The guards of the Crystal Palace were in shock as they saw a group of ponies with a changeling in the center walking their way towards the throne room. A few guards questioned what they were doing, but none approached them. Eventually, one guard stepped forward with bindings and offered to restrain the changeling. He was promptly thrown back into place, and his bindings transformed into party streamers.
Outside the throne room stood two guards with spears. Upon seeing the group with the changeling, they crossed their spears and denied them entry. Twilight became frustrated and unleashed another burst of magic. The spears suddenly became a pair of teddy bears, and the guards looked at each other with uncertain expressions. Fearing reprisal from the princess of friendship, they allowed them in.
Shining Armor, who had returned a few minutes prior from a patrol, was discussing with Princess Cadance what the best course of action to take upon capturing the changeling. The clip clop of hooves against the floor of the throne room caught his attention.
"Twilight?", he asked her, then noticed the changeling,"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT THING!?"
"Something I should've done earlier" she replied. The group remained in a tight circle around Thorax. Shining interpreted this as him being a prisoner.
"I thank you for capturing him for us", he told her,"Guards, take it into custody."
The guards in the throne room moved to take Thorax, but a sudden magic barrier stopped them.
"TWILIGHT!", Shining shouted,"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"
"What I should've done earlier" she answered. She then nodded to Spike, who moved in front of her so he could face both Shining and Cadance.
"This is Thorax", he began,"You choose to see him as an enemy, but he's my friend. He saved my life earlier today, when letting me die would've been more beneficial to him. He told me that he left the changeling hive because he dislikes their way of stealing love from the creatures in Equestria. He wants to make friends, and he's traveled the whole way here to do it. I believe him and think he deserves a chance."
Shining grit his teeth. "This thing has taken over Spike's mind like that harlot queen did me" he thought to himself.
Princess Cadance looked at Spike having similar thoughts to her husband. She was fairly certain that Spike was under the changeling's influence, but could do nothing while Twilight had a shield raised. Then that thought shot panic through her mind. "TWILIGHT'S BEING CONTROLLED TOO!"
Twilight moved forward to speak. "I agree with Spike. Earlier today, he was trying to show us that we were letting our fears and prejudices get in the way of seeing a creature that truly wants to be friends with us. I ignored it too and let my fears cloud my judgement."
"But then I spoke to both Spike AND Thorax, and after seeing evidence that Thorax couldn't have faked that supported his story, I was the bigger pony and apologized for my mistake."
"I believe now with all my heart that Thorax isn't a threat to the ponies here in the Crystal Empire, or even in Equestria as a whole, and it's now your turn to make up for your mistake."
Shining Armor became furious. He charged a spell in his horn and shot it at the shield. It struck the shield and dissipated, but the force against the shield caused Twilight to flinch slightly.
Cadance stepped into a defensive stance when Shining acted. She wasn't a fighter, but she wasn't incapable of protecting herself.
Heartfelt moved ahead to speak. "What Spike said about Thorax saving his life was true. I was there and saw it myself. I never said anything because I didn't know what to make of what I saw. Later, when Spike was trying to convince one of us to speak with Thorax, I elected to go, mostly because I wanted to examine a changeling's EES up close. While doing so, I got to know this creature better, and I can see now that it's being honest about its intentions, and wants to peacefully live amongst us."
"I can't tell you what to do, but I can honestly say that I think you should give him a chance. If you want a good reason for yourselves, then I think being around something that triggers bad memories for you and confronting those feelings will be beneficial for you both in the long run."
Shining grew more angry with each moment. He now ran up to the shield and started beating on it with his hooves. "Release your hold on my sister and her friends, you MONSTER!" he shouted at Thorax. The changeling cowered in fear, sensing the hatred spilling out of the stallion, and actually becoming a tad sick because of it.
Cadance stood there watching the scene unfolding before her. Her defensive stance faltered, and she was questioning herself now. When Spike and Twilight spoke, they were both speaking lucidly and clearly, suggesting that they weren't under the changeling's control. Then there was Heartfelt, who had just admitted that he thought the changeling was honest and did want to be friends.
But could she trust that? He had just admitted to seeing the changeling earlier and not reporting it. That was a crime that would cost him his job, and he just admitted it openly. She didn't know what to think as the group shuffled around inside the bubble.
Starlight ignited her horn and levitated Shining away from the shield. "Calm down, Shining!", she told him,"You're making a spectacle of yourself!"
"You're gonna say something like that to me?", he shot back,"When all you are right now is a mindless pawn for some hideous bug beast?!"
Starlight let Shining out of her magic, and the unicorn dropped to the floor with a thud. Picking himself up, he shot a look at the mare that had manhandled him a second ago. Starlight ignored him and began speaking.
"Princess Twilight and I count as some of the strongest magic users in all of Equestria. Who here really thinks that we could be put under mind control by one changeling drone?"
"I'm not that much weaker than my sister and I was under the control of one of those things!" Shining shot back, but was silenced by a piece of tape magically popping over his mouth.
Starlight continued speaking. "I think there's a few facts that we're all ignoring here. Firstly, if this changeling was really here to enslave us all, why is he trying to accomplish this by himself?"
The guards in the room looked at each other and conversed on an answer. Starlight didn't give them time to answer.
"It's because he isn't!", she answered for them,"When the changelings invaded Canterlot, they sent nearly their whole hive, and they failed! So what makes you think a single changeling could succeed in enslaving an entire empire after their attempt to take over Canterlot failed so miserably?"
The guards were all thinking, but none could come up with an answer.
"They couldn't", Starlight pointed out,"That means that the only other options regarding why he's here are that he's trying to feed on love, or he actually wants friends, and I think the fact that all four of us are here and not emotionless husks wrapped up in cocoons is enough evidence to show which one is the actual answer."
The guards were trying to come up with a rebuttal for Starlight's statement, but none could make a convincing argument. Shining was still adamant in his opinion.
"Just because the odds of his success are low doesn't mean he isn't trying anyway!" Shining shot back at her. Starlight thought of what to say next, then relaxed herself as much as possible.
"To my knowledge, I'm the only one standing here that has offered friendship to Thorax willingly, with no pretenses to it."
The others in the group looked at her confused. Starlight gestured to each of them as she explained.
"Spike would've reacted the same way as all of you if Thorax hadn't have saved his life. Twilight wouldn't have realized Thorax wasn't a threat if she hadn't investigated Spike's story. Heartfelt only met with Thorax to test his ideas, and only offered friendship after realizing he had made mistakes. I'm the only one that didn't immediately see Thorax as a threat upon meeting him, and offered to be his friend because I wanted to!"
None of the ponies in the room could come up with a rebuttal for what Starlight said. Then, the mare hung her head low.
"Besides", she began,"If you're gonna hold the past crimes of changelings against Thorax, then you need to hold my past crimes against me."
All the ponies in the room save for Twilight and Spike looked at Starlight with shock. Even Shining's intense hatred directed at Thorax had abated for the moment.
"It's true", Starlight explained,"I was once a villain that stood against the Equestrian ideals of friendship and harmony. I created a village where I promised ponies a peaceful existence if they gave up their cutie marks. Then, when that failed, I plotted revenge against the mare responsible for causing that failure, Twilight."
Shining looked at Starlight even more incredulously. Starlight continued.
"I found a spell by Starswirl the Bearded that allowed a pony to travel to the past. Upon finding out when Twilight and the other element bearers got their cutie marks, I went back and stopped it from happening. But, it messed up the future, and every time I went back, it just made things worse each time. There was even a future where Chrysalis succeeded in taking over Equestria!"
All the ponies looked at Starlight in shock, especially Sunburst. He'd heard her tell the story about how she became Twilight's student, but he'd never heard these details before.
"Eventually", Starlight continued,"Twilight convinced me to show her what caused my hatred of cutie marks, and I showed her when I was a foal, and my best friend got his cutie mark before me. After he did, he was sent away."
A tear fell from Starlight's eyes. Sunburst had a jolt of guilt go through him. "I never wrote to her after going to Celestia's school", he realized,"If I had, maybe she wouldn't have turned out the way she did."
Starlight looked up with resolve after her tears stopped. "After I showed her that, Twilight told me that friendship was something that had to be worked on everyday, and that sometimes, friendship fails. But that doesn't mean that just because one friendship fails, you can't try to start another one. She convinced me to try again, and I did. She showed me that friendship was a truly wonderful thing, and that I had allowed my hurt feelings to cloud my judgement and create a prejudice that would only serve to hurt me and everyone else in Equestria."
"I'm telling you all this because right now, you all have a chance to overcome this same kind of prejudice in yourselves. It's true that the changelings have done terrible things to the ponies of Equestria, but one of them has come to you seeking to be on friendly terms. I for one believe that if you truly are the ponies the embrace the ideas of love, friendship and harmony, then you owe it to yourselves as much as Thorax to give him a chance to prove he is worthy of being here amongst us."
Cadance was even more conflicted now upon hearing Starlight's speech. If what she said was true, and she would have to ask both Twilight and Sunburst later to be sure, then the lilac colored mare was perhaps a worse enemy to Equestria than the changelings.
Yet she was here now, not only free, but a friend and student of her former charge. She had admitted her faults and shown a desire to make amends for her mistakes. Now, there was a changeling here who wanted to live among ponies as a friend. A part of her still held doubts that this changeling was being honest, but they were being overwhelmed by the alicorn's desire to be a fair and just ruler, which meant sometimes extending an olive branch to a creature you'd otherwise want to see rot in a dungeon until there was nothing left but bones.
While Cadance stood unsure of what to do, Shining's mind was made up. He unleashed a concussive spell inside Twilight's shield which stunned all five creatures inside, and made Twilight drop her shield. "I'm sorry Twiley", Shining told her,"but I'm afraid I can't trust your judgement right now." He charged a spell and aimed it right at Thorax, who immediately raised his hooves to his face to try and protect himself. Shining focused on the changeling and unleashed the spell.
A barrier formed around the changeling, causing the spell to bounce off and fly up into the ceiling, causing a sizable chunk of stone to fall on the floor of the throne room. Puzzled at first upon seeing his spell deflected, Shining then noticed something about the shield; It was the same color as his wife's magic. He turned around to see her standing in front of the throne with her horn glowing.
"CADY!", he shouted at her,"WHAT IN TARTARUS ARE YOU DOING?!"
"What I should have done from the beginning", she answered,"Make a decision with a level head and not a knee-jerk reaction motivated by my emotions."
"But Cady" Shining protested.
"Shining", she looked at him with sad eyes,"please stand down."
Shining had no words for his wife. In his mind, he was a jumble of emotions. She was telling him not to harm the changeling? But why?
"I don't understand" he told her in disbelief.
"We've both had bad memories from our wedding day", she admitted,"but we can't allow them to blind our judgement and handicap our abilities to be fair and just rulers."
Shining was starting to become upset again. "Cadance", he said with a strained tone of voice,"This is a changeling."
"I'm well aware of that", she answered him,"but he's also come here with desire to be on friendly terms. I think the very least we can do is consider it."
"I have", Shining shot back,"and I deny it."
"We are co-sovereigns to this empire", she reminded him,"Any decision made has to come from both of us, and I can't just make a decision of this magnitude without giving it some proper thought."
Shining wanted to say something to sway his wife's view to his side, but he could not make a sound argument. Cadance approached the group, who had recovered enough to stand up again. Only Thorax remained on the ground, not having dared move his hooves from his face.
"Um, Thorax, correct?"
The changeling opened his eyes and slowly moved his hooves away from his face. He looked up to see the princess of love standing over top of him. Her aura did not radiate the same kind of love that she had before, but there was no malice in it either.
"I can't say I trust you, honestly", she admitted,"but I don't think you're going to hurt me or anyone else here, so I'll extend the courtesy and not allow you to come to harm now. Please, stand up."
Thorax needn't be told twice. He slowly rose to his hooves, but didn't look directly at the princess or her husband. The princess of love ignored his behavior for the moment, and decided to talk to Twilight first.
"Twilight, would you please keep an eye on Thorax while I discuss this situation with my husband?"
Twilight nodded and gestured for the group to follow her.
"HALT!"
The group stopped and looked back to see Shining Armor. He was running towards them but stopped and stood in front of his wife.
"Cady, just what is it you're doing?!", he questioned her,"This is a changeling! A creature that has shown malice towards Equestria, and you're just going to let it walk out of here?!"
"No, Shining", she answered,"But we need to discuss what we should do moving forward. So, I am going to let Twilight keep an eye on him. I'm certain that she will be able to keep him from causing harm to anypony, if she would need to do that."
Shining grit his teeth; He knew that once Cadance had made a decision, she wasn't likely to change it without good reason, and his good reasons apparently weren't good enough to sway her.
Twilight took this as the cue to leave, and ushered the group to follow behind her. After the group was out of the throne room, Shining allowed his real emotions to come to the surface.
"CADANCE, JUST WHAT IN TARTARUS ARE YOU DOING?!"
Unlike Shining, Cadance kept her cool.
"I am trying to be the type of ruler this empire deserves."
"HE'S AN ENEMY OF EQUESTRIA!", he shouted in response,"HE SHOULD BE IN THE DUNGEONS!"
"For what?", Cadance asked,"What crimes has he committed?"
"Crimes?", Shining questioned in disbelief,"Let's count: He was part of the invasion of Canterlot most likely, he has impersonated a citizen of the Crystal Empire, he was not given permission to enter the throne room by either of us, and he has more than likely fed on the love of ponies as well!"
Cadance took a few moments to consider the list her husband presented, then offered her rebuttal. "Firstly, we don't know for sure that he was in Canterlot that day, though I will admit that it is probable. Second, if what Twilight and the others said is true, then I doubt he would've accomplished much while in his native form. Third, Spike gave him permission to come to the throne room, which I presume was to speak to us and perhaps convince us to offer friendship to him. And for the last matter, I'll admit that he most likely has done that, but I can't exactly fault a creature that is eating what it needs to survive. And he has also said that he doesn't want to resort to stealing it from ponies anymore, so clearly he wants to make amends for any wrongdoing he's done, so why not give him the opportunity to do so?"
Shining had no immediate answer, which irked him greatly. It was now starting to sound like Cadance was under the control of the changeling, or worse...
Shining immediately stepped back in horror. "OH CELESTIA!", he cried out,"YOU'RE A CHANGELING, AREN'T YOU?!"
Cadance had grown tired of her husband and had grabbed him in her aura and placed a nullifying ring on his horn. "Shining, you need to stop!", she told him,"I am not a changeling! If I was, do you think I'd be able to do what I'm doing right now? No, and it would've been far easier to try and hypnotize you than restrain you, but yet I'm doing that right now."
"Unless you're Chrysalis" retorted Shining. Cadance went wide eyed, and then became quite upset. She removed the ring on her husband's horn and dropped him unceremoniously to the ground. Shining hit with a thud, his armor clanking as it contacted the floor. Once he was able to gain his bearings, Shining stood up to confront his wife, who was now writing on a scroll. Once she was finished, she placed a seal on it, and the scroll vanished in a puff of green smoke.
"What are you doing?" Shining asked his wife.
"Asking for help", she answered, a tear in her eyes,"I don't think we can make this decision on our own, so I asked Princess Celestia and Luna for help on the matter."
Shining wanted to protest, but he knew at this point, it would be futile. She had contacted the princesses, which meant that he would be unable to do anything until they gave a response, or more likely in this case, a ruling. A few minutes later, and another puff of green smoke appeared, quickly forming into a scroll. Cadance took the scroll in her hooves and opened it.
"The princesses will be here in the morning", Cadance said aloud,"They want to meet the changeling and decide what to do for themselves. I believe whatever they decide should serve as a precedent for what we should do for our subjects." Cadance then rang a bell and a member of the palace staff in a maid uniform appeared shortly thereafter.
"Princess Celestia and Luna will be coming here tomorrow morning", she informed the maid,"Prepare the royal guest suite and have the palace cleaned thoroughly. Also inform the maintenance ponies for the empire streets to perform a thorough sweeping. Tell them I will permit time and a half pay for all volunteers."
The maid bowed and quickly exited the throne room so as to get to work. Shining faced his wife, his temper having cooled somewhat. "So what do we do with this changeling?", he asked his wife,"We can't just leave him with Twilight!"
"Actually, I believe we can" answered his wife.
Shining looked at her in disbelief, but realized that she wasn't going to relent. "Can we at least post a guard to make sure nothing happens?" he asked, hoping for at least that small concession.
"I don't think it's necessary", she replied,"but I suppose that wouldn't do any harm."
"Custos!"
A lone stallion guard moved in front of the royal couple. Shining moved closer so as to keep his voice from being loud enough for his wife to hear.
"I want you to go keep an eye on that changeling", he ordered,"If it even remotely looks like he's going to try something, put him in his place."
The guard simply nodded and left the throne room. After he left, Shining rubbed his temples, the stress causing him a headache. "I hope Cadance is doing the right thing here" Shining thought to himself as he went to get a potion for his ailment.