//------------------------------//
// Chapter 35: Family Meeting 
// Story: Converted 
// by Shaded Changeling 
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	Shade spent most of the night awake, reading through the spell book, it had things like Levitation, Heating spells, Defensive shields, and the one Shade was interested in, Teleportation. He didn’t really keep track of when he fell asleep, all he knew was that the book dropped onto the floor.
When Shade woke up, his eyes had to adjust briefly to the sun’s rays that were shining directly at his face. He let out a small yawn before picking the book off the ground and placing it on the small coffee table. He walked over to the couch to look at the small crystal the Changeling gave him, it was a dark blue, and was only the size of a key. What does Cytes want?
Shade shook away these ideas. She probably just wants to check up on her, nothing big. He took picked up the crystal and placed it into one of the holes in his right foreleg, before closing it in a wisp of green flame.
Shade picked up the book he had been reading and flipped to the page on Teleportation spells. “Now where was I…” Shade scanned the page. “Ah there we are.”
“Enjoying the book?” Twilight asked as she walked into the room.
Shade looked up at her. “Decently… I’m looking into Teleportation spells right now. I figured it would be good to get me out of sticky situations…”
“You sure you know enough about magic for that?” Twilight asked. “It’s a pretty difficult spell to get right.”
“I just want to get familiar with the concept, I won’t use it for long range, probably just to get me out of bad places… A few feet is all I need.”
“Well I can help if you want to practice it.” Twilight replied. “But we are going to need to try and find some more of those stockpiles of emotions from before.”
Shade looked up and remembered the one sided conversation from last night. “Twilight?”
“Yeah?”
“Would you be interested in seeing a Changeling hive?” He asked with a pleasant smile.
Twilight, who had been writing in her notebook, stabbed through a few sheets of paper and looked up. “I…Go…Change…Hive…Wha?” She stuttered quickly.
“Would you be interested in visiting a Changeling Hive?” Shade repeated.
“Would I…Changeling…Huh…” She fell onto the floor.
“uh….” Shade walked over to her. “Twilight?”
Shade looked at her for a second before grabbing a cup of water and tossing it on her.
“Yes!” She said excitedly grabbing Shade and spinning him around. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!”
“Twilight… I’m going to puke…” Shade said as he was spun around a few more times.
“Sorry.” Twilight said as she let go of Shade. “This could be an amazing experience! Think about how much we could learn! Architecture, building materials, Class systems! Oo! It’s going to be so exciting!” She started levitating supplies into her saddlebag.
“Twilight…”
“Maybe I can get an interview with the Queen? That would be excellent for my research.”
“Twilight…” Shade repeated.
“Celestia would be so…”
“TWILIGHT!” Shade shouted trying to get her attention.
“Yes Shade?” Twilight said, snapping out of her trance.
“Please….calm down. This is not a field trip, and you are a grown mare.” Shade said.
“Sorry…I get carried away sometimes.” Twilight blushed slightly. “So… What made you decide to travel to a Changeling Hive, and why tell me?”
“Well… I was contacted by a fully black Changeling, and he told me that Cytes, one of the Queens, wanted to speak with me. The Changeling told me to bring Sunspot and one of you.” Shade took a deep breath. “And it was between you, Pinkie, and Rainbow. And since he told me not to interfere in the Hive’s business, I figured Pinkie would be a problem, and Rainbow might hurt someone.”
“Why does the Queen want Sunspot?” Twilight asked.
“No idea…” Shade replied. “But I don’t think she will do anything. I mean if she wanted to forcefully take Sunspot, she could have had me killed right there and take her.”
“So… You want me to come with you?” Twilight asked, calmly.
“Yes… As is part of the rules, I must bring you with me. So, are you in?”
“Can I-?”
“Yes…” Shade replied. With that Twilight continued to place Quills, Inkwells, a tape recorder, several tapes, and a lot of paper into her bag.
“Celestia is going to be so proud…” She said to herself. “So when are we leaving?”
“Once Sunspot wakes up.” Shade replied looking towards the small changeling. “Then once she is fed, we can head out.”
Twilight nodded and looked back at the book Shade had been reading. “Do you need any help with anything?”
Shade looked back at the open book. “Well… I could use some help with these defense spells…”
Twilight smiled. “I think I could manage that…”

The first few shields Shade created were barely able to stop a single spell from Twilight, but over the next hour, his shield was capable of blocking out a single spell before shattering.
“You okay Shade?” Twilight asked as Shade was launched into the wall again.
“Yeah…Yeah… Just…” He picked himself up and cracked his neck. “That one hurt…”
“Sorry… But you did tell me to give it my best shot.”
“Yeah… I deserved that…” Shade said, rubbing his backplate.
“What are you two doing out here?” Rainbow Dash asked as she walked out of her room.
“Practicing Shield spells.” Shade replied. “With…mixed results…”
“Well it woke me up.” Rainbow Dash replied, yawning. “So you two should cut it out before Rarity wakes up. You know how she is about beauty sleep.” She looked towards the couch. “Where’s Sunspot?”
Shade pointed to the ceiling. Rainbow followed his hoof to see Sunspot sitting on a fan blade. “Daddy and Purple woke me up.”
“Then she just…walked up the wall.” Shade replied. “Next thing I saw, she was sitting up there.”
“It’s safe up here.” Sunspot replied. “Away from Magic.”
“Yes you are Sunspot. You ready to go?” Shade asked the filly. Who outstretched her hooves.
“Daddy, I don’t know how to get down.” Sunspot replied.
Shade rolled his eyes. “I’m coming Spot.” Shade buzzed his wings and flew up to the little filly. “Hop on Spot.”
Sunspot jumped onto his back as he flew back down to the ground. “Daddy, can I have some food?”
Shade lowered his head to let Sunspot absorb some Love from him before she took her disguise. “Ready Twilight?”
Twilight nodded and grabbed her saddlebags. “Rainbow, can you and Pinkie check around for any possible locations to look for emotional containment gems for when we get back.”
“Where are you three going?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“To the hospital.” Shade replied. “I want to check up on Rose and Sunglider, and maybe we’ll walk through the park on the way back.” At this Sunspot hopped on Shade’s back. “Only if you behave yourself missy.” Sunspot calmed down.
“Well, let’s go then. We’re burning daylight.” Twilight replied. Shade turned into Sunstreak and walked after Twilight. When they were out of earshot Twilight turned to him. “Why didn’t you tell her the truth?”
“The Changeling said I could only tell one of you, I chose to tell you, so I don’t want to mess with a Changeling that can phase through solid matter with ease.” Sunstreak told her about the meeting last night, much to her surprise. “Then he just left.”
“Strange… I’ve never heard of a spell like that before.” Twilight said as the two of them walked out of the apartment building. “That’s impressive magic, to be able to phase through windows…”
“Think about it later.” Sunstreak replied. “You were the one who was so excited about where we’re going.”
“Yes but… That magic is high-level stuff, to think a Changeling could do that…”
“Is it really that surprising?” Sunstreak asked. “I mean…Chrysalis showed you that she was highly skilled with it.”
“Yes but she had also been gorging for weeks.” Twilight retorted. “She had enough to use as much power as she liked.”
“Alright…Alright… Let’s not talk about this again. Especially in front of Sunspot.”
“Agreed.” Twilight replied, looking at the filly. “Instead let’s talk about how you plan on getting us there.”
Sunstreak rose his right foreleg. “I have it right here. We can get in using a small crystal I was given. I was told the instructions. We just need to get there without any…”
“Complications?” Twilight finished.
“Exactly.” Sunstreak replied. “And… it should be just over here…”
The two of them walked for a few more minutes before coming up to the tall hospital building, the white building shining brilliantly with the sun’s rays hitting it. The red Cross acting like a beacon.
Sunstreak took a deep breath before stepping through the see through doors. He could feel the mixtures of happiness, Sadness, and mostly love. “The guards… They aren’t making it…” He mumbled. “Korak Malok…”
She walked up to the receptionist, a gray earth pony. “Name?”
“Sunstreak.”
The Earth pony looked up at him. “Identification?”
Sunstreak’s left eye flashed green.
“Glad to see you are doing all right.” The Earth Pony replied, pushing on the intercom. “Sapphire, Sunstreak is here to see you. He is with a Lavender Unicorn.”
“Send them to me.” Came from the small speaker on the desk.
The Earth Pony looked at them. “Elevators are on the right, you know what to do.”
“Thank you.” Sunstreak  replied before following where the receptionist had pointed. They came to a set of two smaller elevators and a larger sized one meant for beds.
Sunstreak pushed the call button, and a few seconds later, a light Ding and the doors slid open.
When both of them were in the Elevator, Sunstreak lifted his right foreleg, in a flash of green fire, a small blue crystal fell unto the ground.
“So how will that help us?” Twilight asked as Sunstreak picked it up with his teeth.
“Just watch Sparkle.” Sunstreak said, placing the blue crystal into the small slot. It began glowing a bright red. Sunstreak dropped his disguise and touched the crystal with his horn, causing it to vanish into the slot.
Sunstreak put his disguise back on as he watched the elevator’s floor indicator switch to say Under Center. When it did, the blue crystal shot out of the slot, and landed on the floor.
Sunstreak bent down and placed it back in his leg as the doors opened. All three of them were surprised by the sight…
The Hive looked almost exactly like the halls inside the Hospital, granted the white walls were replaced by some blue and black rock-like substance, but structurally, it looked the same. Clusters of blue crystals hung on the ceiling, casting light across the underground cavern. A few light blue eyed Changeling’s with dusty purple carapaces flew above them or walked through some kind of blue membrane into separate rooms.
“Wow…” Twilight said, her eyes widened with curiosity. “This place looks amazing…”
“No touching.” Sunstreak said. “Don’t interfere with anything you see going on. That was part of the deal.”
“Yeah…Yeah…” Twilight levitated a notebook and pen out of her saddlebag and began writing in it as they walked.
Sunstreak was interested in the Changelings, some of them were clearly from Ovi’s Hive, with orange eyes and wings, but a few of them reminded Sunstreak of Silver, bright red eyes with red wings and a red backplate. While they walked, one caught Sunstreak’s eye.
“Sunny?” Twilight said noticing him stopping to stare through one of the membranes. “What is it?”
“Why are they taking care of this bastard.” Sunstreak said. In the room he was looking at, lay the assassin who tried to kill him, his backplate lay in pieces next to him, and his chitin still had many cracks through it. “After all he’s done…”
“Who is it?” Twilight asked.
“This is the assassin who tried to kill me…” Sunstreak said, hatred clear in his voice. “I swear… If he tries anything…”
“Sunny… Don’t… He won’t try anything like that again.”
“He nearly killed me, Queen Ovi, Silver, Dr. Rose, Carrie, and everyone else in that building, he wouldn’t have thought twice about it… So why are they caring for him?”
Twilight looked at him. Sunstreak glared into the room, watching the Changeling. “When I find Ceymi, I’m going to make her pay… For everything she’s done… To everyone.”
“I’m here if you want to talk about it.” Twilight said. “Don’t keep it bottled up.”
Sunstreak sighed. “I can’t talk about this… He got what he deserved…” He turned back down the hall. “Come on, we have a Queen to meet.”
Twilight looked back at the Assassin, before following after Sunstreak.
A few minutes later, they found themselves in front of an intricately designed door, blue crystals etched into it, forming the shape of a cross with a syringe across the center of it. Two large Changelings stood in front of it, spears in their hooves and a dark blue armor over their bodies. When Sunstreak walked up, the two of them ignited their horns and opened the door.
The inner chamber was tall, looking like something inside the Castle, it was a long room, the walls decorated with images of certain Changelings, filled with some blue liquid. In the far side of the room, Sapphire was sitting in a large throne, looking over medical documents.
When the door opened, she looked up from the stack of papers at the two of them. “So… You came.”
“Sapphire?” Twilight said surprised. “What are you…?” Her eyes widened. “No…”
“Hello Twilight.” Sapphire said with a smile. “It’s good to see you again.”
“You’re a changeling…” Twilight asked completely surprised.
The documents Sapphire was looking at vanished as she stood up and walked down the hall. “Yes, I have always been a Changeling. Queen Cytes, Ruler of the Medical Hive.”
Sunstreak bowed. “An honor to meet you Your Majesty.”
“You don’t need to do that Shade. You are not one of mine. Sapphire will be fine.”
Twilight looked on in shock. “You’re a…Change…Wha…I”
Sunstreak waved his hoof in front of her face. “Earth to Twilight, are you still with us?”
“Yeah…Yeah…just… Does…does Celestia know?”
“Oh yes…” Sapphire replied. “She knows full well about us. For our own safety, we prefer to stay hidden. Regardless of the good deeds we have done.”
“Can I…See you?” Twilight asked, not sure how to phrase the question.
Sapphire looked over her glasses. “You wish to see my natural form?”
Twilight nodded excitedly.
Sapphire shrugged. “I suppose.” Sapphire adjusted her glasses before there was a large flash of blue fire, and Cytes stood before them. Her horn was curved, but just as long as any other Queen’s, however her body had no holes through it even in her wings, her sky blue mane was pinned up in a bun behind her. Her backplate was a dusty shade of purple. “Impressed?”
“Wow…” Twilight replied, looking at the Queen. “Fascinating…”
“Not to sound rude…” Sunstreak said before Twilight could ask any more questions. “But why did you summon me here?”
Cytes adjusted her glasses. “Well… It is actually a rather important reason. We have the Nymph’s mother.”
“Mommy?” Sunspot asked, looking at the Queen. “Mommy’s here?”
“Yes young one.” Cytes replied. “She has information that is imperative to good relations with Equestria.”
“What kind of information?” Twilight asked.
“The location of captured ponies from the Invasion, she has promised us their location if her daughter is brought to her. If you would follow me, I will lead you there.”
Cytes walked out of the throne room, quickly followed by the three others.
“Umm…Queen Cytes…” Twilight started.
“Please, just Cytes.”
“Um…okay…Cytes, are all of the Doctors in the Hospital Changelings?” Twilight asked.
“Of course not.” Cytes replied. “My Changelings study in the medical field on their own, I employ plenty of ponies as doctors, most of my Changelings travel Equestria on their own, returning here to help when I need it, or traveling to my Daughter.”
“Your Daughter? Where does she work?” Twilight asked.
Cytes looked back at her. “I hope you don’t plan on using this information. I would prefer my Daughter be left out of this. For her own protection. ”
“Alright… Well I was wondering, what Emotions do you mostly feed off of?”
Cytes opened her mouth to speak, but another Changeling flew up to them.
“My Queen, the Emotional reserves sent by the Princess have arrived.”
Cytes turned to the Changeling. “Excellent, get those stockpiles to the patients in critical condition. Spread it out among the rest for sustenance.”
“Of course my Queen.” The Changeling flew off down the hall.
“About time…” Cytes mumbled. “A few more days and it would be too late… ”
“Too late for what?” Twilight asked.
“The Royal guards weren’t the only soldiers fighting against Chrysalis.” Cytes explained. “Many of our own were hurt not only in the fight, but from that repulsion spell.” Cytes motioned to one of the membranes, inside which was an orange eyed Changeling, her horn and wings gone. “They’ve been dying off… either from shock or internal wounds… I asked for support from my Daughter, but this increase in security made it slow.”
Twilight looked at her. “How man-?”
“Fifty seven.” Cytes replied coldly. “Fifty Seven Changelings, twelve Ponies. None of my own luckily… we are understaffed as is…” she sighed before looking back. “However we can stop worrying now. The reserve Emotions should keep them alive, now we just need to focus on the ponies.”
Twilight asked a few more questions before the four of them came to a rather large version of the blue membrane doors; it looked thicker than the other doors, and seemed to mimic the appearance of a crystal.
“She is through here.” Cytes said. “This is the holding area. We had to restrain her.”
Cytes walked through the membrane, as easily as if it wasn’t there, followed by Sunstreak and Sunspot, but when they stepped through, their disguises burned off in a blue fire. “What…just?” Sunstreak said.
“Security measure, the Membrane disables any disguises for a while. You will feel a slight tingling sensation in the back of your throat for a while. Completely normal.”
When Twilight stepped through, her horn was covered in a thin layer of the membrane.
“Oh Twilight, don’t use any magic.” Cytes said as Twilight looked up at her horn. “The membrane will redirect the energy to slowly eat away your horn.”
Twilight’s eyes widened when she heard that. “I-I uh… Got it.” She leaned in to Shade. “It won’t do that will it?”
Shade shrugged. “I never found out.” He whispered back.
The two of them followed Cytes through the holding pods, none of them talking until they came up to two that held other Changelings in them, one had their back facing them, the other looked like it was asleep.
“I already told you Cytes,” The Changeling said as they walked up to her. “I’m not saying anything until I-”
“Mommy?” Sunspot asked, looking at the Changeling.
The Changeling whirled around in the cocoon to look at them. “Echo!”
“Mommy!” Sunspot said happily, jumping on Shade’s back.
“Oh Echo. Are you alright?” The Changeling asked.
“I’m fine mommy.” Sunspot replied as Shade lowered himself down so that she could hop off. She ran up to the cocoon and wrapped her hooves around it.
“I was so worried about you.” The Changeling replied, a tear forming in her eye. “I thought I had lost you.”
“It’s alright Mommy.” Sunspot or Echo replied. “Daddy took care of me.”
The Changeling looked shocked. “Daddy? But…Your father…”
Shade waved at her. “That’d be me.” He said. “I’ve been taking care of her ever since I found her.”
The Changeling blinked at him. “You…You were…Thank you.”
Shade smiled back. “I couldn’t just sit by and watch. I was happy to help.”
“Mommy,” Echo said looking up at the Changeling. “Why are you in a shell?”
The Changeling looked down at her daughter, “Because Mommy helped that mean Changeling my little caterpillar.”
“But… He almost-”
“Shh… I know Echo.” A few tears rolled down her chitin. “I know…”
Shade looked up at Cytes. “Is it possible for you to…let her out for a bit? If not for me, then for her?” He pointed towards Echo, still happily clinging to the pod.
Cytes looked down at Shade. “I suppose it wouldn’t do any harm… So long as neither of you leave this chamber.”
Shade nodded. “I understand and you have my word that she won’t do anything.”
Cytes’ horn began to glow sky blue as she lightly pulled Echo’s mother from the pod, before placing her on the ground where she hugged her daughter.
“Echo… I missed you.” She said, hugging the little filly.
“I think we should give these three sometime alone.” Cytes said to Twilight. “I believe you have questions for me.”
“Yes I do.” Twilight said as the two of them walked towards the exit.
“Mommy, I missed you.” Echo said hugging her mother.
“I know Echo… I know….” She looked up towards Shade. “Where did you find her?”
Shade told her all about how he saved Echo from the group of ponies and took care of her, talking about Twilight’s short experiments using both of them.
“I’m glad to hear you took care of her.” She said when Shade finished. “And…I’m sorry for helping Bloodpool, he threatened Echo…and… I-”
“It’s alright.” Shade interrupted. “We’ve all done things we aren’t proud of. So what’s your name?”
“Mirror…I’m Mirror.” She replied, hugging Echo. “What are you doing in Canterlot?”
“Looking for a filly.” Shade replied. “Her name is Meadow Song, she was taken from me by Commander Spine almost two weeks ago…”
“I’m sorry… I wish there was some way for me to help…”
“Well… I need to find her… I promised her, but what are you doing here is the real question.”
“I’m… I’m raising Echo right.” Mirror replied. “her father… Her father died protecting us when she was still an egg, ever since… I moved to Canterlot and raised her here…”
“Look Mommy!” Echo transformed into Sunspot. “Daddy helped me change!”
Mirror nuzzled her daughter. “I’m so proud of you Caterpillar.”
Shade smiled at the display of affection between the two of them. “You make a good mother.”
“I was taught by the best.” She said proudly. “Five generations of Brood Mothers. What about you?”
Shade looked around the room. “I’m not from a Changeling heritage. I was born a dragon, my mother was… Well… To save time, I’ll put it into pony terms. My mom was a unicorn, magic was her bread and butter, best defensive shields and offensive spells you would find, my father was an Earth pony, strong and durable, but a bit stubborn. I have a cousin too, He would probably be a Pegasus, his wife would definitely be one, loved her long range shots.”
“And you?” Mirror asked.
“I was what was known as a Berserker,” Shade explained. “Skilled in dual wielding, quick slashes, and stealth. We were trained to use crossbows and a bit of magic. Nothing too big.” Shade thought about his first battle. “I was one of the best… Dual long swords and crossbows, I chose a Pegasus.”
“Do you ever miss them?” Echo asked.
“All the time…” Shade replied. “But nothing I can do about it… I’m stuck like this.”
“I’m sorry for you.” Mirror replied. “If someone took my little Echo away, I wouldn’t stop looking.” She nuzzled the filly.
“I’ve gotten over it.” Shade replied. “So how have you been doing in Equestria?”



Deep underground in Everfree, a changeling Queen looks over a pool of foggy blue swirls. Each swirl a separate section of a specific pony’s life, his brother’s birth, enlisting into the Royal Guard, his brothers’ joining him, his wife, his foal, the invasion.
Inside the pool, lay multiple black swirls, each one from the memories of a Changeling, waking up, the Invasion, fighting, a small filly, a Timber wolf, a pink Changeling, a changeling with a cracked chest, Capture.
The Queen in question gazed into the pool, moving her hoof around it, separating the memories, however, no matter how much magic she used, the memories continued to meld, mixing certain characteristics of each, furthering her frustration.
She slammed her hoof into the watery pool. “Curse this wretched pool!”
Her frustration caused a small changeling to fly from a small tunnel above and hover up to her. “Are you in need of some assistance my Queen?”
Acari let out a sigh. “Biome, I doubt you could help me with this.” She said rubbing the side of her head. “There is something you could do for me, check up on Squad K’s progress with finding me that memory gem.”
The Changeling nodded. “Of course My Queen.” She turned and flew off back through the tunnel. Leaving her monarch alone.
Acari looked back into the pool. “This should be working…” She tried to push the memories apart using her magic, but they resisted yet again. “Celestia damn it!” She slapped the pool, causing ripples to disturb the mirror-like surface. “Why is this not working!” The blue and black swirls began to interlock.
The interlocking swirls mixed together, changing and turning into new memories, mixing them together, showing neither perspective clearly and switching between them. “Ugh…” Acari sighed, rubbing her face with her hooves. “Shade…what did you do?”
After she watched the memories swirling together, she pulled the blue crystal from the bottom of the shallow pool. Just as she did, Biome flew back through the tunnel’s entrance, a small purple crystal clasped in between her hooves.
“Squad K found it!” She announced, depositing the crystal on the ground.
Acari quickly grabbed the crystal. “Excellent!” She placed the crystal into the small pool. “Biome. Alert Communications. I will need a direct link to Cytes up when I am done here.”
Biome flew back up through the small tunnel. Acari took a look into the pool as the water changed to a thick purple smoke. On which, writing began to form.
“Reports on Progress for Queen’s Archives.
It has been Twenty-Five weeks since the scout absorbed the pony’s memories. We have tried everything, we thought available. Until we attempted something never attempted before. As the memories of both were stored into a singular Changeling, the Queen used her as a main conduit. Using two other Changelings to help search through the memories to separate them before placing them into their original owners.”
Acari’s eyes widened.
	“It took Three hours of uninterrupted focus for the Queen to finish. Using one Changeling close to the absorber, and one close to the victim. This way, the memories could be compared to those closest to them. The three Changelings reported having a severe lack of emotional energy remaining, specifically on the two who the memories were extracted and placed into, they were recorded to be unconscious for over three additional hours before beginning to recover. The Queen is ensuring that this never happens again by enforcing Nymph training.”
As Acari finished reading the report, she grabbed the purple crystal from the water and placed it inside of a glass box on the wall. “BIOME!”



Cytes had been answering a few of Twilight’s questions, while completing the medical forms she needed to fill out, until one of her drones flew through the Emergency access tunnel above her.
“My Queen!” He said with an air of regret. “Acari has just contacted us.”
Cytes looked over the documents at the Changeling. “And?”
“She knows how to fix the Exile!” The Changeling replied. “But…It is dangerous…”
“Sunny?” Twilight said.
“Well out with it…” Cytes replied. “What do I need to do?”
“She needs you to get Darkblaze… And a changeling who is very close to Sunglider.” The Changeling panted slightly.
“Did she say why?” Cytes asked.
“No… She said it was urgent… She also explained that we need Love stockpiles before she can begin in order to avoid any possible repercussions on the three of them.”
“When will she…?”
“Six hours…” The Changeling stated before his Queen could finish. “She said she needed a separate chamber, sealed off from everything else… And that she not be disturbed.”
“Well what are you waiting for?” Cytes asked. “Get everything ready! Go!”
The Changeling bowed before rushing out of the room. Leaving Cytes with Twilight.
“What’s wrong with Shade?” Twilight asked. “And who is Darkblaze?”
Cytes sighed. “I believe Shade is the only one who can answer that.”



Shade had been pleasantly playing around with Echo for a while when Cytes rushed into the chamber. “I’m sorry to cut this short.” She said. “But we need to.”
“Aww…” Echo said. “But I wanted to stay with Mommy more.”
“I’m sorry Echo…” Cytes replied. “But this is urgent. Mirror where is the stockpile?”
Mirror let a small tear roll down her cheek. “They… They’re in a small cave, a mile or so away from Canterlot’s front gate. Bearing East.”
Cytes nodded. “Thank you for your cooperation. I am sorry to have to split up the two of you again so soon, but we need to prep for a raid on that location, and prepare for an operation.” Cytes turned to Shade. “On you.”
“Me?” Shade replied. “What do you…”
“Later.” Cytes replied. “Say your farewells you two.”
“Bye Mommy.” Echo said hugging her mother.
“Goodbye Echo…” She hugged her back. Then she looked towards Shade. “Take care of her for me.”
Shade did the motions for a Pinkie Promise. “Of course.”
Cytes picked up Mirror and placed her back in the cocoon, where she went limp. “She is sleeping. But I need to prep you for the operation.”
“What is this operation?” Shade asked.
“We are planning to save Lieutenant Sunglider using you as a conduit.” Cytes explained. “To do that, we need to get you ready.”
Echo jumped onto Shade’s back. “Daddy. Can I see Mommy again soon?”
“I don’t know Sp- Echo.” Shade replied. “I’m more worried about this operation.”
“You should be fine. Although this hasn’t been done in nearly One Thousand five hundred years. So nopony knows what to do in this situation…”
“Well…This should be interesting…”
When the three of them walked out of the membrane, Twilight walked up to Shade. “So who is this Darkblaze pony?”
“Oh… You uh… You found out…” Shade scratched the back of his neck. “Okay but first…promise you won’t hurt me…”