Whisper Wind found himself staring blankly, as his mind tried to catch up on what was happening. He'd just vowed to go find Shining Sapphire and try and apologise for what he did, so naturally Princess Celestia had just randomly appeared on his mother's front doorstep, with the offering of tea. Of course, considering he was supposed to be a Changeling currently stuck in the form of a pony, this was probably supposed to seem utterly ordinary and normal. But somewhere between Princess of the Day, and 'carrying tea', his mind has just totally disconnected, and was now wondering if she was going to address him as a 'highness'.
Hence why he was still having problems speaking in anything but sentence fragments. He paused, and tried saying something again.
"Princess Celestia?" he asked, "is there some specific reason you happen to be standing there with a small supply of tea with you."
"Yes" she said instantly, "I was wondering if you had time to talk about something."
Wisp blinked. "I..." he managed. "Actually, right now, there is this thing I need to do" he said awkwardly.
"I'm afraid I must insist" she said calmly. Wisp's blood froze, finely honed survival instincts suddenly blaring away. He looked up at the princess of the day.
"I suppose" he managed, "I can free up a few minutes time for you, your highness."
He stepped aside, allowing Princess Celestia into the cottage. Since his mother raised no objection, he assumed she had no problem.
"Do you... want me to see if there are any cups around, for the tea?" he asked, awkwardly. Princess Celestia just stared at the thermos.
"Oh, the tea's not for me" she said, "but I suppose that having a cup might help."
Wisp turned and moved toward the kitchen. Then a thought occurred to him, and he stopped to turn and look at Her Highness. "What is it that's so important you felt the need to travel all the way here just to talk to me about?"
Celestia's expression didn't change. "It's about you, Whisper Wind. A friend of yours informs me that you and my grand-niece have been having some unfortunate problems lately."
Much to his surprise, Wisp didn't have to guess as to who that could've been. It had to be Twilight Twinkle, since they had been going to Canterlot, where she lived (or at least spent much of her time), unless at some point in the last month she'd taken up residence in the Ponyville library full-time.
"You could put it like that" Wisp muttered, "though I'm working on the assumption that for my part, most of these problems are self-inflicted."
Then he saw something truly alarming. Princess Celestia looked worried. Suddenly he began wondering just how bad the situation had to be for that to happen, or if it was just because she couldn't stand the thought of somepony, much less her niece, having relationship problems.
"Of course, due to unfortunate circumstances, she has been regrettably... 'called away', but she asked that I assist you with an important problem."
Wisp blinked, trying to determine what he'd just heard. "Twilight Twinkle" he said slowly, "asked you, Princess Celestia, to help Shining Sapphire and me with our 'problem'?"
Princess Celestia just nodded. "Yes."
"And you agreed?"
"Yes."
"Just like that?"
Princess Celestia just nodded. Wisp stared at her, expecting her to suddenly grin madly, or turn out to be Twilight Twinkle playing some manner of joke, or for dozens of Pies to suddenly appear and reveal it was a massive prank. He glanced about uncertainly.
"Why?" he asked, before remembering who he was talking to. "I-if you don't mind me asking."
He could've sworn there was an odd look in Princess Celestia's eyes at that moment.
"Because she asked. And because I have wanted to meet you for a while. I don't often get to meet princes very often, much less Changeling princes."
Wisp's mood soured. There it was. What it always seemed to come down to. Then he realised what she'd said.
"How do you know I'm a Changeling?" he asked. Princess Celestia just grinned.
"I have my ways."
"My mother told you, didn't she?" he sighed. Princess Celestia nodded.
"Hold on" a voice declared, and both ponies turned to look at Minty Pie, who had just been staring at the sight of a Princess sitting down in Fluttershy's house like she was just a friend visiting for tea, and was now marching over toward Wisp.
"You are a Changeling? You? You're a Changeling prince?"
Wisp just nodded at the intense glare he was getting from the ten year-old, who then suddenly looked confused.
"Huh" she opined, "and Banana said you were boring."
There was a gentle cough from Fluttershy, "Minty, I just remembered I need to fix up the chicken hutches. I don't suppose you'd be willing to help, would you?"
The filly just looked toward Fluttershy, then back to Wisp, and frowned. "'kay" she muttered, before both ponies walked out of the cottage.
"So then," Princess Celestia said, "I think perhaps we should get down to business."
*****
"Well?" Cadance asked, looking at the four Changelings in front of her. The manic one, Impulse, had stated he was going to explain everything, and then had fallen utterly silent. By now her mood was rapidly approaching angry.
"Sorry" Impulse said, "but I think maybe our... leader might explain better."
There was an annoyed sigh from Shining Armor. "Look" he snapped, "just explain what's been going on, and stop dancing around the issue."
"I'm not trying to" the Changeling said, "I'm just not the best at explaining what's happened. He is, but..."
He paused, and looked hesitantly toward the other four, then back to Cadance and Shining Armor.
"It started a month ago," he said, "after we saved our Prince's life by brining him here. We had presumed he would try and gather together the rest of our people, and lead them. But he wanted no part of it. He would not admit his heritage. And we began to despair. And then..."
"What?" Shining Armor asked. The Changelings exchanged glances, or rather they glared at Impulse, who just stared at Cadance and Shining Armor.
"Two days ago our... our 'leader' revealed he had a plan. But he would not tell us what his plan was."
"But it involved our thinking your prince was our son?" Cadance guessed. Impulse looked hesitant, his wings buzzing.
"... apparently" he said, "but the only one who knows every detail is our boss."
"And where is he, anyhow?" Shining Armor asked. Impulse looked over toward the other Changelings, who were still glowering, then the turned back toward Cadance and Shining Armor. He frowned.
"Excuse us for a moment" he said, before walking over toward the other Changelings. They quickly huddled together and began whispering among one another. Cadance turned to Shining Armor.
"This is getting ridiculous" she frowned. Shining Armor nodded.
"I'm guessing it's too late for us to terrify them into telling us, huh?" he said wearily. At this, Cadance raised an eyebrow, then turned toward the other Changelings. She marched over toward them. As one they turned to look at her.
"Let's make this clear. I am getting extremely annoyed. Cut out your nonsense and tell me what you know!"
The Changelings quickly huddled together, then shared an extremely embarrassed look. One of them coughed.
"Yes, Your Highness" he said. "Our senior is currently 'recuperating' and due to security reasons" he glared at Impulse, "we felt it was best to keep him concealed."
That was it. Shining Armor, already sharing his wife's exasperation, felt something snap.
"NOW!" Shining Armor roared.
"Yessiryourhighnesssir!" Windsheer said, even throwing in a salute, before walking over towards the door, "right this way."
As the four Changelings walked through the castle corridors, Cadance and Shining Armor following after them, they briefly exchanged the briefest of smiles. Finally, somepony, royalty no less, just telling them what to do.
Shining, meanwhile, just looked at Cadance, who had a pained expression on her face. He nudged her, getting a worried smile back.
"Sorry" she whispered, "just worrying about Sapphy."
"Hey, c'mon. You know her. She's smart, and knows how to look after herself. She'll be fine."
The two ponies stopped, as Shining facehoofed. "I shouldn't have said" he sighed.
*****
Shining Sapphire would have kicked herself if her legs were free, and she were actually capable of doing so. After waking up turned into a Changeling, after managing to badly damage her relationship with Wisp, after travelling all across Equestria in order to talk to her aunt who wasn't even there, and causing herself no small amount of embarrassment in the process, she'd assumed that would have been it, that from there things were going to improve. Now, hanging from the ceiling of a cave, she realised what a hopelessly optimistic assessment that was. Right in front of her stood one of the worst ponies she could possibly have been in front of. A mare who had hurt her father, her mother, her lover, and humiliated her aunt and invaded her home. And a pony whom, the last time they'd met, she'd somehow managed to best in combat, though she was willing to admit that was mostly due to having somehow absorbed the energy of the Crystal Heart, and some adrenalin.
Needless to say, she wasn't expecting things to go the same way this time, though she did have a slim chance for survival, because she knew that Chrysalis was definitely a talker. All she had to do was make her start.
Currently, the mare was circling her, glowering what almost looked like motherly disapproval, light coming from Shining Sapphire's horn barely revealing her face in an already dark cave.
"Interesting" she murmured, "very interesting."
"What?" Shining Sapphire asked. "What's so 'interesting'?"
"You don't seem to be angry at me" Chrysalis noted. "Oh, you're afraid, that I can see, but angry? Not in the slightest. Not even mildly indignant. Strange."
Shining Sapphire blinked. That was a curious thing to say.
"Why would I hate you?" she asked. Chrysalis stared at her in amazement.
"Do you not love my son? Did I not attempt to kill him? Did I not attempt to kill you? And of course, the time I first met your parents, let's not forget about that. Surely you should be angry, that I did all these things."
If she could've shrugged, Shining Sapphire would have. "I don't really feel hate for you. My parents never really mentioned you, or the things you did. My cousin did" at length, she noted to herself, but then cousin Twinkie had always been alarmingly focused on her parent's wedding fiasco, "but I don't really think my parents even gave you a second thought. I don't know how they feel about you. And I was raised better than to hate others."
"Better?" Chrysalis spat.
"I don't hate you" Shining Sapphire said, noting the alarming glint in the Queen's eyes, "as much as I probably should, I don't. It... it diminishes me. I am lessened by it."
Chrysalis stared at her, her mouth contorting into a rictus of fury, and she turned away. "BEHOLD!" she declared, "Behold, the glorious Shining Sapphire! Virtuous, noble, pure to a fault!"
She whipped around and leaned in close to Shining Sapphire, her breath smelling remarkably unpleasant. "Were you always this sanctimonious, or was it something you had to work at?!"
Shining Sapphire stared unflinchingly at Chrysalis. "You realise, of course," she said calmly, "if you were to kill me, or even hurt me, my family would probably hunt you to the ends of the earth. And I think your son would lead the charge on that one."
Chrysalis's mouth twitched violently, and she leaned out again, sighing. "I don't doubt it. I've seen his heart. He loves you. Truly. It'd be inspiring, were it not so pathetically clichéd. The foundling prince, falling in love with the sheltered bookworm. Your love-struck puppy of a cousin barely stood a chance. True love" she spat again.
Shining Sapphire looked down (or, more accurately, up) at her hooves. She didn't reckon her chances of escaping from those any time soon, not with at least one Changeling Queen nearby. But on the plus side, she was definitely talking, all she had to do know was avoid the dreaded monologue. Or more singing.
Chrysalis turned away, moving off into the gloom. Shining Sapphire heard another sigh.
"I didn't really plan to have" and there was the oddest pause before she said the next word, "him, but... oh, his sire was just so charming, and... well. Much sport had at his making, as they say. And I wonder, if perhaps I had taken the time to raise him, what would he have become. But instead, I decided to leave him near that wretched Ponyville, to learn about their ways, and how best to avoid all those other fiascos with your kind. Perhaps... if I'd gone to him, explained things... maybe we could've been happy"
This sounded like the beginning of a monologue to her, Shining Sapphire thought. And if his father was apparently 'charming', that definitely scratched out some of the theories she and Wisp had been bandying about his origins.
"So, you left him by Fluttershy's house on purpose?" Shining Sapphire asked, before catching and chiding herself for interrupting the monologue.
"Yes" Chrysalis said, "although that was mainly because she possessed the appropriate emotional balance necessary, and because it saved having to learn any new names. That, and I surmised she'd be unwilling to move away from her little cottage and her animals, while having the necessary kindness for him to feed on."
There was a pause, punctated by what sounded like a hoof tapping on something. "But, despite certain vows, I kept tabs on my little pony, watching him grow, and... squander all the opportunities of his heritage. Helping those moronic apple farmers, or those ridiculous bakers. He cared about you ponies. And all the while he chose to hide what he was, wrapping himself in the trappings of a dull, boring, ordinary pony. I was terrified he was planning to get a job as a doctor, or worse, an accountant!"
Shining Sapphire was certain she heard a horrified shudder. "And then he met you. I suppose it is some form of irony that he would fall in love with you."
She blinked. That didn't sound like irony, to her. Situational irony, perhaps, but not irony proper. If anything, it seemed fitting. Maybe even appropriate.
"I HATE IRONY!" Chrysalis suddenly bellowed. After a few seconds, there was another sigh, and she saw a pair of bright green eyes stalking at the edge of the gloom.
"So, my dear child meets you, and nothing happens. At first, but then he went and got himself hurt by those ugly beasts, hurt so bad that I felt his pain and terror from half a world away. My own child, so badly injured and I could do nothing."
The eyes looked down toward the ground, then suddenly, they squinted. "And if he had been injured fighting them, that would have been something. It would have been an act worthy of a Changeling King. But no. He was running from them. We are Changelings. We do not run from trees! So when I saw his injured condition, I vowed I would do what I could to make my child strong."
Chrysalis stepped back into the dim light. "But he rejected my attempts to nurture him. He instead chose to seek solace from her. From that pathetic, simpering, whimpering cowardly pegasus. He called her 'mother'. I AM HIS MOTHER! ME! AND NO OTHER!"
Shining Sapphire truly wished at that moment, more than anything, she had some manner of handkerchief. She also hoped, that if rescuing herself wasn't an option, that somepony came to heroically save her soon.
Chrysalis calmed again. "However, I would not be daunted. But it was becoming clear that my son needed... persuasion. Alas, he rarely went anywhere alone, and those peculiar pink-maned ponies proved confoundingly difficult to predict. Some of them seemed almost able to anticipate my every action."
She gritted her teeth. "And of course, he began dreaming of you. And he fell in love with you. And that was when I realised I had to act, I had to do something, or else lose him forever."
She looked about uncertainly. "I will admit my plan lacked finesse. But desperate times called for desperate measures. I had him brought to me, so that I could illustrate to him my displeasure with his path in life. I asked him, one last time, pleaded, begged, that he renounce his diseased delusions of ponydom."
Suddenly her eyes began to water. "He refused. He refused emphatically. He even tried to flee us, though that naturally didn't work. But when we dragged him back..."
She stared ahead, her eyes quivering now. "No mother should have to stomach being called such things by their child."
She lifted a hoof and brushed away the smallest tear, and suddenly her tone went cold. "Needless to say, I reacted poorly. I admit now that trying to kill him was... a mistake. But..."
She stared at Shining Sapphire, and shook her head.
"It wasn't as easy as it sounds, of course. You see, there are rules that even I must obey. Indeed, since I am Queen, I must act to a higher standard. Foremost of all the laws of the Changelings, we must never harm another. Of course, as my dear boy was so insistent about, he was only half-Changeling, so I dared presume my subjects would not object to my disciplining him. He proved remarkably intolerant to learning his lesson."
And then, quite suddenly, she began to smile. "Of course, some of my subjects, it seemed, did object to my reaction. And that, I must admit, is one of the most curious parts of this tale. I can understand why my son, tainted by ponies as he is, would fall for you. I can see why he must have felt he was being heroic in resisting his birthright. What I cannot understand is how exactly he was saved by the Changelings he was saved by. Would you like to know why?"
She smiled an unhinged smile at Shining Sapphire, who quickly realised she wasn't being rhetorical. She was actually asking her a question.
"Yes?" she said, to which Chrysalis's grin grew.
*****
The four Changelings had finally made their way to one of the numerous identical guest suites of the castle. They had filed inside and then stood around the bed, looking at the form sprawled out on it. Cadance walked over to the prone Angel Eyes, and frowned.
"He looks exhausted" she noted, then turned to the others. "What happened to him?"
"We don't know, precisely" the big one, Rock, if she remembered correctly, stated. "Yesterday morning he seemed fine, but around about the time you were eating your breakfast, he just collapsed."
Cadance's horn glowed, as she did some basic checks. "I'm not certain if this actually applies to Changelings, but if he were a pony, I'd say he's overexerted his magic."
She frowned in concern, and looked toward Shining Armor. Instantly, he realised what she was about to say, and turned to leave the room.
"Now then," Cadance said, "I think perhaps some transparency might be in order. You five have, so far, been well-behaved. You haven't caused any trouble until now, so I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I do need to now absolutely everything that's been done."
Impulse grinned nervously, "very well" he said, in the manner of a foal who'd been caught sticking their hoof in a cookie jar.
"When we arrived in this empire, it was under false pretenses. We are not what we claimed to be."
Cadance raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."
*****
"I know all of my Changelings" Chrysalis whispered, "from the lowliest pupa to the most stalwart worker, every one of them is seared onto my soul. I know everything about them, which is why I find what happened to Wisp so strange."
She leaned in closer towards Shining Sapphire, her voice getting lower and lower. "Somehow, and I've no idea how, my son was somehow saved by the five worst Changelings there are."
*****
"We're scavengers" Rock said glumly. "In basic terms, that's as lowly a position as a Changeling gets. We're the dregs, if you like. We're sent out to drain emotions from injured animals, or the lost, and the weak, and the helpless, the tiniest morsels, rather than get in the way of the actual workers."
Cadance stared at them, at their downcast and hangdog expressions. "So, is that why he" she pointed a hoof at Impulse, "is so odd?"
"No" the fourth Changeling, whose name she couldn't recall, stated. "He's just been sampling some of your pony foodstuffs, and has taken a shine to what you call 'candy'."
Cadance blinked, taken aback by what that statement implied. "Are you saying then, that he's just... on a sugar-rush?"
"Yes" Rock sighed. Impulse just grinned madly.
For a moment, Cadance found herself wondering what would happen if the Changeling ever discovered alcohol, and suddenly had a vision of a large chunk of the city in flames, and a Changeling dancing in the ruins, singing about the buttocks, or worse, hedgehogs.
"Any other dramatic revelations you wish to share?" she asked. Impulse raised a hoof.
"Windsheer's wings twitch if he lies."
"Liar!" snapped his comrade, even as his wings buzzed furiously.
"Of course," Cadance said, "you still haven't actually explain what happened to my daughter and Whisper Wind."
There was a sudden noise from the bed, as Angel Eyes stirred. He blinked slowly, and then froze when he saw Cadance staring at him. His eyes darted toward the other Changelings, then back to Cadance, before he looked about awkwardly.
"Oh" he uttered.
*****
"I am honestly not certain how those bumbling oafs managed to escape all the way to your Empire" Chrysalis muttered, staring off into the middle distance, "but they did. And what fortuitousness it was that they did. I had been contemplating how to do such a thing for a long time, but I worried that perhaps the way was blocked for Changelings. Perhaps a foolish concern, but given what had happened with previous dealings with your kind, I was hoping to avoid any ridiculous last minute surprises."
Her expression turned dark. "And look how that went. Oh, I had everything worked out. My Changelings were to swarm over the city, find my son, make sure your parents kept away from one another so they couldn't wipe us away just by kissing again."
She frowned, and stalked off into the darkness. "And somehow it all managed to go wrong. Somehow you, a child, with no knowledge of how to fight, no expertise, no skill, terrified out of your mind, you managed to defeat me!"
Shining Sapphire looked about, trying to see where Chrysalis was in the darkness. After a few seconds, a thought came to her. She focused, trying to determine how to utilise some of the gifts of her Changeling form. Suddenly, there a strange stinging sensation in her eyes, and she saw the form of Chrysalis, an outline of almost pure red against the darkness of the cave.
"Which" Chrysalis sighed, "brings us to now. My Changelings have decided that I am too unstable, too dangerous, to rule properly. The Crystal Empire was just one failure too many. All I have left are my small retinue. The merest fraction of my Changelings, the rest all scattered and divided to the farthest corners of the land, with me unable to do anything about it, condemned to exile for my actions. All because you ponies corrupted my son, with your delusions and your ridiculous notions."
Shining Sapphire could have sworn she heard what sounded like a sniff. "I can hear them, you know. I can feel their confusion. They are so lost, and scared. They need someone to look after them. To guide them. To rule them."
She then stopped, and gave off an angry snort, and then moved in toward Shining Sapphire, fangs glinting in the small amount of light. And then, she began to smile.
"Fortunately, I have thought of a way to... change his mid" she grinned. "and the best part of it is that I need to do but one simple thing."
She turned around, and disappeared into the gloom again, leaving Shining Sapphire to just hang from the ceiling.
'Well' she thought to herself, as she felt her blood chill, 'so far so good on the get her talking front. Escaping, not so much.'
There was the sound of hoofsteps echoing, and she saw Chrysalis approaching, her horn glowing an unpleasant green colour, as her magic held aloft... something. It was difficult to tell what with the darkness, but what she could make out didn't seem pleasant.
"I suppose at some point you are expecting me to reveal to you some great secret of Changeling-kind" Chrysalis said, with an apathetic air, "of our history, and how we came to be, or something along those lines."
"And are you?" Shining Sapphire asked. Chrysalis just laughed derisively.
"No. Don't be absurd."
She looked toward the object she was holding aloft, "but I am going to tell you about this. This is a crown. Where it comes from is not important, what is important however, is what I've done to it. Would you like to know what that is?"
Shining Sapphire said nothing, just staring at it. Chrysalis's smile returned.
"You see, I realise that my son would rather waste his time on pointless endeavours, pretending to be something he will never be, rather than accepting what he should be. So I will simply have to force him to accept his birthright."
"With a mouldy old crown?" Shining Sapphire asked.
"It's not the crown that's important" Chrysalis smiled, "but what it will do. You see, I have placed upon it a very special piece of magic, one that will gather together my scattered Changelings. And I am going to give it to you."
Shining Sapphire stared at Chrysalis's face, and the manic expression she had. "And then?"
"I'll let you go, back to your little castle and your books and your disgustingly affectionate parents, of course." Shining Sapphire tensed.
"And then what?"
Chrysalis just chortled. "Well, my dear Changelings will sense the magic weaved throughout it, and follow you. And since the only way you could possibly have acquired this crown is through disposing of me, that would mean dear little Whisper Wind" her smiled twitched violently at the name, "would have to choose between remaining a nothing, letting you spend the rest of your life running from vengeful Changelings, or accepting his birth right, and becoming what he was born to be."
Shining Sapphire stared at the manic grin on Chrysalis's face, as the mare began to laugh triumphantly.
"Putting aside how ridiculous your plan is," Shining Sapphire said, "there's one incredibly large detail you don't know about."
"Do tell" Chrysalis said. Shining Sapphire blinked. Perhaps it was because her blood was now rushing to her head, but she couldn't help but smile as she tried focusing on a very specific spell. Green flames wrapped around her, and quickly enough, she was back to looking like a Changeling.
"Ta-da" she deadpanned. Chrysalis stared blankly for a moment, her mouth twitching slightly. Slowly, she walked over toward Shining Sapphire, and lifted a hoof, prodding the mare in the face. When she did, her gaze hardened, and she turned away. Shining Sapphire could've sworn she heard growling.
"YOU IDIOTS!" she bellowed to the darkness, "YOU CAPTURED THE WRONG PONY!"
She muttered several foul things under her breath before whipping back around to look at Shining Sapphire.
"What is this, anyway? A distraction? A game? What's your name, your real name?" she hissed.
"Shining Sapphire. Daughter of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor. Heir to the Crystal Empire and its territories."
Chrysalis glared at her. "Are you telling me... you've been a Changeling all this time?"
"No, actually" Shining Sapphire said, now finding herself unable to stop grinning for whatever reason, "just since yesterday morning."
"But-" Chrysalis sputtered, "you- I- it-..."
That caused Shining Sapphire to pause. Chrysalis seemed genuinely confused as to what was going on.
"Actually," she said, "I thought you'd had some part in this."
Chrysalis stopped, and stared at Shining Sapphire. Slowly, her frown vanished. She began to smirk, which quickly turned into a manic grin. She began to laugh even louder and longer than she had before.
Shining Sapphire felt her stomach drop. That meant that...
If her hooves had been free, she would've probably have passed up the opportunity to escape to facehoof.
*****
"So..." Cadance said, "what exactly was it you did?"
The Changeling known as Angel Eyes shifted uncomfortably, occasionally glancing toward his fellow Changelings. Shining Armor had returned with some restoratives, after which point the Changeling had noticeably improved, although he still seemed jittery.
"I realised His Highness was unwilling to act on our behalf, so... I simply decided to force the issue, on my own, so that therefore my kin would not share the burden of my deeds."
"Force the issue?" Cadance asked.
"His Highness preferred to spend his time disguised as a regular pony, rather than admit to his heritage. I had a plan to temporarily disable his ability to change shape, then use some magic to alter his mindset toward his heritage. However, there was a complication, in the form of your daughter. So I attempted a simple solution to that."
"Which was?" Shining Armor asked.
"Sleeping potions, mixed in with their meals. However, that required examining both of their routines, which took some time. Eventually, I... replaced one of the kitchen workers, allowing me to alter their meals with nopony being the wiser."
Cadance gasped. "So it was because of you that one of the kitchen staff was injured."
"Yes" Angel Eyes said, solemnly, before looking, if Cadance had to put a hoof on it, embarrassed. "But, in my attempt to lace their meals, I may have used too much of the sleeping draught."
"Which would explain why those two went to bed so early" Shining Armor said. Angel Eyes nodded.
"That was when I acted. Unfortunately, even overdosed with sleeping potion His Highness proved a remarkably light sleeper. They woke, and attacked me mid-casting. My spells ran wild, and knocked both ponies unconscious. From there, I decided to await their wakening and try a different strategy, but..."
He looked about, and shook his head. "I am not exactly certain what I did, or how exactly it went wrong, but whatever I did, by daybreak, Shining Sapphire had become a Changeling, or at least possessed much in the way of Changeling physiology. Of course, by then I realised I had... overexerted myself."
"But, hold on" Shining Armor spoke up, "that makes no sense!"
Cadance turned to look at her husband, "Shiney, do you remember that time your sister told us about when she and her friends had tried to remove some fruit bats, and ended up turning..." she paused, "Fluttershy, I think it was, into some sort of pony-bat fusion?"
Shining Armor stared blankly for a moment, then a light dawned on him. "Oh, yeah" he muttered. Then he looked over at the Changelings.
"But that still doesn't explain why everypony in the empire believed that Whisper Wind was our son."
"Well," Angel Eyes said, rubbing a hoof against his chin, "that I can't explain. Although if I had to guess? That Crystal Heart thing."
"I don't see how that'd work" Shining Armor said, looking over toward Cadance. "Honey? What is it?"
"Just thinking" Cadance said, "Sapphy managed to use the Crystal Heart's power to defend herself when she was attacked, and then to fight the Changeling Queen. Maybe she is still, somehow, connected to it. And if it's connected to everypony in the empire..."
She stopped, and hummed. "Although frankly I think that's far beyond the Heart's capacities."
"Speaking for myself" Angel Eyes said, "I'd rather think I simply fouled up royally."
"No kidding" Shining Armor frowned.
Cadance looked over toward the other Changelings, who were still looking terrified, then to Angel Eyes, who just stared at his hooves. "I apologise for my actions, but I ask that whatever punishment I receive, my fellows be spared."
For some time, Cadance just stared coolly at him.
"I'm not going to punish you" she eventually said, to which the Changelings looked relieved. "However" she added, "I am going to insist that you go find my daughter, and Whisper Wind, and apologise to them."
The Changelings exchanged glances, and quickly gathered together into a huddle. Occasionaly one of them looked up at the Royal couple, before Angel Eyes finally spoke up.
"If that is your judgement, we shall accept it."
"Alright then" Cadance said, before suddenly her smile vanished, "but let me be clear, you just used up every possible chance you had. If you return, and something like this happens again, I will be very, very upset."
"Yes your highness" the Changeling said, the colour seeming to drain from his cheeks. "We'll just be going, then. Right now."
As one, the five Changelings rushed out of the room, their hooves clattering along the corridors. Shining Armor walked over toward Cadance, who sighed wearily.
"Long day" she murmured. Shining just nodded.
"And it's not even two o'clock yet" he said. Cadance grimaced, leaning in towards Shining Armor, who suddenly blinked in confusion.
"Honey?" he asked.
"Yes, dear?"
"When did those Changelings get so... verbal?"
There was a long period of uninterrupted silence as both ponies stared in silence, trying to determine the answer. Finally Cadance spoke up.
"I think we need a vacation."
*****
Chrysalis looked at Shining Sapphire, utterly laughed out, an usual look on her face.
"That's definitely a new one for me" she said, inbetween ragged bursts of breath.
"Now then," she frowned, "back to business."
"It won't work, you know" Shining Sapphire said. Chrysalis stared at her.
"Do tell."
"Wouldn't you like to know why?" Shining Sapphire asked. The Changeling Queen just shrugged.
"Because I know Wisp. I know him better than you do. I might even say I know him better than he knows himself, but that's because he has so little faith in himself. But I know he can be more than he is now. I have faith in him, I believe in him. That's what you don't seem to get. I love him. And he loves me."
"How wonderful for you" Chrysalis deadpanned. Then, Shining Sapphire did something that surprised even her. She laughed again.
"You still don't understand. Of course you don't. I wouldn't expect you to. You have no idea what love is."
"Is there a point to this?" Chrysalis asked.
"Yes. The point is, you are a fool."
The mare stopped dead in her path. Slowly, her face was overtaken by a look of confusion.
"I think," she hissed, "I would not say such things if I were you."
"But you're not me" Shining Sapphire continued, "one month ago, I was nearly killed. And Wisp was nearly killed. But we survived because of what we had. Because of the thing that even now, you still don't understand. The very reason you couldn't hold on to Wisp, and never could. Love."
"I would not say such things if I were you" Chrysalis repeated, her voice calm as the eye of the storm.
"Your plan will fail. Wisp and I are joined by the bonds of love. And you cannot break that. Not with a thousand spells. And you cannot destroy that, not with a thousand Changelings."
Chrysalis began bearing down on her, as she continued, getting louder as she went. "And when I say you are a fool, it is because you are the most witless worm there has ever been because you will never learn this fact!"
Chrysalis skipped straight past anger, past fury, to the white hot calm of purest insane rage. "I would not say such things if I were you."
She loomed over Shining Sapphire, and then stopped. "Let's see what we can do about that" she hissed.
Her horn glowed, and suddenly it was like a streak of red hot fire was lancing through her mind.
*****
It had been several minutes now since Wisp and Princess Celestia had sat down, and yet the stallion still couldn't get used to the fact that he was having tea with Princess Celestia. More so because most of that time had just been spent talking about absolutely nothing in particular, like the weather, or what the Crystal Empire was like, but he still found it incredibly surreal to be talking to a Princess, even after the last month in Princess Cadance's castle, but that was different, because she didn't tend to act like how he'd expected, although given most of the times he'd seen her she'd been near Sapphy, there was probably a reason for that.
And, he had to note, the tea was actually kinda good. The only problem was that he had a strange feeling in his stomach.
"You know," Princess Celestia said, "I had actually wanted to meet you for quite some time."
"You... did?" Wisp asked, startled out of his train of thought. She nodded.
"Well, I say 'meet'. We did meet before, in a way, when you were very little."
Wisp found himself drawing a blank. "I'm sorry, your highness, I don't remember that."
"I wouldn't expect you to. If I had to guess, you weren't much more than a few days old at the time."
Wisp just nodded. "You see, Fluttershy had just found you, and asked some of her friends for assistance. I believe it was Twilight Sparkle's decision that I should have been informed about your presence."
"Mom never mentioned that" Wisp said, feeling slightly grateful she had decided to give the two ponies privacy, and even more grateful that she'd taken Minty Pie with her.
She just stared thoughtfully at her cup of tea for a moment. "Princess Luna said you were something of a curiosity to her. She said sometimes your dreams were blocked from her, and that, I would have to say, is an unusual thing."
"Probably because my birth mother didn't want anypony snooping in on her idea of bedtime stories" Wisp muttered darkly. He looked up at Princess Celestia, who was just smiling in a genial sense, almost, if he had to say, like a grandparent. He looked down at his tea and sighed.
"I'm sorry, your highness" he said, "but you said Twilight Twinkle had told you there was a problem, and yet here we are, drinking tea and chatting like there's nothing wrong."
Princess Celestia paused, and then gently set down her tea. She looked like she was wrestling with something.
"The reason I chose that specific blend of tea" she said, "was because it has a calming effect. I apologise, Whisper Wind, I just didn't want to rush in and startle you. That was why I did this, in an attempt to help you feel more relaxed."
"Well, considering you are the grand-aunt of the mare I'm going out with, and, y'know, sovereign of a whole nation, while I'm the son of a pony who kidnapped your pet phoenix, not to mention with the day I've been having, relaxation was always going to be a stretch."
He sighed, and took another drink of the tea. He suddenly noticed he'd started feeling really unusual. Then he saw the look on Princess Celestia's face.
"You see, Whisper Wind, Twilight Twinkle believes that whatever has been done to you, your body is fighting off."
"Okay" Wisp managed.
"However-" Princess Celestia stopped as the door opened again, and Fluttershy stepped in alongside Minty, a few noticeable chicken-feathers sticking out of their manes.
"However," Princess Celestia repeated, "she believes that whatever magic was used on you is going to be expelled from your body in a more forceful manner than usual."
"Forceful?" Wisp asked. "Hold on, you mean... what, I'm going to explode?"
There was a horrified gasp from Fluttershy, as Princess Celestia shook her head. "No, not explode, though..." she looked troubled.
"Is it going to hurt?" Wisp asked. She said nothing, which he decided to take as an affirmative.
"I think I can probably survive a little bit of pain" he said half-heartedly, "I know I've survived a lot of pain."
"Bearing in mind" Princess Celestia said, "I am only working on a conjecture at this point. For all I know the most that might happen is you'll sneeze violently and that'll be that."
Three ponies stared blankly at her. "Thought that is being incredibly optimistic, I admit."
Wisp sat there for a moment, noting the odd feeling spreading along his extremities. He looked toward Fluttershy, who looked terrified for him, and Minty, who just looked confused. He looked toward Princess Celestia, and sighed.
"Don't you have some sort of magic that can tell what might happen?" he asked. She nodded, and her horn glowed briefly. She suddenly looked more worried.
"Oh, dear" she said quietly.
"Is it bad?" Wisp asked. She didn't answer.
"It's bad" he muttered. He took one last swig of the tea, and then cracked a brief grin. "You know, that is actually really good tea."
He stood up, and made his way towards the door. He stepped out into the warm summer sunlight, stretching his wings slightly as he moved down the small path away from the cottage. Princess Celestia slowly followed him. A good distance away from the house he stopped, and stood.
"So... now I just wait?" he asked. Princess Celestia nodded. At the look on her face, he felt slightly less calmer.
"You know" he said quietly, "I did suggest just waiting it out. It feels weird being proven right."
There was silence, save the distant sounds of birds chirping.
"Why am I being so grim about this?" he asked, not expecting a reply, "I mean, it's only going to sting a bit, then once I recover I can go find Shining Sapphire, right?"
Princess Celestia nodded. "Because you don't know what to expect?" she suggested.
"Story of my life, I suppose" Wisp sighed.
There was another moment of silence, and Wisp frowned.
"Actually, what is the worst that could happen h-"
He didn't finish, mainly because quite suddenly his hooves, mane, horn and tail all started bursting with bright green flames, which wrapped around him, and then quickly spread out.