//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15: Revealed 
// Story: Converted 
// by Shaded Changeling 
//------------------------------//

	When Twilight and her friends left the Everfree forest, they were disheartened that they couldn’t find anything to help Sunstreak.
“Maybe she just got lost and made it back?” Rainbow Dash said.
“Rainbow…Ah don’t think that’s really an option.” Applejack retorted.
“Maybe she’s planning a party for us?” Pinkie Pie replied hopping up and down.
“Pinkie, I don’t think Meadow is-“ Twilight began but was cut off by Spike running up to them.
“Twilight!”
“Spike, What are you doing here?” Twilight asked.
“Sunstreak…Shining Armor…Library…whew…” The little dragon said through heavy breaths.
“Whoa, slow down, little guy.” Rainbow Dash said flying above him.
Spike took a deep breath. “Shining Armor is here, Sunstreak really needs to talk to you in the Library.”
“Why is Sunstreak at the Library?” Rainbow asked. “Shouldn’t he be at Sugar Cube Corner by now?”
“He had a bit of a….” Spike began to explain before shaking his head. “He really needs to talk to you. He said it was urgent.”
“Alright…just let us...” Twilight began. Before Tornado Dust landed.
“Hey, you six find anything?” Tornado asked.
“Sadly we couldn’t find anything.” Twilight explained.
“Twilight! Sunstreak needs to see you!” Spike interrupted.
“Alright, Spike. Let’s see what he wants.”



Under the Library, Sunstreak was pacing around the circular basement room, trying to figure out what the best way to handle the current situation was; he kept trying to find someway to ease it in. But every possible situation ended with him either getting kicked, shot by magic, or killed…granted a very small amount of them ended in death…but it was still a possibility.
He had been careful not to let Spike see him as a Changeling, especially with the Captain of the Royal Guard just upstairs. Which could end with a rather large splatter on the wall…
By the time Twilight and her friends had entered the Library, Sunstreak was no closer to figuring out how to tell them, he would just have to go with it, and hope they don’t find Darkblaze.
“Sunstreak?” Twilight said as she opened the basement door. “What are you doing down here?”
Sunstreak sighed. “Pacing…trying to figure out something.”
“Spike said you had to tell us something.” Rainbow Dash said as she hovered a few feet from the ground.
“Yes… I do…” Sunstreak replied.
“Well, what is it, darling?” Rarity asked.
Sunstreak sighed. “I have absolutely no idea how to say this…”
“What is it, Sunny?” Pinkie Pie said jumping around. “Did you find Meadow? Did your parents come over? Are you planning a party?”
“Pinkie! Let the stallion talk.” Applejack said to the bouncing pink pony, making her stop mid hop and hover in the air.
“Sunstreak, what did you want to tell us?” Fluttershy asked, “Is it something bad?”
Sunstreak sighed. “I’m a changeling.”
There was a long pause after he said this. It seemed like the entire room just became a vacuum, even Rainbow’s wings weren’t breaking the silence.
“That was a good one, Sunny.” Rainbow Dash replied. “Now what did you really want to tell us?”
Sunstreak sighed. “That was what I wanted to tell you.” He said as a green flame surrounded him, his Pegasus disguise gone. All that stood was a black Changeling with a slit eye.
The silence that held the room was shattered in an instant, Applejack quickly kicked him in his chest, sending him spinning into the far wall with his horn jammed into it.
“Wonderful…” Shade sighed. “That only took two seconds…” He managed to pull his horn from the wall and turned to see three of the mares glaring at him aggressively.
Twilight’s horn was glowing and she looked like she was fully willing to hit him with a magical blast. Applejack had raised her Stetson and was looking Shade right in the eyes. Rainbow Dash was flying next to Applejack, slamming her front hooves together.
Looking past those three, he saw that Rarity had fainted; Fluttershy was hiding behind Pinkie who was…unfazed? Did she already know?
“Yah’ve got ten seconds ‘fore I buck yer head off.” Applejack said.
“Don’t even try to run.” Rainbow Dash threatened.
“Never planned on it.” Shade replied sitting down and raising his front hooves in surrender. Which seemed to take the two mares by surprise. “What?”
“What are you doing?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Surrendering. What does it look like?” Shade replied.
“Yah mean yah aren’t gonna try-?”
“Nope.” Shade replied “And be honest with me? What plan could I possibly have?”
“Uh…” Rainbow Dash replied. “Try and take over Equestria?”
“Now why in all that is holy, would I do that?”
“Because you’re a Changeling!” Rainbow Dash said.
“Yes. I told you that a minute ago. Please keep up.” Shade replied. Shade looked towards the others with his left eye. He could see that they were confused, Twilight seemed curious, while Pinkie was still… What is she feeling?
“Why would you surrender?” Twilight asked her horn no longer glowing.
“Well…There appears to be a six-on-one situation going on here. So I don’t see any other options.”
“But why would you show yourself?” Twilight asked walking up to him. “Especially when you have all six of us brought here.”
“Why do you care?” Shade replied. “You were told to capture any Changeling you find.”
“But…” Twilight tried to reply. “I still don’t understand…”
“What is there to understand?” Shade asked. “I’m a Changeling, you’re a unicorn. So why don’t you do your job?”
“Yeah, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash replied. “Why don’t we just lock him up?”
“Ah’m not really one to agree with Rainbow, but we should turn ‘im in.”
“But I don’t understand.” Twilight replied. “Why would he want to do any of this?”
Shade sighed. Listening to these three argue about reasoning. If he could tell them, he would. But he couldn’t. Not if he wanted to free Meadow.
“Um…Sunstreak…” Fluttershy asked, walking past the three other mares. “Why do you look so worried?”
Shade sighed. “There’s really no point in hiding it…” He said. “I’m doing this to save Meadow.”
Immediately all three mares stopped. “You’re what?”
“Might as well come completely clean with all of you…” Shade said. “My name is Shade. I was at the invasion in Canterlot, so was Meadow. I rescued her from another group of Changelings and we got blasted all the way into Everfree. I’ve been trying to protect her to bring her back to Canterlot, I had every intention of bringing her back…I just needed to wait for the security to die down a little.”
“But then you used her for your own feeding!” Rainbow Dash said pointing a hoof at him.
“What? No!...okay, I may have at first…but she was the only living thing that I could feed off of at the time. But I didn’t take enough to cause any problems.”
“But you still fed off of her!” Rainbow Dash said flying up to his face. “Maybe you were never going to…”
“Rainbow Dash, you have four seconds to get out of my face.” Shade replied. Rainbow Dash was quickly pulled back by a pink aura around her tail.
“Rainbow, let him finish.” Twilight said.
“Thank you, Twilight.” Shade said before continuing. “Before the thunderstorm, my horn got cracked, and it was going to release all of my emotional energy. So I flew up into the clouds and released all of it up there…”
“That was you?” Twilight replied astonished. “I saw your horn glowing from the Library. I thought it was some kind of destruction spell.”
“Well, it must have been, because I blacked out, and when I came to there were three changelings, but they were different. Their eyes were pink… and Meadow tried to stop them…but they took her.” Shade was having trouble remembering this. “They wiped my memories… And… Then everything else.”
“Why are you trying to protect Meadow?” Twilight asked.
“Is she a-“
“No, Rainbow. She is not a Changeling.” Shade replied. “Anyway back to the reason why I’m doing this, The Hive contacted me yesterday…”
This was met by a collective gasp. “Chrysalis contacted you?”
“No…that insectoid cunt doesn’t care about me.” Shade replied. “They were from that pink hive… They said that I could turn myself in, and they would leave Meadow alone, or they would forcibly turn me in and remove her memories of me.”
“And so you’re…”
“I’m doing this to save her.” Shade replied. “I promised her I would protect her. No matter what.”
“And what a promise that was.” Said a voice from the top of the stairs.
“Shining!” Twilight said when she looked up at the door.
“Oh god….” Shade mumbled before looking up the stairs. He saw Shining Armor at the top of the stairway, but the weird thing was…he didn’t seem angry at all…almost…content.
“I must say… You certainly were devoted to your cover.” Shining said as he walked down to the floor. “I’ve never seen a changeling that would continue to hold onto their cover even after a guard fully threatened them.”
Never seen? He’s seen other Changelings like me?
“Chrysalis would be proud.” Shining said as he reached the bottom. “Too bad she will never know.”
“Shining, please don’t hurt him.” Twilight said, standing between the two of them. “There is so much we can learn from them.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Twilight.” Shining Armor replied. Bringing confused looks from both Shade and Twilight. “I have just as many questions as you.”
“Then why didn’t you ask them in the two days you had the chance to?” Shade asked, he was completely confused; Shining Armor seemed to know he was a Changeling, but he seemed so unsure about it before… And he clearly wasn’t very happy with Changelings before. So why wouldn’t he assert his Royal orders and throw him in a dungeon?
“Well I had to keep my own cover as well.” Cover? “I wanted to see this Changeling the scouts kept talking about, the one who befriended a filly.”
“You mean you knew this whole time?” Shade asked, surprised.
“I’ve known since the first night you spent in Everfree. My scouts found Meadow Song sleeping in the ruins, surrounded by that ring of fire you put down.” Shining Armor looked towards Shade. “Ever since then my scouts have been shadowing you.”
“Wait…” Twilight said looking towards Shade. “If you’ve been a Changeling this whole time, does that mean you faked the Burning Fiords?” She seemed to be slightly sad about that. She must have really wanted to see the Fiords.
“No, all of that was genuine.” Shade replied. “Since I… ‘Hatched’ I suppose is the correct term, from that pod, I’ve been having these weird visions… I see the Fiords… it’s almost like a past life. But the one thing that always sticks out is Chrysalis’ eyes.”
“What about Tornado Dust?” Rainbow Dash asked flying up to Shade. “Where does he fit in to all this?”
Shade sighed. “He knew nothing about me being a Changeling… For all he knew, I was just an old friend.”
Pinkie Pie somehow found a lamp and was shining it in his face. “Then what’s up with your eye, buster?” This pony… “And why would you try and become friends with us? And what did you do with my cookies?”
“What cookies?” Shade replied his eye unable to adjust to the bright light in his face.
“Don’t act dumb with me.” Pinkie said poking Shade. “I’ve been dumb long before you were. Now answer the question!”
Shade stared at her for a moment. “What is up with you?”
“Answer the question!” Pinkie replied.
“Fine… Ever since I broke out of that pod, my right eye has been like this, I can get rid of it when disguised by a spell I learned, but only for a few minutes. I tried to get to know you so that I could learn more about ponies.”
“That you would later bring back to Chrysalis!” Rainbow shouted.
“No! So that I could live. My knowledge of Equestria is limited because I’ve never been here. I wanted to learn as much as I could. And maybe stay here after I got Meadow back home. Seeing as I can’t go back to the Fiords…”
“Why can’t you go back?” Fluttershy asked.
“The clearest vision I had, shows a city in the Fiords being attacked by Changelings,” Shade explained. “I doubt they would be open to me looking like this.” He raised his hoof, looking through one of the holes. “I’ve seen what will happen… And I’m not ready to face that yet…” He sighed. “Now please move that light…It’s starting to hurt.”
Twilight took the lamp away from Pinkie and put it in the corner of the room. Leaving Shade to blink for a few seconds so his eyes could adjust.
“Something I still don’t understand…” Twilight replied. “Why did you save Meadow in the first place?”
“Because I couldn’t let them hurt her.”
There was a pause, before Rainbow Dash broke the silence. “What do you mean?”
Shade looked up at the Pegasus. “What would you do in that situation? Let them drain her?” Rainbow Dash looked surprised by the question. “That’s what I thought… I may be an Insect pony thing. But I’m not a monster. I’m not about to let a defenseless child get hurt while I have the ability to prevent it.”
“Interesting…” Shining Armor replied. “Now I see why Meadow trusts you.”
Shade turned to look towards Shining Armor, before noticing that his normally blue eyes had changed to pink. “Who are you?”
There was a wisp of pink flame that surrounded Shining Armor, taking everyone by surprise, when the fire receded, a Changeling Queen stood before them. She looked similar to Chrysalis, in height and body type, but instead of a long free flowing mane, this queen had her dark pink mane pinned up in a bun. Her wings were a light shade of red and the back plate shared the same pink color as her eyes, with three darker pink stripes down her stomach.
“I am Queen Acari, Ruler of the Just Hive.” Her presence activated an instinct in Shade to bow to her.
“Shining…” Twilight said before her horn was alight with purple magic. “What did you do to my brother!”
Shade stepped between the two of them, not from an order, but because she was his only chance to get to Meadow. “Twilight…don’t…”
“He is fine, Miss Sparkle.” Acari replied. “He is still in Canterlot, on patrol for any remaining Changelings.”
Twilight wasn’t backing down.
“Twilight…” Shade said, he didn’t want to attack her, but he would if it came to it. “Let’s hear her out. I won’t allow you to harm her beforehand.”
“But she…” Twilight tried to argue.
“Why would she show herself if she was planning on attacking?” Shade retorted.
Twilight’s academic brain tried to piece together a reason, but she couldn’t find one that would explain why she had dropped her disguise. No one was onto her, her hive is nearby, and there is no reason to believe this Queen was aggressive. Her horn stopped glowing, and both of them relaxed.
“If I had expected that type of reaction I would have just kept the disguise on.” Acari said from behind Shade. “Now I am sure you have questions.”
“Yes…one, how did you know about me?”
“When Blackout removed your memory, she brought it back to me; I looked it over and found some very…interesting memories.”
“Wait… You can look into somepony’s memories?” Twilight queried, she was back in her curiosity state of wanting to find out as much as she could.
“Yes… It is how we remain secret.” Acari explained. “Or rather…how we used to remain secret. We would remove the memories of those who saw us, fabricating memories to fit into the blank spaces. All Hives have their own methods, ours is memories.”
“What do you mean… ‘Interesting memories’?” Shade asked turning to look at the queen.
“Well… some of your memories appeared to be from the point of view of a dragon.” Acari looked for any kind of reaction from Shade. “Which I thought was very strange. How could a changeling have a dragon’s memory? I asked myself. And then I found it…Chrysalis.”
“I don’t follow…” Shade replied. “What does Chrysalis have to do with my visions?”
“Well, allow me to explain.” Acari replied. “Some changeling hives have a very special ability, it is seen as a total last resort for many, but some see it as a common use of magic. Some Queens believe in conversion, transforming a sentient creature into a changeling. Chrysalis is one such Queen.” Acari’s horn glowed pink as a wall of smoke appeared in front of them, casting an image of Shade’s last memory. “I knew that Chrysalis was a powerful Queen, but I never thought it possible for her to convert a dragon. The process alone would have taken decades to complete.”
Shade was watching the projection. “So…those visions were real? All of them?”
“It is possible that the Conversion suppressed many of your memories, and this was your brain’s way of teaching you.” The image changed to show the Canterlot invasion. “I was skeptical of you at first, I believed you had the filly under some kind of mental control, but then I came to this.”
Acari was showing the first time Shade had met Meadow. Exactly how it happened, even down to Spine and the group of Changelings. When they flew off, and then when Shade had crashed through the building, covering Meadow.
“You risked your own safety to protect that foal,” Acari said, the fog vanishing. “Even though it went against your hive, you believed in your own morals more than anything Chrysalis programmed into you. However…” Acari was looking Shade in the eyes. “That was not enough to influence my decision. I required proof of your dedication to allies.”
Shade could tell where this was going… “It was you… You took…”
Acari nodded. “Yes, under my orders, my scouts took what Tornado Dust prized most, and we left it where it would be found. I needed to see the lengths you would go to. And according to my scouts… You went pretty far.”
Shade rubbed the back of his neck. “You could say that…”
Twilight was watching on, waiting for an opportunity to speak. “But then why would you come here?” Acari turned to look at the unicorn.
“Ah yes, Twilight.” Acari said holding out her hoof. “I’ve heard so much about you from Celestia.”
“You know the Princess?” Twilight said surprised.
“Oh yes. Celestia and I have met before. We came to an agreement.  We help enforce Equestrian law, and we are left alone; which worked out given that we feed primarily off of Guilt and Gratification.” Acari explained. “Many of my changelings help to enforce the laws, and keep the Hives’ locations hidden.”
“Well…not that this doesn’t shatter my reality… but why would you come here?” Twilight asked still stunned that she never knew this about her teacher before.
“Ah yes…I didn’t want to rely on the word of drones, while they would never lie to me, I prefer to see these things with my own eyes.” Acari turned into Shining Armor again but kept her normal voice. “I took the guise of your brother to see how Shade here would react, and see what he would do in response to my deal.”
“So…How did I do?” Shade asked.
“Well…I can tell that the drones were not lying about you.” Acari replied. “You protect your friends regardless of self-harm and are willing to do what you must to keep promises. I must also apologize personally for removing your memory. At the time I believed you followed Chrysalis. I now see how wrong I truly was.”
“So what does that mean?” Shade asked hopefully.
“It means that I don’t believe you or your accomplice should be held responsible for the attack.” Acari replied. “And…I believe your intentions are pure.”
Shade’s eyes widened. “Does that mean that...?”
Acari nodded. “I believe you should be allowed to bring her home.” She looked up to the top of the stairs, where BonBon and Lyra had entered with Meadow in between them.
The small light brown filly looked into the room, and seeing Shade, ran down the stairway.
“Mr. Shade!” She said as she gave him a hug.
“Hey, Meadow…” Shade replied, returning the hug. “I was worried about you.”
“I was worried about you too.” Meadow replied. “When they knocked me out I was so worried I would never see you again. I thought you were going to get caught out there. Then they told me you were just using me. But I didn’t listen to them. I knew you would come get me.”
Shade had to fight back a tear. “I’m so glad to see you again. I thought I lost you. Then what was I supposed to tell your mother.” Shade couldn’t have been happier to see that orange flame of trust coming off of Meadow, that single flame was what kept him hoping he would find her. He didn’t want to let her down.
Shade looked around the room, Twilight was watching the two of them smiling, Rainbow Dash was looking away from them, Applejack had lowered her Stetson, Fluttershy was currently trying to fan Rarity awake, and Pinkie was crying large streams of tears.
“If you want my opinion,” Acari said to Shade. “The security in Canterlot has dropped enough for you to safely enter the city. They aren’t checking everyone that leaves the trains anymore.”
“You hear that, Meadow?” Shade said to the small brown filly. “Looks like we’re heading back.”
Shade could feel the little filly’s happiness, warming the room around him. “Does that mean I get to see mom again?”
“Yes, Meadow…” Shade replied. “You’re going home.”
“Hey you know what this calls for?” Pinkie Pie replied, quickly stemming her streaming tears. “A PARTY!”



The next day, Sunstreak and Meadow stood at the train station, saying goodbye to everyone.
“You still owe me that race.” Rainbow Dash said. “I don’t care if you are a changeling, I still wanna race you.”
“Yer always welcome down at Sweet Apple Acres. Just let me know ahead a time.” Applejack said.
“I would love a chance to study you when you get back, Sunny.” Twilight replied. “And if you see Shining Armor, tell him I said hi.”
“I’ll never forget you!” Pinkie Pie cried, pulling Sunstreak into a near bone crushing hug.
“Pinkie…Air…” Sunstreak said through gasps of air. “Can’t…feel…lungs…!”
“Write soon! I want to know everything that happens.” Pinkie Pie said letting go of Sunstreak.
“I’ll try to.” Sunstreak said rubbing his chest.
“Looks like the train is coming in.” Tornado Dust said as the metal train became visible. “Take care of yourself, Snake Eye. If you need any help. Don’t be afraid to tell me.”
“Will do!” Sunstreak said as he stepped onto the train, his knife belt secured with both the blade and a bag of Rainbow Cookies. “I’ll see you all in a few days.”
The inside of the train was a greenish brown color, with green benches instead of seats. There weren’t very many ponies on the train, which was understandable given that the city was still mostly on guard for Changelings. Which just meant less ponies to notice him, so he was fine with it.
“You excited, Meadow?” Sunstreak asked the little brown filly across from him.
“Yeah.” She replied squirming with excitement. “This is my first time riding a train. And I can’t wait to see mom again.”
“Well…it’s my first time doing this too. At least like this.” Sunstreak replied. “I just hope it isn’t too different.”
As the train began to pull away from the station, Sunstreak began to feel a slight tingle up his spine.
It’s probably nothing…