Most of the others had already fallen asleep. It was a good idea that they would set up camp here, because they needed to explore more of this cave to find out about any other miracles that they could take note of. Crystal, Twilight and Erich were the only ones awake to explore. The luminite served its purpose and lit up even the darkest corners of the cave with little effort. It so happened that it helped to find certain artefacts, one of them turned out to be a set of gauntlets and greaves that are embedded with a magical aura.

Though Twilight wasn't so sure that any of them could control its power, she still kept it in the bag, for later reference. Maybe one of the books at the library had some information about them, or Zecora. There must be other things that they can find; who knew that the cave of wonders turned out to be so interesting?

"When was the last time we had a proper chat to each other...?" Crystal asked Erich. Though she didn't mean it to be heard by the third party member, she wanted to personally chat with the colt.

Her question was very valid, because it had been a very long time since they made proper personal conversation. Getting caught up in the Royal Guard obviously didn't make it any easier, and getting thrown to jail made it worse. "A while. Obviously when you don't have access to a phone or pen and paper, there's no way I can make conversation." He responded. Though his tone of voice was almost sarcastic, it was nonetheless true.

"I really did want to talk to you Crystal. You are my best friend. My closest friend." He claimed genuinely. He had friends, but none of them could be any closer than what Crystal was to him. She knew him more than anyone else could.

Crystal shrugged. "I know. You're my closest friend too. It's just that... It was kinda lonely not to be able to talk to you." She admitted. Vinyl and Octavia are great friends, but she always managed to close doors and hold up walls that prevented them from becoming very close friends. She had her reasons not to allow their friendship to develop any further. But the real reason why she only considers Erich as her best friend? That's for her to know only, and hopefully he shared the same reasons.

She threw her long mane back and continued. "When this is over... Do you think we can start talking more, like when we were younger?" She asked.

The colt adjusted his navy mane so that it didn't obstruct the view of his left eye, but it kept setting down there. He thought about it for a moment: The only way he'd get any real time away from the Royal Guard is to become a higher ranking officer, but the chances of that are slim, but leave the Royal Guard altogether? Maybe that would allow him freedom to do as he please... He only wanted as of now to talk to Crystal once again.

But at this moment, he still can't put together as to why Princess Celestia wanted Crystal to come on this journey.

Spike and Sweetie Belle were both invited to a formal party, courtesy of Celestia herself; mainly because the main pianist for the orchestral band had actually injured his hands for some reason. The dragon was very experienced in playing the piano, as it was a hobby during his younger years. From time to time he can play a piano but he'd been too busy to play for his own leisure. Spike was also ambidextrous, which made him a flexible pianist.

Though he had little time to prepare, he was doing a great job at playing the sheet music given to him. Octavia was also here, as one of the primary cellists, which sort of calmed him down. He frequently visited Octavia and Vinyl whilst Twilight was gone, just because he shared similar interests to them about playing a specific instrument.

Hopefully he'll have the chance to properly practice his fingers and maybe find a way to stand out the crowd.

Sweetie Belle was just busy admiring the scenario around her. It's her first time actually attending such a formal party in Canterlot. One day, she'd like to go to the Grand Galloping Gala to see the bigger formal parties. For now, this small party was a good taste of what's to come in the possible future.

Most of the ponies here were whispering to each other about Sweetie Belle's dress. She wore a simple white dress, but the embedded diamonds around the hem of the skirt and collar attracted most of the others. Some even recognised the design style since there was an excessive use of rare baby blue Sapphires, which would usually appear in one line of clothing... Rarity's. 'Why is everypony looking at me?' She didn't realise how valuable and popular her sister's brand of clothing is. It had become fairly popular with elites who live in Canterlot and other richer cities in Equestria.

"Oh, Sweetie Belle." A familiar voiced called her name. The young mare turned to see that it was Princess Luna. Like Celestia, she is another one of Twilight's former mentors before she had become a full fledged Princess. "I didn't realise you'd be here. Are you here with your sister or did you come alone?" She asked out of curiosity.

Sweetie Belle shook her head. "I'm here with my Spikey-Wikey!" She responded with a gleeful smile and squeaky voice that would be considered 'cute' by many others.

"Eh... Spikey... Wikey?" 'Why does that sound so familiar...?' Luna knew who Sweetie Belle was talking about however. It was Spike; the dragon had very important business here. Twilight had contacted Luna prior to Spike's arrival in Canterlot; even Celestia does not know his actual reasons for visiting.

Spike would be very helpful, since he has now developed strong powers. Celestia's powers seemed to have weakened, as evident from the last encounter with Chrysalis. Many do not want to re-live seeing their monarch being defeated by an evil Queen again, nor experience the full horrors that Changelings may be capable of. Also, Luna hoped not to be asleep like the last invasion, which she missed EVERYTHING!!

"Well," She changed the subject. "Spike will be very busy whilst he is here, but you don't mind that do you? Celestia needs 'help' with certain things that is bothering her."

Sweetie Belle gasped. "Is Celestia hurt? Is she ill and too old!? Oh gosh, can she still stand on two hooves!?" Her overreaction alerted and concerned a few nearby guests who almost took in the younger mare's beliefs.

Luna quickly calmed her and others down. "No! No..." She however turned around and chuckled, trying to hold back laughter. It was almost as if the young pony foreseen the future, and how Celestia would turn out to be. It was always a running joke between the two sisters: "Who would be the first to start to show true aging?" Though Luna was younger, there was no guarantee that she won't be first. But if it is Celestia that starts to become the kind of person to faulter (and it would be hilarious), Luna will award Sweetie Belle... In an uncontrollable fit of laugher. The thought was perfect... Who else could imagine Celestia acting as eccentric and clueless as Granny Smith?

Even though most view Luna as far too professional... She's actually very immature when there is no Royal Business involved. She usually sits in her room playing video games and on the internet, to which Celestia sometimes makes fun of, but in an affectionate way.

Sighing and getting it all out of her system, she returned to an almost full professional attitude but without the hard business stare; instead she had a casual facial expression. "So. How has your stay been lately?" She asked.

Sweetie Belle smiled again, and it almost seemed like her smile was trademarked. "It's been great. The room service, the luxury bath, everything about Canterlot is amazing!" She remarked.

"It is nice... But there are things that you should really appreciate more than material items." She pointed to Spike who was still playing the piano.

Sweetie Belle nodded and blushed. "There isn't a day that I don't appreciate him being my... Uhm... Boyfriend." She admitted shyly. "Is there a story you'd like to tell me about your love life, Princess?" The young mare asked.

Luna shook her head. "No..." There was one person she fell for... He however turned out to be a Changeling in disguise. Where he left to, she didn't know, but he didn't seem like the others. He seemed like a lone wolf, though, not. They met not too long after the Changeling invasion of Canterlot, which probably allowed him to arrive unnoticed. Where ever he was, Luna actually would like to see him again despite what he is. No one else knows about this short 'affair' that happened; though nothing happened...

But the thought comes to mind whether he really did care for Luna or not. Changelings are usually manipulative when disguised, as seen by Chrysalis who was able to drain Shining Armour's love. Why did she not feel weak or lose her powers during the few weeks they've been seeing each other?

A lot of things confused her about Changelings. Maybe not all of them are evil, and few just want to live a fulfilling life. Why is it that Changelings’ are forced to feed on the love of other ponies anyways? There were a lot of mysteries that would baffle even the smartest of minds. Maybe Twilight can find out more about these creatures, and maybe a way to find peace and a way to co-exist with them rather than exterminate them out right.

It wasn't long before Spike was finished with his performance, and with the many instrument players there, he bowed to the crowd who clapped and praised their work. Spike was genuinely appreciative of the crowd, and smiled widely. Meeting up with Sweetie Belle and Luna, who were conversing with each other.

It was as if they were waiting for him when they suddenly pulled the young dragon into the conversation: "You were great. Luna thinks you can be a great Piano player, and I think that too!!" She complimented.

Spike scratched the back of his head and smiled, a little overwhelmed by the comments. "Thanks Sweetie. But I'm not that great. Amateur at best." The drake was unlike his younger self; he had stopped bragging about himself since he took over the library for Twilight and matured. His personality has really changed a lot; even more so when he asked Sweetie Belle out and eventually became her current boyfriend (and first). Spike was not the same drake; he had changed for the better.

A lot of the townsfolk back at Ponyville have noticed his changes, and often complimented him for his improved attitude. Some of the bulkier colts have often complimented on Spike’s good build, but then again, this was natural for most dragons. The drake however was still not that big, and his body was still fairly sleek for a dragon. Spike was more down the middle road between speed and strength. Add some magic in and he was a force to be reckoned with.

He was still fairly rusty in spell conjuring, because other anthropomorphic animals other than unicorn ponies capable of conjuring magic are rare to find in all of Equestria. It would take longer for Spike to master his abilities than a typical unicorn, since he has no linear path like ponies who have to learn spells based on their cutie mark. He’s almost like Celestia and Luna, though both have cutie marks were prominent in the past with many different powers.

But he was still in training, but he would like to become stronger not only to protect Celestia, but to also protect the love of his life. Sweetie Belle was far too important to him, and there hadn’t been a moment since he agreed to be her boyfriend that the relationship was not going to last. All feelings for Rarity in the past had started to fade when Rarity met a colt by the name of “Jackle Decker”. At first, the drake was jealous, but eventually he started to realise Rarity was way out of his reach and that Jackle was a very nice colt. Decker however is away serving in the Royal Guard in Canterlot. Maybe he’d bump into him, maybe not.

It was Sweetie Belle who took the opportunity to initiate a relationship. The young mare started developing feelings for the drake when he visited Rarity often. She was very shy around his presence at the time, but eventually Spike started to notice that she always made ‘friendly’ advances.

She never regretted picking him over others, or falling for him in the first place. The shyest member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders achieved something at least: get a boyfriend/girlfriend. There aren’t any cutie marks for that however.

“Well you aren’t on duty as of yet Spike. Do you have any plans with Sweetie Belle to explore Canterlot a little bit more?” Luna suggested.

The drake nodded in agreement. “Well, I don’t want to disappoint my girlfriend by being busy for a while and not take her out. Better tonight then never.” Spike explained. The purple scaled dragon turned to the white furred mare with a smile. “And where ever you want to go is fine by me.”

The young mare giggled, knowing she was in for a treat tonight; like a spoilt daughter to a father. “Spike, you’re too much.” He always puts her before him, and no doubt it was to impress the blank flank mare. But from the corner of her eye, she noticed that there was a serious look on the Princess’ face, which concerned her. Maybe there was something more to “Spike helping Celestia” that Sweetie Belle doesn’t know.

Erich used another knife to mark the path they came from; stabbing it into the ground Erich continued to follow Crystal who started leading the way. It was as if she knew her way round the caves. Twilight stood close to Crystal.

They were very deep into the caves, but all sense of narrowness disappeared as they were in very open areas. Right now, they were travelling on the edge of a large bottomless pit. Luckily, where they walked seemed to be safe enough, and there wasn’t any worry of the floor collapsing beneath them. There was one thing about the path they walked on that seemed interesting: It was a one way path. There hadn’t been any other openings to other parts to the cave for a while during this trek, but there were always interesting things they’ve found.

Most of them seemed like dropped items that have been left around the whole place, most likely their owners didn’t realise they’d lost their item ‘til it was too late. Who would’ve come this far to the cave of wonders? Then again, Erich, Princess Twilight and Crystal did...

“Fuck me... That hole sure looks deep.” Erich said as he dropped a pebble into it. He awaited an audible sound, but none had come to him. “Shit... Really is deep as fuck...”

“Language!” Twilight hushed Erich. She didn’t really like profanity, but there are many people around her that seem to curse whenever they felt it was appropriate. If they swore in front of Celestia, who knows... ‘Actually I’d take that back’. Twilight had witnessed the Princess curse, but only when there wasn’t anyone else around besides her and Luna. Even if it was Celestia swearing, Twilight finds it irritating; one of her many pet peeves.

Crystal chuckled. “You like ‘deep’ huh?”

“Don’t you?” Erich responded quickly. He silenced Crystal and had both girls blushing at the comment. He led on with a smug smile on his face.

Sometime after, the path had ended and it led to some sort of room. There was a large mirror in the middle of it, and carved luminite was placed around it. The bright light allowed the mirror to stand out of the relatively gloomy and grim looking room with its elegance.

Crystal was first to approach it: “It’s still here!” She claimed.

“What is it?” Twilight asked. It seemed like an ordinary mirror, but as she touched it, she felt that there was energy surrounding it. The alicorn couldn’t tell what it was, but it doesn’t look dangerous. Twilight also wondered how Crystal could have known this ornament was here, and whether she knew its purpose for being here.

Erich tapped on the mirror’s side and then examined it closely. “Sturdy, but very mysterious...” Looking at the mirror closely, he then noticed something odd about the reflection in the mirror. What was strange is the fact that the room around them looked entirely different. “That’s odd.”

Twilight noticed this too. “What kind of mirror is this?” She asked herself.

Crystal touched the glass, but instead of it being solid like any typical mirror, it started to ripple like water in a pond. “And it still works... After all these years it still works...”

The grey furred colt folded his arms. “There’s something you’re not telling us Crystal. What is ‘that’?” He asked with stern tone.

Crystal looked at the mirror once more and then turned to the other two. “This mirror is a portal... A portal to the Changeling Kingdom.” She claimed.

The colt was relatively convinced, but still found Crystal to be a mystery. He approached the mirror before touching his reflection. There wasn’t any feeling even as his fingers went into the mirror, not even a wet feeling or pain. He reached his arm into the mirror before finally deciding it was safe to step through.

On the other side, it was an elegant room with a decayed antique mirror behind him, almost the opposite of what it was before he stepped through. The room had a window, and a door. He first looked out the window, and then realised the Crystal was right: This was the Changeling Kingdom. Perception of the Changelings changed just by looking out the window and viewing the villages and would-be towns... Which seemed run down and many homes looked as if living conditions were limited for the most part. Changelings roamed the streets, also looking as run down as the homes...

He turned back to the mirror before looking back out the window, noticing that the largest building and brightest place was a castle farther away. “That must be where Chrysalis is.” He turned back to the mirror and stepped back in to where he came from. Erichanory was then greeted by Twilight and Crystal. “We need to get the others.”

“Did you see it? Did you see their home land?” Twilight asked eagerly.

“Yes, but it wasn’t pretty.”

Crystal understood with a nod. “Yes... It used to be beautiful...”

“You know too much Crystal and I want answers.” Erich demanded.

Crystal shook her head but smiled. “In due time Erich... I’m still the person you know from childhood. But I’m also someone else at the same time... Or rather, ‘something’ else...” She responded to give them a clue.

Twilight figured it out, but didn’t know what to say...

“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” Erich asked. He allowed Crystal to take her time, before she finally nodded. Her response however showed that she was ashamed of this fact. “Show me.”

Crystal was hesitant at first: What would the others do if she proves this fact? Prove the fact she was not a pony but a Changeling in disguise, fooling everyone she knew... Lying to them, hiding away secrets and locking them in and hoping it was stay with her to the grave. It was however Erich’s reassuring stare that gave her confidence...

The Rock Queen allowed her body to slowly morph back into its true form... She was a Changeling... A real Changeling who lived with ponies peacefully...

At first, silence... But then... “Why are you so scared to show your true form?” Erich asked, honestly curious about it.

Crystal looked at Erich who looked at her with honest friendly eyes. She shied away but he closed in before she can fully do so. “Erich...” She murmured. The Changeling knew he was still waiting for an answer, and so gave him an answer: “I didn’t feel as if I could fit in with you... That I would be disregarded and prejudiced against for what I am...” She was a Changeling, not a pony. Most Ponies must’ve been traumatised by her kind after what happened during the Canterlot wedding, and no doubt would fully detest a single Changeling within their crowd.

But her thoughts were halted when Twilight and Erich both approached, both with friendly faces and a gentle hold to her hands. “What...”

“Hey. You seem like an honest girl. Why shouldn’t we trust you?”

Erich agreed. “You’re my childhood friend, and you never lied to me but did keep things hidden. I think you’re still as beautiful even in this form.”

“You really think so...?” She shyly asked.

“Well, the few holes in your arms and legs sorta give me the feeling that you’re kinda like Swiss cheese.” He joked. It left a smile on all of their faces.

Even so, Crystal changed back into her Pony disguise. She felt more confident about herself, and slightly proud that she could admit the truth for once. What was better: She admitted it to Erich, her most trusted friend, and even had the trust from royalty.

“This mirror is gorgeous!” Rarity exclaimed as she looked at herself through the reflection. “Don’t I look beautiful?” She asked.

Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Not as awesome as me!” She exclaimed with pride, pushing Rarity aside and then doing the same as she did. “Only the awesomest deserve to look at themselves through this mirror.” She joked.

Twilight hushed the others with authority, and had them gather so that they could listen. “This mirror is a gateway mirror.” Twilight was fairly familiar with ‘Gateways’, since she went through one the last time. Her experience in a parallel Universe was quite an interesting one. “This one leads to the Changeling Kingdom.”

The others, besides Erich and Crystal chattered amongst each other. They all know of Twilight’s mission, but knew it was dangerous. The other five members of the Mane-6 agreed that they would travel with her: Fluttershy, though was a little hesitant but wouldn’t let down her friend in need, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were well prepared since Applejack was a strong Earth pony with kicks and punches that would stumble the toughest of ponies, and Rainbow Dash was well trained as she was part of the Wonderbolts. Rarity seemed too elegant of a pony, but she held out many times before, and Pinkie was no different as she was hyperactive but always overcame problems.

Erich stepped forwards. “I’ll go in first, then Twilight comes after. Whoever comes next is your choice.”

Bulleta chuckled. “Fucking bastard trying to look like a hero.” She joked. But it was Erich first or no one makes it back through the mirror.

“Isn’t this a little awkward?” Sweetie Belle asked Spike.

“What’s awkward?” He asked back.

“That we’re still wearing formal clothing and that we’re in a Cafe eating donuts and drinking coffee?” She answered with another question. Sweetie Belle’s lips curved into a smile, and found the setting more comfortable than a Gala-like environment. The confections such as donuts, slices of cake and other desserts were delicious. No doubt that Pinkie Pie would find herself almost at home in this Cafe alone.

“No. This is normal in Canterlot...” He can say out of experience. He’d lived in Canterlot and came in to the cafe a couple of times wearing a suit. Quite a few people did. “Hey, Pony Joe. Another doughnut, normal glazed.

Sweetie Belle noticed that Spike had been wearing those odd gloves all night. He’d been wearing them for the past few months without actually taking them off in public. It suited him, but she never asked what they symbolised or what they were for. It had purple gems stuck on it; its colour could very well blend in with his scales.

The mare had a lot of fun in Canterlot, and had indulged in shopping, going out, the formal parties... She really is Rarity’s little sister... But she knew Spike was just doing this to distract her thoughts; he really was trying to hide something from her. The young mare decided to stare at the drake without saying a word.

The dragon started to notice her stare, and it was starting to turn awkward... “Uhm...” He tried not to make it obvious that it was bothering him, but he had his limits. “There’s something you want to know isn’t there...?”

Author's Note

It's been a while. Hopefully it interests some of you. Enjoy.