Her Shining Paladin

by Bluecatcinema

Time of Change

After their heavenly honeymoon, Shine and Celestia returned to the castle. Shine was well aware what his new position of prince would mean for him, but he wasn't expecting it to be put into motion so soon. A few weeks after the wedding, a consensus was reached, declaring that some of the royal family would travel to the Changeling's territory to negotiate a peace treaty with Queen Chrysalis. The topic had been fiercely debated after the attack on the Crystal Empire, and it was agreed that peace was their best chance.

After getting everything together, Shine, Celestia, and Blueblood rode in a carriage flanked by a bunch of guardsponies and Iron Hooves as they headed into the Changeling's territories.

"So, do you two know much about this Queen Chrysalis?" Shine asked Celestia and Blueblood. "All I've heard about her was how she crashed Shining and Cadance's wedding and lead the Crystal Empire invasion."

"To be honest, no." Celestia admitted. "All I do know is that she is the queen of the Changelings and if anypony can get the Changelings to change their ways, it would be her."

"I'm sorry, but I don't see the point." Blueblood snorted. "Surely you recall all the incidents with them, especially the ones in Baltimare and Las Pegasus. They have little to no respect for our kind, and I don't think they can be reasoned with."

"I don't believe that." Shine countered. "Look, these Changelings may not be the friendliest, but they are still ponies like us... only black and insect-like. I'm sure if we just treat them with a bit of pony decency, we can get along."

"As much as I enjoy your optimism, I wouldn't get my hopes up." Blueblood said skeptically.

Shine frowned.

"We have to try." Celestia insisted. "Not just for our ponies' sake, but for Equestria."

"I still don't see why we need these many guards." Shine noted. "Are Changelings really that bad?"

"It's a precautionary measure." Blueblood explained. "Now that you're a prince, your life has become invaluable... like mine… especially mine."

"But won't it make it seem like we don't trust the Changelings?" Shine asked.

"Well we don't, don't we?" Blueblood shrugged. "It's nothing personal though."

"Yeah." Iron Hooves voiced called from outside, surprising them. "But if those Changelings do try anything, I'll swat them like flies!"

Shine let out a defeated sigh.

"Oh, and by the way, we are now at the hive." Iron Hooves added.

The carriage came to a stop outside a large cave. The royal ponies disembarked and entered alongside their guards. The inside of the cave was covered in green slime. Blueblood grimaced as a drop splattered next to his hoof.

"Why did I ever agree to this?" He cringed.

"Because out of all the others, you happen to possess the best diplomatic skills." Celestia stated.

"Right." Blueblood groaned, "Why does politics have to interest me so?"

The procession of the ponies walked into a large carvern. The hives were covered with honeycomb-like pockets, Changelings crawling around them. At the back of the cavern was Queen Chrysalis, sat on a stone throne, flanked by two armored Changelings.

"What's this?" She narrowed her eyes. "Visitors? And you didn't even call ahead. I'm hurt."

The Changelings dropped off the walls to the ground, buzzing menacingly.

"Oh dear…" Blueblood shuddered. "Nice changelings…" The changelings buzzed even more aggressively. "Gah!" The prince ducked behind Shine.

"I know you, of course, Celestia." Chrysalis smirked. "But who are your companions?"

"They are our royal guards, my nephew Blueblood, and my husband, Shine Paladin." Celestia declared.

"Husband?!" Chrysalis gasped. "And you didn't invite me to the wedding? As if I wasn't angry enough at your little incursion today..."

"There is no need for aggression." Celestia declared. "We have come to talk, not fight."

"Oh, really?" Chrysalis sneered. "Talk about what?"

"Over the years, there have been many... 'skirmishes' between our two races." Celestia recalled. "Faults on both sides."

"We only attack to satisfy our hunger." Chrysalis retorted. "Our nature cannot be classified as a 'fault'. And yet, it didn't stop you from responding with the greatest force imaginable."

"True." Celestia nodded. "But only in defense of what we hold dear. But isn't it time to end our conflict? Isn't it time to set aside these tiresome battles, and try to live in harmony?"

"So it's peace you want?" Chrysalis snorted.

"Yes." Celestia nodded. "Look, I do not know how we can solve your... hunger issues, but all I want is to end all the hostility.

"Yeah." Shine nodded. "It's not healthy to hold such grudges over stuff that happened twenty years ago... not to mention a few months back."

"Stop talking." Blueblood said through his teeth, faking a smile for the crowd

"Hmm... you do have a point." Chrysalis mused. "I had grown tired of all the invasions and the occasional kidnapping in the middle...and you will cease all hostilities with our kind?"

"Of course." Shine nodded. "I mean, you all are ponies too... well, pony-like."

"Again, stop talking." Blueblood hissed.

"So... do we have an agreement?" Celestia inquired.

"You do make a great argument…however, if I am to declare a truce with your kind, I would need a little... peace offering." Chrysalis smiled.

"Peace offering?" Celestia repeated, caught off-guard. "Uh, I'm sorry, but we didn't bring anything..."

"Oh so you believe... but you happen to have something I desire..." Chrysalis said cryptically.

"Uh, what exactly?" Shine asked.

"Shine... leave the talking to the professionals." Blueblood groaned, "We are already treading thin ice."

"You see, I have been the queen of the Changelings for a long time, and at first, it was wonderful." Chrysalis declared. "But I'm not getting any younger...and eventually, I would need somepony to help continue my lineage…"

"Where are you going with this?" Celestia narrowed her eyes.

"Simple. I want the prince." Chrysalis smirked.

"What?!" Shine and Celestia yelped.

"Yikes." Blueblood gasped. "This is awkward. Not to mention weird beyond all reason... but I guess it is an honor-"

"Not you. Him." Chrysalis pointed to Shine.

"WHAT?!" The couple yelped again. Celestia was appalled and Shine was flustered.

"M-me?" Shine stuttered.

"HIM?!" Blueblood pouted childishly. "That is just cruel!"

"Oh, yes. Shine will do nicely." Chrysalis chuckled. "I can feel the love he gives off... and he's easy on the eyes, too. He would make a fine concubine to help sire me a child to rule after I'm gone."

"Concubine?" Celestia repeated, her eye twitching.

"Oh boy... "Shine gulped. "Look, your highness... I am flattered that you like me and all, and make no mistake, you are beautiful... but I am already married to Celestia..."

"Yes." Celestia placed a hoof on Shine's shoulder. "And to not sound like an impudent child, but I saw him first. So back off!"

"So, you refuse my terms?" Chrysalis snarled.

"You leave me no choice." Celestia declared.

"Very well then." Chrysalis smirked. "So much for giving peace a chance. Changelings, attack!"

As one, the Changelings leapt at the ponies. Celestia fired beams of magic from her horn, Shine and the guards struck out with their hooves, which Blueblood waved his hooves in front of him in abject terror. But what the Changelings lacked in physical strength, they more than made up for in sheer numbers, and all too soon, they overwhelmed their foes. They covered Celestia and Blueblood in their green goo, while Shine and the guards were pinned under small hordes of them.

"What was that I heard earlier about you swatting them like flies?" Blueblood glared at Iron.

"With all due respect, prince… shut your big mouth." Iron growled.

"Oh, you silly, silly mare." Chrysalis glared at Celestia. "All you had to do was give me one thing and we would make nice, but no, no, no... you had to be selfish."

"Selfish?!" Blueblood spluttered. "Celestia won Shine fair and square! First come, first-"

A Changeling splattered slime over Blueblood's mouth, silencing him.

"Oh please, this mare could have any stallion in Equestria she wants!" Chrysalis snorted. "She's pretty, she's loved! What about me?! My children have to constantly scrounge for survival because you ponies persecute our kind! We can't even go into towns without a lynch mob breathing down our necks!"

"That is your own fault!" Celestia spat. "You could have come to me with your problems and resolved them peacefully, instead of impersonating my niece and trying to take the stallion she loved in order to take over Canterlot!"

"You are such a hypocrite, Celestia!" Chrysalis raged. "This, coming from the one who banished her sister to the moon because she just wanted to be appreciated for her work, who petrified a draconequus, and had your little ponies had a stallion destroyed for crying out loud! You talk of peace, yet each time there's somepony that threatens your 'little ponies', you get rid of them!"

"Now that just ain't fair!" Shine growled.

Chrysalis froze as she glared at Shine.

"Excuse me?!" She grimaced.

"You of all ponies should know how hard it is to be a ruler." Shine declared. "A ruler has to make next-to-impossible decisions to ensure the safety of his or her subjects. Celestia did those things because she was doing what she thought was best! She didn't want to banish Luna, but she had to protect Equestria from Nightmare Moon, and her sister from herself. Celestia petrified Discord because he was making chaos for everpony. And Sombra? Look, I'm not one for obliterating another pony's existence, but it was either him or Equestria. Celestia and others did not enjoy having to do those things, but Celestia did it for Equestria. Her selflessness and compassion is two of many reasons I fell in love with her."

Celestia was touched by Shine's statement, but Blueblood just groaned.

"Great, now we're dead." He said, his voice muffled by the slime.

Chrysalis could sense the love between the two. He glare softened... only to harden once more.

"You think that justifying your wife's decisions is going to save any of you?!" She hissed.

"Look, I want what she wants." Shine declared. "To create peace with your kind, so we can live in harmony."

"Harmony?!" Chrysalis snorted. "I know as well as you do that the Changelings will never be accepted into your ponies' lives. All there will be is prejudice and cruelty. Your ponies sees us as nothing more than mindless beasts!"

"To be fair, your highness, you did try to invade Canterlot and the Crystal Empire." Shine pointed out.

"I did that to feed my children!" Chrysalis protested. "We need love to survive, but all you ponies ever do is hate us!"

"No." Shine shook his head. "Not hate... fear. You see, what you see as hate, is what I see as fear."

"Same difference!" Chrysalis snorted.

"No, it's not!" Shine yelled. "You see, you Changelings are like bulls."

"You're calling us cows?!" Chrysalis roared, back up by her Changelings growling.

Blueblood facehoofed despite his bindings, while Celestia only looked on in fear.

"Let me finish." Shine said calmly. "You changelings are like bulls. When you guys are seeing red with anger, ponies will want nothing more than to get away from you... but if they see you when you're not trying to run them through, all docile-like... you might be surprised by how kind and tolerant we ponies can be."

"How can you be so certain?!" Chrysalis asked. "Do you know any ponies who are friends with Changelings?!

"No. But I am willing to be the first." Shine pushed the Changelings off him as he slowly approached the queen. "Queen Chrysalis, I want to offer you my friendship."

Blueblood gave a surprised yelp, muffled by goo, while Celestia gasped, as did the Changelings, along with the guards.

"I don't fear your kind, because I know there's good in them, as I know there's good in you." Shine declared. "Ponies may say that you Changelings are a lost cause, but to me, it's only a lost cause when you decide it is. All I want is to give your kind the chance to live, not survive."

Chrysalis was surprised by Shine's boldness and kindness, but was still apprehensive.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just be rid of all of you right now." She demanded.

"I will." Shine nodded. "Don't do this for us and Equestria... do this for your Changelings."

Chrysalis glanced at her Changelings.

"They probably don't say it outright, because they hold you in high reverence... but I know deep inside, they don't want to spend the rest of their lives scrapping for food." Shine posited. "I don't know how, and I don't know when, but I promise you, we can figure this out. Like us or hate us, just do what is best for your family. I know I would do anything for Celestia, my sister, and the rest of my family... wouldn't you?

Chrysalis paused. Letting out a deep sigh of sadness and regret, she whispered "You're right. Release them."

To everypony's surprise, the Changelings did as they were told. The guards were let up, and Celestia and Blueblood were freed from the slime.

"Your majezzzty?" One of the armored Changelings questioned.

"It's time for a change." Chrysalis declared. "The old ways just aren't working for us anymore. They have driven us into hiding, left us with next to no food, and obviously, no matter how good we are in invading places, we are always blasting off. Perhaps extending the hoof of friendship to the ponies will bring us a brighter tomorrow. What say you, Celestia?"

"I say we will do all we can to ensure a better future for ponies and Changelings." Celestia smiled. "We begin... now."

As the two monarchs began talking, the disheveled Blueblood walked over to Shine.

"You couldn't have made your little speech before I got covered in Changeling slime?" He growled.

"Sorry." Shine sniggered, "It was the 'heat of the moment' kind of speech."

After resolving matters with Chrysalis successfully, hours later, Shine and Celestia were just lounging outside on the castle terrace overlooking the gardens, working their way through a bottle of cherry wine.

"I have to say, Shine, I am proud of you." Celestia smiled. "What you did today was very brave."

"Aw, it was nothing." Shine said modestly. "If I didn't do something, we all would had been imprisoned, or worse. I was lucky."

"I wouldn't be too sure." Celestia countered. "You proved yourself to be an excellent prince today."

"Please, cherryblossom, you're making me blush." Shine beamed.

"But I must ask... why were you not afraid of Changelings?" Celestia inquired. "I imagined that any other ponies who even heard of the changelings would had been scared or apprehensive of them."

"Well, believe it or not... I met a changeling once, when I was a young colt." Shine revealed.

"Really?" Celestia said, surprised.

"Really." Shine nodded. "See, when I was a colt, I was playing ball out by the cherry orchard. I kicked it too hard, and as it went up, a black shape collided with it, and fell into a bush. I went to investigate, and found a Changeling tangled up in some thorns. I was scared at first, but then I saw how much pain it was in, so I helped it out of the thorns. Once it was free, it looked at me for a moment. Then it smiled and held up my ball. I took it back, and it noticed the cuts on my hooves from the thorns. It pulled some leaves out of a tree, and turned 'em into bandages. Then it gave me a little smile and flew off. My father always taught me that there was good in everypony, and that goes for Changelings as well."

"Well, your father taught you well." Celestia raised her glass with magic. "To us, prince Shine and princess Celestia, striving for the betterment of Equestria."

"Hear, hear to that, love." Shine clinked his glass to hers as they both took sips.

"With kindness and wisdom such as yours, you will not only make a great prince..." Celestia gave her husband a heartwarming smile. "But you will also be a wonderful father."

Shine choked on his wine in shock.

"Whoa, that is one strong wine." He chuckled nervously, at the same time getting shifty-eyed. "Big Red must have put in too much wine and not enough cherries."

"Possibly so." Celestia giggled as she sipped her wine again. Inside, she was thinking 'You will come around, dear. One day, you will come around.'

Comments

[Gargoyle]

That end

[qazse]

I smell a sequel,(sniff sniff) and wet diapers

[Emerald Knight]

No this is the end DAMN IT ALL I don't want it to end

[Ebony Stallion]

3789643 Fret not, fellow brony. There is yet one more chapter before the story is through.

[Emerald Knight]

3789953 Good I like

[NLRPony]

3786468 LOL! Also, TO THE LAST CHAPTER!