The Twilight Child

by Detectivefish

Flashback the Eighth: Shining Sapphire

The Crystal Empire has seen a lot of things in their time. They had seen love turn back the cold, they had seen evil at depths that could not be imagined, they had seen alicorns at war, they had cheered at the final demise of Sombra. Miracles and horrors and all that came inbetween, the Crystal Ponies would say they had seen those. But they weren't jaded. The years under Sombra had caused them forget how to smile for a time, but eventually they managed once more. The Crystal Heart had shone once more, and so, when their rulers, Princess Cadance, and her husband Shining Armor had announced that Cadance was with foal, the Crystal Ponies had practically gone wild with joy for the couple. And they had waited on baited breath when Cadance had gone into labour.

*****

"..." Cadance looked at the small pair of eyes staring back at her. Shining Armor apparently seemed to agree. The unicorn was naturally white, so the fact that he had paled was even more impressive.
"She's beautiful" Cadance smiled. The newborn gurgled. Inquisitive blue-purple eyes stared at the world in front of them.

"Are we sure she's real?" Shining Armor said, too focused on the little pink and blue foal in front of him to really care whether he was making sense.
"She's got your hair." Cadance noted. There were a few tufts of the same sapphire blue hair that Shining Armor had, although Cadance was certain that she could see some strands of violet in there as well.

"She is beautiful," Shining Armor said. "What're we going to call her?"
Cadance looked at her husband, if only for a few seconds, in case their foal tried to walk away while her back was turned. In the silence, they could hear the distant sounds of the entire city celebrating.

"What about... Shining Sapphire?"

*****

Shining Sapphire, aged five
"Another book?" Shining Armor smiled, "I'm pretty sure this one isn't for kids her age." He shook his head.
"I'm going to have to have a talk with Twilie at some point. I mean, we have a whole library here, and at least three reading rooms in the castle. I'm fairly certain we're well-stocked for books." He said, shifting slightly and looking at the massive amount of gifts, many of which had been sent by parents from within the city, and only a few from friends and family.

"It's one of her favourites, Shiney." Cadance smiled, looking occasionaly at the filly nudging the inflatable bath turtle somepony had sent, occasionally worrying whether it was going to spray some powder that would make Shining Sapphire sneeze or itch for hours. It didn't, only giving a small squeak. Satisfied that Rainbow Dash's gift posed no threat, she went back to picking up the wrapping paper.
"And I think she's probably a bit focused on raising her own filly. Apparently Twilight Twinkle the second is quite the trouble-maker." She smiled playfully. "Probably takes after her uncle."

Shining Armor dropped the mass of wrapping paper he was carrying in shock, or pretend shock. As the two grown-ups teased each other, a little filly propped open the book she'd found, and looked at it.
It was love at first sight. Her mother would later find the filly asleep next to the book, and have flashbacks to look after another book-loving pony.

*****

From the first reading of The Beginning Of Magical Theory, young Shining Sapphire took joy in reading, eagerly pouring through whatever she could find. So much so that everypony was sure her Cutie Mark was going to be something to do with reading books, and despite her parents most sincere efforts, it proved difficult to drag the filly away from reading for very long, and the Princess and her husband didn't bother hiring a tutor, or at least not after the first time they tried, when Shining Sapphire flew rings around the pony they hired (Though not literally, since she was only a filly). From there, the royal couple decided it was probably an idea to just ask Twilight Sparkle for advice on how to educate a filly. They recieved an extremely long essay detailing exactly how to go about best educating their daughter.

"She's been incredibly specific" Shining Armor frowned as he scanned the list.
"I'm pretty sure most foals don't even know about these things." He added.

"She's not 'most foals'." Cadance pointed out.

*****

However, as the months, and then years went by, they began to get a faint inkling of concern for their daughter, who shunned social interaction, almost exactly like a certain other pony they both knew well, and whenever they brought it up, the usually cheerful and good-natured filly became incredibly quiet and reserved.
"Perhaps not such a great idea to let her stay indoors at the time, then" Shining Armor had remarked. This led to Cadance sending an invitation to her sister in-law to visit the Crystal Empire. Once the mare accepted, a strange change overcame Cadance. Whereas normally she was the more sensible of the couple (although considering Shining Armor's usually calm and rational behaviour, this wasn't saying much) she became incredibly restless and fussy. Eventually Shining Armor summoned the courage to ask why.

"Because I'm finally meeting my niece!" Cadance had responded in a sing-song voice. Every time Twilight Sparkle had visited in the last few years, which hadn't been often, she'd been unable, or unwilling, to bring her daughter, which had always passed without comment, though all parties involved were quietly agreed that it was a shame. Shining Armor had to admit he was looking forward to seeing his niece, though he was trying to hold on to his reputation as a tough, stoic and dashing character. This had only succeeded because the nursery staff had been 'persuaded' not to tell anypony he'd been reading books to his daughter when she was little.

*****

The day of the arrival of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Twilight Twinkle came, and Shining Sapphire had somehow managed to go without any knowledge of the arrival of her aunt and cousin, merely spending most of her time reading complicated mathematics books, and occasionaly checking to see whether she actually had any magic yet. She didn't, but being all of nine years old, she didn't really expect to have much magic for a few more years. She had calmly woken up, and gotten on with her studying, though she was vaguely certain she could hear fanfare from outside. She ignored it and went back to reading trigonometry. After a while she was certain she could hear a noise, a repetitive tapping noise. Almost like hooves. She looked about. The noise had stopped.

She leaned back in her chair, and reopened the book. After a few seconds she looked up at the clock. It was almost lunchtime. She gave this some thought.
"Maybe a few more minutes studying," she said eventually, "Then I can go eat."

Then she heard the sound of hooves moving against the crystaline floor. Shining Armor and Cadance had tried to get most of the floor covered in carpet, since one's hoofsteps echoing everywhere did get wearing after a while, but there was only so much carpet they could put down.
Shining Sapphire turned to look at the door. She couldn't see anypony. She slid out of her chair and walked over to the door, her wings flapping slightly as she moved. She looked around the corridor, brushing a loose lock of hair out of her face, but could see no sign of anypony.

"Hello?" She called out. There was no response. She gave this some consideration, and decided she had been hearing things. She walked back over to her chair and sat down, until she became aware of a scrabbling noise behind her.
"Hi" A tiny voice said. She looked up, to see a small royal blue coloured face looking at her with burnt orange eyes that seemed completely filled with intrigue and curiosity. The face belonged to a unicorn (whom she could now see had blue hair with what appeared to be two orange streaks going through it) who was just small enough to be perched on the head of the chair without falling off. She yelped, and leapt out of her chair. The filly didn't seem bothered by this, and jumped onto the table she'd been keeping her books on
.
"What'cha reading?" She asked, scanning the book, levitating it so she could get a look at the cover. At this, Shining Sapphire felt a pang of scientific intrigue. This filly, who was by all appearances younger than her, could use magic, and without any strain? And then she noticed the Cutie Mark, of a moon blocking out the light of a sun. She recognised that from a book she'd found.
"Tri...gon...metry?" The filly said. Shining Sapphire felt confusion as to that. How could she not know what trigonometry was, if she could use magic and had a Cutie Mark already?

"Sounds boring" the filly declared. She looked at Shining Sapphire, and she noticed the filly's eyes daring towards her wings.
"I'm Twilight Twinkle" she smiled. Shining Sapphire said nothing.

"Hello?" The filly said. Then there was the sudden sound of hoofsteps, and voices, one of which Shining Sapphire noticed was her mother, the other she couldn't quite place.
"You didn't see me!" The filly hissed, before scrambling under the table. Shining Sapphire felt motivated to help this filly, for reasons she wasn't quite sure of, though there was something familiar about her appearance. She rushed over to her desk and tried to look like she was reading.

"Shining Sapphire?" She heard her mother say. She turned to see her standing in the doorway, with an annoyed looking purple mare behind her, whom Shining Sapphire recognised as her aunt Princess Twilight Sparkle.
"Yes, mother?" She said, quickly placing a hoof over the book she was reading.

"Have you seen a unicorn filly about? She has blue hair with orange streaks, orange eyes, incredibly hyperactive?"
Shining Sapphire was fairly certain the little filly was staring at her. She shuffled in her seat.
"No" she said, smiling at her mother. Aunt Twilight walked into the room, her eyes noting the large bookcases and the ladder Shining Sapphire used to reach her books, before darting towards the desk.

"Twinkle? Are you in here?" There was naturally no response from the filly. "You have until the count of three, or I will be cross." There was still no response. Twilight Sparkle began to count.
"One... Two..." A small smile began to appear on her face, "Two and a quarter... Two and a half..." She stop, and sighed.

"Fine, no dessert."
There was an almighty 'no' from under the desk.

"Fudge" said a small voice, as Twilight Twinkle appeared. Shining Sapphire giggled at the look on the little filly's face.
"Did you just fib, Shining Sapphire?" Cadance asked, trying desperately to look stern. The nine year-old smiled nervously.

"Perhaps. A bit." Cadance just shook her head.
"Come on, you two, lunch." Shining Sapphire's wings tensed, and she looked at her books.

"But... mom... studying."
"Lunch." Cadance said, in a tone that while unthreatening left no room for discussion. The young princess slipped off her seat and followed after her mother, while the Twilights talked about 'wandering off'. Shining Sapphire noted the younger filly was still staring at her.

*****

At the lunchtable, while Shining Armor, the elder Twilight and her mother engaged in conversation, the two fillies began talking, or rather Shining Sapphire talked, while Twilight Twinkle asked a dozen and one questions, most of which the mare couldn't answer. From what she could gather, Twilight Twinkle really, really, really wanted to go on adventures and explore, and was studying all sorts of things she would need to survive going on these adventures. She even explained, though not in much detail, how she had wandered into the legendary Everfree Forest. Apparently her father heard that, because he nearly choked on what he was eating at the exact same time Twinkle said so.

"YOU DID WHAT?"
"Shining..."

"Sorry, Cadance. You did what?!"
"Yes. She walked into the Everfree Forest yesterday. Managed to get herself completely lost, as well" Twilight Sparkle sighed.

"I didn't get lost, mom, I just... couldn't figure out which way I was supposed to go." The filly said, her voice never wavering from its cheerful tone.
"You know," Cadance said, "Perhaps later on, you could show Twilight Twinkle around the city, Sapphy."

The royal blue unicorn smiled at the embarrasing nickname she'd just been passed on a silver platter. Twilight Sparkle, for her part, look genuinely excited about seeing the city once more.

*****

As it turned out, Shining Sapphire found Twilight Twinkle rather entertaining, mainly because of the filly's relentless cheerfulness, although that managed to stop when Shining Sapphire expressed confusion about 'pranks'. At that point the filly had been bouncing up and down on Shining Sapphire's bed, but when the pink pony had said she had no idea what a prank was, she'd stopped, her jaw hanging open. For a few seconds, at any rate, after which she started detailing the best ways to design a Cunning Prank, as she so claimed. However, they couldn't decide on who to prank, since neither were willing to prank Cadance, or Shining Armor, or Twilight Sparkle, and both knew (in very general terms) that the majority of Crystal Ponies were still traumatised from Sombra's actions, so they decided not to risk doing anything to them. Eventually they decided to pass on the pranking. When the Twilights finally had to leave, Shining Sapphire actually left her room to say goodbye, something her parents privately took note of.

*****

Shining Sapphire, aged eleven
Luna paced the halls of Canterlot Castle, the guard following nervously behind her. She eventually reached a hallway.
"Be advised, your target is of unknown intent and dangerous skill. Be wary, do not go anywhere alone" she said. One brave guard, who would later recieve a small pay raise, dared speak up.

"But what about you, your highness?"
Luna didn't answer that. She had chosen to miss out on one of her sister's banquets, mainly because she knew it would have been boring, but she was beginning to wonder if that had been the right idea after all, and whether she and her sister could have had a good laugh about it afterward. The alicorn sniffed the air, and motioned for the guards to split up. She walked down a lone hallway, and stopped when she heard an echoing giggle. She looked about, but could see no sign of her prey. Then she swore she saw a flash of pink. Her magic lanced out, striking near where she'd seen the target.

There was a shattering noise as the spell hit a mirror, which instantly broke. Luna frowned. Her targets had somehow installed a massive mirror. She was aware of a screaming noise. She paused to fix the mirror, and then dashed down the hallway.

*****

"This isn't my idea of a fun job." One of the guard pouted.
"What would be? Lookin' after Blueblood?" His partner said.

"No, no. Don't get me wrong, I hate Blueblood as much as the next guy, but... I've heard stories..."
The first guard's copper coloured friend stared at him. "Stories? Really?"

"Yeah, I mean-" He didn't get any further, as they heard a loud clanging noise, followed by what sounded like running... well, not running water. Running water didn't sound like what they were hearing. Their eyes went wide when they saw what was approaching.
"CUSTARD!" The two guards screamed, as it washed over them.

*****

One by one, similar fates befell all the guard Luna had brought along with her. Being caught in a rope trap, falling through disguised holes in the floor, and in one case being frozen solid. Luna paced the hallways, following her target. After a short while her mood, already at a low, reached a peak.
"Show yourselves right now!" She boomed. There was the sound of something launching, and she swivelled on the spot to see a round object heading toward her, too fast even for her to move.

There was a damp, crunchy splat of pie on face, followed by a sharp yell.
"Get evil Aunty Lulu!" Luna recognised that one as being Shining Sapphire. Her horn glowed and there was an almost comical noise of a pony bouncing off her hastily summoned shield. Using more of her magic, Luna summoned a napkin to wipe off the pie, noting with some annoyance that clearly Shining Sapphire and her cousin had done some studying, unless they'd chosen her favourite brand entirely by chance.

"Children." She said, seeing there was now a smaller royal blue filly lying next to Shining Sapphire. "I assume you two can explain why you felt the need to humiliate half of my guard."
"We were studying pranking," Shining Sapphire explained, "But it was my decision to... well, use you as a test subject because the more serious the victim behaves, the funnier the resultant comedy."

Luna's only response was to look stern, while on the inside she felt incredibly confused. From all she'd heard, Shining Sapphire did nothing like this, normally staying near books and reading through the day, never doing anything like this. She looked at Twilight Twinkle.
"Did you tell her about this, Twilight Twinkle?" she said, slowly. The little filly's eyes darted from Luna to her cousin.

"No," she squeaked. "I told Sapphy about pranking but she's the one who came up with most of these ideas." The filly covered her mouth with her hooves. Luna's gaze moved over the two fillies.
"I see." She stood there for a while. "Return to your rooms, and do not wander off again, or..." She tried to think of a suitable threat.

"I shall tell your parents." The two fillies looked suitably alarmed. "Now run along." The two fillies ran as fast as they could.

*****

"Told you that wasn't smart." Shining Sapphire said.
"Fun though," Twilight Twinkle said. "And I think Princess Luna didn't mind."

"But how did you convince me to go along with it?" The pink filly asked, her wings flapping fast enough to look like a hummingbird's wings (Though since her wings were not yet fully grown, this was really all they could do).
"Because I needed somepony to help make sure the traps worked. After all, I'm going to be an adventurer one day, and I need to know all sorts of things about traps." The filly smiled, "No matter what anypony says."

Shining Sapphire stared at her cousin, taken aback by the sudden defiant streak in her. Then a thought occured to the nine year-old.
"But, don't you already have your Cutie Mark?" She asked. Twilight Twinkle stared at her.

"Yeah, I do, but... I have no idea how I got it, and I don't know what it means. So I wanna be an explorer" Shining Sapphire considered this. To a full-grown pony, this wouldn't make much sense, but she was only nine, even if she was incredibly smart for her age. "And I needed to see whether my magic could do those things." At which point the filly skipped across the room, smiling. Shining Sapphire shook her head.

*****

Shining Sapphire, aged thirteen
Learning how to fly had been difficult. Her mother had been encouraging, and tried to remind the filly to go easy on her wings, rather than racing about the castle, and she'd been largely willing to listen, but once she started flying it became far too much fun to consider stopping. At least until she'd been told Twilight Twinkle was coming for another visit, at which point she'd become incredibly excitable, to the extent of not being able to even read a book. And she couldn't wait to tell her cousin she had her wings and her Cutie Mark. When she heard the arrival fan-fare however, she'd been in her room trying to read a book, and had rushed down to the front steps to greet her cousin only to find she wasn't there.

"Probably up in her guest room by now, your highness." One of the guards on the front door said, to which she smiled and rushed off again, running as fast as her legs could carry her, until at one point, running up one of the flights of steps, she actually burst into flight, due to her wings beginning to flap, and strangely it all seemed quite natural. As she flew she was certain she could hear voices.
"-ou glad you came along?" That was Twinkie, she could tell. She flapped her wings, and was surprised to find she was still flying in the air, and decided to see if she could sneak up on the mare.

"Yes." A voice responded, the voice of a colt, she noted. "The sights, the sounds, the view. It's all so breathtaking. Everywhere I look... I see more radiant beauty." Shining Sapphire flew closer, and saw the colt standing next to her cousin. He was quite tall for his age, assuming he was in fact the same age as Twinkle, and almost as tall as her, though he did seem a bit shocked by the view from the window. To Shining Sapphire, it was just the sun going down, as it always did, but he was clearly awed, as the light gleamed off of every surface, making the city change from its normal blue colours to more majestic shades of red and orange. There was a smirk on Shining Sapphire's face.

"Well, don't look behind you then. Because there's nothing beautiful there."
Shining Sapphire frowned and tried to think of the most witty retort her intellect could manage. However, her intellect seemed to have disappeared, and all she could think of to say as she set down was "Ouch", delivered in the most deapan manner possible. And then she was aware she had her glasses on.

"Hey, Saphy," Twinkle said as she walked over to the mare and embraced her. "Guess you finally got out of those book?"
She bristled. Technically speaking she'd chosen to see her cousin, even if she was certain her parents had told her to say hello to her over-active cousin.
"Father said I had to get some fresh air." She noticed her eyes were going toward Twinkle's friend, who had rather unusual golden-brown fur, and very bright blue eyes.

"Who's your friend?" She asked. To her surprised, he bowed, and spoke in an extremely quiet tone.
"I'm... Whisper Wind." She smiled, as she felt a warm feeling spread across her cheeks.

"Charmed" she said, her voice breaking slightly as she said it. She honestly didn't know why.

*****

Dinner proved interesting, as she listened to Whisper Wind describe every detail of life in Ponyville, waking up, looking after the animals his mother cared for, school, cooking a meal himself, homework, and other normal everyday things. Meanwhile, Twilight Twinkle seemed to be focused intently on her uncle. The next day, Shining Sapphire found out why. When she woke up, she saw the ponies who usually styled her mane in the morning (Despite her really strenuous objections, which struck even her as unusual) smiling. When she asked, they had (eventually) explained that young Twilight Twinkle (who they presumed was a Princess, even without wings or a crown) was following His Grace Shining Armor about, asking him to teach her how to fight, despite his strong objections. She shook her head, and after being let free from their insidious hair-styling clutches, went in search of breakfast. She found her mother and her aunt talking, and smiling.

"Good morning, Sapphy." Her mother had said, and Twilight Sparkle had just waved, in-between eating at least three sandwiches. From the look of it, her aunt had been up all night, and possibly all morning. She noticed Whisper Wind keeping a good distance away from both mares. Shining Sapphire wasn't quite sure what was going on with the colt, but he seemed nervous about being anywhere near them. So she decided to sit next to him and keep him company.
'Hold on. Why are we doing this?' a voice in her head said.

'Because he looks lonely, and miserable, and he said this was the first time he's been away from Ponyville' She told herself. This seemed good enough reasoning to her, although if she was talking to herself, she probably wasn't as reasonable as she thought.
She wasn't aware that she was grinning like a madpony at him. He was. As was her mother.

*****

After several extremely awkward minutes of breakfast, and the castle staff plunging through the depths of the massive pantries to find cereal, the filly and colt found themselves mysteriously alone, Twilight Sparkle and Cadance having vanished into thin air. There were muttered statements, and the two walked about the castle, avoiding talking about anything. Or almost anything.
"So... Whisper... do you li-"

"Yes."
"You didn't know what I was going to say."

"Sorry."
"So how long have you know Twinkie?"

"A few years, now."
She nodded, and he didn't press further. Then she looked out of the window to see her father running from an annoyed looking blue filly. What on earth could she been doing that would bother him that much?

*****

"Please?"
"No!"
"Please?"
"No!"
"Please?"
"No!"

*****

She noticed Whisper had vanished, and frowned. She wandered through the castle until she reached her room, and sat there. She sighed, and went back to reading.
After a while she heard hoofsteps, and saw her mother looking at her with barely controlled mirth.

"You might want to see this" she said. Shining Sapphire raised an eyebrow and followed her mother to a balcony, where her aunt, and Whisper Wind were both staring at something. She looked out over the balcony to see a truly insane sight. Twilight Twinkle was trying to climb up a large pole which for some reason had an arrow stuck in the top of it. Meanwhile, Shining Armor had found a group of guards with nothing better to do than sing.

"You know, I can't remember the last time I heard him sing." Twilight Sparkle noted. Shining Sapphire could only think of how catchy the tune was, and that according to one of the books in her room, it was apparently a ritual part of training Guard recruits.

*****

The rest of Twinkle's visit couldn't really compare to watching her father leading the guards in singing a full musical number, but Shining Sapphire did wonder about Whisper Wind's unwillingness to socialise, and the fact that he seemed really nervous about her, even when she accompained them back to the train station. She tried to ignore the way she blushed around him, hoping it would go away soon enough. It wasn't as if she couldn't talk to boys, she found herself saying.

*****

Shining Sapphire, aged fourteen
She wasn't entirely sure how she'd been enlisted for the camping trip, she honestly wasn't. The best guess was probably because her parents kept telling her she needed to go out, needed to do things with ponies her own age, even though she was a) a Princess, and therefore most of the Crystal Ponies would feel intimidated by her, and b) still amazingly shy. But, unlike Whisper Wind or Twilight Twinkle, she actually enjoyed the camping trip, even when they got lost, even when they had no idea where they were. She'd read about the flora and fauna of Equestria, but until that day, she'd never had a chance to see it. She found herself leaning towards one when Twilight Twinkle spoke up.

"Don't sniff that one, by the way." The royal blue mare said, pointing at the flower she was about to sniff. She looked at her younger cousin.
"Why not?"

"Causes nightmarish trots" She then proceeded to launch into a clarification on the distinction between the disease and the group of ponies who lived south of the Shetlands, before trying to assemble a tent. As it turned out, of all of them, only Whisper Wind was capable of assembling his without trouble.
Then, as the two ponies were bickering, the Timberwolves arrived.

Shining Sapphire could easily have guessed that Twilight Twinkle didn't know about them, or that they'd wandered into the creatures' territory, and in all fairness, neither had she, but it was Shining Sapphire who would later deem the quest the 'Camping Trip from Tartarus', a title the other two agreed with. She had been escorted home by her mother after what had happened, despite her attempts to try and see Wisp, since Twilight Sparkle was more concerned about her niece than she was her daughter, who had been grounded for her part in Whisper Wind's injuries, although Shining Sapphire was certain that if Twinkle hadn't felt guilty about what happened, she wouldn't have gone along with it.

*****

Life back at the Crystal Empire suddenly seemed boring after returning though, and Shining Sapphire found even her books seemed less interesting, perhaps because she had read all of them inside and out. And she couldn't stop worrying about Whisper.
"Well," her mother had said after one sigh too many, "If you're concerned, why not write to him? I'm sure he'd probably appreciate hearing from somepony he knows while in hospital."

So Shining Sapphire quickly found a quill, some ink, and a pen and got about writing a letter. After several fumbling attempts, she finally managed to write her first correspondence.

"Hello Whisper Wind
How are you?
From, Shining Sapphire."

"That's a bit on the short side, isn't it?" her father said, causing her to jolt slightly. She tried to look calm, and traced a hoof against her writing desk.
"Well, I didn't really know what to ask" she muttered. There was something about the look on her father's face that she didn't recognise. It wasn't that he found the situation funny, he seemed almost... proud of her for some reason. She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

The next week she recieved a letter in return from the pegasus, which simply said

"To Shining Sapphire,
I am doing well.
From, Whisper Wind, Ponyville"

She frowned, and looked at the letter. Then she checked the other side. She had honestly been expecting more than that. But he had responded, so that was something at least. She smiled, and rushed up to her room to write another letter.

*****

A few months later, her mother burst into Shining Sapphire's bedroom (A difference one, since the old one had felt a bit small, and cramped to her tastes, and the new one had a balcony, and by a strange coincidence, a larger bed) to inform her that Twilight Twinkle had suffered a terrible accident. As it turned out, she'd somehow aged herself by four years, and though Twilight Sparkle refused to comment on the matter, Shining Sapphire was fairly certain the filly had done it in an attempt to gain wings.

She didn't mind travelling all the way to Canterlot, and was overjoyed to see her cousin alive and... well, alive was the only way she felt she could describe Twilight Twinkle, who seemed unusually annoyed, right from the word go.
"Hello." Shining Sapphire said as she entered. Twilight Twinkle looked at her, and for a moment those burnt orange eyes seemed like they belonged to a different pony altogether.

"Hey" she said. Shining Sapphire stared at her cousin, who now looked like she was sixteen, instead of twelve, and was having trouble getting use to her attempts to walk. And she didn't even have any wings, after all her efforts.
"Suits you." Shining Sapphire remarked, then winced when she realised what she'd said, though Twinkle didn't seem to notice, or care if she did. For a few seconds there was an awkward silence, brought on by the fact that she wasn't sure what to say.

"So what's it like?"
"Like I've got an alarm clock going off inside my head for some reason. And I'm finding it really difficult to walk right now, because everything's the wrong height. Really irritating, and I'm pretty sure my mom's pissed at me." Shining Sapphire gapsed. She wasn't sure if she was gasping at the way Twinkle had said it, the fact that the mare and her mother weren't getting on, or that it was bad enough that she felt confidant in saying it, or that she was apparently telling the truth.

"How're you?" Twilight Twinkle said. She shrugged.
"I've gotten pretty good at casting constructs. Apparently my barriers are as good as my dad's." She smiled eagerly, "And I'm actually getting pretty good at talking to ponies at home without tripping over myself."

Twilight Twinkle gave no indication of hearing her, just staring out of the window. After a few moments, Shining Sapphire stood up.
"I'll just let you get some rest then." She stopped to look at Twilight Twinkle again. There was something in the mare's eyes that she didn't like. But she felt confident that her cousin was unlikely to do anything rash.

*****

The years passed, and she and Wisp found themselves beginning an odd correspondance where they simply detailed their days, his usual routine in Ponyville, and the ever-increasing Pie family, the exploits of the Apples, the joy of living in a city which was home to the Sweet Bell fan-club (who were apparently as loud as their idol, but nowhere near as melodic). She detailed the daily routine of waking up and being atteneded to by hoof by the castle servants, the locals ponies, the way when the Crystal Heart pulsed everypony would turn to crystal, and the fact that apparently the permanent cold outside the city was beginning to slack off, apparently as a result of the Crystal Heart, uncovering some of the old cities of the past, and all the archeological wonders that lay within. She actually found herself counting down the time to the stallion's letters. The only possible dampner of her schedule was the way she occasionaly saw her mother smiling at her, and when she asked her what was causing her to smile, she would invariably respond with "Just looking at you". Then came the strangest moment Shining Sapphire had in years.

*****

Shining Sapphire, aged seventeen
Apparently her mother decided it was an idea to visit Canterlot, on suggestion from Princess Celestia herself, and Shining Sapphire was brought along, since the ruler of all Equestria apparently wanted to meet her niece's daughter, having had very little chance to do so. However, this meant acquainting Shining Sapphire with something she'd never experienced before. Dressmaking.
"Oh my goodness! Your Highness! Your Grace! Your other Highness!" The purple-haired mare exclaimed, bowing before them. Shining Sapphire recognised her as Rarity, the bearer of the Element of Generosity, and a famous fashion designer (Apparently responsible for styling her mother's hair for famous state occasions, though strangely Shining Sapphire couldn't recall seeing ever having seen her before).

The fashionista continued squealing like a teenager over every facet of her appearance, which alarmed Shining Sapphire. She was aware that by ponies standards, she was frankly amazingly good-looking (though she leaned more towards describing herself as cute), but she didn't like it being called attention to, mainly because every Heart and Hooves day several letters had been sent from ponies throughout the empire, and even some from other places, some of which had actually been... well...
She shook her head, and noticed the mare was still fawning over her. She looked to her mother, who was just smirking, not unlike her aunt sometimes did.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she whispered.
"Well, sooner or later you were going to have to endure this sort of thing, sweetheart. Be thankful your father and I have managed to delay it for as long as we have."

She looked confused. "What does that mean?"
"Well, dear, you are a Princess. You are required to show up to do things you won't enjoy. I know it's not what you'd rather do, but there are ways you can make it enjoyable. Perhaps you could bring somepony you're friends with to where we're going, like your cousin, or that pony you've been exchanging letters with."

"Wisp? He'll never go to a fancy ball. He doesn't like those things."
"Are you sure?" Shining Sapphire looked at the fashion designer, who was carefully designing a dress for her with all speed. She considered her options. Going to a... ball, or perhaps even a gala alone, where there would doubtless be ponies who would want to speak to the Lesser Princess of the Crystal Empire, or have somepony to ward off potential danger. She nodded, and rushed out of the door.

It took Rarity all of ten minutes to realise the pony she wanted to design a dress for first was gone, being as she was 'In the Zone'.

*****

Shining Sapphire was considered a Princess, even if she was sure she didn't feel like one, on the grounds that she was an alicorn, and could therefore fly much faster than almost any pegasus (save perhaps the captain of the Royal Guard, or her protege in the Wonderbolts), or so the theory went. In practice, however, reaching Ponyville took more than a few minutes. Finding the house belonging to mayor Fluttershy took longer, and she noticed nopony seemed astonished at the bright pink alicorn touching down in the central square. She looked about, remembering only that Whisper had stated his house was next to the famed Everfree Forest (which her parents had told her to never, ever ever go into). She continued scanning the area, and noticed a plum-coloured, blond-maned pony walking past. This one seemed as good as any to talk to.

"Excuse me," she said, catching the pony's attention despite accidentally starting at a near-whisper, "Could you point me in the direction of the Mayor's house?"
The pony stared at her with deep green eyes, which looked like they were contemplating some deep mystery.

"Eyup" the pony said, before pointing towards a small winding dirt road.
"Can't miss it." The pony added. Shining Sapphire smiled and nodded.

"Thank you" She smiled, before soaring off. The pony just watched. Lil' McIntosh had seen several strange things, but a Princess landing out of nowhere looking for Fluttershy was a new one.

*****

She rushed down the road, and was aware of her heart beating incredibly fast, so she stopped, and camly tried to get her mane back under control. She smiled, and walked up to the house. It was incredibly small, especially for a mayoral residence, she noted, but there were the unmistakable signs of a hen-house, and rabbit warrens, and several birds nests. She knocked politely on the door, and waited for a few seconds. Eventually the door opened, revealing a golden-brown face with bright blue eyes.
"Shining Sapphire?!" The stallion asked, "What are you doing in Ponyville?"

She smiled, and couldn't help staring at him. All of him. The last time she'd seen him he was a rather thin and malnourished looking pony, but now he was, to not put too fine a point on it, really good-looking, in an unconventional sort of way.
"I... was... that is..." she stuttered, before admonishing herself for acting like a little schoolfilly.

'I am Shining Sapphire, daughter of Princess Cadance. To Hay with life if I can't talk to a single stallion pegasus'. She looked up at him.
"I was in the local area and I decided to stop by and ask if you wished to... 'hang out' with me for a few hours" She smiled, though she was unsure if she was using the accurate terms. Living in a city which had been displaced by a thousand years did extremely odd things to linguistics. It had apparently even taken her mother and father (and an expert party planner) several months to explain to them in precise detail the nature of the word 'fun'.

"'Hang out'?" The stallion said, raising an eyebrow. "And where would we be 'hanging out'?"
"In Canterlot." She smiled again. His reaction was less than encouraging. "Please? I don't want to go to some horrible ball or gala or... shindig all by myself in some ridiculous dress. Please? I'm asking you as a friend. Help me."

He looked conflicted, and there was something else on his face she couldn't figure out, hesitancy, she suspected. There she heard a voice from indoors. His head turned, and then he looked back to her.
"Excuse me a moment." She stood there for a few moments, and a few moments more, and then the door opened, and Whisper Wind walked out, looking strangely pale, bordering on disturbed.

"Shining Sapphire, I would be delighted to assist you" he said, in a strangely unemotional voice.

*****

The flight back took longer than the flight there, though only by a few minutes, since Canterlot wasn't exactly a day's journey from Ponyville. Shining Sapphire had presumed that her 'bodyguard' wouldn't be able to keep pace with her, even if he hadn't been the son of the notoriously shy mayor of Ponyville, but as it turned out he was faster than he appeared. She actually found herself laughing. The Crystal Empire had a few pegasi in it, but very few of them were inclined toward racing with a Princess. They landed in front of Rarity's store, smiling.

"You're good." Shining Sapphire smiled. The pegasus looked sheepish.
"Thank you. I rarely go that fast." he said quietly. "Actually, I don't really fly anywhere, very much."
Shining Sapphire stared at him for a moment, then knocked on the door, and was dragged inside by a large pale purple claw.

*****

"Stop fussing, dear. You're making it harder than it should be." Rarity sighed.
"Should it even be hard at all?" she asked.

"No," Rarity said curtly, "That's how difficult you are being."
"I can't help it. I'm fairly certain whatever you're trying to put on me isn't designed for real ponies. Especially not ones with lungs!"

"How in the world can you be the daughter of Cadance and Shining Armor?"
"I'm normally a lot more polite. But I'm not normally told I have to go to a ball, or gala, or shindig, or whatever it is againt my own will."

"Strange..." the fashion designer said.
"What?"

"Well, from the way your mother painted it, you didn't need much convincing. And by the way you keep smiling, I'd say you're looking forward to it."
She became aware she had been smiling, and if she had known any way of doing so, would have cursed.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about" she heard herself remark.
"No, I don't suppose you do." Rarity smiled warmly, apparently remembering something from her past.

"Although I'm sure there are plenty of young stallions and mares who would give anything for a young Princess to ask them to go to a dance with her."

*****

Whisper Wind sat nervously near Shining Armor and Cadance, who didn't seen at all interested in him. As part of his heritage, unwilingly inherited from his biological mother, he could tell what they were feeling, in broad terms, and so he knew they weren't about to go into Protective Parent Mode, though he didn't dare try and look further into it, in case they noted. He found himself thinking back on what his mother had said that had persuaded him to go with Shining Sapphire.

~~~~~

Fluttershy stared at her son, who felt nervous about the princess standing on his front doorstep. He was fairly certain he was the same age as her, but since there was only one pony who knew when his birthday was, or more exactly when he had been born, as evidenced by the cards constantly sent on every birthday signed in green ink, which often gave him pause as to where she was getting the cards from. Regardless, he was still unsure about her. Yes, she was pretty, incredibly so, but he wasn't sure how he felt, which for a being who fed on emotions, was almost funny.
"Do you know?" his mother asked. He blinked.

"Know what?"
"Do you know?" she repeated, more sternly this time.

"Know what?" she frowned.
"Do you know?!" Then he got it, he got what she was implying. Horror filled his mind as he realised what she was saying, and where he'd learnt it. He still hadn't thanked Mrs Pie for that, mainly because of her small militia of children.

"Yes!" he yelped, "Yes! I live in the same town as Pinkie Pie, of course I know!"
Fluttershy nodded. If any of her old friends had seen her, they would have been terrified as the calm manner at which she brought her son to hysterics so quickly.

"Good. Now, then, Windy" she said, using her preferred version of his name, "When a young..." She leaned to look out the window.
"When a young, beautiful mare comes to your doorstep, asking you to go to a dance with you, you should really, really, really say 'yes'."

He blinked. Then he saw the knowing smirk on his mother's face.
"Chances like this don't come along every day."

"Yes, but... she's Princess Cadance's-" He stopped dead as his mother stared at him. It wasn't an actual Stare, but it still took the nerve out of his statement. Shining Sapphire was definitely pretty, and she was just asking him as a friend. He wondered, not for the first time, how Twilight Twinkle lived never being able to say 'no' to the word please.

"Yes, m'm. Going with her to Canterlot."

~~~~~

Whisper Wind noticed Cadance was staring at him.
"Yes?" He coughed when he realised what he'd said, "Yes, Your Highness?"

"You just look familiar" she said calmly. It was surprising how alike she looked to her daughter, only older, and with different hair. He wondered if he looked anything like his biological father, whoever he was, and whether or not that was a good thing.
"Well, my mother was a bridesmaid at your wedding. And I have visited your castle before. Your Highness" He shuffled nervously. She nodded.

"Yes, that's it. I forgot." There was an odd smile on her face, and while he didn't always look at how ponies were feeling, he could've sworn there was a subtle hint of amusement.
A few minutes later, and the curtain to the designing room opened, revealing Shining Sapphire. Whisper Wind's jaw dropped without even realising it.

For one of Rarity's dressed, it was surprisingly lacking in gemstones, but it did certainly highlight the young mare's figure, in a tasteful fashion, and the combinations of purples and blues managed to do a good job of it, along with the occasional bit of cream. Shining Sapphire would later note that it looked a lot like her mother's hair-colour, which Rarity claimed was an utter coincidence. Her hair had been delicately styled into a rather impressive bun, instead of hanging loose as it usually did.
Then Rarity noticed Whisper Wind, and grabbed him. "No going unclothed for you!"

*****

Ten minutes later, after finding a suitable tuxedo (and matching bowtie) for the young stallion, he walked the young mare up to the castle where the party (Or gala, or dance, or whatever) was going to occur, both hoping they'd learn what it was once they got there.
"So, what's your plan for once we get there?" he asked. She looked at him.

"Well... if you don't want to be with me, all I suppose I can ask for is just one dance?"
"You did invite me." He pointed out, "And I am your guest. But what if some other pony wishes to dance with you?"

She said nothing, only smiling. The fact that she was clearly feeling hopeful occured to Wisp as he looked at her.

*****

Part of the benefit of being a changeling is being able to tell what somepony is feeling, if only in the most basic sense. Part of being the daughter of a pony whose special talent was nuturing and spreading love was that Shining Sapphire was capable of knowing if somepony felt love, though she wasn't actually aware of that particular power of hers yet, believing she'd merely acquired a modified version of her father's spell-casting.

*****

The two entered the main hallway, to see that it was in fact a ball, although they couldn't tell for what. It was apparently just the sort of ball the nobility of Canterlot had sometimes. Shining Sapphire watched as her parents walked over to where Princess Celestia was standing, apart from the party-goers. Briefly she wondered if there was some scheme going on, or whether Discord was playing some game with her head. She would probably have dismissed those thoughts anyway (Discord wasn't the sort of being who went around throwing teens in awkward situations), had it not been for the doorpony.
"HER HIGHNESS PRINCESS SHINING SAPPHIRE OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE, AND GUEST!"

She looked at the pony. "His name is Whisper Wind" she informed him, taking a strange joy from seeing the cobalt-blue pony looking shocked. She shook her head for good measure.
"You don't need to make a fuss over me. I'm quite fine with being just 'guest'" The gold-brown stallion said. She looked at him.

"So what do you want to do now?" she asked. He looked about.
"I don't know, I've never been to a ball before. Is it anything like a shindig?" He asked, nervously.

"I honestly wouldn't know."
Both of them glanced around the room, wings occasionally ruffling.

"Shall we just split up for a while?" She suggested, though for some reason that didn't sound like a good idea to her.

*****

Princess Celestia looked at the bright pink young mare talking nervously with the golden-brown pegasus, or at least the stallion who looked like a golden-brown pegasus.
"Isn't that Fluttershy's son?" she asked. Cadance looked over toward the two ponies.

"Yes. Apparently my daughter has been exchanging letters with him for some years now."
Celestia just nodded, taking another sip from her glass of red wine.

"Interesting. They seem quite nervous for such firm friends."
Cadance tilted her head. "It is quite curious, auntie."

"Have you heard from Twilight Sparkle lately?"
Cadance looked at the elder alicorn. "No. But I have heard... unnerving things from her parents. Apparently she and Twilight Twinkle have been arguing."

"Yes" Celestia said solemnly. She looked impassive on the outside, but Cadance could tell, even without her knowledge of all forms of love, that her aunt still, even after all the years since Cadance had foalsat the eager little filly, saw Twilight Sparkle as a surrogate daughter, and the arguments the two were having were breaking her heart.
"Do you think they will mend the damage?" Cadance asked. Celestia took a larger drink from her glass.

"In time, perhaps. I do not know. I have not met Twilight Twinkle, but..." She looked uncertain. "Twilight Sparkle is a grown mare." She said eventually, and went silent on the matter. Cadance looked to her husband, who was still slowly eating a small salad. She had been told he wasn't allowed large amounts of cheese by the kitchen staff, and knew there had been frequent occasions where he'd raided the massive pantries of the castle at night sometimes. He saw her looking at him, and smiled warmly. She smiled back.

"Love you" he said, before going back to his salad.

*****

Wisp stared at the odd collection of tiny snacks in front of him. He knew a few things about fancy parties, but he didn't know about food. He leaned in and picked up one object in his mouth. He didn't like eating out for that reason. Eating with his mouth, instead of using his magic. But if there was anywhere he didn't want to be outed as a Changeling, and a Changeling Prince at that, then it certainly wasn't anywhere near three ponies who had the most reason to hate him, if not the Canterlot elite, whom he heard could hold a grudge for millenia. He also wondered if he was eating the right things, or whether regular ponies tasted what he was sampling differently, and whether that would be a giveaway to his true nature.
'If pressed, I'll just say I'm from the countryside' And then he eat the tiny snack, spitting out the toothpick when he was done.

He decided to stick to sandwiches for the rest of the evening.

*****

After twenty minutes, Shining Sapphire appeared, as he was going through the fifteenth sandwich, not because he was ravenously hungry, more because the things were so tiny.
"Wisp" she said. He looked up. She was holding a forehoof up.

"Can you dance with me?" He almost choked on his sandwich.
"What?"

"There's this complete idiot who keeps looking at me, and I think he wants to dance with me, so please, can you help... ward him off?"
He looked at her and smiled. "What's wrong with just saying no?"

"Ah. Well, that would be 'unladylike'."
"Then isn't what you're do-" she shook her head.

"No. This is the Proper way to do it. First I shall make him jealous. Then I will break his heart."
Whisper Wind considered the logic, not to mention the implications, of her statement, then thought back to his mother's advice. He raised no objection as he led the pink mare to the dance floor. As he did he noticed her Cutie Mark, and realised he hadn't really noticed it before. It was a heart, like her mother's, but on a shield like her father's, and the heart was pink instead of blue. Deciding to keep his theories about the differing colours for later, he led her onto the dance floor.

"Do you know how to dance?" he whispered, noticing a lot of ponies were staring at them. She smiled back, which really brought out her eyes to Whisper.
"I'm a Princess. Even if I didn't, I'm fairly certain it'd be second nature."

*****

They didn't dance with any specific rythm in mind, and there were several times when Shining Sapphire led the dancing instead of him. There was something she found strangely attractive about his fumbling attempts to dance. In fairness, he wasn't bad, just inexperienced. After a few aborted attempts he seemed to get better, and they began dancing, began really dancing, the sort of way ponies did just before breaking out into song, when instinct and adrenaline took over, and the mind went to somewhere warm and fuzzy and didn't leave till the drinks bill came. Some ponies even applauded as they walked off the dance floor.

*****

"Did you see that?" Shining Armor said.
"Yes. Mouth closed, dear." Cadance smiled. Shining Armor couldn't help but notice something alarming about his wife's smile. It still looked as unimaginably lovely as it had when he'd first met her, but there was a subtle difference in it that looked really like the one Princess Celestia had on her face at the moment. He felt incredibly concerned at that moment.

*****

"Wow" The two teenagers both said, before glancing nervously at anywhere but their dance partner. They had both felt incredibly warm, and gone outside into a topiary garden to 'cool down'. The problem was they hadn't consulted each other on their plan.
"That was..." Whisper Wind started.

"Yes" Shining Sapphire said quickly.
"One dance" He said numbly.

"Yes."
"One dance" he repeated. She turned to look at him, and it felt both incredibly painful, and yet so right to her.

"You were... good." She said, before looking over at an interesting piece of topiary that looked like a shrubbery.
"You were-" he coughed slightly, his wings shuffling. "You were beautiful. AMAZING, I mean. Amazing. Yes. I mean you are beautiful, but-" He suddenly went straight through red and out the other side. Then he took off flying. Shining Sapphire just sat there for a minute, the word replaying in her mind.

'Beautiful'. She smiled, and suddenly the entire garden seemed to grow lighter.
"He said I'm beautiful" she said to the pony walking up behind her. Princess Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?"

*****

Due to the extensive distance between Canterlot and the Crystal Empire, Cadance and Shining Armor decided to stay at Canterlot Castle, even being given Cadance's old room, which had undergone only minor modifications in the years since she was a teenager, in that the bed was now a King-sized bed, which Shining Armor wryly observed as they entered, right after noting the abscence of almost anything bright pink. Shining Sapphire had been given a totally non-descript room with a lovely view of the city, and the moon hanging in the sky.

Sleep did not come easy to the mare, and she lay on the incredibly soft bed feeling like it was too warm to be reasonably comfortable, despite the window being open and the room not actually very warm. She rolled and tossed, and turned and even tried going for a walk around the castle, only to find her legs were shaking a lot. She tried every other trick she knew of, even counting sheep, but that just made her think of the lambs back home, and the numerous farmers there.
She frowned in the darkness, waiting to see if she would fall asleep. As she did an odd tune she didn't recognise came into her mind. In an attempt to ignore it, or drive it out of her mind altogether she got out of the bed, and she started walking about the room, and as she did, she realised she was thinking about only one thing, and one pony. A smile broke across her face, then she began giggling. Then she began laughing.

*****

Elsewhere in the palace, Cadance smiled to herself. Shining Armor had been woken from his sleep by the faint sound of singing, and he wasn't the only one.
"And why are we smiling, Mi Amore Cadenza?" He asked. She looked at him and smiled innocently.

"I don't know what you mean, Shining Armor" she said, in the quiet and dark.
"I've seen that smile on you before. What did you do?"

"I... might have given two certain ponies a gentle nudge towards happiness."
"Isn't that what your aunt did with us?" he said, trying to raise an eyebrow as it did.

"Love conquers all" Cadance smiled, as she turned over again and tried to get to sleep, leaving Shining Armor awake, still able to hear the distant noise. He glanced over toward the nearest clock.
"It's after three now," he noted, "she ought to be in bed."

"Let her be" Cadance muttered.

*****

Shining Sapphire couldn't help herself. She bounced and danced across the room, not caring if anypony heard her at that point. She couldn't find herself caring about anything at that point. All she could think about was Wisp.
"He loves me!" she declared, bouncing onto the bed.

"He loves me!" she added, trying to determine how it sounded.
"He loves me!" she squeaked, still bouncing.

"He! Loves! Me!"
And at that final yell, she fell back onto the bed, falling asleep before she hit the matress, a warm smile on her face.

*****

The next morning, the atmosphere at the breakfast table of Canterlot Castle was strange indeed. Shining Sapphire was skipping, and humming, and 'good morning' everypony she met. It was the tell-tale sign of only one thing. She merrily ate her way through breakfast, and bounced out of the hall, leaving Celestia, in a rare moment not seen in years, dumbfounded.

*****

Whisper Wind, meanwhile, had gone home, and quietly gone to bed without any fuss. Or tried to. He spent half the night trying to figure out what he was feeling. He felt a pang of... alarm, and joy at the same time when he realised what he was feeling, and also a great amount of fear, though he couldn't understand why. He felt like his stomach was filled, ready to burst.

*****

The citizens of Ponyville first heard a noise, a strange high-pitched noise, followed by an unusual wind, then bent and swayed trees. They wondered if something was about to attack their city, until they saw the large pink and blue blurr pass overhead, the noise apparently emanating from it.

*****

Whisper Wind had gotten up, cleaned his face, brushed his teeth, and gotten ready for a completely normal and ordinary day. His mother kept glancing at him with what looked like worry, or at the very least concern. Then there was a knocking on the door. He opened it to find Shining Sapphire standing there, trying to look calm and failing miserably.
"Wisp!" She broke into a smiled and embraced him. "I need to talk to you." He was aware of the sound of a newspaper folding, followed by the sound of his mother gently fleeing the house.

"I want to talk about last night" Shining Sapphire said. He stared at her, trying to remain dispassionate, and failing miserably.
"I gu-"

"I love you!" she said. It was strangely anti-climactic to hear that, but she sounded like she meant it. He looked at his hoofs.
"I can't" He said. She stared blankly at him. "I can't, it's just... there's something you need to know about me." He steeled himself, telling himself he could survive whatever happened next.

"I'm a Changeling" he stated. He wasn't really expecting a replay of what happened when he told Twilight Twinkle who he was, and he felt he didn't deserve so lucky a break.
"Really?" She stared at him, clearly taken aback. "Can I see what... Changeling You looks like?"

He blinked at her. He had honestly, in spite of everything he knew about Shining Sapphire, been expecting screaming, or violence, or his head shoved on a spike and displayed to Cadance and Shining Armor. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he was willing to blame Mrs Pie for her oddly timed ramblings when he'd been thinking about his feelings for Shining Sapphire before.
He let his horn appear first, then he let the golden-brown melt away, revealing the charcoal grey underneath. He gave a slight stretch in the sun. Shining Sapphire's jaw hung open.

"Hello, again" she smiled.
"You aren't... mad? I've lied to you all this time, and you fell in love with a disguise." She stared at him.

"I fell in love with you. You, Whisper Wind, so no 'Oh, we cannot be together' nonsense. No whining about 'not deserving' a mare like me, I won't have any of that." She said, leaning in towards him. "I love you."
He looked at the mare, and the love he could see practically ready to explode in her. He opened his mouth, only for her to shush her.

"Remember who my mom is? I know already. That's why I didn't ask, you'll notice" she said, leaning in closer.
Needless to say, they kissed. Neither would admit it, but they almost expected Cadance to suddenly fly out of a nearby bush cackling madly as she went, possibly remarking something like 'works every time'.

*****

Because of certain issues in their lives, Wisp could only visit during the holidays, apparently his mother was in an overly-protective mood at the time, and Shining Sapphire could not spend all her time down in Ponyville, even if her parents knew of, and implicity approved, their relationship, so the mare returned to her home, promising to write.

Then she saw Twilight Twinkle again. Shining Sapphire had heard rumours, stories, all manner of things, about how the mare had some sort of mental breakdown after a rampage by Discord she mercifully seemed to have missed. Whisper Wind explained to her what the reason was. She believed her father had been 'erased' by the Draconequus. And as a result of this, the mood between the two Twilights had turned outright frozen, with the two barely speaking to each other. She hadn't believed what Wisp (as she'd started calling him) had said about her cousin, but then she came to visit for the summer, and she suddenly did.

Gone was the sweet, cheerful filly who had wanted to explore the world, and who always seemed happy to meet anypony. Gone was the slightly older filly who wouldn't have minded some wings, and perhaps some time spent with her mother, rather than her immediate family. In her place was a mare who seemed... disinterested. When she'd greeted her cousin on the platform just outside the city, it had felt like Twilight Twinkle was going through the motions, and the minute she let slip her concerns about the mare's behaviour, she became increasingly sullen. Shining Sapphire was surprised her coat hadn't gone all monochrome from the way she was acting. She tried to talk to the mare about her current activities, but she didn't make much progress.

"So, how are things? How's Aunt Sparkle?" She asked cautiously, using the cutesy-sounding nickname she'd once given the purple alicorn.
"Don't know. Haven't seen her in months."

"Doesn't she write to you, at university?"
"Probably."

Shining Sapphire looked over to her mother and father, who looked worried, but said nothing. The serving staff at the dinner table looked like they were being forced to overhear things they shouldn't have, and Shining Sapphire didn't blame them.
"Are you enjoying your meal?" Cadance asked.

"Yeah, it's good." She said, smiling just enough as she did, before going back to scowling. After a few minutes of silence she asked if she was excused from the dinner table, and left. Shining Sapphire wanted to talk to her, wanted to say something, something like reminding Twilight Twinkle her mother still cared, but she didn't know whether the mare would take offense or not. After a few weeks, the time came for Twilight Twinkle to leave, despite her not having done much.

"This went by too quickly." Shining Sapphire said.
"Doesn't it always?" Twinkle said, smiling what almost looked like genuine happiness. "Stay safe."

Shining Sapphire smiled back. "You too."
The royal blue mare turned to leave, and Shining Sapphire couldn't stop herself.

"Twinkie?" The mare turned to look at her.
"You know if you've got any problems, you can just tell us. We're your family" she said. There was something in the mare's eyes as she looked at her cousin.

"Got it" she muttered.
"Your mother loves you." The young princess heard her mother say. "You will remember it, before the end."

*****

For the next few months Sapphire and Wisp exchanged letters wondering about intervening in the affairs of the senior and junior Twilights, until one day Wisp sent a curiously frantic letter explaining something dire. Apparently her cousin had a crush on him. She sent a letter back explaining she didn't know how he expected her to react, and that it was for him to handle. For the next few letters, she noticed they got increasingly strange and fragmented, and shorter. Eventually Wisp came for a visit, but he looked incredibly weary.
"I've not been sleeping well" he said quietly. She tried to carry him, but he calmly explained he was capable of walking. And then they got to talking.

"Is it about... her?"
"You mean my birth mother?"

"Yes" she said, trying not to let her anger about the Changeling Queen stand out. It wasn't because of what that being had done to her father, but more that she was apparently trying to use her own son as a pawn in some game, even after giving him up.
"Have you considered living here?" she asked. He looked about nervously.

"Here? In the Crystal Empire? With the mare and stallion who have the most reason of anypony in Equestria to object?"
"Bearing in mind," she smiled, "I think it's safe to say my mom had some part in us getting together. And if there's one thing my mom is okay with, it's love." She paused as they walked through one of the many corridors of the castle.

"If you really want to be afraid of them, you could propose to me." He stared wide-eyed at her.
"Just a suggestion" she sighed. He actually looked like he was considering it for a moment.

"But then my mother's minions would follow me here. It would put the Crystal Ponies at risk. I can't ask them to risk their lives for me."
"What risk? We've got the Crystal Heart. If it can zap... The Bringer of Despair, I think it can stop a few Changelings. Or gorge them silly." The two imagined an army of overfed Changelings, lying around in the sun asking for indigestion tablets, and laughed.

"Maybe... maybe when I get home I'll ask my mother. As long your parents don't decide to lock you up for dating an evil Changeling." She frowned at him.
"Your sense of humour needs work" she said calmly.

*****

She waited a few weeks after he was gone before approaching her mother. She decided it would be better to talk to her parents privately, rather than together, and to her mother first.
"Mom?" Her mother was sitting on a small sofa in one of the massive halls that had been dubbed the castle drawing room, even though there was nothing about the design of the room that had lead it to that. It just seemed like a good place to put sofas and carpets.

"Yes dear?" She smiled. Sapphire scuffed her hoof against the floor. Her mother had suggested she wore shoes, but she'd not really felt up to shoe-wearing at her age.
"Would it be alright if... if Wisp came to stay with us?" She looked at her mother, who smiled slightly.

"Of course."
"For more than a few weeks?"

Cadance paused. "Yes." She said eventually, though there was an edge of alarm in there.
"A lot more."

Cadance looked at her daughter, with eyes that seemed to say 'Don't try and outsmart me, I'm your mother. I can see through your soul'. She got off the sofa and walked over to Shining Sapphire.
"Really?" She asked. The mare nodded, and her mother smiled.

"That's completely alright. Why did you feel the need t-" She frowned and looked at Shining Sapphire, apparently having constructed a reason why.
"What's the secret?"

"Promise me you won't get mad, or angry, or tell dad?"
"You do realise that I will now probably do at least one of those things?" She said. Shining Sapphire couldn't remember when she last saw her mother angry, or ever. She felt incredibly small all of a sudden.

"Wisp's mother isn't Fluttershy. She... well, you've met her. Before you married dad."
For a few seconds her mother gave this some thought. Then her eyes went wide.

"It's alright, he's not evil! He doesn't even like her!" Shining Sapphire said quickly, "And he doesn't need to force-feed or anything. He said they just absorb emotions like... the way flowers absorb sunlight. And he's really kind and sweet, and you know that because you've met him, and you did help put us together and I think right now you already knew all of this."
Her mother paused, staring at her daughter.

"I knew most of it. I knew he was a changeling, but I didn't know he was... her son. But..." She put a hoof to her chin. "It's your choice. You are both grown ponies, and... I can't blame a child for the actions of a parent."
Then something occured to her. "What of the other Changelings?"

"He thinks he can probably convince them to change their ways, or that the Crystal Heart will overfeed them. He's not sure on that. But... I do love him, and I want to be with him for as long as possible." She said, well aware of what that statement meant. Her mother looked out of the window, seeing the wide rolling blues and greens of the city and the hills beyond. For a few moments she was silent.
"I'll have to think of a way to break this to your father." She said. "Or should we save that until the wedding?" Shining Sapphire blushed.

"Or until after his first grandchild is born?"
"MOM!" Shining Sapphire said, at her mother's grin. "Not funny!"

"Can you really blame me, though?" She said, as she walked over to her daughter.
"Yeah. I can. You've been hanging around Aunt Celly for too long."

"No, I just remember what it was like being your age." She smiled, as mother and daughter hugged.

*****

Later, Shining Sapphire and her mother sent a letter to Wisp explaining he was allowed to stay with them. They recieved no reply back. Shining Sapphire's mood grew more and more pensive as the days, weeks and months went on. Then, one day she woke up to find her mother and father weren't present. She found a note left by her bedside, explaining that there had been reports of a Cold Drake being discovered moving about one of the ruined cities that had been uncovered out in the tundra, and Cadance had been forced to ask him (Literally ask him) to move away from the ruins. This left the not-so-young twenty year old waiting around the castle for the next few days looking for something to do, for somepony, anypony to talk to. For some reason, she felt a strange feeling in the air, as if something was waiting to happen, a tension that sucked the enjoyment out of everything, even re-reading all her notes from Wisp, or looking at pictures of herself and Twilight Twinkle when they were young, or dancing badly to her favourite music. She even found herself sitting on the throne, randomly tapping it with a hoof, with nopony even asking she not sit on it. Then she heard the distant fanfare of flugelhorns being played almost half-well.

"Presenting her highness" Shining Sapphire wasn't sure how the greeter managed to make the lack of capitals obvious in that statement, "Twilight Twinkle." Shining Sapphire leapt up from the throne with joy at that, eager to see her cousin. As it turned out, the mare wasn't there yet, merely approaching. And then she noticed something as she saw the now-eighteen year old mare approach, there was a thing, a feeling, a thought on the tip of her tounge that she recognised.
"Something's wrong..." She said. She quickly began to ran down the steps toward her cousin.

She was twenty years old. Only twenty.

Author's Note:

Had serious writer's block writing this one. So if this chapter feels really disjointed, you'll know why.
When I first started thinking up this story, there was no Shining Sapphire. She just sort of appeared at about chapter four. I reasoned that perhaps Twilight Twinkle had more reasons for running away from home than some arguments with her mother, and an awkward situation with a Changeling, and so she sort of filled this strange void.
One more flashback left. Hopefully it won't be anywhere near as long as this one, but there were a few things that needed including.

Comments

[Detectivefish]

2486158
(Thanks for pointing out the error. It has been corrected)
Actually, this one took me the better part of over twelve hours to write. Usually they don't take anywhere near that long, but the writer's block was really terrible this time. Most chapters I just rely on an insane tenacity, but it took a while to kick in on this one.

[Detectivefish]

2487930
Most of those thirteen thousand words came after I got through the writer's block, I should point out.
(Which was around about the bit where they prank Luna)

[Narcosis]

I got goosebumps from that last line, and if this goes where I think it will, I'm probably going to cry.