“Did… did he run that by you? On the way here, or…”
“No, actually. I should have seen something like that coming, though.”
To the relief of both mares behind the barrier, Broken had put his teeth back in and his glamour back on before he started answering the class’ questions. To their differing degrees of discomfort, he had elected to use his scars as his primary teaching tool.
“Ah, ‘that long thin one going down my shoulder’. Now I got that particular injury during my stay in Genera, which was founded by the Genic tribe as part of the Second Tribal Settlement treaty. Anypony remember when that treaty was signed…? 292 ANM, that’s right, very good…”
“…he’s not exactly the most orthodox of instructors, is he?” Cheerliee asked quietly, keeping half of her attention on Broken. Twilight turned to face the teacher, a wry smile forming on her face.
“He’s not the most orthodox of ponies. He spent almost a decade in a rather dangerous environment; you should have seen him when he first came here.” The unicorn shrugged as she put her eyes back on the gesticulating stallion. “But he has his ways of doing things, and they’ve usually worked for him. And he cares quite a bit about foals; I’m honestly certain that he’d cripple himself, or worse, long before he’d lay a hoof on one of them. But he knows that he has problems. He said he wouldn’t do this without the guards and the barrier I have going, just in case he starts having trouble.”
“Is he really that dangerous?”
“He thinks he is. From what I’ve seen, he’s more scared of what he might do than actually able to do it.” She gave Cheerilee a look as the students feverishly scribbled down what Broken had just finished saying. “If I thought he was a danger to them, do you think I’d have even brought this up to him? Let alone actually let him come here?”
“Well, no, of course not.” The teacher sighed. “It’s rather sad, though. He’s so polite, he knows how to get the foals interested and clearly enjoys interacting with them… to think that he thinks he’s enough of a threat to them that they need to be guarded from him…”
“These claw marks on my leg? Well, in the tribes, one could, and can, challenge a chief’s leadership by trying to knock their legs out from under them, which would make them physically lower than you. That swatting at the legs eventually worked its way through their culture as an expression of displeasure, regardless of actual social status or desire to physically fight…”
The conversation fell away at that point, and for a time Twilight simply sat and watched Broken as he educationally illustrated the ‘origins’ of his many wounds. She found herself having to bite her cheek at some points, when his stories delved from the simply unlikely to the absurdly outlandish, but he never strayed out of his educational bent nor into too gory of detail. He also remained largely neutral whenever one of the students asked about the gryphons themselves, gently but firmly rebuffing any stereotypes that were brought up and simply remarking that the gryphons and Gryphonia were different from, not necessarily better or worse than, ponies and Equestria.
Given how many epithets she’d inadvertently learned from him for them, that came as a rather pleasant surprise.
“Miss Twilight?”
Twilight nearly jumped at the whisper in her ear, but managed to keep herself calm and simply turn her head towards the speaker. “Pip? Is everything alright?”
The stallion blinked, taking a moment before shaking his head. “I am not sure, Miss Twilight. It is not a problem with Broken Shield, if that is your concern.” Pip turned his head in order to glance at the class, but none seemed to notice his movement, enamoured as they were with Broken’s stories. Spike did, however, and Pip motioned for him to join them. “The guards and I encountered a very fresh trail today, eventually leading to a-“ he paused momentarily, twisting his head back to give Cheerilee a quick glance before returning his gaze to the class “-a ‘live specimen’.”
Twilight blinked. “That’s very good, then, isn’t it?”
Pip nodded. “The guardsponies captured it after I tracked it down, Miss Twilight. It had been injured previously, and there was a scent in the air, very distinct, centered on the specimen. That was the first time I had smelled it, other than on the trail it had made.”
Twilight felt her stomach bottom out as Pip’s emphasis processed, but Spike was the one to voice her concern. “And the second time?”
“In this classroom, while passing my younger self.”
Again, Twilight had to restrain herself from jolting in shock. She held herself still for a few moments before allowing her eyes to range out over the class; they locked onto Pipsqueak, who was busy staring, wide-eyed, at whatever claim Broken had just made.
“I do not believe that he has been replaced.” Pip continued. “The scent was faint, and the movements that I’ve observed of him, limited as they are in the current environment, do not deviate significantly enough from his peers to arouse suspicion. I have made similar observations of those immediately surrounding him, though I am almost entirely certain that the scent was on him. I believe that he may be in regular contact with a specimen, enough that their scent has transferred, which would almost definitely mean physical contact.”
“But given his age, the most likely ponies for that would be… his… parents.” Twilight’s words slowed as she saw Pip’s jaw tighten, his eye staring at nothing but with a visible anxiety and anger beneath it. Spike gave her a glance, thumbing at the scroll on his wrist, but she just shook her head. She took a breath and slowly raised her hoof to place it on Pip’s shoulder, drawing it down his leg to take his hoof in her own. “It’ll be okay, Pip. We know about this now, and that means we can deal with it. I know you want to protect them, protect him, but we need to stay calm, okay?”
The pinto stallion took another breath, his eye clouding over with its regular stoicism and his teeth no longer audibly creaking as he relaxed the pressure on them. “That… that is okay, Miss Twilight. I apologize for not bringing this to your attention sooner.”
“…and I know that that whole concept of killing things and eating them seems wrong, but meat is an essential part of their diet, they have to do it or they’d get very sick and die. But to answer your question, this scar is from a fight, not anyone trying to eat me…”
Twilight gained a halfway-incredulous smirk. “That’s fine, Pip. Just give me some time. I’ll figure this out.”
Broken let out a breath as he waved the students goodbye; as soon as the last of them were out the door he sat down heavily, bringing his forehooves to his face and rubbing vigorously. Instead of turning, he craned his head backwards, staring upside-down at the mares behind him.
“So, how’d I do?”
Cheerilee gave him a teacher’s smile. “I think things went fairly well; the class certainly seems interested to know even more than you talked to them about.”
“I’m surprised that you got as much detail in as you did, Uncle Broken.” Twilight shrugged. “And that you remember so much about your… erm…”
“Pah, you know not to worry about hurting this old colt, Sparky. I’ve got most of a roadmap carved into my hide, I know it.” The stallion shrugged as he turned, righting his head to address the mares more directly. “And it was a pleasure speaking to the class, Ms. Cheerilee. I might just come back next year for the new students.” He punctuated the statement with a laugh, just quickly enough for Twilight to be uncertain as to whether he was joking, and gave a quick glance at the guard by the door. “In any case, that much social interaction’s pretty much wiped me out. I think I’ll just be heading back with the guards, Sparky.”
“Really?” Twilight asked in mild surprise. “You’ve been fairly set on staying at the library for as long as you can for these last few weeks, no matter how exhausted you were getting.”
Broken had the tenacity to look affronted. “Well of course I was! I’ve been up and down from Canterlot so much that this is the first good length of time I’ve actually gotten to spend with you! Why wouldn’t I want to stick around my favourite niece as much as I could?”
Twilight found herself blushing as Cheerilee made an “aww”ing noise and Spike started laughing into his fist. “I’m also your only niece…”
“Bah, favourite foal of my sister, then. Your brother may as well be a clone of me in looks, but he’s just a wee bit too stubborn for my liking. Probably your father’s side of the family.” He paused as Spike fell over, shaking and wheezing around the fist in his mouth. “That’s another thing. Colt has no sense of humour. Ah well, at least he married someone with a good hea… ahm. A good heart.” Broken yawned, rather unconvincingly, and nodded at the mares. “Have a good day, Ms. Cheerliee. See you tomorrow, Sparky.”
Twilight bid the teacher farewell several minutes later, after Spike had recovered from his giggle fit. She, the dragon, and Pip spent several minutes walking in silence.
“Pip, can you make sure Broken isn’t following us?”
“One moment.” The stallion disappeared for about eight seconds before returning to the same position he’d left. “Broken Shield is not within several blocks of us, Miss Twilight.”
“Thank you, Pip. Had to make sure he hadn’t ducked the guards.” Twilight started off again, turning off of the route to home. “First I want to go to Pipsqueak’s house and make sure that at least one of his parents has been replaced. I don’t doubt your report, Pip, but we can’t just break in and attack them. We go in, say we wanted to chat and clear up any concerns that they may have from Luna’s explanation of the timelines. Meanwhile, Pip can see if either of them is a changeling rather than a pony.
“If we do find a changeling there, we leave without arousing their suspicion and go to the guard station. We inform the sergeant of our findings, and Spike can send a message to the Princess while the sergeant gathers his ponies to capture the changeling. Then we make sure Broken remains oblivious until the Princess arrives, at which point she can make sure he doesn’t go flying off the handle.”
“What if his parents aren’t changelings, though?” Spike asked. “Should we tell them that one’s been rubbing off on their son?”
“Er, probably not those exact words, but yes, that’s a good idea. We warn them and bring the whole family to the station, then the guards can sweep the building. If you find a scent trail, Pip, you can help them track it.”
“Would you want me to watch the building while you bring them to the station, Miss Twilight? In case a hiding changeling overheard us and attempted an escape.”
“That would probably be for the best, Pip.” Twilight sighed. “Hopefully, the guards and the Princesses can use this changeling and the one you helped them capture this morning to figure out where the main hive is. If not, then we at least know for absolute certain that they’re active in Ponyville, and the Princess will probably have us screen everypony in town to weed out any who are still hiding, as well as start up deeper and more thorough patrols in the Everfree. Dealing with Broken is going to be hard enough in the former case, if we’re still under threat from the changelings he’ll get even more paranoid a-“
“Miss Twilight, I can hear Broken screaming from the direction of Pipsqueak’s house.”
Twilight and Spike both gave wide-eyed glances at Pip, who was staring quite intently at some point they couldn’t see. Twilight bit off a curse.
“Spike, send the message now! Pip, go, we’ll catch up!” Pip stepped away as Spike bathed his upper arm in flame, the magic ash flitting away to Canterlot. Twilight took a moment to calm herself before grabbing Spike, holding him close as she teleported to Pipsqueak’s home.
The area in front of the shop-house was clear, but a quick glance up the road gave her her intended destination. She ran up to the scene as quickly as she could, one of the guards approaching her as she closed in.
“Good to see you, ma’am, I was about to send up a signal when Pip arrived.”
Twilight nodded at him and took in the scene: Pip was holding Broken to the ground, the latter stallion staying silent and still. One of the guards had his horn glowing, holding a barrier over a portion of a wall and the road beneath it. The other was holding the attention of a rather shocked and confused looking Pipsqueak, keeping herself between the colt and the barrier the other guard was holding.
“What happened here?”
“Ah, we were bringing Broken Shield back to the station from the schoolhouse, ma’am. Everything was normal, he wasn’t doing anything unusual, and then the colt and what is apparently his father start walking towards us. When they get really close, Broken goes stiff, sniffs the air a bit, then he just lunges towards the father. We grab him before he can get close, but before we can lock his root he gets a barrier up and slams the father against the wall, there. He starts screaming that ‘there’s no blood’ or something like that, and then Pip arrives, grabs him, and says you said to check the father. When we do that, well...” The guard sighed. “It was a changeling, ma’am. Broken’d killed it when he hit it with his barrier. Gilder put a barrier up around it for containment, Quartz is trying to keep the colt calm, and I was going to get Broken more properly secured after I sent up the signal.”
Twilight blinked as she took in the information. “You’ve done well for what Broken made you deal with. I need you to tell your sergeant about this as fast as you can; the Princess shall be arriving shortly, and I’m sure he’d like to be informed before she meets with him.”
The guard’s eyes widened in the few moments before he gave her a smart salute and galloped off. She raised her hoof, grinding it into her forehead for a few moments before dragging it down her face.
“Y’know, there is a bright side to this.” Spike spoke, catching her eye as he shrugged. “At least we know Pip was right, now.”
Twilight’s eyes went around the scene again, settling on the youngest pony there, reading his shellshocked expression. She grimaced at what Pipsqueak must have seen: His father crumpled against a wall on the side of the street after an apparently random attack, eyes staring blindly outwards before a spark of green flame burned away the familiar and left behind the monstrous.
Not to mention somepony he ‘knew’ being the one to attack his ‘dad’. Buck, his dad being attacked at all would have damaged him, let alone this…
Twilight cussed as she realized that Pip’s mother hadn’t been informed yet, and did so again as she realized that the mare might well be another changeling. She warred with herself for a moment before starting to move to Pip, reasoning that he would be the best pony to send in case of the latter. As she approached, both stallions turned their heads to her, and she found herself forced to a stop as they faced her fully; Pip was stoic, expressionless, as calm as was normal for him. But Broken?
In Broken’s eye, etched into his brow, his jaw, and every aspect of his appearance, was the purest expression of hatred she’d ever seen.
“I’m not angry at you, you know.”
Twilight had brought Broken to the library, the stallion following her without resistance despite the malice that twisted his features. Over the walk to the building he’d apparently regained control of himself, at least to some degree; his face had lost its edges, become stonier than even Pip was able to maintain. Only his eye kept its malevolent appearance, and it was with that eye that he’d been watching her for nearly an hour.
They sat across from each other in one of the library’s back rooms, Twilight and Spike in the centre and Broken inches away from the wall furthest from the door. Pip was waiting in the main room, by her order; she’d needed somepony to explain what was going on when Celestia arrived, and she had guessed (correctly) that Broken would need her full attention for longer than it would take the Princess to arrive. She had tried to convince Spike to stay there as well, but the dragon had flatly refused, and Twilight had simply felt that it wasn’t worth arguing with him.
Her friends had come, each notified by the guards about what had occurred; Broken hadn’t spared them a glance, not even raising his eye as they entered the room, nor as Twilight met their questions and they sat down beside her.
“Honestly, I’m not angry,” Broken continued, a small smile flitting across his features even as his gaze did its level best to set her on fire, “I swear to Faust, Twilight. I’m not mad at you.”
Applejack moved to speak, no doubt to bite off a retort to the disturbingly calm stallion, but a raised hoof from Twilight cut her off before she could begin. Twilight gave her a glance, sympathetic but level, and shook her head; Applejack’s brow furrowed, but she nodded and sat back. Twilight returned her gaze to Broken, who hadn’t seemed to notice the silent exchange.
“I… I’m just… confused. That’s probably the best word for it.” He raised his hoof halfway to his face, and then it stopped, moving up and down in short, jerking spurts before finally reaching the eyeless side of his face. He held it in place for a few moments before stopping at a corner of the eyepatch; a few seconds of minute movements, and the hoof moved again, the patch slowly falling as the string holding it around the socket was pulled out. After several seconds, the patch had fallen to the floor, and Broken broke his hour-long staring match with Twilight to pick it up and place the string into the pocket that it apparently held on its back side. His eye stayed on the small square of material for several seconds before returning to the lavender mare, this time accompanied by a blackened pit. Then he spoke again.
“You knew about the changelings.” It wasn’t a question, nor was it an accusation. It was a simple statement of fact. Twilight nodded.
“Yes.”
Broken turned his head, as if looking at the others, but his eye, and the hate within it, remained fixed on her.
“They knew about the changelings.”
“Yes.”
“Celestia knew. Luna. Shining.”
“Yes.”
“Pip.”
“Yes.”
Broken took a breath, then exhaled. It wasn’t a sigh, that would’ve required emotion.
“You’ve known for some time.”
“We learned about them after you tried to destroy Everfree Castle. The Princesses and Shining have known about them for longer.”
“You knew they were in the town.”
“Only after you pointed out the identical stallions a couple of weeks ago. Pip had seen them too, but he wasn’t sure what they were.”
“Couldn’t have expected him to. They went extinct while he was still a foal.”
“Celestia told us. You killed them all.”
“The word is genocide. And yes, I did.” Broken nodded once. “And now I’m wondering why.”
“Why you killed them? Why your Celestia ordered you to?”
“Why your Shining and your Celestia didn’t.” He raised a hoof again, this time gesturing to the empty air, and Twilight noticed that the leg he’d left on the ground was shaking. His whole body was shaking, now that she was looking at it rather than his eye, and she allowed her horn a low glow as Broken drew a shuddering breath. “I… I just can’t… I can’t understand how, how they could be so FUCKING STUPID as to allow any of those insects to survive.”
Everyone in the room but him froze as he suddenly shouted the two words, his face contorted back to the malicious visage he’d worn an hour before, and then he was quiet again, his eye once more the only sign that he was anything but calm. The room sat in silence for several seconds before the door slowly creaked open, drawing everyone except Broken’s wary eyes.
“I think I might be able to help with that.”
Twilight felt a spike of relief shoot through her at the voice, even before her brother stepped from around the corner of the door and into sight. Shining Armor nodded at her and the others before flicking his eyes to Broken; Twilight saw a half-second of some unfamiliar expression before his eyes and smile returned to her group.
“Sorry to crash the party, but I couldn’t help but overhear that little bit towards the end. Sounded like I have some explaining to do.” He lifted his hoof and tapped at the doorframe. “But before I do… Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Spike, I have to ask you to leave.”
“Say what now?!” Applejack stood and started stalking over to the stallion, but stopped as he held up his hoof.
“Please, Applejack, I know that you, all of you, want to be here to back my sister up, and I greatly appreciate that. But you still need to leave.”
“An’ might Ah ask why?”
“Because the Princess is expecting your presence outside.” Shining stated simply. Twilight felt a jolt of surprise as Broken’s gaze shifted from her to his doppelganger, she turned to watch as Applejack blinked, took in a breath, tried to speak, and then just sighed. Shining moved his attention from her to the others. “I’d advise that you all get going. Never pays to make a Princess wait.”
It took a second and Twilight’s nod at their concerned glances for the ponies to move; it took a bit longer, and Twilight’s magic, for Spike to pull his claws from the floor and follow them. As Spike passed him, Shining leaned down and mumbled something that stopped the dragon cold. They held a quiet conversation for several moments before Spike nodded and rushed out of the room.
Shining stepped into the room and kicked the door closed behind him, moving to stand beside Twilight. He met Broken’s glare evenly, still holding a small smile.
“The Princess came down herself?” Twilight whispered to her brother. He nodded, eyes not leaving his double.
“Said she wanted to oversee things. I objected, of course, but a Princess’ orders are a Princess’ orders. She’ll be here in a short while.” Shining shrugged, an odd mirth in his eyes that made them an inverted mirror to Broken’s one. Twilight tried to speak again, but Shining was already moving forward, his voice louder as he addressed the pony at the edge of the room. “Hello, Broken Shield.”
“Hello, Shining Armor.” Broken replied evenly. Shining snorted.
“What, no nicknames? Yeesh, you must be angry.” The unscarred stallion shrugged. “I can sympathize, to a degree. Soon as that note came up, Celestia and I both got rather miffed that you’d found another way to subvert your Oath to her.”
“I’ve done nothing of the sort.” Broken allowed a small smirk to appear on his face. “My Oath disallowed me from being violent, physically or magically, without being attacked first. To the best of my knowledge, I haven’t been violent.”
“I’m sure the changeling you killed would agree with you.”
Broken blinked, then let out a laugh that would probably have made Pinkie cry. “I’m sorry, Shining, but you must have missed the memo. It’s not possible to be violent against something that isn’t alive.”
“Your point being?”
“An individual drone isn’t alive. It’s a puppet, an inanimate object waiting for orders. The Queen that’s ordering it around, that’s alive. But its puppets aren’t.”
“You think the changeling you killed has a Queen?”
“Like I said, changelings are puppets. It wouldn’t have been walking around, let alone infiltrating and replacing ponies, if it didn’t have a Queen directing it.”
“Did your changelings never demonstrate the existence of a hive mind?”
Broken blinked again, the smirk falling off his face. “What in Faust’s name is a hive mind?” Shining glanced at Twilight, his brow raised, before turning back to Broken.
“Nevermind, it’s nothing you need to worry about. Now, I’m sure you’re itching to know why I didn’t lead a force to hunt down and exterminate every last changeling in Equestria, right?” At Broken’s nod, Shining regained his grin. “Well, that’s easy. They don’t deserve death.”
Twilight watched as Broken’s blank mask melted away, replaced with pure, disbelieving, shock. Even his eye shifted, losing some of its malice simply from the scarred stallion’s newfound resemblance to a lost puppy. The room was quiet for nearly a minute as Broken seemingly struggled to comprehend the words that had come out of Shining’s mouth.
“…don’t deserve death?” The stallion finally managed, sounding strangled.
“Nope. They aren’t a threat, not after Canterlot. We tracked down the Queen, found her in the Badlands, dead. Apparently she was going too fast for her wings to stop her, and when she hit the ground…” Shining winced.
“They don’t deserve death.” Broken repeated, his voice lilting each word as if he wasn’t aware that those particular words could be arranged like that.
“That’s what I said.”
“They. Don’t. Deserve. Death.” Broken said once more, his voice gaining an edge that immediately set Twilight’s hackles up. Shining, apparently not noticing the other stallion’s state, simply nodded. “The things that drain the love out of ponies and leave them dead inside. The things that foalnapped your wife and left her to die, then sent your sister to murder her! The THINGS that STOLE FROM YOU what you can NEVER GET BACK! THEY DON’T DESERVE DEATH?!”
Shining’s smile disappeared at his doppelganger’s outburst, and he stared wide-eyed at Broken for several seconds. Then his eyes fell, giving the scarred stallion a look of pity.
“Of course not.” He said quietly, after several seconds. “They shouldn’t have to pay for the transgressions their leader made.”
Broken stood still for several seconds, still taking heaving breaths after his eruption, but very suddenly he moved and struck Shining across the face with the back of his hoof. The unscarred stallion fell back as the scarred one crumpled to the ground.
“Shining!” Twilight shouted, bolting forward. Her brother quickly rolled into a seated position, raising a hoof to rub at his cheek. He gave her a glance as she came to a stop beside him, pulling his hoof down and probing the injury herself.
“Twily, sis, I’m fine. He slapped me, that’s all.” Shining raised his hoof again, flicking it at her as if to brush her magic away before putting it back to his cheek. “Might’ve knocked a tooth loose, but nothing worse than that.” Twilight’s brother sighed as the other stallion stopped writhing in agony on the floor. “You might want to get back, sis-“
“How dare you…” Broken’s rasping voice croaked from the floor. The two upright ponies put their eyes to him, finding his hateful gaze replaced with one of fury and pain. “How dare you claim that they don’t deserve to die… You don’t deserve to make that call… to tell everypony they’ve killed… everypony whose lives they destroyed… that they don’t deserve to be avenged…”
Broken slowly stood as he spoke, each pause a hissing breath as he pulled himself up to stand level with Shining and Twilight. He tried to step forward, only to stumble and barely catch himself on shaking legs. The scarred stallion glared at the two again, and Twilight felt more endangered by him in that momentary look than in the hour he’d spent staring at her with pure hatred in his eye.
“How dare you say that those things don’t deserve the fate they doled out countless times before…”
Shining sighed. “The Princess made that decision, Broken. I didn’t.”
“Then the Princess was a fool!” Broken bit off in a growl. Shining’s eyes darkened at the pronouncement, but he said nothing as his double continued on. “As the Captain of the Guard, you swore to protect the Princesses even from themselves! If Celestia was willing to put herself and everypony else in danger by refusing to exterminate-“
“I never said that Celestia made the decision, Broken.”
Broken’s glare somehow intensified at Shining’s interruption. “You said not thirty seconds ago that the Princess-“
“I said ‘the Princess’. I never said Celestia.” Broken seemed blindsided by the statement, his glare shifting to an angry confusion. Shining’s gaze became pitying again as the other stallion struggled to understand.
“But if not Celestia, then… who…?” His eye flicked to the side, focusing on some point behind Twilight, the anger in it freezing into what looked like fear. Twilight turned to follow his gaze, trying to see what had caused such a sudden shift.
Only to find the Princess Mi Amore Candenza standing in the open doorway.
“No…”
Broken said the word, breathlessly, as Princess Cadance entered the room. Shining and Twilight both walked over to her, the latter in a small state of shock at the presence of her former foalsitter.
Shock that quickly gave way to a warmer, more normal surprise as the Princess threw her hooves around the back of Twilight’s neck.
“It’s so good to see you again, Twilight.” Cadance said, giving the smaller mare a kind smile as she leaned back from her hug. “Though I do wish that we could have done so under nicer circumstances.”
“I-I… yes, you too…” Twilight mumbled. She blushed and shook her head clear as Cadance chuckled, the latter mare leaning over to give her husband a kiss.
“Might want to get back out there, hon. They’re all ready to go, Auntie Celestia’s just waiting on you.” She shuddered and glanced between the siblings. “Is that him? I can feel him from here; all that hatred…”
Shining sighed, but gave her a smile. “He’s a lot worse off than I’d thought he was, to be honest. Just do what you do best; hopefully, he’ll be willing to listen.” His wife nodded, and he gave her a quick peck on the cheek. He gave Twilight a quick hug before leaving, quietly drawing the door closed behind him. Cadance put her eyes on Twilight again as Twilight found her words.
“Cadance, what are you doing here? I mean, I’m glad, of course, but I thought, with the baby-“
“Yes, yes, I have three midwives telling me to avoid stress and potential danger, Twilight, I don’t need you harping on me too.” Cadance grinned at the younger mare to remove any bite from her words, but her smile quickly lost much of its mirth. “As for what I’m doing here, well… with everything I’ve heard about this pony that attacked you – where he’s from, what he’s done, who he really is – I had to see him for myself. See if I could help him.”
Twilight licked her lips. “But you do know who he is. You know how he feels about you, what he told me about you not too long ago. I don’t know what he might do to keep himself away from you out of some misbegotten fear that he’ll destroy your love for Shining.”
“I read your reports as much as Auntie Celestia does, Twilight. I’m well aware that he doesn’t want to see m- er, that he doesn’t want me to see him.” The alicorn shrugged. “And, quite frankly, I think he’s just being an idiot about it. But his reasoning for why proves that his heart’s in the right place. Even if his mind’s ranged out a little bit.” Cadance pulled Twilight into another hug, her next words spoken much quieter into the smaller mare’s ear. “I know how hard you’ve worked to help him, Twilight. If you hadn’t done as much as you have, I’d never have risked coming down here. But I spoke to Celestia and Dr. Path about this, and they both agreed that this has to happen.” The alicorn pulled back and gave Twilight another smile. “Trust me on this, Twilight. Please?”
Twilight’s brow furrowed, and she gave Cadance’s upper leg a quick swat. “Of course I trust you, you silly mare. I’m just worried that he’ll react badly, no matter what you do. Can you really blame me for that?”
“No, I can’t. But I can say that I think you’re wrong.” Cadance and Twilight stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments before Twilight glanced away and sighed.
“Just… just be careful, okay? For your sakes as much as his.”
“Of course, Twilight.” Cadance gave Twilight one last reassurance before turning to the stallion at the end of the room; Broken stiffened when she put her eyes on him, his breath coming even faster and shallower than it had been since she’d entered the room.
“No, no, no…” Twilight could hear him weakly muttering, a darkened track of fur coursing down his face from the corner of his eye. Cadance stepped forward slowly, calmly, stopping about a metre away from him as his hind legs buckled and he sat, clearly trying to restrain the shakes that coursed up his legs and through his body. Broken kept his gaze low, apparently not willing to look the alicorn in the eye. Cadance put her head low, unsuccessfully trying to catch his eye with hers, as she spoke to him for the first time.
“Shining Armor?”
The stallion froze at the name, his shaking stopping instantly, his eye darting to her face for a bare second before he tore it away from her, turning his head down and slowly shaking it, more in disbelief than denial.
“T-t-that’s not my name. Please, I don’t… don’t call me that, it’s not my name, it’s not my name…”
Cadance gave a very small sigh, and the look in his eye instantly became anguished. But he held his ground, repeating himself until she spoke again.
“You can call yourself whatever you want. But you know that I’ll always think of you as my Shining.”
The stallion took a shuddering breath, one hoof rising to pull back his mane out of his face. “I-I’m not, I’m not him, though. I’m not. Please.”
“Yes you are, Shining. You’re hurt, you’re angry, you’re scared, but you’re still my Shining Armor-“
“NO I’M NOT!” The stallion roared, his voice raised and rough in fear rather than fury. Cadance didn’t flinch, but Broken did, pushing himself back until he was flat against the wall. “I… I can’t be…” He raised his hoof again, but before it could reach his face it was caught by one of Cadance’s own.
“Why not, Shining?” The Princess asked, her voice still calm and comforting. “Why can’t you be my Shining Armor anymore?”
“Because you died!” The stallion wailed, drawing in and letting out another quaking breath. “Be-because she killed you, a-a-and I didn’t… I couldn’t save you, I couldn’t protect you. I failed you!”
“But you haven’t failed me, Shining Armor. I’m not dead, I’m right here, with you. How can you have failed me if nothing’s happened to me?”
The stallion closed his eye and ducked his head further. “No, no, I couldn’t stop her, I watched her kill you, I watched you die-“ Cadance dropped his hoof, moving hers to try to catch his chin.
“Shining. Shining, look at-”
“I WATCHED YOU DIE!” The stallion screamed. He pushed himself off of the wall, forcing Cadance to step to the side in order to dodge him, and then he stumbled forward, his head still down and eye still closed as he tried to flee, not seeming to notice as Twilight raised a barrier to block the door-
“Stop, Shining Armor.”
-a move that proved unnecessary as the stallion froze midway to it, one hoof still raised to take a step forward. Cadance’s voice had been hard, but not harsh, and she approached him calmly, her gaze still gentle and features still soft. The only thing that had changed was her mouth, forming a thin line instead of the soft smile she’d held before.
“Turn around, Shining.” The Princess spoke again, her voice maintaining the solid tone, and the stallion turned instantly, his breaths shallow and ears pinned back.
“Put your head up.” He did so, and Cadance moved to stand almost flush against him.
“Sit down.” The stallion’s legs buckled beneath him, his forelegs barely catching and holding him. Candace herself carefully sat, her eyes still fixed on him, and when she spoke again her voice was much softer than it had been.
“Now look at me.” Once more, he followed her command, his red and swimming eye shooting open to find the Princess bare inches away from him. His breath quickened again as she grabbed his hoof, not having a chance to quake simply from the speed he was drawing it.
“You haven’t failed me, Shining Armor.” Cadance gently raised his hoof to rest against her face. “You’ve fought for years. You’ve given up everything you had. You’ve nearly lost your life more times than I dare to think of. And you’ve succeeded.” The stallion blinked as the mare started smiling again. “You came here in order to protect me, to save me from a threat that nopony knew was coming. You’ve given us every warning, made every effort, and you did it. You saved me, Shining.” His eye followed his hoof as she lifted it from her cheek, bringing it down to rest against her belly, and the very slight bump nestled there. “You saved her, Shining.” The stallion’s breath ceased entirely as Cadance let his hoof go, but the appendage didn’t even slightly shift from where it had been placed. “And now you can stop. You can let yourself rest, for the first time in ten years. Because I swear to you, that for as long as you love me, for as long as you love her, you will never fail us.”
Gradually, the stallion’s eye crawled upwards, meeting Cadance’s for the first time since she’d entered the room. He took in a breath, very slowly, as if to deliberately contrast the ones he’d taken before. Twilight watched his mouth open, ever so slightly, and a small sound escape from his lips.
Then he lunged forward, wrapping his hooves around the mare in front of him and crushing himself to her as he sobbed wailing, broken cries into her neck. Her hooves rose around him as quickly as his did her, her lips already whispering wordless soothing songs to him before the first of his tears wetted her coat. Her wings slowly came forward, wrapping around the stallion in a soft embrace.
Twilight figured that that was as good a cue as any to step out of the room.