Cadence was curious. Ever since she started ruling the Crystal Empire with her beloved husband, she had never once seen a crystal pony foal. Newborns that is. She'd seen some of the little crystalline colts and fillies running home after school, or playing around the community gardens, but a newborn? There wasn't a single one of them as far as she could see. She didn't want to ask her new followers about why that was since she had a grim idea of what must have happened during those past thousand years. Thinking it would only cause the ponies to be driven back to depression, she kept her mouth shut.
There was no need to know that particular detail, and no need to keep thinking about it. She should be focusing on what was current: The chance to see a baby crystal pony! She could hardly contain her excitement.
Questions floated in and out of her mind like a busy day in Cloudsdale, but one question was rooted deep at the center of all that traffic: Would the foal have its crystal coat already at birth, or does it appear only during the foal's first annual fair? Well that question would soon be answered, wouldn't it?
Shining Armor had suggested looking it up at the library, or simply ask somepony who knew enough on the subject, but Cadence wanted to learn by herself. Most of the things they both knew were basically spoon-fed to them by the members of the council. For once she wanted to learn something about the crystal ponies from experience. Not from a book, not from some monotonous lesson delivered by a monotonous historian, but from her own eyes.
Granted, being spoon-fed the information was necessary during the first months of ruling, but there are some things a girl had to figure out on her own. Its not like not knowing how a baby looks affects anything around her significantly. That was an important detail in life, sure, but nothing to lose her head over.
She heard a slight giggle escape the lips of her husband, to which she responded with a questioning look.
"I'm afraid you'll faint if you keep breathing so excitedly, my dear," Shining Armor teased as he held open the doors to the hospital for his love.
Cadence just blushed and uttered an "Oh you," then walked through the entrance. Armor knew which room the lucky couple were staying in, so she let him take the lead.
The staff and patrons bowed in respect as they passed through a number of hallways. If this happened on their first few weeks, the pair would have had trouble making their way. Well, Cadence would have. Armor was used to similar gestures from his subordinates back when he was still captain of the royal guard.
As far as she could recall, the only time somepony bowed to her for reasons other than being royalty or being a patron at a fine establishment was when they wanted to dance. Not that she was complaining; it helped her see if she was doing a good job as the leader of an empire. She knew those bows were genuinely from their hearts and it reassured her that she was doing fine.
Now at the door of the couple they intended to visit, the two could hear a mare talking with a couple of ponies inside. She sounded very happy, which made the mare listening outside happy as well.
"Shall we?" Cadence asked Armor, barely being able to hide her excited grin.
With a smile, Shining Armor nodded and gave the door a couple of knocks. There was a short rumbling sound coming from the room, almost as if panic just struck. A while later, somepony opened the door and ushered them inside. The royal couple saw that the general and his wife had visitors. Those who belonged to the guard were neatly lined up on the wall to the right and gave a synchronized set of salutes. The others, who they guessed were the friends and family of the lucky couple, bowed in respect.
"We've been expecting you," General Lancet said as he walked on over to Cadence and Armor to shake their hooves.
"Bet you didn't expect us so early," Armor said upon seeing the poorly hidden cider mugs under the table and the butt of a cigar that just missed the bin in the corner.
"I... heh... thought we had more time. But we're glad you made just the same. Please, let me introduce you to the family," Firstly, Lancet introduced them to his wife, Rosetta, holding the baby within her embrace, then to the pair's parents, and then to the rest of the ponies inside the room, including the doctor who delivered the child. "And you know these fools already," He finished, pointing to the group still lined up by the wall.
Fools they were, but that was the reason Armor and Lancet warmed up to them quickly.
"Aren't you forgetting somepony?" Cadence hinted with her excitement on its peak.
"Of course not! I simply saved the best for last." Lancet winked and walked over to the hospital bed. "Your royal highness, this is our newborn daughter, Muse."
Cadence leaned forward, barely keeping herself from squealing in delight when the cloth covering the foal was slowly being undone. For her, the moment was in slow motion, as in painfully slow motion. What they saw... surprised them just slightly.
The princess took a step back and let out a gasp, but immediately covered her mouth upon realizing what she did. She looked at Armor, who was more subtle, then back to the impish figure in the cloth that left a bitter feeling in her heart. It had a horn, and a fang peaking out of its maws. The holes on its legs were there too, and she could spy a bit of of carapace growing on its back.
"Is there something wrong, Princess Cadence?" Rosetta asked, sounding worried.
All eyes stuck to Cadence. She wanted to say 'Your child is a changeling!?' but she saw that none of the other ponies, save Armor, seemed to find anything wrong. She couldn't wrap her head around it but she didn't have time to think the situation clearly enough. "No, nothing's wrong, I was just..." Great, how was she going to finish that sentence off without sounding spiteful? "...surprised! That's all. She's, well, I can't find the words for it." She smiled nervously. "'Cause if I say she's beautiful, it would be an understatement."
Rosetta looked disheartened and passed the question to Shining Armor. "... Prince Armor?"
Armor's gaze bounced around the ponies with their questioning stare. He swallowed a hard lump as sweat began to collect on his forehead. "I... like her mane," he said with a forced smile.
There was an uneasy silence within the room and the sound of their rising heartbeats were the dominant noises going through their heads. The silence was broken when the baby started to cry.
Rosetta, with her eyes threatening to spill over with tears said, "It's the baby's feeding time. May I ask for some privacy?"
"Of course," Cadence said, bowing apologetically.
The ponies evacuated the room, with Cadence and Armor as the last ones to leave. Lancet was at the door when they turned around. He didn't let any trace of negative emotion show on his face and had the same friendly smile he had since they entered.
"I'm sorry, Lancet, I -" Armor began but was stopped when the general held his hoof up and patted the prince on the shoulder.
"No, don't be, I understand. I'll see you back at the castle tomorrow before I take my official leave. I just have to take care of things here before I go." He gave a snappy salute before he turned to close the door.
Well... that was something they didn't expect. Just seeing Rosetta's face slowly turning from Pinkie Pie-happy to down right old mule-depressed felt like an arrow just pierced through their hearts. How will the crystal ponies see them now that they practically insulted the mother and her... child?
"We'll sort this out with them tomorrow," Shining Armor said, unsure. How exactly were they going to sort this out?
=====
Early morning at the training grounds.
Shining Armor was observing the daily exercise routine with some of the guards fresh from basic training. They were scheduled for a hike across the mountains, but Armor didn't want to miss Lancet before he went on leave so he appointed one of his officers to take over.
"Excellent work, rookies!" the official praised. "Now grab your gear, fill up your canteens, and say good-bye to your loved ones 'cause we are not coming back until midnight! I'll meet you back here at eight. Dare to be late and you'll be carrying all our supplies on your backs! Dismissed!"
Armor returned to the castle after he made sure everything he needed to do today was done. "Prince Armor!" One of the guards called out to him as he was about to enter.
"Yes, Private?"
"General Lancet asked me to tell you to meet him at the barracks."
"Very well. Thank you, Private, you may return to your post." Armor hoped the General didn't hold any ill will towards him or his wife from yesterday. Lancet was an easy-going fellow most of the time, but on the other hoof, family was a different topic and not something that's supposed to be stained. "He's a sensible pony, I'm sure he'll understand."
He saw Lancet waving at him as he approached the barracks. The general was already packed up and ready to depart.
"Good morning, Lancet," Armor greeted. "About yesterday..."
Armor told his apology and Lancet listened, only starting to talk when Armor stopped.
The general patted Armor on the back. "My friend, I know your history with the Changelings in Canterlot, and the lack of information about them surely didn't help you. But rest assured that my wife and I took no offense. I still have a few things I need to pick up, why don't I tell you a thing or two about the crystal ponies and the changelings?"
=====
Cadence was sitting in the corner of the grand library. She had been there since last night doing research. The librarian was kind enough to lend her a spare key so she could do her research without ponies constantly disturbing her, even if they did so with good intentions.
"Ahh, I see you have an interest in changelings. Interesting creatures, aren't they?" One library patron bowed and trotted up to her. It was an elderly stallion dressed in robes with the insignia of the Crystal University. His name was Rune Fable. Rune was one of the Empire's leading scholars who specialized in biology. He was one of the scholars who filled the royal couple in on everything they needed to know about the Crystal Ponies. Almost everything anyway.
Cadence returned the gesture. "Yes, they are. Rune, what do you know about Changelings?"
"Well, I'm sure you've already read about everything there is about them." He pointed to the stack of books on the princess' table, "Changelings were once crystal ponies, but a strange magical affliction completely changed their physical forms, making them look more like insects. We had some papers about them, but alas they were burned with the old library when King Sombra went mad with power. As I recall, their transformation was due to a bad feedback from the Crystal Heart."
"The Crystal Heart was responsible for making them that way? How?" She questioned.
The scholar rubbed his chin. "That was what we were trying to figure out ourselves. Some theorized that it was due to some form of genetic defect on the pony's side. Maybe their magical energies weren't doing well in resonating with the Heart, we don't know exactly, but we do know that this affliction is unique to the crystal ponies. We never had any of the foreign merchants turning into changelings before, and we had a lot of them back in the day. The young empire was very popular back then."
"Was it a common occurrence?"
"Well, yes it was. There was at least one in every twenty ponies."
"How come they aren't well documented? No pony knew what they were or that they even existed until they attacked Canterlot."
There was a look of regret in Rune's eyes. "Their obscurity was our own fault. We were afraid to let them be known to the outside world since they might have thought that they were monsters, and you know what fate monsters suffer back then. So we told the changelings to hide themselves when there were merchants and tourists around. They were forced to stay indoors most of the time, they rarely even get to see the empire. It was a cruel fate for the young ones. Soon, the changelings gave meaning to their name, and started to take different forms from their cursed ones. Since they could go out as if nothing was at all different, we didn't think to treat them in any way that we wouldn't treat others of our kin, so there were no publications about them. Changelings were as good as story creatures."
Rune sighed and looked at the princess. "I am sorry to hear of the changeling attack on Canterlot."
Cadence hung her head. "I'm sorry, we didn't have much choice."
"No, no," Rune said, "It wasn't your fault. If we were more open about them to the other kingdoms, they might not have been taken so negatively. Perhaps they might have even found refuge when the empire disappeared. Princess, I humbly ask you to pardon what the changelings have done. Love, for them is like food and water for us. And without the Crystal Heart to fulfill their needs... I can't imagine what they were subjected to in the last millennium. Frankly, I'm surprised they even survived this long."
The princess nodded her head. "I guess their attack was out of desperation. I wish we could have helped them."
"Maybe we still could. Starting by fixing our mistakes, and letting them be known to the world. Excuse me, I must be off, my class starts in half an hour. Have a good day, Princess Cadence."
"You too, Rune."
They exchanged parting gestures. Cadence looked down on the page she was reading. "Fixing our mistakes..." she repeated. For the changelings to be accepted into pony society, they have to be shown to the world for who they really are. It's not likely that ponies will forget what happened in Canterlot so easily, but if they saw the changelings and crystal ponies getting along, maybe they could put that event behind them?
Cadence closed the book. It was time to make a visit.
=====
Armor and Lancet returned to a very welcome sight. The room was overflowing with giggles as Cadence was sharing tea with Rosetta. It seemed they already started to get along. Cadence was already cooing the baby. "Changelings aren't as bad as we first thought. I'm really sorry for yesterday," she said to the general.
"No, it's alright, your highness. It was a simple mistake caused by... the lack of information." Lancet almost said ignorance.
The general went to his wife and planted a kiss on the cheek. Cadence trotted over to Shining Armor and whispered: "They're really cute together, aren't they?"
Armor gave a nod. "I just wish the child wouldn't have to live in fear of being found out that she was a changeling."
"About that..." Cadence smiled.
=====
"Twilight, you got mail!" Spike cheerily announced, handing the scroll to Twilight.
"Ooh, it's from Cadence and Shining Armor!" She started to read the letter aloud. "You are cordially invited to the Grand Crystal Empire Banquet to honor the welcoming of ... QUEEN CHRYSALIS?!"