I watched in astonishment as the train went from being in a blizzard to being in the sun instantly. I'd never seen such powerful magic before!
The train slowed down as it approached the station. I looked out the window and spotted Shining Armor standing on the platform.
It was at that moment I began feeling nervous. What should I tell them? How would they react? What if they hated me?
I shook my head. I had to stop thinking so negatively.
I stepped off the train, feeling the warmth of the Sun. A sigh left me as I basked in the light.
”You must be the Right Hoof.”
I glanced over to see Shining Armor approaching. I smiled at him.
”Call me Shade. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Shining Armor.”
I held out my hoof and he shook it.
“Shade.”
I felt his eyes wander over me, trying to figure me out. I cleared my throat, bringing his attention back.
“Sorry. You just...don't look like a pony really. But you don’t put off the aura I thought you might.”
I smiled.
“Maybe I can explain once we get to the palace. It’s a story both you and Cadance should hear.”
He stared at me for a moment before nodding.
“Okay. Follow me.”
We walked into the city and I was instantly overwhelmed. There was so much to look at. Everything was made of crystal! I’d never known there were this many colors in the world!
“It’s all so beautiful! I’d heard some stories, but this place puts them to shame!”
Shining Armor smiled.
“Yeah. It’s pretty different from the rest of Equestria. I’m sure the palace is going to be quite a change from the castle in Canterlot.”
My eyes found the palace ahead of us and my head tipped backward to see the top.
“Woah...”
“Yeah. That’s what I said the first time too.”
We reached the steps and climbed to the entrance. I was overwhelmed once again at the beauty of the interior as Shining Armor opened the door.
“Sweet Celestia!”
Shining Armor chuckled.
“You don’t get out much, do you?”
“From what I’ve heard he stays pretty busy.”
We both turned to find the owner of the voice. Cadance was standing off to one side of the main hall.
She was very much like I remembered. I found myself overwhelmed once again as I felt the wave of love coming off of her. A shiver ran through my body and I audibly gasped.
Cadance looked concerned.
“Are you alright?”
I shook myself from head to toe. I could feel goosebumps all over my body.
“Sorry. It’s just...well...it’s a long story.”
Shining Armor walked over to his wife.
“A story he thinks we should both hear apparently.”
I looked around.
“Is there somewhere more private we can go?”
Cadance nodded.
“I need to check on Flurry Heart. We can all go to the nursery.”
They led the way to the nursery. We didn’t say anything to each other until Cadance opened the door to the room.
“This is Flurry Heart.”
I spotted the foal at once. She was adorable!
She began giggling at the sight of her parents. We all stepped inside and shut the door.
Cadance picked Flurry up.
“Hello sweetie! Have you been good today?”
More giggles. Cadance looked at me.
“Do you want to start with your name? And why you look similar to a changeling?”
I sat down and sighed.
“My name is Shade. I look similar to a changeling because I used to be one. I had a run-in with Discord several months ago and he changed me into a pony.”
If she was fazed by that response, she hid it well.
“Several months ago?”
I nodded. Cadance seemed disturbed. I didn’t have to wait to find out why.
“As I’ve heard, the Right Hoof has been working with my aunts for almost two years.”
“That’s correct.”
“So you’re saying Celestia and Luna employed a changeling long before we ever met Thorax.”
Now I understood.
“The circumstances that led me to Celestia and Luna are very different than what led Thorax up here. Shall I start from the beginning?”
Cadance nodded.
“Please.”
I took a deep breath.
“I’m sure you can guess that I was involved in the Invasion of Canterlot?”
Shining Armor nodded.
“I’d guessed as much.”
“Well...I wasn’t just a foot soldier. I was the one Chrysalis sent to spy on Canterlot. I was to find weak points in the defenses and report back with a possible strategy.”
They both stared at me, no questions. I took a breath and continued.
“I was having trouble finding any holes in the defenses. I'm sure that was due to your expertise, Shining Armor. But just when I thought I'd failed, something happened. I felt a source of love. The largest I’ve ever felt in my life.”
I pointed to Cadance.
“Coming from you. Aimed at him.”
My hoof moved from her to Shining Armor.
“And that’s when I came up with a plan that, in theory, could have toppled the entire leadership of Equestria.”
Cadance arched her brow.
“You planned the invasion?”
I slowly nodded. Shining Armor took a step forward.
“It’s because of you?”
I nodded again.
“I spent the next few days gathering all the information I could on the two of you. Especially Cadance. Once I was done, I went back to Chrysalis.”
Cadance kept staring at me for several seconds. I felt Shining Armor’s gaze as well. All I could do was clear my throat.
“Do you mind if I ask the two of you a question?”
That seemed to snap them out of silence. Cadance took a breath.
“Sure.”
“I was pretty close to you guys during those days and I never once heard you mention Twilight. And from everything I’ve heard since, she’s a big part of both your lives. So how did I miss that?”
They looked at each other for a moment. Shining Armor took the lead.
“Honestly? We only mentioned her once. Right after we got engaged in fact. We both knew she was going to be the Mare of Honor. So...we never really bothered after that.”
I let out something that sounded like a half-chuckle.
“So I didn’t mess up..”
I shook my head and focused back on Cadance.
“Well, you know how the rest went. My story really begins when you launched the changelings out of Canterlot.”
A small smile formed on Cadance’s lips.
“Go on.”
———————
Flurry Heart had gone down for a nap by the time I finished. I sat back and waited for their reactions.
Shining Armor was the first to speak.
“That’s quite the story. If we didn’t have Celestia’s word on you, I’d be skeptical. No offense.”
I smiled.
“None taken.”
Cadance chimed in.
“You’ve been through a lot. I can’t say I’m happy that I wasn’t told about you sooner, but I understand why Celestia would withhold that information. We only recently realized changelings were capable of more than evil. It’s still hard to believe sometimes.”
“I don’t blame you honestly. But if I can tell you from my perspective, changelings are more docile by nature than you think. It was only under Chrysalis that we had to act like that. It was either help our Queen or die a traitor.”
Cadance nodded.
“I’m not surprised. She seems to have no limits to her cruelty.”
Flurry Heart squirmed in her crib. Cadance glanced at her foal and smiled.
“She’s dreaming. Why don’t we move our conversation to another room? I think it’s time we told you why you’re here.”
I nodded and let them lead the way out of the room.
As we walked down the hall, Cadance turned to me.
“There’s one thing I’m still wondering about. Why did you shiver when you saw me? Were you afraid of how I’d react?”
I chuckled.
“Not at all Princess. I may be a pony, but I still retain my old abilities. Including feeling the energy love puts off.”
“The energy?”
“It’s similar to the aura of magic. But only changelings, as far as I know, can feel it. And you put off an energy that could feed thousands for a lifetime. I’ve never known a pony to have such a capacity for love.”
She giggled.
“Well, I am the Princess of Love. And if you’d like to know, I can feel some of that energy too.”
“Really?”
“Maybe not as much as a changeling, but I can get a pretty good sense of a pony. Like how you have a great capacity for love.”
I couldn’t hide my surprise. That made her giggle more.
“You have love for your friends, your adoptive family, and...”
Her eyes lit up.
“You even have a special somepony!”
“That’s an amazing talent!”
“Who is it?”
“Who’s what?”
“Your special somepony of course!”
I looked to Shining Armor for help. He smiled and shook his head.
“Trust me. It’s easier to answer.”
I looked back at Cadance.
“I assume you know Rarity?”
She smiled.
“Of course I know Rarity! How long have you two been together?”
“Quite a while now actually.”
“That’s wonderful! That honestly gives me even more relief regarding you.”
“Oh?”
“She’s an excellent judge of character. You must be quite the gentleman to have won her heart.”
I blushed.
“Well...I don’t know about that.”
She giggled again.
“From what I’ve learned of changelings since meeting Thorax, it seems their very love-centric in most things. I can only imagine that you’re a very caring partner.”
“I’d never thought about that.”
Shining Armor nudged me.
“So where do you two get together for dates? You know, since you live in different places.“
I smiled.
“It’s about half and half. She comes to check up on her shop in the city and I work with Twilight half the time so we’re never away from each other too long.”
“That’s pretty lucky. I had to steal whatever moments I could with Cadance. Being Captain of the Guard took most of my time. And she was always off with delegations and committees.“
I couldn’t help but smile.
“I imagine the two of you disappeared when in the same room?”
Shining turned red and grinned.
“Well...”
Cadance was laughing now.
“You’re very forward, aren’t you?“
I chuckled.
“I’m not good with subtlety. That’s the changeling in me.”
She reigned her laughter in.
“To answer your question, I was always pulling him away from his duties when I was in Canterlot. There are plenty of dark corners and unused rooms if you know where to look in the castle.”
She winked and I found myself laughing.
“I might need to ask you for some of those locations. I can’t have Rarity around without Celestia and Luna getting in my way.”
That got her laughing again.
“You can try, but I’m pretty sure they know them all now. We were nearly caught constantly!”
I glanced at Shining Armor again and he was still red with embarrassment.
Cadance and I kept laughing as we approached a door at the end of the hallway.
I realized that we had been walking for a bit.
“Does nopony come down this way often?”
Cadance’s smile disappeared.
“No. And for good reason.”
She opened the door to reveal an empty room. Well...nearly empty.
There was a table with a chest on it. The chest had chains and several locks wrapped around it.
As I stepped into the room, I felt a force like I hadn’t felt in some time. It was...malevolent. Not unlike Chrysalis, but somehow...worse.
I stopped and swallowed.
“What’s in there? I feel...sick.”
I looked at Cadance. I could see she was feeling the effects too, but was handling it better. She took a deep breath and replied.
“That’s why we asked for you. I think Shining and I are the only ponies who can really stand in here for an extended period. That’s why we put it in the unused wing of the palace. It keeps it away from the curious.”
I straightened up.
“I can handle it. Show me.”
Cadance nodded and approached the chest. I followed and waited as she unlocked the chains. When the last chain fell away, she opened the chest.
The aura only got stronger as the contents were exposed to the air. I had to keep myself from heaving.
I slowly glanced into the chest. What could put off such a horrible feeling?
What I saw only made me feel worse.
It was a crystal, no bigger than a wood splinter. And yet the pure malice coming from it made me want to run away.
And if the minuscule size wasn’t enough to make me scared, the color was doing a good job as well. In this beautiful palace, with every color in existence reflected in the crystals, this splinter was a shade of black that threatened to swallow anything that came near it.
I slowly stepped back and Cadance shut the chest. She locked the chains in place and we all exited the room. As soon as the door shut behind us, I fell to the ground. My entire body was shivering out of fear.
“What. Was. That?”
Cadance and Shining Armor looked at each other for a few seconds before looking back at me. Shining Armor pulled me up off the floor.
“There’s only one pony we’ve ever encountered that has magic like that. And he’s supposed to be dead.”
I felt my blood go cold. Twilight had told me about him and what he was capable of. She had been terrified by the power she’d wrestled with.
What shook me to my core was that the splinter was proof that whatever Twilight had dealt with wasn’t anywhere near the limits of King Sombra. And we were all in trouble.