Son of Change

by twow443

Weeping at Moonlight

Chapter 6- Weeping at Moonlight

“You’re dying, and I can't stop it.”

I'd like to say that when it came to death, I wasn't worried. And the only reason for that was because I hadn't had a chance to actually worry about it. I've faced death a few times now. Once when Chrysalis had captured me, the time when Twilight was attacking me and when I fought my father. I knew that in each of those cases, that I would have died in the end, or have wanted to if I had failed. And I knew that I had a chance to stop it, no matter how hard. But now, now I knew that I was going to die, and I couldn't do a thing. All I could do...was wait.

“You're dying...”

It was midnight, and I was tossing and turning in bed. I had meant to ask my mother if she could send a letter to Fluttershy for me, but I had been in a state of shock and forgotten to ask. She knew that I would be here, so I wasn't afraid that she would worry about it. It didn't help calm my nerves though. Any moment, Chrysalis could decide to rob my soul of whatever it had left, and leave me an empty shell. Everything I had done to stop her, it was all pointless now. I was going to die, and I didn't know what was going to happen to my mother when it happened.

“Dying...”

Suddenly in a fit of panic, I leapt out of my bed and started pacing back and forth.

“I can't die yet! What about my friends, and my family..” A horrible thought struck me like the lighting I feared so much. “And my marefriend...”

It was all too much, just way too much. Unable to control myself, something inside me broke. I did the only thing I could do, something I had refused to do for a while now.

I wept.

I sat down on the floor and cried like a newborn foal. And with my tears, I released everything that I remembered and hated. My anger at being lied to my whole life, my fears of lighting and losing my mare, my guilt of killing Discord and my pain of helplessness. Everything I held, I released in that floor of tears.

I swear it felt like I was going to drown in my sorrow, literally. And you might wonder why nopony came in to check on me. Well, I had told the guards that stood in front of my door to not let anypony in. So as I sat there weeping, nopony came in to see what was wrong.

I continued to cry, not caring what it looked or sounded like. But, out of nowhere, I felt a soft pressure on my shoulder. I turned my head and looked up to see Luna standing to my side, quiet.

I made an effort to control myself, hastily trying to think of an excuse to why I was crying so hard. “Sorry, I just needed...

Luna cut me off. “Come with me to my balcony, Shade.” It wasn't as much an order as it was a request. Slowly, I stood up and followed my aunt out the door.

. . .

Luna and I simply sat on her balcony for a while, staring at the stars. Neither of us spoke, content to be quiet.

Until my aunt broke the silence. “It's beautiful, isn't it?

“Yes, but I think that you're slightly biased.” I said, causing her to smile.

“That may be true, but I love my sister's day as much as my night.” We were quiet for a little longer.

Until I broke the silence this time, wanting to get to the point. “I'm...sorry about my outburst.”

Luna looked away. “Don't be. It's perfectly natural to express yourself.”

“You know, don't you?” I said. “About me going to...”

“Die? Yes.” I looked away as Luna sighed. “Shade, no words can express how sorry I am, how we both are. We are doing all we can to figure out what is causing the spell to linger..”

“It isn't enough!” I snapped at her. “It doesn't matter what you do! You'll figure it out, and just then Chrysalis will drain me dry! It doesn't matter!”

My aunt didn't say anything as I looked down, tears starting to flow. She must has sensed that I was going to apologize because she scooted over and wrapped a wing around me. “Shade. Let us think rationally for a minute. She has control over your soul, which is technically you, correct?” I nodded, not trusting myself to speak yet. “So, let's say that she can kill you whenever she wants. Why hasn't she?”

“She...needs me alive for something?” I guessed, trying to calm myself down.

Luna nodded. “Right. Now, going off that, let's assume that she still needs your power. What do we know about her?”

I sighed. “I don't know. After I scared her away, I haven't seen her or...”

“What is it?” Luna asked me.

“Her daughter.” I said. “I saw Misty just the other day.”

Luna nodded again. “Was she hostile?” When I shook my head, she looked out at the stars again. “It's not entirely possible, but maybe the daughter could convert the mother...”

I didn't speak for a moment. “Luna...how is Mom holding up?”

My aunt shifted. “She isn't doing well Shade. It doesn't help that almost all of Equestria wants her to atone for the day and night shifts when Discord returned.” She made it a point to look right in my eyes. “Which was not your fault, by the way.” She then pulled me a little closer to her with her wing. “And now this news. She's been awake for three days trying to find a cure or any sort of an enchantment breaker, but she hasn't found anything. She was on her way to come see you tonight, but she collapsed in the hall. I convinced her to go sleep for a while.”

“I shouldn't have been born.” I said. As Luna was about to speak I shook my head. “No, let me talk. I finally understand, I do. I know that I said I did before, but I was lying.” Tears sparkled in my eyes as I glanced out at Canterlot. “I know why you and Celestia aren't supposed to have foals. Why it isn't possible for you to have them with normal ponies. It's a danger.” I looked back at Luna. “You get so emotionally attached, that it'll cloud your judgment. You two have a responsibility and it isn't supposed to be taking care of foals like me.”

“It happened though Shade.” My aunt said. “Do you know how many children that my sister and I have had in the years? You, and only you. And I can not speak for my sister, but I am glad that you exist.” Luna unwrapped her wing from around me and stood up. “Shade, Tia loves you. As do I. And I will tell you this now, I do not want you to feel any guilt about anything. As long as we are alive, we will find a way to keep you alive.” Luna lifted herself into the air. “Go rest Shade. I will watch over your dreams. Trust me.”

“Thank you.” I said.

Luna's face relaxed. “I love you Shade. Go and rest now.” She flew off towards Canterlot.

I considered walking back to my room, but I decided to sit for a little bit longer and look at the stars. I mulled over what my aunt said. I was dying, and I knew that would break my mother when that happened. There wasn't anything I could do about that, but I refused to let that happen without some sort of a fight. “This is all Chrysalis’s fault.” I said with a hint of anger. “You planned this. Well guess what, I'm not dead yet.” I wiped a hoof across my eyes and bared my fangs at the sky. “ Do you understand me Chrysalis?! I swear by the sun that as long as I still breathe, I will hunt you!” I lowered my voice. “And when I find you, I will kill you.” I gave a slight grin, and lit up my horn. In a green flash, I disappeared to my room.

. . .

Telling all of the animals to spend the night outside wasn't an easy task, but for Fluttershy it was a piece of cake. The pegasus wanted to have a special night with Shade and wanted to be as alone as possible with him. It was past midnight now though, and Fluttershy was worried about him. Normally she wouldn't be very afraid for him, but after the threats on his life she had a reason too.

Fluttershy had been curling up with a book for a while, waiting for her changeling to return. She had a thought that he'd stay at the castle, but he had promised that he would send her a letter if he stayed anywhere. It wasn't that she was trying to control his life. They had both sat down and thought this when his nightmares began. Sadly, he still hadn't sent a letter to her.

“Shade...you better be alright.” Fluttershy softly said, looking at the clock. “Please...”

She hadn't realized how much on edge she was until a knock at the door made her jump in fright. “W-who's there?” She stammered out.

“It's me Flutters! You locked the door!” Fluttershy's face lit up at the sound of her changeling's voice.

Without a second thought, she flew at the door and opened it. She backed up a bit to let Shade enter. As soon as he did, she tackled him, proceeding to lock her mouth around his for a few seconds. When she let him go, she lightly punched his shoulder. “Don't do that! You scared me!”

Shade sheepishly grinned at her. “Sorry. I didn't think I was going to be gone that long. Mom really wanted to talk.”

“I guess.” Fluttershy giggled and trotted over to the living room.

“What did you do today?” Shade asked, sitting on the couch.

Fluttershy hopped on the couch and curled up against Shade. “Pinkie Pie was serving treats to Cheerilee's class today. We were going out today, but I ended up helping her. Then I went to talk with Twilight for a little bit. Oh, and Rainbow showed me a really...interesting trick she wanted to see if you could try.”

“Please.” Shade said. “You know I can't fly that well.”

Fluttershy smiled. “You can shift into her form you know.” She rested her hoof on Shade's chest. “Did you leave your necklace here?”

“Must have.” Shade said, standing. “I'll go grab it.” He walked into the kitchen.

“Don't forget to shift into your changeling form! You promised!” The pegasus called back.

“I know!” He replied. Fluttershy stood up and passed by the kitchen, stopping at the foot of the stairs. Something was off about Shade. She thought back to the morning. Shade had his necklace on before he had left. She remembered checking for it when he was having his nightmare. How did it leave his neck and end up here?

“Shade?! Didn't you have your necklace on when you left?” Fluttershy asked, getting a cold feeling in her stomach. She started to walk around the room towards the front door. “How did it get back here-Uh!” Fluttershy collapsed to the ground, a large bruise on the back of her head.

Shade stood above her, levitating a frying pan. “Sorry about that, 'sweetheart.' I needed some insurance.” His eyes flashed blue as he grinned.

Comments

[Shadow Note]

Hmmmmm, saw that one coming It's always the marefriend

[twow443]

1972321 Or is it...

[Shadow Note]

1972338
Exactly ;3 I think I see your plan here and, if I'm right, it's very clever! Btw, LOVE your avi!!!!!

[OtterMatt]

Ooooooooooooooooooh, shit son.

Okay, so Shade's scene got a bit hammy at the end, but overall, it's not a bad chapter. I think you might just be confusing "good pacing where not much happens all at once" with "it's boring and terrible".

[SHRIK3]

Knew that wasn't shade right from the knock... ooooo flutters
good chapter

[twow443]

1972381 I'm willing to bet that you don't know what my plan is.

[Shadow Note]

1981679 lol probably not

[twow443]

1981878 Feel free to send me a PM with your thought. Now I'm interested.

[Shadow Note]

1981931 alright, let me know how close I am