“What a day…” Shining Armor said to nopony in particular.
“I know, right? Canterlot was invaded, Celestia was defeated, you and I saved the day, and to top it all off we’re married!” Cadance replied, her voice a combination of sarcasm and glee. The newlywed ponies were walking up a rather lengthy spiral staircase to an intentionally secluded and soundproofed “Honeymoon Suite” provided to them courtesy of Princess Celestia. When they reached the room, both let out a small gasp at the lengths Princess Cadance’s aunt had gone through to ensure them a happy and solitary honeymoon without two of Canterlot’s most important ponies even having to leave the Capitol. Shining Armor marveled at the intricacy of the lock mechanism on the door and windows, while Cadance observed the wine, rose-petal-covered bed, and a book of… things ponies could do on said bed.
Blushing lightly, Cadance slid the book under the bed. She knew everything she’d need already. She took a deep breath and sobered up, though – she had something to take care of before she let Shining take care of her. Her horn flared and she telekinetically lifted her distracted husband to the bed. Turning to face him, she noticed that goofy grin on his face that he got whenever he expected something nice.
“What are we gonna do on the bed, Cadance?”
She couldn’t help but giggle at his faux naiveté, but quickly regained her composure.
“I’m certain you and I both want to do the same thing, Shining,” she said with a smile, “But there’s something we need to talk about first. Something very serious. While to formality of our wedding has been conducted, Princess Celestia is withholding the legality of the action until I discuss this with you.”
Shining Armor’s smile vanished immediately, and he would have paled if he weren’t already completely white.
“Does… what? Is she going to send me to the moon if you get pregnant or something?” He asked, terrified. He wanted foals. Perhaps not yet, but he wanted foals.
Cadance gave him a light laugh in reply. “No, nothing like that my dear. It’s just…”
Shining took her trailing off as an invitation to guess some more. “Are you secretly a stallion? That would be awkward… are you actually almost as old as Celestia? Because that’d be kind of weird, but hey, I can be flexible.” Cadance wasn’t exactly sure what he meant by that last statement, but decided to ignore it in favor of the matter at hoof.
“You’re closer with those two, but still off. Shining… Princess Cadance is dead.”
One emotion filled Shining Armor’s head: confusion. Not entirely processing the information he’d been given, he asked the obvious question.
“But if… if Cadance is dead… how… when… and who are you?”
“I meant to tell you this sooner, so much sooner, I really did… Princess Cadance died seventeen years ago,” Cadance said, “in a train accident. She was on her way to visit Manehattan when the train derailed after striking a Manticore. Simply because an Alicorn is will live forever does not mean that they cannot die or be killed. I happened to be passing by at the time, and she saw me. She saw through me. She saw what I really am. Just as Princess Celestia did.” Cadance shuddered, knowing full well that Shining Armor was not going to take this next part well.
“I am Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the Changelings.” Her coat flashed green, her wings and mane dissolved and burned away to reveal the hard, hole-filled flesh of a changeling. Shining Armor, completely unable to wrap his mind around the situation, simply started laughing.
“Ha! Real… that’s real funny, Cadance! But we banished her together, remember?” He laughed. A cold, disconnected laugh, his eyes unfocused. “She’s gone! She tried to kill you but she failed, right? You can’t be… you're not…” Madness gave way to sorrow, which in turn immediately gave way to fury.
“YOU DID THIS! WHERE IS SHE? HOW DID YOU ESCAPE?” Eyes still unfocused, clouded by hate, Shining didn’t notice the Queen close the distance between them, pressing her lips to his.
It was Cadance kissing him. There was always this little thing she did with her tongue. Chrysalis pulled away, having never left her true form. As quickly as it had arisen, Shining’s fury subsided. Somewhere in his mind, it clicked.
“All those years… it was never really her,” he said, slowly, as though tasting each word, “Our entire relationship… was based on me thinking you were some pony you weren’t.”
Chrysalis nodded.
“But it was you. I don’t… prove it,” Shining Armor said, still unsure of how to handle the situation that was unfolding before him. All these years… a lie? Why had she chosen now to reveal herself? If she was telling the truth… why did she end the charade?
“Our first date. You took me to see some terrible – and mind you, radically inaccurate – horror film about Changelings. Invasion of the Ponysnatchers, if memory serves. I was terrified that you knew, and that that was why you’d brought me to the movie. But you put your hoof around me, you smiled, and you told me not to be afraid, because you were there. Or when you finally worked up the courage to actually tell me you loved me – and I cut you off and told you I already knew. Or…” Chrysalis tried and failed to suppress a smirk, “that one time I walked in on you in the shower. Singing that little song I shared with Twilight. Oh, my stars, the look on your face when I joined in was priceless.” Shining colored at the memory. That had been a funny moment, if royally embarrassing. Looking back on it, he considered it one of his fondest memories of dating the Princess, the turning point at which they realized they were completely comfortable and completely in love with each other.
“You… you really are her. Well then… why me?”
“It wasn’t you, not at first. I had had enough of ruling the changelings, stealing love and all. I wanted to see if there was a way to just acquire it some other way, to have it freely given to me. I found your family in need of a foalsitter, and the familial love you all shared was more intense than anything I’d ever felt before. I wanted it… and so I tried to be as friendly and helpful and kind as I could, in hopes that perhaps one day you or your sister, or your parents might see me as even barely a family member so that I could be freely given that love. Eventually I began to feel it. Then I felt something different, from you. It started small, but it grew. It wasn’t familial love, it was romantic love. That was the greatest feeling of all – knowing I was loved, deeply and truly.”
Shining’s face had softened. He remembered that, the turning point. One night where he’d seen Cadance putting a sleeping Twilight to bed. She was so loving, so tender. The moment when she turned and caught his eye, flashing that gleeful smile, that was when he knew that she was the one. He’d spent his every waking moment for weeks trying to earn the courage to ask her out, and nearly passed out from relief at her almost instantaneous reply.
“But then… why did you attack Canterlot? Put me under a spell? What was the point of that? Ponies could have been killed!”
“That was not me. I left the Hive seventeen years ago, and I have not returned since assuming the identity of Princess Cadance. When I left, I appointed a general to lead the Hive in my stead, ordering him to assume my form until my return so as not to worry the Hive. He was ambitious, but at the time, I trusted him. It seems that eventually he let the Hive run low on love energy, and needed a lot of it quickly. So he sought out the nearest intense source of love, which just so happened to be us. Princess Celestia… as I said – she could tell I wasn’t Cadance. She couldn’t tell specifically that I was who I was, merely that I was not who I was pretending to be. She had no idea that I had been replaced, that it was now a pretender of a pretender. When he was revealed, though… the spell we cast to banish him? That was no farce – that truly was powered by our love.”
Shining Armor continued to sit on the bed, taking the information in. He knew she was right – the kiss, the memories, the look in her eyes as she spoke, it had to be Cadance, or, perhaps more accurately, Queen Chrysalis had to be Cadance.
“Shining Armor. I am not Cadance. But I want you to know something. The only falsehood about our relationship was my appearance. You loved me for who I was, not how I looked. I can tell the difference between love and lust. True, they’re often intermingled, but they are very distinct when you know them as well as I. And I tell you now – you still love me. Those feelings aren’t gone, just hidden. Most of all, though, I love you too, Shining Armor. It’s your decision if you want to end this and pretend it never happened, and I will respect that decision. You can send me away, banish me, have me executed, but look in your heart. I’m done living a lie, Shining Armor. I’ve been living a lie for seventeen years. My race has been living lies for millennia. I want to end that. My mind tells me to hide, my heart tells me to let you know the truth. So I have.” Chrysalis shut her eyes, waiting for the response, praying he wouldn’t send her away.
Shining Armor wanted to curse her, jail her, get her out. However… she was right, and he knew it. He loved her, and had loved her, and still did and still would love her. He thought about it for a minute, and made his decision.
Shining Armor reached out and pulled the Queen into a hug. Her eyes fluttered open, before closing again, tears welling in her eyes at Shining’s next words.
“I would never want to end this marriage. We can talk to Celestia about it in the morning. But tonight… I love you, and I’m going to prove it. Yes, the lie hurt, but you’re right. I couldn’t stop loving you. Your body may change, but our love won’t. True love never changes.”
i liked it
Come here shining armor come into my arms HA HAHAHAHhahahaHAHAHAHA
Nice
So....much.....DAWWWWWWWWWW!
i loved it
This is... interesting... but that's about it for me.
Liked!
clop clop clop.
Adorably romantic and just corny enough to be daw worthy ^^ my hat goes off to you.
IN B4 FEATURED
pretty nice. i've made a short thought to this ship as a test of character. celestia orchestrated the entire thing having told chrysalis the plans before. the marriage would only go through if shining armor and chrysalis was able blow them away.
How sweet.
Interesting concept.
Might be fleshed out better with an additional chapter or something (I felt Shining armor might have accepted too quickly, but that's only my opinion) but it's a pretty nice one-shot nonetheless.
Take four out of five mustaches.
i vote for more. it had one of the best concepts for this kind of story and there's only been a handful of good stories where Chrysalis isn't evil.
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Aww, a sweet, honeymoon heart to heart..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRp_mVi969I
Wat.
im·mor·tal
adjective
1. not mortal; not liable or subject to death
In other words, it's another contradiction! Cadence must be a starburst.
Also, a train accident with Chrysalis just happening to be in the neighborhood at the time of the accident seems pretty lazy, don't you think? One of only 3 alicorns in all of Equestria gets death by train? Meanwhile, the Queen of Changelings happened to be taking her daily stroll by the train tracks while this goes on? I'm not really buying it. I also find myself wondering if Chrysalis was really out in the open in her green Swiss Cheese appearance, or if if she was pretending to be a pony and Cadence either already new her and her secret pony form.
Now that I think about it, a lot about that part didn't make sense to me. Did Cadence meet Chrysalis one day and was like "Yo dawg, you should totally pretend to be me for the rest of your life if I ever die. You seem like a pretty cool guy who doesn't afraid of anything." and then gets hit by the train with Chrysalis being the only witness? There's a lot of things that don't make sense there. With Cadence being royalty and all, Chrysalis would have to be the only witness because her death would be a pretty big deal. And even then that would imply that they hide her death and Chrysalis ends up spending her life pretending to be her while some other dude has to change his gender to pretend to be Chrysalis. But heck, even then, surely the train conductor noticed that he hit somepony when his train gave Cadence her smackdown. Was her death a hit and run? Too many holes with this whole train death thing.
The concept was interesting, but I saw too many plot holes, the "being able to die even though you're immortal" line was a pretty big contradiction, and some of the stuff came across as just odd instead of the D'aww effect it was going for (Chrysalis mentioning catching Shining Armor in the act of fapping would be the best example). Plus, you get extra point off for using a "banished to the moon" joke
Overall, I'd give it a 1 and a half out of 5. Sorry to sound like the Buzz Killington out of all this praise, but it's my opinion.
Seems at first like a cheap soap opera idea, having a character reveal herself to be someone completely different. But it was pulled off nicely. Another interesting angle on the delivery system of the Changelings' food supply.
1597122
There is Immortal and "Immortal" I guess. I can't think of any word especialy meaning "Not-subject-to-age-or-disease-related-death-but-still-subject-to-accident-and-murder" . Think of Immortal right here as the Highlander kind of immortal. He could have put it like "People think alicorn are immortal but they are just not subject to age , they can still be killed." (or something like that) though.
Concerning the point about Chrysalis walking around in her normal form , I suppose she was under some disguise. The phrase "She saw through me. She saw what I really am" hint that even if she was under a disguise , Cadence saw her true self. The story assume Alicorn possess some kind of power allowing them to see through disguise I think.
I don't think Cadence knew Chysalis before the accident.
I have to agree with you on the whole train thing. This kind of accident is a big deal (Especialy if a royalty is killed) so I would have liked more explaination.
For exemple , how did she hide the body ? ( As Cadence would hardly pass for a bird or some other usual roadkill.Teleportation in a cave maybe ?)
I guess once we know that , we can assume she assumed cadence disguise and found an explaination for the impact (given she was the only witness.)
very good
1597122
1597990
I apologize, I meant immortal in the "will not die naturally" sense. I didn't realize there was a term other than "immortal" that meant that.
Yes, the intention was to imply that Chrysalis was already disguised, possibly out doing some other love-feeding, and that Cadance (and all Alicorns) just know a disguised changeling when they see one (yes, that's taking som liberty from canon, but then again, this whole story is taking liberty from canon). She happened to be the first one on the scene due to freak luck, and noticed that Cadance was among the wreckage. Cadance, in her dying moments, realizes that Chrysalis is perhaps the one being in the world who can simulate her control and knowledge of the power of love, and as such, Cadance asks Chrysalis to assume her form to keep the hearts and minds of the general populace at ease. Granted, she does't have the time to explain this properly to Chrysalis because she's dying. Yes, that does raise the plot-hole of "Where'd the body go?" and I'll admit my fault on that one. In my mind, Chrysalis would have then returned to Canterlot, and either openly admitted the ruse to Celestia and Luna or been found out almost immediately, whereupon she would explain the situation. Celestia and Luna in their great power and knowledge confirm Chrysalis is not lying, and agree to let her fulfill Cadance's dying wish - for Chrysalis to live on, pretending to be the Princess of Love. Perhaps I could have explained further on that part in the story. Point conceded.
And honestly? I just needed to get this out of my system, so I tried to make it a little corny and cheesy (no pun intended) at some parts. It wasn't meant to be a top-tier fic, just a little thing to get the creative juices flowing after coming to a standstill on my other story.
1598302 It DOES take some pretty big contradictions to canon considering Celestia and Luna had gender swapped dude pretending to be Chrysalis acting as Cadence with them for weeks and didn't know a thing while the real Chrysalis pretending to be Cadence was trapped. That's also another thing that has me scratching my head. Surely real Chrysalis would have known it was fake Chrysalis since she was kind of the one to put him in charge. Why wouldn't she be like: "Dude, I'm kind of getting hitched in a few weeks here. Go absorb love from the Griffon kingdom or something."
Then again, maybe he went through with the plan to get back at Chrysalis for making him have to turn into a girl.
I also still have irks about the train scene despite the explanation on some of the things (the no mention of the ponies controlling/on board the train not noticing they hit somepony being one of the main ones) but I'll digress.
Anyway, I can understand just wanting to do a story for the heck of it. I just felt like giving you some things to think on so you can have plot points like this in mind when you make something more serious.
1601145
Yeah, I'll concede the part about Celestia and Luna not realizing it was a fake fake-Cadance. I was also thinking that Chrysalis had basically left the hive in the hooves of her second in command, and no longer had connections or knowledge of what was going on, and, in the seventeen year gap, it would be perfectly logical for the faux-Chrysalis to assume at some point that Chrysalis actually wasn't coming back, and hence, he wouldn't know that it was Chrysalis' wedding he was crashing, and Chrysalis wouldn't know he was coming.
My idea was that Cadance was ON the train, though, not hit by it.
Other than that, though... yep.
Great! Now make a TwilightxChrysalis and a NightmareMoonxTwilight!!!
1598302
I prefer "ageless", to "immortal" when you're dealing with ancient beings who can still be physically killed.
Just throwin' that out there
All in all I really liked the story.
Some weird part of me really loves ChrysalisXShining fics and I have no idea whydl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Twilight_Sparkle.png
i.chzbgr.com/completestore/12/9/20/aRkaq4S5y0Kskl9ahfPINQ2.gif
What if the Changeling attack on Canterlot was a plot between Chrysalis and Cadence (or Chrysalis and acting queen), to feed the starving swarm with the love blast from the start?
1606585 Then its all one big Mindfuck
1598302 This is indeed the correct use of the term in the original (Greek) definition.
Immortality
noun
the ability to live forever; eternal life:
No Greek deity was mortal, by definition, but many died - it's that it had to be through violence. Similarly, Tolkein's Elves are immortal. They die on the battlefield, or through violence, disease, or through choice - but not through age.
And since the mythology used in MLP is primarily greek (dragons, pegasi, unicorns, griffins, hydras, the literal Greek Tartarus...) it's actually the most appropriate term.
The term that the others may be thinking of is closer to invulnerable - though, again, it's not quite right. We don't really have a term for "unkillable but still susceptible to wounds" because wounds are, well, what kill people...
Enjoyable read with an interesting premise. Thumbs-up!
Kinda cheesy...swiss even...but I've read worse.
1602000
If I can come up with a premise, I will gladly write other cheesy one-shot romance fics. I had fun writing this, and it's gotten a largely positive response. It also took me almost no time to write (I'm pretty sure this one went from conception of idea to finished product in less than an hour). However, I do need to come up with a just-barely-plausible, unusual premise (like what I'd like to believe I did here) before I go into either of those.
1602875
Perhaps "ageless" would have been the better term. I'll keep that in mind for future fics.
1606585
Plausible, but I guarantee you that was not what I had in mind :P
1615222
That was the goal. So I consider this a success if you consider it cheesy :D
There is immortal and invincible.
Great story. It would be interesting to see what happens to them after this. Like what happens when the servants walk in in the morning and find Shining in bed with the Changeling Queen... So yeah. A continuation would be awesome.
Ageless is a good word for the Alicorns in this. I kinda subscribe to that idea myself. Then again, I've also got crazy things like Ahuizotl as the main villain and stuff.
Anyway, great fic. Oh, and your full name wouldn't happen to be Valentinez Alkalinella Xifax Sicidabohertz Gombigobilla Blue Stradivari Talentrent Pierre Andri Charton-Haymoss Ivanovici Baldeus George Doitzel Kaiser III, would it? dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Twilight_Sparkle_lolface.png
1619544
I... umm... no?
I'm glad you like the story but I believe whatever reference you made just went completely over my head.
1620401 Sorry. Got a bit carried away with that. It was a quote from Trigun. Vash introduced himself to Wolfwood as that(the really long name) then whined when Millie called him Vash the Stampede cause he hated being called by his full name.
1620681
Ah. I haven't watched Trigun in a while. Might have to go through it again at some point.
1615563 So you want premises? Here, have a premise. In fact, have all the premises! Which, unfortunately, are equal to one and one alone.
Luna was Chrysalis all along. She's desperately in love with Shining Armor, and that fat bitch Cadence stole him from right under her hooves! Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle is a changeling who impersonates Rarity's non-existent younger sister in order to get free love. She's currently starving to death. Also, Twilight doesn't know what Ultimate Frisbee is. All of these things are connected.
I like it for now, it seems a little off at times in the sense of realism so I’d recommend going over it and refining it a bit more but otherwise I’ll be keeping an eye on it…
You are doing more right? The concept has quite a bit of potential and I’ve been itching for a Shining/Chrysalis story that isn’t some tragic prologue to the wedding making revenge the motive for targeting them.
Made some minor edits - changed the thing Cadance caught Shining doing, filled in a few plot holes and clarified some stuff. Nothing major.
I like this new fiction.
Dat beginning.
images.wikia.com/dragonage/images/2/2a/Anchorman-well-that-escalated-quickly.jpg
She was on her way to visit Manehattan when the train derailed after striking a Manticore(needs period) Simply because an Alicorn is will live forever does not mean that they cannot die or be killed.
Oh thank God its not a clop fic
any ways intersecting take I will make an opinion later
Now this is an interesting concept.
I think it'd work better in a continuity in which the changeling invasion just didn't happen. Also, feels a bit rushed. Still, interesting concept.
1598302 Actually you are correct in you description. While it is true that imortal being cannot die, it is also true that they can be slain. Take Achillies from the Illiad, he was imortal but was slain by Paris.
Cheesy. But that good kind of cheesy.
If given a longer story you could have made it even more beautiful, but what you have here is an enjoyable, if short piece. Worthy of anyone's faves list.
Buck you man... buck you... that last paragraph got me crying.
*Blatant Lies*Aww, it's just sappy romance stuff. *Continues to read intently*
Invasion of the Ponysnatchers... *facepalm*
Also... reality check-up: love is based on desire, so technically love doesn't exist. you know, just for info :)