• Published 21st Dec 2012
  • 22,514 Views, 815 Comments

Love is Blind - RaijingtheClockworkPony



Back from their honeymoon Shining Armor and Princess Cadence find a strange guest in their quarters

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Speak Softly

It had been a long tiring week for Cadance. She had been summoned to speak before the royal council about taking care of Rose and reporting on her. She was surprised at how many of them were excited about the idea and supportive of her and Celestia's idea. What surprised her even more was almost all of them had told her after the meeting that they were willing to supply whatever she needed to study Rose.

Even the council members that didn't offer her whatever she needed had given the plan their support on the fact it would give Equestria a better knowledge of the Changelings. So Cadance had left the meeting and felt as if a great weight had been removed from her shoulders and a moment later another fell onto them. She was now responsible for a living creature. A filly that needed tender care all the time. She felt confident she could do it but at the same time she was worried she might fail. She might have taken care of Twilight for a few days one time when her parents had business across Equestria and Shining was away at the Guard Academy at the time, but this wasn't a few days with a filly that had become her friend. This was a changeling filly that couldn't even talk.

Couldn't talk. Cadance had stopped walking through the halls of the castle for a moment as that thought went through her mind. Rose was smart enough to learn how to use a toilet and had understood the point of washing her hooves. After those thoughts passed through her mind she decided on something she needed to do. She was going to teach Rose how to speak Equestrian.

Her enthusiasm with this task had faded over the week as she quickly realized that taking care of a changeling and trying to teach it was a tiring task. She was currently enjoying one of the few quiet moments Rose had given her by lying on the bed with the small changeling curled up next to her.

I've made no progress with her. She understands what I'm saying but she won't make any sounds aside from that growling and chittering. The pink princess lightly nuzzled the tiny changeling and pulled her close to herself. Maybe I need to be a little more patient with this. It's only been a week after all. Cadance sighed and closed her eyes. She needed a good nap.

Rose jolted awake. She looked around for a moment confused and noticed the sleeping form of Cadance that was beside her. The filly looked at her for a moment and snuggled close to the mare, feeling the warm soft fur against her cheek as she closed her eyes again. She wondered for a moment, on why she had awoken when a noise came from behind the sofa she was resting on. She cowered close to Cadance for a second when she heard the light humming coming from the source of the noise.

She slowly moved up on the couch and looked over the back of the couch. She spotted a bright blue mare that was moving a small cart into the room. Upon seeing the mare Rose smiled. This was the nice one. All the other maids that had entered the suite always gave her harsh stares and radiated a chill that Rose had felt from other ponies before she had come to the castle but this one was different. She was always smiling and even spoke to Rose.

"Oh, hey there Rose. Where's Cadance ?"

Rose recognized the word 'Cadance' and looked down at the sleeping mare. The blue earth pony moved around the couch and looked down. She looked back at the changeling with a soft smile.

"You must have tired the poor filly out." She placed her hoof to her lips and shushed the changeling. "I think we should stay quiet so she can sleep."

The mare walked back to the small cart and wheeled it into the suite. She picked up a few rags and bottles and moved into the kitchen. Rose watched her for a moment then looked over to the door into the castle. It was wide open. The small changeling slowly moved towards the edge of the couch but stopped when Cadance rolled over. Rose watched her for a moment as she got comfortable on the couch. Rose continued along the couch and hoped off the end.

She walked toward the doorway when she caught the light citrus smell coming from the kitchen. The blue mare was still humming in the other room as the filly walked out into the hallway. She glanced up and down the hall wondering which way she should go. She had only been out of the chambers once over the last week and that was so she could have been looked at by a group ponies that sat behind a larger version of the strange wooden thing that she ate at with Cadance and Shining. The whole thing had made her frightened due to the cold waves that they emitted towards her.

She wandered off towards the left and looked at the objects that line the sides of the walls. Paintings of faraway places, tables holding small objects she couldn't see, and even the occasional hutch filled with small items that Rose couldn't identify. She reached a small crossing between two halls and stopped in the middle. She heard voices coming from the hall to her left and then laughter. The sound grabbed the attention of the young filly and she set off down the hall. She walked down the hall and turned to look inside an open room.

Inside were two brown mares talking as they worked. Rose poked her head inside and watched them as they cleaned the room. One of them was smiling wide as she spoke.

"And then he asked me if I had ever flown before. I told him I hadn't and he lowered himself and offered to show me."

The other mare looked at the first with a wide smile. "Aww, what happened after that?"

The first mare blushed a little. "I got onto his back and he flew me up to the clouds. We landed near a small lake and... What is that doing here?"

She glanced over to the doorway as she spoke and spotted Rose standing there. The warmth that was coming from the pair quickly faded and became cold. Rose stood there looking at the pair and her ears fell to the sides of her head. She had no idea why they were looking at her so coldly all of a sudden.

"Maybe Cadance is taking her somewhere."

The second mare walked towards Rose, which caused her to crouch low and slowly flee from the cold mare. The first mare moved over to the doorway as well.

"I don't see her. The Princess isn't in the hall."

The mares looked at each other, and then to Rose, who was backing away from the mares into the hallway. They locked eyes on her for a moment then looked at each other.

"Do you think she might be making a run for it?"

The first mare shrugged and took a menacing step towards the small filly. "I don't really care. We should get her back to the princess. These little monsters are nothing but trouble."

She moved closer to the frightened changeling and reached out to grab her. Rose backed away from the mare as the cold waves crashed through her body.

"Come here you little..."

The mare lunged forward after Rose but failed to catch her as she dove to the side and sprinted off down the hall. The other mare ran after her a moment later.

"Get back here!"

Rose moved as fast as her legs could carry her, adrenalin pumping through her tiny body, and leaped around the first corner she came to. She nearly ran into a guard that was walking down the hall. She dove between his legs and ran under him as he stopped, confused as to what was happening.

"What the—"

*WHAM*

The mare chasing Rose crashed into the guard a moment after Rose passed under him. A tangled mess of fur and armor crashed to the floor. Rose looked back for a moment before the other mare came around the corner. She gave a small shriek and sprinted off down the hall. The mare tried to move around the pair that was getting up off the floor, but they ended up falling over and knocking her down as well. Rose moved around another corner and jumped into the first open room she found.

She looked around the room for a moment. She noticed it looked like the closet, much like the one Cadance had chased her into but much larger. She tried to control her breathing when she heard a surprised voice from her left. A large grey guard was looking at her confused. He walked forward a few steps as Rose shrieked again and scrambled around. The guard lunged to grab her.

"Whoa there, calm down!"

He missed her as she leaped backwards. This caused him to fall on the ground and collide with a large drawer next to the doorway. The drawer collapsed onto the stallion as Rose sprinted down the hall yet again, her lungs burning and her limbs screaming for rest. She reached another intersection and turned to the right. She ran into another open room and dove under the first thing she could see. It was a low lying table up against the far wall of the room. She could just barely squeeze under it. She curled up into a tiny ball as images flashed into her eyes.

She had been alone in the alleyway when a voice rang out behind her. She turned to see a large silver skinned creature approaching her. It was massive and had small segments of bright white that connected the silver portions of the skin. It had a white muzzle protruding from its silver head. The warm weather evaporated quickly as it approached, the air turning icy cold. Its steely eyes filled with a darkness that she couldn't understand.

It made noises she couldn't understand and reached for her. She tried to run , but it was too fast. She struggled and cried in its grip as it made dark rumbles. It tightened its grip on her as it moved towards the edge of the alleyway. The tiny changeling could see a pair of the silver skinned creatures waiting for her and the one carrying her. One of them shouted out and pointed behind the one carrying her. The filly had no time to look backwards as something large collided with the silver creature.

Rose hit the wall of the alleyway and gasped in pain. She looked over to see a large black skinned creature attacking the silver skinned one. It took the changeling a moment to realize that the one attacking her assailant was just like her but only larger and had a blue spot on its back. The larger creature sank its fangs into the neck of the silver creature. The silver one let out a scream and tried to pry the black one off.

Rose sat there for only a moment before she saw the other silver monsters running over to the three of them. Rose scrambled onto her hooves and sprinted down the alley. One of them went to help the one on the ground while the other ran after Rose. The black thing then detached itself from its victim and grabbed the silver creature after the filly. Rose was about to duck into another alley when she looked back. Two of the silver creatures were fighting the black one. One of the silver ones got behind it and grabbed it. Unable to break the grasp the other silver monster helped wrestle it to the ground.

The creature just like her looked over at her and for a moment its large blue eyes connected with her own red ones. The creature gave a small cry and Rose ran into the alleyway. She ran as hard and as fast as she could until her legs nearly gave out. She came to a dead end and looked around. The alleyway was dead silent. The small filly moved over to a small box and collapsed inside of it. She curled up into a ball...

... and began to cry under the table where she sat. Rose sobbed silently as she huddled against the wall, praying that nothing would find her and hurt her.

Cadance was being shaken. She hated being awoken like that. It always made her feel rushed and meant she was going to miss something important. A worried voice was in her ear as she was being brought out of her slumber. Five more minutes Shiny. I just want to finish this dream.

"Your Majesty please wake up. This is important!"

An alarm sounded in Cadance’s mind. That wasn't Shining. That was a maid. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up. A worried mare was standing near the couch. Cadance looked at the blue mare for a moment as she tried to remember her name.

"Swift Clean, what's going on?"

The maid shuffled on her hooves for a moment. "I can't find Rose. I've looked everywhere in the suite and she ain’t here. I think she might be loose in the castle."

Cadance leaped up from the couch and ran to the doorway. "You checked everywhere?"

The maid nodded. "Yes but I couldn't find her. I just noticed a few moments ago and started searching. I don't know how long she's been gone."

Cadance looked up and down the hall for a moment. She took a breath to calm herself so she could think. "Okay... we need to start looking for her. You go and search this floor for her while I alert the guards. She can't have gotten far."

The pair moved off down the hall and made it to the first stairwell when a crowd of maids and a few guards spewed forth. The small crowd spotted the princess and surrounded her, each of them talking at once, yelling in her ears.

"That little thing is running around..."

"It's making a run for it! We need to capture it!"

"It should be locked in the dungeon! A monster like that shouldn't be allowed to be—"

"ENOUGH!"

All the ponies in the hall covered their ears as the princess's voice rang out through hall. For a moment they all stood there with their heads down. Slowly they looked at the princess as she placed her hoof on her chest and took in a breath. She slowly exhaled and extended her hoof.

She looked at the crowd for a moment. "I understand your worries, but at the moment the only thing that matters is finding Rose. I'll take responsibility for any damage she may cause," She looked at a brown maid for a moment, "and I will punish her as I see fit. I want her found."

The few guards in the crowd set off down the halls and back down the staircase. The maids stood there for a moment watching the guards leaving. Cadance cleared her throat and gave every maid from the crowd a stern stare.

"Now!"

The maids didn't need another word and ran off down the hall and onto the stairs.

Swift Clean looked at the pink princess for a moment. "I've never heard you use the Royal Canterlot voice before."

Cadance sighed and looked at the mare. "I don't like using it. I always feel so mean when I do. Now let’s find Rose before she or somepony gets hurt."

The sound of hooves reached the ears of the small changeling. She looked up from her hiding spot and saw a set of silver hooves moving across the room. They passed by the table and moved across the room with dull metal *thumps *. Rose curled up more and tried to move closer to the wall. She felt her back touch the wall and she stopped. She realized that she couldn't see the hooves so she tried to turn so she could but her hoof bumped the wall making a tiny *thud*.

She froze and so did the hooves. They slowly turned and moved towards the table and stopped just ahead of Rose. For a moment she thought she might be able to make a break for it but realized that the silver thing would catch her the moment she tried to get out from under the table. A moment later the silver hooves moved back and the face of her capture was visible.

She gave a small cry and pressed herself to the wall in the desperate hope that the wall would fall away and she could escape.

"No, no, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you."

She looked back and stared at the green eyes looking at her. Rose was surprised at how gentle this voice was. The deep tones were filled with concern. The silver creature lowered himself to the ground and reached for her. Rose let out another cry as the armored hoof came close. She covered her head as the hoof drew away.

"No... oh, I see. Don't like the armor?"

The silver creature stood up for a moment and Rose looked at him and watched as it removed its skin. The parts of its hooves came off first followed by its chest. The final portion was its face. The creature came back down and Rose could only stare at it. It had transformed into a creature just like Shining, only its fur was black and it has a light green mane.

"See? I'm friendly. Come on, I'll take you back to Cadance. She's probably looking for you."

He reached for her again and this time she crawled forward. As she reached her hooves she felt a connection form. It was nice and comforting, just like the one the light blue one that brought the nice smelling liquid. She was pulled out from under the table and the creature was going to place her on the ground but she clamped onto him with a tight hug. She needed as much of that connection as she could.

The creature stood there for a moment holding her as she hugged him. "Um... I guess I could carry you to her. You must be really scared."

The creature made his way through the halls of the castle while holding the filly with one leg. Rose sniffled a few times which prompted the creature to stop and whisper comforting words to her, not that she understood any of it but the tone was all that mattered. The pair moved through the castle stopping only to ask a maid where Cadance was. The pair made their way through the castle.

The stallion spotted the princess down the hall surrounded by the maids helping her search. He cleared his throat to get the princess's attention. The pink mare turned to look at the guard then to the filly he was holding. She was about to speak but Rose turned around to look at her. The moment the filly saw the princess she gave a small cry of joy and leaped out of the stallions grip and latched onto Cadance.

The princess caught the filly and hugged her gently. She glanced at the small group of maids and saw that they all were looking at the changeling. Many of them were surprised and their expressions soft.

"I think you all should go tell the guards that we've found Rose. Thank you."

The maids dispersed in a few moments leaving only the guard, Swift Clean, and Rose with her in the hall. She hugged the filly tightly and nuzzled the top of her head. She looked up at the stallion.

"Where was she?"

The stallion stood at attention. "She was hiding in the fifth floor study. She was under the table crying when I found her. She wouldn't come near me until I removed my armor. I apologize for my appearance."

The princess was about to answer her but Swift spoke before she could. "Nothing wrong with that, baby."

Both the princess and the guard looked over at the maid. She smiled at the guard and winked at him. The stallion smiled back for a moment then returned to the stone face stance he had a moment ago. Cadance rolled her eyes then looked at the guard.

"Thank you. I'll talk to Captain Shining so you won't get in trouble. What's your name and rank?"

The stallion gave her a small nod of appreciation. "Sergent Brass Hail."

The princess gave the stallion a small bow to be formal. "Thank you for your service kind Brass Hail."

The stallion bowed to the princess. "An honor and pleasure to serve the royal family."

As the stallion began to leave Swift Clean spoke again. "Pleasures all ours darlin'."

The stallion glanced back to see the maid waving at him. He gave her a grin and walked down the hall. It wasn't until he was out of sight that Swift Clean spoke again.

"By your aunt he's cute, and that flank!"

Cadance sighed and started walking down the hall. "Next time just smack him. The message would be less blunt."

Swift Clean rolled her eyes. "Hey, some flirting doesn't hurt. Besides it's not like I wouldn't mind spending a night or two with a hunk like that."

Cadance looked down at Rose. "Swift not in front of Rose. She can understand us pretty well. I want to set a good example for her. Talking like that isn't going to help."

The maid sighed exaggeratedly. "You need to lighten up. Let Shining take care of her for a night and let's just relax for a while. You need some you time while you still have a chance."

The princess shook her head as they moved up a staircase. "I can't. I'm still trying to teach her how to talk but I can't get her to make even the smallest sound. I don't know how to get it to work. I'm almost to the point of writing to Twilight for advice."

The mares giggled as they walked along another hall. Swift Clean went silent for a moment. "Maybe you're going about it the wrong way. What kind of words are you trying to teach her?"

Cadance opened the door to her suite and walked in. "Simple words like door, wall, bed, and animals. She won't make a single noise though."

"Maybe you should try words she hears the most. Like your and Shining's name and stuff you say a lot around her."

Cadance placed the filly down on the couch and sat next to her. "Maybe you're right. You don't have to finish cleaning the suite. I think we both need the rest of the evening to rest."

Swift Clean nodded and collected the cleaning supplies. "Thank you. If you need anything else just give us a call."

The maid gave a small bow to Cadance and a wave to Rose and left the suite with the cart. Cadance looked at the changeling for a moment before scooping her up and hugging her.

"You had me so worried. I thought you might have gotten hurt. Please don't do that again."

Rose hugged the princess back and felt waves of comforting warmth wash over her. The rest of their evening was spent playing around the suite and Cadance trying to teach Rose some words but to no avail. It was late in the evening when Shining came into the main room. He sighed and plopped down on the couch.

"So... I was told today that Rose was running around the castle."

Cadance moved next to her husband on the couch. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before she spoke. "Yeah, she wandered out into the halls when I was asleep and Swift woke me up when she noticed she was missing."

Shining looked at the filly playing with a small doll on the floor in front of them. "She caused injuries to a guard and made the entire castle panic for close to an hour. You should have been watching her better."

Cadance leaned back from the stallion. "Excuse me? I've been watching her all week and been feeding her. You've not even spent that much time at all. You've been away working the whole time!"

Her tone got angry at the end which made Shining angry as well. "Sorry for trying to keep the whole nation safe! I've been trying to figure out a way to calm the public down. There's mass hysteria across the nation and you want me to baby sit her? I need to do my sworn duty!"

Rose looked over at them and watched as they both got up from couch and were now yelling at each other at opposite ends of the couch. Rose could feel a different type of energy coming off of the two of them. It was uncomfortable and made her limbs ache. This feeling made her stomach clench and she felt sick.

"Oh so your job is more important than either of us?"

Shining took a step closer to her. "You know that's not what I meant! I'm just trying to make this nation a little safer for everypony!"

Rose lowered her head. The feelings were growing stronger. She felt tears form as the waves of hurtful energy crashed through her tiny body.

Cadance took a step closer to the stallion with a scowl. "Well it certainly sounds like you care for your job more than you care for me or Rose. Why is it so hard for you to come home early and spend some time with her?"

Rose couldn't take it anymore.

"Zhining, Cadanzze!"

Both of the ponies stopped cold in their argument and stared at each other. They both were confused as to where the tiny buzzing voice had come from. This confusion passed and they looked over at Rose. With tears running down her face she ran over to Shining and tugged at his leg.

"Zhining—" The changeling made a small buzzing noise then looked at Cadance as she tugged at Shining's leg. "—Cadanze."

She looked up at the stallion for a moment then hugged his leg again. Shining was stunned for a moment and looked at his wife. She was equally stunned by the sudden words and actions.

"Rose..."

The pink princess picked up the filly and hugged her. "Her first words! This is amazing!"

Shining stared at the changeling for a moment as his brain worked out a simple fact. "Her first word..."

The alicorn looked at the stallion as he trailed off. "What?"

"My name was her first word..."

Cadance watched as his expression softened as he moved closer to the filly. "Her first word was my name."

He gently took the filly from Cadance and hugged her. Rose hugged him tightly and nuzzled him. "Zhining."

"I'm sorry Rose. I won't argue with Cadance anymore."

He looked up at Cadance and saw her smiling warmly at them. "I think we should spend a day together."

Shining looked back down at the filly as Rose wiped a tear away. Shining nuzzled the filly. "I think I could do that."

Author's Note:

Special thanks to The Head of Richard Nixon for helping me in editing this. I would hug you but I'm to busy "Dwaaa'ing" at the cute little changeling.