Shining Armor opened the door, yawning as he exited the room. The two changeling guards usually posted at his door stood at the door next to Shining's room.
"It's passed six, you two can leave now if you'd like." He said. They stepped passed him, trotting down the stairs.
Shining trotted towards the staircase. He was about to step down to the first stair but he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.
What's that? Shining asked. He trotted over to the object, seeing it was some sort of paper, and magically held it in place at eye-level. The part he saw was blank, but he could see the outlines of some sort of portrait.
He flipped to other side and saw a black and white portrait. It had three ponies drawn on the paper: a unicorn mare to the left, with her left eye covered by her hair which went down to shoulder and curled upwards. Her cutie-mark was a quill resting on the face of a small, opened notebook. The notebook had the outlines of a pony. Her mouth was slightly open, giving a small grin and she looked like she had been humored by somepony. There was a tall stallion to the right, with his left fore-hoof rested across the back of the mare's neck, and his head turned to kiss the mare beside him on the cheek. His mane had been combed back behind his ears to the back of his neck so none would be in his face. His cutie mark was a stack of six papers with the lines on each sheet filled with scribbling. The bottom portion of the portrait had been cut out, however, there was another set of hooves behind the mare.
Is this the same picture Taltra was talking about last night? It'd make sense... Shining pondered. The mare in the portrait does look like her.
Shining redirected his attention to the bottom portion of the portrait. However, that part of the portrait had been crudely ripped or cut out.
It's looks like somepony cut out that portion of the portrait on purpose... almost like she was trying to remove a pony that was there.
"Shining Armor!"
He turned back. Taltra was standing outside of her room, the door to her room open. "Where did you get that?!"
Shining looked up from the portrait to see Taltra standing at the door to her room. Her eyes were widened in terror.
"I found it out here. Are you-" "Give me that now!"
Taltra quickly trotted up to Shining and snatched the paper away, breaking his magical grip on it.
"Why-" "Don't you dare ask!" Taltra harshly as she held the card in her hoof, staring at him with anger. After a moment, her anger quelled and she let out a quiet, saddened sigh.
"Please..." She said a couple of seconds afterwords, her voice taking on a pathetic tone. Shining nodded.
"Thank you. Please let me go put this up. I have an important meeting with Queen Chrysalis and I'm already late." Taltra said. Shining nodded again. She turned and trotted into her room before exiting and shutting the door behind her, locking it.
"You've got nothing that you need to do today to my knowledge unless an emergency comes up. We'll be finished in an hour. Please, do not cause any trouble." Taltra said as she stepped out. Shining nodded. She trotted past him without another word.
---
Twilight Sparkle awoke to the sound of her door creaking open slowly. She took a deep breath through her snout, turning onto her back.
Must be one of the servants getting those plates from last night. Twilight yawned, laying her head to the left, towards the wall.
Ss-
Crack
Glass fell, crashing to the floor. Twilight opened her eyes, darkness around her. Spike was at her right hind-hoof, snoring quietly.
I guess they could use some help cleaning up.
Twilight sat up in her bed and turned to the side, her hind-hooves hanging off the side of the bed.
"Hey, do you need-?"
Twilight looked up at the pony. The dimness of her room made it difficult for her to see, but she could tell it wasn't a servant;the pony standing in front of her was large and muscular. She could vaguely see the outlines of a guard's uniform. Pieces of a white, broken teacup were to his left side, right where the table was. He had Twilight's notebook in his teeth.
"What are you doing in my room? What're doing with my notebook?" Twilight asked. The guard galloped out of the room.
"Hey! Stop!" Twilight jumped off her bed and galloped after him. The guard galloped down the hall and turned the corner, sliding as he did.
"Stop!"
"Please forgive me, your highness! I must-"
The guard suddenly came crashing to the ground as he passed by a hallway. His helmet rolled in front of him as a pony stepped out from behind the corner.
"I'd stay where you were if I was you."
Twilight trotted up to the guard and snatched her notebook away from his hooves. The guard simply laid there, his hooves sprawled out on the cold tiles. With the morning sun now out, she could see that he was clearly one of the guards that had came from Canterlot.
"Mornin', sugarcube." Applejack tipped her hat to Twilight as she turned to her. "I heard y'all screamin' up the hallway and figured somethin' was wrong."
"Thanks. Applejack. I'll be back in a minute with some guards. Would you make sure he doesn't go anywhere while I get them?"
"Not at all, sugarcube. After the fall he took, I'm sure he's ain't gonna be gettin' up for a while"
"All right. Thanks again." Twilight said, trotting away from them and down the hallway.
---
"We're about to stop and rest for a while, okay Blooming?"
"Okay, Lance. How's Rocky doing?"
"I don't know. I'll see if he's all right when we stop."
My hooves sluggishly trotted beside Lance. I opened my eyes, met with the sight of the snow glistening in the morning sun. I brought my head up beside Lance's.
"About time you woke up."
"Good morning to you too." I coughed, standing up straight. Guess I must have been asleep for a while.
"Did anything happen while I was out?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"No. We've just been trotting. Are you feeling better now?"
"Yeah. I'm better. Here-" I pulled my hoof off of the back of Lance's neck and planted it on the ground. "I think I can trot for a while."
"You sure? I don't mind."
"Thanks, but I'm fine."
She nodded as we stopped in front of a large, withered tree.
"Let's rest here for a while." Lance sat at a large tree root sticking out to the left. Blooming sat down beside her. I sat at the other side of the tree.
"Lance, do you mind if I look around?" Blooming turned to her as she stood.
"Yeah. Just stay near us."
"Thank you." Blooming said. She trotted away from us, going into the shrubbery.
Lance yawned.
"Tired?"
"Yeah. Blooming kept asking me if you were all right all night while I carried you."
"Thanks for that, by the way. I don't know what happened." I said with a smile as I scooted to where I could see her. She nodded with a smile.
"Y'know, I can go look for food and water while you sleep, if you want. I won't trail far in case Blooming needs us."
"Tempting offer, but... nah. I'll sleep later. Plus I don't know if you'll pass out again."
"All right. Your loss." I stood, trotting passed her and sitting down beside her.
"I guess you're feeling better."
"Yeah. I actually feel like I've got some strength back in my hooves. I'm still stiff, though."
"Well, that's good-ish. Your coat's still dark, though."
"I know... hopefully it'll return to its normal color." I said, my hooves, the coat nearly black.
"Oh- almost forgot, thanks for getting that changeling off of me back there. I'd have been dead meat if you hadn't come in when you did."
"No problem, Rocky," Lance said. We both stared at each other for a moment, gazing into each other's eyes. Some strands of her mane fell in front of her right eye. A slight blush coming across her cheeks. Why? Ma-maybe I should-
Lance tore away and stared down, causing me to snap out of whatever daze I was in. We remained silent for a few moments.
"You know, it's nice to have somepony who's got my back."
"Well... I..." Lance sighed. "Yeah, it is nice. Although, I thought we might have been friends." She glanced up to me. "Maybe more?"
I tilted my head, pretending to think about my already chosen decision.
"Eh... maybe," I said with a smile. Lance punched my shoulder playfully.
"Hey, don't push it." She giggled as she leaned close to me with a grin. Lance planted a kiss on my cheek. I turned to return it, but--
"Lance, Rocky!"
Lance and I quickly seperated as Blooming rushed out from the left side of the tree. She stood quickly.
"Is everything okay?!"
"Yeah! I found something that could help us! Follow me!"
"Okay." Lance turned back to me, a small blush across her face. "You coming, Rocky?"
"Of- of course," I stood up and trotted over to Lance and extending my left fore-hoof to help her stand up. I followed behind her quickly.
---
Shining Armor paced back-and-forward in front of Queen Chrysalis' throne, awaiting her return.
I need to know more about that portrait. I have to be vague about it- she said I can't ask her again.
The portrait was imprinted in his mind. He knew, because of her reaction, Taltra was the mare in the portrait.
"Yes, have them sent to Renla. Make sure they get proper training."
Shining, hearing Queen Chrysalis, straightened his posture stood at attention beside the staircase. He looked forward as he heard the door to the courtyard open and close.
"Ah, Shining Armor. Is there something you need?" Queen Chrysalis said. Her hoof-steps got closer to Shining, and soon enough, she was standing in front of him, staring at him.
"Your highness, may I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead. But don't waste my time." Queen Chrysalis turned, trotting up the staircase.
"I found this portrait out in the hall- it had a mare and a stallion standing beside each other. When I showed it to Taltra, she got upset." Shining asked. Queen Chrysalis stopped as she reached the top of the staircase, near her throne. She sighed.
"She was a pony, Shining, if that's the answer you're looking for. You're not the only pony I've transformed. I'll have to search through her room again." Queen Chrysalis sat in her throne.
"No-" Shining clamped his mouth shut. Queen Chrysalis stared at him, confused. "I-I have it in my room, your highness. I'll bring it to you soon."
She deserves to have her own memories. Surely Queen Chrysalis wouldn't mind if she just kept it to look at it occasionally
"Okay. Don't wait too long to bring it. I need it disposed of as soon as possible."
"Of course, your highness. Thank you for your time, your highness." Shining turned, trotting up the stairwell to the second floor.
---
"We'll take him to the dungeon, your highness."
"Okay. Thank you."
The two guards bowed in front of Twilight. They both dragged the unconscious stallion away.
"That was mighty strange." Applejack turned to her Y'all alright, Twilight?"
"Yeah... something about that pony is bugging me,"
"Whadda'ya mean?"
"The stallion; he seems so familiar. I feel like I've seen him before, but..." Twilight stopped abruptly, realizing who the stallion was.
"That pony was that guard outside of Chrysalis' room!"
"Pardon?"
"He was the guard outside of Queen Chrysalis' room! I knew I recognized him!"
"Ah- nice. We might get somethin' from him."
"Exactly. Maybe he could even tell us where the Changeling Empire is."
"That's great, Twi'. We might be able ta get Shining Armor back earlier than we expected."
"Exactly." Twilight said. A few moments of silence passed through.
"Well, I'm gonna go grab somethin' to eat before headin' back into the village. Want to come with me?"
"Sure, Applejack. But I can only stay for a few minutes."
"Let's hurry then."
---
"It's over here somewhere..."
I trotted past a small, ice covered boulder, following behind Blooming and Lance.
"What did you see again, Blooming? And you're sure that it wasn't something else?"
"I swear it was a wood building or something out here. Somewhere around here..."
"I'm gonna fly up and see if I could find anything," Lance said as her wings fluttered open. She rose above the withered treeline, upwards into the sky.
"I think I see what she's talking about." She called out. No way!
"Really? Is it far away?"
"Nah. We'd just need to trot through the cut in the treeline and then follow the iced-over stream. We'll hit it after a while." Lance said as she hovered down and eventually landed on the ground.
"All right. Let's get going then. Good job."
"T-thanks." Blooming said. Lance trotted forward, beside the stream.
"Well, what're you two waiting for? Come on!" Lance said, turning around to look at us. We trotted behind her.