker blue mane combed in a certain way, his eyes golden, and his cutie-mark two crescent moons, one overlapping the other, stepped into the living room.
“Night Light, so good to see you,” Spike sat up and held out his hand in a fist, and Night Light chuckled as he bro-hoofed the little dragon before sitting down in his favorite armchair.
“You as well, kiddo, and I see you brought a friend,” Night Light smiled welcomingly at “Crystal Shade”.
“Oh yeah, this is my friend Crystal Shade,” Spike placed his hand on Thorax’s shoulder. “Shade, this is Professor Night Light, and you already met his wife Velvet.”
“Nice to meet you, sir…” Thorax smiled nervously, “Um… your wife is…. Very nice!”
“Heh-heh, yeah, Velvet’s been kinda…Night Light tried to find the right words. “Well, I guess you can say she’s got a case of empty nest syndrome.”
“Empty nest wha…?” Thorax didn’t get it.
“Well, what with the kids all grown and moved outta the house, and them being royalty now, they’re so dang busy it’s like they never got time for their old stallion and mare,” Night Light chuckled in a bittersweet way.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong. We’re proud of our son and daughter! It’s just, well… Me and Velvet? Especially Velvet…. We just wish our kids would make more time to just come by and visit or… I dunno.”
He then leaned forward and whisper-shouted, “Between you guys and me, she’s actually been dropping hints that maaaayyybbbeeee… she wants to have another foal.”
“Who wants sugar cookies and lemonade?” Velvet came in, a housewifey-looking apron around her barrel, and levitating a serving tray with a platter of cookies, some napkins, several glasses and a pitcher of ice cold lemonade.
“Thank you, dear, so very thoughtful,” Night Light welcomed his wife so sweetly it was syrupy, Spike and Thorax sharing a look.
Velvet placed everything on the coffee table and poured everypony a glass. Spike suddenly realized something, and carefully whispered to Thorax, “Can you eat food and drink?”
“I can while I’m a different form,” Thorax responded just as carefully, “but it doesn’t do anything for my appetite for love. Eating food or drink is more for pleasure among my kind.”
“And while we enjoy our snack…” Velvet’s dangerous tone suddenly sounded disturbingly familiar to Spike.
“Wha- Wait, no! Velvet, please! Anything but that!!!”
Velvet smiled in a meddling mom sort of way and levitated in what looked like a photo album, “Let’s look at Spikey’s baby pictures!”
Back in the hospital wing, Cadance was spending time with Shining Armor, reading him an issue of one of his old favorite comics as a colt, regarding him warmly and him looking back at her lovingly, when…
“NOOOOOO-HO-HO-HO-Hooooo….!!!!!”
They both flicked their ears, Cadance looking around confused, “Did you hear something?”
Shining Armor had a pretty good idea but said, “...no…”
In his mind, he was thinking with a mental smirk, Spike, I would not like to be in your shoes right now.
“Oh! Look at him, sucking on his tail like a pacifier!” Velvet cooed at the photo of baby Spike doing just that, Spike moaning in humiliation as he buried his face into the sofa armrest.
“And look here, the first time he breathed fire,” Night Light chuckled while pointing out the picture.
“Whoo! I smelled like burnt hair for days!”
“Night Light, Velvet, please!” Spike snatched away the photo album, his face redder than Big Mac’s coat.
“Crystal Shade and I came to you because there’s a big problem going on!”
“Sorry, Spike, I just miss being a mom to all my kids,” Velvet sighed in nostalgia.
“So what’s this problem you’re talking about?” asked Night Light.
Spike and Thorax shared a troubled look before Spike took a deep breath, “There’s a lot of bad going on right now. I’m not sure how much I should say, but… Well, for starters, Shining and Midnight went on a mission early today. I can’t say too much, except… Shining’s hurt but he’s gonna be just fine, and Midnight… is missing.”
“Shiny’s hurt?!” Velvet held her hooves to her lower lip.
“Wha- Midnight is- Where did he go?” Night Light got worked up, “What happened?!”
“All I can say is, they went on this mission together, bad things happened, and only Shining Armor and the guards that went with them came back,” Spike felt so bad that he couldn’t say more.
“When Twilight heard, she was… Well, she looked like her whole world was about to end. Cadance put her to bed and I bumped into Crystal Shade on my way out of the castle to come see you guys! I was hoping that maybe you’d have something I could use to help cheer Twilight up.”
“Oh Night, our babies!” Velvet looked so worried at her husband, who gave her a warm hug.
“Shhh, we’ll go see them and make sure everything’s alright,” he assured her.
Then he stood up, looking to Spike and “Crystal Shade” as he said, “As for why you came, I think I have something that might help. Be right back.”
While they waited, Velvet’s horn lit up a faint purple aura and Spike and Thorax watched her levitate a framed picture on the wall close to her face, looking upon it warmly, so much that the love Thorax could sample coming from Velvet had a bitter aftertaste. It was beginning to make him uncomfortable but he held strong.
“Whhhat’s that picture, Velvet?” Spike asked gingerly, hoping he didn’t say the wrong thing.
Sighing sadly, Velvet turned the picture around and Spike and Thorax could see Shining Armor and Midnight as very young colts, looking up a baby Twilight wrapped snugly in a soft yellow blanket.
“This was taken shortly after Twilight was born! Shining Armor was so proud to be a big brother and was happy to share her with Midnight… Even back then, they were all so close!”
Velvet blinked away the tears, taking a deep breath to calm herself, Spike and Thorax sharing a concerned look.
“Here we are!”
They all looked to see Night Light returning from the hallway, an old framed picture in his telekinetic aura.
“This is probably one of the happiest moments of Twilight’s foalhood. Remember, love?”
Night Light levitated the picture out to his wife, Velvet’s aura accepting it as she gave it a look and sighed warmly, “Oh, yes, Midnight’s soccer game! Oh, he kicked the winning score and Twilight was the first to give him a hug. Shining and Cadance took them out for celebratory ice cream sundaes!”
The parents chuckled warmly at the sight of the four young ponies smiling at the camera with their muzzles messy with ice cream, Midnight and Twilight in the middle, Shining Armor beside Midnight, and Cadance beside Twilight.
The love between the two parents was becoming stronger with their reminiscing, that Thorax squirmed and stifled a hiss, a flicker of his mana engulfing him and vanishing to reveal his true form. Spike flinched and elbowed the changeling with an anxious look. Thorax scrunched his eyes as he concentrated, the mana engulfing him again and restoring his “Crystal Shade” disguise. Thankfully, Night Light and Velvet had been so preoccupied reminiscing they hadn’t noticed.
Deciding not to push their luck any further, Spike hurried forward and grabbed the picture Night Light had brought, “OK, this should do! Heh heh heh, so then, uh… Crystal Shade and I actually need to get back to the castle-”
“Go right ahead,” Night Light held Velvet’s hoof as they looked at Spike. “We’ll be along in an hour, to check on Twilight and Shining.”
“O… kay! Crystal Shade, shall we?” Spike hurried for the door, and thorax got up to follow him.
But before leaving the living room, he looked back at the parents and politely bowed, saying, “Thank you for your hospitality!”
Once their guests had left, Night Light and Velvet shared a loving look as the motherly unicorn commented, “Such a nice boy.”
As they stepped through the castle gates, Thorax wasn’t sure whether he was nervous or excited, “This has been maybe the best day I’ve had in a long-long time, Spike! But… I can’t keep pretending to be a pony forever! …Can I?”
“Relax, you’re winning `em over!” Spike assured as he waved to the guards at the castle doors and they slowly opened, and as they entered, Spike regarded the picture Night Light and Velvet had given them to cheer Twilight up.
“I’ve actually been thinking, that after we use this picture to cheer Twilight up a little, that you show her who you really are!”
“What?!” Thorax almost yelped but Spike made a ‘calm down’ gesture.
“Just hear me out,” Spike explained, “Twilight will be in a better mood and I’m sure I can at the very least get her to give you a chance to explain to her all the stuff you told me!”
Thorax considered Spike’s words as they made their way into the entry hall, “Well, I… suppose it would be a good idea to convince at least one of the royals I mean no harm.”
“Trust me, with Twilight standing up for you,” Spike was absolutely certain everything was gonna be just fine, “and once you’ve explained yourself, pretty soon nopony will care that you’re a-”
*BRRRZZMMMM…*
A strange sound coming form beneath them caused Spike and Thorax to flinch and they watched as lines and patterns on the floor beneath them slowly lit up, revealing what looked to be some kind of magic circle!
The last thing on it to reveal itself was some sort of eye symbol… and a pulse of power forced Spike out of the circle’s radius as a pillar of black and white lit up, engulfing Thorax!
“SP-SPIKE! WHAT’S GOING ON?!” Thorax was terrified but before Spike could answer him, he watched in horror as Thorax’s magic ignited and burned away his disguise!
As quickly as it began it was over. In more ways than one.
Charging hoofsteps shook the floor as dozens of guards filed in and surrounded Thorax, revealed as a changeling! They pointed their spears at him, the unicorns lighting up their horns with spells ready, the pegasi flapping aloft to make sure Thorax didn’t try to fly away.
“Thorax!” Spike stood back up and tried to run to his friend, only for two guards to stand in his way, one of them grabbing Spike by his shoulders.
“Please! Wait, it’s not what you think!”
“I would say this is exactly what we think, young dragon…”
That voice was cold and sharp, like an icicle as it pierced Spike’s awareness and he fearfully looked up the grand staircase to see Sombra, accompanied by Luna and her some of her lunar guards, the both of them looking down judgmentally at the exposed changeling and nervous dragon.
“Oculus Veritatis,” Sombra spoke as he and Luna slowly came down the stairs. “Imbued into that magic circle is the mystic rune known as the Eye of Truth. It reacts in the presence of a magical disguise in order to dispel it, allowing us to see this spy for what it really is…”
“W-wait! No, he’s not a-” Spike tried to protest, only for Luna to cut him off.
“SILENCE!! Guards, escort Spike to a guest room. Say nothing to him and see to it he remains there until further notice.”
“And as for you…” Sombra stood muzzle to muzzle in front of the terrified Thorax. “I will take a more careful approach in your interrogation, compared to the last one involving your queen…”
Spike, being small and a slippery reptile, managed to get past the guards momentarily, "He's not like that, Sombra! Give him a chance!"
"A chance?!" bellowed the shadow prince, "A CHANCE?! Did the innocents who died in those mines get a chance?!"
The young dragon fell silent, his eyes reaching the floor as he uttered, "Celestia gave you a chance..."
Those words struck Sombra at the core but he had to remain steadfast out of more than just mere politics, "I... I am sorry, Spike. The risk is too great. We will discuss this later. Now let. It. Go."
Feeling like he had done enough, Spike left with the guards, though his words had shaken Sombra and Luna. As they were led apart, Thorax looked to Spike, terrified not only for himself but for his sister hundreds of hooves below them, and Spike looked back apologetically, tears welling up in his eyes as he realized how miserably he had failed.
Once everypony was gone, all that was left in the entry hall was the picture of Twilight, Midnight, Shining Armor, and Cadance as ice cream messy foals, the glass cracked, and lying alone on the floor.