After many long hours, the dignitaries Princess Cadence had to deal with were finally ready to leave. They had wanted to know if they could perhaps negotiate the right to have some items (mainly some crystal furnishings, and household products) be sold in Vanhoover to better improve certain businesses. In the end, Cadence agreed to it, and promised that they would receive shipments of imported crystal items in time. They were very grateful to her. Once they were gone, she was at last able to have a moment to herself. These kind of meetings somehow always felt a bit draining on her. Now she was regretting not letting Shining Armor join her for this - though she already felt bad about it before. But it couldn't be helped: Thorax, and his Changeling hive were set to arrive around this time, and they couldn't BOTH be occupied with surprise dignitaries she only recently learned about. At least one of them had to oversee the preparations, and Shining was the only other candidate. Still, she felt bad about it, no matter how she looked at it: especially since she was afraid Shining might have gotten sick, or something, overnight. She'd be sure to have the doctor give him a check-up once the festival itself was over. For now, she went to the only other place that would cheer her up: the playroom that had been set up for Flurry Heart. Sure enough, she was indeed in there, with Sunburst, who was teaching her to work on her magic-telekinesis a bit more - and playing with her toys in a way which made her giggle happily. And in turn making Cadence happy, too, as she approached.
"Looks like you two are having a good time." she said, getting sunburst, and flurry's attention.
"Oh! Princess Cadence! Glad to see you here." he said, fumbling a little bit before standing up. He then looked to an excited Flurry Heart, who flew up to her mommy, and gave an affectionate, and adorable hug to her face. He smiled as he said, "But yes, Flurry is a delight: and her magic is growing more focused. You should be really happy to have a foal as perceptive as she is."
Cadence giggled happily as she picked Flurry up in her magic. "That's not the only thing i love her for." Flurry giggled again as she, and Cadence brushed noses together before the latter held her in her hoofleg. "By the way, Sunburst: i also came up here so that i could ask you if you were coming to the festival to greet the Changelings. I'm sure Thorax would be happy to see you, too."
"Well, of course! I wouldn't want to miss something like this for anything. Ever since i heard about what happened from Starlight, i've wanted to see the new changelings for myself. It might make a very interesting record to note."
Cadence smiled as she said, "At least you're enthusiastic about the whole thing." Suddenly, there came a knock at the door. Everypony turned to the door to see Flash Sentry standing there. Only he didn't look happy about something. In fact, he seemed terribly worried. Something which was not a good sign.
"Princess Cadence? I need to talk to you - urgently."
"What is it, Flash?" Cadence asked with concern.
At first, Flash seemed uneasy about whether he wanted to discuss it, or not. But he knew this was important. And there was no way he could wait to tell. "It's.....it's about your husband, you highness."
"Shining?" she said as her expression widened. And a small sense of dread began to grow within her. "I-is he alright? Did something happen to him?" She asked, trying to keep calm, and collected, though the worry still showed in her tone.
"I think............i think something might be wrong with him." Flash said hesitantly.
"What do you mean?"
"To be honest, i-i'm not really sure: one minute we were talking about the Changelings. Next thing i knew, he was on his knees, coughing as if he were horribly sick - and a weird, black mark was on his arm. I tried asking about it, and suggesting he have it looked at, but," he said, as he drew in another breath, "then he lost it for a sec. The way he shouted at me.......he actually scared me. I know he can get a bit strict, and seem harsh at times when he's under stress, but this? It was like for a moment, he was somepony else. He apologized, and said he was okay, but.....i could tell he was hiding something."
All the while, Cadence's worry was mixed with confusion, and then a bit of revelation. She also noted how Shining had a terrible cough just before they both went to their own separate tasks. He insisted he was alright, but she could tell he was trying to cover something up. Now she seemed to know what he was hiding earlier. But what made her more confused was the description of his action. That gave her more reason to be concerned for her love. "But where is he now?"
Flash lowered his head a little as his ears drooped. "I'm sorry, princess: he ran off before i could stop him. I wanted to go after him, but i was afraid i might upset him, and make him do something worse. So i decided to come here, and inform you about it." He then looked to the princess with concern as close to hers. "Princess, there is something seriously wrong with him: i can feel it! And as part of the guard, it's my duty to protect everypony in the empire - even the prince. We have to help him right now, before he does something drastic."
"Isn't that exaggerating things a bit?" Sunburst asked. "I mean, we can't just assume he'd do something terrible just because of a moment of stress."
Flash shook his head as he said, "Sorry, Sunburst, but you weren't there. Though it was brief, i could hear the intensity of his anger. Even at his worst, i've never heard Shining Armor sound like this. Plus, there's that black mark to consider: it could be some kind of infection we didn't know about that's making him act this way. What if it takes things further, and makes him do something he'd never do on his own? Can we really afford to take that chance?"
Sunburst didn't say anything, because he had no response to that bit of logic. So instead, both he and Flash turned to the deciding factor of this debate: Cadence herself. As hard as it was for her to consider, everything Flash said could very well be true. Especially given he was a trustworthy soldier who is ALWAYS honest, and loyal. If he believes something was wrong, then she was willing to consider it true. And with Shining's behavior that morning, it was hard to not rule out the possibility of the lieutenant's concern. She gave Flurry Heart a brief glance, earning a confused sound from the little foal, before making a decision.
"Lieutenant Flash." she said with authority. "I want you to inform the guards to be on the lookout for Shining Armor. If they see him, they must bring him back as soon as possible: his life may depend on it."
"Yes, your highness." Flash said, bowing. "I'll get on that right awa-"
"Your highness!" came the call of one of the castle staff, who rushed in quite quickly. "King Thorax, and the Changelings have arrived. They are awaiting your arrival at this moment."
Cadence groaned a little as she said, "Oh, no! Of all the times, it had to be now?" She then sighed before handing Flurry Heart over to Sunburst, who drew her baby carriage for transport. "Very well: tell King Thorax we will arrive very shortly." The attendant bowed before heading out to do as instructed. "Flash: you go, and do as i instructed. But keep the number of guards down to a small number. We don't want to draw attention."
"As you wish, Princess Cadence." Flash said, bowing again before heading to the doors. Before he left, he turned back to give a small smile to her. "Please don't worry: i promise we'll find him, and bring him back safe, and sound." He then left the 3 ponies to dwell on their thoughts - minus Flurry, who was playing with her Whammy. Cadence had only one thing on her mind in regards to what Flash had said.
"I hope so, Flash..........at least before it might be too late."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, in another section of the empire, Shining Armor was seething. What he was seething about nopony knew. And anypony who saw him kept their distance out of fear of angering him somehow. Sadly, that was somewhat difficult, given the crystal prince's state of mind. At this moment, his mind was laced with anger, and hate. He could no longer remember what this anger was directed at, or who. All he knew was that he was angry, even as he continued coughing. The claw-like fingers which had formed twitched, and curled in anticipation. They seemed ready to cause some manner of harm to anyone who crossed Shining Armor. And the rash had grown up to the back of his neck. It itched like nopony would believe, and it only seemed to fuel his anger further. He had long forgotten what he was doing before. Nothing mattered right now. All he was doing was walking down the street, heading to nowhere in particular. And interestingly enough, he seemed to be avoiding everypony around him. Perhaps to avoid any incidents that might occur.
Sadly, that would not last as a pair of tourist friends - an earthpony mare, and a stallion pegasus - were walking along, just talking and minding their own business. And Shining was facing the ground, not looking where he was going. In time, the duo approached him unknowingly, and he ended up pushing past the pegasus stallion, bumping into him in the process. The stallion was annoyed by that, and made a silent, unheard remark.
Yet Shining Armor seemed to have heard it just fine as he stopped in place, and spoke in a cold, venom-filled tone far out of character for him.
"Excuse me..............but i think you owe me an apology."
The duo heard him speak, and turned around to see if that was the case. The stallion asked, "Are you talking to us, pal?"
"I'm talking to YOU." he said harshly. "And i'm noone's "pal". And since you're either deaf, or stupid, i'm gonna repeat myself so you can hear what i said - only more specifically: you owe me, Prince Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire, an apology for being disrespectful."
Both looked to each other before the stallion said, "Hey, look here: you were the one who bumped into me."
"So what?"
"So if anyone should apologize, it's you! What kind of "prince" randomly pushes past other ponies, and expects THEM to apologize? Clearly a lousy, and rude one."
Shining's eyes narrowed, as a purple miasma began flowing out of his eyes. "One last chance. And i'll give you till the count of 3." he threatened. His voice growing deeper, and more laced with hateful anger. The duo seemed startled by this, and the stallion tried to ease things up. "H-hey, look: i don't want any trouble, okay?"
"One."
"Come on! Don't take it so seriously! We can talk it over, and-"
"Two."
Now the stallion was growing nervous. "P-please....we didn't mean any trouble! Just let us go, and-"
"THREE!!!"
And then, his horn lit up, and he thrust the clawed hand forward as he cast a spell. But instead of his own magical aura, his horn and hand had been covered in an onyx colored aura with purple and green energy bubbling around it. A beam of black lightning-shaped magic surrounded by this bubbling dark magic shot forth at the pegasus stallion. As he yelled in panic, he was struck by the beam of dark magic. And as everypony in the area watched, something horrible began to happen: the stallion's body began encasing in a dull, red crystal which slowly consumed his body. Panic, and terror was all he felt, and expressed in his final moments. And then he knew no more as he became encased in crystal. Shining cut off his spell, as he breathed heavily from the amount of power the spell had used. And everypony around was no quite fearful, as they had just witnessed a display of a power which had been their force of oppression for many years........when their former, evil ruler once reigned. However....
CLLAAANCCKK!
As small bit of debris shot everywhere, and some even hit Shining Armor in the head, it appeared to have made him come to his senses. And in that moment, he wished he didn't as his, and everypony else's expressions quickly transformed into horror over what they saw: the statue of the pegasus had fallen to the ground - shattered into numerous pieces. What nopony had noticed was that as the spell washed over him, the stallion was about to get ready to move backwards. One of his legs had been raised before he had crystallized. The result was as everypony saw it: the statue lost its balance, fell and shattered.
A dread silence fell over all those in the area. None of them were able to say a single word in response to this unexpected event. All they could do was stare in shock and horror. However, none were as horrified as Shining Armor at that moment. His eyes widened to saucers, and his pupils had shrunken to the size of pin-pricks. His breathing was slow, shaky, and labored. His body was shaking uncontrollably. And he felt sick to his stomach. He couldn't believe what had just happened. And yet it had been so: he had somehow used dark magic to turn a pony - an innocent civilian who deserved nothing wrong - into a crystal statue, only for said statue to shatter, and break apart. He had murdered an innocent pony in his own empire.
His head slowly looked down to the horrible, black hand that he no longer recognized as his own. And yet, there was no denying the truth. Whatever was happening to him, whatever dark magic, or infection was slowly taking him over barely made any difference. He had deviated from the one thing he lived for. The thing his cutie mark represented, and that he wore as a badge of honor as well as a symbol of his own destiny. He was no protector of ponies anymore. He had just taken one's life for no other reason............than he was angry.
His cry of despair echoed across the city itself. Few had ever heard such a thing before. And yet Shining Armor brought it to them as he ran away from that spot. Leaving the other ponies to look over the remains of the stallion. Hopeful that one of the crystal guards would arrive, and help sort this out. Shining, meanwhile, had found himself in another alley. One that had a barrel filled with water in it. As he ran beside it, struggling to catch his breath as he hacked and coughed again from the amount of stress, and anxiety he was under. He panted like mad as his mind raced in directions he could not control.
"What have i done?!" he exclaimed in abject disgust and horror. As he leaned against the barrel, he pushed himself back up on his feet, overlooking the reflective surface of the water. His mane covered his face as the black mark rose up further. He tried looking into his own reflection, questioning his own actions. "I'm-......i'm a murderer. I killed him! I didn't mean to, but-.........oh faust! What's happening to me?! I feel so horrible! I-...........i feel........i......feel........."
Suddenly, he threw his head back, revealing the black mark had now covered half of his face. Yet it had dulled down to grey over the right side of his face. His teeth had also changed: they were no longer straight and flat, but were instead thin, pointed, and sharp. Even that half of his mouth formed into a mask-like set of teeth that covered his mouth. The black had also reached his horn, and was making it into a dull, but extremely dark red color. And his right eye was no longer the sapphire blue it once was. Now it was bright red, and slitted liked a dragon's. And when he spoke again, his voice had grown deeper, more gutteral, and savage. As if his voice was changing into somepony else's.
"I feel ALIVE!!!"
Yet he slipped back into his normal self long enough to look at himself, and note his voice change for just a moment. And what he saw horrified him greatly.
"What-....what IS this?!" But the darker voice spoke out once again: it seems that something else was now talking through him. "The natural progression! Doubt and Fear leads to Anger and Hate. And both combined lead to ultimate power!"
"No! This.........this isn't right!"
"Everything is right!"
"No, it isn't! I killed an innocent pony!"
"He disrespected his better!"
"I'm not better than anypony! I had no right to do what i did!"
"We have EVERY right to assert our authority! We don't need the love and care of others: only their respect, and obedience! And we do not need anypony but ourselves. Not the changelings, not the equestrians, not the crystal ponies, and not-"
"Not Cadence, my daughter, and my sister?! Those are NOT my thoughts! Get out of my head right now!" he exclaimed before he began scratching at the black substance on his body. He was desperate to get whatever it was that was apparently bonded to him off. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get it off. Instead he was left coughing horrifically once again, gasping for air as he leaned against the barrel again. However, the other voice spoke through him again. Only in a much deeper, and sinister voice that he recognized all too well.
"Your efforts are in vain, boy. You cannot be rid of me anymore than you can rid yourself of your own soul. I have taken root within: mind, body, and soul. All of your struggling simply allows me a firmer grasp upon your being. Now you are mine!"
"You?!" Shining spoke, with unquestionable fear in his tone. "How?"
"Evil such as mine cannot die so easily. And you opened the door to me. Your own insecurities - your doubts, and fears. Your feelings of worthlessness, and of no longer being needed: all was fuel for your funeral pyre. Your disgust for your own family - and especially yourself - has given me all that i need to return."
"What are you talking about? I don't hate my family! I could NEVER-"
"No, you don't." the voice interrupted, seemingly satisfied to have gotten Shining Armor angry for at least a moment. "But you hate yourself more than anypony alive. Even more than the Changeling queen, or Tirek..........or even me."
"W-what are you-"
"Do not forget how easily you were enthralled by Chrysalis. How she fooled you so easily, and enslaved your mind to be loyal to her. And as such, how you turned so harshly on your own sister for ever daring to say that the love of your life was evil."
Shining shook his head in denial. "That wasn't my fault. Chrysalis made me say all that, i didn't mean-"
"Lie to me, and lie to others: but you cannot lie to yourself. Changeling magic, when used to make thralls of others, forces them to be unquestionably loyal, and devoted - to never suspect anything wrong. Once you were at your weakest, your will was obsolete, and your mind was imprisoned within you. But before that, you showed your own sister such cruelty as she'd never seen from her own sibling...........her "BBBFF", whom she only wanted to protect. And how did you repay her love? By casting her out, and banishing her from your own wedding. Oh, how i wish i could have been there to see......and savor the pain."
"No-......i didn't........i would never have meant what i-"
"But you did. The magic only made you devoted: you brought forth your inner feelings of anger, and hate. Your brought true feelings to the surface, though you used different words to express them. Everything you did in that moment was of your own volition. I can sense emotions, and can see into your mind's visions of the past. And i know you better than you know yourself now."
Shining said nothing. He was only struggling to argue against what was said. He desperately wanted to say those were lies. That he would never intentionally hurt his sister - his Twily. But the more he thought about it, the more doubt began to plague his heart, and make him question his resolve. What if it was true? What if he DID feel resentful towards Twilight? What if the rehearsal was what brought those feelings out? Could he really have done all that on his own? At the moment, he was no longer sure. And the voice didn't give him time to ponder it.
"Yet that is not the only sin you have committed against the world: because of you, the Changelings were able to invade Canterlot. You were charged with protecting the capital, yet you failed. Worst of all: it was only because of Twilight, and Cadence that you were able to drive them back. Without them, Canterlot would have fallen.........all because of you."
Shining closed his left eye, as it seemed the only one he could control, as he remembered that day all too well. Despite his skills, and his attention to his duty, the Changelings queen had used him to pave the way to conquest. All while Cadence had been locked away in those horrible caverns, alone, and no doubt terrified for him. The city would have fallen were it not for Twilight saving Cadence. Why was he so stupid? Why hadn't he ever noticed? It was his duty as Captain to protect all in Canterlot - especially those he loved - and he almost let it all fall to ruin. Sadly, it wasn't just one time.
"Indeed not: when the crystal empire returned, what happened? You foolishly attacked the Dark King after Twilight Sparkle had arrived: no doubt to prove yourself. And in the end, you became a magical cripple. Useless to everypony around, and leaving your darling wife to protect the empire with her own magic.......as the strain of continuously maintaining a shield of love and light began wearing her down. How she must have suffered back then. Again, you proved yourself worthless as she, and the baby dragon saved the empire, instead of you."
"I........it wasn't my-"
"Your what? It wasn't your fault? Or it wasn't your place because of Celestia's test for your sister? Perhaps it WAS your place when Tirek, and Discord united to invade Canterlot - and you so easily bested without even putting up a true fight."
"I TRIED to stop them, but i couldn't! Not alone!"
"And as a result, the princesses, including your wife, were banished to Tartarus for your failure. Left to possibly suffer in ways she would not admit as to ensure you peace of mind. Yet did you ever take the time to consider what such an experience did to the poor girl? Just like the other two disasters, i imagine it had quite the psychological effect on poor Cadence."
A pang of sorrow came over Shining as he thought about it again. After being told what happened to her, he just couldn't help but feel such guilt for not being able to prevent it. She said she was alright, but he most certainly didn't. For a long time, his thoughts had been plagued by what might have happened - even though they didn't. And how he had allowed it to happen. "Cadence...." he said, in a pained, heartbroken voice. But the dark voice wasn't finished quite yet, and had one last thing to talk about.
"But perhaps your greatest offences involved the changelings once again. How you let them slip in on the dead of night, and snatch you, your princess, and your darling offspring from your beds, and take you captive once more. Twice once more, you failed to even register the invasion, and it cost you more than ever before. Your only salvation came in the form of a black sheep: a little, pure-hearted Changeling who taught them the ways of love. And after you had shown him fear, and mistrust. The dragon whelp brought forth the notion of a good changeling, but you dismissed it based solely on the actions of ONE. 'There's no such thing as a nice changeling.' Is that not what you said?"
"How......could i have known-?"
"Granted, i imagine his first appearance had caused a reasonable fright: given his introduction to your love-filled infant. However, beyond that, did you even hear his attempts to apologize? How he made no moves to attack? How even when disguised as a pony who doubtlessly never existed, did not even try to abduct your foal and escape?"
"None of us could have known." shining said, his voice seeming to grow weaker as time went on. It seems the more he thought over everything this voice brought out, every mention of his failures causing him to feel doubt and fear, his body seemed to grow weaker - while the thing inside him seemed to grow stronger.
"Perhaps..............but you still held on to your prejudice even after he had been given a chance to prove himself in the empire. A good prince and soldier always keeps an open mind, and never jumps to conclusions: yet that was what you had done in the end. Though you knew what would happen if you spoke, you kept your hatred for him and his kind to yourself. Allowing it to fester, and grow. Even now, a part of it still exists, along with a hate for all those who have done harm to you, and those you were sworn to protect. Only that hate had a new target after the Changelings had turned to the side of good.................and that was yourself. Ever since then, you have grown to hate yourself every day for all of your failures. You failed to stop the Changeling's infiltration of Canterlot, and then from abducting you and your family, failed to take charge and protect the Crystal Empire yourself, failed to prevent Tirek from reaching the princesses.......and failed to live up to the role of a true prince."
Shining said nothing. The words cut into him, and burned every part of his soul like hot coals. Because deep down, he knew every last one of them were true. As he sat to the ground, his hands covering his face as tears fell from his eye, he acknowledge the horrible truth for what it was. He was a failure. A worthless, pathetic, weak, insignificant failure who always needs someone to rescue him, and can never live up to his responsibilities, and duty. And he had almost cost the lives of those under his charge - especially his beloved family.
"You are no prince. You are no protector. You are nothing. An accessory for your princesses to use as they see fit. A fool to be compared to his successful alicorn of a sister who outshines him at every turn. You've gained everything you have now based solely on your luck, and connections to those of higher position in life. You did not earn anything: it was handed down to you. Therefore, you are unfit to continue this charade you call life, and unfit to keep everything you possess."
"What......what do you want?" he asked in a voice that was low, weak, and filled with pain.
"I want to reclaim what is mine - and whether you like it, or not: YOU will help me to obtain it.......once this vessel is completely mine. But now, there is something else i need..........back at the crystal palace."
Shining's eye widened as he quickly understood what that meant. "No! I won't let you hurt them! You won't use me for-" But then, he found his body beginning to move on its own as he slowly stood up. The voice then chuckled as it spoke again. "You have little choice in the matter. Your hate, doubt, and fear has fed me long enough: now you have provided me the right conditions to assimilate this form. Just enough to show you what it truly means to be a heart-breaker."
"They'll stop you.......you hear me? You won't get away with this!"
"As cliche'd as it is to say............i already have."