//------------------------------//
// Open Heart 
// Story: EoH Evolution Interlude: Integration 
// by Bahamut0 
//------------------------------//

All in all, Narico was feeling pretty good about things. His people had started venturing out more from the castle after his interview. And much to the young king's delight, the changelings were largely welcomed or just treated as part of the everyday crowds. However, Narico knew they couldn't just stick themselves in Castalot. There was so much more to the kingdom of Unity than its capitol city. Unityville might be the best place to start. It's not too small, and everyone's more or less accustomed to crazy, sudden events.

A knock on the door soon tore Narico away from his musings. "Come in." He nearly fell out of his bed when he saw his visitor. "P-Princess Cadence?!" The young changeling king hadn't expected the princess of love, whose wedding was almost ruined by the prior changeling ruler, to visit him. "C-Can I help you?"

"Actually, it's the other way around." Cadence said as she levitated over the only chair in the room with her magic. "I saw your interview today. And I was pretty surprised at one very specific bit of information" She looked into Narico's eyes. "Do I really terrify you that much because of what happened at the wedding?"

Narico brought his knees close to his chest. His current position indicating the age he truly was in his mind. "Well, you were supposed to have the happiest day of your life, right? And it turned into a literal battlefield. All because of Chrysalis, a royal changeling, had delusions of grandeur and a plan doomed to fail." Narico curled himself up more. "You were imprisoned in those catacombs for days while Chrysalis stole your identity. She took your face and used it to hurt everyone close to you."

The young king was almost in tears at this point. "It doesn't matter that I'm not the one who hurt. The fact is, a changeling was responsible for dong you harm. And because of that, I'm afraid of what you think of me. Of my people. Of what everyone thinks!" Narico's body began shaking. "You probably think we're monsters. That we don't care what happens to anyone else so long as we get what we want. Who could blame you? Could anyone, even us, blame you for thinking that of us?"

"Narico." Cadence said in a comforting tone. "Part of what you said is true. Queen Chrysalis did cause me a lot of grief during the wedding incident. But that doesn't mean I place any blame on you or your people." The princess of love then placed a hand on Narico's trembling shoulder. "You tried to talk her down. In spite of what she'd done, you thought you could convince her to try a better way."

Cadence smiled when she saw Narico perk up a little at her kind words. "When I look at someone, I don't use my eyes. I look with my heart to see who they are. And I keep it open to see all of them. Take Shining Armor for example. When I started dating him. Sure, my heart saw all of his good points, but it also saw him for his flaws. In his case, he's not the sharpest sword in the armory. But I wouldn't change that for the world."

The princess of love pointed to Narico's heart. "And in your heart? I can see that you're nothing like Chrysalis. You're very kind, and have more love in your heart than she could ever hope to have. You're content, and have no trace of the hunger I felt coming from her. You're also weighed down by pressure. You feel that you need to do the best you can for all the changelings, and you're also scared. Scared of what the world thinks of you and your people."

"Yeah." Narico said with a small nod. "Hit it right on the nail there. So how do I fix that?"

Cadence smiled. "Keep your heart open Narico. If you close it off, then that shuts out the world around you and all the possibilities. So keep it open. You'd be amazed at what you can do." Narico's response to these words was the biggest smile Cadence had ever seen. "Wow. That rivals the look on Twilight's face when I used to read to her or get her a new book."

"Am I really that cute?" Narico asked. "Because Fang once called me a 'cinnamon roll to precious for this world' when I put on a pair of wolf ears so I could look like him. I still have no idea what that phrase means."

Cadence giggled. "It means you're sweet Narico. Any girl you wind up with would be lucky to have you." The princess of love then noticed the blush on Narico's face. "Or do you already have someone in mind?" My work is never done.

"Let's just say she helped pick me up when I was down." Narico said with a small smile. I wonder if I'll ever meet her again. Is this what they call love at first sight?