“There, done!” Twilight happily snatched the paper sticking out of the typewriter.
“Twilight, are you sure this is a good idea?” Rainbow Dash asked again. “As Gilda puts it, it doesn’t look like it.”
“Ughh...” Twilight’s mood immediately soured. “Rainbow, please, don’t start. You have no idea how many things Gilda already said to me on this.”
“Well, you are trying to sell away a part of her home, so I can’t imagine her being very fond of your plan,” Rainbow idly rose from her seat at the Twilight’s library table.
“This is what it takes, Rainbow! We aren’t a charity, we can’t just go around giving everyone everything they want!”
“Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey, don’t heat up,” Rainbow raised her hooves in a conciliatory gesture. “I am not saying you are wrong. If this is the price Hag charges, then we aren’t, exactly, in a position to haggle. At least they are getting what they need in the end.”
Twilight sighed with relief,
“They do, Rainbow. It’s just the matter of making them accept the offer now.”
“Any chance we can give them a better offer?” Rainbow asked without much hope. “Actually, why Hag even bothers? If she wanted their land, she could’ve just taken it. It’s not like Griffons can resist. No point pretending it’s fair.”
“Rainbow, you think too bad of her!” Twilight scowled at the question. “Let’s find Gilda, we need to walk her through this,” Twilight said while carefully packing the treaty together with the now glowing amulet into one of her bags. “And thanks for understanding. I appreciate the support,” Twilight managed a tired smile.
“Don’t sweat it, Twilight. That’s what friends are for, after all,” Rainbow gave the Princess a mock salute. The gesture made Twilight smile wider, “A mare has to do what she has to do. You didn’t ask to be here, but you are still trying your best to help everyone you can reach.”
“You are an awesome friend, Rainbow.”
“Wasn’t it obvious?” the blue pegasus smiled smugly.
The two ponies were soon walking through the pathways of the palace. Rainbow noted Twilight was receiving warm greetings and even bows from the staff and guards now. Well, at least she was getting the appreciation she deserved again.
“Your Highness, a moment,” a familiar creaking voice hailed them when turning yet another corner.
“Hey there!” Rainbow welcomed the approaching changeling. “Long time no see, Shadow. You had us all mighty scared. Anyway, good to see you again.”
“The feeling is mutual, Lieutenant,” Shadow nodded. “Your Highness, Empress sends you a word on your tutelage, it is scheduled for tomorrow.”
“She sent you just to tell me this?” Twilight asked in disbelief. Shadow nodded simply, “Oh, Shadow, she must have wanted you to have a break. In the last week, you almost never left her side.”
“What ‘tutelage’?” Rainbow asked bewildered, reeling the conversation back.
“Ugh… Rainbow, don’t ask,” Twilight brought her hoof to her eyes. “Her Majesty is wise, but even she sometimes isn’t reasonable.”
“Care to explain?”
“She wants me to learn dancing, Rainbow!” Twilight sighed.
“You?! Dan- Ha-ha-ha!” Rainbow snickered. “I... I wanna see that!”
“Yeah, laugh it up, hyena,” Twilight grimly shot back.
“Count on it!”
“Your Highness, from what I could gather, dancing is rather pleasant,” Shadow commented.
“Yeah, Twilight! Chin up!” Rainbow mockingly cheered.
“Are you done?” Twilight asked the grinning pegasus.
“Mostly,” Rainbow wiped her eye. “Okay, honestly now. It doesn’t sound like the worst thing to happen. I mean she could’ve sent you to learn shooting or something.”
Twilight sighed again,
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Why are you so much against the idea anyway? It’s fun to move your hooves once in a while. I know I love to.”
“Your dancing is not quite bad, Princess,” Shadow remarked. “The Captain looked rather pleased.”
“Wait, you danced with...” Rainbow reached for her chin trying to hold herself back from another burst of laughter. Twilight facehoofed herself in response.
“Let’s just go,” Twilight asked in exasperation. “Gilda is waiting for us.”
“Or maybe we should go visit your new coltfriend instead? It’s on the way.”
“Rainbow!”
“Okay, okay, shutting up now!”
“Oh, really?” Gilda asked, not even bothering to hide her disinterest, but Thorax didn’t even notice.
“Really! I just noticed her sneaking around Princess Cadance’s castle and tried to catch up to her and she disappeared in thin air! She is so amazingly good at hiding!” Thorax excitedly chirped. “I then went to tell the Princess and then we went straight for her study and I smelled her right there! Hiding in the plain sight! Princess didn’t notice a thing!”
Gilda rammed her forehead into a conveniently placed bag on the table in her room. Thorax was meant to watch her, she figured, but the griffon was getting an increasing feeling of this being elaborate torture.
The little guy was very, VERY, friendly, but he just couldn’t shut up for one second! Gilda wasn’t the one to hide sentiments, but just telling him to stop only bought her a precious moment before Thorax could find something else to ramble on about and it always came back to his other changeling friend. Gilda felt like she got to know her better than herself in the last few hours. Was he forbidden to talk about this to anyone else or something?
“...then Sir Spike said: ‘Twilight is going to kill me!’ and he sent me to get brooms and while I was away, Shadow came back, and we switched again,” Thorax continued babbling completely oblivious to Gilda’s distress. Well, maybe she could sleep on a little, it wasn’t like Thorax was going to notice any time soon.
“Thorax, care to tell me something about your home?” Gilda asked, surprising herself with how desperate she was to hear literally anything else.
“My… home?” the changeling echoed back as if surprised at the question.
“Yeah, you have a lot of siblings don’t you?”
“Well… yes. But I am mostly out of contact with them now.”
“Tell me what it is like to live in a hive,” Gilda asked. All better than hearing a story about Shadow for the thousandth time.
“Well...” Thorax stammered. “It was alright.” Short. Apparently, Gilda finally hit something interesting.
“I don’t imagine it being easy for you with what I heard about your Queen. Can’t imagine my mom wanting me to fight anyone, that crusty old chick,” Gilda nostalgically smiled.
“I never fought anyone,” Thorax was quick to contradict.
“No surprises there.”
“My brother always wanted me to be a soldier but I could never hurt anyone.”
“Why?”
“It was wrong,” Thorax dropped his eyes as if being ashamed of saying that.
“Your brother didn’t like you thinking that way?” Gilda guessed.
“I never told him, I just left.”
“And ponies took you in?”
“Princess Cadance did,” Thorax curtly nodded. “She is very nice.”
“Huh...” Thorax’s stories actually made a lot more sense to Gilda now. That other changeling must be the only one of his own kind he saw in many years. Gilda even felt sorry for the little guy.
“So you met Shadow and Nightmare Moon just let you come along, that simple?” Gilda asked to get him off sad memories.
“Of course!” Thorax said as if it was the most obvious thing ever. “Shadow is my friend, why won’t Her Majesty let us spend time together? She is too kind to do that.”
“Yeah.” To Gilda Thorax’s perspective made little sense.
The door finally opened, bringing the end to their exchange.
“Shadow!” Thorax excitedly sprang from his seat. The changeling mare barely made it through the door before finding herself in Thorax’s clutches.
The second changeling looked vastly more beaten by life than Thorax was and that already was enough to provoke Gilda’s respect. Her chitin was crackled and scarred, horn broken off, this was someone who’s been around.
Her reaction to Thorax’s affection was restrained,
“Oh...” Thorax noticed as well. “I forgot you do not like these, sorry.”
“Gilda,” Twilight pushed into the room past the pair. “This is Shadow Crest, she is-”
“I know,” Gilda quickly stopped the Princess before she could go explaining. “Hi, Rainbow.”
“Hi,” the pegasus replied.
“So, to business,” Gilda said, not wishing to draw this out any longer. “Any particular reason why we need her?” Gilda nodded at Shadow.
“Her Majesty wishes to observe,” Twilight dryly responded.
“Fair enough. Let’s get this over with. You brought the treaty?” Twilight silently put the paper in front of Gilda. “Smashing. Got a pen? …Or a quil?”
“Gilda, you aren’t meant to sign it yet. This is just a draft,” Twilight informed with a sigh.
“Then why in Tartarus did you even bring it?” Gilda outraged in her seat. ”It’s not like you care about what I have to say about all of this.”
Twilight lifted her hooves over to her face and gave it a few long, soothing, rubs,
“Gilda, this is a part of the procedure,” Twilight explained, gathering every ounce of her patience. “The representatives must talk through the conditions.”
“Hey, G,” Rainbow started, “don’t be like that. Twilight is trying to help you. It isn’t her fault that Hag always wants something in return.”
“Yeah, suuure,” Gilda stretched. “To each her own delusions, right, Dash?”
“Wait, you saying something?” Rainbow narrowed her eyes.
“Oh, you bet I do. I got lots to say now. About all of you, ponies,” Gilda’s fuse burned fast.
“Don’t start it,” Rainbow asked without much hope. Twilight covered her face again, quietly praying to avoid snapping at the insufferable griffon again.
“I am not the one who started it, Dash! I thought I could trust you! You told me that your friend there wants to help me, not use me! And when you learned about what she’s going to do, you went along with it!”
“I… G, this is the only way,” Rainbow valiantly attempted to defuse the situation, demonstrating the pinnacle of her restraint. “We all would like it to be different; trust me, we would. But this is how it is. What Hag says - goes, like it or not.”
“Gilda, we aren’t a charity. We need to keep our own people fed too,” Twilight leapt to support. “You aren’t the only ones on the hunger threshold. Be reasonable and accept what you can have.”
Finding no support in ponies, Gilda’s eye wandered toward the pair of changelings, quietly watching the scene together,
“And you? Hag killed your kin! Why do you let her drop her buttocks on you?!”
“Miss Gilda, you are sorely mistaken,” Shadow said matter-of-factly in an entirely emotionless voice. That only served to enrage the griffon further.
“What’s wrong with you all?!” she cried. “She destroyed your lives, all of you! How can you just drop on your knees and bow?! You wanted to be a Wonderbolt!” Gilda addressed Rainbow directly. “You trained for it your entire life! Now you train her soldiers!” Gilda’s lunge had an immediate effect. Both ponies immediately turned away, “Say something!” the griffon demanded.
“You needn’t say that,” Rainbow grimly stated.
“It’s true!”
“Yeah, it is. Wanna know what’s also true? You are gonna die without us.” Gilda snorted in response.
“Yeah, make your threats, you ain’t scaring me,” Gilda folded her claws over her chest.
“Not threatening, just saying that if it weren’t for Twilight, you’d be on your way home with nothing at all,” Rainbow mimicked the gesture in her own seat.
“Easy to be generous when you are the top dog,” Gilda stubbornly continued.
Rainbow gave a long sigh,
“You know, G, I think I am getting it now,” Rainbow spoke unusually calmly. “I get why Hag sees you as not worth saving.”
“Rainbow, that’s enough. Let’s get back to work, we wasted enough time as is,” Twilight already sounded drained.
“You did good, Twilight,” Rainbow bumped the Princess on the shoulder, once Gilda went back to her room. “Don’t let G get to you, she’ll come around eventually.”
“Yes… you did very nicely, Your Highness,” Thorax lent his support from the other side of the table.
Instead of simply thanking both, Twilight went ahead to bury her face in Rainbow’s fluff.
“Well, okay, whichever way you want it,” Rainbow hugged Twilight in return.
“Her Majesty makes this look so easy,” Twilight quietly complained.
“Yeah, that’s what a thousand-year-old life gets you. You know, if it makes it easier for you, I think I am starting to get her,” Rainbow admitted. “I’d look like a despot too if I had to force people to do what’s good for them when they don’t want to.”
“Seriously?” Twilight dubiously asked.
“Yeah, just don’t ask me to make it friendly with her.” Rainbow managed to make something resembling a smile. “So, now what?”
“Now we have to draw the treaty itself. Filthy Rich will influence mining concerns for us, just need to choose which ones,” Twilight tiredly answered. “Sweet Celestia, why does this have to be so difficult?”
“When you are doing something right, it’s always difficult.”
“Well, I guess you are right, thanks Rainbow,” Twilight moved away from her friend and back to the patiently waiting changelings.
“Okay. Thorax, Shadow, you can go now. I’ll find you if I need your help again. Oh, and Shadow, tell Her Majesty of our progress, she’ll want to know.”
“At once, Your Highness,” Shadow was glad to obey, as always.
“So… you aren’t upset?” Thorax whispered to the other changeling. He was cautious this time and waited until they would clear from the busier area of the palace, wouldn't want to get anyone hurt again...
“No, Thorax,” Shadow shook her head a little to emphasize. “It wasn’t your fault. I was foolish to believe Mistress’ sister could be so easily deceived. An insult even.” Shadow finished climbing the steer stairway to the Empress' tower and waited for Thorax to make the last few steps.
"Oh... Well, alright. Should I wait for you here, or can I go inside with you?" At this moment Thorax finally reached Shadow... and Princess Cadance standing next to a door to Her Majesty's quarters, in solitude. His half-sister and the Princess were having a staring match,
"Hello, Princess! It is good to see you again!" he gladly greeted and quickly trotted over to her, accidentally breaking the mares duel.
"Hello, Thorax," she answered without her usual cheer. "Who is your friend?"
"Oh, this is Shadow, Princess. She serves Her Majesty." Shadow approached and bowed as the procedure required her.
"Are you here for Her Majesty too?" Thorax asked hopefully. "We can go to her together!"
"Yes, Thorax, I am. But Her Majesty doesn't receive any visitors at the moment. She told me herself," Cadance quickly added.
"Oh, Shadow is not a visitor, Princess. Her Highness, Twilight Sparkle sent a message." Seemingly, Shadow was comfortable letting Thorax explain in her stead and instead moved straight to the door.
"No!" Cadance sharply grunted, covering the door with a pink, shining shield of her magic. "She was very specific, no visitors." Cadance chided. Shadow deliberately slowly stepped away from the door and stared at Cadance again, the pink Princess returning her the look. Neither of them had a drip of warmth to share with the other.
"Where is the Honor Guard?" Shadow suddenly asked. "There is always one outside to greet visitors and go fetching on demand."
"Inside," Cadance was unusually short. A poor liar.
Shadow sharply dived headfirst to the floor, rounding her back to rolling straight into Cadance's legs. Caught by surprise, the Princess reared to avoid the collision, only lessening the number of legs Shadow had to take care off. Straightening her body, Shadow reached Cadance's back legs and slide through them, Cadance immediately dropped on the floor her legs forming a star shape. Nearly avoiding the weight of a much larger mare crashing on top of her, Shadow was not slowed in the slightest. The changeling nimbly rolled back on her hooves.
"Shadow, what are you doing?!" Thorax cried, shocked by his sister's unprovoked attack.
Shadow ignored his protest entirely focusing on finishing off the traitor-princess. The changeling started with a hard strike on the back of her head, her head connecting with the floor only stunning her further. Shadow, then, firmly pressed her hoof to Cadance's neck. After a few seconds, Cadance stopped moving entirely, her eyes rolling closed.
"Did you just..?" Thorax covered his mouth in horror.
"Thorax," Shadow dashed straight towards him. "Thorax, calm yourself, she lives.-"Thorax sighed relieved"-I need your help, call the Guards. There's at least one at the stairway bed. Tell them the Empress is in danger. Can you do this for me?" Shadow peered straight into his brother's eyes, not allowing him to back off without a response.
It took him some seconds, but Thorax eventually nodded rapidly.
"Go, quickly," Shadow firmly ordered, shifting her attention towards the door.
First, Shadow tried simply opening it, but it was locked. Listening did little, Her Majesty usually put wards to prevent others from listening on when she was in her private space. A quick search of unconscious Cadance awarded Shadow with no key. Oh, how the changeling wished she could shapeshift.
With no other option left, Shadow resorted to kicking the lock. The doors in the palace were all carved works of art and it pained Shadow to destroy it, but remorse would not stop her from coming to the Mistress' aid, not again.
With the final powerful kick, the lock made a pitched ding and the door creaked open. Shadow swiftly rushed inside, prepared to meet whoever would dare to harm her Mistress.