//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: True Love Never Changes // by VashTheStampede //------------------------------// “Captain!” “Captain Armor!” Shining Armor awoke, twisting underneath his wife. Her cool, smooth skin was soothing, despite the memories of last night. Almost by reflex, Shining turned his head and kissed her gently on the cheek, without opening his eyes. “Captain Armor! Wake up!” That’s not my wife… wait. The ending of last night came back to him. He was lying on the front porch of his parents’ home, with his wife lying on top of him. In ordinary circumstances this would have been considered improper or scandalous – the young royal couple sleeping on a porch! However, these circumstances were different. Shining Armor opened his eyes, and immediately regretted the decision, seeing as Celestia’s day had begun several hours ago. The bright sun pierced his bloodshot eyes, and he winced mightily, instinctively bringing his hooves in front of his eyes. “Captain Armor! Look out! That’s the Changeling Queen!” … oh, bollocks. “Alright, man?” Shining Armor spoke, tentatively pulling his hooves away from his eyes, wincing again as the sunlight invaded his skull. “Sir… just… calm down, it’s ok,” he blinked several more times, before squinting tightly and peering at the source of the voice in front of him. There stood three members of the Royal Guard. … oh, double bollocks. “Captain Armor, on your orders, we will take the Changeling Queen into custody and hold trial for her, pending execution or exile,” the center guard stated mechanically, reciting the order that Shining himself had indeed given shortly after the wedding ceremony ended. At the time, he had no idea how badly those words would come back to bite him. Above him, his wife groaned awake. “Shiny, dear, where are we?” Chrysalis yawned. “What’s happening?” “I’m just… about to clear up a slight… miscommunication… with the Guard,” Shining Armor said. “Captain Armor, there is no ‘miscommunication.’ We will be taking the fugitive Chrysalis into custody. Chrysalis, for your own safety, do not resist, and release Captain Armor.” Chrysalis stood up, her tall, slender form casting an incomplete shadow against the porch. Shining rose to his hooves underneath her, quickly backing out when he realized the position he was in. Standing next to his wife, Shining looked at the three guardsponies in front of him. He recognized two of them – the gray Pegasus was Flanking Speed and the white unicorn was Crimson Lance. The gray unicorn was unfamiliar to him, and was hanging back a little. He’s probably new, Shining thought. Well, time to get them to lay off. “Alright, boys, don’t worry. Everything is under control. There’s been a huge misunderstanding. This is my wife,” he declared, wrapping his hoof over Chrysalis’ shoulders, smiling. He pulled her closer for emphasis, knocking the queen slightly off-balance. She stumbled into her husband, hooves not finding purchase, and ended up draped over his back in a rather comedic fashion. “Captain! That isn’t your wife! Remember? The wedding? Your wife is Princess Cadance! Excellent job apprehending the fugitive, though,” Crimson Lance said, taking a step forward, generating a magical rope and binding Chrysalis’ legs together underneath Shining Armor’s stomach. “There, now that she’s secured… Wavelength, inform the Lieutenant that the fugitive is in custody and Captain Armor is accounted for but may be un- MMMPH!” A light pink aura encompassed Crimson Lance’s mouth and the bonds restraining Chrysalis dematerialized, allowing her to dismount her husband. “You, unicorn, Wavelength I think it was,” Shining Armor began, by now moderately irritated, “If you send that message I will have you cleaning the all the lavatories in Canterlot Castle with your tongue until the day you die. Do I make myself clear?” The gray unicorn’s mouth opened to protest, then closed again as he thought about the Guard Captain’s threat. He nodded. Confusion and fury showed on Crimson Lance’s face as he fought to break his superior officer’s magical hold. His muffled cries did nothing to break the bonds, however. “Captain Armor, you may recall the supplementary orders to take you into custody as well if you resisted, claiming that if you did resist while in the presence of the Queen you were most likely under the influence of her magic,” Now it was Flanking Speed who spoke, the charcoal Pegasus’ wings flaring as he lowered his head. “Sir, I would really rather not have to use force.” “Shiny, what’s wrong?” Chrysalis asked again, removing herself from Shining Armor’s back. “Dear, it seems I gave orders to apprehend you, and also to apprehend me if I tried to defend you. Which leaves us with two options – either we comply and go quietly, or we… don’t. What do you think we should do?” “Shiny darling I’m still half asl-” “Excellent choice. CHARGE!” Shining whirled around, magically pinning Flanking Speed’s wings and gluing the other two guardsponies to the ground. Their hooves refused to move, sealed in place by an ethereal, sparkling, purple-pink energy. “Captain Armor, please, come quietly! We don’t want to hurt you!” Wavelength bellowed after the fleeing couple. However, galloping at full tilt, the Guard Captain and the fugitive were soon well out of sight. Only a few meters away, Chrysalis had yanked her husband into an alleyway, furious. “Shiny! What in the wide world of Equestria are you doing? You just attacked three of your own troops!” Chrysalis hissed, a mixture of confusion and anger in her voice. “You’d better start explaining, mister. What happened back there?” “Saving your life. Look, love… after the wedding, during the reception… I might have been a little… overenthusiastic towards ‘Chrysalis’ being brought to justice, and… I wasn’t thinking quite right. I ordered a standing arrest warrant for you, well, for the imposter, and her execution, pending a trial, at which she would of course have been found guilty,” Shining Armor explained, awkwardly shifting his hooves against each other and avoiding eye contact with his wife. “You. Did. What.” “I’m sorry, Chryssy, I’m so sorry… I just… at the time, I didn’t know, I thought you –” Shining Armor was met with a glare that could freeze a dragon’s heart, “Hey now, at the time, I thought it was you. I thought that ‘Chrysalis’ had just invaded Canterlot, tried to ruin our wedding, and nearly killed hundreds of ponies. I was pretty upset. I just haven’t exactly had the opportunity to rescind the orders. Now, though, you’re still a wanted criminal and any orders I give are null and void because I’m ‘being mind controlled,’” Shining Armor explained, sarcasm and disdain for his own commands dripping from every word. “I’m sorry, Chryssy, I really am.” “You basically ordered my execution,” Chrysalis deadpanned. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know! Chryssy, please…” Shining Armor pleaded. “No! I’m mad at you! I think. Is this what being mad at you feels like? I think this is what being mad at you feels like. Actually, no, I think this is just frustration again,” Chrysalis thought aloud, a hoof rising to her chin instinctively as she mulled it over in her head. “You… you’re saying you’ve never been truly mad at me?” Shining Armor was confused. He was a dork, a doofus, and seven kinds of a blockhead, especially in the early years of his relationship with Cadance. The fact that she had never been really angry with him… astounded him. He stepped forward, closing the distance to his wife in two short strides, and pressed his lips to hers. It wasn’t the fiery, passion-fueled, heavy kiss that the couple had shared so many times since their wedding night, but a simple peck on the lips. It was all Chrysalis needed – the simple physical contact left an indescribably pleasurable warmth on her face. The Queen felt rejuvenated, invigorated, alert – this feeling, just the little physical contact… Chrysalis spoke as Shining Armor pulled away. “That… my loving husband, is why I’ve never been mad at you. For me, as a changeling, the touch, the embrace, the kiss of someone who loves me so deeply is to know a joy beyond words. Whenever you did something stupid, the very next hug made it all better,” Chrysalis wrapped her hooves around her Shiny to prove her point. “I know this is… a slightly backwards statement, but you love me, and that is all that matters to me. Come now, we need to get out of here, right? I can cast an invisibility spell. It’s pretty draining, but with you here, that won’t be a problem. Should we return to your sister’s?” Shining Armor sighed heavily. “I think that would be the best option, dear. She accepts us and has a spare room, plus we wouldn’t draw attention to ourselves by going to her place instead of a hotel or something. Come on, let’s go.” A green glow encased Chrysalis’ horn as she and Shining Armor disappeared, only to reappear a moment later. “Why can I-” “Changeling Magic. Those under Changeling Spells can see others – so Changelings can tell another Changeling from another pony. We’ll be able to see each other, but no one else will. Trust me.” Shining Armor swallowed and nodded, exiting the alley, checking for the three guards from earlier. Without warning. Crimson Lance barreled past him, only inches from his nose, without so much as a sideways glance. Wow, she’s right. Or Crimson needs his eyes checked and a discharge from the Guard. Either way, neat. --- As their luck had it, a train had been just about to depart for Ponyville. After a silent argument with his wife, Shining left bits for the tickets he didn’t purchase on the counter, much to the confusion of the teller. Seeing bits materialize out of thin air wasn’t something he was used to, but it wasn’t something he would ignore, either, and he quickly pocketed them. Shining had had to bite his own tongue to prevent from calling him out on the petty theft. Magically appearing bits he figured the teller could handle – a disembodied voice of the Captain of the Royal Guard would have been a bit more unsettling. Shining and Chrysalis boarded the train and chose an empty compartment, Shining wrapping themselves in one of the pre-supplied blankets before allowing Chrysalis to drop the invisibility. Telekinetically drawing the shades, Shining Armor allowed himself to drift to sleep in his wife’s hooves, her cool skin drawing the heat from his body. He awoke several hours later, his wife snoring cutely above him, the slight vibrating noise of her breathing bringing a smile to his face. Tunneling his head out of the blanket cocoon, he peeked out the blinds. Night had fallen, and judging from the scenery, Ponyville was no more than twenty minutes away. He gently kissed his wife awake, her green eyes meeting his. She smiled, her pearly white fangs gleaming in the light. “Hey beautiful,” he greeted, placing another light kiss on her muzzle. “Hey yourself,” Chrysalis replied, giggling at how cheesy her own words sounded. “Are we almost there?” Shining nodded. “You want me to make us invisible again?” She felt his chest expand before shrinking greatly, a sigh passing his lips before he nodded again. As the train slowed into the station, once again, the young royal couple vanished. Carefully avoiding the other ponies disembarking the locomotive, and hastily trotted across the town. The library proved easy enough to find – a giant tree in the middle of a town is pretty conspicuous. Shining Armor approached the door, laughing to himself at the painted-on candle adorning the entry to his sister’s home. Stopping just short, he looked at his wife quickly, before knocking twice on the door. Twilight opened it, her pleasant smile fading as she saw that nopony stood at the door. Suddenly, she felt two hooves on her chest push her back into the library. Her own hooves caught against one another and she fell onto her back, noticing the door slam behind her invisible assailant. She shrieked and screwed her eyes shut tight, preparing a radial magic blast, when a familiar voice came from above her. “Twiley? Twiley, it’s me, Shining Armor. It’s ok. No one’s going to hurt you.” Twilight opened her eyes again, both elated and confused to see her brother again, who had mysteriously appeared right on top of her. Near the door stood Chrysalis, rubbing her forehead just below her horn with a hoof. “Shining Armor! Chrysalis! It’s good to see you again, but so soon! You only left two days ago,” her tone shifted from cheer to annoyance. “Something happened, didn’t it? What happened? Shiny, I can tell when you aren’t telling me something. What happened?” “I… uh… kinda got kicked out of the family and am now a wanted criminal,” the big white stallion said sheepishly, a small blush of embarrassment rising to his cheeks as he rubbed a hoof in his own mane. “What.” “Twilight, please, allow me to explain, for once,” Chrysalis said, shooting Shining Armor an annoyed glance as Twilight collected herself, “We’ve discovered that our doofus Shiny here is awful at explaining the real context of a situation, which I suspect may be part of the reason your parents reacted so… negatively. Do you have somewhere to sit? I could explain what happened…” --- Thirty minutes later, Twilight Sparkle was doing her best to refrain from screaming at her brother. That big, stupid, blockhead Captain of the Royal Guard of a brother she loved so dearly, was a complete idiot. “So let me get this straight. You didn’t properly explain things to my parents, got kicked out, fought off your own troops, and to top it off got on a train without tickets?” the purple unicorn fumed. “I did pay for the tickets…” Shining added quietly. “UGH! That’s not the point!” Twilight cried, exasperated. “Look, you can stay here as long as you need to, but please, fix this as fast as you can. I love you both dearly, and I would hate for my bestest foalsitter ever to have to face consequences for something my dumb B.B.B.F.F. did. Come on, it’s late. Why don’t we get some sleep? Please, actual sleep. Not like…” Twilight gestured with her hooves, once again cursing her mind for recalling the fact that this was supposed to be her brother’s honeymoon, and ponies did… things… on their honeymoons. Shining Armor blushed and Chrysalis giggled. “Of course not, Twilight. Thank you very much, for everything.”