//------------------------------//
// Reunion 
// Story: Once Bitten 
// by Damaged 
//------------------------------//

Thorax was stared around the room at her changelings. They were hers, every single one. She couldn't stop herself, she rubbed her wings along her carapace and drew out a loud chirp. Turning to one side, she looked at Princess Celestia. 

Memories of Sunset's younger years as Celestia's student threatened to overwhelm her. Thorax tilted her head down and bowed to Celestia. "Please forgive my drones. They were under the control of a mad queen, who—" She froze as a pure white wing stretched forward to rest on her back. 

"Your drones, the ones party to this," Celestia gestured to the wedding, "will have to work for a pardon. Let it be known that the changelings of Queen Thorax's hive will be welcome in Equestria."

Thorax lifted her head to smile at Celestia. Her mind raced ahead, following the dance the Princess of the Sun was preparing. The steps would take time to work through, but it would mean no accusations at the drones who were under Chrysalis' control. 

On the dais, Shining was still locked in a kiss with Cadance. She opened her eyes to look at her beloved, and started to cry. The kiss broke, and with it Cadance's eyes flew open to see properly once more.

"Shining Armor?" Cadance still had that "love sight" overlaying her regular vision, but now she could definitely see that the aura of her Shining Armor was wrapped around the form of a little changeling nymph. She blinked a few times, but the overlay effect wouldn't go away. "You came back."

"I had to!" In the heat of the moment, Shining Armor couldn't believe how awkward he found being with Cadance again. "When I found out what was going on, I couldn't bear the thought of you being in her control." She gestured back towards the defeated changeling queen. 

Cadance giggled. "You have changed a little, Shiny. But I guess that comes with the name: changeling."

"There is more."

"I hope there is more." Leaning forward, Cadance pressed the tip of her nose to Shining's little snout.

Shining blushed and turned her head. "Vinyl?" When her twin poked her head out from beside Luna, Shining gestured for her to come closer with a hoof. Landing beside Vinyl once she reached the dais, Shining pointed to her. "This is Vinyl Scratch."

"I don't understand." Cadance looked between the two, seeing no easily discernible differences with her eyes, but her love sight was what confused her. Shining Armor and Vinyl Scratch were both madly in love with her. It wasn't completely identical, Vinyl had hesitation coloring her love. Without thinking, without even realizing what she was doing, Cadance reached out with her magic and brushed at those cobwebs of doubt.

Vinyl's heart suddenly beat faster. The fears of losing Cadance didn't fold completely, but she could suddenly see that each one was flawed. Tears came quickly and easily. "Y-Y-You are Shining's. A-A-And he is yours." She sniffed sharply, trying desperately to throw the doubts back around her love for Cadance. 

"How is there two of you?" Cadance started to see little differences in how each of the nymphs stood, and how each of them looked at her. "Vinyl?"

Trapped into having to explain, Vinyl started to stammer. "I-I-I…"

"She is my twin. The process that made me into a changeling made a duplicate. Vinyl has all my memories up until the change. She remembers everything we both did with you." Shining turned to look into Vinyl's eyes, and could see the devastation that threatened to undo her.

"She is you?" Wrapping her head around it, Cadance started to see why the two were so similar. Her magic lit up bright blue, and she plucked Vinyl up and levitated the changeling towards her. "You are as in love with me as Shining is. You started your life in love with me."

Vinyl couldn't reply, couldn't say a word to Cadance.

Cadance nodded. "We need to discuss some things in a more private place." With her pronouncement made, Cadance wouldn't be stopped. "Both of you, please."

Attention in the room turned back to Celestia. She stepped to the side to let Cadance, Shining, and Vinyl walk past. "Mares and gentlecolts, you will have to forgive the proceedings coming to an abrupt end. Please make your way home, and I am sure Princess Cadance and Shining Armor will contact you shortly regarding their actual wedding." 

Once the guests had all filed out, Celestia found herself with her sister, a number of Royal Guard, and eight ponies. Twilight Velvet and Night Light looked stricken. They stared at Twilight Sparkle as if expecting her to reveal herself as a changeling as well. "Go to your parents, Twilight." Celestia gave her student a little nudge to move her.

"Mom! Dad!" Twilight Sparkle rushed to her parents and dove into a hug with both. "I was captured, then I woke up, and something was trying to crawl into me, and then Shiny was—"

"Shhh. Dear, we spoke with Shining. That is our colt." Twilight Velvet reassured her daughter, hugging her fiercely. "We have to be strong for hi—her." She quickly corrected her mistake. "And Vinyl too. You have a little, big sister."

Wrapped in her parents' embrace, Twilight Sparkle was barely aware of the movement until green light started to flare. She was too slow in getting a shield up to protect her and her parents, but as Chrysalis aimed a vengeful blast at her a shimmering shield flew up to contain the concentrated energy of the defeated changeling queen.

"You are being naughty!" Sweetie Belle, her horn still shimmering with the power she had unleashed to block the blast, stomped forward. Following her, her fellow Crusaders took their places in a line, each and every one having reacted at the same time to help build the shield. "Now say you're sorry!"

"What?!" Chrysalis' eyes bulged. Not only had one of her more powerful blasts been halted by a group of overly colorful nymphs, but they thought they could give her orders. "Get out of my way now." She threw out terpene signals for all she was worth, expecting the nymphs to get out of her way.

Apple Bloom looked up at the dark and foreboding queen. "No!"

"Ah'm with her! We ain't lettin' you hurt anypony!" Apple Blossom stood beside her twin, both physically and philosophically.

"You aren't a queen to them anymore, Chrysalis." Sunset, resplendent in fiery colored chitin, stepped up behind the Crusaders. "You aren't a queen to any of us. You were barely a monster before, now you are—"

Celestia stepped into the argument, looking first to the six Crusaders, then to Chrysalis. "I would do what they say." She smiled at the look of shock on the former queen's face. "Guards, please find somewhere for our guest to stay. And could we please borrow some of your guards, Queen Thorax, to assist with making her comfortable?"

Thorax was a little stricken. She looked around at the changelings who were now part of her hive, and felt the first hint of trepidation at setting Chrysalis' former trusted minions to guard her. 

"Ahem!" Scootaloo giggled after clearing her throat, but beside her Buzzaloo cleared hers as well. "Your Queeness, we volunteer!"

Seeing a slight problem, Princess Celestia—with a big grin—leaned down. "It's 'Your Majesty' for queens." 

Scootaloo looked up at the Princess wide-eyed. She nodded. "Your Majesty!"

"But Ah want to hug Applejack first!" Looking around at her big sister, Apple Bloom had a moment of shock when she didn't see recognition on Applejack's face.

Applejack watched the nymph's expression fall, and although she didn't recognize the strange, multi-colored bug pony as her sister at first, the pout on their face was unmistakable. "Apple Bloom?"

Apple Bloom's face lit up at her name. She took a step forward, then turned to see Apple Blossom also having taken a step. "There's somethin' Ah need to tell you." She made a quick, shuffling step to the side so she could put one leg around Apple Blossom's back. "This is Apple Blossom. She is our sister too."

The look in her little sister's strange new eyes spoke volumes to Applejack; Apple Bloom believed the nymph was her sister. "Ah wanna know what happened." Even as she spoke the words, Applejack strode forwards to hug both the nymphs.

"We got captured by some nasty changelings!" Apple Bloom clung to both her sisters. "Then they changed me into this, and it made me lay an egg!"

Applejack squinted down at Apple Bloom. "What do ya mean, 'an egg'?" She picked up both the nymphs and offered support.

"She laid my egg." Apple Blossom tried to hide her face, but Applejack looked at her newest sister, not letting her evade. "An' then she gave me my name."

Applejack looked between both nymphs. "Apple Blossom?" Both nodded to her.

"And she remembers everything I did before they grabbed me!" Defending her sister, Apple Bloom could see in Applejack's eyes that her big sister needed no more persuading.

"Who knows what is less important than what she is." Applejack smiled at Apple Bloom and Apple Blossom. "An' what she is, is an Apple."





Shining Armor filed into the room with Vinyl at her side. She used her magic to close the door behind them. The room was familiar to all three of them. This was the apartment Shining and Cadance had been living in together since their engagement. 

Shining walked over to the couch where Cadance had already positioned herself, and climbed up beside her. Cadance was huge like this, and it made snuggling very strange. "Vinyl?"

"I don't want to get between you two." Vinyl backed her way up to the door. "It doesn't matter how thin you slice it, you are Shining Armor, not me. I am a bad recording!" She turned and grabbed for the door handle with her magic, but something strong was blocking her. 

"Vinyl Scratch." As she said the nymph's name, Cadance saw her freeze. "I want you to come over here and do one thing for me. If you can do it, I will let you go without any further cajoling." Though it would break her heart, Cadance had to promise herself that she couldn't bluff on this.

Turning around was Vinyl's biggest mistake. She was trapped in Cadance's eyes, and lost herself into them. One hoof moved. Then another hoof. Eventually, Vinyl found herself standing before Cadance, tiny as she was compared to the alicorn of her dreams.

"Tell me you love me, Vinyl—" Cadance quickly moved a hoof to block Vinyl's mouth. "There is more. Tell me you love me, and don't mean it." Slowly, Cadance drew her hoof back from Vinyl's muzzle. "Even if you are only Vinyl Scratch, you would remember all the times we made love. There was no stallion between us, there was no Shining Armor then."

"You promised me that you loved us both…" Vinyl couldn't stop her own tears. "I love you so much, Cadance. I am not just Vinyl. We are both Vinyl and Shining. I remember all those times as your stallion, and all the other times as your mare. I don't want to hurt—" Her outpouring was cut off by a kiss. 

All of Vinyl's dreams, while she and Shining had been trapped in the hive, had been about this moment. Of pressing herself to Cadance and letting her betrothed's love wash over her. She had needed it so much, but promised herself she couldn't have it.

Vinyl managed to break from the kiss. "I love you, Cadance. I love you so much it hurts to think I should leave you. I just want you to be happy with Shining!"

"Hold on." Shining Armor climbed up off the couch and, with a small measure of power, took his original pony form. It felt good to be him again, and everything about the form brought back memories of the things he did while Shining Armor. "Now you do it." He looked at Vinyl, catching her eyes and holding them with his gaze. 

Cadance released the nymph and stood back. Watching green fire restore Vinyl's form to the DJ she had learned to love as much as her Shining Armor, she looked intently into the bright cerise eyes. "I love you, Vinyl Scratch."

"This is going to be a little confusing, Vinyl." Shining walked up beside the literal mare of his dreams. "Particularly when I want to be Vinyl." He steeled himself. Leaning down, he carefully set a chaste kiss on Vinyl's cheek, only for Vinyl to turn and kiss him on the lips.

Cadance only had to look into Vinyl's eyes to see that the fiery and free mare she had fallen in love with was present, and she looked hungry. 

The kiss didn't last long, barely enough time for Shining to realize what it was, before Vinyl broke apart. "The look on your face!" Vinyl was laughing hard, then looked at Cadance. "I have no idea if this will work, how this will work, or even if it has ever worked before. You are right, Cady, I can't lie to you. I love you with everything I am, and right now I am just a changeling with nothing to her name."

"That's enough." Cadance booped Vinyl on the nose, then they both turned to a still-stunned Shining Armor. "Oh come on, Shiny, she isn't that bad at kissing."

"I am not so much of a narcissist that I ever thought of kissing myself, alright?" Despite his protest, Shining couldn't help but grin at Vinyl; she was smiling. "We are going to have to make an announcement or something…" 

"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are going to be on top of things. It will be just like the Discord incident." Cadance adjusted her voice to be a parody of Celestia's warm tone. "Thanks to the bravery of these—insert hero here—we can rejoice in the knowledge that—insert enemy here—will never bother us again!"

Shining and Vinyl both started giggling at the not-very-accurate "Princess Celestia" that Cadance was performing.

"Only, it wouldn't be just that short. She would have hours of speeches to give. I don't understand how she can talk for so long without actually saying anything, or losing her voice!" Not as experienced as she would like to be with her magic, Cadance could still use her telekinesis to lift her mane up and make it wave in a simulation of Celestia's. "Ponies of Canterlot! I present to you the evil bug-queen who invaded!" She gestured at one imaginary Chrysalis. "And here is the bug-queen who is our hero!"

Vinyl actually fell down, laughing loudly and holding back none of her mirth. Shining was being a little more reserved, but he was laughing along too. 

"I don't know about you two, but the last week has been like a nightmare. Every time I tried to shout for help, green glowing eyes seemed to appear before me." Cadance's tone was sobering now. "I am tired, my suitors. If you wish to join me, you are both welcome."

Shining looked at Vinyl, and was acutely aware of how her lips had felt on his own. "Come on, V."  He flashed with green fire, adding a pair of wings and taking away some things she felt might get in the way of "just snuggling."

Pressing against Shining's side, Vinyl felt one of the wings curl around her back and pull her against the bigger mare. "You liked joining the princess club that much?"

"It has its advantages. Cadance taught us how nice it is to be hugged with wings, but she never described how good it was to hug with them." Shining followed Cadance into their bedroom and climbed up on the bed.





When Shining woke from her nap, it was to gentle, but insistent, banging on the door to their suite. Vinyl had shed her disguise at some point, and was snuggled between Shining and Cadance. A strong emotion of familial love swelled in her, and Shining was almost overwhelmed by it.

"They have been knocking for nearly twenty minutes." Keeping her tone soft, Cadance nuzzled Shining's cheek. "We will have to answer eventually."

"Nnnope." Shining emulated a farm-pony accent, rolling the N and giggling at the effect. 

Cadance could appreciate the joke too, but only gave a soft chuckle. "You sound a lot happier." She pressed her muzzle under Shining's neck and inhaled her scent. "You know I am going to want at least one of you to be 'full' Shiny. Nothing against cuddly mares, but I like having a stallion too."

The love, for both changeling nymphs, was almost overwhelming. It was like being in a blast-furnace that radiated chocolate sauce. Vinyl rolled over in bed and chirped her wings together. Adding her relatively small snout to the other two, she nuzzled and kissed at both Cadance and Shining. "I'll do it."

Shining and Cadance looked at Vinyl. "Really?" Both giggled at their identical question and voice-pitch.

"Yeah. It's getting towards night anyway. I probably have a gig somewhere that was booked, that I am missing, but eh, what can I do?" Vinyl crawled over Shining, and tumbled forwards off the bed. As she fell, she called fire. There was a rushing inferno of power inside her, and Vinyl found herself adoring being near her love even more.

Cadance froze. She was staring from "alicorn mare Shining" to "stallion Shining" and back. "I hadn't really thought of the possibilities before…" Her voice trailed off.

"Cade?" When Vinyl spoke his nickname for Cadance, it yanked the Princess' attention to him. "I am throwing myself to the wolves here, but I probably can't keep them distracted forever. Don't break her." He gestured to Shining before turning away. "And I call next!"