//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8 
// Story: The Night Shift 
// by totallynotabrony 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight did not appear to be amused by the knocking on her door late at night.  Still, upon seeing who it was, her face showed a look of concern.  “Cheerilee, what is it?”
“I need you to send a letter to Princess Luna,” explained the schoolteacher.  “It needs to be absolutely secure, and it needs to get there now.”
“I’ll go wake up Spike.”  The purple unicorn invited Cheerilee in and went to rouse her assistant.
The little dragon stumbled out of bed, yawning.  “Oh, hi Cheerilee.  It’s kind of late, isn’t it?”
“Sorry about that,” said the mare, giving him letter that she’d already written.  “This is really important.  It needs to go to Princess Luna.”
Spike frowned.  “Well, okay.  I think I can do that.”  He took the scroll from Cheerilee and burnt it in a puff of green fire from his mouth.  The smoke zipped out the window.
“More business with the Princess?” Twilight asked.
Cheerilee nodded.  “We usually have other ways of communicating, but this is a special case.”  Special as in, somepony had broken into her house and stolen the letter from Luna.
“Well, I hate to push you out the door,” said Twilight, “but I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow.  My brother’s coming to town.”
“Good night,” said Cheerilee.  “Thanks again.”
On her way home, Cheerilee had time to think about the problem that had developed.  Whoever had taken the letter now knew that Shining Armor would be in Ponyville the next day.  Also, they knew the passphrase that he would use.  Perhaps worst of all, there was now no doubt that Cheerilee was taking orders from the Princess.  The teacher wished she knew who her enemies were getting their orders from.
Cheerilee sighed.  Tomorrow was not going to be a good day.

“You aren’t looking so swell, Ms. Cheerilee,” said Twist.
“Oh, I was just up all night working on something,” answered Cheerilee.  After realizing that her house had been compromised, it had been difficult to fall asleep.
“I didn’t bring any peppermints today, sorry,” said the filly.
“You know what, Twist?” said Cheerilee.  “I’ve been a little concerned about my weight lately.  Those candies are absolutely to die for, but I really should cut back.”
“Oh, okay.”  Twist walked away to her seat.  Cheerilee reviewed the day’s lesson plan for a moment.  She assumed that Shining Armor would catch up to her later in the day.  For now, there were young minds to teach.
They were nearly finished with the lessons about fiction.  A fitting end to the week.  On Monday, they would have to start navigating the nonfiction section of the library.
Cheerilee dismissed the class in the afternoon and left for home.  As she approached her door, she spotted a white unicorn stallion waiting for her.  His mane was blue, and he wore a pair of saddlebags.
“Ms. Cheerilee, I presume?” he said.
“That’s right,” the mare said.
The stallion nodded.  “I’m Prince Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard.  You can just call me Shining.”
“Let me set my things down inside,” said Cheerilee.
“Do you mind if I come in?” asked Shining.
“Oh, I wish you wouldn’t,” said Cheerilee.  “I didn’t get any time to clean up, and the house is a mess.  I’ve been under a lot of stress lately.”
“It’s all right,” the stallion said.  “I understand how hectic things can get sometimes, and you think it can’t get any worse.  Just remember, the night is darkest just before the dawn.”  He smiled at her.
Cheerilee excused herself and set her saddlebags full of papers down inside the door.  “Do you mind if we talk over at the library?”
Shining smiled.  “I’d like that.  I was going to go see my sister anyway.”
The two of them walked over to the large tree that had been converted into a building.  Cheerilee figured Twilight would be better able to tell if this was actually her brother.
When the purple mare answered the door, she excitedly threw her hooves around the stallion’s neck.  “It's so good to see you!” she exclaimed.
Shining laughed.  “Just your BBBFF stopping by for a visit.”  Cheerilee didn’t know what that meant, but it seemed that Twilight did.
“Here, I brought you something,” said Shining.  He lifted a book out of his saddlebags.
“Oh, the latest Daring Do novel!  My favorite!” Twilight beamed happily.
“Where’s Spike?” asked Shining.  “I have something for him, too.”
“I’m right here,” said the dragon.  The stallion gave him a small pouch of something.  Spike opened it and pulled out a few brightly-colored jewels.
“Oh hey,” said Spike.  “Canterlot Sparklers!  These are great, thanks a lot.”  He popped a few into his mouth and chewed happily.
Cheerilee was beginning to believe that maybe this was the real Shining Armor.  The stallion spoke a few quiet words to Twilight, who agreed to leave him and Cheerilee alone to talk.
“How about the back room off the kitchen?” suggested Twilight.
“That’s great, thanks,” said Shining.  He led Cheerilee through the front room, passing a lumpy form on the couch.  It appeared to be a pony completely wrapped in bandages with only the tips of his orange-colored ears sticking out.
Once the two of them were alone, Cheerilee said, “So what did you want to talk about?”
Shining’s face had gone serious.  “How much do you know about the Changeling attack?”
“Not a whole lot, I’m afraid,” said Cheerilee.
“Well, keep what I’m about to say to yourself.  We’ve been hiding it from the media.”  Shining cleared his throat.  “In the confusion of the battle, some of the Changelings penetrated the Royal Archives.  We don’t think they made off with much, but perhaps they saw something that they wanted to come back for.”
“Like what?” asked Cheerilee.
Shining shrugged.  “It could be any one of a thousand things.  There’s a lot in there that isn’t public knowledge.  What’s important is that the Archives are at risk.”
Cheerilee thought for a moment.  “Can’t you set up more guards?”
“Sure,” Shining nodded.  “We have.  It would be better, however, to deal with the problem directly.”  
He pulled a folder of pictures out of his saddlebags and showed them to the mare.  They depicted the bodies of several dead Changelings.  Their wounds appeared to be magical in nature.
“From what we’ve seen, these ugly buckers don’t usually run around in small groups.  Hive mind and all that.” explained Shining.  “These half-dozen or so were found recently in Trottingham.  The questions we’ve all been asking are, who killed them, and why didn’t they report it to the authorities?”
“Because they themselves were also wanted by the law?” guessed Cheerilee.
“It looks that way,” said Shining, nodding.  He leaned forward.  “What’s worse is that the scene looks like a business deal gone bad.”
“You’re saying that somepony was working with the Changelings to break into the Archive?” asked Cheerilee.
“That’s the way the evidence looks,” said Shining.  “Perhaps Changeling form-shifting magic was part of the deal.  That would explain how some ponies we’ve encountered are managing it.  Either way, we need to get to the root of the problem and stop it.  That’s where you come in.”
“What do you know about me?” asked Cheerilee defensively.
“I’m both the nephew-in-law of the Princesses, and the Captain of the Guard,” said Shining.  “I’m cleared for everything.”
Cheerilee’s eyebrows went up.  “You aren’t worried to be in a small room with me?”
Shining shrugged.  “I believe in giving everypony a chance.”
“That means a lot,” said Cheerilee, touched.
Shining explained that further communication from the Princess would be delivered in a different, more secure way.  He mentioned that he would be staying in the library for a while to catch up with Twilight.  Cheerilee said goodbye and left the building.
Back at her house, the schoolteacher collected the paperwork from her saddlebags and set about grading it.  It was another light day for paperwork, and she was soon finished.
Cheerilee debated what to do for a moment.  Perhaps she could take a walk.  Maybe if she felt hungry later, she could extend her stroll to the forest.  With no better plan to pass the time, she set off.
The town square was relatively busy when the schoolteacher passed through.  The Friday evening crowd was about normal.  A white stallion came over and walked beside her.
“Oh, hello Shining,” said Cheerilee.  “What can I do for you?”
“We need to talk,” said the pony.  He coughed.  “The night is darkest just before the dawn.”
Cheerilee’s eyes narrowed.  “I see.  Come along, I know a place where we can be alone.”