Hard Truth and Big Steps
The pink alicorn made her way through the halls of Cantorlot castle, not stopping for a moment to greet any of the workers. She weaved her way through the halls, and stairwells, her expression fuming and her mind racing. How could this happen? How could we not find these changelings when they were so close to us?! She glanced over to Brass Hail and gave a small snort of annoyance. The guard gave no sign that he noticed it, and moved along behind her as he was trained to. She reached the office of her aunt, and looked to her guard then back to the door. She knocked on it hard, sending echoes of her impacts down the hall.
"Aunt Celestia, I have an extremely important matter to talk to you about."
The door opened slowly, and the voice of her aunt reached her. "Come in, and lower your voice please."
Cadence strode into the room, ready to shout, but she froze as she spotted Celestia working at her desk, and Rose sleeping in the middle of the same desk. Cadence stopped mid stride and looked at them both. Celestia turned to her, and smiled.
"Hello Cadence." She motioned to Rose. "I can explain how she got here if you wish."
"I would like that explanation..." She returned as she moved to the desk and smiled softly at the sleeping changeling.
"Well, I had small issue with which I required Shinning's aid." She shuffled a few papers with her magic. "He said he couldn't leave her alone, and as such I took it upon myself to watch her as he dealt with my issue."
"What was the issue?" She nuzzled the filly gently and smiled fondly as the foal on the desk smiled in her sleep.
"I needed a small reorganization of the guard, to consolidate a few unneeded assets, and to reduce costs." She giggled at the confused looks from her niece. "It's pretty much changing a few things to make the guard more efficient and less taxing on the royal treasury."
Cadence nodded and then looked to Brass Hail standing in the doorway. "Speaking of guard, I have a few things to talk to you about them, or rather him."
Celestia nodded and motioned to the stallion, and the guard closed the door. "I see. Anything in particular?"
"He's a changeling." She looked to her aunt and wore a grim expression. "They're still in our ranks."
"I know."
Cadence blinked a few times and felt her expression slip, along with her anger as the simple phrase filled the air.
Her rage returned a moment later. "You... you know?!"
Celestia nodded. "Tone dear, Rose is sleeping." She summoned a small blanket and wrapped it around the filly. "I know he is a changeling. I take it you discovered this recently?"
"What do you mean you know?" She voice was lowered but her tone remained upset. "You mean you knew that there were changelings in our ranks after their invasion?"
The goddess nodded. "I only learned about his presence after I caught him trying to extract love from a rather cute student from the College of Stalliongrad."
"And you did nothing about it?"
Celestia looked to her niece. "I interrogated him, and I discovered all the others that had remained hidden from your husband’s purge of the castle staff and guard." She placed the papers in her aura down. "I gathered them all and gave them a choice. Stay and take an enchanted oath of loyalty, or leave without being exposed."
Cadence let out a sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Why give them that choice?"
"Because mercy wins hearts and minds more than a sword." She looked to the guard again. "Those that stayed are loyal to the kingdom, and have my trust. They are free to leave when they wish."
Cadence looked to the guard and sighed. "Fine... how many are left?"
"Six. Echo Carapace, or Brass Hail as he goes when he is a pony is the only one in the guard. Two are kitchen staff, and the rest are maids." She nodded to the stallion then looked to the younger alicorn. "They are of no threat and I have no reason to see them as such."
The younger goddess wanted to scream, but she reminded herself that the young changeling on the desk was asleep. She took a few breaths and sighed.
"I... okay... so..." She trailed off unable to form any thoughts on what to say. This revelation was a lot for the young goddess to take in.
"So, tell me Cadence, how did you learn about his true form?"
Cadence bit her lip and shuffled. "Well... I saw him transform after Chrysalis talked to me...” The pink mare explained everything that happened to her in the alleyway, and how she learned of the changelings in the castle.
Celestia remained silent through her story and occasionally looked over to the guard in the room. Once the pink alicorn finished talking she spoke in a stern tone to the guard.
"Has your queen been here in the city or castle since the invasion?"
The stallion shook his head. "No. Rose was sole the reason for her visit, as a changeling bonding with a pony hasn't happened in nearly three hundred years."
Celestia nodded and looked to the sleeping changeling. "I see... so we can raise her until she can gather love for herself... can transform I assume."
The guard nodded. "For changelings, the ability to transform is considered adulthood for us. A changeling with a good source of love can live for indefinite amount of time, though typically that means as long as the source lives as well." The guard looked to the younger goddess. "By all rights, your daughter is immortal just like you."
The goddess of love looked to the Rose and then to the guard. "Like earning a cutie mark." She watched the guard nod then looked to the filly again. "How many years do we have before that?"
"It depends on how good the source of love is, and how much they get. Some reach that stage in a year, while others can take five." The stallion looked to the princess of the sun for a moment as she carried the filly to the bed in the room then back to the pink mare. "I would expect her to reach that stage in a year. Physically and mentally she will be the same as a filly that has just earned her mark."
Celestia returned from placing the sleeping changeling on the bed and sat at her desk. "So, we know to prepare for that then." She looked to Cadence. "Is there anything else you wished to talk about?"
The pink mare shuffled and sighed. "This isn't at all how I imagined this conversation to go..."
"You wanted to yell at me for letting him and the others being allowed to stay?" Celestia spoke in a knowing motherly tone as she placed a pair of reading glasses on her muzzle.
The younger alicorn nodded. "Yeah..."
"And now you don't want to?"
A sigh came from the younger mare. "Yes... but..." She looked to Brass Hail for a moment then sighed. "Sorry... it's just a lot to process right now... we're still being watched by them, and it's not a comforting thought... and..." Her voice wavered.
Celestia looked to her niece to see her lip trembling. "What's wrong?"
"I don't want to lose her to the Queen... I don't want to lose my daughter."
The elder goddess rose and walked over to the pink mare and hugged her. The pink mare began softly weeping into the chest of her aunt and hugged her tightly. The pair stood there, simply holding each other. Celestia nuzzled her niece and smiled to her.
"I know you, and I can safely say this." She wiped away a tear from the young alicorn's eye. "She is lucky to have you as a mother, and she loves you now, and will love you tomorrow, and every day she breathes." She hugged the pink mare. "You won't lose your daughter."
Cadence hugged her aunt tightly and smiled into her fur, her voice muffled. "Thank you..." She looked up from the goddess chest and looked to the sleeping changeling. "Can I borrow your bed to cuddle my daughter?"
"You may." Celestia let the mare go, and watched her walk to the bed for a moment before she looked to the stallion. "Come along. I need a guard on a walk around the garden."
"Of course princess."
The pair left the room in silence, and Cadence moved next to the sleeping changeling. She watched the gentle breathing of the filly for a moment and cuddled up to her, and gently wrapped a wing around her. The alicorn kissed the filly on the head gently and smiled as she closed her eyes and joined her daughter in rest.
The captain of the guard walked along the halls with several papers floating around him as he sighed. He had been summoned to work on one of his few days off, and it was boring paper work.
At least this wasn't the worst thing... Rose got to spend the day having fun with Celestia...
He let out another sigh as he collected the papers into a stack and placed them onto his back as he opened the door to his apartment in the castle. As he walked into the living room, he spotted Cadence's personal maid working in the kitchen. He deposited the papers on the sofa as he walked through the home.
"Oh, hello Captain Armor." She bowed to him. "I was just doing some tidying up while you and the princess were away."
The unicorn smiled to the blue pegasus, and nodded to her. "Thank you. Go ahead and finish up then ask the kitchen staff to make a meal for my family."
Swift Clean nodded and smiled to the captain. "Of course." She gave a small bow. "So, Celestia told me to let you know that Rose and Cadence are sleeping on her bed right now."
Shining placed the papers down on the couch and looked to the maid. "Oh... when did Cadence get home?"
"Sometime this afternoon. She went to talk to Princess Celestia and has spent the rest of the time there." The maid replied. "I imagine she'll be back soon."
The stallion nodded. "Thank you." Shining used his magic to get himself a glass of water, and moved back to the sofa. "So, do you know where she went today? She was sorta cryptic about it."
"She didn't say. I think she just went out shopping or something." The maid moved into the main room and began working on picking up a few of the toys that Rose left lying around. "I think she needed a simple day to herself."
The unicorn nodded, and took a sip of his water as he began looking through the papers. "I can understand that." He chuckled. "Rose can wear you out so quickly. She is a little ball of energy when wants to be."
Both ponies shared a chuckle and Swift finished cleaning the floor of toys. The mare deposited the toys into a small box, and smiled to the stallion then shuffled in her spot.
"Captain, if I may?"
He looked up at the mare that spoke softly. He wasn’t quite used to being nobility and having the maids and staff of the castle treat him in a similar manner as the princess’s.
"You may."
She swallowed for a moment. "If you ever need a nanny for Rose, could I be the first one on your list of ponies to interview?"
The stallion smiled warmly to her and nodded. "I think it'd be safe to say you may already have the job, all we need to do is make it official." He beamed as the mare did a hoof pump and jumped in joy. "Rose loves being near you, and I'd say the only other ponies she is comfortable around is Celestia and Brass Hail."
Swift smirked and chuckled. "Brass Hail is the stallion that found her when she got lost in the castle right?"
Shining nodded and shuffled a few papers. "He is."
"I have to say, you know how to pick the hunks for the guard." She giggled. "I wouldn't mind if he saved me some time."
Shining chuckled and looked at the maid as she chuckled. "I have good news for you then. He's single." He grinned at the mare. "But you didn't hear that from me. Last I talked to him; he's fresh out of a bad break up."
The mare blinked in surprise. "He is? What happened?"
Shining sat back and took another sip of water. "Well, what I heard from him is that he found out she was cheating on him with two stallions and a mare." He sipped the water once more. "Yeah... he broke up once he found out, and let all the ponies she was seeing know as well." Shining shrugged and looked to Swift. "I have no clue how she or the others are, but he was really broken up about it. I tried to give him a few days off, but he insisted on extra shifts instead."
A surprised look came from the maid. "Why would he do that?"
"He said something along the lines of wanting to think about something other than her."
Swift nodded. "Oh... that makes sense..."
Silence fell between the pair and Shining took another sip of his water. Swift took a moment to look around the room to see if anything else needed cleaning, and then bowed to the captain.
"I will inform the kitchen staff for you."
Shining gave her a friendly smile. "Thank you. Don't be a stranger, I know Rose would love to see you again."
With a final bow the maid left Shining alone in the apartment. He placed the glass of water down and looked through the papers for what felt like the hundredth time to the stallion. He sighed and placed the papers down and laid down on the couch and stared at the ceiling. His mind was plagued with a regret that had settled into the back of his mind for the last week.
Twily... I need to apologize to her... but she'll never let me get close enough to do it...
No sooner had he finished the thought, a scroll appeared above him in a small gout of green flames and landed on his face a moment later. The stallion scrambled for a moment as he felt the wax seal bounce off his nose, and onto the floor. He stood up and looked around, spotting the scroll under the coffee table. He picked it up with a shaky hoof, and slowly opened it.
Dear Shining,
I will be in Canterlot in two days’ time. I want to talk to you about your daughter, and to apologize for how I acted. I want to be in your life, and if that means being family to Rose, then I will put aside my prejudice and be there for her, you and Cadence. I hope to see you at Noon of this Thursday at The Cantering Horse Cafe.
Your L.S.B.F.F.
Twilight.
Shining read the letter several times, each time uncertain of if the letter was real. It was her writing style, her vocabulary usage, and it even smelled like a new book. The stallion licked his lips and swallowed and felt himself smile.
"She... wants to talk... and be in Rose's life..." He beamed at the letter. "Twily, I knew you were a wonderful mare... I'm a lucky B.B.B.F.F."
Rose walked along the large pink mare she knew as 'Cadenze' and nuzzled the mares warm fur on her leg. She felt a burst of warmth as the mare looked at her and she giggled as the large mare nuzzled her cheek, and the burst of warmth increased as she spoke.
"You are so cute." Cadence smiled and kissed Rose on the forehead. "We'll see Shining soon. I bet he missed you today." She hugged the changeling and nuzzled her gently. "I know I missed my daughter."
Rose felt herself smile as the warmth washed through her body more intensely than she could ever remember it. She nuzzled the pink pony and hugged her tightly.
"Cadenze, cuddle."
"I will, but we need to get home." She smiled to the filly in her hooves and nuzzled her one last time and placed her on her back. "Your daddy needs to see you, or he will not be able to go on."
Rose tilted her head then pointed forward and smiled. "Zhining, cuddle!"
Cadence giggled and made her way to the apartment. They reached their home quickly, and the moment Cadence opened the door, the little changeling leaped off her back and sprinted across the room.
"ZHINING!" The little black carapace bolted to the stallion standing in the kitchen and tackled him.
"GAH!"
The stallion fell to the floor and a moment later felt tiny hooves hugging him tightly and a little head nuzzling into his chin. He spotted the chortling form of his wife in the living room, and smiled as he hugged the little filly back.
"Hey Rose. How's my little filly?"
Rose grinned up to Shining. "Zhining, cuddle nice!"
The unicorn chuckled and nuzzled the changeling. "You cuddle pretty well too." He beamed to Cadence. "So, how was your nap?"
Cadence walked over to the pair and sat next to them. "It was delightful." She kissed Shining and then nuzzled Rose. "One of the best cuddles of my life."
"Great to hear." The stallion smiled and nuzzled Rose. "Dinner is on the way from the chefs, so we won't have to wait long for that."
The princess of love nodded and cuddled the pair on the floor. "Sounds nice."
The trio stayed on the floor for a while, but moved to the couch after a knock came from the door. Dinner had arrived, and was quickly eaten by the small family. Rose yawned and slumped against a pillow and quickly drifted off to sleep. Shining carried her to her bedroom, which was an office that he and Cadence converted quickly so that she could have a place of her own. As he returned to the living room he spotted Cadence laying on the couch, and smiling at him.
"Shining... I want to talk to you about something..." Cadence smiled to him and turned on her side and pat the sofa. "Come join me on the couch please."
The stallion could only nod and walked over to the goddess on the couch and sat down next to her. Cadence kissed him on the cheek and smiled.
"Dear... I want to adopt Rose." She laid Shining down and cuddled up to him. "I want to make it official that she is our daughter."
The stallion cuddled up to her and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll get the paper work."
The pair shared a kiss, and Shining ran his hooves through the mane of his wife, and relished the giggle she made at his action. He felt her wing wrap around him and her hoof begin circling on his chest. The stallion smiled as they broke the kiss, and he nuzzled her.
"Is there anything else we need to talk about... or can we move this to the bedroom?"
The alicorn shuffled on the couch and Shining watched her expression shift from the blissful expression to a worrying one as she bit her lip. The goddess swallowed and steeled herself.
"I... found out something... it's not exactly um..." She bit her lip for a moment. "Pleasant... it was unsettling for me..." She swallowed again. "Still is actually."
"What is it?" The stallion sat up and watched his wife shuffle again. He rarely saw her like this, and the last time was when they told his parents that they were engaged.
"Well... I found out that Rose isn't the only changeling in the castle."
"Pardon?"
Cadence tapped her hooves together as she watched the stallion's expression slowly morph from confused to upset.
"Okay, don't get mad and keep your voice low." She points to Rose's room before she continued. She explained everything that had happened to her for the second time that day, and watched with deepening worry as Shining began silently fuming and snorting every few moments.
"And so... Brass Hail, and a hoof-full of others are in the castle, and Celestia is keeping an eye on them."
The fuming stallion raised an eyebrow. "Celestia knows..." His voice was dripping with a barely contained rage. "And she didn't tell me... the captain of her guard." He stressed his words with stomping a hoof on the couch. "My job is to protect her, and she let this sort of information stay away from me?"
Cadence shuffled. "She wanted to keep them around to learn about the changelings. You'll need to talk to her about why she didn't tell you... I didn't ask."
The captain of the guard resumed silently fuming and snorted. Cadence shuffled and watched him. She has seen him made before, and every time she found it adorable. Even when they were young she found the way he pursed his lips, flared his nostrils, and stomped funny, in the cute sort of way.
She fought the urge to smile and was beginning to lose. She shuffled in her spot on the couch and caught the stallions gaze unfortunately.
"Why are you smiling at me?" He huffed at her.
She blushed. "Sorry... I know you're mad, but... you always look so hunky when you get mad..." She began playing with her wing and covered the lower half of her face with it. "I'm not trying to be rude or anything... but you do look adorable when you are angry."
The stallion snorted again and took a few deep breaths before he spoke, his voice much more controlled. "You are to pretty to be mad at…" He sighed again and moved her wing away to see her smiling gently. "I will speak to your aunt tomorrow, and get this all sorted out with her."
"You know, this reminds me of our first argument." She nuzzled Shining and kissed him on the nose.
The stallion chuckled and smiled back to her. "I remember it."
"I can't believe we actually got in a yelling match about who ate the last piece of pie from your grandmother." The pair chuckled together and kissed again, gently. Their hooves began wandering across each other’s body as their tongues danced.
Shining broke the kiss and stared into the violet eyes of his mare. "So... bedroom?"
"Bedroom."
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DIABETUS
MAKE THE CUTENESS STOP
5639900 healthsciencedegree.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/wilford-brimley-diabeetus.jpg
Hello. My name is Headlock. I'm here to tell you about the dangers of cuteness induced Diabeetus...
)
(
Seriously though, so adorable! X3
i.chzbgr.com/completestore/12/8/30/kTaOJ3i4bEKBrIFKu1XYuQ2.gif
(To the changeling conspiracy, not the ending.)
A little while later...
"Cadanze and Zhining are making lots of love right now! What they doing?"
*opens door to their bedroom, peeks inside...*
"... Unfortunately, that burst of love made me mature rapidly enough to realise I will spend the rest of my life wishing I hadn't seen my parental figures doing that. Ewwww."
while a great deal of this was adorable, you still need to fix a ton of your grammar and punctuation. There are several places where you use the wrong word, your missing words, or the whole sentence is fragmented.
Otherwise, great job, and glad to see you back!
DIABETUSUSUSUSUSUSUSUS!!!!!
5640153 Its superdaww diabetus. there is no cure.
This story is to damn cute. I cant take the amount of DAWWWS in it. But I must have more! cant wait for next chapter *flaps around the room in excitement*
Wow, much love
Is Rose's love connection REALY to Caddy or is to Zhining
?
D'AWWABETUS.
That was so fun to read. I loved how Celestia knew about everything. I can't wait to see how everything turns out with Twilight. This is going to be good.
5640466 The foal often has a stronger connection with its mother than its father. If I was a changeling, this would be my breakfast!
Haven't even started reading this and i can feel the dwaas' that this will cause...
All aboard the diabetes express!
I wonder what Rose's official title will be.
5640971
Probably, Black Queen or Changeling Peace Ambassador.
and they banged
nice twist! im actually curious to see how this will end. also shining vs Brass Hail is something i want to see happen at some point XD
5641331 na shell be a WMC (weapon of mass cuteness)
Everything is going so well, even Twilight is reaching out to her brother, it makes me wonder what is going to upset the cart.
How could we not find these changelings when they were so close to us?!
lol im inmmune to cuteness because im at war for 50 years.
hmmm? whats this. a new story just popped up on my sceen.
*reads story*
ok that is damn to cute.
5640971 Rose, Princess of cuddles and cookies!
I'm gonna be honest here.
I feel interactions between Celestia and Candace were rigid. and Celestia doesn't seem slightly concerned about Chrysalis showing up?
please sir, can i have some more?
Might want to edit your long description. Unless he is on the Simpsons Halloween special, it's Shining Armor, not Shinning.
cesarzamoradotcom.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/shinning-willie-cesar-zamora.gif
5640003 Ack!
Was zur Hölle war das?
Not sure what you shoved in my face... but it does taste like lingonberry! Yum!
(Jag kommer att hitta dig och när jag gör ni också kommer att känna smaken av lingon)
"This story is now declared to be inhumanly cute by royal decree from his majesty, the god emperor of cuteness. You will have one week to make this story less cute or thou shall be charged with 506,000 charges of murder in the form of cuteness overload and for temped assassination of the king from heart failure. If you are charged, you shall be executed by way of cuddling with 1,000 cute kittens. Do you wish to lessen the cuteness or shall you accept the charges?"
I hope when Twilight comes to see Rose she brings Spike along as well.
5643476 I want a lawyer, a bucket of candy, and for you to DO YOUR WORSE. The cute shall not be lessened, and if anything, it shall ramp up! *cackles like a madman*
I feel you missed a massive opportunity when you brought in other changelings to plot dump whatever cadence needs.
I feel you kinda swept under the rug one of equestrians enemies getting to a member of the royal family. This is a failure of the guard which means its also a failure of shining armor.
I mean cadence doesnt need to learn anything now. She can go to the nearest changeling and hit him up for exposition. No discovery. No bonding with the child. None of the stress of child rearing. No conflict when the relationship between shining her and rose comes under stress from raising a child with special needs from a position of ignorance.
And trying to explain that to the nobility.
dropped the ball here yo.
I hop onto the diabetes express... and went right to overload junction. *kills over*
Ah, this story... One of the few that are almost always guaranteed to put a smile on my face every time it updates.
5639906 *Knocks out with a truncheon*
Ignore the heretic, please, continue...
5643884 Fine! You will get a lawyer! and that lawyer will be a super adorable filly derpy and you get your bucket of candy! But it will be also filled with small overly cute kittens that mew at you and chase their tails! AND! You shall be strapped to a bed and have 100,000 small kittens laying on you while you are forced to watch small and overly cute filly version of the mane 6 play with even MORE kittens! AND! You will be cuddled by woona!
5639906
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5645651 That's my Friday nights.
5647638 Then... then....
I give.
5649772 *Passes a changeling foal for cuddles* Enjoy, and just have fun.
5649777
did somebody said cuteness overload cause there has been major surge of spirits who died by sheer cuteness here in tartarus.....
5645651 Oh my, I just thought of it a filly twilight sparkle and fluttershy. Well that death for me.
5643884
if you're a madman, where is your diary?
5655069 My changeling foal accidentally burned it. The little scamp.
5655250
ah, the little bugger got to it.
So chapter end with [implied] primal ball slapping sex. Okay..
The cuteness is going overboard please see a doctor if you have this things: saying D'awwwww alot, feelings that are cute and cuter for more info please stop by a pro thank you
This is intresting I like keep up the good work man