Change the Heart

by FatesWinds

Chapter 8: The Encounter

Chapter 8
The Encounter
"Sometimes we let our fears get the best of us. Sometimes that's just what we need to do in order to survive." —Heavy Hammer, Journey Through the Hive

Twilight and Heart Shield woke with the rising sun. They said nothing to each other, each thinking over what was said the night before. Heart Shield’s head was spinning. He couldn’t deny that, after everything that everypony had said to him, and what Chrysalis had said herself, there was another side to her that he hadn’t known. She had been a bad pony, but from what he himself had known, something had changed. If she truly was the monster everypony had seen, then why hadn’t she used her magic to heal herself and destroy him and Twilight when she had the chance? Was Twilight right after all? Had Chrysalis seen how kind he could be and used that to her advantage? Tried to convince him that she was good? He just couldn’t bring himself to accept that as a possibility, not after what he’d seen.

Twilight was struggling with her own thoughts as well. She had seen a different Chrysalis than who she had encountered before. She had attacked out of concern for Heart Shield, stopped when he said to, and used up her magic to fix his wings. Twilight couldn’t get over her own view of the Changeling Queen, but Heart Shield had always seen things in everypony that no one else had, he could tell, somehow, whether or not a pony was trustworthy. He trusted that Chrysalis had changed, could he have been right after all? Had she acted out of her own anger at the queen and refused to accept the possibility that she’d changed for the better? Had she been wrong? But there was one thing about this that had her troubled. His thoughts, since he’d found the queen in the forest, had become just about her. It felt like it had gone beyond just his trust for her. Like there was something between him and Chrysalis that was making him go out of his way for her. She had to know.

“Heart Shield,” she said, breaking the silence.

“Yes?”

“About Chrysalis… you have so much faith in her, you take her at her word, and you put yourself in harm’s way for her.”

“Of course, she’s good; she’s changed from what you-.”

“Has she? Has she really changed?” Twilight looked him in the eye. “She’s managed to fool other ponies before. I know that she healed you, I won’t deny that’s out of character for her, but-.”

“Are we on this again?” he interrupted, irritated. “I thought we had agreed to Lady Celestia to accept that we both see her differently.”

“That’s just it. The way you see her, the things you did for her, is that because you truly see something in her that’s different, something that’s changed? Or do you see her that way, do those things, because you’ve grown to care for her? Not the way Applejack, Fluttershy and I have, but…”

“Twilight, what are you trying to imply?”

She bit her lip, knowing that what she asked next could very well change everything between them.

“Heart Shield… are you… are you in love… with her?”

Heart Shield took a step back, startled. He hadn’t expected that kind of question from her.

“Is that why you’re so adamant about her having changed? Because you want her to have changed? Because you love her?” Twilight stepped toward him.

“I… Twilight, she’s not who you think she is,” he said, backing up as she continued to come toward him.

“Why? Why are you so convinced about that?” She wasn’t going to let him off the hook until she got an answer from him. “What’s the reason you don’t want to let yourself think that she’s different than how you see her?”

“What’s the reason you don’t want to think she’s not?”

“Stop dodging my question! Are you in love with her, Heart Shield? Yes or no!”

The door to Princess Celestia’s room opened at that moment. Both ponies turned to look as Princess Luna stepped in.

“WE ARE-,” she began, then stopped, clearing her throat. “I’m sorry to intrude, but I heard your voices from outside. Is everything okay?”

Twilight looked at Heart Shield, who wouldn’t meet her eyes. “We’re fine, just finishing a discussion is all. How are you Princess?”

“I am well, Twilight Sparkle. My sister has been educating me on everything that has changed while I was gone, and I am no longer seen as the mare who became Nightmare Moon. Things have… returned to normal, as they had been for me before any of this had happened.”

“Not everything,” Heart Shield said, drawing an inquisitive look from Lady Luna and Twilight. “Ponies now spend some of their time around at night. I don’t know how it looked a thousand years ago, but I saw the night Lady Celestia controlled, and the night you control, and there are plenty of ponies who, like me, see yours as better.” He knelt down in a bow to her. “On behalf of them, and of my own self, I wish to thank you for giving us such beautiful nights.”

Lady Luna looked surprised at his actions. She folded her wings and smiled as he rose back up. “Then I wish to thank you and all of them for those feelings. It is wonderful to hear that ponies like you all see my nights and think them so. I shall be sure to keep making such nights for all those who are able to see them.” She nodded in thanks for his words and looked from him to Twilight. “There is something else I have to say; my sister has requested that you both come to see here, I believe there is a matter of which she needs to discuss.”

“Of course, we’ll be right there,” Twilight said. “Thank you for letting us know.”

“It is nothing, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna replied, stepping aside to allow them to pass. “Both of you take care.”

“And you as well.” Twilight gave Heart Shield a look to let him know she wasn’t through with their previous discussion before leaving Celestia’s room.

Heart Shield nodded to Lady Luna and followed, stopping for a moment when she laid a hoof on his shoulder. “I am truly grateful that you and other ponies feel such ways for my night. Thank you, Heart Shield, for saying that.”

“Not at all, Lady Luna,” he said. “I merely said what many ponies were feeling. A… a friend… told me a while ago, that there were others who felt the same a thousand years ago. I thought you would like to know that, and that there are those today who love the nights you make. I hope that this is something that will bring you happiness to have learned, both that there are many now who are grateful for what you have done, and, even if their voices never managed to reach you back then, there were others in the past that loved them as well.”

Lady Luna looked to the floor and spoke quietly. “Thank you for letting me know this Heart Shield, the news that there were some ponies who felt that back then… it lifts my heart to hear. For their memory, and for the ones today who enjoy it, I promise to continue making such nights that everypony, even those who cannot see them, shall love.”

Heart Shield smiled and bid her farewell, hurrying to catch up to Twilight, who, thankfully, let the conversation they had been having alone. They walked to the throne room in silence, neither looked at the other, something Lady Celestia picked up on when they entered.

“I see you two are not as over your fight as you claimed to be,” she said, slightly disapproving, slightly disappointed. “I had hoped that you would accept each other’s views on this matter.”

“Just because we accepted it doesn’t mean we agree with each other,” Heart Shield said. “And,” he looked at Twilight, “just because I’m back doesn’t mean I forgive anything that happened, or that things will go back to how they were. I gave three little fillies my word that things were going to be fine, so I will do my best to make sure that will happen. However, no matter what your reasons were, no matter what past you shared, you had no right to do that to me and you had no right to send away somepony who meant us no harm. No matter what you do to try to make up for it, I will never forgive you Twilight. You were in the wrong and you will never be able to fix this.” He turned back to Lady Celestia. “If there is nothing else, then I believe I’m done here and I’ll be heading back to Ponyville; I do still have work to do.”

“You will stay right here Heart Shield,” Celestia said sternly, giving him a look that froze him in place. “Twilight Sparkle may have acted rashly, but she has tried to explain her reasons and she acted in a way she believed would protect you. I understand that you are angry, and your words have truth behind them, but you must move past your anger. It does nothing more than make a terrible situation worse.”

He bit back his retort and looked away.

“And there is still the matter which I asked you both here for. Heart Shield, you shall be remaining here in Canterlot. I allowed you to return to Ponyville because I believed that you would be able to handle things in a mature fashion and you had been away from your friends for too long. I can see that you are not yet ready to go back yet, and so you shall remain here. I believe I can provide you with a suitable job until you have learned to control your temper-.”

“Forgive me, Lady Celestia, but you’re wrong if you think all of that,” he interrupted. “I can control my temper much better than you think I can. I have no quarrel with anypony but your student, and as such I am leaving the job I have with her. And as I gave three fillies my word, I will be going back and I will return to the life I had before all of this started. You also overstep your bounds if you think you can keep me here against my will.” He looked at her, challenging her with his gaze. “By all means, if you wished to you could use your magic to force me to stay, or you could arrest me and keep me in the cells again. Do so if you feel you must, but know that if you do, you have a witness here who would never forgive you if you did so. So I’ll say this again, if there is nothing else, I’ll be heading back to Ponyville.”

“Heart-,” Twilight began.

“No, he’s right Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said, looking at the pegasus before her as if she were meeting him for the first time. “If I did so then I would be in the wrong just as you were. Very well, you may leave, Heart Shield, I still have something I wish to discuss with my student.”

Twilight watched as her friend turned around without so much as a word and strode out of the room. This wasn’t like the Heart Shield she knew.

“Let him be,” Celestia said to her student, “he has much to think about, and you and I have much to talk about. Perhaps it is best to let him be for now; allow him to calm down on his own.”

“Yes Princess…”

***

Things remained strained between the two friends for the next few weeks. Heart Shield refused to go anywhere near Twilight at first, but eventually he relented after seeing how worried Apple Bloom was and the two began to reform a tentative friendship. He remained upset with her, but he forced himself to get past it. Twilight, he knew, had only done what she thought was best to protect her friend, and no matter how much he disliked her decision he decided that she had been through enough. They both knew that things would not return to how they used to be, but their friendship still remained. Three weeks after he had been allowed to return, Celestia asked Twilight to come to Canterlot. When the unicorn returned, it was with the news that the Crystal Kingdom had returned. Heart Shield remained behind as his friends traveled to the Crystal Mountains in the Frozen North. While he waited for their return he spent a lot of time at the library, looking over book after book that contained history and myths in Equestria. He was convinced that if he could learn everything he could, he might be able to find some way to locate Chrysalis. He received old maps from Lady Celestia, he suspected she knew why he wanted them, even if he claimed it was for research in case Twilight needed some help. By the time his friends came home he had learned all there was to know about Equestria, but was no closer to finding the Changeling Queen than he had been a month earlier. Life in Ponyville was peaceful, and everyone celebrated the defeat of King Sombra when they heard of it. Everything was great… until the attack.

***

It happened without warning, without provocation, without any hint. One second, everypony was going about their normal lives, the next, the fields were covered in bright green flames, the shops were in shambles, houses were smoking, and everypony was in a panic. Everywhere they turned, something was exploding before them. The destruction’s path soon corralled everypony in the center of the town; Twilight formed a magical dome around them all to protect them from the debris flying around, and the mysterious balls of fire falling from the skies, which had gone dark underneath the ominous black clouds that now covered the town.

“What the hay is going on?!” Heart Shield shouted, helping Applejack get the last of the young ponies inside the safety of the barrier.

“I-I don’t know!” Twilight replied. “Everything’s just going crazy, I know as much as you do at this point.”

“Did anypony see what started this?” Applejack asked, joining the rest of the older ponies in the circle they formed around the foals and fillies.

“No, it just suddenly started,” said Fluttershy.

Another ball of flame shot at Twilight’s barrier, exploding against it; temporarily covering everypony in a bright green glaze before the flames died. Twilight was struggling to maintain the spell with each blow to the barrier. Even with every unicorn in Ponyville helping her, it didn’t seem like the spell would hold much longer.

“Twilight, can you teleport large groups?” Heart Shield asked as another explosion rocked the barrier.

“I-I’m not sure, I’ve never tried anything more than six.”

“Can you try to get everypony out of here? If we get the town to safety, we can try and find the cause of all of this.”

“I’ll give it a shot, but we won’t be able to go very far.”

“What’s the farthest you think we can get?”

“Sweet Apple Acres? The outskirts of town, maybe the Everfree Forest?”

“That one! Take us to the forest!” Heart Shield said, a plan forming.

“Are you nuts?!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “Why do you want us to go there?! We should go to the outskirts of town, get the others to safety then come back here!”

“She’s right, why would we go there? I admit that it would be less dangerous than Ponyville at the moment, but-,” Twilight began.

“The ruins! They’re big enough for everypony to hide in and we can still find the cause of this from afar.” Heart Shield pleaded. “Twilight, the ruins, please!”

Twilight thought it over, racking her brains to try and figure out which was the better choice, which gave them the best chance. Finally she nodded. “Okay, the ruins it is. Everypony stick close.” Her horn began to glow brightly as she abandoned the shield and surrounded everypony in a soft purple light.

Heart Shield looked at the sky as her spell began, watching the fire fall from the clouds. He thought he saw something moving in the darkness above them, but before he could get a good look Twilight teleported them to the ruins. Her knees buckled as the magical backlash hit her like a rampaging dragon. She gasped for air, struggling to catch her breath; she’d never felt so drained from one spell before. She waved off her friends when they rushed over to her.

“I’m… I’m fine,” she panted, “j-just a little… a little out of breath. I’m not g…going to do that again anyt-time… soon. Is… is everypony here?”

“Yeah, y’all did fine Twi, just rest a tick,” Applejack said.

“I never thought we’d be back here,” Rarity commented, looking around the remnants of the Princesses’ old castle. “It’s been what, three years since we were last here?”

“Three and a half actually,” Twilight replied, slowly regaining her breath. “You guys still remember what this was?”

“How could we not?” exclaimed Pinkie. “This is where we beat Ol’ Black Snooty!”

The six of them laughed at Pinkie’s words, remembering how she had tried to guess Nightmare Moon’s name years ago. Fluttershy glanced around and saw Heart Shield walking over to the pillar that used to house the Elements. He had a grim, yet sad, look on his face.

“This is where you took care of her isn’t it?” she asked, walking over to him.

“Yeah. It was safer here than anywhere else in the forest,” he answered, his voice wavering. He shook his head and turned away from the stone, heading to the entrance to the ruins. “The skies here are clear, whatever’s happening has to be just in Ponyville.”

“So what now?” Dash asked as the others joined him.

“Take to the skies, survey the area, assess the situation, then go to stop it.”

“That sounds like a plan,” said Twilight. “Spike, can you send Princess Celestia a letter letting her know what’s happening? We may need her help.”

“Of course! You can count on me,” the baby dragon replied, puffing out his chest.

“Thanks Spike,” Heart Shield said, crouching down. “I’m going to see what’s going on.”

He took to the skies, shooting up over the tree tops to look at their town. Just as he’d thought, the problem seemed to only be in Ponyville. The dark clouds surrounded the town like a blanket of pure destruction. The town was being destroyed with ease. He narrowed his eyes, peering at the clouds.

“Dash, get up here,” he called down.

“What is it Large-wing?” the pegasus asked, flying up next to him.

“I’m not sure,” he replied, looking at the clouds. “I thought I saw something in the clouds earlier. Does it look like anything’s in them that isn’t normal?”

“You mean besides the fire?”

“Yeah, besides that.”

Dash squinted at the clouds, studying them.

“It looks like…”

“Something inside is moving around?” Heart Shield asked.

“Yeah. What do you think it is?”

They landed on the ground and told their friends what they saw.

“Fire coming from them, could it be dragons?” Heart Shield asked Fluttershy.

“No, the clouds aren’t large enough to cover any of the adult dragons we’ve seen,” she replied, shaking her head.

“What about adolescent ones? Like the ones we saw when Spike went on his trek?” Twilight suggested.

“No, they didn’t have wings, and those that did didn’t have ones nearly large enough to fly that high,” said Spike. “Those clouds definitely aren’t caused by dragons.”

“What then?” asked Applejack.

“Didn’t they look familiar?” Pinkie said suddenly.

“Did what look familiar?” asked Rarity.

“The fire silly-filly. Haven’t we seen that color before?”

Twilight gasped. “We have.”

Everypony turned to her.

“When? Where?” Heart Shield demanded.

“I-in Canterlot… at the wedding,” she said, her voice shaking. She wouldn’t meet his gaze.

“Why would-?” he began, then it hit him. “No. No you’re wrong. She wouldn’t do that.”

“It’s the only explanation.”

“And I’m telling you it’s wrong!”

“Would you two mind lettin’ us in on what y’all are talkin about?” Applejack said dryly.

“Changelings,” replied Twilight, looking anywhere but at Heart Shield. “They attacked with magic that same color. Queen Chrysalis trapped me in the same color flames as what’s attacking our home.”

“Stop saying that!” Heart Shield shouted. “It’s not Chrysalis!”

“Then why is it only Ponyville that's being destroyed!” Twilight rounded on her friend, looking at him hard. “Why else is it that fire the same color is attacking us? Why else would this be happening? She finally got her strength back and is taking revenge like she-.”

“You’re wrong!”

Heart Shield shot up into the sky, glancing back down at his friends. “And I’m going to prove- Nng!” He was cut off as something slammed into him from his right, sending him crashing through the trees.

“Heart Shield!” Fluttershy shouted, starting forward before emerald flames erupted up around her and her friends.

The fire rose above the trees, closing together to form a dome which quickly shrank around them. The six mares’ shouts could be heard from inside as the dome shrank until it forced them to huddle together. The flames dug into the ground beneath them, encasing them in a sphere of fire, which shot into the air and raced toward Ponyville.

***

Heart Shield landed on the ground with a thud, scaring away a pair of baby manticores who had been playing in the forest. He grunted as he got to his hooves and shook his head.

“What the hay was that,” he said to himself, giving himself a once-over to see if he was injured anywhere. Other than a few scrapes, he was fine. He took back to the skies and raced back to the ruins, skidding to a halt in midair as he saw the scorched earth. “What happened?” he demanded, looking at the ponies who were cowering inside.

“You got hit with some kind of flash and ma sister an’ the others got taken!” cried Apple Bloom.

“It looked like they were taken to Ponyville,” Cheerilee added, “judging from the angle of the attack.”

“Ponyville, got it. I want everypony to stay here, get as far inside as you can and don’t come out until we get back,” the pegasus said.

“‘We’?”

“I’m going to go and get them,” he said to the mare. “Just make sure that everypony stays safe.”

He didn’t wait for an answer. With one powerful beat of his wings, he shot straight up into the air before rocketing toward Ponyville as fast as he could. He may not be Rainbow Dash, but from a high enough dive he could still match her speed, though not to the extent of creating a Sonic Rainboom. He tucked his wings tight into his sides as he dove through the sky, heading straight toward the center of town, where the clouds looked the darkest. He knew his friends had to be there, he didn’t know how, but he did. The shops had been razed completely, homes were nothing but rubble – nothing was the same. As he neared the center, he noticed the clouds had suddenly gotten lighter. He spread his wings, alighting on the remains of town hall and looked around. The sky was still dark, but the back center had moved.

“They aren’t here anymore,” he muttered, scanning the clouds until he located the darkest part again, this was in the park now.

He didn’t bother looking around the town and rushed to the park. Where the darkness was, so were his friends; that was the only reason it could have changed! He ran through the streets as fast as he could, the flames slowly stopped falling and the clouds began to shrink, converging over the park. It confirmed his suspicions. Whatever was going on, it was happening in the darkest part of the storm, and that had to be where his friends were! The closer he got, the smaller the clouds became, until he finally reached the park. The moment his hoof hit the ground there, the clouds vanished. He looked around frantically for his friends. Something to his right caught his attention and he whirled around. His eyes grew wide.

“Hello there, Heart Shield.”

Chrysalis stood by a patch of trees, a smirk lining her lips.

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[Razzy]

Hell hath no fury like a Chryssie scorned.