Changeling Mine

by Futile Task


Chapter Twenty: A Dark Truth

Chrysalis sat nervously in the meeting room as she waited for the ponies Twilight had sent for, wishing that Twilight could be there to help her through this but understanding why she had to leave when she did.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of the door opening, and got up to greet the two ponies who entered the room. “Fancy Pants, Prince Blueblood, it’s good to finally meat you.”

“And it is good to meet you your highness,” said Fancy, noting the look that appeared on the changelings face and becoming confused, “is something wrong?”

“No, nothing is wrong,” said Chrysalis, “it’s just that I am no longer a royal, I gave up that title to save what was left of my children.”

“A very noble sacrifice,” said Blueblood, much to Chrysalis’s surprise.

“I did not expect that from you Prince Blueblood.”

“Most don’t,” said Blueblood with a smirk, “but I have changed a lot. After all, your guards leaving your “sorry ass” to go help ponies more deserving kind of makes you rethink how you have been living life. But enough about me, we’re here because you need our help.”

“Yes, yes I do,” said Chrysalis, inviting them to sit and then sitting down herself.

“So,” said Fancy, “we were made to understand that our visit today was to discuss some disagreements you seem to have with the news about the incident with Shining Armor am I correct.”

“Yes,” said Chrysalis, “mainly I wish to correct what ponies have come to regard as the truth behind the incident.”

“What more needs to be said,” said Blueblood. “The Prince-Consort was found guilty of slaughtering innocent souls as well assaulting a well beloved town, not to mention his attack on you and Princess Twilight.”

“But none of that was his fault, it was mine.”

Both stallions looked surprised at this, and then Fancy cleared his throat to speak, “Explain.”

So Chrysalis did, explaining everything from her insanity and how it had affected her, to the poison which had ravaged Shining Armor’s mind and caused him to do such horrible things. When she was finished, both stallions looked shocked stiff, till finally Blueblood spoke up.

“That…that definitely changes some things, but are you sure this is what you want told. After all, there are still many ponies around Equestria that do not think it wise to be bringing changelings into our midst, and this could potentially give them ammunition with which they could turn the ponies against you.”

“It is a risk we will have to take,” said Chrysalis, “for Shining should not have to pay for something he had no control over, especially when I am working so hard to make sure he will be well again.”

“Very well then,” said Blueblood, getting up along with Fancy and bowing once more to Chrysalis. “We will do what we can to repair this, just don’t get your hopes up to much, ponies are looking for somepony to blame right now for all the wrong that has been exposed of late, and they won’t let this go lightly.”

Chrysalis nodded, then bid them fare well, silently praying that what they said wouldn’t come to pass.

On the balcony of the Crystal palace, Cadance watched as a bright flash of light appeared over the city, watching carefully as her sister in law Twilight Sparkle glided down to her before giving her a hug in greeting. “Hey Ladybug.”

“Hey Cadance,” said Twilight, “How are you doing?”

“Well enough,” said Cadance, letting go of Twilight and beginning to lead her inside. “Though I am still having a hard time getting used to the presence of that…of Celestine, especially seeing as how she looks so much like her…like Celestia…”

“You’re still having problems accepting them, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am,” said Cadance, “Twilight I don’t care how much you sympathize with them, it’s just…it’s going to take me a long while to get used to the idea of changelings being a good thing for the kingdom.”

“I can understand that,” said Twilight, “but I think if you see Ponyville now, you’ll see why they will be a good thing for the kingdom.”

“What happening to Ponyville?”

Twilight explained what had happened to the town, how because of all the arrant spells flung by Shining’s raiders, the town had been left in ruins, but thanks to the help of Celestine, they had been able to rebuild in a with little effort thanks to her magic.

“So…the entire town now is made of trees?”

“Yep,” said Twilight sweetly, “and it looks absolutely amazing, I never knew that such magic was possible.”

Cadance didn’t speak, but as they walked, her conscious couldn’t help but voice its opinion. “You know you are only holding onto this because you are angry about what happened to both Shining and Twilight. And now look, Twilight is as happy as can be, and Shining is being fixed by Chrysalis’s mother, you don’t exactly have much left to hold against them do you.”

“I know…but…”

“No more buts, this is happening whether we want it to or not, so let’s just accept it, and hopefully benefit from it.”

They hadn’t gotten far into the palace when Cadance excused herself, saying that she needed to take care of some court matters, but that a guard would take Twilight the rest of the way. When she reached her destination, she was surprised to see that the guard had led her to a guest room, the guard knocking at the door before hearing a clicking sound from behind and opening it, gesturing Twilight in.

When she made it inside, she saw Celestine sitting comfortably on a large couch, sipping at tea and reading a large black covered book, her eyes gazing from behind a pair of horn rimmed glasses.

“Celestine,” said Twilight, causing the mare to look up.

“Ah Twilight,” said the large changeling, the mare putting her book down and taking off her glasses before speaking again. “I just got done with Shining’s latest treatment, and was leaving him alone for a bit to let his head clear.”

“How is he doing?”

“Better than most,” said Celestine, “he is responding really well to treatment, which is better than I hoped for considering his use of dark magic, but he comes from a good magical bloodline, so there is hope he won’t need to be in treatment for too long.”

“That’s good…can I see him?”

“Not yet,” said Celestine, “first we need to talk.”

She gestured to the couch in front of her, waiting till Twilight was sitting before speaking again. “Before you talk to him, there are a few things you must know. When you enter there, the room must remain dark, for this treatment makes him extremely light sensitive, even the light from your horn will irritate his skin and hurt his eyes, even possibly blind him. Also, he will look a bit…different, but you must remain calm, for the changes to his body will fade with time. And one more thing, you must be aware that he remembers nothing since before Chrysalis injected the venom into him.”

“What!” yelled Twilight, “but that was before the wedding announcement, how can he have lost so much memory!?”

“Because all of it was tainted,” said Celestine, “I tried my best to recover what I could, but the rest I had to remove because the poison had seeped its magic into them, so they had to go. Now he does remember that he is married to Cadance, and he remembers that you are an alicorn now, and that the Crystal Empire has returned, but beyond that he remembers nothing, which has helped a bit.”

“How so?”

“Well he didn’t attack me for one; he was just extremely cautious of me when he came out of his stupor due to not knowing me or what I was. Also he doesn’t remember you binding his magic, but I have told him it was bound for good reasons and he has had time to think of it. However, he is starting to ask questions, and I am not really the pony to give him the answers, but I stress that you don’t give him too much information, not yet anyway.”

“Ok,” said Twilight, “I assume he’s through that door?”

Celestine nodded, and then watched as Twilight walked over and went inside the dark room, hoping the young mare was ready for what lay beyond.