//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10 - On Edge 
// Story: Second Chances, Many Changes 
// by ASGeek2012 
//------------------------------//

"I'll accompany you to the castle, Candy," Rarity said as we stepped out of her boutique. "I wish to consult briefly with Twilight about my proposed design for Queen Chrysalis' banner, then I will head right back here to work on it and the dress."

"Will you be able to get it all done in time?" Fluttershy asked, echoing the question in my own mind.

Rarity smiled. "This is nothing compared to other deadlines I've been under. I'll have to check with Pinkie, but I doubt dinner will be served before four considering the princesses arrive at three. I will have plenty of time. Oh, Candy, if you could stop by my boutique around two, I can do a final fitting."

"So long as somepony can escort me," I said. "I don't quite know my way around Ponyville yet."

"I'd be happy to," said Fluttershy.

I swept my gaze about the town on the return to the castle in an attempt to better acquaint myself with its layout, but the streets sometimes ran in directions counter to easy recall. Ponyville appeared to have grown organically, streets running hither and yon, only occasionally settling into patterns more closely resembling the more familiar grid layout of the cities of home.

The pegasus guards at the entrance of the castle had been exchanged for unicorns, though no less armored nor any less intimidating. The reason became clear when one cast Twilight's detection spell on each of us in turn before allowing us entry.

"Finally," Rarity said. "Twilight is learning the art of delegation. Why she does not have a large staff at this castle I will never understand."

"She doesn't want to put on airs," said Fluttershy.

"Yes, well, there's image, and then there's convenience. She needs to learn to balance the two." She turned to one of the guards. "Speaking of whom, where might I find Twilight?"

"Princess Twilight is in the library, ma'am, last I saw," said the guard. "Though I am not sure she wants to be disturbed."

"She will certainly make an exception for me. I need to speak with her for only a moment, and then I will leave her to her fretting over the summit. Come along, all."

"When we're done, I'll want to head to my room," I said as we trotted down the corridor.

"Of course, dear, not a problem."

"I can take you there now if you ..." Fluttershy trailed off as voices drifted down the corridor towards us from ahead.

"--have no direct proof that he was the cause of her appearance!" came Twilight's voice.

"Goodness," Fluttershy murmured. "She sounds upset."

Then a male voice I had never heard before countered, "Just the same, Twiley, do you really think you should have her inside your own castle?!"

Rarity's eyes widened. "Is that--?"

"What are you talking about?" said Twilight.

"And all this time I was worried that she was a planted spy for the changelings!" said the male voice, my stomach twisting.

"What?!"

"And now I learn she could be just another setup for betrayal -- again! -- by Discord!"

Fluttershy gasped.

"--Shining Armor??" Rarity said, her eyes wide.

"What in the name of Equestria are you talking about?!" Twilight bellowed.

"Um, maybe we should--" Fluttershy began.

My hooves carried me forward as if of their own accord.

"Candy, wait!" Rarity hissed.

I didn't listen. Rationality had fought against my emotional turmoil and lost.

"Oh, come on, Twiley!" cried the male voice. "Do you really believe he's sorry for how he betrayed all of us to Tirek?"

"That's not the point!" cried Twilight. "She's just a filly!"

"So she claims."

I skidded to a stop before the open doors of the library and stared.

Twilight stood in an almost combative stance, her eyes narrowed. She glared at a large white unicorn stallion with a three-tone blue mane and tail. His cutie mark was a blue shield with a six-pointed star that, curiously, shared almost the same shade of pinkish-red as Twilight's mark.

Twilight stomped her hoof. "I do not have to listen to this! Princess Celestia has stated specifically that she trusts me implicitly in this matter! I do not need you stomping in here making these ridiculous claims about somepony who is not even an adult and try to claim--!"

"Ahem."

The noise from Rarity startled myself as much as it did both verbal combatants in the library. She and Fluttershy had caught up with me and stood on either side.

Twilight's eyes widened slightly as she turned her head towards us. "I'm sorry," she said in a lower voice. "I didn't know you had returned."

"Apparently," said Rarity in an icy voice.

The unicorn stallion narrowed his gaze at me. My ears drew back as I met his eyes, and I tried not to lower my head. One of my rear hooves twitched.

Twilight took a deep breath. "Candy, you look very nice. Your morning with Rarity apparently went rather well. This is my brother, Shining Armor. Shining, this is Candy Swirl."

"Candy," Shining Armor said in a cool voice, nodding his head once, his hard eyes never leaving me.

Rarity trotted forward, mercifully interrupting his gaze. "Fluttershy, would you be so kind as to take Candy to her room?" she said in a voice of deadly calm.

Fluttershy gulped. "Er, um, y-yes, of course." She gestured to me urgently with her hoof.

I wanted to stay. I wanted to know if this was indeed about me, and what new suspicions were being heaped upon me. Yet it finally clicked in my head what was going on with Rarity.

Rarity was pissed.

I followed Fluttershy, glancing behind me in time to see the doors to the library glow with Rarity's magic and swiftly close. My heart thumped. I wanted to think that I deserved the defense I assumed Rarity was about to mount on my behalf, but I didn't want anypony to get into trouble because of me. "I sometimes still feel like a bit of a burden."

I knew Fluttershy would react the way she did, and yet I had said it anyway; she stopped and gave me a hug, even taking care not to muss my coiffed mane. I had plied her for sympathy, or perhaps manipulated was the better word.

"You're not a burden, Candy," Fluttershy said. "Please, don't think that. Things are just ... confused right now. This summit is making everypony a little crazy, I think."

"I just hope Rarity and Twilight can set Shining Armor straight about me."

Fluttershy smiled as we continued on. "Shining Armor is a wonderful pony, Candy. He's Twilight's BBBFF for a reason."

"Huh?"

"Big Brother Best Friends Forever. I think he's just concerned for Twilight and wants to help. After all, she's helped him on several -- oh!"

Fluttershy had spotted them the same time I had. Two armored earth ponies patrolled the hallway ahead, yet they looked like none I had ever seen. They appeared wrapped in shiny glass instead of fur. Sparkles flitted about their coats as they trotted past, as if they were indeed living crystal. Even the reflections of light in their eyes were faceted.

"He must have brought some guards with him from the Crystal Empire," said Fluttershy.

So this was yet another form of pony? Earth, unicorn, pegasus, alicorn ... crystal?

"Though I don't think Shining Armor brought Princess Cadance with him," said Fluttershy. "That's too bad, I would like to see her again. I think you would like her."

So there was a fourth princess. Which made Shining Armor a Prince. Prince Shining Armor. That was not quite the same as the Earth phrase "a knight in shining armor," but, seriously, do pony parents somehow look into the future when naming their foals?

At least this distraction helped calm me down enough that I could process more of what I had overheard. "Fluttershy? Shining Armor had mentioned the name Discord."

Fluttershy averted her eyes. "Um, what about it?"

"Is that the same Discord that you have tea with every Tuesday?"

"Oh, um, yes, he is, but, please, he really is trying to do better. He assured me he had nothing to do with your memory loss."

That ... was unexpected. Why would they think somepony here had anything to do with that? I hoped they weren't blaming that miscreant pony for things he never did, let alone for something I had completely invented. "If it helps any, I don't think I've ever met him."

Fluttershy smiled. "Oh, that's good to know! Would you mind if I told the others?"

"If it means they'll stop worrying about somepony who's likely innocent of doing anything wrong to me, then, sure, go ahead."

"Thank you. This will put a lot of ponies' minds at ease."

Perhaps I had managed to set one thing right. Shining Armor had spoken of this Discord as if he had done something truly terrible. Likely this pony had enough things to answer for without being falsely accused of wronging me.





Life at the castle seemed to become both more hectic and more regimented at the same time. Apparently Shining Armor had been put in charge of the guards. The only real effect this had on me was replacing one of my pegasus guards with a unicorn guard. Many guard contingents were similarly rearranged. It made a certain amount of sense to me, balancing strength with magic.

I had hoped to stay in my room until I needed to head over to the Carousel Boutique. As a human, I had become accustomed to skipping lunch. Equine biology apparently said otherwise, and I wandered over to the kitchen around one in the afternoon, my complement of guards in tow. As I arrived, Spike emerged holding a tray with a sandwich atop it. "Oh, hey, Candy," he called out. "Here for some lunch?"

"That would be nice," I said.

"Sure thing! Let me take this to Twilight, and I'll be right back to fix you something."

"Oh, you don't have to trouble yourself, I--"

"Nah, no trouble at all! Just sit yourself in the dining hall."

While I awaited Spike's return, I mulled over my earlier conversation with Rarity. My mind returned to the same term: Element-bearer. She had implied she had worn it, perhaps like jewelry. Was it magical, or just representative of some honor or title?

If I could have some time alone, I could visit the library and finally look up some of this stuff. Having a better handle on this world would obviate the need to reveal my origins. I could claim my memory never came back and settle into a new life. Hadn't a new life been the original goal?

Spike put together a veggie-platter, mostly similar to what I had seen in the hospital, but with one addition: flowers. Had I not spotted the white petal sticking out of the sandwich Spike had delivered to Twilight, I would have assumed them to be garnish.

"Here you go!" Spike said as he slid the tray in front of me.

"Thank you," I said.

He hopped into a seat opposite me. "Mind if I keep you company? I already ate, but I could use a break. I swear, Twilight's running me almost as ragged as she's running herself!"

"Are you really Twilight's sole staff?"

Spike smiled. "Yep, I pretty much do it all."

"Including the food preparation, apparently."

He glanced off to the side and leaned across the table, lowering his voice. "Trust me, you don't want to taste Twilight's cooking."

I smiled. I needed some humor. He also didn't bat an eye at my table manners. "Have you been with Twilight for long?" I knew I was risking treading on information that might be common knowledge, but Spike seemed friendly enough.

His smile widened. "All my life, in fact."

"Really?"

"She hatched me when she was a filly."

So I had been right; Spike was more or less a child. But, wow, actually hatched by Twilight? Did that make Twilight Spike's surrogate mother? If so, then they were a lot closer than I had thought.

"In fact, that was when she got her cutie mark!" Spike said, sounding as proud as if he had somehow called it down upon her flank himself. I usually did not tolerate young children very well, but Spike seemed a lot more mature than his years suggested. "And when she became Princess Celestia's student."

I paused. Her student?

Spike waved a claw. "Eh, but you probably know all about that sorta stuff. You sound like you're pretty smart."

"Oh, um, but you were right there. You got to see a lot of it yourself."

Spike chuckled. "Heh, true, like the time Twilight accidentally set Princess Celestia's throne on fire."

I nearly choked on my broccoli. "She did what??"

"Oops!" Spike cried, his eyes wide. "Ah ... er ... d-did I say 'on fire'? No, no, I meant, um ... all fine. Yeah, that's what I meant! She made it all fine and dandy. No fire at all!"

I giggled madly. I couldn't help it, it was stress relief.

Poor Spike blushed so hard. "Look, please, don't tell her I mentioned that. She still gets embarrassed about it."

I kept giggling.

He twiddled his talons. "Um ... I'll give you extra daffodils if you keep this quiet."

I looked down at my tray. I had wondered if that's what they were. I had yet to try them, despite how tasty they smelled. I dipped my muzzle and took one in my mouth.

Oh, good Lord. I was eating a damn flower, and it was delicious. "Deal!"

Spike jumped off his chair. "One shameless bribe, coming right up!"

I placed a hoof to my muzzle to hide my laugh. Thank you, Spike, I really needed that.





After a pleasant lunch (good God, those daffodils were wonderful), some time remained before Fluttershy would be by to pick me up. I didn't see the point in going all the way back to my room, so I decided to head to the main entrance to await her arrival. Spike offered to lead me there.

At the wide hallway before the meeting room, a familiar bouncing noise drew near. "Oh, Spikey!" cried Pinkie Pie. "You're just the dragon I want to see! Well, actually, you're the only dragon in about a hundred mile radius, but I still need to see you, and, well, you are a dragon, so--"

"What did you need, Pinkie?" Spike asked, mercifully cutting her off.

"I need some help with the final preparations for dinner," said Pinkie. "Do you have a minute? Twilight's all busy with boring summit-stuff."

"Sure, I've got some time." Spike turned to me. "Think you can find the entrance from here, Candy?"

"Yeah, I got it," I said. I smiled. "Thanks, Spike."

Spike smiled and winked before heading off with Pinkie.

The main entrance lay just ahead, the wide hallway empty save for a guard stationed on either side, as well as the two who constantly shadowed me. I glanced towards the high doors that led to the meeting room, my gaze lingering.

I glanced back at my guards. They gazed stoically forward, as if taking no interest in me other than my existence and my safety. Would they stop me from trying to enter the room? No guards were stationed outside the doors.

I turned and started towards the doors. The guards followed without a word of protest. Were the doors locked against my unauthorized ... no, they opened easily at the touch of my hoof.

I took a deep breath and stepped inside. I steeled myself as I heard the hooves of the guards, but they had simply arranged themselves to guard the door to the chamber, flanking it on either side. I was left alone inside.

I stepped forward and immediately froze.

The "high-backed chairs" I had seen in my brief glimpse the night before were nothing less than thrones. Six in all, equally spaced around -- wait, there was a seventh, though much smaller, breaking the symmetry.

The six large thrones lay around a circular table of crystal. A three-dimensional image shimmered above its surface.

It looked like a map. I saw mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers, oceans, plains, deserts, and tundra. Yet nothing was labeled. I had no point of reference. What stood out more than the topological features, however, were two sets of sparkling symbols floating just above the map, slowly spinning around one another. One was three white diamonds, the other three pink butterflies.

Rarity and Fluttershy's cutie marks?

When I looked more closely at that area of the map, I spotted a mountain spire with a castle in its side which I was almost sure was Canterlot. The symbols hovered over a town very close by, and when I squinted, I could just make out the Castle of Friendship. The symbols were located directly above it.

I raised my head and looked more closely at the thrones. Each of the six large ones had a symbol etched high into the back. Each matched a cutie mark of the six ponies I had come to know.

What the hell was this? This looked far more important than a mere town council. Was this a map of all of Equestria? Why were Rarity and Fluttershy's cutie marks on the map?

I sighed and lightly stomped a fore-hoof. All I could do was guess. This chamber had handed me more pieces of a jigsaw puzzle where I had no idea how many pieces existed, or even what the final picture was supposed to look like. More than ever I wanted to visit the castle library.

I heard hooves clopping faintly in the distance. "Candy?" came Fluttershy's voice.

Damn, I had hoped to leave the chamber before she had arrived. I poked my head into the hallway. Fluttershy had just stepped beyond the main castle entrance, and she turned her head to the side. I bolted out of the chamber and skidded to a stop just ahead the guards, who immediately took a step to flank me on either side.

Fluttershy turned her head at the noise and smiled. "There you are, Candy. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, I was just waiting right here." Well, technically, I had not quite lied. I simply had an expansive definition of the word "here." I smiled and trotted over to her.

Fluttershy glanced past me towards the open doors to the council chamber. "Um ..."

"Let's go, I'm anxious to see how the dress looks."

She turned her gaze back to me. "Oh, of course."

I fell into step beside her, guards in tow. I burned with the desire to ask Fluttershy what that map was all about, but I let it keep for the moment. Did it really matter? I enjoyed my time with both her and Rarity. I needed to stop finding ways to spoil it.





"You will be very happy to know, Candy, that I have smoothed things over with Shining Armor," said Rarity as we stood in the back room of her boutique.

I did not respond immediately. The dress had so enthralled me that I still stared at it even as I modeled it for her. She had done an incredible job in the space of a few hours. I finally turned my head towards her. "I'm really glad to hear that. Did he really think I was associated with Discord, or that I was a changeling spy?"

"Realize that he spent much of his professional life in the service of Princess Celestia's Royal Guard," said Rarity, spectacles perched on her muzzle as she carefully measured a strip of ribbon. "He was trained to be suspicious, and it can be said he has a, ah, personal grievance with Queen Chrysalis."

So he really had been a knight in shining armor. God, these pony names. "I just didn't want anypony to be upset over me."

"Nonsense." Rarity finished the cut at her workbench and trotted over to me. She magicked the ribbon onto the dress to complete part of the trim. "Now, hold still if you would, please. I chose to hoof-stitch this part as the material in the trim is a bit delicate."

Well, she really meant horn-stitch, as her magic did the work of carefully weaving the needle through the dress, but still, I watched in wonder as she worked.

"And realize that Twilight was defending you as well," said Rarity. "I impressed upon him that you are more a victim of these circumstances than a cause."

Yet the more I thought about it, the more I balked at the timing of my arrival in this world. I had appeared with this strange pendant right about when they planned this summit. I would have been suspicious had our roles been reversed. Despite the warnings to the contrary, I felt a need to meet Discord, if for no other reason than to satisfy in my own mind that I truly had no business with this miscreant.

As she worked on my dress, I glanced at her workbench. A large swath of black fabric lay carefully folded, to which Rarity had added some bright green trim. "Is that the banner for Queen Chrysalis?"

"Yes, and I am more pleased with it than I had thought I would be," said Rarity. "It is only a rough prototype. I decided to go with something simple and--" She glanced towards the clock. "Oh, dear!"

"Something the matter?"

"In all this excitement, I almost forgot I will need to pick up Sweetie Belle from school."

"Sweetie Belle?"

"My little sister," said Rarity, "Ever since the incident with the changeling at the hospital, the mayor imposed the requirement that the school foals be picked up by a parent or other relative. We also have to ask each other a question only the other can answer to ensure neither of us are changelings."

So Rarity's sister was a lot younger than I had thought. "Are her parents around?"

"Yes, but their careers dictate much travel, and they prefer Sweetie Belle's foalhood be a little more stable. Thus I have become her day-to-day guardian. If it were not for this security measure, she would be quite capable of being about Ponyville herself."

Which, of course, implied this little filly lived with Rarity. So much for not worrying about a sibling feeling in competition for affection. I just hoped I would not be pressed into service helping to care for this foal. With any luck, Sweetie Belle had her own circle of friends her own age and would just ignore me. My lack of cutie mark would likely mean I would be of little interest to her or her friends anyway.

"There we go!" Rarity said, trimming the thread with a pair of scissors before sending thread and needle back to her workbench. "Does it fit well? Try moving around a bit."

It did, surprisingly well, in fact. "It's just great, Rarity, thank you."

She smiled and levitated the dress from me and onto a ponnequin. "I still need to accessorize it with the gems, but I don't need you modeling it for that. I was considering adding a floral pattern, something in a muted rose red that would blend with the base colors. It would look more like a texture, just a subtle enhancement that plays well in the light."

I smiled. "I'm sure it'll be just fine."

"Fluttershy can take you back to the castle, unless you wanted to go down to the schoolhouse with me while I pick up Sweetie Belle."

I did not feel ready to meet little kids yet. "I'll head over to the castle, if that's okay."

"Of course. Now, I hope to get there by three, but I may be a little late. I imagine the dinner will be the first time that the princesses will be free to meet with guests anyway, so that gives us some time to fit the dress to you, weave the gems into your tail, and touch up your coiffure if needed."

Some of the butterflies returned to my stomach. The prospect of meeting all that royalty daunted me a bit, especially Princess Luna. Perhaps that sounded a bit strange that meeting the supposed divine mover of the sun scared me less, but Princess Celestia apparently did not have the ability to see into my dreams.

Even my own thoughts could not remain completely sacrosanct in this world.

Rarity smiled gently. "No need to be nervous about the dinner. While meeting Princess Celestia and Princess Luna is a great honor not many ponies experience, they are very pleasant conversationalists. Just be yourself, and everything will be fine."

The term "be yourself" still struggled to define itself, and I doubted it would settle in time before dinner. But no pressure!